Studies of surface properties of pure and modified by Mn<Superscript>2+</Superscript> and Ni<Superscript>2+</Superscript> ions of aluminium oxide samples using complex methods

Complex studies of physicochemical properties of pure and modified of aluminia oxides samples are presented. The presence of Mn²⁺ and Ni²⁺ modifiers on the aluminium oxide surface causes increase in water adsorption capacity and decrease in benzene and n-octane adsorption. This is due to decrease of specific surface area, volume and radius of pores as a result of surface impregnation and microcrystal formation during modification with manganese and nickel chlorides. Microcrystal formation on the surface and porosity decrease as confirmed by AFM, EDX and powder diffraction studies using automated diffractometer by step scanning. From the Q-TG and Q-DTG data, the energies of liquid desorption from the surface of the samples and the functions of desorption, energy distribution were calculated. High degree of nonlinearity of the functions resulting from great heterogeneity of the studied surface was found. Adsorption of cations creates more homogeneous surface in aluminium oxide, and it is responsible for the change in adsorbate molecule interaction energy and changes mechanism of adsorption and desorption as well as thickness and structure of the adsorbed film. From the experimental data some parameters characterizing adsorption properties and porosity of the studied samples were determined using the complex measuring methods (thermal analysis, sorptometry, porosimetry, AFM and EDX).     

Studies of physicochemical properties of the surfaces with the chemically bonded phase of BSA

The paper presents the method of preparation and determination of physicochemical properties of silica gels with a chemically bonded BSA phase as well as studies of the effect of support porosity on the synthesis. Wide-porous Z-300 and narrow-porous Z-100 silica gels were studied. The investigations showed a significant effect of pore size on the synthesis of stationary phases with BSA. Modification with protein results in changes of adsorption properties and porosity of adsorbent samples. Changes of physicochemical properties result in significant changes of geometrical and structural heterogeneity of the support (specific surface area, fractal coefficient) as well as energetic heterogeneity of the samples. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Adsorption and porosity properties of pure and modified carbon nanotube surfaces

Modified carbon multiwall nanotubes were prepared via the oxidation process by means of 65% nitric acid or ferric nitrate dissolved with 65% nitric acid. Using special thermogravimetry and sorptometry methods physicochemical properties of pure and modified nanotube surfaces were investigated. A numerical and analytical procedure for the evaluation of total heterogeneous properties on the basis of liquid thermodesorption from the sample surfaces under the quasi-equilibrium conditions are presented. The calculations of the fractal dimensions of carbon nanotubes using the sorptometry and thermogravimetry data is presented.     

Estimation of total heterogeneity properties of carbon nanotubes

Physico-chemical properties (adsorption capacity, desorption energy distribution and pore-size distribution functions) of nanomaterial surfaces from selected materials, based on sorptometric and liquid thermodesorption measurements under quasi-equilibrium conditions, are presented. The fractal dimensions of nanotubes using sorptometric and AFM data have been evaluated. Comparison of thermogravimetric and other data provide new information about the adsorption and pore structure of the studied materials. The fractal dimensions of nanomaterial surfaces using sorptometry are in good agreement with those from AFM.     

Studies of surface properties of Na- and La-montmorillonites

This paper presents possible applications of thermal analysis, sorptometry and porosimetry to study physico-chemical properties of Na- and La-montmorillonite samples, especially for determination of total surface heterogeneity. The quasi-isothermal thermogravimetric (Q-TG) mass loss and its first derivative (Q-DTG) curves with respect to temperature and time obtained during programmed liquid thermodesorption under quasi-isothermal conditions have been used to study adsorbed layers and heterogeneous properties of the Na- and La-montmorillonites. Calculations of the desorption energy distribution functions by analytical procedure using mass loss Q-TG and differential mass loss Q-DTG curves of thermodesorption under quasi-isothermal conditions of polar and non-polar liquid vapours preadsorbed on a material surface are presented. Parameters relating to porosity of samples were determined by sorptometry, mercury porosimetry and atomic force microscopy (AFM). From nitrogen sorption isotherms from sorptometry and porosimetry methods, the fractal dimensions of montmorillonites have been calculated. Moreover, a new approach is proposed to calculate fractal dimensions of materials obtained from Q-TG curve; this is compared with values obtained by the above methods. The total heterogeneous properties (energy distribution function and pore-size distribution functions) of samples studied were estimated. The radius and pore volume of the tested samples calculated on the basis of thermogravimetry, sorptometry and porosimetry techniques were compared and good correlations obtained.     

介孔吸附剂表面分形分析

用自溶液中吸附的方法测定了介孔硅胶和活性炭的分形维数D.结果表明:(1)硅胶自四氯化碳或环已烷中吸附脂肪醇、酮、酯和含氧芳香化合物,活性炭自水中吸附芳香化合物的等温线均服从Langmuir方程.用极限吸附量n_m^s和表观分子面积σ_a,根据方程log n_m^s=-(D)/(2)log σ_a+常数,可计算出分维D. n_m^s和σ_a是根据Langmuir方程和吸附剂比表面数据求出的.(2)用液相吸附法求出的介孔硅胶的分维值与由气体吸附法求出的值相同,并均近于2.当表面曲率半径大于吸附分子大小时,吸附剂表面可是低分维的.(3)由液相吸附法得到的介孔活性炭的分维也近似为2.可能的解释是,活化作用改变了原始炭的微孔结构,使其成为介孔和大孔.介孔活性炭也可是低分维表面.     

Determination of total heterogeneity and fractal dimensions of high-temperature superconductors

Using thermo-analytical and sorptometric methods physicochemical properties and especially surface heterogeneity of HgBa₂Ca₂Cu₃O₈₊, (Hg-1223) was investigated. The desorption energy distribution was derived from mass loss Q-TG and differential mass loss Q-DTG curves of thermodesorption in quasi-isothermal conditions of pre-adsorbed n-octane and water vapour. It is shown that the superconducting Hg-1223 phase is highly sensitive to water vapours. The mechanism of water adsorption depends largely on the activation time. By water vapour saturation in a period of 90 min, physisorption takes place. Prolonged periods result in a chemical decomposition. From nitrogen ad- and desorption isotherms the fractal dimension of superconductors were calculated. A new approach is proposed to calculate fractal dimension from Q-TG curves.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Fractality of materials based on silica gel

Based on the analysis of the isotherms of N₂ adsorption, the fractal dimension and other texture geometric parameters were determined for silica gel, modified silica gel, and relevant composite materials. The correlations between the texture parameters were found. A criterion for the estimation of the efficiency of using the composite adsorbent volume was proposed. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 781–785, May, 2000.     

World of nanostructures - nanotechnology,surface properties of chosen nanomaterials

Summary The paper presents the basic information on nanotechnology and the recent results of studies of physicochemical properties of chosen nanomaterial surfaces (montmorillonites, carbon nanotubes, smart surfaces) by means of complex measuring methods. Physicochemical properties of nanomaterial surfaces by means of the special thermogravimetry Q-TG, sorptometry, porosimetry, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron micrograph (SEM) methods were investigated. A numerical and analytical procedure for the evaluation of total heterogeneous properties (desorption energy distribution and pore-size distribution functions) on the basis of liquid thermodesorption from the sample surfaces under the quasi-equilibrium conditions and sorptometry techniques are presented. The evaluation of the fractal dimensions of nanotubes using the sorptometry, porosimetry, thermogravimetry Q-TG and AFM data are presented. The comparison of fractal coefficients calculated based on them with the results from Q-TG, sorptometry, porosimetry and AFM gave good agreement.     

Influence of albumin adsorption on physico-chemical properties of alumina surfaces

The effect of albumin adsorption on neutral active aluminium oxide was investigated in the presence of polar and non-polar liquids. The adsorbed values were highest near the isoelectric point of albumin and varied in the range 5–10 and 3–11 mg g^–1 with phosphate buffer and potassium chloride respectively after 2 and 24 h. In the case of aluminium oxide the effect of albumin adsorption on total heterogeneity of adsorbents is not explicit. On the one hand, the modified samples showed decreasing surface area with increase of surface coverage with albumin. On the other hand, modifications under the same conditions but without albumin caused similar changes. These effects suggest the strong influence of medium pH on surface properties (due to surface polarization) and competitive co-adsorption of ions on the process. The volumetric fractal dimensions of the studied materials change in the range 2.25–2.32 for pure aluminium oxide and BSA modified from the phosphate solution. E _d,max values (desorption energy in the maximum of distribution function) diminish (in the range 40–45 kJ mol^–1) compared with pure aluminium oxide (E _d,max=52 kJ mol^–1) for water thermodesorption at modified surfaces to the increase of a number of active centers of hydrophobic character, and weakening of the adsorbent–adsorbate increases.     

Studies of heterogeneity properties of selected high-temperature superconductor surfaces

Nitrogen adsorption measured at 77 K was used to characterize the surface heterogeneity of high-temperature superconductor surfaces. Properties relating to adsorption and porosity of the solids (adsorption capacity, specific surface area, radii and volume of the pores, pore-size distribution function) were determined from nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for a series of oxide superconductors. It is shown that the adsorption isotherms of all samples are S-shaped and belong to type II according to the IUPAC classification. On the basis of the nitrogen adsorption isotherms and AFM data, fractal dimensions were determined and correlations found with adsorption and porosity parameters.     

Surface structural analysis of fine silica powder modified with butyl alcohol

The surface structure of modified silica powder has been studied by various experiments and simulations. In addition, the effect of surface structure on wettability has also been investigated. Nonporous silica powder was modified with n-and t-butyl alcohol. Two series of the modified silica surfaces were characterized by fractal dimension analysis from isotherms with some kinds of adsorptives. The fractal dimensions of the two series of modified surfaces were different from each other with an increase in modified ratio. The fractal dimension of the surface modified with t-butyl alcohol (t-modified surface) increased monotonously with butoxy group density. It is thought that the structure of the t-butoxy group is rigid and that the t-butoxy group cannot change its conformation. On the other hand, the variation of the surface fractal dimension value for the surface modified with n-butyl alcohol (n-modified surface), whose structure is flexible, was unique compared with the t-modified surface. Such discrepancy was assumed to be caused by the difference in the structure of the modifier and the assembled state of modifiers between the t- and n-modified surfaces. In order to investigate the variation of surface structure of the surface modified by the butoxy group with an increase in modified ratio, molecular dynamics simulations were performed. By comparing the results of these simulations with experimental results, it has been clarified that the variation in the mobility of the methyl group in the n-butoxy groups was closely related to the change in the surface fractal dimension value for the n-modified surface. It was then elucidated that this mobility change was caused by steric hindrance among the groups. Furthermore, the variation of conformation in the n-butoxy groups, which was obtained from molecular dynamics simulations, was in good agreement with the change in the wettability of the n-modified surface. It is suggested that the surface density of the modifier, the covering structure and the bulkiness significantly influence the wettability of the modified surface. Received: 6 April 1999 /Accepted in revised form: 24 August 1999     

Investigation on the isotherm of silica gel+water systems

This article presents results of the experimental investigation on the adsorption of the water vapor on silica gel. Two independent experimental methods has been used, viz. the constant-volume-variable-pressure (CVVP) system and variable pressure thermogravimetry (TG). Results from these two methods are compared with each other. Also the isosteric heat of adsorption of this system has been determined from the equilibrium data. The silica gels investigated here are Fuji Davison type 'A' and type 'RD'. Adsorption isotherm of water vapor have been measured under a variety of conditions all referring to chiller operation cycles, i.e. temperatures from 303 to 358 K and pressures from 500 to 7000 Pa. The data collected from the two independent experiments compare very favorably with each other and their trends are consistent with those of the adsorption chiller manufacturer. This lends significant weight to our experimental data on silica gel+water systems as being valuable to the adsorption chiller manufacturers and the scientific community. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Adsorption and porosity properties of carbon-covered alumina surfaces

Uniformly carbon-covered alumina (CCA) was prepared via the carbonisation of sucrose highly dispersed on the alumina surface. Using special thermogravimetry and sorptometry methods physicochemical properties of carbon-covered alumina surfaces were investigated. A numerical and analytical procedure for the evaluation of total heterogeneous properties (desorption energy distribution and pore-size distribution functions) on the basis of liquid thermodesorption from the sample surfaces under the quasi-equilibrium conditions are presented. The desorption energy distribution was derived from the mass loss Q-TG and the differential mass loss Q-DTG curves of thermodesorption of pre-adsorbed polar and apolar liquid films. For the first time, the evaluation of the fractal dimensions of carbon-covered alumina using the sorptometry, thermogravimetry and AFM data is presented.     

四乙烯五胺修饰介孔硅胶吸附CO2性能的研究

采用浸渍法将四乙烯五胺(TEPA)负载到介孔硅胶(SG)上,制备了一系列胺功能化的CO₂吸附材料(TEPA-SG).利用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)、热重分析(TGA)和N₂吸脱附等分析方法对样品进行了表征,并在固定床反应器中考察了TEPA负载量、吸附温度对CO₂吸附性能的影响,同时通过添加不同质量分数的聚乙二醇(PEG)考察了羟基对吸附性能及再生性能的促进作用.结果表明,当TEPA负载量为40%(质量分数)、吸附温度为70 ℃时,TEPA-SG的吸附量高达2.21 mmol/g;PEG的加入改变了氨基与CO₂的相互作用机理,当TEPA与PEG的质量比为3:1,总负载量为40%时,CO₂的吸附量为2.70 mmol/g,且经过10次吸脱附循环实验后,CO₂吸附量仍保持在2.66 mmol/g,表现出较好的循环稳定性.Clausius-Clapeyron方程计算得该过程的等量吸附热为30~40 kJ/mol,且随吸附量的增大等量吸附热逐渐减小,表明TEPA30/PEG10-SG吸附剂表面存在能量不均匀性.     

吸附聚丙烯酸对纳米碳管表面特征影响的研究

利用低温氮气吸附法系统研究了吸附聚丙烯酸 (PAA)的量对纳米碳管表面特征的影响 .分析结果表明 :当PAA吸附量增加到 2 68 98mg·g-1时 ,纳米碳管的比表面积下降了 46 97% ;虽然吸附PAA后的纳米碳管在 1 8nm以上的孔径分布特征基本上与原样一致 ,但孔容减少 ,这部分孔对比表面的贡献明显降低 ,同时出现 1 8nm以下的孔 ;通过氮气吸附等温线利用热力学方法计算的纳米碳管的表面分维值 (surfacefractaldimension)dSF由原样的 2 5 4下降至吸附后的 2 48,表明吸附PAA分子能够降低纳米碳管的粗糙度 .这些说明堵孔效应和屏蔽效应是纳米碳管表面特征改变的主要因素 ,这一研究对纳米碳管在吸附、催化等方面的应用有着非常重要的意义 .     

Competitive adsorption of fibrinogen and albumin onto polymer microspheres having hydrophilic/hydrophobic heterogeneous surface structures

The competitive adsorption of bovine fibrinogen (BFb) and bovine serum albumin onto polymer microspheres from the mixture solution was examined under various protein-to-microsphere ratios using various homopolymer microspheres and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)/polystyrene composite microspheres having heterogeneous surface structures consisting of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts. They were produced by emulsifier-free (seeded) emulsion polymerizations. The selective adsorption of BFb was not observed for the homopolymer microspheres, but observed for the composite polymer microspheres having optimum compositions.Part CXXXVIII on the series Studies on Suspension and Emulsion     

Surface characterization and heats of adsorption of chromatographic alumina gel

The porous nature of chromatographic alumina gel has been investigated by adsorption/condensation processes and electron microscopy. Having 63% porosity, the gel is very porous. Total pore volume as determined by the fluid-displacement method is 0.497 cm³ g^–1. Its specific surface area, as determined by water vapor adsorption, is 225 m² g^–1. Micropore volume, as determined by utilizing Gurwitsch's rule, turns out to be 0.262 cm³ g^–1. The greater portion of the surface area and pore volume occurs in small and transitional pores, with average pore radii (hydraulic) less than 2.1 nm.Organic vapors, such as methyl ethyl ketone, acetone, methyl acetate, and methyl alcohol, were adsorbed on the gel between 0 and 36°C under vacuum, and the data were recorded on a Cahn-1000 electrobalance device. Isosteric heats of adsorption were calculated by applying the Clausius Clapeyron equation to the adsorption isosters at different surface coverages. Two types of adsorption processes, one with low activation energy and other with high activation energy can be distinguished. The increase in values ofq _st indicates that increasing temperature changes physical adsorption into chemisorption.     

Application of fractal geometry for studies of heterogeneity properties of nanomaterials

Calculations based on the fractal geometry in the estimation of surface heterogeneity are superior compared with conventional calculation methods (e.g. from the data of gas adsorption or X-ray radiation scattering) as they can be applied without limitation as far as the range of surface sizes of the studied structures is concerned. This paper presents structural characteristics of carbon and carbon- free nanomaterials based on the determined surface and volumetric fractal coefficients. Fractal coefficients were determined from the data obtained by means of two independent methods: sorptometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Correlation between porosity parameters and fractal coefficients is presented.     

Surface immobilization of poly(ethylene oxide): Structure and properties

We covalently immobilized poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) chains onto a fluorinated ethylene propylene copolymer (FEP) surface. On the FEP surface, aldehyde groups were first deposited by plasma polymerization of acetaldehyde or acrolein. Then, amino‐PEO chains were immobilized through Schiff base formation, which was followed by reduction stabilization with sodium cyanoborohydride. The PEO‐grafted polymer surfaces thus prepared were characterized by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy, contact‐angle measurements, and protein adsorption. The dramatic increase in the C O intensity of the high‐resolution XPS C 1s spectrum, together with an overall increase in oxygen content, indicated the successful attachment of PEO chains onto the acetaldehyde plasma surfaces. The amount of grafted PEO chains depended on the superfacial density of the plasma‐generated aldehyde groups. The grafted monoamino‐PEO chains formed a brushlike structure on the polymer surface, whereas the bisamino‐PEO chains predominately adopted a looplike conformation. The PEO surface had a regular morphology with greater roughness than the aldehyde surface underneath. Surface hydrophilicity increased with the grafting of PEO. Also, the bisamino‐PEO‐grafted surface had slightly higher surface hydrophilicity than its monoamino‐PEO counterpart. These PEO coatings reduced fibrinogen adsorption by 43% compared with the substrate FEP surface. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 2323–2332, 2000