Natural Rubber/Hexagonal Mesoporous Silica Nanocomposites as Efficient Adsorbents for the Selective Adsorption of (-)-Epigallocatechin Gallate and Caffeine from Green Tea.

(-)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a bioactive component of green tea that provides many health benefits. However, excessive intake of green tea may cause adverse effects of caffeine (CAF) since green tea (30-50 mg) has half the CAF content of coffee (80-100 mg). In this work, for enhancing the health benefits of green tea, natural rubber/hexagonal mesoporous silica (NR/HMS) nanocomposites with tunable textural properties were synthesized using different amine template sizes and applied as selective adsorbents to separate EGCG and CAF from green tea.

Amine-Functionalized Natural Rubber/Mesostructured Silica Nanocomposites for Adsorptive Removal of Clofibric Acid in Aqueous Phase.

This study is the first report on the synthesis, characterization and application of amine-functionalized mesoporous nanocomposites based on natural rubber (NR) and wormhole-like mesostructured silica (WMS). In comparison with amine-functionalized WMS (WMS-NH), a series of NR/WMS-NH composites were synthesized via an in situ sol-gel method in which the organo-amine group was grafted onto the nanocomposite surface via co-condensation with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS) as the amine-functional group precursor. The NR/WMS-NH materials had a high specific surface area (115-492 m g) and total pore volume (0.

Natural rubber as a renewable carbon source for mesoporous carbon/silica nanocomposites.

This study is the first report on the preparation of mesoporous carbon/silica (MCS) nanocomposites with tunable mesoporosity and hydrophobicity using natural rubber (NR) as a renewable and cheap carbon source. A series of mesoporous nanocomposites based on NR and hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS) were prepared via an in situ sol-gel process and used as precursors; then, they were converted into MCS materials by controlled carbonization. The NR/HMS precursors exhibited a high dispersion of rubber phase incorporated into the mesostructured silica framework as confirmed by small-angle X-ray scattering and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.