Influence of Aqueous Phase Salt and Oil Phase Surfactants and Viscosity on the Dynamic Interfacial Tension and Coalescence Timescales.

Liquid-liquid separation is a critically important process in the treatment of emulsions that can occur in our environment, such as oily stormwater, shipboard bilgewater, or off-shore oil spill treatment. Effective filtration systems, including coalescing filters, are essential for mitigating these environmental pollutants. Achieving this requires a comprehensive understanding of liquid-liquid interface dynamics influenced by additives and surfactants.

Dilatational rheology of water-in-diesel fuel interfaces: effect of surfactant concentration and bulk-to-interface exchange.

Micrometer-sized water droplets dispersed in diesel fuel are stabilized by the fuel's surface-active additives, such as mono-olein and poly(isobutylene)succinimide (PIBSI), making the droplets challenging for coalescing filters to separate. Dynamic material properties found from interfacial rheology are known to influence the behavior of microscale droplets in coalescing filters. In this work, we study the interfacial dilatational properties of water-in-fuel interfaces laden with mono-olein and PIBSI, with a fuel phase of clay-treated ultra-low sulphur diesel (CT ULSD).

Insights into the Microscale Coalescence Behavior of Surfactant-Stabilized Droplets Using a Microfluidic Hydrodynamic Trap.

Coalescence of micrometer-scale droplets is impacted by several parameters, including droplet size, viscosities of the two phases, droplet velocity, angle of approach, as well as interfacial tension and surfactant coverage. The thinning dynamics of films between coalescing droplets can be particularly complex in the presence of surfactants, due to the generation of Marangoni stresses and reduced film mobility. Here, a microfluidic hydrodynamic "Stokes" trap is used to gently steer and trap surfactant-laden micrometer-sized droplets at the center of a cross-slot.

Metal-organic framework materials with ultrahigh surface areas: is the sky the limit?

We have synthesized, characterized, and computationally simulated/validated the behavior of two new metal-organic framework (MOF) materials displaying the highest experimental Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas of any porous materials reported to date (~7000 m(2)/g). Key to evacuating the initially solvent-filled materials without pore collapse, and thereby accessing the ultrahigh areas, is the use of a supercritical CO(2) activation technique. Additionally, we demonstrate computationally that by shifting from phenyl groups to "space efficient" acetylene moieties as linker expansion units, the hypothetical maximum surface area for a MOF material is substantially greater than previously envisioned (~14600 m(2)/g (or greater) versus ~10500 m(2)/g).

Designing higher surface area metal-organic frameworks: are triple bonds better than phenyls?

We have synthesized, characterized, and computationally validated the high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area and hydrogen uptake of a new, noncatenating metal-organic framework (MOF) material, NU-111. Our results imply that replacing the phenyl spacers of organic linkers with triple-bond spacers is an effective strategy for boosting molecule-accessible gravimetric surface areas of MOFs and related high-porosity materials.

Imparting functionality to a metal-organic framework material by controlled nanoparticle encapsulation.

Microporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that display permanent porosity show great promise for a myriad of purposes. The potential applications of MOFs can be developed further and extended by encapsulating various functional species (for example, nanoparticles) within the frameworks. However, despite increasing numbers of reports of nanoparticle/MOF composites, simultaneously to control the size, composition, dispersed nature, spatial distribution and confinement of the incorporated nanoparticles within MOF matrices remains a significant challenge.

Large-scale screening of hypothetical metal-organic frameworks.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous materials constructed from modular molecular building blocks, typically metal clusters and organic linkers. These can, in principle, be assembled to form an almost unlimited number of MOFs, yet materials reported to date represent only a tiny fraction of the possible combinations. Here, we demonstrate a computational approach to generate all conceivable MOFs from a given chemical library of building blocks (based on the structures of known MOFs) and rapidly screen them to find the best candidates for a specific application.

Cubic and rhombohedral heterobimetallic networks constructed from uranium, transition metals, and phosphonoacetate: new methods for constructing porous materials.

Four heterobimetallic U(vi)/M(ii) (M = Mn, Co, Cd) carboxyphosphonates have been synthesized. M(2)[(UO(2))(6)(PO(3)CH(2)CO(2))(3)O(3)(OH)(H(2)O)(2)]·16H(2)O (M = Mn(ii), Co(ii), and Cd(ii)) adopt cubic three-dimensional network structures with large cavities approximately 16 Å in diameter that are filled with co-crystallized water molecules. [Cd(3)(UO(2))(6)(PO(3)CH(2)CO(2))(6)(H(2)O)(13)]·6H(2)O forms a rhombohedral channel structure with hydrated Cd(ii) within the channels.

De novo synthesis of a metal-organic framework material featuring ultrahigh surface area and gas storage capacities.

Metal-organic frameworks--a class of porous hybrid materials built from metal ions and organic bridges--have recently shown great promise for a wide variety of applications. The large choice of building blocks means that the structures and pore characteristics of the metal-organic frameworks can be tuned relatively easily. However, despite much research, it remains challenging to prepare frameworks specifically tailored for particular applications.

Chemical reduction of a diimide based porous polymer for selective uptake of carbon dioxide versus methane.

A diimide based porous organic polymer (POP) post-synthetically reduced with lithium metal demonstrates a drastic increase in selectivity for carbon dioxide over methane.