Search results for "engineering.material"
showing 10 items of 2352 documents
Synthesis of WO3 nanorods through anodization in the presence of citric acid: Formation mechanism, properties and photoelectrocatalytic performance
2021
[EN] In this study, WO3 nanomds have been fabricated by simple anodization in the presence of different amounts of citric acid and at different anodization times. A comprehensive morphological, structural, electrochemical and photoelectrochemical characterization of different samples has been carried out. Moreover, a formation mechanism for WO3 nanorods has been proposed. Finally, these nanostructures have been proven to be excellent visible-light photoelectrocatalysts to remove persistent organic pollutants present in wastewaters, such as fenamiphos. Almost the 80% of this molecule was eliminated from the test solution after 180 min of irradiation, indicating the great potential of these W…
TEM and Raman characterisation of diamond micro- and nanostructures in carbon spherules from upper soils
2008
Carbonaceous spherules of millimeter size diameter and found in the upper soils throughout Europe are investigated by TEM, including SAED, HRTEM and EELS, and Raman spectroscopy. The spherules consist primarily of carbon and have an open cell-like internal structure. Most of the carbon appears in an amorphous state, but different morphologies of nano- and microdiamond particles have also been discovered including flake shapes. The latter observation, together with the original findings of some of these spherules in crater-like structures in the landscape and including severely deformed rocks with some spherules being embedded in the fused crust of excavated rocks, points towards unique cond…
Photon antibunching in the optical near field
2010
International audience; We show that a combination of the field-susceptibility technique with the optical Bloch equations gives access to the temporal evolution of the populations and coherences of any quantum system placed in the optical near field of a nanostructure. In particular, we show that the near-field evanescent states, confined around dielectric or plasmonic particles, can be used to modify and control the photon statistics of the quantum system. This theoretical scheme leads to second-order autocorrelation functions in good agreement with recent experimental measurements performed with nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond nanocrystals placed in interaction with gold nanoparticles.
Molecular dynamics simulations of capillary rise experiments in nanotubes coated with polymer brushes.
2007
The capillary filling of a nanotube coated with a polymer brush is studied by molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained model, assuming various conditions for the fluid-wall and fluid-brush interactions. Whereas the fluid is modeled by simple point particles interacting with Lennard-Jones forces, the (end-grafted, fully flexible) polymers that form the brush coating are described by a standard bead-spring model. Our experiments reveal that capillary filling is observed even for walls that would not be wetted by the fluid, provided the polymer brush coating itself wets. Generally, it is found that the capillary rise always proceeds through a t1/2 law with time t while the underlying…
Adsorption Studies of Molecules on the Halloysite Surfaces: A Computational and Experimental Investigation
2017
We report the results of joint computational and experimental investigations on the adsorption capability of halloysite toward a set of common molecules (water, alcohols, halides, and carboxylic acids). The halloysite system has been modelized by means of a cluster approach choosing a portion of a spiral nanotube; it has a slight curvature, with a convex aluminic layer. The adsorption geometries are described in terms of hydrogen bond network structures; calculated interaction energies invariably indicate that the inner aluminic surface is the place for preferential adsorption of polar molecules. The presence of substitutional defects on the outer or inner surface of the halloysite model ca…
A study on the stability of carbon nanoforms–polyimidazolium network hybrids in the conversion of co2 into cyclic carbonates
2021
Three different carbon nanoforms (CNFs), single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs, MWCNTs) and carbon nanohorns (CNHs), have been used as supports for the direct polymerization of variable amounts of a bis-vinylimidazolium salt. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed that all CNFs act as templates on the growth of the polymeric network, which perfectly covers the nanocarbons forming a cylindrical (SWCNTs, MWCNTs) or spherical (CNHs) coating. The stability of these hybrid materials was investigated in the conversion of CO2 into cyclic carbonate under high temperature and CO2 pressure. Compared with the homopolymerized monomer, nanotube-based materials display an improved c…
Steric stabilization of modified nanoclays triggered by temperature.
2015
Halloysite clay nanotubes were modified through the adsorption of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-amine terminated (PNIPA-NH2) onto the external surface by exploiting electrostatic interactions at pH=6. In spite the amount of attached polymer is rather low (1 wt%), the properties of the nanotubes are deeply modified. The apparent specific volume and isentropic compressibilities of the hybrid nanomaterial dispersed in water evidenced the transferring of the termosensitive property from the polymer to halloysite. The hydrodynamic radius as well as the ζ-potential of the nanohybrid are consistent with the attachment of a positively charged polymer onto the negative surface of the nanotube. The col…
Nanohydrogel Formation within the Halloysite Lumen for Triggered and Sustained Release
2018
An easy strategy to obtain nanohydrogels within the halloysite nanotube (HNTs) lumen was investigated. Inorganic reverse micelles based on HNTs and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromides were dispersed in chloroform, and the hydrophilic cavity was used as a nanoreactor to confine the gel formation based on alginate cross-linked by calcium ions. Spectroscopy and electron microscopy experiments proved the confinement of the polymer into the HNT lumen and the formation of calcium-mediated networks. Biological tests proved the biocompatibility of the hybrid hydrogel. The nanogel in HNTs was suitable for drug loading and sustained release with the opportunity of triggered burst release by chemical …
Halloysite Nanotubes: Controlled Access and Release by Smart Gates
2017
© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Hollow halloysite nanotubes have been used as nanocontainers for loading and for the triggered release of calcium hydroxide for paper preservation. A strategy for placing end-stoppers into the tubular nanocontainer is proposed and the sustained release from the cavity is reported. The incorporation of Ca(OH) 2 into the nanotube lumen, as demonstrated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) mapping, retards the carbonatation, delaying the reaction with CO 2 gas. This effect can be further controlled by placing the end-stoppers. The obtained material is tested for paper deacidification. We…
Computational study of water adsorption on halloysite nanotube in different pH environments
2020
Abstract The comprehension of structural and energetic features of halloysite nanotube (HNT) in different chemical environments plays a crucial role in developing new HNT based materials. So far these aspects were investigated by means of laboratory techniques that hardly are able to provide hints at atomistic level of detail. Our investigation aims to obtain such accurate informations through density functional theory calculations on HNT models, in order to figure out the most stable forms of HNT under different pH conditions. It turns out that, at low pH, the preferred protonation sites are located in the inner aluminic surface while in alkaline medium the silicic layer can show delocaliz…