Energetics of Sulfur-Carbon Interaction.

The energetics of sulfur-carbon interaction are studied using thermo-desorption and immersion microcalorimetry experiments. Sulfur is incorporated in meso- and microporous carbons by impregnation either from the liquid phase or the vapor phase. Varying the temperature of impregnation enables to fill preferentially microporous domains (vapor impregnation) or both micro-meso-macro domains (liquid impregnation).

Understanding the Effects of Binders in Gas Sorption and Acidity of Aluminium Fumarate Extrudates.

Understanding the impact of shaping processes on solid adsorbents is critical for the implementation of MOFs in industrial separation processes or as catalytic materials. Production of MOF-containing shaped particles is typically associated with loss of porosity and modification of acid sites, two phenomena that affect their performance. Herein, we report a detailed study on how extrusion affects the crystallinity, porosity, and acidity of the aluminium fumarate MOF with clays or SiO gel binders.

Tailoring the separation properties of flexible metal-organic frameworks using mechanical pressure.

Metal-organic frameworks are widely considered for the separation of chemical mixtures due to their adjustable physical and chemical properties. However, while much effort is currently devoted to developing new adsorbents for a given separation, an ideal scenario would involve a single adsorbent for multiple separations. Porous materials exhibiting framework flexibility offer unique opportunities to tune these properties since the pore size and shape can be controlled by the application of external stimuli.

Metal-organic framework crystal-glass composites.

The majority of research into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) focuses on their crystalline nature. Recent research has revealed solid-liquid transitions within the family, which we use here to create a class of functional, stable and porous composite materials. Described herein is the design, synthesis, and characterisation of MOF crystal-glass composites, formed by dispersing crystalline MOFs within a MOF-glass matrix.

Metal-Organic Frameworks as Catalyst Supports: Influence of Lattice Disorder on Metal Nanoparticle Formation.

Because of their high tunability and surface area, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) show great promise as supports for metal nanoparticles. Depending on the synthesis route, MOFs may contain defects. Here, we show that highly crystalline MIL-100(Fe) and disordered Basolite® F300, with identical iron 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate composition, exhibit very divergent properties when used as a support for Pd nanoparticle deposition.

Simultaneous calorimetric and quick-EXAFS measurements to study the crystallization process in phase-change materials.

A Calvet-type differential scanning calorimeter has been implemented on a synchrotron beamline devoted to X-ray absorption spectroscopy. As a case study, the complex crystallization process in amorphous Ge(15)Sb(85) phase-change material is followed by simultaneous calorimetric and quick-EXAFS measurements. A first crystallization at 514(1) K is related to the crystallization of an Sb-rich phase accompanied by segregation of Ge atoms.

Dynamics of the negative thermal expansion in tellurium based liquid alloys.

Negative thermal expansion (NTE) in tellurium based liquid alloys (GeTe6 and GeTe12) is analyzed through the atomic vibrational properties. Using neutron inelastic scattering, we show that the structural evolution resulting in the NTE is due to a gain of vibrational entropy that cancels out the Peierls distortion. In the NTE temperature range, these competing effects give rise to noticeable changes in the vibrational density of states spectra.

A diamond anvil cell with resistive heating for high pressure and high temperature x-ray diffraction and absorption studies.

In this paper we describe a prototype of a diamond anvil cell (DAC) for high pressure/high temperature studies. This DAC combines the use of a resistive oven of 250 W power in a very small volume, associated with special conical seats for Boehler-type diamond anvils in order to have a large angular acceptance. To protect the diamond anvils from burning and to avoid the oven oxidation, the heated DAC is enclosed in a vacuum chamber.

Small angle x-ray scattering of a supercritical electrolyte solution: the effect of density fluctuations on the hydration of ions.

Synchrotron small angle x-ray scattering measurements on water and zinc bromide ZnBr2 aqueous solutions were carried out from ambient to supercritical conditions. For both systems several isobars (between 285 and 600 bars) were followed beyond the critical isochore. The data were analyzed through an Ornstein-Zernike formalism in terms of correlation length and null angle structure factor.