For several decades vanadyl pyrophosphate, (VO)2P2O7, has been used commercially as a catalyst for the partial oxidation of n-butane into maleic anhydride (MA) [1]. However due to the moderate specificity to MA production, many research groups still continue to investigate the V-P-O catalyst system with the aim of further improving its overall performance. Now a specialized form of V-P-O cataly...

In this article, we discuss how fluorescence microscopy techniques are used to investigate important characteristics of porous silica materials. We start with a discussion of the synthesis, formation mechanism and functionalization of these materials. We then give an introduction to single molecule microscopy and show how this technique can be used to gain deeper insights into some defining pro...

This paper presents a method for the fabrication of integrated porous silica layers in microfluidic channel networks by microfabrication techniques. Porous silica is obtained by anodization of silicon, followed by full conversion of the porous silicon network into porous silica by means of thermal oxidation. A series of experiments were performed with various channel layouts to determine the cr...

The phenomenon of capillary condensation is studied through the weight change of condensed phase in an internally wetted porous pd catalyst pellet during the course of exothermic reacation of cyclohexane hydrogenation in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The direct measurement of condensed phase indicates that evaporation of condensed phase is confined to the macropores of catalyst pellet at ...

Porous heterogeneous catalysts play a pivotal role in the chemical industry. Herein a new Hf-based metal-organic framework (Hf-NU-1000) incorporating Hf6 clusters is reported. It demonstrates high catalytic efficiency for the activation of epoxides, facilitating the quantitative chemical fixation of CO2 into five-membered cyclic carbonates under ambient conditions, rendering this material an ex...

A model for the simulation of the steady-state impedance response of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell ~PEMFC! cathode is presented. The catalyst layer of the electrode is assumed to consist of many flooded spherical agglomerate particles surrounded by a small volume fraction of gas pores. Stefan-Maxwell equations are used to describe the multicomponent gas-phase transport occurring in b...

Carbon nanotubes have been explored as interconnects in solid acid fuel cells to improve the link between nanoscale Pt catalyst particles and macroscale current collectors. The nanotubes were grown by chemical vapor deposition on carbon paper substrates, using nickel nanoparticles as the catalyst, and were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The composite el...

This paper describes a facile solution route to the synthesis of CoCuPt hollow nanoparticles that readily form chain-like structures in solution. The formation of porous CoCuPt nanostructure is through galvanic replacement with cobalt-containing cores as the templates. This approach does not require the further removal of templates and greatly simplifies the synthetic procedures. These porous C...

Vertical single-walled and double-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT and DWNT) arrays have been grown using a catalyst embedded within the pore walls of a porous anodic alumina (PAA) template. The initial film structure consisted of a SiOx adhesion layer, a Ti layer, a bottom Al layer, a Fe layer, and a top Al layer deposited on a Si wafer. The Al and Fe layers were subsequently anodized to create a ...

In this paper, we demonstrate a monolithic integrated micro direct methanol fuel cell (μDMFC) for the first time. The monolithic integrated μDMFC combines proton exchange membrane (PEM) and Pt nanocatalysts, in which PEM is achieved by the functionalized porous silicon membrane and 3D Pt nanoflowers being synthesized in situ on it as catalysts. Sulfo groups functionalized porous silicon membran...