OXIDATION OF CHLORIDE TO CHLORINE BY CERIC IONS MEDIATED BY THE 3 FORMS OF CRYSTALLINE CARBON

C-60 is more effective than graphite or diamond as a redox catalyst for the oxidation of chloride to chlorine by cerie ions.

Dry gel conversion of organosilane templated mesoporous silica: from amorphous to crystalline catalysts for benzene oxidation

Mesoporous silica grown using [3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]octadecyldimethylammonium chloride as the mesoporogen in the presence of Fe and Al is X-ray amorphous, but contains very small domains with features of MFI zeolite as evidenced by IR and Raman spectroscopy. When applied as a catalyst, this amorphous sample shows good performance in the selective oxidation of benzene using nitrous oxide. Addition of tetrapropylammonium as structure directing agent to the as-synthesized mesoporous silica and subsequent dry gel conversion results in the formation of hierarchical Fe/ZSM-5 zeolite. During dry gel conversion the wormhole mesostructure of the initial material is completely lost. A dominant feature of the texture after crystallization is the high interconnectivity of micropores and mesopores. Substantial redistribution of low-dispersed Fe takes place during dry gel conversion towards highly dispersed isolated Fe species outside the zeolite framework. The catalytic performance in the oxidation of benzene to phenol of these highly mesoporous zeolites is appreciably higher than that of the parent material.

Oxidative dehydrogenation of propane with N2O over Fe-ZSM-5 and Fe-SiO2: Influence of the iron species and acid sites

A series of iron containing zeolites with varying Si/Al ratios (11.5-140) and low iron content (similar to 0.9 wt.% Fe) have been synthesised by solid-state ion exchange with commercially available zeolites and tested, for the first time, in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP) with N2O. The samples were characterised by XRD, N-2-Adsorption, NH3-TPD and DR-UV-vis spectroscopy. The acidity of the Fe-ZSM-5 can be controlled by high temperature and steam treatments and Si/Al ratio. The selectivity and yield of propene were found to be the highest over Fe-ZSM-5 with low Al contents and reduced acidity. The initial propene yield over Fe-ZSM-5 was significantly higher than that of Fe-SiO2 since the presence of weak and/or medium acid sites together with oligonuclear iron species and iron oxides on the ZSM-5 are found to enhance the N2O activation. The coking of Fe-ZSM-5 catalysts could also be controlled by reduction of the surface acidity of ZSM-5 and by the use of O-2 in addition to N2O as the oxidant. Fe-ZSM-5 zeolites prepared with solid-state method have been shown to have comparable activity and better stability towards coking compared with Fe-ZSM-5 zeolites prepared by liquid ion exchange and hydrothermal synthesis methods. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

From non-porous crystalline to amorphous microporous metal(IV) bisphosphonates

Porous layered hybrid materials have been prepared by the reaction of organo-bisphosphonate ligands, 4-(4'-phosphonophenoxy)phenylphosphonic, 4,4'-biphenylenbisphosphonic and phenylphosphonic acids, with metal(IV) cations (Zr and Sn). Crystalline Zr(IV) and Sn(IV) layered bisphosphonates were also prepared, which were non-porous. The amorphous M(IV) bisphosphonates showed variable compositions and textural properties ranging from mainly mesoporous to highly microporous solids with BET surface areas varying from 300 to 480 m(2) g(-1), micropore volumes ranging 0.10-0.20 cm(3)/g, and narrow porous size distributions for some materials. N-2 isotherms suggest that Sn(IV) derivatives show a comparatively higher micropore contribution than the Zr(IV) analogous at least for the ether-bisphosphonate hybrids. Sn(IV) bisphosphonates exhibit high microporosities without the need of using harmful DMSO as solvent. If ether-bisphosphonic acid is partially replaced by less expensive phenylphosphonic ligand, porous products are also obtained. P-31 and F-17 MAS NMR and XPS data revealed the presence of hydrogen-phosphonate groups and small (F-, Cl- and OH-) anions, which act as spacer ligands within the inorganic layers, in these hybrid materials. The complexity of the inorganic layers is higher for the Sn(IV) bisphosphonates likely due to the larger amount of small bridging anions including fluorides. It is suggested that the presence of these small inorganic ligands may be a key factor influencing both, the interaction of the inorganic layer with the bisphosphonate groups, which bridge the inorganic layers, and the generation of internal voids within a given inorganic layer. Preliminary studies of gases adsorption (H-2 and NO) have been carried out for selected Sn(IV) bisphosphonates. The H-2 adsorption capacity at 77 K and 1 bar was low, 0.26 wt%, but the NO adsorption capacity at similar to 1 bar and 298 K was relatively high, 4.2 wt%. Moreover, the hysteresis in the NO isotherms is indicative of partial strong irreversible adsorption of NO. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Plasmon enhanced fluorescence studies from aligned gold nanorod arrays modified with SiO2 spacer layers

Here, we demonstrate that quasi self-standing Au nanorod arrays prepared with plasma polymerisation deposited SiO2 dielectric spacers support surface enhanced fluorescence (SEF) while maintaining high signal reproducibility. We show that it is possible to find a balance between enhanced radiative and non-radiative decay rates at which the fluorescent intensity is maximized. The SEF signal optimised with a 30 nm spacer layer thickness showed a 3.5-fold enhancement with a signal variance of <15% thereby keeping the integrity of the nanorod array. We also demonstrate the decreased importance of obtaining resonance conditions when localized surface plasmon resonance is positioned within the spectral region of Au interband transitions. Procedures for further increasing the SEF enhancement factor are also discussed.