Steam-carbon gasification catalyzed by calcium: Assessment of the porous structure of active carbons from plum stones and synthetic active carbons

A need for an elaboration of the methods for synthesis and characterization of activated carbons with a requisite porous structure has existed for a long time. One of the methods giving possibility for creating controlled mesopore and micropore structures deals with the steam gasification of various carbon materials. In this work the effects of calcium catalyst on the catalytic steam gasification of active carbons from plum stones and porous polymers are presented. Determination of micropores capacity and specific adsorption in mesopores have been performed by means of the _s method, but adsorption on the heterogeneous solids was described by the integral equation with various local isotherms. This equation has been solved by the regularization method. Based on this method the changes in structural parameters of active carbons depending on the amount of calcium catalyst were estimated.Nomenclature d width of slit-like micropore - F(x) distribution function of the half-width - p vapor pressure of sorbate - p/p _N relative pressure - PSAC Plum Stone Active Carbon - average pore radius, nm - S ₁ relative limit of the validity of experimental point on the adsorption isotherm in the computations by means of regularization method - SAC Synthetic Active Carbon - S _BET specific surface area calculated by means of BET method, m²/g - S _mes mesopore surface area, m²/g - S _mic micropore surface area, m²/g - T absolute temperature, K - V _mes sorption capacity of mesopores, cm³/g - V _mic sorption capacity of micropores, cm³/g - V _p sorption capacity of pores, cm³/g - w/w weight in weight concentration - x half-width of slit-like micropore, nm - x ₁ maximum of half-width of micropore slit, nm - average half-width of slit-like micropore, nm - X _min-X _max integration limits of thex Greek Letters Greek Letters variance of average half-width of slit-like micropore, nm² - local relative filling of micropores - total relative filling of micropores     

调控介孔硅分子筛的孔壁结构以提高吸附亚硝胺的效率

 针对高空速下捕获痕量毒物分子的环境净化要求, 尝试调控介孔材料孔壁结构以提高其吸附小分子环境污染物的效率. 通过调节合成体系的 pH 值、加入无机盐以及控制表面活性剂浓度等方法, 改变硅物种与模板剂胶束的组装速度或无机-有机液晶相的存在形态, 研制含有孔壁缺陷位的介孔分子筛新材料. 通过 X 射线衍射和低温氮气吸附研究了样品的结构特性, 并采用高分辨透射电镜和固体核磁技术证实了介孔材料孔壁缺陷位的形成. 以挥发性吡咯烷亚硝胺为靶标分子, 考察了所得材料的吸附性能. 结果表明, 大量缺陷空位的存在成倍地提高了介孔分子筛吸附挥发性亚硝胺的效率, 为设计研制环保新材料提供了新思路.     

Protein delivery based on uncoated and chitosan-coated mesoporous silicon microparticles

Mesoporous silicon is a biocompatible, biodegradable material that is receiving increased attention for pharmaceutical applications due to its extensive specific surface. This feature enables to load a variety of drugs in mesoporous silicon devices by simple adsorption-based procedures. In this work, we have addressed the fabrication and characterization of two new mesoporous silicon devices prepared by electrochemistry and intended for protein delivery, namely: (i) mesoporous silicon microparticles and (ii) chitosan-coated mesoporous silicon microparticles. Both carriers were investigated for their capacity to load a therapeutic protein (insulin) and a model antigen (bovine serum albumin) by adsorption. Our results show that mesoporous silicon microparticles prepared by electrochemical methods present moderate affinity for insulin and high affinity for albumin. However, mesoporous silicon presents an extensive capacity to load both proteins, leading to systems were protein could represent the major mass fraction of the formulation. The possibility to form a chitosan coating on the microparticles surface was confirmed both qualitatively by atomic force microscopy and quantitatively by a colorimetric method. Mesoporous silicon microparticles with mean pore size of 35 nm released the loaded insulin quickly, but not instantaneously. This profile could be slowed to a certain extent by the chitosan coating modification. With their high protein loading, their capacity to provide a controlled release of insulin over a period of 60-90 min, and the potential mucoadhesive effect of the chitosan coating, these composite devices comprise several features that render them interesting candidates as transmucosal protein delivery systems.     

用密度泛函理论研究Lennard-Jones 流体在狭缝中的相平衡

用改进的基础度量理论(modified fundamental measure theory, MFMT)和密度Taylor展开分别表达过剩自由能中的短程作用和色散作用. 流体分子与狭缝壁之间的相互作用以10-4-3势能函数表达. 由巨势最小原理确定Lennard-Jones (LJ)流体在狭缝中的密度分布和过剩吸附量, 所得结果与分子模拟数据吻合良好. 根据平衡时两相温度, 化学势及巨势相等, 计算了LJ流体在狭缝中的相平衡.     

SMFs-supported Pd nanocatalysts in selective acetylene hydrogenation: Pore structure-dependent deactivation mechanism

In the present study, CNFs, ZnO and Al₂O₃ were deposited on the SMFs panels to investigate the deactivation mechanism of Pd-based catalysts in selective acetylene hydrogenation reaction. The examined supports were characterized by SEM, NH₃-TPD and N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms to indicate their intrinsic characteristics. Furthermore, in order to understand the mechanism of deactivation, the resulted green oil was characterized using FTIR and SIM DIS. FTIR results confirmed the presence of more unsaturated constituents and then, more branched hydrocarbons formed upon the reaction over alumina-supported catalyst in comparison with the ones supported on CNFs and ZnO, which in turn, could block the pores mouths. Besides the limited hydrogen transfer, N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms results supported that the lowest pore diameters of Al₂O₃/SMFs close to the surface led to fast deactivation, compared with the other catalysts, especially at higher temperatures.     

大气气溶胶粒子光吸收系数的测量

 采用核孔过滤膜累积气溶胶粒子的方法设计了气溶胶粒子光吸收系数的测量系统。该系统由双光路组成,可以减小光路损耗和电路噪声带来的各种测量误差。同时，具有体积小、光路易于调节、可进行实时测量、定标容易等特点。用200和400nm孔径的过滤膜，分别测量了实验室内大气气溶胶粒子对不同波长激光的吸收系数。随着累积时间的增加，系统的测量精度也不断的提高，在累积时间为900s时，系统测量误差为9.849×10^-6/m。     

二维孔隙裂隙双重介质逾渗规律研究

在孔隙介质逾渗理论的基础上，将另外一个非常重要的渗透通道——裂隙引入到介质的逾渗研究中，提出了更为普遍的孔隙裂隙双重介质的逾渗研究方法.通过对二维平面孔隙裂隙双重介质的数值计算，得到了孔隙裂隙双重介质三个重要参数：孔隙率，裂隙分形维数、裂隙数量分布初值与逾渗概率的关系，给出了孔隙裂隙双重介质逾渗阈值的数学表达式，揭示了孔隙裂隙双重介质的逾渗规律. 关键词： 孔隙 裂隙 双重介质 逾渗 逾渗阈值     

Self-Diffusion Coefficients for Pure and Mixed Adsorbate Fluids in Narrow Pores

The equilibrium distribution and the concentration dependence of the local and average self-diffusion coefficients for pure fluid and binary mixture components in narrow slitlike pores were analyzed. The coefficients were calculated using the lattice gas model in the quasi-chemical approximation on the assumption of a spherical shape and approximately equal sizes of the components. For the pure adsorbate, these calculations were compared with molecular dynamics simulations. Both methods gave similar concentration profile changes and dynamic characteristics of interlayer particle redistributions in strong nonuniform adsorption fields for dense fluids. A satisfactory agreement was obtained for the temperature dependences of the self-diffusion coefficients along the pore axis. The influence of the molecule–wall potential and of intermolecular interaction were considered. The self-diffusion coefficients of the adsorbate were shown to strongly depend on the density of the mixture and the distance from pore walls.     

Structure of Polymer Brushes in Cylindrical Tubes: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Summary: Molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse‐grained bead‐spring model of flexible macromolecules tethered with one end to the surface of a cylindrical pore are presented. Chain length N and grafting density σ are varied over a wide range and the crossover from “mushroom” to “brush” behavior is studied for three pore diameters. The monomer density profile and the distribution of the free chain ends are computed and compared to the corresponding model of polymer brushes at flat substrates. It is found that there exists a regime of N and σ for large enough pore diameter where the brush height in the pore exceeds the brush height on the flat substrate, while for large enough N and σ (and small enough pore diameters) the opposite behavior occurs, i.e. the brush is compressed by confinement. These findings are used to discuss the corresponding theories on polymer brushes at concave substrates.

Snapshot picture of a brush grafted inside of a cylinder, for , , displaying different chains in distinct colors in order to be able to distinguish them. Top shows a side view of the cylinder, and the lower part a view of the cross‐section. Note that the particles forming the cylindrical wall are not displayed.     

Searching for gravitational waves with the LIGO and Virgo interferometers

The first generation of ground-based interferometric gravitational wave detectors, LIGO, GEO, and Virgo, have operated and taken data at their design sensitivities over the last few years. The data has been examined for the presence of gravitational wave signals. Presented here is a comprehensive review of the most significant results. The network of detectors is currently being upgraded and extended, providing a large likelihood for observations. These future prospects will also be discussed.