Decrease In Specific Surface Area Research Articles

Surface area and size distribution of cement particles in hydrating paste as indicators for the conceptualization of a cement paste representative volume element

The conceptualization of a representative volume element (RVE) of hardened cement paste for numerical homogenization of mechanical problems rests on identifying the largest discernible microstructural feature, i.e. unreacted cement grains. While the particle size distribution (PSD) of anhydrous cement is a well-controlled production parameter, the size evolution of a representative cement grain throughout hydration remained unresolved. This study analyzes digitized 3D cement paste microstructures obtained from X-ray micro-computed tomography, coupled with CEMHYD3D hydration model, and segmented by image-processing tools, to obtain the full PSD and specific surface area evolutions of unreacted grains throughout hydration. Results provided indicate a representative grain size in the range of 30−40μm regardless of hydration elapsed, implying a cement paste RVE should amount to 150−200μm to realistically represent cement grains. The PSD shape remained self-similar and two distinctive hydration regimes were identified, differing in dissolution rate and specific surface area decrease, correlating with calcium sulfate reactivity peak. Both measures provide easily accessible microstructural features that may be used for constructing artificial RVEs of hardened cement paste in micromechanical models and related simulations, resting on experimental data.

Experimental Study of the Pore Structure and Gas Desorption Characteristics of a Low-Rank Coal: Impact of Moisture.

Coal–water interactions have a prominent impact on the prediction of coal mine gas disasters and coalbed methane extraction. The change of characteristics in the microscopic pores of coal caused by the existence of water is an important factor affecting the diffusion and migration of gas in coal. The low-pressure nitrogen adsorption experiments and gas desorption experiments of a low-rank coal with different equilibrium moisture contents were conducted. The results show that both the specific surface area and pore volume decrease significantly as the moisture content increases, and the micropores (pore diameter <10 nm) are most affected by the water adsorbed by coal. In particular, for a water-equilibrated coal sample at 98% relative humidity, micropores with pore sizes smaller than 4 nm as determined by the density functional theory model almost disappear, probably due to the blocking effects of water clusters and capillary water. In this case, micropores with a diameter less than 10 nm still contribute most of the specific surface area for gas adsorption in coal. Furthermore, the fractal dimensions at relative pressures of 0–0.5 (D1) and 0.5–1 (D2) calculated by the Frenkel–Halsey–Hill model indicate that when the moisture content is less than 4.74%, D1 decreases rapidly, whereas D2 shows a slight reduction as the moisture content increased. In contrast, when the moisture content exceeds 4.74%, further increases in the moisture content cause D2 to decrease significantly, while there is nearly no change for D1. The correlation analyses show that the ultimate desorption volume and initial desorption rate are closely related to the fractal dimension D1, while the desorption constant (Kt) mainly depends on the fractal dimension D2. Therefore, the gas desorption performances of coal have a close association with the pore properties of coal under water-containing conditions, which indicate that the fluctuation in moisture content should be carefully considered in the evaluation of gas diffusion and migration performances of in situ coal seams.

Preparation and Pore Structure of Energy-Storage Phosphorus Building Gypsum.

In this study, the pore structure of a hardened phosphorous building gypsum body was optimised by blending an air-entraining agent with the appropriate water–paste ratio. The response surface test was designed according to the test results of the hardened phosphorous building gypsum body treated with an air-entraining agent and an appropriate water–paste ratio. Moreover, the optimal process parameters were selected to prepare a porous phosphorous building gypsum skeleton, which was used as a paraffin carrier to prepare energy-storage phosphorous building gypsum. The results indicate that if the ratio of the air-entraining agent to the water–paste ratio is reasonable, the hardened body of phosphorous building gypsum can form a better pore structure. With the influx of paraffin, its accumulated pore volume and specific surface area decrease, and the pore size distribution is uniform. The paraffin completely occupies the pores, causing the compressive strength of energy-storage phosphorous building gypsum to be better than that of similar gypsum energy-storing materials. The heat energy further captured by energy-storage phosphorous building gypsum in the endothermic and exothermic stages is 28.19 J/g and 28.64 J/g, respectively, which can be used to prepare energy-saving building materials.

Experimental study on the methane desorption-diffusion behavior of Longmaxi shale exposure to supercritical CO2

Desorption-diffusion behaviors of CH4 in shale after supercritical CO2 (ScCO2) injection are closely related to CO2 enhanced shale gas recovery (CO2-ESGR). A self-developed gas desorption test system was used to measure the desorption kinetics of CH4 in shale collected from Sichuan Basin at different ScCO2 exposure pressures (8, 12, 16 MPa) and temperatures (40, 60, 80 °C), and the low-pressure N2 adsorption was performed to evaluate the variations of pore structure of shale. Results indicate that the desorption kinetics curves of CH4 in shale exhibit typical Langmuir characteristics under different desorption pressures, and the kinetics data were fitted by unipore and bidisperse diffusion models, manifesting that the diffusion of CH4 in the shale samples are dominated by macroporous channel (>95%). With increasing desorption pressure, the desorption capacity of CH4 in shale (nde) increased, while the diffusion coefficient of CH4 in shale (D) decreased. Additionally, the nde and D increased after ScCO2 exposure, and exhibited a slight exposure pressure and temperature dependence, which is mainly caused by the decrease of specific surface area and the widening of microstructure in shale, implying that the ScCO2-shale interaction can promote the desorption-diffusion of CH4 in shale. This study provides a theoretical reference for CO2-ESGR.

Triethanolamine-assisted synthesis of NiFe layered double hydroxide ultrathin nanosheets for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

Water electrolysis is a promising technique for producing high-quality hydrogen, the application of which is impeded by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) process. In this study, ultrathin nickel–iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe LDH) nanosheets were successfully synthesized through a facile hydrothermal reaction with the assistance of triethanolamine (TEA). Morphological and structural characterizations revealed that the presence of TEA modified the morphology of NiFe LDH, facilitated the synthesis of high-purity NiFe LDH, improved the crystallinity of NiFe LDH and resulted in a slight decrease in specific surface area. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis demonstrated the modulation of the electronic structure engendered by the addition of TEA, with nickel and iron appearing in high valence state in the resulting NiFe LDH nanosheets. The as-prepared NiFe LDH nanosheets possessed outstanding OER activity with fast kinetics, exhibiting a low overpotential of 261 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 32.5 mV dec−1 in 1 M KOH. The excellent OER performance and rapid OER kinetics are mainly attributed to the high-valence Ni and Fe rather than the modification in the morphology and microstructure.

Insights into the low-temperature NH3-SCR of NO performance and mechanism over manganese tailings-derived catalyst

Manganese carbonate ore is ascertained as the most abundant manganese ore in China, while its mining and beneficiation generated a large amount of manganese tailings which is regarded as a hazardous waste. Owing to great catalytic performance of manganese oxides, it is double-benefit to employ manganese tailings as catalyst to eliminate harmful nitrogen oxides from flue gas. In this study, the effects of calcination temperature on the low-temperature denitration performance and physicochemical properties of manganese tailings were systematically investigated via XRF, XRD, XPS, H2-TPR, NH3-TPD and DRIFTS, aiming at exploring the effective utilization of manganese tailings. The results revealed the best catalytic activity can be obtained at a calcination temperature of 500 °C with over 95 % NO conversion attained in the denitration temperature range of 75–225 °C. Lower calcination temperature led to the incomplete decomposition of MnCO3, while higher calcination temperature led to the decrease in specific surface area, surface acidity and oxidation performance. The denitration reaction was followed by Eley-Rideal pathway, in which the absorbed NH3 species was reacted with the gaseous NO and NO2. Based on the results in this study, the effective utilization of manganese tailings for NO emission reduction could promise for wide applications.

Effects of ultrafiltration on Co-Metal Organic Framework/pre-hydrolysis solution carbon materials for supercapacitor energy storage.

Here, a Co-Metal Organic Framework/pre-hydrolysis (Co-MOF/pre-hydrolysis) solution carbon material is prepared by a mild and environmentally-friendly hydrothermal carbonization technique using a pulping pre-hydrolysis solution as the raw material and Co-MOF as the metal dopant. The stable hollow structure provide sufficient space for particle shrinkage and expansion, while the low density and large specific surface area of the long, hairy tentacle structure provide a greater contact area for ions, which shorten the transmission path of electrons and charges. The materials exhibit excellent specific capacitance (400 F/g, 0.5 A/g) and stability (90%, 10,000 cycles). The Change of different concentration ratios in the structures significantly affect the electrochemical performance. The specific surface area of the carbon materials prepared by ultra-filtration increased, but the specific surface area decrease as ultrafiltration concentration increase. The specific capacitance decrease from 336 F/g for C-ZIF-67-1/3 volume ultrafiltration to 258 F/g for C-ZIF-67-1/5 ultrafiltration. The results indicate that energy storage by the carbon materials relied on a synergistic effect between their microporous and mesoporous structures. The micropores provide storage space for the transmission of ions, while the mesopores provide ion transport channels. The separation of large and small molecules after ultrafiltration concentration limit the ion transmission and energy storage of the pores.

Rationally control the path of hydrodeoxygenation of palmitic acid over Ni/red-mud catalysts by surface decoration of oxophilic MoOx species

Red mud supported Ni (Ni/RM) catalysts have been explored to the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of palmitic acid, however, the decarbonylation (DCO)/decarboxylation (DCO2) is dominant. Therefore, the modification the oxophilic nature of catalysts can significantly impact their path of HDO and selectivity to aim products. Herein, MoOx-decorated Ni-Mo/RM catalysts with a hierarchical flower-like micro/nanostructure were prepared and applied in the HDO of palmitic acid. The effect of MoOx addition was investigated to control the path of HDO, resulting in the changing of carbon number distribution of the product. Combined with several comprehensive structural characterizations and catalytic HDO test, it is shown that the surface defective MoOx species and FeOx species near the metallic sites could significantly facilitate the C-O bond weakening, generated more direct deoxygenation product (hexadecane). Whereas the excessive Mo loading leads to clear altering of surface chemistry (i.e., decrease of specific surface area, pore volume and Mo0 species, increase of reduction temperature and CO2 adsorption, uneven dispersion, and agglomeration of Ni species), resulting in the decrease of palmitic acid conversion. As the main oxide in RM, Fe2O3, Al2O3 and SiO2 were used as supports to load Ni-Mo bimetals respectively to explore the contribution of different components in RM to the distribution of hydrodeoxygenation products of palmitic acid.

Effect of the Internal Humidity of Concrete on Frost Resistance and Air Void Structure under Different Low Temperature Conditions.

From the perspective of combining macroscopic and microscopic properties, this paper simulates the freeze–thaw cycle process at different freezing low temperatures based on the climate simulation equipment and by setting the curing conditions with different temperatures and relative humidity to produce different moisture conditions in concrete. The frost resistance properties and microscopic air void performance of concrete with different internal water content under different freezing low temperatures in freeze–thaw cycles were systematically studied. The results show that the higher the internal water content of concrete, the more obvious the mass loss rate and dynamic elastic modulus loss of concrete in the freeze–thaw process, and the more serious the deterioration of the air void parameter performance of the air-entraining agent introduced into concrete, which is manifested as the average bubble diameter and bubble spacing factor become larger and the bubble specific surface area decreases. In addition, in the case of the same internal moisture content of concrete, the freezing temperature used in the freeze–thaw cycle also has an important impact on the frost resistance of concrete and air void parameters; the lower the freezing temperature used, the more significant the decline in the frost resistance of concrete, the more obvious the deterioration of air void parameters.

Effects of Impregnated Amidophosphonate Ligand Concentration on the Uranium Extraction Behavior of Mesoporous Silica.

A series of solid-phase uranium extractants were prepared by post-synthesis impregnation of a mesoporous silica support previously functionalized with octyl chains by direct silanization. Five materials were synthesized with 0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 mmol of the amidophosphonate ligand DEHCEBP per gram of functionalized solid, and the effect of the ligand concentration on the uranium extraction efficiency and selectivity of the materials was investigated. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption data show that with increasing ligand loadings, the specific surface area and average pore volume decrease as the amidophosphonate ligand fills first the micropores and then the mesopores of the support. Acidic uranium solutions with a high sulfate content were used to replicate the conditions in ore treatment leaching solutions. Considering the extraction kinetics, the equilibration time was found to increase with the ligand concentration, which can be explained by the clogging of micropores and the multilayer arrangement of the DEHCEBP molecules in the materials with their highest ligand contents. The fact that the equilibrium ligand/uranium ratio is about 2 mol/mol regardless of the ligand concentration in the material suggests that all the ligand molecules remain accessible for extraction. The maximum uranium extraction capacities ranged from 30 mg∙g−1 at 0.2 mmol∙g−1 DEHCEBP to 54 mg∙g−1 in the material with 0.5 mmol∙g−1 DEHCEBP. These materials could therefore potentially be used as solid-phase uranium extractants in acidic solutions with high sulfate concentrations.

PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF MESOPOROUS TiO2 (ANATAS) IN THE REACTION OF HYDROGEN RELEASE FROM AQUEOUS-ETHANOLIC MIXTURE

Samples of mesoporous nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (anatase with a crystallite size of about 10 nm) were obtained by a modified sol-gel method in the presence of a template of dibenzo-18-crown-6 and small additives of surfactant (dodecylmethylethylammonium bromide) or ions of lanthanum (III) in butyl alcohol in combination with hydrothermal treatment at 175 °C for 24 hours followed by calcination in air at 500 °C for 4 hours. The photocatalytic activity of the obtained TiO2 samples was investigated in a model reaction of the photocatalytic release of H2 from an aqueous-ethanol mixture. It was found that in all cases the use of hydrothermal treatment significantly increases the photoactivity of the obtained sample, which in some cases is more than 3-4 times higher than the corresponding characteristic for commercial photocatalyst Evonik P25. The key effect of hydrothermal treatment on the increase of photoactivity of the samples is probably the consequence of a drastic increase in the treated samples of pore volume and diameter, as well as a decrease in the size of anatase crystallites. These changes (along with a significant increase in the specific surface area) are greater for samples obtained in the presence of La3+ ions. It is shown that samples of TiO2 microspheres obtained at the same concentrations of reagents in the reaction mixture show slightly higher photocatalytic activity than the corresponding lanthanum-stabilized samples of mesoporous TiO2 powders (micrometer-scale particles are not formed in the presence of lanthanum (III) ions). However, with an increasing concentration of reagents in the reaction mixture, the photocatalytic activity has the sample containing lanthanum. Probably, this can be explained by the high textural characteristics of the TiO2 sample in combination with the peculiarities of its morphology - the formation of secondary nanoparticles of agglomerated formations and the influence of La3+ ions. It is worth noting that the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 samples prepared in the presence of La3+ ions reduces as their specific surface area decreases.

Highly efficient and reversible iodine capture utilizing amorphous conjugated covalent triazine-based porous polymers: Experimental and computational studies

A robust conjugated covalent triazine framework, CTF-DPA, has been synthesized through a facile Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction using cyanuric chloride as the cross-linking agent and diphenylacetylene (DPA) as the backbone building block. Benefiting from its unique textural and structural features such as high specific surface area (943 m2 g−1), accessible pores, and abundant π-electrons, CTF-DPA exhibits outstanding iodine-capturing performance. It features an ultrahigh iodine vapor capture capacity of 5.12 g g−1 at 75 °C and 1 bar and a remarkable iodine adsorption capacity of 667 mg g−1 in n-hexane solution. To the best of our knowledge, these are among the highest iodine adsorption capacities reported for porous organic polymers. In contrast, an analog CTF synthesized with trans-stilbene (TS) replacing DPA instead features a slight decrease in specific surface area (919 m2 g−1) but a noticeable reduction in iodine adsorption capacities. The iodine uptake mechanism was investigated by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and Raman spectroscopy as well as computationally. Density-functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that charge transfer from conjugated C≡C, phenyl, and triazine moieties to iodine molecules facilitates the generation of charged (poly)iodide species (e.g.,I3−), enhancing the adsorption affinity/capacity. Moreover, CTF-DPA could be recycled five times while preserving above 87.6% of its initial iodine uptake capacity.

Thermocatalytic Hydrogenation of CO2 to Methanol Using Cu-ZnO Bimetallic Catalysts Supported on Metal–Organic Frameworks

The thermocatalytic hydrogenation of carbon dioxide (CO2) to methanol is considered as a potential route for green hydrogen storage as well as a mean for utilizing captured CO2, owing to the many established applications of methanol. Copper–zinc bimetallic catalysts supported on a zirconium-based UiO-66 metal–organic framework (MOF) were prepared via slurry phase impregnation and benchmarked against the promoted, co-precipitated, conventional ternary CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 (CZA) catalyst for the thermocatalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. A decrease in crystallinity and specific surface area of the UiO-66 support was observed using X-ray diffraction and N2-sorption isotherms, whereas hydrogen-temperature-programmed reduction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the presence of copper active sites after impregnation and thermal activation. Other characterisation techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis were employed to assess the physicochemical properties of the resulting catalysts. The UiO-66 (Zr) MOF-supported catalyst exhibited a good CO2 conversion of 27 and 16% selectivity towards methanol, whereas the magnesium-promoted CZA catalyst had a CO2 conversion of 31% and methanol selectivity of 24%. The prepared catalysts performed similarly to a CZA commercial catalyst which exhibited a CO2 conversion and methanol selectivity of 30 and 15%. The study demonstrates the prospective use of Cu-Zn bimetallic catalysts supported on MOFs for direct CO2 hydrogenation to produce green methanol.

In Ukrainian

The aim of the work is to compare the microporous structure characteristics of activated carbons (ACs) prepared from coals of different coals rank (CR) by alkaline activation (RKOH = 1 g/g, 800 °C) and to determine the ACs capability to adsorb phenol and 4-chlorophenol from aqueous solutions. Starting materials are coals with increasing carbon content (Cdaf = 80.0–95.6 %) selected as a CR criterion. ACs were obtained in argon in three stages: 1) thermoprogrammed heating (4 grad/min) to 800 °С; 2) isothermal exposure 1 h; 3) cooling, washing from alkali and drying. Based on low-temperature (77 K) nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, integral and differential dependences of the specific surface area S (m2/g) and pore volume V (cm3/g) on the average pore diameter (D, nm) were calculated. They were used to define volumes of ultramicropores (Vumi), supermicropores (Vsmi) and micropores (Vmi). The total pore volume Vt was calculated from the nitrogen amount adsorbed at a relative pressure p/p0 ~ 1.0. The S values of ultramicropores (Sumi), supermicropores (Ssmi) and micropores (Smi) were similarly determined. The volumes and specific surfaces of different categories of pores were found to decrease with CR increase: volume Vt – from 0.59 to 0.23 cm3/g; Vmi – from 0.51 to 0.17 cm3/g; the ultramicropores volume – from 0.31 cm3/g to zero in anthracite AC. The supermicropores volume is almost independent on CR and varies in the wide range Vsmi = 0.15–0.22 cm3/h. The specific surface area is the maximum (S = 1547 m2/g) in AC from the coal of the lowest CR and decreases with coal metamorphism up to 322 m2/g. The micropores surfaces make dominant contributions to the S values: its portion is 94.7–99.4 %. For all ACs, the adsorption of phenol (Ph) and 4-chlorophenol (CPh) from aqueous solutions at 25 °C was studied. Adsorption kinetics and isotherms are best described by the pseudo-second order model and the Langmuir model (R2 ≥ 0.998). With increasing CR, the maximum adsorption capacities decrease from 3.113 to 1.498 mmol/g (Ph) and from 3.9 to 2.1 mmol/g (CPh), that is approximately ~2 times when the specific surface area decreases by ~5 times. The Ph and CPh specific capacities, characterizing the adsorption capacity of 1 m2 of surface, change little at Cdaf≤86 %, but markedly increase (2.3–2.5 times) for anthracite AСs. The Ph and CPh capacitances were determined to increase linearly (R2 ≥ 0.966) with increasing ACs specific surface area. Similar dependences were found on the Sumi and Smi parameters. The phenols were concluded to be equally adsorbed on the surface of pores of any size. A general trend was found for ACs from hard coals and anthracite: an increase in CR reduces the ACs microporosity and surface, decreases Ph and CPh capacities but increases specific capacities, i.e. concentrations of surface adsorption centers. The Ph and CPh adsorption was accepted to include the interaction of π-electrons of phenolic rings and π-electrons of graphene layers in ACs, the formation of complexes with surface groups and forming hydrogen bonds with OH-groups. Their contributions depend on adsorbate nature and change with the growth of fossil coals CR.

Surface Morphology and Structural Evolution of Magnetite-Based Iron Ore Fines During the Oxidation

Abstract The use of magnetite-based iron ore fines by means of fluidized bed technology has become a promising route to produce direct reduced iron. The significant influence of a prior oxidation treatment, which occurs in the preheating stage, on the subsequent fluidization and reduction behavior was observed in our previous study. As a result, it is important to investigate the oxidation of magnetite-based iron ore fines for an optimization of the proposed route. Three magnetite-based iron ore brands were analyzed. The oxidation characteristics are investigated based on thermogravimetric analysis. The surface morphology, structural evolution, and phase transformation were studied with a scanning electron microscope, an optical light microscope, and a high-temperature-X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD), respectively. The three samples showed different oxidation capacity indexes (OCIs) but similar TG-DTG curves. The oxidation rate peaks at around 330 °C and 550 °C indicated the formation of γ-Fe2O3 and α-Fe2O3. The hematite phase shows a particular growth habit. The oxidation first occurs at the surface, forming gridlike hematite structures, and then extends to the inside, resulting in hematite needles. The specific surface area and pore volume decrease significantly due to the sintering effect during oxidation.

Effect of Aging on the Adsorption of Tetracycline by Humic Acid: Insight into the Morphology and Chemical Composition

Tetracycline (TC) is a commonly used antibiotic and enters the soil environment continuously. As humic acid (HA) is one of the most important components in soils, it is necessary to investigate the adsorption behavior of TC by HA under different conditions. In this paper, the factor of “aging” was considered. The methodology of coating CaCO3 precipitation on the surface of HA was adopted to simulate the aging process. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm demonstrated that the uptake of TC over HA was quicker with more amount than aged HA, meaning that aging affected the mass transfer of TC from the bulk solution to the outer surface of HA as well as from HA outer surface to its interior pores. To explain the effect of aging, BET was utilized to characterize the morphology of HA and aged HA. It was found that aging resulted in a decrease in specific surface area and pore size. XPS, FTIR, and 2D-COS revealed how aging influenced the chemical composition of HA. Five kinds of functional groups carried by HA contributed to the adsorption of TC, in which the binding affinity towards TC followed the order of [Formula: see text]. These results indicated that -COO was the most sensitive adsorption site. Compared to HA, the content of -COO for aged HA decreased obviously. In summary, aging affected the morphology and chemical position of HA and consequently lead to the change in adsorption kinetics and isotherm of TC.

Hierarchically porous and mechanically stable monoliths from ordered mesoporous silica and their water filtration potential.

Mechanically stable structures with interconnected hierarchical porosity combine the benefits of both small and large pores, such as high surface area, pore volume, and good mass transport capabilities. Hence, lightweight micro-/meso-/macroporous monoliths are prepared from ordered mesoporous silica COK-12 by means of spark plasma sintering (SPS, S-sintering) and compared to conventionally (C-) sintered monoliths. A multi-scale model is developed to fit the small angle X-ray scattering data and obtain information on the hexagonal lattice parameters, pore sizes from the macro to the micro range, as well as the dimensions of the silica population. For both sintering techniques, the overall mesoporosity, hexagonal pore ordering, and amorphous character are preserved. The monoliths' porosity (77–49%), mesopore size (6.2–5.2 nm), pore volume (0.50–0.22 g cm−3), and specific surface area (451–180 m2 g−1) decrease with increasing processing temperature and pressure. While the difference in porosity is enhanced, the structural parameters between the C-and S-sintered monoliths are largely converging at 900 °C, except for the mesopore size and lattice parameter, whose dimensions are more extensively preserved in the S-sintered monoliths, however, coming along with larger deviations from the theoretical lattice. Their higher mechanical properties (biaxial strength up to 49 MPa, 724 MPa HV 9.807 N) at comparable porosities and ability to withstand ultrasonic treatment and dead-end filtration up to 7 bar allow S-sintered monoliths to reach a high permeance (2634 L m−2 h−1 bar−1), permeability (1.25 × 10−14 m2), and ability to reduce the chemical oxygen demand by 90% during filtration of a surfactant-stabilized oil in water emulsion, while indicating reasonable resistance towards fouling.

Novel and highly efficient functionalized bentonite for elimination of Cu2+ and Cd2+ from aqueous wastes

The aim of this study was to synthesize novel and highly efficient functionalized material (BNMPTS) for selective elimination of Cu2+ and Cd2+ from aqueous waste. The detailed insights of solid/solution interactions were investigated by X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopic analyses. The grafting of silane caused for significant decrease in specific surface area of bentonite from 41.14 to 4.65 m2/g. The functionalized material possessed significantly high sorption capacity (12.59 mg/g for Cu2+ and 13.19 mg/g for Cd2+) and selectivity for these cations. The material showed very high elimination efficiency at a wide range of pH ~2.0 to 7.0 for Cu2+, ~3.0 to 10.0 for Cd2+ and concentration (1.0 to 25.0 mg/L) for Cu2+ and Cd2+. A rapid uptake of these two cations achieved an apparent equilibrium within 60 minutes of contact. The increased level of background electrolyte concentrations (0.0001 to 0.1 mol/L) did not affect the elimination efficiency of these two cations by BNMPTS. Moreover, the common coexisting ions did not inhibit the removal of these toxic ions. Furthermore, high breakthrough volumes i.e., 1.4 and 3.69 L for Cu2+, 2.6 and 6.64 L for Cd2+ was obtained using 0.25 and 0.50 g of BNMPTS respectively in a fixed-bed column operations.

Insights into optimized synthesis conditions of hollow microspheres of silica for water vapor adsorption

Hollow microspheres of silica were synthesized with different ethanol/water ratios (0.4, 1.0, 2.0 and 6.0) to assess the influence of this parameter on the morphology/porosity of the samples and thus on their water adsorption capacity. The samples were characterized by N2 at 77 K and CO2 at 273 K adsorption isotherms, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and water vapor isotherms at 298, 313 and 328 K. The textural properties of the samples were slightly different: as the ethanol/water ratio increases, the pore volume and specific surface area decrease and the structure of the samples evolves into a well-defined spherical arrangement. In addition, water adsorption capacity of the samples was similar to that of commercial adsorbents used for gas drying at high relative pressures, but significantly lower at low relative pressures. Moreover, varying of the ethanol/water ratio did not lead to a noticeable improvement in the water adsorption capacity at low relative pressures and hence these samples are not suitable for deep gas drying. On the other hand, as they require less energy to be regenerated, HMS are alternatives to be considered in less demanding situations, such as coarse drying and water harvesting from air.

Fabrication of n-ZnO/p-Si++ Hetero-junction Devices for Hydrogen Detection: Effect of Annealing Temperature

In the present study, we report the fabrication of n-ZnO/p-Si++ hetero-junction devices for the detection of hydrogen leakage in ambient air environment. For the fabrication of n-ZnO/p-Si++ hetero-junction devices, high quality ZnO thin films are grown by controlled thermal evaporation technique on the highly doped p-type silicon substrates at 400 oC. The two sets of films deposited at 400 o C are further annealed at 500 and 600 oC to examine the effect of annealing temperature on the structural, morphological, electrical and gas sensing properties of the deposited films. It is revealed from the x-ray diffraction studies that the crystallite size, and the density of the films increase from 22.55 to 24.95 nm, and from 5.65 to 5.68 g/cm3, respectively, on increasing the fabrication temperature from 400 to 600 oC. In contrast to this, the grain boundary specific surface area decreases from 8.79 × 107 to 7.88 × 107 m−1 on changing the fabrication temperature from 400 to 600 oC. The hydrogen gas sensing responses of the fabricated devices have also been recorded at different operating temperatures and different hydrogen concentrations (200 to 1000 ppm) in air ambient. It is found that the gas sensing responses of the fabricated devices increase with increase in operating temperature up to 100 oC and decease beyond this temperature. The gas sensing responses of the devices fabricated at 400, 500 and 600 oC are found to be 97.22, 64.23 and 40.77 % respectively at 1000 ppm of hydrogen. A decrease in gas sensing response with fabrication temperature is attributed to the increase in crystallite size (quantum size effect), density of film (i.e. lower penetration) and decrease in grain boundary specific surface area (i.e. active sites) with annealing temperature. The mechanism of the gas sensing in these devices has also been systematically analyzed under different models.