Supercritical Drying Applied to Natural “Gels”: Allophanic Soils

Allophanic soils behave as gels during a classical drying with an important irreversible shrinkage which can modify the soil physical properties. These soils are interesting in terms of mitigation of the greenhouse effect (C sequestration) and the knowledge of the true soils features are of importance. Like for silica gels, we use the CO₂ supercritical drying procedure (SCD) to control the drying step. The objective is to preserve the structural and textural properties of the soils, which can be affected by the classical drying. We show also that despite the necessary solvent exchange and high pressure of the supercritical drying, the chemical composition and the allophanic features are not strongly affected.The textural properties such as specific surface area are higher for the supercritical dried samples compared to the classical dried samples, indicating the preserving effect of the SCD and showing the interest of the application of this drying method to this natural and complex “gels”. With these data, we show possible effects of the specific surface area on the C and N content of the allophanic soils.     

Fractal structure in natural gels: effect on carbon sequestration in volcanic soils

Allophanic soils are interesting in terms of environmental properties especially because of their potentialities as sinks for “greenhouse gases” by the way of C sequestration. These volcanic soils contain amorphous clays (allophanes) and exhibit higher organic carbon content than the one measured in other clay soils. We measured the C content of a set of allophanic soils and showed that the C content is positively correlated to the allophane content. We also measured the part of organic matter transformed into CO₂ during a respiration experiment and showed that the decomposition is lowered as the soils allophane content increases. Allophane aggregates are very close to the synthetic gels: high specific surface area large pore volume, fractal structure, large water content and important irreversible shrinkage during drying. In this work we characterized by Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) the fractal structure of the allophane aggregates at the nano scale. We hypothesized that the peculiar structure and the associated low accessibility of the allophanic soils could explain the high organic carbon content and the associated poor transformation into CO₂. The tortuous structure of the allophane aggregates plays the role of a labyrinth which fix and traps soil organic carbon.     

Application of the DLCA model to “natural” gels: The allophanic soils

Volcanic soil comprises weathering products such as allophane, originating from a leaching process of volcanic ashes and glasses. These soils are interesting in terms of mitigation of the greenhouse effect (C sequestration), because they are known for accumulating more C than non-volcanic soils. Allophanes are natural amorphous silicates and have physical features very close to those of synthetic gels. Knowledge of the allophanic soil structure is required to understand the sequestration mechanism. In this paper, nitrogen adsorption-desorption experiments, measured on allophanic soil samples, show that the hydraulic diameter (Dh) is shifted towards smaller size while the pore volume (Vp) and specific surface area (S) increase, when the allophane content of the soil increases. We introduce a numerical model to simulate the structure of this “natural gel”. The algorithm is based on Diffusion-Limited Cluster-Cluster Aggregation in which larger particles hinder the DLCA. As a function of the relative content of allophane (gel) and larger particles, the textural properties (Vp, S, Dh) of the different simulated structure are calculated using a simple triangulation method. Numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data and from the simulated data, we can derive the permeability evolution as a function of the allophane content. We show that at the scale of the allophanic aggregates the calculated permeability is low and could be an important parameter to explain the larger C content of allophanic soils. Because of the low allophanic aggregate permeability, the fluid exchanges and chemical reactions are slow. This gel-allophane analogy and DLCA model allow proposing a different approach to describe the properties of these peculiar soils.     

Pore Structure Simulation of Gels with a Binary Monomer Size Distribution

The pore size distribution in silica gels can be tailored by the addition of silica soot particles during the gel formation. We introduce a numerical model in order to simulate the structure of this “composite gel”. The algorithm is based on Diffusion-Limited Cluster-Cluster Aggregation model with an initial binary distribution of monomer sizes. The textural properties of the simulated gels are calculated using a simple triangulation method. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption experiments show that with the powder addition the mean pore size is shifted towards larger pore size and the specific surface area decreases. Numerical results of the mean pore size, specific surface area, and particles are in good agreement with experimental data. Because of these textural properties this new type of gels and aerogels has larger permeability and interesting properties as host matrix. The composite gels and the numerical model could also be helpful to simulate the natural allophanic gel found in volcanic soils.     

Effect of composition,solvent exchange liquid and drying method on the porous structure of phenol–formaldehyde gels

Organic gels have been synthesized by sol–gel polycondensation of phenol (P) and formaldehyde (F) catalyzed by sodium carbonate (C). The effect of synthesis parameters such as phenol/catalyst ratio (P/C), solvent exchange liquid and drying method, on the porous structure of the gels have been investigated. The total and mesopore volumes of the PF gels increased with increasing P/C ratio in the range of P/C ≤ 8, after this both properties started to decrease with P/C ratio for P/C > 8 and the gel with P/C = 8 showed the highest total and mesopore volumes of 1.281 and 1.279 cm³ g⁻¹ respectively. The gels prepared by freeze drying possessed significantly higher porosities than the vacuum dried gels. The pore volume and average pore diameter of the freeze dried gels were significantly higher than those of the vacuum dried gels. T-butanol emerged as the preferred solvent for the removal of water from the PF hydrogel prior to drying, as significantly higher pore volumes and specific surface areas were obtained in the corresponding dried gels. The results showed that freeze drying with t-butanol and lower P/C ratios were favourable conditions for the synthesis of highly mesoporous phenol–formaldehyde gels.     

Effect of thermal treatment on the structure and texture of differently impregnated NiO/SiO2 catalysts

NiO/SiO₂ catalysts were prepared with Ni contents ranging from 2–15% using a microporous silica support at pH ~11.5. The role of the method of preparation on the resulting catalyst is also investigated. Structural and textural changes were followed using X-ray diffraction, TG and DTA techniques—the surface area measurements were carried out on the parent catalysts and those produced in the temperature range 250–1000°C.Impregnation of the silica gel in the nickel ammine complex solution (catalyst series 1N–4N) with subsequent drying at 80°C overnight produced crystalline catalysts with two distinct peaks at d-spacings of 2.035 and 2.349 Å resulting from a surface silicate. This is easily destroyed by thermal treatment at 250°C for Ni contents ? 10% but is stable to this temperature for the higher Ni content. Drying the catalyst at room temperature (3N_b) gives rise to an amorphous product. A non-crystalline catalyst is also obtained when concentrated ammonia solution is added to the adsorbed nickel salt (3N_c). At high Ni content, the hydroxo ligand becomes significant and results in a surface compound in which one silanol group is attacked. This gives rise to a crystalline product at 500°C with characteristic d-spacings at 2.201 and 2.049 Å which, subsequently, produces a poorly crystalline NiO product at 1000°C. The presence of this hydroxo ligand is manifested by a small endotherm at 260°C.At Ni contents below 15% but greater than 2% a small exotherm is observed at ~ 500°C resulting from a reduction process. Entrained SO₄^2? ions present as an impurity are evolved at temperatures & > 750°C and can be estimated by TG analysis.The specific surface area decreases with Ni contents ? 5% but increases for higher Ni contents. Catalyst samples containing 15% Ni possess the highest specific area at all temperatures.Pore structure analysis showed that microporosity increased with increase in Ni content for the catalyst series 1N–4N. Samples from preparations 3N_b and 3N_c showed more mesoporosity than that of 3N. Thermal treatment causes widening of the pores for catalysts 1N–3N becoming predominantly mesoporous, co-existing with some micropores. Catalyst samples with 15% Ni remained predominantly microporous-mesoporosity increasing only at 1000°C.     

Alkoxy-derived multiscale porous TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> gels probed by ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering and small-angle X-ray scattering

Titania (TiO₂) monoliths with well-defined bicontinuous macropores and gel skeletons were prepared through the alkoxy-derived sol–gel process accompanied by spinodal decomposition, and the structural evolution during evaporation drying and heat treatment was probed by a combination of ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering and small-angle X-ray scattering. X-ray scattering profiles of wet and dried gels revealed that microporous structures related to the existence of primary particles are present in the gel skeletons at the wet stage and are preserved during drying. Additionally, it is found that the primary particles swollen in the wet condition are dried to compact aggregates to produce the smooth surface of gel skeletons. Upon heating at 400 °C, the particle–particle correlation associated with regularity of mesostructures is enhanced. From nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurements, the average pore size is less than 1 nm in the dried gel and increases to 3.1 nm by the heat treatment. Homogeneous growth of primary particles due to interparticle-polycondensation reaction is responsible for the increased size and uniform distribution of mesopores in the heat-treated gel.     

Cobalt–silicon mixed oxide nanocomposites by modified sol–gel method

Cobalt–silicon mixed oxide materials (Co/Si=0.111, 0.250 and 0.428) were synthesised starting from Co(NO₃)₂·6H₂O and Si(OC₂H₅)₄ using a modified sol–gel method. Structural, textural and surface chemical properties were investigated by thermogravimetric/differential thermal analyses (TG/DTA), XRD, UV–vis, FT-IR spectroscopy and N₂ adsorption at −196 °C. The nature of cobalt species and their interactions with the siloxane matrix were strongly depending on both the cobalt loading and the heat treatment. All dried gels were amorphous and contained Co²⁺ ions forming both tetrahedral and octahedral complexes with the siloxane matrix. After treatment at 400 °C, the sample with lowest Co content appeared amorphous and contained only Co²⁺ tetrahedral complexes, while at higher cobalt loading Co₃O₄ was present as the only crystalline phase, besides Co²⁺ ions strongly interacting with siloxane matrix. At 850 °C, in all samples crystalline Co₂SiO₄ was formed and was the only crystallising phase for the nanocomposite with the lowest cobalt content. All materials retained high surface areas also after treatments at 600 °C and exhibited surface Lewis acidity, due to cationic sites. The presence of cobalt affected the textural properties of the siloxane matrix decreasing microporosity and increasing mesoporosity.     

Ba、Mn对Al2O3热稳定性和甲烷催化燃烧活性的影响

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备BaO•6Al2O3系列催化剂.考察了Ba、Mn的引入对Al2O3的热稳定性及甲烷催化燃烧性能的影响.结果表明, Ba在高温下与Al2O3首先生成BaAl2O4，然后进一步与Al2O3反应生成具有β-Al2O3结构的BaAl12O19六铝酸盐，抑制了Al2O3进一步的烧结，提高了催化剂的热稳定性. Mn的引入也能够促进六铝酸盐的生成并提高催化剂的甲烷燃烧活性.采用超临界干燥法可抑制干燥过程中因毛细收缩引起的比表面积降低.所制备的BaMnAl11O19催化剂经1200 ℃焙烧4 h后，比表面积为35.1 m2•g－1，在空速40000 h－1条件下，10％甲烷转化温度(T10％)为500 ℃，催化活性明显高于常规干燥法制备的相应催化剂.     

Preparation and Characterization of Porous Titania by Modified Sol-Gel Method

Mesoporous titania, especially anatase, is attractive due to its potential applications. A novel method to control pore structure of titania, surfactant- or polymer modification, is proposed. The wet gels and gel films, prepared from Ti(O-nC₄H₉)₄ were dried at 90°C and annealed at 500°C after immersion in surfactant or polymer solutions, and mesoporous anatase was obtained. The pore size, pore volume and specific surface area of the surfactant-modified bulk gels, estimated from N₂ absorption-desorption curves, are more than twice larger than those of the gels without modification. The pore size of the surfactant-modified gel films, observed by SEM, are similar to that of the bulk gels. The pore size obviously depended on the size of micelles. The pore size of the gels modified with hydrophilic polymers hardly increased, but the pore volume and the specific surface area increased.     

Nanocomposites based on nickel ferrites dispersed in sol–gel silica matrices

In this work, we describe the effects of thermal treatments on the structural, morphological, and textural properties of nanocomposites formed by nickel ferrite dispersed in xerogel and aerogel silica matrices. The catalytic properties for the total oxidation of an organochloro model contaminant, the chlorobenzene, are also evaluated. Wet samples with different amounts of NiFe₂O₄ in matrix were prepared by sol–gel process. Xerogels and aerogels obtained in monolithic form were prepared by controlled and hypercritical drying, respectively, and heated at temperatures between 300 and 1,100°C. The specific surface area and total pore volume of the samples change with heating mainly due to the variation on their texture. The xerogel treated at 500°C and the aerogel treated at 700°C showed the most catalytic activity, converting chlorobenzene at temperatures as low as 150°C, while the other catalysts were active only at temperatures higher than 300°C. No organic by-products were observed in the oxidation of chlorobenzene, suggesting that total oxidation takes place under the reaction conditions. A strong decrease in catalytic activity was observed for nanocomposites treated at 1,100°C, due to matrix densification, which led to the encapsulation of the ferrite particles and hindered the access of the gas to the ferrite surface.     

Protein Loading Capacity and Textural Properties of Column Packings in Reversed-Phase HPLC

Abstract

The relationship between the textural properties (pore size, pore volume and surface area) of reversed-phase silica gel packings for HPLC and the dynamic loading capacity of large biomolecules was studied by using silica gels manufactured by similar processes. Several silica gels whose unbonded pore diameters range from 100 to 250 A and whose pore volumes range from 1.0 to 1.4 ml/g have been prepared and characterized. The bonded phase is monomeric C18. The textural properties of the bonded silica gels are also presented and related to the properties of the unbonded silica gels.

Chromatographic evaluation with typical proteins in an underload-to-overload condition was performed in order to relate the influence of textural properties of silica gel to loading capacity and resolution. The packings with larger pore size and pore volume produced better column performance and higher loading of proteins.     

Effect of Precursor Drying Process on the Properties of LiFePO4/C Composite with Low Carbon Content

<正>Properties of two LiFePO_4/C composites with low carbon content synthesized from precursors dried by spray drying and blast drying are investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements. The two samples have a different morphology and particle size, while the structure of LiFePO_4 is unaffected. The LiFePO_4/C composite prepared from the precursor dried by blast drying has a much lower surface resistance and a much better rate capability because the deposited carbon is more graphite-like and more conductive. The cycling performance is also much better for the LiFePO_4/C composite prepared from the precursor dried by blast drying because only a slight impedance growth is involved upon cycling. These results suggest that the precursor drying process has a significant impact on the properties of LiFePO_4/C composite, and its effect is highly dependent on the carbon content.     

Characterization of Alumina Gel Catalysts by Emanation Thermal Analysis (ETA)

Alumina gels made from the metal alkoxide is known to have high catalyst activity for the selective reduction of NO _x by hydrocarbons. It is also reported that the fine structure of the gels effects the activity. In this study, the effect of the preparation method on the fine structure and catalyst activity of the gels was investigated. Monolithic gels were obtained by hydrolysis of Al(sec-C₄H₉O)₃. The wet gels were dried at 90°C (xerogels), supercritically dried (aerogels), or dried after immersion in an ethanol solution of methyltrimethoxysilane (modified xerogels). The changes in the microstructure during heating were discussed using the results of TG-DTA, ETA and N₂ adsorption. The ETA curves show the ²²⁰Rn-release rate, E, of the samples, previously labelled with ²²⁸Th and ²²⁴Ra, during heating. The decrease in E of the xerogel at temperatures higher than 400°C indicates a gradual decrease in the surface area and porosity. A remarkable decrease in the BET surface area of the xerogel was found after heat-treating at 500°C. On the other hand, constant E of the aerogels and modified xerogels above 450°C suggests high thermal stability. The pore radii, estimated by BJH method, and the catalyst activities at 500°C of the aerogels and the modified xerogels were higher than those of the xerogels. The temperature range in which the alumina gels are applicable as catalysts was determined.     

Application of Alumina Aerogels as Catalysts

Al₂O₃ gels prepared by hydrolysis of Al-alkoxide were applied as catalysts for NO reduction by hydrocarbon. Xerogels were obtained by drying at 90°C, for 24 h, in air. Aerogels were prepared by supercritical drying of the wet gels in ethanol, using an autoclave. The catalyst activity of the gels for NO reduction with C₃H₆ as determined at 200–600°C in a fixed bed flow reactor. NO conversion to N₂ was about 60% at 550°C with both catalysts, and at 600°C it was better with the aerogel than with the xerogel. The specific surface area of the xerogel, which was larger than that of the aerogel as-dried, decreased to 1/3 by annealing at >500°C. However, the surface area of the aerogel hardly changed by annealing at temperatures up to 700°C. The bimodal pore size distribution of the aerogel hardly changed by annealing, too. The microstructure of the aerogels is stable at high temperatures, and they are better catalysts at high temperatures.     

Thermal behavior of the composite xerogels of zirconium oxyhydroxide and silicic acid

Gels were prepared via sol?Cgel method by addition of zirconium oxychloride solution into sodium metasilicate (SZ) and sodium metasilicate solution into zirconium oxychloride (ZS) at varying final pH. Si/Zr molar ratio equaled 1/1. Synthesized gels were dried with calcium chloride until they reached a constant mass. SEM and nitrogen adsorption analysis have shown that SZ gels have surface area 175?C200?m^2?g^?1, consist of 20?C30?nm grains. ZS samples have surface area about 1?m^2?g^?1, consist of grains smaller than 10?nm. Thermal and X-ray phase analysis have shown that transition of amorphous ZrO₂ to crystalline form shifts from 430 to 850?C870?°C for SZ gels. Unlike zirconia gels phase transitions that proceed in order: ??amorphous (430?°C)??tetragonal (800?°C)??monoclinic (1,000?°C) phases??, the monoclinic phase in ZS gels appears immediately after transition from amorphous to crystalline state; the tetragonal phase in SZ samples is stable until 1,000?°C.     

TiO2 xerogels prepared by modified sol–gel method with ethylenediamine are photoactive for the 4-nitrophenol photoreduction

Amorphous and nanocrystalline TiO₂ xerogel semiconductors were synthesized by sol–gel using different hydrolysis pH conditions with and without ethylenediamine as structural modifier. Blue-shift of the optical-electronic properties was observed for the amorphous TiO₂ xerogel samples obtained in an alkaline hydrolysis medium. Different textural properties (specific surface area, N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherm and pore size distribution) were promoted by the use of ethylenediamine for the amorphous TiO₂ xerogel semiconductors, as well as high photocatalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. These results are discussed as function of the textural properties of the samples.     

A study on pore-opening behaviors of graphite nanofibers by a chemical activation process

In this work, porous graphite nanofibers (GNFs) were prepared by a KOH activation method in order to manufacture porous carbon nanofibers. The process was conducted in the activation temperature range of 900-1100 degrees C, and the KOH:GNFs ratio was fixed at 3.5:1. The textural properties of the porous carbons were analyzed using N2 adsorption isotherms at 77 K. The BET, D-R, and BJH equations were used to observe the specific surface areas and the micro- and mesopore structures, respectively. From the results, it was found that the textural properties, including the specific surface area and the pore volumes, were proportionally enhanced with increasing activation temperatures. However, the activation mechanisms showed quite significant differences between the samples activated at low and high temperatures.     

Effect of vacuum and of strong adsorbed water films on micropore formation in aluminum hydroxide xerogel powders

Aluminum hydroxide gels were washed with water, ethanol, methanol and isopropanol to obtain new gels with different liquid phases that were dried either in air at 120 degrees C or under vacuum at 80 degrees C. Drying in air leads to alcoholic xerogels with BET surface areas larger than the aqueous ones. The effect of the alcoholic groups as substitutes of the hydroxyl ones has been discussed to account for the final size of xerogel crystallites. Drying under vacuum decreases the BET surface of the methanol xerogels, but no micropores are formed in all the alcoholic xerogel matrixes. On the contrary, the vacuum drying process changes significantly the microstructure of the aqueous xerogels. Their BET surface increases by 34 m(2)/g, and micropores are formed within their crystallite aggregates. It has been experimentally shown that these changes are due to a shear transformation that occurs in the boehmite xerogels obtained under vacuum. To discuss these data, the existence of chemical compounds such as AlOOHnH(2)O was postulated. On this ground, a neat analogy between vacuum drying process and vacuum interfacial decomposition reactions of inorganic salts can be drawn. This analogy explains how a state of stresses forms in aqueous xerogel matrix during vacuum drying process.     

Dried gels from linear low-density polyethylene: Morphology,thermal behavior,and mechanical properties

Dried gels of a linear low-density polyethylene cast from decalin solutions are investigated with particular attention toward structural, thermal, and mechanical properties. The number-average and weight-average molecular weights are M_n = 32,000 and M_w = 160,000. In the concentration range 1.00–0.20, the swollen gels exhibit nearly isotropic shrinkage upon drying, which is relevant to an ideal crosslinked network behavior. For the concentrations below 0.20, a strong departure from the isotropic shrinkage indicates that the chains begin to disengage from the macromolecular network owing to the dilution effect. The melting behavior of the dried gels shows that crystallization from solution improves the crystal perfection notably as concerns the more defective crystals. The concomitant decrease of the crystal thickness judged from small-angle X-ray scattering is ascribed to a reduction of the surface free energy which is consistent with the build up of regular chain-folded macroconformations. The drawability of the dried gels is considerably improved with increasing dilution as a result of the gradual disentanglement of the coils prior to the crystallization in solution. But beyond concentration 0.20, the drawability drops because of the loss of intermolecular cohesion when the chains begin to disengage from the network. The drastic change of yield behavior between the melt-crystallized and solution-crystallized samples reveals a ductile-to-brittle transition in the mechanism of failure of the crystallites at low strain. This phenomenon is related to the improvement of regular chain-folding.