Spontaneous Pillaring of Pentasil Zeolites.

Conventional methods to prepare hierarchical zeolites depend upon the use of organic structure-directing agents and often require multiple synthesis steps with limited product yield and Brønsted acid concentration. Here, it is shown that the use of MEL- or MFI-type zeolites as crystalline seeds induces the spontaneous formation of self-pillared pentasil zeolites, thus avoiding the use of any organic or branching template for the crystallization of these hierarchical structures. The mechanism of formation is evaluated by time-resolved electron microscopy to provide evidence for the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of sequentially branched nanosheets from amorphous precursors.

Ultrasmall Zeolite L Crystals Prepared from Highly Interdispersed Alkali-Silicate Precursors.

The preparation of nanosized zeolites is critical for applications where mass-transport limitations within microporous networks hinder their performance. Often the ability to generate ultrasmall zeolite crystals is dependent upon the use of expensive organics with limited commercial relevance. Herein, we report the generation of zeolite L crystals with uniform sizes less than 30 nm using a facile, organic-free method.

Crystal Engineering for Catalysis.

Crystal engineering relies upon the ability to predictively control intermolecular interactions during the assembly of crystalline materials in a manner that leads to a desired (and predetermined) set of properties. Economics, scalability, and ease of design must be leveraged with techniques that manipulate the thermodynamics and kinetics of crystal nucleation and growth. It is often challenging to exact simultaneous control over multiple physicochemical properties, such as crystal size, habit, chirality, polymorph, and composition.

Sono-crystallization kinetics of KSO: Estimation of nucleation, growth, breakage and agglomeration kinetics.

Application of ultrasound in crystallization has showed improved process characteristics. Although several attempts have been made in the past to study the sono-crystallization kinetics, only nucleation and crystal growth were considered, neglecting breakage and agglomeration of crystals. In this study, an attempt is made for the estimation of the kinetic parameters of all the phenomena occurring simultaneously during sono-crystallization.

Characterization and Screening of Native Scenedesmus sp. Isolates Suitable for Biofuel Feedstock.

In current study isolates of two native microalgae species were screened on the basis of growth kinetics and lipid accumulation potential. On the basis of data obtained on growth parameters and lipid accumulation, it is concluded that Scenedesmus dimorphus has better potential as biofuel feedstock. Two of the isolates of Scenedesmus dimorphus performed better than other isolates with respect to important growth parameters with lipid content of ~30% of dry biomass.