Hematite homogeneous core/shell hierarchical spheres: Surfactant-free solvothermal preparation and their improved catalytic property of selective oxidation

Solvothermal synthesis is an efficient synthetic method for preparing nano and micromaterials. Preparation of hematite through alcoholysis of ferric ion under solvothermal condition has been carried out at low concentrations. In this paper, Fe₂O₃ homogeneous core/shell hierarchical nanostructures were synthesized via solvothermal treatment of FeCl₃·6H₂O and ethanol. The achievements of such structures can be attributed to two important factors: high temperature and high concentration. Besides, the crystal water and reaction time were also important factors to the synthesis of hematite. The prepared samples were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction, Raman spectra, scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area and pore size distribution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed a satellite peak at 719.8 eV, which is the characteristic peak of Fe(III). The formation mechanism of the spheres and the effects of the reactant concentrations and reaction temperatures have been discussed. Moreover, the enhanced catalytic activity of the spheres has also been investigated through oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde with high conversion (42%) and selectivity (95%).     

Light-assisted synthesis of metal oxide hierarchical structures and their catalytic applications

Short reaction times and morphology control in the synthesis of inorganic materials under nonthermal conditions remain a challenge. Herein we report a rapid, self-templating, and nonthermal method based on ultraviolet light to prepare metal oxide hierarchical structures. With this method, the morphology of the metal oxides was controlled readily without using templates.     

多级孔ZSM-5分子筛的制备及催化噻吩烷基化性能研究

用不同浓度的Na₂CO₃溶液处理ZSM-5分子筛,采用XRD、XRF、SEM、N₂吸附脱附及NH₃-TPD方法对处理前后的ZSM-5分子筛进行表征,并考察了Na₂CO₃溶液处理对ZSM-5分子筛孔结构、酸性以及噻吩烷基化性能的影响。结果表明,Na₂CO₃溶液处理在保持ZSM-5分子筛微孔骨架结构的同时,增加了ZSM-5分子筛的比表面积、外表面积和介孔体积,并调变了酸性。Na₂CO₃溶液处理提高了ZSM-5分子筛催化剂的噻吩烷基化活性和噻吩选择性。一定反应条件下,随着Na₂CO₃溶液浓度增加,多级孔ZSM-5分子筛的噻吩烷基化性能逐渐提高,而噻吩选择性先增加后下降。当Na₂CO₃溶液浓度为2 mol/L时,分子筛的噻吩转化率和噻吩选择性分别为81.26 %和73.15%。当Na₂CO₃溶液浓度为3 mol/L时,噻吩转化率和选择性分别为90.57 %和72.59%。     

MnS hierarchical hollow spheres with novel shell structure

High yields of MnS microspheres with novel hierarchical structure were prepared through a simple solution method. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses reveal that the microsphere has a core-shell structure: the interior hollow sphere is covered by a shell consisting of nanorod arrays. Interestingly, the nanorod is a wurtzite (WZ)/zinc blende (ZB) phase admixture with a large amount of stacking faults/twins. The alternation of WZ and ZB along the growth direction of the nanorod enables it to exhibit the features of a quantum well. Furthermore, the WZ/ZB admixture structure could also be regarded as a type II homomaterial heterostructure. All these features imply that the novel core-shell structure has great potential for applications, among them the quantum well photoelectrical and heterostructure photoconduction fields.     

炭黑颗粒及氟粒子辅助法合成多级结构MCM-22分子筛及其催化性能

以碳黑为第二模板剂在氟离子体系中一步水热合成了多级结构MCM-22分子筛组装体（简称为MCM-22-FC）。考察了碳黑和氟离子对MCM-22分子筛形貌和催化性能的影响。MCM-22-FC分子筛是由大量片状晶体交错生长形成的组装体结构,其中MCM-22的片层结构更薄,在其固有的微孔中存在的晶间孔呈现大孔和介孔的特征。MCM-22-FC负载Mo后得到的Mo/MCM-22-FC催化剂在甲烷无氧芳构化反应（MDA）中提高了苯收率和芳烃选择性,并且提高了催化剂的寿命。通过氨气程序升温脱附（NH₃-TPD）表征,吡啶红外（Py-IR）表征,结合热重（TG）分析,得出的结论是Mo/MCM-22-FC在MDA中优越的催化性能是由于氟离子进入到分子筛骨架当中,形成具有拉电子效应的结构单元,从而提高了分子筛的Brönsted酸量,较多的Brönsted酸性位将更多的Mo物种迁移至分子筛孔道内部,形成更多的MoC_x或MoO_xC_y活性物种以及更有利于大分子产物扩散的MCM-22薄片层的结构。少量过剩的Brönsted酸性位在成型后保留在Mo/HMCM-22-FC催化剂活性中心抑制了积碳的形成,也有助于改善芳烃的选择性。     

Polymer microcapsules with a fiber-reinforced nanocomposite shell

Polymer microcapsules can be used as controlled release systems in drugs or in foods. Using layer-by-layer adsorption of common food proteins and polysaccharides, we produced a new type of microcapsule with tunable strength and permeability. The shell consists of alternating layers of pectin and whey protein fibrils, yielding a fiber-reinforced nanocomposite shell. The strength can be tightly controlled by varying the number of layers or the density and length of the fibrils in the protein layers. The mechanical stability of these microcapsules appears to be superior to that of currently available multilayer capsules. The method involves only standard unit operations and has the potential for scaling up to industrial production volumes.     

Trimodel hierarchical yolk-shell porous materials TS-1@mesocarbon:Synthesis and catalytic application

Trimodal hierarchical yolk-shell materials consisting of TS-1 core and mesoporous carbon shell(YS-TS-1@MC) was successfully synthesized by using TS-1@mesosilica as hard template,sucrose as carbon source and organic base tetrapropylammonium hydroxide(TPAOH) as silica etching agent.The resultant YS-TS-1@MC contains the micropores(0.51 nm) in TS-1 core,the mesopores(2.9 nm) in carbon shell as well as a void or a stack pore between TS-1 fragcments(TS-1 intercrystal mesopores,～18.4 nm).Under the rigorous etching conditions,the crystalline structure of TS-1 core was well retained.The YS-TS-1@MC served as a good support for palladium nano-particles(Pd NPs) or Rh(OH)x species,giving rise to efficient bifunctional catalysts for the tandem reactions including one-pot synthesis of propylene oxide or amides.     

纳米氧化镍的制备及其对纤维素裂解催化活性的评价(英）

采用均匀沉淀法制备了纳米NiO,并利用XRD、BET、TEM对产物进行了表征。结果表明,制备的纳米NiO颗粒呈球形,分散性好,纯度较高,属立方晶系结构,平均粒径约为7.5nm,BET表面积为187.98m2/g。同时,以纤维素为催化裂解对象,利用热重分析仪对纳米NiO和微米NiO的催化活性进行了初步评价和比较。结果表明,在微米和纳米NiO的催化作用下,纤维素裂解的活化能分别减少了12.24kJ/mol和22.42kJ/mol,导致纤维素分解的起始温度分别降低了10℃和19℃,并且裂解残渣的产率进一步减少。与微米NiO相比较,纳米NiO催化剂表现出更有效的催化活性。     

Preparation of silica-PS composite particles and their application in PET

To investigate how the superfine particles disperse in the polymers, the paper presented the preparation of monodisperse silica particles by Stöber method, and then grafted by γ-methacrylic propyl trimethoxysilane (MPS) as a coupling agent. Using these modified particles, the more stable silica-PS superfine composite particles with higher monodispersity than these of previous reports are prepared and reported through dispersion polymerization (DP) method, whose morphology is investigated with transmission electron microscope (TEM). Their high stability is provided from the bonding of CC groups of MPS to the silanol groups on the surface of silica particles from FTIR.Using this DP process, the influence of different size grafted silica particles on the morphology, polystyrene (PS) encapsulation behavior and the distribution in these composite particles have been investigated. When the grafted silica size is in nanoscale or less than 54 nm, the spherical shape of neither silica particles nor their composite particles is regular, but they can homogeneously disperse in polystyrene. As the size (d_n) of grafted silica particles increase to submicrometer (or 100 nm < d_n < 1000 nm), their coefficient variance of size distribution (C_v) ranges from only 9.0% to 1.5%. These obtained particles are completely encapsulated by PS with more regular shape, and have their C_v below 7%. When the size of silica particles reaches 380 nm, their C_v obviously reduces to 2.5%, and specially, the number of grafted silica particles approaches to one in each of the composite particles. But, when the silica size reaches 602 nm, PS can hardly encapsulate grafted silica particles and free silica particles appear in reactive system.Furthermore, using the silica particles of 380 nm, a series of core-shell structured superfine composite particles of 640-1100 nm with C_v lower than 11% are obtained. Under the set conditions, the preparing factors on these composite particles using 380 nm grafted silica particles is discussed, and the best reaction condition for the well-dispersed and regular periphery silica-PS composite particles is optimized as, the additions amounts of PVP, styrene, AIBN, grafted SiO₂ and H₂O are 0.23 mmol L⁻¹, 0.60 mol L⁻¹, 6.10 mmol L⁻¹, 0.10 mol L⁻¹ and 5.50 mL, respectively. Under this case, the composite particles can be prepared with C_v below 8%.At last, these composite particles are mixed with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to investigate their nucleation effect. Results show that all different size particles can promote PET’s crystallization and enhance the crystallization rate, and PET’s crystallization temperature (T_mc) is obviously enhanced from 193 to 205 °C through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It is strongly suggested that different silica size level all play nucleation role in PET, and thus explain the nucleation effect of multiscale inorganic particles.     

Synthesis of novel hierarchical ZSM-5 monoliths and their application in trichloroethylene removal

A self-supporting ZSM-5 monolith with a hierarchical porosity was prepared using polyurethane foam (PUF) as a structural template and a hydrothermal synthesis procedure. The synthesized monolith was characterized and investigated towards the adsorption and catalytic oxidation of trichloroethylene (TCE). Adsorption of TCE was studied gravimetrically and oxidation of TCE was studied using a vapor-phase down-flow reactor. Monolithic ZSM-5 displayed good sorption properties and completely oxidized TCE. Conversion levels of 50% and 90% were achieved at reduced temperatures (by ~50 ℃) when compared with the conversion temperatures obtained from the powder counterparts. Besides the activity of the monolith towards TCE adsorption and oxidation, it was stable and enhanced diffusion, thereby reducing pressure drops to a great extent owing to its hierarchical porous nature.     

Preparation of hierarchical hollow CaCO3 particles and the application as anticancer drug carrier

One-pot approach to couple the crystallization of CaCO(3) nanoparticles and the in situ symmetry-breaking assembly of these crystallites into hollow spherical shells was developed under the templating effect of a soluble starch. Further functional study using HP-a as an anticancer drug carrier (DOX) demonstrated its advantages for localizing drug release by the pH value-sensitive structure and enhancing cytotoxicity by increasing cellular uptake, perinuclear accumulation, and nuclear entry.     

One-pot synthesis of Ag-Au bimetallic nanoparticles with Au shell and their high catalytic activity for aerobic glucose oxidation

PVP-protected Ag(core)/Au(shell) bimetallic nanoparticles of enough small size, i.e., 1.4nm in diameter were synthesized in one-vessel using simultaneous reduction of the corresponding ions with rapid injection of NaBH(4), and characterized by HR-TEM. The Ag(core)/Au(shell) bimetallic nanoparticles show a high and durable catalytic activity for the aerobic glucose oxidation, and the catalyst can be stably kept for more than 2months under ambient conditions. The highest activity (16,890mol-glucoseh(-1)mol-metal(-1)) was observed for the bimetallic nanoparticles with Ag/Au atomic ratio of 2/8, the TOF value of which is several times higher than that of Au nanoparticles with nearly the same particle size. The higher catalytic activity of the prepared bimetallic nanoparticles than the usual Au nanoparticles can be ascribed to: (1) the small average diameter, usually less than 2.0nm, and (2) the electronic charge transfer effect from adjacent Ag atoms and protecting PVP to Au active sites. In contrast, the Ag-Au alloy nanoparticles, synthesized by dropwise addition of NaBH(4) into the starting solution and having the large mean particle size, showed a low catalytic activity.     

Core/shell particles containing 3-(methacryloxypropyl)-trimethoxysilane in the shell: synthesis, characterization, and application

In comparison to the corresponding single-component counterparts, core/shell particles are widely used due to their better physical and chemical properties. The surface properties of core/shell particles evidently play an important role in the process of application. It is easy to deduce that surface properties mostly depend on the properties of the component in the shell. Therefore, desirable materials of shell are very significant for the study of composite materials, especially in core/shell field. It is well known that polysiloxane has excellent properties, such as the water repellency, high flexibility, low surface energy, and biocompatibility. Its application, however, is limited due to poor cohesiveness and poor film-forming properties. Recently, much endeavor has been made to overcome such flaws. It is found that polyacrylate is commonly considered for its good cohesiveness and excellent film-forming property. The combination of polysiloxane and polyacrylate has been shown to be important in the composite material field, especially as core/shell particles. Unfortunately, their hydrophobicity is considerably different and thus, the core/shell particles consisting of polyacrylate (PA)/polysiloxane (PSi) are hard to prepare by general seeded emulsion polymerization, and are also scarcely available in the literature. In this study, the new core/shell PA/PSi particles with poly(butyl methacrylate) (PA) as the core and poly(3-(methacryloxypropyl)-trimethoxysilane) (PSi) as the shell were prepared by dispersion polymerization under the kinetically controlled conditions. The characterization of the particles by TEM, DSC, particle size analyzer as well as static contact angle confirmed the formation of core/shell structure. The application of core/shell (PA/PSi) particles also has been considered and discussed here.TEM micrographs of core/shell (PA/PSi) particles.     

纤维素键合型手性整体柱的制备及其在快速手性分离中的应用

采用N-丙烯酰琥珀酰亚胺(NAS)为基质单体,乙二醇二甲基丙烯酸酯(EDMA)为交联剂,原位聚合制备聚(NAS-co-EDMA)毛细管整体柱,并通过化学键合法将自合成的纤维素-三(4-甲基苯甲酸酯)(CTMB)共价键合到整体柱上,制备用于快速手性分离的纤维素键合型手性整体柱.优化了整体柱制备和衍生化条件;通过对固定相红...     

Solvothermal synthesis of hierarchical SnIn4S8 microspheres and their application in photocatalysis

Hierarchical SnIn₄S₈ microspheres were successfully fabricated via a solvothermal method without the assistance of any templates or surfactants. These microspheres were of a new tetragonal polymorph, distinct from the cubic counterpart popularly reported in the literature. Systematic characterization indicated that these microspheres exhibited a diameter of 2?C4 ??m and were assembled by numerous interconnected nanosheets of 40 nm thickness. The formation mechanism of hierarchical SnIn₄S₈ microspheres was proposed by taking into account the influences of experimental conditions on the morphology and structure. Hierarchical microspheres possessed a large specific surface area of 197 m² g^?1 and an accessible porous configuration, which gave rise to an excellent visible light-driven photocatalytic efficiency for methyl orange degradation in aqueous solutions, superior to that for the known N-doped TiO₂ photocatalyst.     

Controlled fabrication of flower-like nickel oxide hierarchical structures and their application in water treatment

Flower-like NiO hierarchical structures with 2-5 μm diameter assembled from nanosheet building blocks have been successfully fabricated via a wet-chemical method combined with thermodecomposition technology. The template-free method is facile and effective in preparing flower-like NiO superstructures in high yield. The intermediate product and final hierarchical structures are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform IR (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The effects of growth temperature and reaction time on the morphologies of the as-prepared structures were investigated by SEM characterization and a possible mechanism for the formation of flower-like NiO is proposed. Based on the nitrogen adsorption and desorption measurements, the BET surface area of the as-obtained sample is 55.7 m2/g and the pore-size distribution plot indicates a bimodal mesopore distribution, with pore sizes of ca. 2.6 nm and 7.4 nm, respectively. In comparison with sphere-like and rod-like structures, the flower-like NiO hierarchical structures show an excellent ability to rapidly remove various pollutants when used as adsorbent and photocatalyst in waste-water treatment, which may be attributed to its unique hierarchical and porous surface structures.     

Zinc hydroxide nitrate nanosheets conversion into hierarchical zeolitic imidazolate frameworks nanocomposite and their application for CO2 sorption

Hierarchical porous zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (HZIFs) are promising materials for several applications, including adsorption, separation, and nanomedicine. Herein, the conversion of zinc hydroxide nitrate nanosheets into HZIF-8 nanocomposite with graphene oxide (GO) and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is reported. The conversion takes place at room temperature in water. This approach has been successfully applied for the formation of leaf-like ZIF(ZIF-L), and their nanocomposites with nanoparticles, such as GO and MNPs. This method offers a simple approach for the synthesis of tunable pore structure using nanoparticles and fast room temperature conversion (30 min) without any visible residual impurities of zinc hydroxide nitrates. The applications of HZIF-8, ZIF-L, and their nanocomposites, for CO₂ sorption, exhibit excellent adsorption properties. The synthesized composites exhibit enhanced CO₂ adsorption capacity due to the synergistic effect between nanoparticles (GO, or MNPs), and ZIF-8. The materials have good potential for further applications.