Investigating the thermophysical properties of substances is crucial for using them as phase change materials (PCMs) and heat transfer fluids (HTFs) in thermal energy applications. In this study, the thermophysical properties of three medium-temperature PCMs (around 338 K) and one ionic liquid, tetrabutylammonium chloride ([N ][Cl]), were evaluated and compared. The commercial PCMs were two fatty acids (OM65 and stearic acid) and one paraffin (RT64HC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymer microparticles possess great potential as functional building blocks for advanced bottom-up engineering of complex tissues. Tailoring the three-dimensional architectural features of culture substrates has been shown to induce osteogenesis in mesenchymal stem cells in vitro, but the molecular mechanisms underpinning this remain unclear. This study proposes a mechanism linking the activation of Hedgehog signalling to the osteoinductive effect of surface-engineered, topographically-textured polymeric microparticles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe search for alternative ways to give a second life to materials paved the way for detailed investigation into three silica-polyethylenimine (Si-PEI) materials for the purpose of CO adsorption in carbon capture and storage. A solvent extraction procedure was investigated to recover degraded PEIs and silica, and concomitantly, pyrolysis was evaluated to obtain valuable chemicals such as alkylated pyrazines. An array of thermal (TGA, Py-GC-MS), mechanical (rheology), and spectroscopical (ATR-FTIR, H-C-NMR) methods were applied to PEIs extracted with methanol to determine the relevant physico-chemical features of these polymers when subjected to degradation after use in CO capture.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study has demonstrated, for the first time, a simple, fast and flexible microwave processing method for the simultaneous preparation of bio-products (bio-oil, bio-gas and biochar) using a methodology that avoids any form of catalyst or chemical activation. The dielectric properties of biomass and physicochemical characterisation such as TGA, elemental and proximate analysis, XRD, SEM/EDX and textural properties, showed that 8 kJ g of microwave energy can produce superior biochars for applications in CO capture. The maximum CO uptake capacity for biochar produced was 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMesenchymal stem cells are the focus of intense research in bone development and regeneration. The potential of microparticles as modulating moieties of osteogenic response by utilizing their architectural features is demonstrated herein. Topographically textured microparticles of varying microscale features are produced by exploiting phase-separation of a readily soluble sacrificial component from polylactic acid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExploration for shale gas occurs in onshore basins, with two approaches used to predict the maximum gas in place (GIP) in the absence of production data. The first estimates adsorbed plus free gas held within pore space, and the second measures gas yields from laboratory pyrolysis experiments on core samples. Here we show the use of sequential high-pressure water pyrolysis (HPWP) to replicate petroleum generation and expulsion in uplifted onshore basins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe investigated a range of different mesoporous NiO electrodes prepared by different research groups and private firms in Europe to determine the parameters which influence good quality photoelectrochemical devices. This benchmarking study aims to solve some of the discrepancies in the literature regarding the performance of p-DSCs due to differences in the quality of the device fabrication. The information obtained will lay the foundation for future photocatalytic systems based on sensitized NiO so that new dyes and catalysts can be tested with a standardized material.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
November 2015
Mg Ni mixed metal oxide photocathodes have been prepared by a mixed NiCl2/MgCl2 sol-gel process. The MgO/NiO electrodes have been extensively characterized using physical and electrochemical methods. Dye-sensitized solar cells have been prepared from these films, and the higher concentrations of MgO improved the photovoltage of these devices; however, there was a notable drop in photocurrent with increasing Mg(2+).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLyophilized protein formulations must be reconstituted back into solution prior to patient administration and in this regard long reconstitution times are not ideal. The factors that govern reconstitution time remain poorly understood. The aim of this research was to understand the influence of the lyophilization cooling profile (including annealing) on the resulting cake structure and reconstitution time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo impact carbon emissions, new materials for carbon capture must be inexpensive, robust, and able to adsorb CO2 specifically from a mixture of other gases. In particular, materials must be tolerant to the water vapor and to the acidic impurities that are present in gas streams produced by using fossil fuels to generate electricity. We show that a porous organic polymer has excellent CO2 capacity and high CO2 selectivity under conditions relevant to precombustion CO2 capture.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA continuous flow reactor allows the preparation of porous metal-organic framework materials with crystallisation induced by rapid mixing of streams of preheated water and solutions of reagents in organic solvent: this gives high volume production (132 g h(-1)) with crystallite size of the products from nanoscale to micron.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlcohol-containing polymer networks synthesized by Friedel-Crafts alkylation have surface areas of up to 1015 m(2)/g. Both racemic and chiral microporous binaphthol (BINOL) networks can be produced by a simple, one-step route. The BINOL networks show higher CO(2) capture capacities than their naphthol counterparts under idealized, dry conditions.
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