Sol–Gel-Derived Corrosion-Protection Coatings

There is a current need for alternative coatings that can provide corrosion resistance to metals or alloy surfaces due to the environmental hazards posed by conventional coatings. Herein, we report on novel organically-modified sol–gel coatings for the protection of metal and alloy surfaces. The basic concept of chemical conversion of metal surfaces is based on deposition of a hydrophobic, nonporous sol–gel barrier layer for surface protection and corrosion prevention. The properties of these organosilica coatings can be tuned by varying the composition of precursors. The evaluation of hydrophobicity, adhesive strength, and anticorrosion properties of organically-modified sol–gel derived coatings suggests their potential utility as technologically-compatible alternatives to conventional coatings.     

Cobalt Ion Incorporation into Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Materials Synthesized by Co-condensation of 1,2-Bistrimethoxysilylethane with 3-Glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane

Bifunctional periodic mesoporous organosilica materials with and without cobalt ion incorporation were synthesized by co-condensation of 1,2-bistrimethoxysilylethane (BTME) with 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane (GPTS) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. Nitrogen gas adsorption on samples with varying ratios of BTME:GPTS revealed that increasing the amount of GPTS affects pore size, surface area and pore volume as well as shapes of the isotherms and hysteresis loops. The hysteresis loops of the Type IV isotherms obtained for GPTS-modified ethane silica materials (without cobalt ion) change from Type H3 to Type H4 with increasing GPTS content. There is a tendency for pore sizes to change from mesopore to micropore when the amount of GPTS is increased. Isotherms of cobalt ion incorporated GPTS-modified ethane silica materials change from Type IV to Type I with increasing GPTS content. The surface area, pore volume and pore diameter decrease with increasing loading of GPTS as well as after cobalt ion incorporation. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis show that the surfactant is removed by solvent extraction. Cobalt ion incorporation is confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy.     

Cu(II) immobilized on mesoporous organosilica as an efficient and reusable nanocatalyst for one‐pot Biginelli reaction under solvent‐free conditions

Cu(II) immobilized on mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (Cu²⁺@MSNs‐(CO₂^?)₂) has been synthesized, as a inorganic–organic nanohybrid catalyst, through a post‐grafting approach. Its characterization is carried out by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX), Thermogravimetric/differential thermal analyses (TGA‐DTA), and Nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. Cu²⁺@MSNs‐(CO₂^?)₂ exhibits high catalytic activity in the Biginelli reaction for the synthesis of a diverse range of 3, 4‐dihydropyrimidin‐2(1H)‐ones, under mild conditions. The anchored Cu(II) could not leach out from the surface of the mesoporous catalyst during the reaction and it has been reused several times without appreciable loss in its catalytic activity.     

Designing Sub‐2 nm Organosilica Nanohybrids for Far‐Field Super‐Resolution Imaging

Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy enables ultrastructural imaging of biological samples with high spatiotemporal resolution. STED nanoprobes based on fluorescent organosilica nanohybrids featuring sub‐2 nm size and near‐unity quantum yield are presented. The spin–orbit coupling (SOC) of heavy‐atom‐rich organic fluorophores is mitigated through a silane‐molecule‐mediated condensation/dehalogenation process, resulting in bright fluorescent organosilica nanohybrids with multiple emitters in one hybrid nanodot. When harnessed as STED nanoprobes, these fluorescent nanohybrids show intense photoluminescence, high biocompatibility, and long‐term photostability. Taking advantage of the low‐power excitation (0.5 μW), prolonged singlet‐state lifetime, and negligible depletion‐induced re‐excitation, these STED nanohybrids present high depletion efficiency (>96 %), extremely low saturation intensity (0.54 mW, ca. 0.188 MW cm^?2), and ultra‐high lateral resolution (ca. λ_em/28).     

Functional Nanoparticles with a Reducible Tetrasulfide Motif to Upregulate mRNA Translation and Enhance Transfection in Hard‐to‐Transfect Cells

Effective messenger RNA (mRNA) transfection in hard‐to‐transfect cells delivered by vectors is a long‐standing challenge. Now it is hypothesized that the high intracellular glutathione level is associated with suppressed mRNA translation. This theory leads to a new design principle of next‐generation mRNA vectors: nanoparticles with glutathione depletion chemistry upregulate mRNA translation and enhance transfection, which is beneficial for mRNA delivery in hard‐to‐transfect cells in vitro and in vivo.     

Organosilica materials with 1,5-bis-(2’-ethyl)-2,4-dimethyl benzene bridging groups

Using 1,5-bis-(2-trichlorosilylethyl)-2,4-dimethyl benzene, we have obtained porous organosilica materials containing 1.5 to 100 mole % 1,5-bis-(2-ethyl)-2,4-dimethyl benzene bridging groups. We have used X-ray phase analysis, adsorption, Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, and temperature-programmed desorption mass spectrometry methods to study their structure and composition. We have shown that the materials obtained generally are characterized by a biporous structure and aerosol properties: large pore volume (up to 4 cm³/g) and low density (~70 mg/cm³).Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimentalnaya Khimiya, Vol. 40, No. 6, pp. 373–379, November–December, 2004.     

Chiral Mesoporous Organosilica Nanospheres: Effect of Pore Structure on the Performance in Asymmetric Catalysis

(R)‐(+)‐1,1′‐Bi‐2‐naphthol ((R)‐(+)‐Binol)‐functionalized (Binol=2,2′‐dihydroxy‐1,1′‐binaphthyl) chiral mesoporous organosilica nanospheres with uniform particle size (100 to 300 nm) have been synthesized by co‐condensation of tetraethoxysilane and (R)‐2,2′‐di(methoxymethyl)oxy‐6,6′‐di(1‐propyl trimethoxysilyl)‐1,1′‐binaphthyl in a basic medium with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as the template. Nanospheres with a radiative 2D hexagonal channel arrangement exhibit higher enantioselectivity and turnover frequency than those with a penetrating 2D hexagonal channel arrangement (94 versus 88 % and 43 versus 15 h^?1, respectively) in the asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes. In addition, under similar conditions, the enantioselectivity of the nanospheres can be greatly improved as the structural order of the framework increases. These results clearly show that the structural order of nanospheres affects enantioselective reactions. The enantioselectivity of the nanospheres synthesized by the co‐condensation method is higher than that of nanospheres prepared by a grafting method and even higher than that of their homogeneous counterpart. These results indicate that the bite angle of (R)‐(+)‐Binol bridging in a more rigid porous network is in a more favorable position for achieving higher enantioselectivity. The efficiency of a co‐condensation method for the synthesis of high‐performance heterogeneous asymmetric catalysts is also reported.     

Pd/PMO-SBA-15 催化剂催化苯甲醇选择氧化反应性能

 研究了 PMO-SBA-15 材料负载的金属钯纳米粒子 (Pd/PMO-SBA-15) 在水相中催化苯甲醇选择氧化制苯甲醛的反应. 考察了纳米粒子种类、氧化剂用量、反应时间和反应温度等对苯甲醇转化率及苯甲醛选择性的影响. 结果表明, 以水为溶剂, 以 H2O2 (30%) 为氧化剂时, 可得到较高的苯甲醇转化率和苯甲醛选择性. 当以 0.05 g 的 2%Pd/PMO-SBA-15 为催化剂, H2O2 用量为 1.5 ml, 反应温度为 80 oC, 反应 4 h 时, 苯甲醇转化率和苯甲醛选择性分别达到 97.1% 和 100.0%. 对该催化体系的重复使用性能进行了考察. 结果发现, 随着使用次数的增加, 苯甲醇转化率有所下降, 但苯甲醛选择性保持不变.     

Neutron scattering study of water confined in periodic mesoporous organosilicas

A series of quasi-elastic neutron scattering measurements were performed using IN6 at the Institute Laue Langevin for a mesoporous organosilica material with phenyl functions, called phenyltriethoxysilane (PTES). The aim of the experiment was to study the diffusion dynamics of nano-scale water clusters inside the hydrophobic pores as a function of temperature and hydration. By fitting the Debye-Waller factor, the data show clearly the different behavior between water, both inside and outside the hydrophobic pores, which resembles bulk water. The mean thermal displacement 〈u²〉 of the external water increases with T almost linearly up to 353 K, while the internal water quickly reaches the maximum at T∼323 K, indicating the confinement by an averaged pore diameter of the porous organosilica.