New material UCB-1 is synthesized via the delamination of zeolite precursor MCM-22 (P) at pH 9 using an aqueous solution of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, tetrabutylammonium fluoride, and tetrabutylammonium chloride at 353 K. Characterization by powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen physisorption at 77 K indicates the same degree of delamination in UCB-1 as p...

A new characterisation method, based on the utilisation of focussed ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), has been employed for the evaluation of morphological parameters in porous monolithic materials. Sample FIB serial sectioning, SEM imaging and image processing techniques were used to extract the pore boundaries and reconstruct the 3D porous structure of carbon and silica-based m...

Polyethyleneterephthalate, PET, has become one of the major post-consumer plastic waste. In this work special attention was paid to minimising PET residues and to obtain a high value carbon material. Pyrolysis and subsequent activation of PET from post-consumer soft-drink bottles was performed. Activation was carried out at 925 oC under CO2 atmosphere to different burn-off degrees. Textural cha...

We have developed highly efficient, ambient temperature, solid-state ionic conductors (SSICs) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by doping a molecular plastic crystal, succinonitrile (SN), with trialkyl-substituted imidazolium iodide salts. High performance SSICs with enhanced ionic conductivity (2-4 mScm⁻¹) were obtained. High performance solid-state DSSCs with power conversion efficiency ...

The condition of heat transfer to lignocellulosic biomass particles during thermal processing at high temperature (>400 °C) dramatically alters the yield and quality of renewable energy and fuels. In this work, crystalline cellulose particles were discovered to lift off heated surfaces by high speed photography similar to the Leidenfrost effect in hot, volatile liquids. Order of magnitude varia...

In the membrane-based bioartificial livers developed up to now, the hepatic cells were located either in the fibers lumen or in the cartridge, with limited capacity for cell hosting. Here, we designed a polysulfone (PSU) membrane with a double porosity level: (i) surface macroporosity emerging in macrochambers accessible to hepatic cell colonization; (ii) microporosity to ensure gas and molecul...

Define a mixture with volume V containing a certain amount of clay (Vc) and sand (Vs), i.e. V = Vc + Vs. The intrinsic porosity of the clay is φc, defined as the ratio of pore volume in the clay V c p to the volume of clay, i.e. φc = V c p /Vc, and the intrinsic porosity of sand is φs = V s p /Vs. The surface areas of the pores in the clay and in the sand are noted S p and S s p respectively. S...

Porous solids have an important role in addressing some of the major energy-related problems facing society. Here we describe a porous solid, α-MnO2, with a hierarchical tetramodal pore size distribution spanning the micro-, meso- and macro pore range, centred at 0.48, 4.0, 18 and 70  nm. The hierarchical tetramodal structure is generated by the presence of potassium ions in the precursor solut...

Core-shell particles were prepared by the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of imogolite (IMO) nanotubes and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) on polystyrene particles (diameter: 800 nm) coated preliminarily with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). PSS and imogolite were alternately adsorbed on the particles to form core-shell particles with one to three bilayers of PSS/IMO. Macropor...

The electrospinning technique is widely used for the fabrication of micro- and nanofibrous structures. Recent studies have focused on the use of less toxic and harmful solvents (benign solvents) for electrospinning, even if those solvents usually require an accurate and longer process of optimization. The aim of the present work is to demonstrate the versatility of the use of benign solvents, l...