Green and Functional Aerogels by Macromolecular and Textural Engineering of Chitosan Microspheres

Tremendous interest was recently devoted to the preparation of porous and functional materials through sustainable route, including primarily the use of renewable biopolymers instead of petroleum‐sourced synthetic chemicals. Among the biopolymers available in enormous quantity, chitosan – obtained by deacetylation of chitin – stands as the sole nitrogen‐containing cationic amino‐sugar carbohydrate. This distinctively provides chitosan derivatives with plenty of opportunities in materials science. Particularly, its pH switchable solubility allowed the preparation of three‐dimensional entangled nanofibrillated self‐standing microspheres. These porous hydrogels behave as nano‐reactors to confine exogenous nanoobjects within the polysaccharide network, including sol‐gel metal alkoxide species, organometallic derivatives and isotropic and oriented nanoparticles. Besides, the interfacial interplay of chitosan with lamellar clay and graphene oxide allowed the penetration of the biopolymer inside of the galleries, which result in a complete delamination of the layered nanomaterials. The preserved gelation memory of chitosan in these formulations provides a way to access porous microspheres entangling exfoliated nanometric sheets. CO₂ supercritical drying of functional hydrogel beads enabled efficient removal of water and other liquid solvents without wall collapsing, allowing large‐scale preparation of millimetric hydrocolloidal microspheres with an open macroporous network. These functionalized lightweight biopolymer aerogels find applications in heterogeneous catalysis, sensing, adsorption, insulation and for the design of other sophisticated porous nanostructures. Beyond their tailorable molecular and textural‐engineering, the possibility for macroscopic shaping of these intriguing nanostructures opens many new opportunities, especially in additive‐manufacturing for soft and hybrid robotics.     

Preparation of crosslinked epoxy microparticles via phase inversion

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies have been performed to reveal a crosslinked epoxy nature of the spherical particles formed in cured epoxy/DDS/PMMA blends. An interesting phase inversion phenomenon was observed in cured DGEBA/DDS/PMMA blends, which occurred at a relatively low thermoplastic composition of 20 phr PMMA in blends. A unique method of preparing crosslinked epoxy spheres of controlled sizes based on cure-induced phase inversion is described in this report. Several factors have been found to affect the geometry of the formed epoxy spheres. The volume fraction of PMMA in the blends strongly dominates the influence. With the increase of PMMA volume fraction in the blends, the spheres not only become smaller in sizes, but also more regular in the spherical geometry due to less impingement. The crosslinking density (DDS phr in the blends) has been found to influence the average sizes of the spheres. The cure temperature has relatively limited effects only when the PMMA loadings in the blends are relatively small. Various potential applications for the epoxy microspheres may be investigated in future studies. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Rectifying resistance switching behaviors of SnO2 microsphere films modulated by top electrodes

Based on the bipolar resistive switching (RS) characteristics of SnO₂ films, we have fabricated a new prototypical device with sandwiched structure of Metal/SnO₂/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO). The SnO₂ microspheres film was grown on FTO glass by template-free hydrothermal synthesis, which was evaporated with various commonly used electrodes such as aluminium (Al), silver (Ag), and gold (Au), respectively. Typical self-rectifying resistance switching behaviors were observed for the RS devices with Al and Au electrodes. However, no obvious rectifying resistance switching behavior was observed for the RS device with Ag electrode. Above results were interpreted by considering the different interface barriers between SnO₂ and top metal electrodes. Our current studies pave the ways for modulating the self-rectifying resistance switching properties of resistive memory devices by choosing suitable metal electrodes.     

磁性壳聚糖-聚丙烯酸微球的制备及表征

壳聚糖通过与丙烯酸接枝共聚制得壳聚糖聚丙烯酸悬浮液,在铁磁流体(Fe3O4)与聚乙二醇(分散剂)存在下通过与戊二醛交联,制备了磁性壳聚糖聚丙烯酸微球。用扫描电镜、红外光谱对合成的高分子微球进行形貌观察和结构表征,并进行了元素分析和磁性能测试,研究了磁性微球对牛血清白蛋白(BSA)的吸附效果。结果表明,合成的磁性微球外表呈球形,粒径为100～400nm;当Fe含量为2.47%时,磁性微球的饱和磁化强度约为1.30emug,磁矫顽力为280Oe,磁化率为2.16×10-4(常温下),属于顺磁性材料;其对BSA有较好的吸附效果,饱和吸附量约为400mgg。     

Fe／ZrO_2气凝胶超细粒子催化剂的制备、表征及F－T反应性能的研究

用超临界流体干燥法制备出大孔高比表面高分散态Ｆｅ／ＺｒＯ_２气凝胶超细粒子催化剂，研究了在其制备过程中织构性质、颗粒大小、体相和表面结构的变化，并与普通浸渍法制备的Ｆｅ／ＺｒＯ_２催化剂作了对比。对几种Ｆｅ／ＺｒＯ_２催化剂的Ｆ－Ｔ反应性能考察表明，Ｆｅ／ＺｅＯ_２气凝胶超细催化剂显示出高的反应活性；随载体ＺｒＯ_２颗粒尺寸减小，活性组分铁的分散度变大，其颗粒尺寸变小，催化剂比表面积增大，反应活性增大，甲烷和低碳烃生成量增加，重质组分减少，认为产物烃分布主要受催化剂活性相颗粒尺寸效应制约。     

分子印迹聚合物微球的制备及表征技术

分子印迹聚合物微球作为一种具有分子识别能力的新型高分子材料,以其吸附选择性好、色谱效率高、便于功能设计等优点在固相萃取、药物手性分离等领域取得了应用.本文介绍了分子印迹聚合物微球的主要制备方法,比较了不同的聚合物微球制备方法用于分子印迹技术中的特点,同时针对不同聚合方法对分子印迹聚合物微球性能的影响作了相应评述,此外对其结构与性能的表征方法也作了较为详细的介绍,在此基础上分析了存在的问题及今后的发展方向.     

PREPARATION OF POLYMER MICROSPHERES WITH PYRIDYL GROUP AND THEIR STABILIZED GOLD METALLIC COLLOIDS

Narrow disperse poly(ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate-co-4-vinylpyridine)(poly(EGDMA-co-4-VPy))microspheres were prepared by distillation-precipitation copolymerization of ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate(EGDMA)and 4-vinylpyridine (4-VPy)with 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile(AIBN)as initiator in neat acetonitrile.The polymer microspheres containing pyridyl group were then utilized as stabilizer for gold metallic colloids with the diameter around 7 nm,which were prepared by the in situ reduction of gold chloride trihydrate with sodium borohydride through the coordination of the pyridyl group on the gel layer and surface of the microsphere with the gold metallic nano-particles.The catalytic properties of the pyridyl- functionalized microsphere-stabilized gold metallic colloids and the behavior of the stabilized-catalyst for the recycling were investigated with reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol as a model reaction.     

悬浮聚合法制备磁性分子印迹聚合物微球

以苯胺和二甲基苯胺为模板分子、甲基丙烯酸(MAA)为功能单体、三羟甲基丙烷三丙烯酸酯(TRIM)为交联单体、Fe3O4为磁性组分,采用悬浮聚合法制备了磁性分子印迹聚合物微球(MMIPMs)。结果表明,改性Fe3O4微粒在MMIPMs中分散较好,MMIPMs在水性介质中对模板分子的选择吸附性较差,但在有机介质中有较好的选择吸附性。     

单分散Fe_3O_4亚微米球的合成与表征

采用溶剂热法制备出具有尺寸可调、分散性好、亲水性和超顺磁性的亚微米Fe3O4磁球,并考察了不同表面活性剂、反应时间和反应温度的影响。分别采用XRD、FE-SEM、FTIR、超导量子干涉仪(SQUID)对其结构、形貌、表面性质及磁性进行了表征。结果表明,产物为立方结构、具有单分散性的Fe3O4亚微米球,粒径在140~360nm可调。所得Fe3O4亚微米球在室温条件下的磁滞回线表现出超顺磁性,矫顽力为零。不同表面活性剂对粒径大小和磁饱和强度有一定的影响,但对其形貌和晶相结构无影响。随着反应时间的延长和反应温度的提高,颗粒粒径有逐渐减小的趋势。