This research presents the interaction of the epoxy polymer diglicydil ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) with silica (SiO₂) nanoparticles plus zirconia (ZrO₂) nanoparticles obtained via the sol-gel method in the synthesis of an epoxy-silica-zirconia hybrid adhesive cured with polyamide. ZrO₂ nanoparticles were added to the epoxy-silica hybrid adhesive produced in situ to modify the apparent shear st...

The present paper investigates the effect of adding silica nanoparticles to an anhydride-cured epoxy polymer in bulk and when used as the matrix of carbonand glass-fibre reinforced composites. The formation of ‘hybrid’ epoxy polymers, containing both silica nanoparticles and carboxyl-terminated butadiene-acrylonitrile (CTBN) rubber microparticles, is also discussed. The structure/property relat...

We report the efficient poling of an electro-optic (EO) polymer in a hybrid TiO(2)/electro-optic polymer multilayer waveguide modulator on mesoporous sol-gel silica cladding. The mesoporous sol-gel silica has nanometer-sized pores and a low refractive index of 1.24, which improves mode confinement in the 400-nm-thick EO polymer film in the modulators and prevents optical absorption from the low...

This study concerns the development and charaterization of Silica-based aldehyde Chitosan hybrid material as an adsorbent for biodiesel purification. This biocomposite was prepared by sol-gel route and oxidation with periodate, and then characterized. FTIR experiments showed that the hybrid formed presents absorption bands similar to those of Chitosan-Silica, with the exception of the vibration...

In this study, we synthesized Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticles coated estrone-imprinted polymer with controlled size using a semi-covalent imprinting strategy. In this protocol, the estrone-silica monomer complex (EstSi) was synthesized by the reaction 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl isocyanate with estrone, where the template was linked to the silica coating on the iron oxide core via a thermally rev...

Hierarchically structured membranes composed of mesoporous silica embedded inside the channels of anodic alumina (MS-AAM) were synthesized using the aspiration method. Ethanol is shown to have a significant effect on the type and organization of the mesoporous silica phase. Detailed textural analysis revealed that the pore size distribution of the mesoporous silica narrows and the degree of ord...

Here, for the first time, a hybrid catalyst in which hemin and gold nanoparticles are positioned in spatially separate domains within a graphene–mesoporous silica support is presented. Specifically, monomeric hemin can be anchored on the inner exposed graphene surface of a graphene–mesoporous silica hybrid (GS) via p–p stacking interactions. After the assembly, such nanocomposites can function ...

The design of magnetic nanoparticles by incorporation of iron oxide colloids within gelatine/silica hybrid nanoparticles has been performed for the first time through a nanoemulsion route using the encapsulation of pre-formed magnetite nanocrystals and the in situ precipitation of ferrous/ferric ions. The first method leads to bi-continuous hybrid nanocomposites containing a limited amount of w...

In this work, we demonstrate high-throughput fabrication of periodic metallic nanohole arrays in an almost centimeter square area through simple metal deposition and peeling off processes, called template stripping [1]. A thin silica layer is used to protect the template-stripped Ag nanoholes from unwanted oxidation and also to provide a robust surface on which lipid membranes can be formed. We...

Poly (vinylpyrrolidone)-grafted silica as an organic-inorganic hybrid material was used as an effective heterogeneous polymeric cosolvent catalyst in organic reactions. This modified silica catalyzed nucleophilic displacement of alkyl halides for easy preparation of alkyl thiocyanates, alkyl cyanides, alkyl azides and alkyl aryl ethers. Furthermore, the catalyst was applied for the conversion o...