Humidity effect on ion behaviors of moisture-driven CO sorbents.

Ion hydration is a fundamental process in many natural phenomena. This paper presents a quantitative analysis, based on atomistic modeling, of the behavior of ions and the impact of hydration in a novel CO sorbent. We explore moisture-driven CO sorbents focusing on diffusion of ions and the structure of ion hydration complexes forming inside water-laden resin structures.

Modeling Nanoparticle Dispersion in Electrospun Nanofibers.

The quality of nanoparticle dispersion in a polymer matrix significantly influences the macroscopic properties of the composite material. Like general polymer-nanoparticle composites, electrospun nanofiber nanoparticle composites do not have an adopted quantitative model for dispersion throughout the polymer matrix, often relying on a qualitative assessment. Being such an influential property, quantifying dispersion is essential for the process of optimization and understanding the factors influencing dispersion.

Influence of Particle Size and Loading on Particle Accessibility in Electrospun Poly(ethylene oxide) and ZIF-8 Composite Fibers: Experiments and Theory.

Developing electrospun nanofiber/nanoparticle composites (ENNCs) is an emerging strategy for immobilizing functional particles for a variety of applications. The radial location of the particle along the fiber, either at the surface or in the bulk, has implication into the resulting properties. To explore particle location along fibers, ZIF-8 impregnated poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) nanofibers are formed by electrospinning particle suspensions.

Particle size studies to reveal crystallization mechanisms of the metal organic framework HKUST-1 during sonochemical synthesis.

Systematic studies of key operating parameters for the sonochemical synthesis of the metal organic framework (MOF) HKUST-1(also called CuBTC) were performed including reaction time, reactor volume, sonication amplitude, sonication tip size, solvent composition, and reactant concentrations analyzed through SEM particle size analysis. Trends in the particle size and size distributions show reproducible control of average particle sizes between 1 and 4μm. These results along with complementary studies in sonofragmentation and temperature control were conducted to compare these results to kinetic crystal growth models found in literature to develop a plausible hypothetical mechanism for ultrasound-assisted growth of metal-organic-frameworks composed of a competitive mechanism including constructive solid-on-solid (SOS) crystal growth and a deconstructive sonofragmentation.