Search results for "aerogel"
showing 10 items of 22 documents
Luminescence and absorption spectroscopy of Sn-related impurity centers in silica
2006
We report an experimental study on the absorption and luminescence spectra of oxygen deficient point defects in Sn-doped silica. The absorption band at 4.9 eV (B2β band) and the two related photoluminescence bands at ∼4.2 eV (singlet-singlet emission, S1 → S0) and at ∼3.2 eV (triplet-singlet emission, T1 → S0), linked by a thermally activated T1 → S1 inter-system crossing process (ISC), are studied as a function of temperature from 300 to 20 K. This approach allows us to investigate the dynamics properties of the matrix in the surroundings of the point defects and the effects of local disorder on the two relaxation processes from S1: the radiative channel to S0 and the ISC process to T1. We…
Highly robust and selective system for water pollutants removal: How to transform a traditional photocatalyst into a highly robust and selective syst…
2019
Highly porous monolithic aerogels based on ZnO photocatalyst and syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS) were obtained by supercritical CO2 treatment of ZnO/s-PS gels. The prepared aerogels were characterized and their photocatalytic activity was evaluated using phenol and toluene as water pollutant models. The s-PS nanoporous crystalline phase, able to absorb pollutant molecules, was proven to be necessary to ensure high photocatalytic efficiency as the aerogel acts not only as a support, but also as pollutant pre-concentrator. The reusability of ZnO/s-PS aerogels is also strong showing no decrease in photocatalytic activity after six consecutive degradation trials. Finally, the aerogel matrix pre…
Highly water repellent aerogels based on cellulose stearoyl esters
2011
Herein we combine in a novel way the physical effect of porous structure of a cellulosic aerogel with the chemical effect of long alkyl tails by a well known homogeneous green esterification method, to achieve purely bio-based and highly water repellent cellulosic materials. As an alternative for a traditional fluoro derivatized hydrophobization, here long fatty acid tails are utilized to lower the surface energy. To minimize the process emission, ionic liquid (IL) 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride is used for the esterification, due to its non-volatility and recyclability. We have shown here that low degree of substitution (DS) of the fatty acid cellulose material enables the spontaneou…
A bioinspired metal–organic approach to cross-linked functional 3D nanofibrous hydro- and aero-gels with effective mixture separation of nucleobases …
2020
The direct reaction between Cu(CH3COO)2 and uracil-1-acetic acid in water gives rise to the formation of a hydrogel consisting of entangled nanometric ribbons of a crystalline antiferromagnetic 1D Cu(ii) coordination polymer (CP) decorated with biocompatible uracil nucleobases. This hydrogel is the precursor for the preparation of a meso/macroporous ultralight aerogel that shows a remarkable Young's modulus. As a proof-of-concept of the molecular recognition capability of the terminal uracil moieties anchored at Cu(ii) CP chains, this material has been tested as the selective stationary phase for the separation of nucleobase derivatives in HPLC columns.
centers induced by γ irradiation in sol–gel synthesized oxygen deficient amorphous silicon dioxide
2007
The effects of room temperature γ-ray irradiation up to a dose of ∼1300 kGy are investigated by Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements in amorphous silicon dioxide (a-SiO2) produced by a sol-gel synthesis method that introduces O{triple bond, long}Si{single bond}Si{triple bond, long}O oxygen deficiency. We have found that exposure to radiation generates the Eγ′ center with the same spectral features found in high purity commercial a-SiO2. The maximum concentration of defects induced in this sol-gel material indicates that its resistance to radiation is comparable to that of synthetic fused a-SiO2. The concentration of Eγ′ center increases with irradiation, featuring a sublinear …
Silica aerogel–metal composites produced by supercritical adsorption
2010
Abstract Silica aerogel has been loaded with ruthenium acetyl acetonate (Ru(acac) 3 ) by adsorption from supercritical carbon dioxide. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics were measured at different pressures and temperatures. The properties of impregnated aerogel were obtained by optical and electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray microanalysis (EDX) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results showed that Ru(acac) 3 can be uniformly dispersed into the aerogel up to 5 wt%. Moreover, precursor loading is controllable by properly changing operating conditions. The adsorbed metallorganic compound has been reduced to elemental ruthenium by heat treatment without inducing degradation and morphological c…
Thermal conductivity measurement of insulating innovative building materials by hot plate and heat flow meter devices: A Round Robin Test
2019
Abstract The characterization of thermal insulation properties of construction materials represents a fundamental step on the building insulation assessment. In recent years innovative materials have been introduced in the market to fulfill the continuously growing requirements of energy saving and sustainability, and their performance is not so reliable and mature as it happens for traditional insulators. The work presents a Round Robin Test realised among six European laboratories hosting hot plates devices to measure the thermal conductivity of four different materials: aerogel, vacuum insulation panels, polystyrene and birch wood fibre insulation boards. After the definition of the comm…
Synthesis and self-assembly of a PEGylated-graphene aerogel
2016
Abstract In the frame of this work, we present, for the first time, the synthesis and self-assembly of an aerogel built by graphene oxide-polyethylene glycol. The synthetic route involves at first the coupling of GO with an amino-terminated polyethylene glycol sample by carbodiimide in aqueous environment, and the subsequent conversion of the hydrogel achieved into an aerogel via freeze-drying. The 3D PEGylated graphene-based aerogel, characterized by spectroscopic, morphological, structural and mechanical analyses, displays an ultralight and highly porous (99.7%) network and possesses high mechanical properties together with a good biocompatibility.
Eumelanin Coating of Silica Aerogel by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Deposition of a 5,6-Dihydroxyindole Thin Film
2018
Eumelanin integration in silica aerogel (SA) was achieved via supercritical adsorption of 5,6-dyhydroxyindole (DHI) from CO2. Notably, after the supercritical treatment, DHI evolved towards spontaneous polymerization, which resulted in uniform pigment development over the SA. The new material was characterized for its morphological and physicochemical properties, disclosing the formation of a eumelanin-like coating, as confirmed by UV&ndash
Microwave gas sensor based on graphene aerogel for breath analysis
2022
Exhaled breath can be used for early detection and diagnosis of diseases, monitoring metabolic activity, and precision medicine. In this work, we design and simulate a microwave sensor in which thin graphene aerogels are integrated into rectangular microwave waveguides. Graphene aerogels are ideal sensing platforms for gases and volatile compounds as they combine extremely high surface-to-volume ratio and good electrical conductivity at RF and microwave frequencies. The latter is modified by exposure to different gases, and -when integrated into a waveguide- these changes result in significant shifts in transmission and reflection scattering parameters. We model the aerogel as a graphene gr…