A D-π-A dye (KM-1) incorporating cyano-benzoic acid as a new acceptor/anchoring group has been synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) with a high molar extinction coefficient of 66,700 M(-1) cm(-1) at 437 nm. Theoretical calculations show that the hydrogen bond between -CN and surface hydroxyl leads to the most stable configuration on the surface of TiO(2). In addition, the adsorptio...

We designed a ceria-vanadia/silica (Ce-V/SiO2) heterogeneous catalyst and used it for the green and efficient synthesis of 2-amino-3-cyano-4H-pyran derivatives. The green reaction was a multicomponent one-pot condensation of 5,5-dimethylcyclohexane-1,3-dione, aromatic aldehyde, and malononitrile in an eco-compatible solvent (ethanol). The catalyst was synthesized and fully characterized by powd...

Three-dimensional hollow porous superparamagnetic Fe3O4 microspheres were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal process. A series of characterizations done with X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy indicated that the production of Fe3O4 microspheres possessed good monodispers...

Porous nanostructured materials are demonstrated to be very promising in catalysis due to their well accessible active sites. Thermally stable metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as hard templates are successfully utilized to afford porous metal oxides and subsequently metal sulfides by a nanocasting method. The resultant metal oxides/sulfides show considerable Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface ...

Fundamental understanding about the thermal stability of nanoparticles and deliberate control of structural and morphological changes under reactive conditions is of general importance for a wide range of reaction processes in heterogeneous and electrochemical catalysis. Herein, we present a parametric study of the thermal stability of carbon-supported Pt nanoparticles at 80 °C and 160 °C, with...

The present research attempt consists in the development of mesoporous hydroxyapatite using inexpensive ingredients using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as template through a chemical-based hydrothermal method. Wide angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals the formation of pure single-phased hydroxyapatite particles. Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron dif...

Nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons (N-GNRs) were prepared by thermal treatment of the as-zipped graphene oxide nanoribbons in NH3 gas. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements revealed a high nitrogen content up to 6.5 atom% for the as-prepared N-GNRs. This, together with the high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of about 751 cm(2) g(-1), prompted us to use the N-GNR as the...

Corundum, a-Al2O3, is the thermodynamically stable phase of coarsely crystalline aluminum oxide, but syntheses of nanocrystalline Al2O3 usually result in g-Al2O3. Adsorption microcalorimetry, thermogravimetric analyses, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller adsorption experiments, coupled with recently reported high-temperature solution calorimetry data, prove that g-Al2O3 has a lower surface energy than ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of pyrolysis temperature on the physicochemical properties and structure of biochar. Biochar was produced by fast pyrolysis of pitch pine (Pinus rigida) using a fluidized bed reactor at different pyrolysis temperatures (300, 400 and 500 °C). The produced biochars were characterized by elemental analysis, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface...

Nanocrystal HZSM-5 zeolite aggregates with different SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratios were prepared under low temperature and were used to catalyze the conversion of methanol to propylene and butene. The coke location, coke content, and coke species deposited on HZSM-5 aggregates were investigated. The near-graphite carbon on the external surface of HZSM-5 zeolite (SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratio = 400) was dist...