Application of a gas-liquid entraining rotor to supercritical fluid extraction : Removal of iron(III) from water

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of aqueous solutions is often limited by poor mass transport. The performance of a new gas-liquid entraining device was investigated to improve mass transport and thereby increase extraction efficiency. As a test system, iron(III) was extracted from water with a β-diketone chelating agent (HL) and supercritical fluid carbon dioxide. Metal β-diketonate complexes with sufficient solubility in supercritical fluid CO₂ are often poorly extracted from aqueous solutions due to limited mass transport between the water-soluble metal ion and the CO₂-soluble chelating agent. The new entraining device maximizes contact between the ligand-rich CO₂ phase and the metal ion-rich aqueous phase. Iron(III) was extracted from water with the chelating agent 2,2,7-trimethyl-3,5-octanedione (H(tod)) and supercritical fluid CO₂ at 60 °C and 20.8 MPa. With entrainment, 79% of the iron was removed from the aqueous phase. This represents a three-fold increase in iron extraction efficiency over that of a static system.     

Facile H2O2 Hydrothermal Synthesis of Bimodal Mesoporous Silica MCM-48 Spheres

The ordered bimodal mesoporous silica MCM-48 spheres were facile synthesized by mild-temperature post-synthesis H₂O₂ hydrothermal treatment of as-synthesized MCM-48. The results showed that H₂O₂ is indispensable for simultaneously removing organic templates and forming ordered bimodal mesoporous silica MCM-48 spheres. The bimodal mesoporous MCM-48 was characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron micrographs, FT-IR, and N₂ adsorption-desorption, and a possible mechanism was proposed for the formation of bimodal mesoporous MCM-48.     

Characterization of CoMCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves obtained by the microwave irradiation method

CoMCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves with different amounts of cobalt were synthesized via the microwave irradiation method. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N₂ adsorption-desorption technique, and thermal and hydrothermal stabilities of synthesized CoMCM-41 samples were also investigated. Results show that these synthesized materials have typical mesoporous structure of MCM-41. Also, specific surface area and pore volume of synthesized CoMCM-41 decrease with increasing amount of cobalt added, and mesoporous ordering also decreases. When the molar ratio of SiO₂:CoO in the starting material is 1.0:0.05, mesoporous ordering of synthesized CoMCM-41 is the best among the four doping contents. On the other hand, results of thermal and hydrothermal tests show that CoMCM-41 after calcination at 750 °C for 3 h or hydrothermal treatment at 100 °C for 5 days still retains mesostructure. However, mesoporous framework is entirely damaged after calcination at 850 °C for 3 h.     

Preparation of supported mesoporous thin films concerning template removal by supercritical fluid extraction

Thin films of silicate MCM-41 and silicate MCM-48 have been prepared on porous ceramic supports by the hydrothermal method. A comparative study of template removal has been made on supported thin films and on powder. By supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with CH(3)OH-modified CO(2), at least 78% of the template can be removed from as-synthesized materials at 85 degrees C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) observations indicate that the resulting supported thin films after SFE are structurally stable and ordered with a weak pore contraction. The advantages of SFE over calcination in template removal are presented with a series of results obtained on supported thin films and on powder by XRD and N(2) adsorption-desorption.     

介孔氧化硅孔径尺寸对Eu(Ⅲ)配合物的影响

分别以十六烷基三甲基溴化铵(CTAB)和聚乙氧基-聚丙氧基-聚乙氧基三嵌段共聚物(P123)为模板剂、正硅酸乙酯(TEOS)为硅源，采用水热法合成了有序介孔分子筛MCM-41和SBA-15。选择Eu(DBM)₃phen为客体，有序介孔氧化硅MCM-41和SBA-15为载体，分别在氯仿中进行分子组装，制备出具有较强发光性能的介孔复合材料Eu(DBM)₃phen/APTES-MCM-41(EAM)和Eu(DBM)₃phen/APTES-SBA-15(EAS)。采用XRD、TEM、N₂吸附-脱附和荧光光谱等对产物的结构与性能进行了分析。结果表明，Eu(DBM)₃phen组装进有序介孔氧化硅的孔道中后，发光纯度提高。而且孔径越小，发光纯度越高。选用较大孔径的SBA-15为载体，在不显著影响发光纯度的同时，可以获得较高的发光强度。     

Investigation of Mg modified mesoporous silicas and their CO2 adsorption capacities

CO₂ adsorption properties on Mg modified silica mesoporous materials were investigated. By using the methods of co-condensation, dispersion and ion-exchange, Mg²⁺ was introduced into SBA-15 and MCM-41, and transformed into MgO in the calcination process. The basic MgO can provide active sites to enhance the acidic CO₂ adsorption capacity. To improve the amount and the dispersion state of the loading MgO, the optimized modification conditions were also investigated. The XRD and TEM characteristic results, as well as the CO₂ adsorption performance showed that the CO₂ adsorption capacity not only depended on the pore structures of MCM-41 and SBA-15, but also on the improvement of the dispersion state of MgO by modification. Among various Mg modified silica mesoporous materials, the CO₂ adsorption capacity increased from 0.42 mmol g⁻¹ of pure silica SBA-15 to 1.35 mmol g⁻¹ of Mg–Al–SBA-15-I1 by the ion-exchange method enhanced with Al³⁺ synergism. Moreover, it also increased from 0.67 mmol g⁻¹ of pure silica MCM-41 to 1.32 mmol g⁻¹ of Mg–EDA–MCM-41-D10 by the dispersion method enhanced with the incorporation of ethane diamine. The stability test by 10 CO₂ adsorption/desorption cycles showed Mg–urea–MCM-41-D10 possessed quite good recyclability.     

In situ grafting of cyclopentadienyl-molybdenum complexes on mesoporous materials: The reaction of [η-CpMo(CO)3]Na with surface fixed iodo-benzyl siloxane

Na⁺[η⁵-CpMo(CO)₃]⁻ is grafted on aromatic silane (iodo-benzyl trimethoxy silane) modified surfaces of MCM-41 and MCM-48 molecular sieves. The XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, and TEM analysis provide strong evidence that the mesoporous structure of the supporting materials retains its long range ordering after the grafting process, despite significant reductions of the surface area, pore-volume and pore size. The appearance of strong IR bands around 2016 and 1956 cm⁻¹ as well as 3010 cm⁻¹ on the grafted samples showing the presence of carbonyl as well as aromatic functional groups, evidences the successful grafting of the η⁵-CpMo(CO)₃ complexes. Elemental analysis reveals 6.4 and 8.3 wt% Mo on the SM-41ASG and SM-48ASG samples, respectively. The appearance of new ²⁹Si CP MAS-NMR peaks around −61.4, and −69.6 ppm (T₂ and T₃) indicates the esterification of silanol groups by the methoxy group of the silane ligand. The samples prepared by this in situ method show high loading of Mo and also good catalytic activity and selectivity for olefin-epoxidation.     

Reaction of the novel Ru<Subscript>3</Subscript>(CO)<Subscript>10</Subscript>[Ph<Subscript>2</Subscript>P(CH<Subscript>2</Subscript>)<Subscript>2</Subscript>Si(OEt<Subscript>3</Subscript>)]<Subscript>2</Subscript> complex on SBA-15 and MCM-41 mesoporous silicas

The reaction of Ru₃(CO)₁₂ with 2(diphenylphosphino)ethyl-triethoxysilane (DPTS) in hydrocarbons, leads to the functionalized Ru₃(CO)_12−n [Ph₂P(CH₂)₂Si(OEt₃)] _n (n = 1,2) complexes. The complex with two phosphine substituents was chemically anchored on mesoporous silicas, SBA-15 and MCM-41, in order to obtain two hybrid materials characterized by a different localization of the metal centre on the surface of the porous supports. A detailed investigation of the cluster, before and after chemical anchoring on the mesoporous silicas, was pursued. Particular attention was also devoted to the study of the morphological, structural and textural properties of the metal-functionalised silicas (Ru/SBA-15 and Ru/MCM-41) by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and N₂ physisorption analysis.     

Synthesis and photocatalytic activity of co-doped mesoporous TiO2 on Brij98/CTAB composite surfactant template

Using composite surfactant templates, polyoxyethylene (20) oleyl ether (Brij98) and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), as structure-directing agents, N and La co-doped mesoporous TiO₂ complex photocatalysts were synthesized successfully. The micromorphology of co-doped mesoporous TiO₂ samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) and N₂ adsorption-desorption measurements. The results indicated that the complex photocatalyst prepared with a molar ratio of Brij98:CTAB=1:1 showed a uniform pore size of ca. 7 nm and a high specific surface area (S_BET) of 279.0 m² g⁻¹, and exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity for degradation of papermaking wastewater under ultra-violet light irradiation. The chemical oxygen demand (CODc_r) percent degradation was about 73% in 12 h and chroma percent degradation was 100% in 8 h.     

Optimisation of supercritical fluid extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their nitrated derivatives adsorbed on highly sorptive diesel particulate matter

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was performed to extract complex mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nitrated derivatives (nitroPAHs) and heavy n-alkanes from spiked soot particulates that resulted from the incomplete combustion of diesel oils. This polluted material, resulting from combustion in a light diesel engine and collected at high temperature inside the particulate filter placed just after the engine, was particularly resistant to conventional extraction techniques, such as soxhlet extraction, and had an extraction behaviour that differed markedly from certified reference materials (SRM 1650). A factorial experimental design was performed, simultaneously modelling the influence of four SFE experimental factors on the recovery yields, i.e.: the temperature and the pressure of the supercritical fluid, the nature and the percentage of the organic modifier added to CO₂ (chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, methylene chloride), as a means to reach the optimal extraction yields for all the studied target pollutants. The results of modelling showed that the supercritical fluid pressure had to be kept at its maximum level (30 MPa) and the temperature had to be kept relatively low (75 °C). Under these operating conditions, adding 15% of methylene chloride to the CO₂ permitted quantitative extraction of not only light PAHs and their nitrated derivatives, but also heavy n-alkanes from the spiked soots. However, heavy polyaromatics were not quantitatively extracted from the refractory carbonaceous solid surface. As such, original organic modifiers were tested, including pyridine, which, as a strong electron donor cosolvent (15% into CO₂), was the most successful. The addition of diethylamine to pyridine, which enhanced the electron donor character of the cosolvent, even increased the extraction yields of the heaviest PAHs, leading to a quantitative extraction of all PAHs (more than 79%) from the diesel particulate matter, with detection limits ranging from 0.5 to 7.8 ng for 100 mg of spiked material. Concerning the nitrated PAHs, a small addition of acetic acid into pyridine, as cosolvents, gave the best results, leading to fair extraction yields (approximately 60%), with detection limits ranging from 18 to 420 ng.     

Oxidative Desulfurization of Model Diesel Fuel by Vanadium Granular-Shape Mesoporous (V/GMS) Silica System as Nanocatalyst

The performance of V-containing granular-shape mesoporous (V/GSM) silica systems in oxidative desulfurization of model diesel fuel was studied. FTIR, XRD, SEM, TEM, N₂ adsorption-desorption, UV-Vis, and NH₃-TPD techniques were used to analyze the surface properties of the functionalized catalyst. The mesostructure of silica remains intact after vanadium modifications as shown by XRD and adsorption-desorption analysis, while spectroscopy indicates the successful impregnation of neat vanadium oxide inside the porous silica support. The oxidation desulfurization of model diesel fuel was effectively catalyzed by this catalyst and the highest activity was shown by 4.8% V/GSM catalyst. Compared with their conventional V/MCF and V/MCM-41 counterparts, SSM-supported vanadium catalysts showed much higher activity. This may be associated with the higher reducibility and better diffusion of reactants and products in V/MCF and V/MCM-41catalysts.     

Amino-functionalized mesoporous silica modified glassy carbon electrode for ultra-trace copper(II) determination

This paper described a facile and direct electrochemical method for the determination of ultra-trace Cu²⁺ by employing amino-functionalized mesoporous silica (NH₂-MCM-41) as enhanced sensing platform. NH₂-MCM-41 was prepared by using a post-grafting process and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. NH₂-MCM-41 modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode showed higher sensitivity for anodic stripping voltammetric (ASV) detection of Cu²⁺ than that of MCM-41 modified one. The high sensitivity was attributed to synergistic effect between MCM-41 and amino-group, in which the high surface area and special mesoporous morphology of MCM-41 can cause strong physical absorption, and amino-groups are able to chelate copper ions. Some important parameters influencing the sensor response were optimized. Under optimum experimental conditions the sensor linearly responded to Cu²⁺ concentration in the range from 5 to 1000 ng L⁻¹ with a detection limit of 0.9 ng L⁻¹ (S/N = 3). Moreover, the sensor possessed good stability and electrode renewability. In the end, the proposed sensor was applied for determining Cu²⁺ in real samples and the accuracy of the results were comparable to those obtained by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) method.     

Adsorption of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-containing gas mixtures over amine-bearing pore-expanded MCM-41 silica: application for CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> separation

Adsorption of CO₂, N₂, CH₄ and H₂ on triamine-grafted pore-expanded MCM-41 mesoporous silica (TRI-PE-MCM-41) was investigated at room temperature in a wide range of pressure (up to 25 bar) using gravimetric measurements. The material was found to exhibit high affinity toward CO₂ in comparison to the other species over the whole range of pressure. Column-breakthrough dynamic measurements of CO₂-containing mixtures showed very high selectivity toward CO₂ over N₂, CH₄ and H₂ at CO₂ concentrations within the range of 5 to 50%. These conditions are suitable for effective removal of CO₂ at room temperature from syngas, flue gas and biogas using temperature swing (TS) or temperature-pressure swing (TPS) regeneration mode. Moreover, TRI-PE-MCM-41 was found to be highly stable over hundreds of adsorption-desorption cycles using TPS as regeneration mode.     

Determination of additives in cosmetics by supercritical fluid extraction on-line headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A new hyphenated technique couples supercritical fluid extraction in situ derivatization and on-line headspace solid-phase microextraction to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SFE in situ derivatization on-line HS-SPME-GC-MS) for the determination of paraben preservatives and polyphenolic antioxidants in cosmetics. The preservatives and antioxidants were extracted from the cosmetic matrices with supercritical carbon dioxide at a pressure of 13,840 kPa. The supercritical fluid extraction was performed at 55 °C for 10 min of static extraction then 15 min of dynamic extraction. The extractant subsequently was derivatized in situ with the silylation reagent N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide with 0.1% trimethylchlorosilane. The product was then adsorbed on a polyacrylate solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber in the headspace. Sea sand was used as a dispersive material in the SFE step. The analytical linear ranges for the preservatives and antioxidants were found to be from 10 to 1000 ng g⁻¹ with RSD values below 7.8%. The detection limits ranged from 0.5 to 8.3 ng g⁻¹. These results are better than those obtained by using only SPME or SFE for trace preservatives and antioxidants analysis in cosmetic matrices. The new method was successfully utilized to determine the amounts of preservatives and antioxidants in real cosmetics without the need for tedious pretreatments.     

Inert matrix and Na4EDTA improve the supercritical fluid extraction efficiency of fluoroquinolones for HPLC determination in pig tissues

A supercritical fluid extraction method combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection was developed for the determination of enrofloxacin, danofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin in pig muscle, lung, and kidney samples. The optimal SFE conditions were 80 °C, 300 kg/cm², 30% methanol for 40 min as a dynamic extraction time, in addition to 0.2 g Na₄EDTA and 7.0 g sea sand in the extraction vessel. The use of Na₄EDTA and sea sand on SFE extraction resulted in improvement of the recoveries of ciprofloxacin, a polar and hydrophilic compound, as well as enrofloxacin and danofloxacin. Overall, the recoveries ranged from 86.7 to 113.1% using the Na₄EDTA/sea sand-assisted SFE extraction method. The Na₄EDTA/sea sand-assisted SFE-HPLC-FLD validated method was successfully carried out in pig tissues, and proved to be specific, sensitive, reliable, and accurate. The method was also applied satisfactorily for accurate quantitative residue analysis in incurred pig tissues.     

Mesoporous materials incorporating a zinc(II) complex: Synthesis and direct luminescence quantum yield determination

New luminescent inorganic–organic hybrid materials incorporating the luminescent zinc(II) complex ZnL₂ (λ_em = 457 nm and Φ_em = 4.4% reference values for ZnL₂; HL = chelating ligand resulting from the reaction between salicylaldehyde and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane), covalently bonded to different types of mesoporous silica hosts (namely MCM-41, MCM-48 and SBA-15), were prepared via both the methods of grafting post-synthesis (GPS) and one-pot synthesis (OPS). The products obtained, which form the GPS [(GPS)(Zn/MCM-41), (GPS)(Zn/MCM-48), (GPS)(Zn/SBA-15)] and the OPS [(OPS)(Zn/MCM-41), (OPS)(Zn/MCM-48), (OPS)(Zn/SBA-15)] series, contain the ZnL₂ guest covalently bonded to the silica framework through silicon–oxygen bonds formed when the silane group is placed at the periphery of the Zn(II) coordination sphere. GPS and OPS materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, N₂ adsorption/desorption, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and UV/vis spectroscopy. For the new mesoporous materials the emission quantum yield (EQY) was measured by means of an integrating sphere combined with a spectrofluorimeter. The ZnL₂ loading (measured by the ZnL₂/SiO₂ ratio calculated from TGA data) for MCM-41 appears to be independent of the synthesis procedure, whereas, for both MCM-48 and SBA-15, the ZnL₂/SiO₂ ratio of the materials obtained via OPS is about four times higher than products obtained from GPS. The ZnL₂ loaded GPS and OPS series show λ_em maxima at about 485 and 455 nm, respectively. Moreover, with reference to EQY (GPS)(Zn/SBA-15) and (OPS)(Zn/SBA-15), although featuring ZnL₂/SiO₂ ratios of 0.13 and 0.45, respectively, they showed similar EQY values: 2% and 5%. On the contrary, (GPS)(Zn/MCM-41) and (OPS)(Zn/MCM-41) which give similar ZnL₂/SiO₂ ratios (0.09 and 0.14) exhibit very different EQY, i.e. 2% and 22%, respectively.     

Stripping of photoresist on silicon wafer by CO(2) supercritical fluid

Supercritical CO₂-based fluid is not only being considered as environmentally benign medium for photoresist (PR) removal in electronic device manufacture, but also capable of challenging feature dimensions. Despite many attractive properties, clear supercritical CO₂ has little solvating power for PR. Here, two acetate modifiers were selective to add in the CO₂ and evaluated individual contribution to the overall stripping rate by factorial experiment design, which included four other factors with four level ranges for each one and concluded the best 90% extraction efficiency would be obtained under the optimized parameters: 2.5 min static time, 35 min dynamic time, 1.25 ml ethylacetate spiked, 125 °C oven temperature and 480 atm CO₂ pressure. As analyzing the variances of these contributors to this system, it disclosed that dynamics controlled the stripping mechanism before near 35 min purging but thermodynamics took over after then; and that increasing pressure was more competent for removing PR than increasing temperature. All supercritical extracts were from two commercial PR coated on two substrates and analyzed by UV absorption spectrometry. Removing PR coated on silicon oxide layer was easier than that on Al-Cu alloy one.     

Microwave absorption properties and infrared emissivities of ordered mesoporous C-TiO2 nanocomposites with crystalline framework

Ordered mesoporous C-TiO₂ nanocomposites with crystalline framework were prepared by the evaporation-induced triconstituent co-assembly method. The products were characterized by XRD, TEM, N₂ adsorption-desorption and TG. Their microwave absorption properties were investigated by mixing the product and epoxy resin. It is found that the peak with minimum reflection loss value moves to lower frequencies and the ordered mesoporous C-TiO₂ nanocomposite possesses an excellent microwave absorbing property with the maximum reflection loss of −25.4 dB and the bandwidth lower than −10 dB is 6.6 GHz. The attenuation of microwave can be attributed to dielectric loss and their absorption mechanism is discussed in detail. The mesoporous C-TiO₂ nanocomposites also exhibit a lower infrared emissivity in the wavelength from 8 to 14 μm than that of TiO₂-free powder.     

Effect of amine functionalization of spherical MCM-41 and SBA-15 on controlled drug release

MCM-41 and SBA-15 silica materials with spherical morphology and different particle sizes were synthesized and modified by post-synthesis method with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). A comparative study of the adsorption and release of a model drug, ibuprofen, were carried out. The modified and drug loaded mesoporous materials were characterized by XRD, TEM, N₂ physisorption, thermal analysis, elemental analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. Surface modification with amino groups resulted in high degree of ibuprofen loading and slow rate of release for MCM-41, whereas it was the opposite for SBA-15. The adsorbed drug content and the delivery rate can be predetermined by the choice of mesoporous material with the appropriate structural characteristics and surface functionality.     

GC–MS Studies of Thiophenes in the Supercritical Fluid CO2 and Solvent Extracts of Tagetes patula L.

The intact plant parts and genetically modified hairy root clone #TpA6 of Tagetes patula were extracted with supercritical fluid CO₂ extraction (SFE) and a conventional solvent extraction. SFE optimization included the variation of fluid CO₂ pressure, dynamic time, and the addition of methanol modifier co-solvent. The four characteristic thiophene metabolites, 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2′-bithienyl (BBT), 2,2′:5′,2″-terthiophene (α-T), 5-(4-acetoxy-1-butynyl)-2,2′-bithienyl (BBTOAc), and 5-(3,4-diacetoxy-1-butynyl)-2,2′-bithienyl [BBT(OAc)₂], were analysed by GC–MS. The proposed SFE method allowed the selective extraction of thiophenes in 60 min dynamic time with supercritical CO₂ without modifier co-solvent, at 30 MPa and 40 °C. The SFE and the reference solvent extraction yielded similar results. The SFE of intact roots and flowers yielded 717 ± 31.3 and 480 ± 26.6 μg g^?1 α-T, respectively, while the leaves did not contain considerable amounts of thiophenes. Remarkable amounts of BBT, BBTOAc, and BBT(OAc)₂ were characteristic of the SFE of hairy root cultures.