The surface of ordered mesoporous benzene-silica hybrid material: an infrared and ab initio molecular modeling study

Joint IR and computational results allow a detailed characterization of the surface properties of a mesoporous benzene-silica hybrid material with crystal-like wall structure. After outgassing at 450 degrees C, hydroxyl species mainly consist of noninteracting silanols, with both O-H and Si-O stretching modes at lower frequencies than those of SiOH in silica. Interaction with several probe molecules, followed both by experiment and calculus, shows that the aryl group in the coordination sphere of Si imparts a lesser acidity with respect to the isolated silanol in silica. In contrast, adsorption isotherms indicate that the interaction with acetone is stronger with benzene-silica than with silica: this is interpreted in terms of secondary interactions taking place between the slightly acidic CH in acetone and the electronic cloud in benzene-like rings. This suggests that both the inorganic component and the organic one play a role in dictating the surface behavior.     

Phenol adsorption on different nano-sized carbon materials: first comparative study

Carbon nanofibres and multi-branched carbon nanotubes are synthesized by using a new, proposed in this study method. The acid–base, adsorption and geometric properties of nanomaterials are characterised. Next we present first comparative adsorption and calorimetric studies of phenol uptake from aqueous solutions on mentioned nano-sized carbon materials and on nanotubes having similar diameter. The comparison of carbon nanofibres, multi-branched carbon nanotubes, and multi walled carbon nanotubes shows that for non-porous carbon nanomaterials the concentration of basic surface functionalities determines the mechanism of phenol adsorption. In consequence, larger phenol adsorption is recorded for the most basic nanomaterials (nanofibres and multi walled nanotubes) and smaller for multi branched nanotubes having the smallest surface concentration of basic groups. Possible explanation of differences between enthalpy of phenol displacement on graphite and on studied carbon adsorbents is also given.     

Sulfuric acid-functionalized mesoporous benzene-silica with a molecular-scale periodicity in the walls

Novel sulfuric acid-functionalized mesoporous benzene-silicas with a molecular-scale periodicity in the walls were derived from the mesoporous benzene-silica possessing mercaptopropyl groups by the oxidative transformation of -SH into -SO3H.     

Layered tungsten oxide-based organic-inorganic hybrid materials: an infrared and Raman study

Tungsten oxide-organic layered hybrid materials have been studied by infrared and Raman spectroscopy and demonstrate a difference in bonding nature as the length of the interlayer organic "spacer" molecule is increased. Ethylenediamine-tungsten oxide clearly displays a lack of terminal -NH3(+) ammonium groups which appear in hybrids with longer organic molecules, thus indicating that the longer chains are bound by electrostatic interactions as well as or in place of the hydrogen bonding that must be present in the shorter chain ethylenediamine hybrids. The presence of organic molecules between the tungsten oxide layers, compared with the layered tungstic acid H2WO4, shows a decrease in the apical W=O bond strength, as might be expected from the aforementioned electrostatic interaction.     

Mesoporous materials with zeolite framework: remarkable effect of the hierarchical structure for retardation of catalyst deactivation

Hierarchical MFI zeolite was synthesized following a synthesis route using organic-inorganic hybrid surfactants; the resultant zeolite with mesoporous/microporous hierarchical structure exhibited remarkably high resistance to deactivation in catalytic activity of various reactions such as isomerization of 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, cumene cracking, and esterification of benzyl alcohol with hexanoic acid, as compared with conventional MFI and mesoporous aluminosilicate MCM-41.     

Functionalized mesoporous materials for adsorption and release of different drug molecules: A comparative study

The adsorption capacity and release properties of mesoporous materials for drug molecules can be improved by functionalizing their surfaces with judiciously chosen organic groups. Functionalized ordered mesoporous materials containing various types of organic groups via a co-condensation synthetic method from 15% organosilane and by post-grafting organosilanes onto a pre-made mesoporous silica were synthesized. Comparative studies of their adsorption and release properties for various model drug molecules were then conducted. Functional groups including 3-aminopropyl, 3-mercaptopropyl, vinyl, and secondary amine groups were used to functionalize the mesoporous materials while rhodamine 6G and ibuprofen were utilized to investigate the materials’ relative adsorption and release properties. The self-assembly of the mesoporous materials was carried out in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant, which produced MCM-41 type materials with pore diameters of ∼2.7-3.3 nm and moderate to high surface areas up to ∼1000 m²/g. The different functional groups introduced into the materials dictated their adsorption capacity and release properties. While mercaptopropyl and vinyl functionalized samples showed high adsorption capacity for rhodamine 6G, amine functionalized samples exhibited higher adsorption capacity for ibuprofen. While the diffusional release of ibuprofen was fitted on the Fickian diffusion model, the release of rhodamine 6G followed Super Case-II transport model.     

IR spectroscopic investigation of internal silanol groups in different zeolites with pentasil structure

Various isomorphically substituted high-silica zeolites, including ZSM-5, beta, ferrisilicates, gallosilicates and borosilicates, were investigated by diffuse reflectance IR spectroscopy. The narrow band at 3735 cm–1 and the broad band at 3500 cm–1 were assigned to internal silanol groups. These defect sites in the as-synthesized Na-forms of zeolites arise during the template decomposition.     

Local order and dynamics in supercooled water: a study by IR spectroscopy and molecular dynamic simulations

Micron-sized water droplets in a cryogenic flow tube were probed by IR spectroscopy. The analysis of the IR spectra suggests that there is a relative increase of about 30% in the fraction, f(L), of low density domains in water on cooling over the temperature range between 300 and 240 K. The results derived from the experiments agree qualitatively with those of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in terms of the increase in the f(L) values. The MD simulations show that the intensities of the mode at about 100 cm(-1) for the molecules in the low density domains are reduced in comparison to the average, while the intensities and frequencies of the librational mode at 600 cm(-1) are increased. Furthermore, the reorientations (dielectric relaxation times) in these domains are found to be somewhat slower, pointing to the fact that these low density "cages" live longer than the average local molecular environments in supercooled water.     

Acetylacetone, an interesting anchoring group for ZnO-based organic-inorganic hybrid materials: a combined experimental and theoretical study

Acetylacetone (acacH) adsorption on ZnO (10-10) surface has been studied by a theoretical periodic approach using density functional theory. Two dissociative adsorption modes were investigated and compared to the most stable adsorption mode of formic acid. Acetylacetone appears as a suitable anchoring group for hybrid materials, with adsorption energies of the same order of magnitude as formic acid. IR spectra of the acac/ZnO systems were computed in order to determine the spectral signature of adsorption and, possibly, of each adsorption mode to follow the coordination of acac on ZnO at the experimental level. The results have been compared to Fourier transform infrared (attenuated total reflection-IR) experimental spectra. The present investigation points out the interest of acetylacetone as an anchoring group for the development of new ZnO-based functionalized hybrid layers for corrosion protection, light emitting diodes, photocatalytic systems, and dye-sensitized solar cells.     

Green synthesis of banana flavor using different catalysts: a comparative study of different methods

ABSTRACT

Esterification of isoamyl alcohol with acetic acid was studied using different ion-exchange resins, namely Amberlyst 15 dry, Amberlyst 16 wet, Amberlite 120-IR. Esterification was carried out using different esterification methods that are quite new (ohmic, ultrasonic probe, and ultrasonic bath) and the results were compared with microwave-assisted esterification (MAE). The highest isoamyl acetate yield (99%) was obtained by MAE, using a mixture of acetic acid and isoamyl alcohol (mole ratio of 1:2) after 2?h of reaction time. In this process, 2% Amberlyst 15 dry was used. MAE had the least specific energy consumption (0.42?kWh/g isoamyl acetate) and specific CO₂ emission (34?g/g isoamyl acetate). According to the images obtained by scanning electron microscopy, lower amounts of Amberlyst 15 dry beads were destroyed by MAE method compared to other esterification methods. In conclusion, MAE proved to be an economic and environmentally-friendly method for esterification of different flavoring compounds.     

Energetic potential of pyrolyzed biomass from different sources: a comparative study

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The use of biomass has been a recent trend as a potential feedstock for char generation with improved energetic value. In this work, agricultural...     

Identifying residual structure in intrinsically disordered systems: a 2D IR spectroscopic study of the GVGXPGVG peptide

The peptide amide-I vibration of a proline turn encodes information on the turn structure. In this study, FTIR, two-dimensional IR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations were employed to characterize the varying turn conformations that exist in the GVGX(L)PGVG family of disordered peptides. This analysis revealed that changing the size of the side chain at the X amino acid site from Gly to Ala to Val substantially alters the conformation of the peptide. To quantify this effect, proline peak shifts and intensity changes were compared to a structure-based spectroscopic model. These simulated spectra were used to assign the population of type-II β turns, bulged turns, and irregular β turns for each peptide. Of particular interest was the Val variant commonly found in the protein elastin, which contained a 25% population of irregular β turns containing two peptide hydrogen bonds to the proline C═O.     

Electronic structure of Li-intercalated oligopyridines: a comparative study by photoelectron spectroscopy

The role of nitrogen in the charge transfer and storage capacity of lithium-intercalated heterocyclic oligophenylenes was investigated using photoelectron spectroscopy. The development of new occupied states at low binding energies in the valence band region, as well as core level chemical shifts at both carbon and nitrogen sites, demonstrates partial charge transfer from lithium atoms to the organic component during formation of the intercalated compound. In small compounds, i.e., biphenyl and bipyridine derivatives, the position of the nitrogen heteroatom significantly affects the spacing between gap states in the Li-intercalated film; yet it has minimal effects on the charge storage capacity. In larger, branched systems, the presence of nitrogen in the aromatic system significantly enhances the charge storage capacity while the Li-N bond strength at high intercalation levels is significantly weakened relative to the nitrogen-free derivative. These observations have strong implications towards improved deintercalation processes in organic electrodes in lithium-ion batteries.     

Electronic structure of copper phthalocyanine: a comparative density functional theory study

We present a systematic density functional theory study of the electronic structure of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) using several different (semi)local and hybrid functionals and compare the results to experimental photoemission data. We show that semilocal functionals fail qualitatively for CuPc primarily because of underbinding of localized orbitals due to self-interaction errors. We discuss an appropriate choice of functional for studies of CuPc/metal interfaces and suggest the Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof screened hybrid functional as a suitable compromise functional.     

Nature, structure and strength of the acidic sites of amorphous silica alumina: an IR and NMR study

IR spectroscopy of probe molecules (pyridine, 2,6-dimethylpyridine, and CO) as well as high-resolution solid state NMR and especially double-resonance experiments give a new insight into the acidic sites of amorphous silica alumina (ASA). ASA samples are heterogeneous compounds that contain a silica alumina mixed phase as well as aluminum clusters and pure silica zones. The distribution of various forms depends both on the preparation method and on the Si/Al ratio. Formation of mixed phase leads to the creation of acidic hydroxyl groups of various strength, up to that present in dealuminated HY zeolite. Detailed spectroscopic analyses show that these acidic OH groups correspond to the silanol groups located in close vicinity to an Al atom in tetrahedral environment. The strength of the acidity of the OH species of ASA could be modified both by the location of the vicinal Al atom on the surface or in the bulk and by the number of aluminum atoms in the vicinity of silanol group. Cogelification of high silica-containing ASA appears as the best mean to prepare homogeneous amorphous aluminosilicate, which exhibits the strongest Br?nsted acidity.     

无机-有机杂化层状锑硫化合物的溶剂热合成与结构

用溶剂热法合成了有机杂化层状锑硫化合物[C3H7NH3]2Sb4S7,并利用单晶X-射线衍射测定了其晶体结构。该化合物为三斜晶系,Pī空间群。晶胞参数:a=7.0098(10),b=11.9710(14),c=13.6685(17),α=115.244(6)°,β=98.671(9)°,γ=92.413(13),°V=1018.3(2)3,Z=2,Mr=831.71 g.mol-1,(=5.984 mm-1,F(000)=772,偏差因子R1=0.0334,wR2=0.0766。该化合物由质子化正丙胺离子[C3H7NH3] 和二维阴离子[Sb4S7]n2n-组成,[Sb4S7]n2n-二维离子由3个SbS3三角锥和1个SbS4变形四面体单元连接而成,[C3H7NH3] 离子位于无机阴离子层之间,形成三明治夹心式结构,[C3H7NH3] 的-NH3 基团与无机阴离子层的S原子形成N-H…S氢键作用。