Country：United States

Award type：Award from international society, conference, symposium, etc.  Country：United States

Outstanding contributions to sol-gel science and technology through broad and productive scholarship; by achievements in commercial and industrial applications of sol-gel science and technology; and/or by outstanding service to the sol-gel community that has been sustained over an entire career

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Award type：Award from Japanese society, conference, symposium, etc.  Country：Japan

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY  

Porous nonoxide ceramics have exhibited impressive progress in terms of synthesis and applications over the past few decades because of their unique characteristics distinguished from the oxide counterparts. From the synthetic aspect, the preceramic polymer route, where nonoxide ceramics such as carbides and nitrides are produced from molecular precursors, offers exceptional opportunities to elaborate and control the material shape as well as the micro- and nanostructures in concert with various techniques. This review presents monolithic ceramic materials based on various reduced phases bearing hierarchical porosity with a focus on those obtained from macroporous preceramic monoliths prepared via the one-pot sol-gel process accompanied by spinodal decomposition. Here, we highlight two classes of preceramic inorganic-organic hybrid gels: organometallic crosslinked polymers based on poly(silsesquioxane)s and nonorganometallic hybrid networks related to Ti without Ti-C bonds. The polymer-to-ceramic conversion processes are discussed with concern for the crystal transition behaviors and the variation of pore properties in different length scales upon heating. In addition, although out of the preceramic polymer category, some examples of inorganic-organic nanocomposite gels with a carbonizable polymer and/or urea for yielding porous metal carbides and nitrides in a monolithic form are introduced as well, which provides extended versatility toward a variety of transition metal systems.

DOI： 10.1111/jace.18130

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Frontiers in Chemical Engineering  

The sol–gel process accompanied by phase separation is one of the methods to prepare hierarchically porous monoliths, hierarchically porous monolith, which is applicable not only to oxides but also to various materials compositions such as metal phosphates, organic-polymers/carbons, metal-organic frameworks. It is not until recently, however, that progress has been made in the preparation of low-valence metal oxide HPMs, such as those of magnesium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, etc. Due to the difficulty of divalent metal precursors to form homogeneous gels, different approaches from those established for trivalent and tetravalent counterparts have been attempted. This short review introduces the methods and trials in the preparation of metal oxide HPMs from divalent metal salts.

DOI： 10.3389/fceng.2021.787788

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SPRINGER  

A wide-range control over multimodal pore systems in porous monoliths is a key technology for developing functional materials, as the favorable pore structures in different length scales are required to be tailored depending on their application fields. In the alkoxy-derived sol-gel systems of silica and organosilicates, the synthetic methodology of meso- and macroporous monoliths with tunable pore properties has been developed by combining the supramolecular self-assembly of a Pluronic surfactant and polymerization-induced phase-separation techniques. This strategy has been applied to the sol-gel process of phenolic resins, giving rise to the hierarchically porous polymer gels with ordered mesoporosity and the corresponding carbon monoliths after carbonization. However, the controllable size range has been limited so far. This study has explored the relationship between the starting composition and the bimodal pore properties in further detail aiming at a better control of pore properties in phenolic resins. The enlargement of mesopore size has been achieved, yet associated with broadening the mesopore size distribution and coarsening the macropore morphology, resulting in the particle aggregates. The systematical investigation also reveals that the addition of KCl can improve the micelle arrangement in macroframework and provide the narrower mesopore size distribution.

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-020-05236-9

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

DOI： 10.1002/ange.201911499

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Langmuir  

Free-standing electrodes, which are free from additives (binders and conductive agents) and even current collectors, are useful in terms of both application research and fundamental study. Here, we demonstrate the preparation of binder-free monolithic carbon electrodes embracing Si nanoparticles in their well-defined porous scaffolds via the one-pot sol-gel reaction followed by carbonization. The free-standing electrodes with a thickness of 150 μm work out as a high-areal-density anode for Li-ion batteries, delivering up to ca. 7 mA h cm-2. As the Si content increases, the capacity decay on cycling becomes pronounced, which is likely to associate with the fracturing and pulverization of Si nanoparticles even with the size smaller than 100 nm after long-term cycles. The thermogravimetry-mass spectrometry profile of the cycled electrode corroborates the successive electrolyte decomposition to grow solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) mainly composed of lithium alkylcarbonates, polymeric species, and LiF, rendering the electrode mass nearly double of its original state after 200 cycles. The elemental mapping analysis reveals that LiF is generated inhomogeneously in the monolithic electrodes unlike the other SEI components, resulting in the concentration gradient depending on the distance from a Li counter electrode.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b02085

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

Aerogels are porous materials but show poor mechanical properties and limited functionality, which significantly restrict their practical applications. Preparation of highly bendable and processable aerogels with multifunctionality remains a challenge. Herein we report unprecedented superflexible aerogels based on polyvinylpolydimethylsiloxane (PVPDMS) networks, PVPDMS/polyvinylpolymethylsiloxane (PVPMS) copolymer networks, and PVPDMS/PVPMS/graphene nanocomposites by a facile radical polymerization/hydrolytic polycondensation strategy and ambient pressure drying or freeze drying. The aerogels have a doubly cross-linked organic-inorganic network structure consisting of flexible polydimethylsiloxanes and hydrocarbon chains with tunable cross-linking density, tunable pore size and bulk density. They have a high hydrophobicity and superflexibility and combine selective absorption, efficient separation of oil and water, thermal superinsulation, and strain sensing.

DOI： 10.1002/anie.201804559

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

DOI： 10.1002/ange.201804559

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

Ambient pressure drying of polymethylsilsesquioxane gels via dynamic shrinkage-reexpansion has been investigated for preparation of aerogel-like xerogels and their application to thermal superinsulators. An extended aging of wet gels in aqueous solution containing precursor-derived species is found to be crucial in obtaining crack-free, monolithic xerogels with sufficiently low thermal conductivity (13.7 mW m(-1) K-1) at bulk density of 0.140 g cm(-3) (porosity similar to 90%). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2015.12.016

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Inspired by homogeneous borane catalysts that promote Si-H bond activation, we herein describe an innovative method for surface modification of silica using hydrosilanes as the modification precursor and tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (B(C6F5)(3)) as the catalyst. Since the surface modification reaction between surface silanol and hydrosilane is dehydrogenative, progress and termination of the reaction can easily be confirmed by the naked eye. This new metal-free process can be performed at room temperature and requires less than 5 min to complete. Hydrosilanes bearing a range of functional groups, including alcohols and carboxylic acids, have been immobilized by this method. An excellent preservation of delicate functional groups, which are otherwise decomposed in other methods, makes this methodology appealing for versatile applications.

DOI： 10.1021/ja504115d

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Other Link： http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8069-4780

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH  

DOI： 10.1002/anie.201304169

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH  

DOI： 10.1002/anie.201207969

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Monolithic conductive titanium oxides TinO2n-1 (n = 2, 3, 4, 6) with well-defined macropores have been successfully prepared as a single phase, via reduction of a macroporous TiO2 precursor monolith using zirconium getter. Despite substantial removal of oxide ions, all the reduced monoliths retain the macropore properties of the precursor, i.e., uniform pore size distribution and pore volume. Furthermore, compared to commercial porous Ebonex (shaped conductive TinO2n-1), the bulk densities (1.8 g cm(-3)) are half, and the porosities (60%) are about 3 times higher. The obtained TinO2n-1 (n = 2, 3, 4, 6) macroporous monoliths could find applications as electrodes for many electrochemical reactions.

DOI： 10.1021/ja302083n

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Porous polysilsesquioxane gels derived from sol-gel systems based on trifunctional silanes are reviewed. Although it is well known that trifunctional silanes possess inherent difficulties in forming homogeneous gels, increasing attention is being paid on these precursors and resultant porous polysilsesquioxanes because of hydrophobicity, functionality, and versatile mechanical properties. Much effort has been made to overcome the difficulties for homogeneous gelation, and a number of excellent porous materials with various pore properties have been explored. In this critical review, we put special emphasis on the formation of a well-defined macroporous structure by making use of phase separation, which in turn is a serious problem in obtaining homogeneous gels though. Porous polysilsesquioxane monoliths with the hierarchical structure and transparent aerogels with high mechanical durability are particularly highlighted (169 references).

DOI： 10.1039/c0cs00068j

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-BLACKWELL  

Monolithic titania (TiO2) with multiscale porous structures have been successfully prepared via the sol-gel route accompanied by phase separation utilizing a chelating agent and mineral salt. The TiO2 gels obtained possess well-defined macropores derived from spinodal decomposition and mesopores as interstices of anatase TiO2 nanocrystallites. Most of the chelating agent were removed by hydrolysis and subsequent decarbonation through the gradual solvent exchange from ethanol to water. The TiO2 particles comprising TiO2 gel skeletons spontaneously converted from amorphous to anatase through the solvent exchange process in a mild condition at 60 degrees C. The present method of the fabrication of porous TiO2 monoliths is advantageous for widespread applications because the reaction occurs under an almost neutral condition and does not require a hydrothermal process, which was indispensable to strengthen the monolith in the method previously reported.

DOI： 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2010.03831.x

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY  

In various crosslinking systems containing metal oxides, organo-siloxane polymers and pure hydrocarbons, monolithic materials with hierarchical well-defined macropores and controlled mesopores have been synthesized. Synthetic progress in alkoxy-derived macroporous silica lead to the preparation of long-range ordered mesoporous skeletons in well-defined. macroporous framework. Alkylene-bridged silicon alkoxides can also be prepared into similarly hierarchical porous structures with broadened variations in framework morphology. Macro-mesoporous alkoxy-derived pure titania and zirconia have been prepared using hydrochloric acid - mediated processes. Compared with those prepared from colloidal dispersions, alkoxy-derived macroporous titania exhibited much higher mechanical strength. Titania monolith is a promising candidate as a separation medium to discriminate phosphorylated compounds in a liquid chromatography mode. Pure alumina macroporous monolith has been first synthesized from aluminum salt using propylene glycol as a proton scavenger to thrust the solution pH from acidic into neutral conditions. Alumina-based complex oxides such as garnets and spinels can also be prepared in pure phases. Polymerization and phase separation in organic crosslinker system was also controlled to obtain well-defined co-continuous macro-frameworks instead of those composed of aggregated particles. These examples demonstrate the versatility of using phase-separation in gelling systems to obtain well-defined macroporous structures.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY  

By inducing phase separation parallel to the sol-gel transition of alkoxy-derived silica systems, gels having both macroporous and mesoporous structures can be obtained. Using poly(acrylamide) (PAAm) as a phase-separation inducer, macro/mesoporous silica gels were synthesized. After solvent exchange by water, the size distribution of mesopores of wet gels was evaluated by thermoporometry using a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Alternatively, gels were evaporation-dried after solvent exchange by ethanol or water/ethanol, followed by heat-treatment to completely remove volatile and organic components. Characterization of the dried or heat-treated samples was carried out using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and by nitrogen adsorption measurements. Experimental results showed that the interaction between PAAm and silica is not so strong as the case of polymers having poly(oxyethylene) chains. The contribution of the secondary phase separation within the crosslinking silica-rich phase was suggested to be responsible for the mesopore formation in the PAAm-silica system.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY  

Pure alumina monoliths with well-defined macropores and mesostructured skeleton have been synthesized via a spontaneous route from the aqueous and ethanolic solution of aluminum salts in the presence of propylene oxide and high molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide)(PEO). The addition of propylene oxide to the starting solution controls the gelation, while the addition of PEO induces the phase separation. Appropriate choice of the starting composition, with which the phase separation and gelation concur, produces large-dimension (10mmx10mmx10mm), bicontinuous macroporous Al2O3 monoliths. The mean size of the continuously connected pores is controlled in the micrometer range, depending on the PEO concentration and polarity of the solution. On the other hand, micropores and mesopores, originated from the interstices among primary particles, exhibit median pore size of about 2.6 mn and the BET surface area as high as 396 m(2)/g after dried temperature at 40 degrees C.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings  

Transparent organic-inorganic hybrid aerogels and aerogel-like xerogels have been prepared from methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) respectively by supercritical drying (SCD) and ambient pressure drying (APD). The new aerogels and xerogels significantly deform without collapsing on uniaxial compression and almost fully relax when unloaded. This elastic behavior, termed as "spring-back", allows APD without noticeable shrinkage and cracking. The flexible network composed of lower cross-linking density (up to three bonds per every silicon atom) compared to silica gels (up to four bonds) and repulsion between hydrophobic methyl groups bonded to every silicon atom largely contributes to the pronounced deformability and relaxing, respectively. Lower surface silanol group density also plays a crucial role for the "spring-back" behavior. © 2009 Materials Research Society.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

By combining the micellar templating in nanometer-scale with the polymerization-induced phase separation in micrometer-scale, we can synthesize monolithic silica or silsesquioxane gel materials with hierarchical well-defined macropores and shape-controlled mesopores. Depending on the mechanism of enhancing micellar-templating of siloxane oligomers, macroframeworks containing long-range-ordered cylindrical mesopores with different degrees of order have been produced. Alkylene-bridged silicon alkoxides can also be prepared into similarly hierarchical porous structures with broadened variations in framework morphology. These examples demonstrate the versatility of using phase-separation in micellar-templated gelling systems to obtain well-defined macroporous structures.

DOI： 10.1021/cm702486b

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Sol-gel processes for fabricating oxides or metalloxane polymers with controlled porous structures have been reviewed. Gel materials having controlled macropores are synthesized by polymerization-induced phase separation and concurrent sol-gel transition in a variety of chemical compositions. Several variations of tailoring mesopore structures within the macroporous materials are introduced, which enable one to design hierarchically porous metal oxide and metalloxane polymer materials. Applications of monolithic silica gels having hierarchical macro/mesoporous structure to the separation media of high-performance liquid chromatography, HPLC, are described.

DOI： 10.1021/ar600034p

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH  

Transparent organic-inorganic hybrid aerogels and xerogels are prepared by using a sol-gel synthesis from a single trifunctional precursor, methyltrimethoxysilane (see figure). Obtained aerogels show a reversible shrinkage-recovery response against uniaxial compression. Aerogel-like xerogels are successfully obtained by evaporation drying under ambient pressure because the gels recover from the temporal shrinkage caused by the capillary force of a drying solvent. Pore properties and nanotextures are well-preserved in the resultant xerogels.

DOI： 10.1002/adma.200602457

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Monolithic silica capillary columns for HPLC were prepared from tetramethoxysilane to have smaller sized domains and increased phase ratios as compared to previous materials, and their performance was evaluated. The monolithic silica columns possessed an external porosity of 0.65-0.76 and a total porosity of 0.92-0.95 and showed considerably higher performance and greater retention factors in a reversed-phase mode after chemical modification than columns previously reported. An octadecylsilylated monolithic silica column with the smallest domain size (through-pores of similar to 1.3 mu m and silica skeletons of similar to 0.9 mu m) showed a plate height of less than 5 mu m at optimum linear velocities (u) of 2- 3 mm/s in 80% acetonitrile for a solute having retention factors of similar to 1, and similar to 7 mu m at u) 8 mm/s. With a permeability similar to that of a column packed with 5-mu m particles, the monolithic silica columns were able to attain column efficiencies comparable to that of particulate columns packed with 2- 2.5-mu m particles, and showed performance in the "forbidden region" for the previous columns. The performance of the monolithic column can be compared favorably with that of a particle-packed column when 15 00030 000 or more theoretical plates are desired at a pressure drop of 20-40 MPa or lower. The increased homogeneity of the co-continuous structures, in addition to the small-sized domains, contributed to the higher performance as compared to previous monolithic silica columns.

DOI： 10.1021/ac060770e

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Polymer Preprints, Japan  

This work was aimed to development of continuous-flow living radical polymerization in a silica-gel column, "Chromolith", focusing its separation function by combination of surface chemical absorption and size-exclusion via uniquely shaped mesopores, Thus, living radical copolymerization of two monomers with different polarities, methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) was performed with a catalyst [2; Ru(Ind)Cl(PPh3)2] coupled with an initiator (1). Copolymers were continuously produced, and molecular weight distributions were narrower than that in the corresponding batch process.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Polymer Preprints, Japan  

Macroporous polymer monoliths with rigid three-dimensional networks have been prepared via living radical polymerization of multi-functional vinyl crosslinkers. By incorporating a polymeric agent to effectively induce phase separation, well-defined macroporous morphology with highly interconnected gel skeletons and macropores has been formed presumably by spinodal decomposition. The pore size and volume are found to be controlled simply by changing starting compositions.

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Rigid macroporous poly(divinylbenzene) monoliths with good mechanical and thermal stability and possessing a well-defined bicontinuous structure (see figure) are synthesized using living radical polymerization and a polymeric phase separator. The macropore size and volume can be independently tuned by varying the starting compositions of the mixtures. Scale bars represent 20 m, a-d show increasing polydimethylsiloxane concentration

DOI： 10.1002/adma.200601026

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings  

A novel process to fabricate a thick silica gel film on an aluminum substrate, named the "gap filling method", has been developed. The process is based on a sol-gel method accompanied by phase separation in a submillimeter thick space defined by two facing substrates. Dielectric thick film integrated on a metal ground plate is successfully formed by using a SiO2 coated aluminum substrate and a cap plate covered with an amorphous carbon thin film, which control the hydrophilicity and the hydrophobicity of the plates, respectively. A thin continuous layer of less than 0. 5n thick is formed at the interface between the porous film and the cap plate, which gives the film a smooth surface preferable for patterning metal circuits of an antenna. The observed dielectric constants (εr) at 60 GHz measured by the Fabry-Perot resonator method are in the range between 1.4 and 1.6. Methyl groups homogeneously distributed in the siloxane network give a hydrophobic siloxane gel film, thus the obtained films have enough environmental stability. These results show that the gap filling method is applicable to the preparation of the porous thick film that is needed for antenna applications. © 2006 Materials Research Society.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings  

Macroporous crosslinked polymer gels have been prepared via TEMPO-mediated living radical polymerization of divinylbenzene (DVB) in a solvent with a counter polymer. Incorporating a counter polymer, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), induced macroscopic spinodal-type phase separation during the course of polymerization of DVB while suppressing the segregation of DVB-derived particles from the solution by living polymerization. Well-defined macroporous morphologies comprising continuous DVB-derived skeletons have thus obtained. Macropore volume and diameter were independently controlled by altering the concentrations of PDMS and the solvent. Since the present polymer gels are prepared using only the multifunctional "crosslinker", mechanical durability against bending and compression was found to be as high as inorganic ceramics with similar morphologies and porosities. © 2007 Materials Research Society.

DOI： 10.1557/proc-0947-a03-27

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings  

Organic-Inorganic hybrid gels with hierarchical well-defined macropores and supramolecularly templated mesopores with long-range orders have been synthesized in the systems of bridged poly(silsesquioxane) systems. Nonionic surfactants such as poly(ethyleneglycol)-poly(propyleneglycol)- poly(ethyleneglycol) triblock copolymers, EOPOEOs, were found to be effective both in inducing the phase separation to give macroporous morphology and in templating the mesopores with narrow size distribution. The number of methylene units in the bridge, changed from 1 to 6 in the present experiments, affected both the phase separation tendency and template strength. In the system containing 1,2-bis(trimethoxysilyl)ethane, 2D-hexagonal arrangement of mesopores have been prepared in the gel skeleton comprising the well-defined continuous macroporous network with an aid of micelle-stabilizing agent. © 2005 Materials Research Society.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings  

Monolithic pure silica gels with hierarchical macro-mesoporous structure have been synthesized via spontaneous sol-gel process from silicon alkoxidc using a structure-directing agent and a micelle-swelling agent. Monolithic body with well-defined co-continuous macropores is a result of concurrent phase separation and sol-gel transition induced by the polymerization reaction, whereas the mesopores are templated by the cooperative self-assembly of inorganic species, a structure-directing agent and a micelle-swelling agent. The following removal of surfactants by heat-treatment gives silica gels with hierarchical and fully accessible pores in discrete size ranges of micrometers and nanometers. The highly ordered 2D-hexagonal arrays of mesopores have been confirmed by X-ray diffraction measurements and FE-SEM observations. Furthermore, by further additions of the micelle-swelling agent, the mesostructural transition from well-ordered 2D-hexagonal arrays to mesostructured cellular foams (MCF) have been induced accompanied by minor modifications of the micrometer-range structure. © 2005 Materials Research Society.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings  

The geometrical properties of co-continuous macroporous silica monoliths have been studied by laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) and a comparison with mercury intrusion method has been made. From three-dimensional images obtained by LSCM observation, probability density distributions of curvatures have been calculated on gel skeleton surface by the "sectioning and fitting method". Measured liquid transport behavior in macroporous siloxane gels has been related to the obtained curvature distributions. © 2005 Materials Research Society.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Polymer Preprints, Japan  

A catalyst corresponding to Ru(Ind)Cl(PPh3)2 was covalently supported onto a mesopore and silica-gel (Chromolith™) to construct a "size-exclusion column reactor" in which "physical control" of polymer molecular weight is expected by the retention-time difference of each mobile substrate according to its size exclusion (Scheme 2). With Ru(II)-catalyzed living radical polymerization continuously performed in this column, better reaction control is expected by not only the supported catalyst but by this column separation (Fig. 1). The Ru-bearing column 5 (powder form) in fact induced living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate with initiator 6 and an additive (n-Bu2NH) in toluene at 80°C (Fig. 2). Continuous flow polymerization in the column reactor will be discussed and compared with those in batch systems.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Polymer Preprints, Japan  

In a sol-gel system accompanied by phase separation, co-continuous macroporous silica gels have been obtained with interconnected gel skeleton and well-defined macropores. The exact formation mechanism of the co-continuous structure, however, has not been sufficiently elucidated in a silica sol-gel system, due to the difficulty of observation in real space. After a device for preferential distribution of marker dye in gel phase and an adjustment of refractive indices between gel and solvent phases, time evolution of phase separating structure has been observed by laser scanning confocal microscopy and the detailed examination of the phase separation mechanism in a sol-gel system has been attempted.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Polymer Preprints, Japan  

In a sol-gel system accompanied by phase separation, co-continuous macroporous silica has been obtained, and it has been attracting attention as an efficient separation medium in a field of high performance liquid chromatography. The exact formation mechanism of the co-continuous structure, on the other hand, has been still poorly understood due to the difficulty of observation in real space. After the introduction of preferentially distributing marker dye in gel phase and the adjustment of refractive index between gel and solvent phases, time evolution of phase separating structure in a sol-gel system was observed by laser scanning confocal microscope and detailed examination of competitive kinetics between phase separation and sol-gel transition was attempted.

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

This paper describes the use of computational fluid dynamics for the calculation of the flow resistance through computer-generated models resembling silica monoliths. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of skeleton heterogeneity on the flow resistance and, more precisely, to test the hypothesis that increased skeleton heterogeneity decreases the flow resistance. To evaluate the proposed model, 24 real silica monoliths have been prepared using the same method, covering a wide range of skeleton sizes (2.2 mu m < d(s) < 8 mu m) and porosities (0.47 < epsilon < 0.66). The permeability of these monoliths was determined by pressure drop measurements, and structural information was obtained by image analysis of laser scanning confocal microscopy-generated 3D images of the skeleton structure. The results indicate that the presence of preferential flow paths due to an increased heterogeneity of the flow through pore space reduces the flow resistance of monolithic media. It is also shown that the pore size is hence a much better suited scaling dimension than the skeleton size to reduce the permeability of monolithic columns.

DOI： 10.1021/ac0502798

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)  

Crystalline organic monoliths (COMs) are a novel class of monolithic materials with a bicontinuous porous structure composed of photo-functional molecular crystals.

DOI： 10.1039/d4sc01650e

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Chemical Society (ACS)  

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c01150

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DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c00916

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DOI： 10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463722

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media LLC  

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-022-05843-8

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Other Link： https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10971-022-05843-8/fulltext.html

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ACS Applied Polymer Materials  

A way to utilize eggshells is desired because most of the eggshell waste is disposed of in landfills. Despite eggshells having attractive features such as a thermodynamically stable porous crystalline structure, their effective utilization as a functional material has yet to be demonstrated. Herein, we developed an alkali-stable column packing material for reversed-phase preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) based on eggshells. Nanocrystals and biopolymers present on eggshell powder were removed by surface treatment with buffered ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and sodium hypochlorite solutions, resulting in bare calcium carbonate with a uniform porous surface. The obtained particles were modified with poly(maleic acid-alt-1-octadecene) (PMAcO) having hydrophobic alkyl chains and anionic carboxylate groups. The prepared PMAcO-modified eggshell-based material was applied to an HPLC column, and its performance is evaluated. The column succeeded in the separation of alkylbenzenes, steroids, and diastereomers. It was also used for the separation of basic tricyclic antidepressants in an alkaline mobile phase, showing excellent retention capacity and alkali stability. This study demonstrates the potential of eggshell utilization, providing not only a practical stationary phase for HPLC but also a solution for recycling calcium carbonate-based biomineral waste.

DOI： 10.1021/acsapm.2c00866

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Chemical Society (ACS)  

DOI： 10.1021/acsami.2c06297

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Royal Society of Chemistry ({RSC})  

DOI： 10.1039/d1nj03307g

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<p>We report a synthetic strategy to control macroporous structures and material shapes of metal–organic framework gels.</p>

DOI： 10.1039/d0ma01009j

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Clinical and Experimental Nephrology  

Background: Pathological findings in Alport syndrome frequently show mesangial proliferation and sometimes incidental IgA deposition, in addition to unique glomerular basement membrane (GBM) changes including thin basement membrane and/or lamellation. However, similar GBM abnormalities are also often observed in IgA nephropathy. Both diseases are also known to show hematuria, proteinuria, and sometimes macrohematuria when associated with viral infection. Therefore, it can be difficult to make a differential diagnosis, even based on clinical and pathological findings. Some recent articles demonstrated that galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1)-specific monoclonal antibody (KM55) could potentially enable incidental IgA deposition to be distinguished from IgA nephropathy. Methods: We performed comprehensive gene screening and glomerular Gd-IgA1 and type IV collagen α5 chain immunostaining for five cases with both IgA deposition and GBM changes to confirm that Gd-IgA1 can help to distinguish these two diseases. Results: Four of the cases were genetically diagnosed with Alport syndrome (Cases 1–4) and one was IgA nephropathy with massive GBM changes, which had a negative gene test result (Case 5). In Cases 1–4, glomerular Gd-IgA1 deposition was not detected, although there was positivity for IgA in the mesangial area. In Case 5, glomerular Gd-IgA1 deposition was observed. Conclusion: Gd-IgA1 expression analysis could clearly differentiate these two disorders. This approach can be applied to identify these two diseases showing identical clinical and pathological findings.

DOI： 10.1007/s10157-021-02054-3

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Advances in Mathematics  

The Cauchy problem for the Zakharov system in the energy-critical dimension d=4 is considered. We prove that global well-posedness holds in the full (non-radial) energy space for any initial data with energy and wave mass below the ground state threshold. The result is based on a Strichartz estimate for the Schrödinger equation with a potential. More precisely, a Strichartz estimate is proved to hold uniformly for any potential solving the free wave equation with mass below the ground state constraint. The key new ingredient is a bilinear (adjoint) Fourier restriction estimate for solutions of the inhomogeneous Schrödinger equation with forcing in dual endpoint Strichartz spaces.

DOI： 10.1016/j.aim.2021.107746

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Lymphatic Research and Biology  

Background: Manual lymph drainage (MLD) is one of the common treatments for breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). Although the primary goal of MLD is to drain the excessive fluid accumulated in the affected upper limb and trunk to an area of the body that drains usually, the use of MLD is decided based on swelling and subjective symptoms, without assessing whether there is fluid accumulated in the affected region. The purpose of this study was to examine truncal fluid distribution in a sample of BCRL patients and investigate any correlation between such fluid distribution and swelling or subjective symptoms. Methods and Results: An observational study was conducted with 13 women who had unilateral, upper extremity BCRL. Fluid distribution was evaluated by using two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences: half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin echo and three-dimensional double-echo steady-state. The presence of swelling was determined by lymphedema therapists, and subjective symptoms were measured by using a visual analog scale. On MRI, no participants had any free water signals in the trunk. However, seven had swelling and all 13 had some kind of subjective symptoms on the affected side of their trunk. Conclusions: These results suggest that swelling and subjective symptoms do not correlate with the presence of truncal fluid. For such cases, a different approach than MLD may be needed to address truncal swelling and related subjective symptoms. Checking for the presence of fluid in the truncal region may help MLD be used more appropriately.

DOI： 10.1089/lrb.2020.0075

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY  

Cobalt manganite-based hierarchically porous monoliths (HPMs) with three-dimensionally (3D) interconnected macropores and open nanopores have been prepared via the sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation. The controlled hydrolysis and polycondensation of the brominated metal alkoxides, which are generated from an incomplete reaction between epichlorohydrin and MBr2 (M = Co and Mn) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), form a monolithic gel based on the two divalent metal cations. The dual-polymer strategy using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) effectively induces the spinodal decomposition, where PVP and PEO are preferentially distributed to the gel phase and fluid phase, respectively, resulting in a porous gel characterized by the co-continuous structure. The effects of DMF and PVP on the porous morphology derived from the phase separation have been systematically studied. Calcination of the as-dried gels allows for the crystallization into the spinel phase yielding hierarchically porous CoMn2O4 monoliths, which have been examined in detail by the structural and compositional analyses.

DOI： 10.1111/jace.17662

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)  

<p>Hierarchically porous melamine-formaldehyde monoliths were prepared <italic>via</italic> sol–gel accompanied by phase separation, followed by a hydrothermal process. The obtained monoliths showed efficient adsorption of precious metal ions.</p>

DOI： 10.1039/d1ma00034a

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Chemical Society (ACS)  

DOI： 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c10446

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DOI： 10.1093/nsr/nwaa103

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}  

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-020-05370-4

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Royal Society of Chemistry ({RSC})  

DOI： 10.1039/d0nj02502j

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

We report novel superhydrophobic highly flexible composites based on a doubly cross-linked (DCL) aerogel and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for strain/pressure sensing. The DCL aerogel/CNT composite is prepared by radical polymerization of vinylmethyldimethoxysilane and vinyldimethylmethoxysilane, respectively, followed by hydrolytic co-polycondensation of the obtained polyvinylmethyldimethoxysilane and polyvinyldimethylmethoxysilane, combined with the incorporation of CNTs. Benefiting from the flexible methyl-rich DCL structure of the aerogel and conductive CNTs, the resultant DCL aerogel/CNT composite combines superhydrophobicity, high compressibility, high bendability, high elasticity, and strain- and pressure-sensitive conductivity. We demonstrate that the composite can be applied as a high-performance strain/pressure sensor for the detection of arterial pulse waves and joint bending with high sensitivity and high durability against humidity.

DOI： 10.1039/c9tb02953b

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

We report new polyorganosiloxane aerogels with superhydrophobicity, high elasticity, and high bendability based on polyvinyl-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PVPDMS)/polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ). They are synthesized by a radical polymerization/co-polycondensation strategy that involves radical polymerization of vinyldimethylmethoxysilane to obtain chainlike polyvinyldimethylmethoxysilane (PVDMMS) polymers followed by hydrolytic co-polycondensation of PVDMMS polymers and methyltrimethoxysilane combined with ambient pressure drying without any post-gelation modifications. The resultant PVPDMS/PMSQ aerogels exhibit a highly tunable triple-network structure consisting of flexible inter-cross-linked hydrocarbon polymers, poly(dimethylsiloxane), and PMSQ The aerogels with a low content of PVPDMS exhibit small pore sizes (2-80 nm), good transparency, high surface areas, and thermal superinsulation (lambda = 0.0148 W m(-1) K-1), while those with a high content of PVPDMS exhibit large pore sizes (100 nm-3 mu m) and excellent selective absorption for organic liquids. In addition, incorporation of graphene oxide (GO) in PVPDMS/PMSQ aerogels can afford highly flexible PVPDMS/PMSQ/GO composite aerogels, which show efficient separation of three-component water/oil/dye mixtures. These aerogels are promising in the practical applications of thermal insulation, absorption/adsorption, and separation.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b04877

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DOI： 10.1021/acsanm.9b02275

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

DOI： 10.1002/anie.201911499

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCI LTD  

Resilient, fire-retardant and mechanically strong polyimide-polyvinylpolymethylsiloxane (PI-PVPMS) composite aerogels have been prepared via stepwise chemical liquid deposition (SCLD). The synthesis is based on the formation of PI-PVPMS crosslinked network structure with (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS) as a coupling agent to provide reactive sites on the backbone. We successfully realize the PI in-situ growth on the whole super-flexible PVPMS gel skeleton with this simple method. The effect of APTMS amount and deposition time on the properties of final samples is deeply investigated. The resultant PI-PVPMS composite aerogels show excellent mechanical and thermal properties. They can support at least 10,000 times of their own weight and can recover 20% from a 60% of compressive strain, with an elastic modulus of 32 MPa. For thermal performance, they can maintain their structural integrity after being subjected to the alcohol lamp outer flame of around 650 degrees C for 30 min. These results together with the simple synthesis process demonstrate the potential for construction materials using PI-PVPMS composite aerogels. Furthermore, the SCLD synthesis method could also be applied to prepare other composite aerogels, especially for those containing complex polymer. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

DOI： 10.1016/j.matdes.2019.108096

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Aerogels have attracted great interest for their unique properties, but their mechanical brittleness and poor functionality highly limit their practical applications. Herein, we report unprecedented superelastic multifunctional aminosilane-crosslinked reduced graphene oxide (AC-rGO) aerogels that are prepared via a facile and scalable strategy involving simultaneous crosslinking and reducing of graphene oxide nanosheets with different kinds of aminosilanes via C-N coupling and hydrolytic polycondensation reactions. It is found that 3-aminopropyl(diethoxy)methylsilane (APDEMS) is the better choice to enhance hydrophobicity, elasticity, and other properties of the resulting aerogels compared with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane. One APDEMS molecule plays three roles as a crosslinker, a reductant, and a hydrophobizing agent. An outstanding combination of high surface area, ultralow density, superhydrophobicity, supercompressibility, superelasticity, low thermal conductivity, ultrahigh absorption capacity for organic liquids, efficient three-component separation, and strain/pressure sensing has been achieved in a single APDEMS-crosslinked rGO the first time. In addition, a flexible, highly sensitive, and moisture-resistant AC-rGO aerogel-based strain/pressure-sensing array for the effective detection of strain (0-80%)/pressure (10 Pa to 10 kPa) distributions and object shapes has been demonstrated.

DOI： 10.1021/acsami.9b16746

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Royal Society of Chemistry ({RSC})  

Aerogels exhibit unique properties, but their practical applications have been restricted by low mechanical strength and costly supercritical drying; it remains difficult to obtain highly flexible aerogels with good thermal insulation and absorption by ambient pressure drying (APD). Here, we report novel highly flexible aerogels based on the polyvinylpolymethylsiloxane (PVPMS)/polyvinyltrimethylsilane (PVTMS) co-network, which consists of inter-cross-linked hydrocarbon and siloxane polymers with dangling trimethylsilyl groups, and its nanocomposite with polypyrrole (PPy). The PVPMS/PVTMS copolymer aerogels are facilely synthesized by a consecutive radical co-polymerization and hydrolytic polycondensation strategy from two monomers vinylmethyldimethoxysilane and trimethylvinylsilane without additional cross-linkers, followed by APD without any post-gelation modification. The PPy nanocomposite aerogels are synthesized by an in situ oxidation polymerization of pyrrole in the copolymer aerogel networks, followed by APD. The resulting aerogels consist of meso- to macro-scaled pore structures with tunable skeleton and pore sizes with variable cross-linking density and bulk density. In addition, these aerogels show good hydrophobicity and high flexibility in both compression and bending. Moreover, different functionalities such as excellent thermal insulation, oil-water separation, and pressure sensing can be imparted, allowing them to exhibit potential applications in thermal insulation, separation, and sensing.

DOI： 10.1039/c9py00751b

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Recently, many efforts have been made to develop various smart sensors. However, achieving flexible multifunctional sensors combining excellent sensing of temperature, strain, and pressure with a single material is still challenging. Here, we report unprecedented superhydrophobic ultraflexible reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/polyorganosiloxane aerogels and high-performance multifunctional temperature/strain/pressure sensors based on these aerogels. GO nanosheets are first cross-linked and reduced with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) to obtain APTES-modified rGO aerogels, which are then further covalently cross-linked with polyvinylmethyldimethoxysilane polymers and vinylmethyldimethoxysilane via copolycondensation to afford rGO/polyorganosiloxane aerogels. The resulting aerogels exhibit a coralline-like triple-network nanostructure consisting of rGO nanosheets, polyvinyl-poly(methylsiloxane), and poly- (vinylmethylsiloxane) that are cross-linked with each other. The aerogels combine superhydrophobicity, high compressibility, high bendability, superelasticity, excellent machinability, and temperature-, strain-, and pressure-sensitive conductivity, which is a combination not observed with traditional materials. In addition, an rGO/polyorganosiloxane aerogel-based flexible multifunctional sensing array combining sensing of temperature (20-100 degrees C), strain (in the wide range of 0.1-80%), and pressure (in the wide range of 10 Pa to 110 kPa) with high sensitivity and high durability against compression, bending, and humidity has been demonstrated for the first time.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b02437

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DOI： 10.1039/c9nj02373a

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Chemical Society  

The catalytic performance of hierarchically porous niobium phosphate (NbP) supported magnesia for the glucose isomerization to fructose, was investigated under atmospheric air atmosphere. Porous NbP showed improved support effects on MgO in comparison to other metal oxides tested for glucose isomerization. Also, the amount and distribution of basic sites were largely changed by supporting magnesia on NbP. Although the textural properties were reduced and solid acids formed on the MgO/NbP catalysts, glucose isomerization was promoted by increasing magnesium content. The maximum yield of fructose reached ∼24.6% over 40%MgO/NbP-500 with selectivity of 65.7% for 1.0 wt % glucose at 120 °C. The fructose productivity peaked as high as 13.6 g g catalyst -1 h -1 over 40%MgO/NbP-700 catalyst. The leaching of cations and anions resulted in a homogeneous system for glucose isomerization. Regeneration almost fully reactivated the catalyst to its initial activity. The MgO/NbP showed high stability under air atmosphere for 15 days, and high potential use for glucose isomerization.

DOI： 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b00292

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Authorship：Corresponding author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}  

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-018-4889-2

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer New York LLC  

Abstract: Here, we overview the developments in the past decade made on organic–inorganic hybrid aerogels and xerogels based on silicone (polyorganosiloxanes) through persistent works by the authors to increase the mechanical strength and flexibility and add functionality. Polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ, CH3SiO3/2) has been found to show unusual strength and flexibility against compression, and their bending properties can also be improved by several strategies. Silicone-based networks with organic bridges between inorganic moieties are also beneficial for these improvements. In particular, organic bridges with a higher fraction and more extended length have been found to allow higher durability against large deformations. In addition, functional groups such as vinyl, chloromethyl, and amino can readily be introduced by starting from organoalkoxysilanes with these functional substituents (e.g., FG−Si(OR)3 or (RO)3Si−FG−Si(OR)3, where FG shows an organic substituent containing functional groups and R is typically methyl or ethyl), and other functional groups such as carboxyl can be introduced by post-gelation modifications on the pre-installed FG in the network. Possibilities in applications such as thermal insulators, photoluminescent media, and photocatalysts are also discussed. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-018-4804-x

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer New York LLC  

Hierarchically porous magnesium oxide, MgO, monoliths with a well-defined continuous macroporous structure have been synthesized via the sol–gel route accompanied by phase separation. Magnesium chloride hexahydrate was used as a precursor, and propylene oxide was used as an acid scavenger to raise the pH of a reaction solution homogenously. In order to obtain a crack-free monolith after heating in air, poly(vinylpyrrolidone), PVP, was employed as a scaffold of the skeleton as well as a phase separation controller to form the continuous macropores with higher homogeneity. Due to the moderate hydrogen-bonding interaction with magnesium hydroxide, PVP reinforces the gel network essentially composed of fine grained magnesium hydroxide. Even after the removal of all organic components by calcination, the porous gel samples maintained their monolithic form. On the other hand, an additional incorporation of 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, H3BTC, was found to be effective in suppressing the oriented growth of the micrometer-sized crystalline phase. The polycrystalline MgO monoliths with specific surface area of 185, 64, and 48 m2 g−1 were prepared after heating at 400, 500, and 600 °C in air, respectively. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-018-4682-2

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DOI： 10.1038/s41598-018-34220-1

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DOI： 10.1007/s10971-018-4781-0

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Nature  

Galaxies in the early Universe that are bright at submillimetre wavelengths (submillimetre-bright galaxies) are forming stars at a rate roughly 1,000 times higher than the Milky Way. A large fraction of the new stars form in the central kiloparsec of the galaxy1–3, a region that is comparable in size to the massive, quiescent galaxies found at the peak of cosmic star-formation history4 and the cores of present-day giant elliptical galaxies. The physical and kinematic properties inside these compact starburst cores are poorly understood because probing them at relevant spatial scales requires extremely high angular resolution. Here we report observations with a linear resolution of 550 parsecs of gas and dust in an unlensed, submillimetre-bright galaxy at a redshift of z = 4.3, when the Universe was less than two billion years old. We resolve the spatial and kinematic structure of the molecular gas inside the heavily dust-obscured core and show that the underlying gas disk is clumpy and rotationally supported (that is, its rotation velocity is larger than the velocity dispersion). Our analysis of the molecular gas mass per unit area suggests that the starburst disk is gravitationally unstable, which implies that the self-gravity of the gas is stronger than the differential rotation of the disk and the internal pressure due to stellar-radiation feedback. As a result of the gravitational instability in the disk, the molecular gas would be consumed by star formation on a timescale of 100 million years, which is comparable to gas depletion times in merging starburst galaxies5.

DOI： 10.1038/s41586-018-0443-1

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Royal Society of Chemistry ({RSC})  

DOI： 10.1039/c8cy00803e

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers  

Simple post-treatments of the porous titania monolith in varied concentrations of phosphoric acid solution provide a series of monolithic titanium phosphates (TiPs) with a hierarchically porous structure together with an exquisite macropore surface. Depending on the reaction conditions, platy crystallites composed of either Ti2O3(H2PO4)2·2H2O, Ti(HPO4)2·H2O (α-TiP), or Ti2O(PO4)2·2H2O (π-TiP) are generated on the macropore skeleton via a dissolution and reprecipitation process, which forms distinct wrinkled surface morphologies. In addition, the treatments effectively suppress the shrinkage during drying, leading to lower bulk density. Post-calcination in air yields porous titanium pyrophosphates preserving the intricate porous architecture in some cases. Notably, the hierarchically porous TiP2O7 monoliths prepared from the α-TiP precursors have a good thermal robustness related to bulk density.

DOI： 10.1039/c8qi00146d

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Royal Society of Chemistry  

Iron(iii) oxyhydroxide and oxide monoliths with controlled multiscale porosity have been successfully fabricated via the sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation. The size of macropores was controlled by synthesis parameters such as starting compositions. The as-dried iron(iii) oxyhydroxide monoliths were amorphous and possessed surface areas over 340 m2 g-1, of which mesostructures could be further controlled by a heat-treatment at 250-350 °C without collapse of macrostructures and monolithic forms. When the as-dried gel was heated at 300 °C, the resultant gel transformed to crystalline α-Fe2O3 and exhibited a specific surface area of 124 m2 g-1. Heat-treatment at 350 °C resulted in the broadened size distribution of mesopores. The adsorption behavior of Congo red has revealed that the interconnected macroporous structure contributed to faster diffusion and better accessibility in a continuous flow-through set up, and the crack-free monolithic forms accounted for an advantageous use of the flow-through adsorbents.

DOI： 10.1039/c8ta01691g

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Chemical Society  

A facile yet versatile approach to transparent, highly flexible, machinable, superinsulating organic-inorganic hybrid aerogels is presented. This method involves radical polymerization of a single alkenylalkoxysilane to obtain polyalkenylalkoxysilane, and subsequent hydrolytic polycondensation to afford a homogeneous, doubly cross-linked nanostructure consisting of polysiloxanes and hydrocarbon polymer units. Here we demonstrate that novel aerogels based on polyvinylpolysilsesquioxane (PVPSQ), polyallylpolysilsesquioxane (PAPSQ), polyvinylpolymethylsiloxane (PVPMS), and polyallylpolymethylsiloxane (PAPMS) are facilely prepared via this approach from vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS
or vinyltriethoxysilane, VTES), allyltrimethoxysilane (ATMS
or allyltriethoxysilane, ATES), vinylmethyldimethoxysilane (VMDMS), and allylmethyldimethoxysilane (AMDMS), respectively. These aerogels combine low density, uniform nanopores, high transparency, supercompressibility, high bendability, excellent machinability, and thermal superinsulation (λ = 14.5-16.4 mW m-1 K-1). More importantly, transparent, superflexible, superinsulating aerogels are obtained with PVPMS and PAPMS via highly scalable ambient pressure drying without any solvent-exchange and modifications for the first time. This work will open a new way to transparent, highly flexible porous materials, promising in the practical applications of thermal superinsulators, adsorbents, sensors, etc.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b00563

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Chemical Society  

Aerogels have many attractive properties but are usually costly and mechanically brittle, which always limit their practical applications. While many efforts have been made to reinforce the aerogels, most of the reinforcement efforts sacrifice the transparency or superinsulating properties. Here we report superflexible polyvinylpolymethylsiloxane, (CH2CH(Si(CH3)O2/2))n, aerogels that are facilely prepared from a single precursor vinylmethyldimethoxysilane or vinylmethyldiethoxysilane without organic cross-linkers. The method is based on consecutive processes involving radical polymerization and hydrolytic polycondensation, followed by ultralow-cost, highly scalable, ambient-pressure drying directly from alcohol as a drying medium without any modification or additional solvent exchange. The resulting aerogels and xerogels show a homogeneous, tunable, highly porous, doubly cross-linked nanostructure with the elastic polymethylsiloxane network cross-linked with flexible hydrocarbon chains. An outstanding combination of ultralow cost, high scalability, uniform pore size, high surface area, high transparency, high hydrophobicity, excellent machinability, superflexibility in compression, superflexibility in bending, and superinsulating properties has been achieved in a single aerogel or xerogel. This study represents a significant progress of porous materials and makes the practical applications of transparent flexible aerogel-based superinsulators realistic.

DOI： 10.1021/acsnano.7b07117

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Bunseki Kagaku  

A macroporous resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) xerogel was synthesized via sol–gel reaction, accompanied by phase separation; a graphitized carbon monolith was then prepared by calcining the RF xerogel at a relatively low temperature (1200 °C) utilizing catalytic graphitization. The retention behaviors of metal-EDTA complexes on the carbon monolithic column were investigated. The carbon monolith exhibited catalytic activity for redox reactions, like porous graphitic carbon packing materials do; they oxidized Co(II)-EDTA to Co(III)-EDTA during elution. Their redox activity could be modified by treating with an eluent containing an oxidizing or reducing agent. A novel on-line redox derivatization HPLC system using a carbon monolithic column was developed for enhancing the separation selectivity. This on-line redox derivatization HPLC system consisted of two ODS columns as a separation column and one carbon monolithic column as redox derivatization unit placed between them. The Co(II)-EDTA migrated as its original oxidation state in the first ODS column, while it migrated as Co(III)-EDTA in the second ODS column, since Co(II)-EDTA was rapidly oxidized to Co(III)-EDTA in the carbon monolithic column. On the other hand, other metal-EDTA complexes migrated as their original oxidation states in these columns. Therefore, the Co-EDTA could be separated from the other metal-EDTA complexes. This on-line redox derivatization HPLC system was successfully used for determining the trace amount of cobalt in a reference copper alloy.

DOI： 10.2116/bunsekikagaku.67.469

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DOI： 10.2147/JPR.S156326

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA  

Hierarchically porous ZnAl2O4 spinel monolith derived from ionic precursors has been successfully prepared via the sol-gel route accompanied by phase separation in the presence of poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) and propylene oxide (PO). Appropriate amounts of PEO as a phase-separation inducer and PO as a gelation mediator allow the formation of the xerogel with bicontinuous macrostructure and a monolithic shape. The macropore size of the resultant dried gel is mainly distributed in the range of 0.2-1 mu m, and the whole porosity is about 65%. The dried gel is constructed by crystalline Zn-Al hydrotalcite, becoming amorphous after heat-treated at 300-500 degrees C in air, and is further transformed into single phase ZnAl2O4 spinel with plate-like shape at 600 degrees C. The macroporous structure is well maintained while the porosity increases to 75% and the surface area rises to 109 m(2) g(-1) after heat-treatment. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.08.172

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Reactions of "chloromethyltriinethoxysilane (CMTMS) and its derived colloidal network polychlorome-thylsilsesquioxane (PCMSQ) have been investigated to extend the material design strategy toward functionalized and mechanically reinforced aerogels. In a carefully designed sol gel system, CMTMS has afforded transparent aerogels in the presence of cationic surfactant. The surface chloromethyl groups with polarity and reactivity are shown to be useful for supporting nanostructures, with photoluminescent carbon dots (C-dots) prepared from polyethylenimine and citric acid as an example. Furthermore, since nucleophilic substitution (S(N)2) reactions on the surface chloromethyl groups are found to control the equilibrium of formation/dissociation of siloxane bonds, a new gelation strategy triggered by S(N)2 reactions in sol-gel has been developed. In the presence of nucleophilic organic species such as polyamines, a hybrid network consisting of PCMSQ cross-linked with a polyamine nucleophile can be prepared to enhance mechanical properties of aerogel.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b03013

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP  

We report the shapeable synthesis of porous silica frameworks using polyacrylamide (PAAm) gel as an organic template and hydrolyzed silicon alkoxide as a silica source. Macroscopically shaped porous frameworks-such as plates, tablets and sheets-comprised of 20- to 40-nm diameter silica particles are obtained via PAAm-silica precursor gels. The mechanical properties (i.e., hardness and Young's modulus) of the silica frameworks depend on the packing density and are controlled by changing the silica content in PAAm gels.

DOI： 10.1038/pj.2017.62

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Astrophysical Journal Letters  

We report the study of the far-infrared (IR) sizes of submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) in relation to their dustobscured star formation rate (SFR) and active galactic nuclei (AGN) presence, determined using mid-IR photometry. We determined the millimeter-wave (λobs = 1100 μm) sizes of 69 Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA)-identified SMGs, selected with ≥10 δ confidence on ALMA images (F1100 μm = 1.7-7.4 mJy). We found that all of the SMGs are located above an avoidance region in the sizeflux plane, as expected by the Eddington limit for star formation. In order to understand what drives the different millimeter-wave sizes in SMGs, we investigated the relation between millimeter-wave size and AGN fraction for 25 of our SMGs at z=1-3. We found that the SMGs for which the mid-IR emission is dominated by star formation or AGN have extended millimeter-sizes, with respective median Rc,e = 1.6-0.21+0.34 and 1.5 -0.24+0.93 kpc. Instead, the SMGs for which the mid-IR emission corresponds to star-forming/AGN composites have more compact millimeter-wave sizes, with median Rc,e1.0 -0.20+0.20kpc. The relation between millimeter-wave size and AGN fraction suggests that this size may be related to the evolutionary stage of the SMG. The very compact sizes for composite star-forming/AGN systems could be explained by supermassive black holes growing rapidly during the SMG coalescing, star-formation phase.

DOI： 10.3847/2041-8213/aa9572

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DOI： 10.1021/acsomega.7b01121

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

In this report, we demonstrate a facile and versatile methodology for synthesizing a series of titanium phosphates (TiPs) with various morphologies. The hydrothermal reactions of TiO2 in different concentrations of H3PO4 aq. yield 4 types of crystal structures with diverse shapes, such as nanoparticles, nanorods and nanosheets, which are assembled into a variety of flower-like morphologies. The dependence of the crystal phases and morphologies of TiPs on the synthesis conditions have been comprehensively investigated. This synthetic process can be further extended to other TiP derivatives incorporated with guest cations (e.g. NH4+ and Na+) simply by adding the corresponding phosphate salts to the starting composition, which leads to the morphological variation associated with the change of the crystal phase. The mechanism for the formation of the TiPs is discussed in terms of the stable Ti-based ion species relying on the pH value of the reaction solution. In addition, the correlation between the crystal structures and morphologies of TiPs and their electrochemical Li- and Na-ion storage behaviors are demonstrated as well, which discloses the different tendencies of morphological effects between the Li- and Na-ion systems.

DOI： 10.1039/c7ce01123g

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b02431

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier B.V.  

Phase separation control is an important factor to prepare a porous monolith by an aqueous sol–gel reaction. Here, we report a surfactant-free synthesis method to obtain hydrophobic polymethylsilsesquioxane aerogels by copolymerizing a cationic-functionalized alkoxysilane N-trimethoxysilylpropyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride. The resultant materials have low-density, high visible-light transmittance, and high thermal insulating equivalent to those of prepared under the presence of surfactant.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jascer.2017.02.003

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

A novel CO2 sorbent was prepared by modifying polyethyleneimine (PEI) on hierarchically porous silica (HPS) monoliths with well-defined macro-mesopores through wet impregnation method. HPS monoliths before and after functionalization were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetry (DTA/TG), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis (BET), and the CO2 adsorption-regeneration properties of as synthesized sorbents were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TG). The effects of loaded PEI amount as well as adsorption temperature and CO2 partial pressure on the CO2 adsorption performance of the as-prepared sorbents were also studied. The results showed that the porous structure of HPS-PEI sorbents was preserved after functionalization, while the specific surface area and pore volume decreased with increasing amount of amines to some extent. The use of PEI had a remarkable improvement on the CO2 adsorption capacity. With the increasing amount of PEI loaded, the CO2 adsorption capacity improved significantly. The highest CO2 adsorption capacity of 2.44 mmol (g sorbent)-1 was obtained at 75 degrees C in the CO2 partial pressure of 100 kPa for the HPS loaded with 60 wt% PEI. Adsorption/desorption cycles indicated that the PEI-modified HPS sorbents had a good stability and regeneration. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.micromeso.2017.02.076

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Transparent, low-density ethenylene-bridged polymethylsiloxane [Ethe-BPMS, O-2/2(CH3)Si-CH=CH-Si(CH3)O-2/2] aerogels from 1,2-bis(methyldiethoxysilyl)ethene have successfully been synthesized via a sol-gel process. A two-step sol-gel process composed of hydrolysis under acidic conditions and polycondensation under basic conditions in a liquid surfactant produces a homogeneous pore structure based on cross-linked nanosized colloidal particles. Visible-light transmittance of the aerogels varies with the concentration of the base catalyst and reaches as high as 87% (at a wavelength of 550 nm for a 10 mm thick sample). Gelation and aging temperature strongly affect the deformation behavior of the resultant aerogels against uniaxial compression, and the obtained aerogels prepared at 80 C-circle show high elasticity after being unloaded. This highly resilient behavior is primarily derived from the rigidity of ethenylene groups, which is confirmed by a comparison with other aerogels with similar molecular structures, ethylene-bridged polymethylsiloxane and polymethylsilsesquioxane. Applicability of the addition reaction using a Diels-Alder reaction of benzocyclobutene has also been investigated, revealing that a successful addition takes place on the ethenylene linkings, which is verified using Raman and solid-state NMR spectroscopies. Insights into the effect of molecular structure on mechanical properties and the availability of surface functionalization provided in this study are important for realizing transparent aerogels with the desired functionality.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b00434

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH  

Aerogels are attracting increasing attention due to their high thermal insulation ability as well as unique properties such as high porosity, surface area, and transparency. However, low mechanical strengths, originating from their unique porous structure, impede handling, formability, mass production, and extended applications. This minireview focuses on the strengthening of aerogels by several organic-inorganic hybridization strategies. In particular, successful strengthening methodologies, which employ organo-substituted alkoxysilanes as the single precursor for the sol-gel preparations, developed by the authors are highlighted. Moreover, improvements in compressive strength and elasticity lead to monolithic aerogel-like xerogels through ambient pressure drying. Correlations between structures in different length scales (e.g., molecular, network, and pore structure levels) and resultant mechanical properties are discussed for further understandings and better design toward mechanically improved aerogels/xerogels and their applications.

DOI： 10.1002/chem.201603680

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SPRINGER  

Systematic investigations on the effect of synthetic conditions onto the properties of polyvinylsilsesquioxane (CH2=CHSiO3/2) aerogels have been conducted. As previously reported, transparent polyvinylsilsesquioxane aerogels can be obtained by utilizing a liquid surfactant as a solvent and a two-step sol-gel reaction involving hydrolysis catalyzed by a strong acid and subsequent polycondensation by a strong base. In this study, effects of base catalyst, gelation and aging conditions, amount of surfactant and concentration of acid catalyst have been investigated. With the optimized synthetic condition, the value of light transmittance reaches as high as 70% (at the wavelength of 550 nm for a 10-mm thick sample). Applicability of addition reactions utilizing thiol-ene reactions and hydrosilylation has also been surveyed. Thiol-ene reactions are relatively effective and can modify surface hydrophobicity and mechanical properties of polyvinylsilsesquioxane aerogels. In the case of hydrosilylation, a partial addition of a hydrosilane compound onto the polyvinylsilsesquioxane gel surface can be observed. Addition reactions, in particular thiol-ene reactions, are found to be profitable for implementing chemical functionality on the transparent aerogels.

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-017-4339-6

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Flexible low-density materials, such as aerogels and polymer foams, have received increasing attention as energy absorbers and cushions that protect artificial products and human bodies. Microscopic geometry is a crucial factor determining their mechanical functions, i.e. strength and toughness (flexibility). However, it is a formidable challenge to combine these two properties because they are mutually elusive in general; stiff materials are brittle, while flexible ones are soft. Here, we demonstrate lightweight porous polymeric materials based on a common phenolic resin, resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) gels, with salient combinatorial properties of high stiffness (up to 100 MPa) and good recoverable compressibility (against 80-90% strain), which can deliver remarkable energy absorption and dissipation performances repetitively. The detailed investigation reveals that the unique mechanical features originate from the synergetic effect of interdigitated hard and soft components in polymer matrices as well as exquisitely designed highly branched microstructures both generated through the spontaneous supramolecular self-assembly of the nonionic block copolymer (F127) and RF oligomer, which is essentially analogous to how natural organisms create biological structural materials, e.g. nacre and bone.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b04706

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Multifunctional catalysts are of great interest in catalysis because their multiple types of catalytic or functional groups can cooperatively promote catalytic transformations better than their constituents do individually. Herein we report a new synthetic route involving the surface functionalization of nanoporous silica with a rationally designed and synthesized dihydrosilane (3-aminopropylmethylsilane) that leads to the introduction of catalytically active grafted organoamine as well as single metal atoms and ultrasmall Pd or Ag-doped Pd nanoparticles via on-site reduction of metal ions. The resulting nanomaterials serve as highly effective bifunctional dehydrogenative catalysts for generation of H-2 from formic acid.

DOI： 10.1021/acsami.6b12972

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Polyrnethylhydrosiloxane has been grafted on the surface of a hierarchically porous silica monolith using a facile catalytic reaction between Si-H and silanol to anchor the polymer. This easy methodology leads to the functionalization of the surface of a silica monolith, where a large amount of free Si-H bonds remain available for reducing metal ions in solution. Palladium nanoparticles of 15 nm have been synthesized homogeneously inside the mesopores of the monolith without any stabilizers, using a flow of a solution containing Pd2+. This monolith was used as column-type fixed bed catalyst for continuous flow hydrogenation of styrene and selective hydrogenation of 3-hexyn-1-ol, in each case without a significant decrease of the catalytic activity after several hours or days. Conversion, selectivity, and stereoselectivity of the alkyne hydrogenation can be tuned by flow rates of hydrogen and the substrate solution, leading to high productivity (1.57 mol g(Pd)(-1) h(-1)) of the corresponding cis-alkene.

DOI： 10.1021/acsami.6b12653

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SPRINGER  

Low-density, transparent aerogels based on a hexylene-bridged polysilsesquioxane ([O1.5Si-(CH2)(6)SiO1.5](n)) network have been prepared for the first time via a simple sol-gel process. An optimized base-catalyzed onestep hydrolysis-polycondensation process of a bridged alkoxysilane precursor 1,6-bis(trimethoxysilyl) hexane in a low-polarity solvent N,N-dimethylformamide allows for the formation of a pore structure of a length scale of several tens nanometers, resulting in low-density, transparent aerogels after supercritical drying. Because of the incorporated organic moiety that bridges the silicon atoms in the network, these aerogels show higher flexibility and strength against compression and bending as compared to silica aerogel counterparts. In addition, minimizing the residual silanol groups in the network by a surface modification with hexamethyldisilazane has further improved resilience after compression and bending flexibility and strength, due to the decreased chance of the irreversible formation of the siloxane bonds upon compression. The resulting trimethylsilylated hydrophobic gels have been subjected to ambient pressure drying to obtain xerogels, resulting in low-density (0.13 g cm(-3), 90 % porosity), transparent (71 % transmittance) xerogels. These results are promising for the development of transparent thermal superinsulators applicable to window insulating systems that manage heat transfer in a more efficient way.

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-016-4077-1

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Nanostructured amorphous silica in rice plants (biosilica or plant opal) plays an important role in plant growth related to food production. However, the same silica has a structural supporting role as well that has not been uncovered. The current study focuses on the structural design of the two main types of biosilicas in rice plants for the improvement of their mechanical properties. One structural motif is platelike silicas, which cover most of the surfaces of leaf blades. Another is fan-shaped silicas, which are aligned inside leaf blades, providing a stiff backbone. These biosilica structures consist of 10-100 nm diameter nanoparticles. The mechanical properties, such as hardness and Young's modulus, of the biosilicas are associated with their relative density. Thus, the rice plant mechanics is inferred to be designed by changing the packing of the nanoparticles. Silica plates consisting of loosely packed particles have relatively low density and high flexibility enabling coverage of leaf blade surfaces, while fan-shaped silicas, which consist of tightly packed nanoparticles, are rigid to support the leaf blades as a backbone.

DOI： 10.1039/c6ra27317c

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ISMITHERS  

Increasing the efficiency of encapsulation of ingredients into spherical capsules can decrease the manufacturing costs of the capsules. Ingredients can be encapsulated with high efficiency (&gt;99%) into nondegradable hard resin capsules prepared by polymerization of spherical droplets of trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) monomer placed on a superoleophobic material. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) resin is a more versatile capsule material than poly-TRIM resin. In this study, the efficiency of encapsulation in PMMA resin capsules prepared from methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer was investigated. To reduce the volatility of the MMA monomer, pre-polymerized MMA was used for capsule preparation. Although non-volatile a-tocopherol and doxorubicin could be encapsulated in the capsules with high efficiency by heat polymerization at 60 degrees C for 3 h, the efficiency for volatile tetradecane was much lower (approximately 60%) because it evaporated. Furthermore, even when using pre-polymerized MMA, more than 70% of the prepolymer evaporated during polymerization. To prevent the evaporation of tetradecane and the prepolymer, ultraviolet photopolymerization was adopted because it was faster and could be conducted at a lower temperature. The photopolymerization prevented the evaporation of the prepolymer and increased the efficiency of encapsulation of tetradecane (approximately 90% efficiency). This polymerization system is effective for encapsulation of ingredients in PMMA capsules with high efficiency.

DOI： 10.1177/096739111702500202

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Transparent, monolithic aerogels with nano sized colloidal skeletons have been obtained from a single precursor of 1,2-bis(methyldiethoxysilyl)ethane (BMDEE) by adopting a liquid surfactant and a two-step process involving strong-acid, followed by strong-base, sol gel reactions. This precursor BMDEE forms the ethylene-bridged polymethylsiloxane (EBPMS, O-2/2(CH3)Si-CH2CH2-Si(CH3)O-2/2) network, in which each silicon has one methyl, two bridging oxygens, and one bridging ethylene, exhibiting an analogous structure to that of the previously reported polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ CH3SiO3/2) aerogels having one methyl and three bridging oxygen atoms. Obtained aerogels consist of fine colloidal skeletons and show high visible-light transparency and a flexible deformation behavior against compression without collapse. Similar to the PMSQ aerogels, a careful tuning of synthetic conditions can produce low-density (0.19 g cm(-3)) and highly transparent (76% at 550 nm, corresponding to 10 mm thick samples) xerogels via ambient pressure drying by solvent evaporation due to their high strength and resilience against compression. Moreover, EBPMS aerogels exhibit higher bending strength and bending strain at break against the three-point bending mode compared to PMSQ aerogels. This improved bendability is presumably derived from the introduced ethylene-bridging parts, suggesting the potential for realizing transparent and bendable aerogels in such polysiloxane materials with organic linking units.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b03249

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

We report the application of hierarchically porous zirconium phosphate monoliths with high surface area as acidic heterogeneous catalysts for the dehydration of xylose into furfural. Analyses by NH3-temperature programmed desorption and P-31 solid state NMR reveal the presence of both Lewis and Bronsted acid sites in the as-synthesized zirconium phosphate monolith and that calcined at 600 degrees C. High accessibility and availability of the acidic sites and easy separation of the monolith from the liquid medium result in good catalytic activity (initial reaction rate for furfural production as 8.7 mmol g(cat)(-1) h(-1)) with easy handling of the catalyst. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.catcom.2016.09.014

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Silica aerogels are unique porous materials possessing high visible-light transparency and low thermal conductivity. However, the practical applications are limited due to the native fragility of silica, and a lot of research focuses on the improvement of mechanical properties by organic inorganic hybridization, and so forth. Here, the first synthesis of polyethylsilsesquioxane (PESQ CH3CH2SiO1.5) and polyvinylsilsesquioxane (PVSQ CH2=CHSiO1.5) aerogels is reported. The resultant PESQand PVSQ aerogels obtained through a two-step acid-base sol-gel reaction in a surfactant-based solution exhibit visible-light transmittance and flexibility against compression without collapsing. The microstructural variations of these aerogels are systematically investigated by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) in order to clarify the differences in properties derived from substituent groups. Furthermore, a post cure on the PVSQ wet gel using a radical initiator induces polymerization of vinyl groups in the solid network, resulting in mechanically reinforced aerogels with higher compressive modulus and resilience. This chemical modification, similar to vulcanization in silicone rubber materials, helps to produce xerogels with comparable properties to those of aerogels via ambient pressure drying. Since the resultant xerogel obtained from the vulcanization of PVSQ shows sufficiently low thermal conductivity of 15.3 m(-1) K-1, these novel polysilsesquioxane materials are promising for transparent aerogels/xerogels superinsulators.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b01936

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SPRINGER  

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-016-4124-y

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Yttria-stabilized zirconia monoliths with well-defined macropores and high porosity have been successfully fabricated via sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation. Propylene oxide acts as an acid consumer to mediate sol-gel process, and poly (ethylene oxide) is used to induce phase separation. Ethylene glycol is applied as chelating agent, and formamide serves as drying control chemical additive to inhibit cracking during drying stage. Proper proportion of the starting compositions allows the generation of well-defined macroporous YSZ monoliths with co-continuous skeletons and porosity as high as more than 60 %. The dried gels are amorphous and crystalline of ZrO2 precipitates after heat treatment between 400 and 1200 A degrees C without formation of monoclinic ZrO2, which indicating a wide application prospects.

DOI： 10.1007/s10934-016-0143-x

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

Hard carbons emerge as one of the most promising candidate for an anode of Na-ion batteries. This research focuses on the carbon monolith derived from resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) gels as a model hard carbon electrode. A series of binder-free monolithic carbon electrodes heat-treated at varied temperatures allow the comparative investigation of the correlation between carbon nanotexture and electrochemical Na+-ion storage. The increase in carbonization temperature exerts a favorable influence on electrode performance, especially in the range between 1600 degrees C and 2500 degrees C. The comparison between Li+- and Na+-storage behaviors in the carbon electrodes discloses that the Na+-trapping in nanovoids is negligible when the carbonization temperature is higher than 1600 degrees C. On the other hand, the high temperature sintering at 2500-3000 degrees C enlarges the resistance for Na+-insertion into interlayer spacing as well as Na+-filling into nanovoids. In addition, the study on the effect of pore size clearly demonstrates that not the BET surface area but the surface area related to meso- and macropores is a predominant factor for the initial irreversible capacity. The outcomes of this work are expected to become a benchmark for other hard carbon electrodes prepared from various precursors. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.04.013

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

This report demonstrates a facile one-pot synthesis of hierarchically porous resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) gels comprising mesoporous nanorod assemblies with two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal ordering by combining a supramolecular self-assembly strategy in the nanometer scale and phase separation in the micrometer scale. The tailored multilevel pore system in the polymer scaffolds can be preserved through carbonization and thermal activation, yielding the multimodal porous carbon and activated carbon (AC) monoliths. The thin columnar macroframeworks are beneficial for electrode materials due to the short mass diffusion length through small pores (micro- and mesopores). By employing the nanostructured AC monolith as a binder-free electrode for supercapacitors, we have also explored the capability of "water-in-salt" electrolytes, aiming at high-voltage aqueous supercapacitors. Despite that the carbon electrode surface is supposed to be covered with salt-derived decomposition products that hinder the water reduction, the effective surface area contributing to electric double-layer capacitance in 5 M bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) is found to be comparable to that in a conventional neutral aqueous electrolyte. The expanded stability potential window of the superconcentrated electrolyte allows for a 2.4 V-class aqueous AC/AC symmetric supercapacitor with good cycle performance.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b01261

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Other Link： http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8069-4780

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b01010

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A versatile synthetic method has been developed for the fabrication of metal zirconium phosphate (MZP) macroporous monoliths via a sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation. More than 30 kinds of MZP monolithic polycrystalline monoliths with co-continuous macroporous structure have been synthesized by simply adding the target metal salt in the starting solution with optimized compositions. Glycerol, due to its high boiling point, plays the key role as the solvent to prevent metal salt from recrystallization, allowing a homogeneous distribution of metal salts over the polymerizing zirconium phosphate network. Hierarchically porous polycrystalline strontium zirconium phosphate (SrZrP) monolith has been obtained when the dried gel was calcined at 1000 degrees C. Very low thermal expansion (coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) as 1.4 x 10(-6) K-1) over a wide temperature range (38 degrees C-1000 degrees C) together with good mechanical properties (flexural modulus as 8.0 GPa from 3 point bending test and Young's modulus as 1.9 GPa from uniaxial compression test) has been demonstrated, while high porosity (43%) due to the presence of macropores reduces bulk density. As compared with dense ceramics of the same composition, the CTE value is lower and can be attributed to the presence of nanometer-sized small pores, which absorbs the anisotropic thermal expansion of each crystallite in the macropore skeletons at elevated temperatures. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.micromeso.2015.12.002

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Spherical capsules have been used in various fields because of their many advantages. In many industrial applications, hydrophobic hard resins (e.g., polyacrylate, epoxy and polystyrene) are used as a shell material for stable packaging of ingredients within capsules. However, it is difficult to encapsulate ingredients in such capsules without loss by conventional techniques. The purpose of this study was to encapsulate hydrophobic ingredients within polyacrylate resin capsules with ultrahigh efficiency. In our methodology, a small volume of resin monomer solution containing the ingredients was first placed on a superoleophobic material and the resulting spherical droplets were then solidified by polymerization of the monomer. Doxorubicin (an anticancer drug), a-tocopherol (an antioxidant) and tetradecane (a phase change material used for heat storage) could be encapsulated in spherical hard capsules with almost no loss by heat and photopolymerization. We showed that tetradecane in the capsules had almost identical thermal properties to pure tetradecane. These results demonstrate that our technique is promising for encapsulation of hydrophobic ingredients in hard resin capsules.

DOI： 10.1007/s00289-015-1497-y

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

The performance of flow-through particles has been studied by computational fluid dynamics. Computational fluid dynamics simulations was used to calculate the flow behaviour around and inside the particles rather than estimate it. The obtained flow field has been used to accurately simulate plate heights generated by flow-through particles and compare them to standard fully porous particles. The effects of particle size, particle porosity and microparticle size on the intra-particle flow and plate heights is investigated. It is shown that the intra-particle flow generates mass transfer enhancement which lowers the total plate height. An empirical model is proposed for the mass transfer enhancement and it is compared to previously proposed models. Kinetic plots are constructed for the flow-through particles. Counter-intuitively, columns packed with flow-through particles have a higher flow resistance which counters the advantages of lower plate heights. Flow-through particles offer no significant gain in kinetic performance over fully porous particles. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.chroma.2015.12.019

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Hierarchically porous titanium phosphate monoliths combining well-defined co-continuous macropores and accessible large mesopores have been synthesized for the first time via a sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation using titanium oxysulfate and phosphoric acid as precursors. The macropore size was tunable over a broad range from 0.6 mu m to 10 mu m by changing the starting composition, while the mesopore size and the specific surface area of the as-synthesized amorphous monoliths are 21 nm and 320 m(2) g (1), respectively. Crystallization of the gel network can be induced in two different ways. Calcination at elevated temperature (800 degrees C) leads to the formation of TiP2O7 and the collapse of both the macro- and meso-structures, while the solvothermal treatment of the as-synthesized gel in ethylene glycol leads to the formation of platy crystals of titanium phosphate with a layered structure at relatively low temperature. The titanium phosphate monoliths with a hierarchically porous structure are expected to be useful in various applications such as continuous-flow catalysis, water remediation and ion batteries.

DOI： 10.1039/c5nj02820e

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH  

Hard carbons have immense potential as anode materials for Na-ion batteries, because the expanded graphene interlayers and nanovoids between randomly stacked aromatic fragments can accommodate a substantial amount of sodium. However, the large irreversible capacity in the first cycle still remains as a significant issue in terms of a practicable battery technology. Here, we show that hard carbon electrodes derived from a common phenol resin deliver a high reversible capacity within the narrow potential range of 0.1-0.005V (vs. Na+/Na) and an excellent initial coulombic efficiency up to 95%. The former allows the sustainable high voltage, whereas the latter minimizes the amount of unavailable Na+ in a closed cell. The findings in this work put forward a guideline for manufacturing hard carbon electrodes, which goes against the current trend of nanostructuring and downsizing.

DOI： 10.1002/celc.201500412

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：CERAMIC SOC JAPAN-NIPPON SERAMIKKUSU KYOKAI  

Sol-gel synthesis of macroporous polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ) monoliths has been successful over the past decade, and applications to separation media have been investigated. However, the control of mesopores to tailor hierarchical porosity, which is promising for improvement of the separation efficiency, remains challenging. In particular, an independent control of meso- and macropores has not been achieved in PMSQ. Herein we present a method to synthesize PMSQ monoliths with well-defined macropores and controlled mesostructure (pore size ranging from 10 to 60 nm, total pore volume from 0.2 to 0.6 cm(3) g(-1)) via sol-gel accompanied by phase separation. Different Pluronic-type nonionic surfactants were used to control phase separation of the hydrophobic PMSQ network in aqueous media. Due to different packing density of the colloidal PMSQ constituents in the continuous skeletons in the micrometer-scale (termed as macropore skeletons) and their rearrangements through the hydrothermal post-treatment under basic conditions, mesopore characteristics have been successfully controlled independently of the preformed macropore structure. Separation columns for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) have been fabricated using the PMSQ monoliths, and acceptable separation performances in both the reversed-phase and normal-phase modes have been demonstrated due to the presence of both hydrophilic silanol groups and hydrophobic methyl groups. (C) 2015 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.2109/jcersj2.123.770

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：CERAMIC SOC JAPAN-NIPPON SERAMIKKUSU KYOKAI  

Conventionally, commercialized spherical silicone powders, such as silicone resin powder [INCI: POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE (PMSQ beads)] 1) and silicone rubber powder [INCI: DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER (DVDC beads)], 2) have been formulated into cosmetics for soft and smooth feeling. Due to the low crosslink density, silicone rubber powder shows soft touch and high oil absorption. However, it is too agglomerative to be formulated into powder foundation. In this work, we have developed the novel soft touch spherical silicone beads made from methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS), using a surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC). The preparation procedure of the novel silicone beads requires only homogeneous mixing and includes no other complicated operations. The Si-29 NMR and TG measurements indicate that DMDMS is randomly incorporated into the methylsiloxane network. The particle size of the beads can be controlled by the concentration of urea as well as by the stirring speed in the sol-gel reaction. By carefully adjusting these parameters, the size of the beads has been optimized for the use in make-up cosmetics. It was revealed by various evaluation measurements that the novel silicone beads exhibit unique characteristics, such as softness, low oil absorption, high transparency and light diffusion effects. (C) 2015 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.2109/jcersj2.123.714

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH  

The optimization of a porous structure to ensure good separation performances is always a significant issue in high-performance liquid chromatography column design. Recently we reported the homogeneous embedment of Ag nanoparticles in periodic mesoporous silica monolith and the application of such Ag nanoparticles embedded silica monolith for the high-performance liquid chromatography separation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons. However, the separation performance remains to be improved and the retention mechanism as compared with the Ag ion high-performance liquid chromatography technique still needs to be clarified. In this research, Ag nanoparticles were introduced into a macro/mesoporous silica monolith with optimized pore parameters for high-performance liquid chromatography separations. Baseline separation of benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, and pyrene was achieved with the theoretical plate number for analyte naphthalene as 36 000 m(-1). Its separation function was further extended to cis/trans isomers of aromatic compounds where cis/trans stilbenes were chosen as a benchmark. Good separation of cis/trans-stilbene with separation factor as 7 and theoretical plate number as 76 000 m(-1) for cis-stilbene was obtained. The trans isomer, however, is retained more strongly, which contradicts the long-established retention rule of Ag ion chromatography. Such behavior of Ag nanoparticles embedded in a silica column can be attributed to the differences in the molecular geometric configuration of cis/trans stilbenes.

DOI： 10.1002/jssc.201500444

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

The present report demonstrates a new technique for doping heteroatoms (nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur) into carbon materials via a versatile post-treatment. The heat-treatment of carbon materials with a reagent, which is stable at ambient temperatures and evolves reactive gases on heating, in a vacuum-closed tube allows the introduction of various heteroatom-containing functional groups into a carbon matrix. In addition, the sequential doping reactions give rise to dual- and triple-heteroatom-doped carbons. The pore properties of the precursor carbon materials are preserved through each heteroatom doping process, which indicates that independent tuning of heteroatom doping and nanostructural morphology can be achieved in various carbon materials. The electrochemical investigation on the undoped and doped carbon monolithic electrodes applied to supercapacitors provides insights into the effects of heteroatom doping on electrochemical capacitance.

DOI： 10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b01349

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DOI： 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b00810

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：IOP PUBLISHING LTD  

Monolithic macroporous zirconia (ZrO2) derived from ionic precursors has been successfully fabricated via the epoxide-mediated sol-gel route accompanied by phase separation in the presence of propylene oxide (PO) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The addition of PO used as an acid scavenger mediates the gelation, whereas PEO enhances the polymerization-induced phase separation. The appropriate choice of the starting compositions allows the production of a macroporous zirconia monolith with a porosity of 52.9% and a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 171.9 m(2) . g(-1). The resultant dried gel is amorphous, whereas tetragonal ZrO2 and monoclinic ZrO2 are precipitated at 400 and 600 degrees C, respectively, without spoiling the macroporous morphology. After solvothermal treatment with an ethanol solution of ammonia, tetragonal ZrO2 monoliths with smooth skeletons and well-defined mesopores can be obtained, and the BET surface area is enhanced to 583.8 m(2) . g(-1).

DOI： 10.1088/1468-6996/16/2/025003

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

A preceramic polymer route from Ti-based inorganicorganic hybrid networks provides electroconductive N-doped reduced titanium oxides (Ti(n)O2(n-1)) and titanium oxynitrides (TiOxNy) with a monolithic shape as well as well-defined porous structures. This methodology demonstrates an advantageously lower temperature of the crystal phase transition compared to the reduction of TiO2 by carbon or hydrogen. In this study, the effect of calcination conditions on various features of the products has been explored by adopting three different atmospheric conditions and varying the calcination temperature. The detailed crystallographic and elemental analyses disclose the distinguished difference in the phase transition behavior with respect to the calcination atmosphere. The correlation between the crystallization and nitridation behaviors, porous properties, and electric conductivities in the final products is discussed.

DOI： 10.1021/ic502972v

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

Prototype small-size (1.0 mm I.D., 5 cm long) columns for reversed-phase HPLC were evaluated in relation to instrument requirements. The performance of three types of columns, monolithic silica and particulate silica (2 mu m, totally porous and 2.6 mu m, core-shell particles) was studied in the presence of considerable or minimal extra-column effects, while the detector contribution to band broadening was minimized by employing a small size UV-detector cell (6- or 90 nL). A micro-LC instrument having small system volume (&lt;1 mu L) provided extra-column band variance of only 0.01-0.02 mu L-2. The three columns generated about 8500 theoretical plates for solutes with retention factor, k&gt; 1-3 (depending on the column), in acetonitrile/water mobile phase (65/35 = vol/vol) at 0.05 mL/min, with the instrument specified above. The column efficiency was lower by up to 30% than that observed with a 2.1 mm 1.12 commercial column. The small-size columns also provided 8000-8500 theoretical plates for well retained solutes with a commercial ultrahigh-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) instrument when extra-column contributions were minimized. While a significant extra-column effect was observed for early eluting solutes (k&lt;2-4, depending on column) with methanol/water (20/80 = vol/vol) as weak-wash solvent, the use of methanol/water = 50/50 as wash solvent affected the column efficiency for most analytes. The results suggest that the band compression effect by the weak-wash solvent associated with partial-loop injection may provide a practical means to reducing the extra-column effect for small-size columns, while the use of an instrument with minimum extra-column effect is highly desirable. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.chroma.2015.01.014

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Ultralow-density aerogels that have high visible-light transparency were obtained via a simple process. To achieve such materials, aqueous dispersion of boehmite nanofibers (BNF) was used. Hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) was used, which homogeneously raises pH by hydrolysis into ammonia in a mild condition. All the results suggest that the BNF aerogels are formed not by chemical bonds in-between nanofibers or assembling with a morphological change through, for instance, dissolution-reprecipitation of nanofibers, but by physical attractive interactions, which can be strong enough to support the ultralow-density structure. Due to the needle-like structure on the surface, the FAS-treated BNF aerogels exhibit superamphiphobicity, which is essential for antifouling applications.

DOI： 10.1021/cm503993n

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH  

Integrated design of both porous structure and crystalline morphology is expected to open up the way to a new class of materials. This report dem- onstrates new nanostructured Li4Ti5O12 materials with hierarchically porous structures and ?ower-like morphologies. Electrochemical studies of the electrodes of Li-ion and Na-ion batteries clearly reveal the advantage of nano- architectural design of active materials. In addition, the temperature depend- ence of Na + -insertion/extraction capacity in relation to Li4Ti5O12 electrodes is for the ?rst time evaluated and it is found that elevation of the cell operating temperature effectively improves the rate capability of the Na-ion batteries. Based on the new ?ndings, it is suggested that specially designed Li4Ti5O12 materials allow for high-performance Na-ion batteries that are available as large-scale storage devices for applications such as automotive and stationary energy storage.

DOI： 10.1002/aenm.201400730

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Copper hydroxide-based monolithic xerogels with controlled hierarchical pores have been prepared directly by a sol-gel process from an ionic precursor, CuCl2 center dot 2H(2)O. Propylene oxide acts as a gelation inducer by increasing pH homogeneously in a reaction solution. Poly(acrylamide) is utilized not only to control macroscopic phase separation but also to support the network physically. Glycerol contributes to the formation of monolithic gels by suppressing the growth of copper hydroxide crystals. An appropriate starting composition leads to co-continuous gel skeletons and macropores. Although the as-dried gels were amorphous, post-treatments (calcination and solvothermal treatment) formed metallic copper and copper oxides (CuO and Cu2O) without the collapse of the monolithic form and macrostructure.

DOI： 10.1039/c5nj00479a

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

The synthesis of highly crystalline macro-meso-microporous monolithic Cu-3(btc)(2) (HKUST-1; btc(3-) = benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate) is demonstrated by direct conversion of Cu(OH)(2)-based monoliths while preserving the characteristic macroporous structure. The high mechanical strength of the monoliths is promising for possible applications to continuous flow reactors.

DOI： 10.1039/c4cc09694k

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

The coordination replication technique is employed for the direct conversion of a macro- and mesoporous Cu(OH)(2)-polyacrylamide composite to three-dimensional superstructures consisting of the flexible porous coordination polymers, Cu-2(bdc)(2)(MeOH)(2) and Cu-2(bdc)(2)(bpy) (bdc(2-) = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate, bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine). Detailed characterization of the replicated systems reveals that the structuralization plays an important role in determining the adsorptive properties of the replicated systems, and that the immobilization of the crystals within a higher-order architecture also affects its structural and dynamic properties. The polyacrylamide polymer is also found to be crucial for maintaining the structuralization of the monolithic systems, and in providing the mechanical robustness required for manual handling. In all, the results discussed here demonstrate a significant expansion in the scope of the coordination replication strategy, and further confirms its utility as a highly versatile platform for the preparation of functional three-dimensional superstructures of porous coordination polymers.

DOI： 10.1039/c5sc02034d

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Hierarchically porous AlPO4 monoliths with well-defined macropores are prepared via a sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation. Appropriate amounts of the precursors, poly(ethylene oxide) and propylene oxide, allow the formation of a mesoporous structure with uniform macropore size distribution in the gel. A crystalline phase of tridymite forms after heat-treatment at 1000 degrees C in air, while the meso-and macro-porous structure is preserved, maintaining a BET surface area of 120.8 m(2) g(-1). The resultant crystalline AlPO4 monolith is used as the host to immobilize silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) by immersing it in silver colloid under an ambient condition. The result shows that Ag NPs were homogeneously embedded on the surface of skeletons without spoiling the appearance and macroporous structure of the initial AlPO4 monolith. Ag NPs embedded in monolithic AlPO4 show promise in a wide range of applications, including catalysis and separation.

DOI： 10.1039/c5nj00490j

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Hierarchically porous silica monoliths with well-defined interconnected macropores and uniform spherical mesopores were spontaneously prepared by combining polymerization-induced phase separation with an epoxide-mediated sol-gel route without any complicated aging and drying and high-temperature heat treatment. The precise control of pore structures can be realized by using propylene oxide (PO) as the gelation mediation agent, poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (P123) as the phase-separation inducer as well as the structure-directing agent and 1,3,5-trimethyl-benzene (TMB) as the micelle-swelling agent. The as-prepared silica monolith possesses an interesting hierarchically porous structure constructed by 10 nm uniform spherical mesopores confined in a macroporous framework of well-defined 1 mu m macropores, and exhibits a BET surface area as high as 848 m(2) g(-1). Heat treatment at 400-800 degrees C gradually decreases the BET surface area to 195 m(2) g(-1), while most of the uniform mesoporous structure remains intact.

DOI： 10.1039/c5dt01672j

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Hierarchically porous TiO2 based composites (pure TiO2 and TiO2/carbon (TiO2/C) composite) were synthesized by a facile sol-gel process followed by post- calcination. Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) acts as a phase separation inducer as well as a carbon source. The as-prepared TiO2 based composites possess an interesting hierarchically porous structure constructed of cocontinuous macropores and mesoporous skeletons consisting of interconnected nanocrystals and in situ distributed carbon. The hierarchically porous TiO2/C composite shows excellent electrochemical performance with fast lithium ion diffusion and electronic transport, resulting from the hierarchically porous structure and conductive carbon material. The TiO2/C composite calcined at 500 degrees C exhibits the highest BET surface area of 170 m(2) g(-1), superior cycling stability (delivers a remarkable discharge capacity of 132 mA h g(-1) at 1 C after 100 cycles) and excellent rate capability (over 96 mA h g(-1) at 30 C rate). The results indicate that these hierarchically porous TiO2 based composites could be promising anode materials for high performance lithium ion batteries.

DOI： 10.1039/c5ra03491d

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELECTROCHEMICAL SOC INC  

We report the fabrication of porous titanium nitride (TiN) monoliths through the ammonolysis of porous TiO2 monoliths prepared via the sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation. The obtained TiN monoliths possess good mechanical strength as well as excellent electric conductivity with a superconducting transition at T-c similar to 5.0 K. We have investigated the electrochemical properties of the porous TiN monoliths as an electrode using various electrolytes. The results reveal that the pseudocapacitance of TiN increases in the order of K+ &lt; Na+ &lt; Li+ contrary to the case of EDL capacitance in neutral aqueous electrolytes. It is also found that acidic and strongly basic electrolytes are not suitable due to high corrosivity, while there is no significant deterioration when neutral aqueous electrolytes and organic electrolytes are used. (C) 2014 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1149/2.0491501jes

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Removal of toxic substances from industrial wastes is an urgent issue for realizing a sustainable society. Layered double hydroxides ( LDHs) are expected to be an effective adsorbent for toxic anions, especially oxyanions, because of their high anion adsorption capacity and reusability. Monolithic LDH materials with rational meso- and macropores are expected to show high adsorption capacity/rate towards targeted toxic substances owing to their large specific surface area and liquid transport property. Besides fabricating hierarchical pores, size control of microcages in LDH crystals is required to achieve selective removal of oxyanions. Herein, we prepared hierarchically porous monolithic LDH composites with tunable microcages by changing the combination of cationic species in the LDH crystal. Monolithic Mg-, Mn-, Fe-, Co- and Ni-Al type LDH composites with hierarchical pores were successfully prepared via an epoxide-mediated sol-gel reaction accompanied with phase separation. The monolithic Co-Al type LDH composite with hierarchical pores exhibited the highest CrO42- adsorption capacity because its microcage size easily fits the CrO42- size. Also Co-Al type LDH composites adsorbed different oxyanions, depending on their affinity with the LDH, in a SO42-, CrO42-, MoO42- and HVO42- co-existing solution. The pore size controllability in discrete length-scales of micrometers, nanometers, and picometers offers LDHs with tailored surface chemistries and physical properties desirable for effective and selective oxyanion adsorption.

DOI： 10.1039/c5ra05942a

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Hierarchically porous monolithic materials are advantageous as adsorbents, catalysts and catalyst supports due to the better accessibility of reactants to the active sites and the ease of recycle and reuse. Traditional synthetic routes, however, have limitations in designing hierarchical porosity as well as the mechanically stable monolithic shape in inorganic phosphate materials, which are useful as adsorbents and catalysts. We present a low-temperature, one-step liquid phase synthesis of hierarchically porous zirconium phosphate (ZrP) monoliths with tunable compositions (from Zr(HPO4)(2) (Zr : P = 1:2) to NaSICON (Na super ionic conductor)-type ZrP (Zr : P = 1:1.5)) as well as macropore size (from 0.5 to 5 mu m). The as-synthesized ZrP monolith with a high reactive surface area (600 m(2) g(-1)) and relatively high mechanical strength (Young's modulus 320 MPa) was applied to ion adsorption. A simple syringe device inserted tightly with the ZrP monolith as a continuous flow setup was demonstrated to remove various toxic metal ions in aqueous solutions, which shows promising results for water purification.

DOI： 10.1039/c4nj01749h

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Monolithic mayenite with well-defined macropores has been successfully synthesized from ionic precursors via a sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation. The addition of propylene oxide (PO) to the starting solution leads to homogenous gelation and modifies the gel skeleton, whereas the addition of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) induces phase separation. Glycol acts as a chelating agent to suppress the precipitation of Ca2+ ions, and formamide works as a drying control chemical additive to enhance the drying behavior. Appropriate amounts of solvents, PEO, and PO allow the formation of calcium aluminate gets with co-continuous macroporous structure. The reaction mechanism of the sol-gel process of the Ca-Al-O system is also investigated by TG-DSC, FT-IR and NMR. The dried gels are amorphous and the crystalline phase Ca12Al14O32Cl2 forms after heat-treatment at 1000 degrees C in air, while the macroporous structure is preserved. The resultant monoliths before and after heat-treatment possess both high porosity and smooth and dense skeletons.

DOI： 10.1039/c4nj00898g

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

A facile and "green" method was proposed to introduce Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) into the hierarchically monolithic silica uniformly in the presence of (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysilane (APTES) and ethylene glycol. APTES is used to modify the monolith by incorporating amino groups onto the surface of meso-macroporous skeletons, while ethylene glycol is employed as the productive reductant. Ag NPs are homogeneously immobilized in hierarchically monolithic silica after reduction and drying at 40 degrees C for different duration times, and the embedded amount of Ag NPs can reach 15.44 wt% when treated once. The embedment of Ag NPs increases with the repeat treatment and the APTES amount, without uncontrollable crystalline growth. The surface areas of Ag NPs embedded in silica monoliths after heat treatment at 300 and 400 degrees C are higher than those before heat treatment. The modification via APTES and the embedment of Ag NPs does not spoil the morphology of monolithic silica, while changing the pore structures of the monolith. A tentative formation process and a reduction mechanism are proposed for the modification, reduction and embedment. Ag NPs embedded in monolithic silica is promising for wide applications such as catalysis and separation.

DOI： 10.1039/C4DT00655K

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

Effective medium theory (EMT) expressions for the B-term band broadening in monolithic silica columns are presented at the whole-column as well as at the mesoporous skeleton level. Given the bi-continuous nature of the monolithic medium, regular as well as inverse formulations of the EMT-expressions have been established. The established expressions were validated by applying them to a set of experimental effective diffusion (D-eff)-data obtained via peak parking on a number of 1st and 2nd generation monolithic silica columns, as well as to a set of numerical diffusion simulations in a simplified monolithic column representation (tetrahedral skeleton model) with different external porosities and internal diffusion coefficients. The numerically simulated diffusion data can be very closely represented over a very broad range of zone retention factors (up to k '' = 80) using the established EMT-expressions, especially when using the inverse variant. The expressions also allow representing the experimentally measured effective diffusion data very closely. The measured D-eff/D-mol-values were found to decrease significantly with increasing retention factor, in general going from about D-eff/D-mol = 0.55 to 0.65 at low k '' (k '' congruent to 1.5-3.8) to D-eff/D-mol = 0.25 at very high k '' (k '' congruent to 40-80). These values are significantly larger than observed in fully-porous and core-shell particles. The intra-skeleton diffusion coefficient (D-pz) was typically found to be of the order of D-pz/D-mol = 0.4, compared to D-pz/D-mol = 0.2-0.35 observed in most particle-based columns. These higher D-pz/D-mol values are the cause of the higher D-eff/D-mol values observed. In addition, it also appears that the higher internal diffusion is linked to the higher porosity of the mesoporous skeleton that has a relatively open structure with relatively wide pores. The observed (weak) relation between D-pz/D-mol and the zone retention factor appears to be in good agreement with that predicted when applying the regular variant of the EMT-expression directly to the mesoporous skeleton level. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.chroma.2014.04.099

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Polymethylsilsesquioxane-cellulose nanofiber (PMSQ:CNF) composite aerogels have been prepared through sol-gel in a solvent containing a small amount of CNFs as suspension. Since these composite aerogels do not show excessive aggregation of PMSQand CNF, the original PMSQnetworks are not disturbed. Composite aerogels with low density (0.020 g cm(-3) at lowest), low thermal conductivity (15 mW rn(-1) K-1), visible light translucency, bending flexibility, and superhydrophobicity thus have been successfully obtained. In particular, the lowest density and bending flexibility have been achieved with the aid of the physical supporting effect of CNFs, and the lowest thermal conductivity is comparable with the original PMSQ aerogels and standard silica aerogels. The PMSQ: CNF composite aerogels would be a candidate to practical high-performance thermal insulating materials.

DOI： 10.1021/am501822y

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCI LTD  

Monolithic cordierite with a cocontinuous macroporous structure has been successfully prepared by the sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation in the presence of poly(acrylamide) (PAAm). Propylene oxide (PO) acts as an acid scavenger to mediate the gelation of MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 ternary system, while PAAm works as a phase-separation inducer as well as a network former. The dried gel and that heat-treated at 800 degrees C are amorphous, and the sapphirine begins to precipitate at 900 degrees C, then transforming to orthorhombic beta-cordierite at 1100 degrees C. After heat-treated at and above 1200 degrees C, the resultant beta-cordierite further transforms to stable hexagonal alpha-cordierite. Heat-treatment changes the macroporous structure of cordierite monoliths such as macropore size and its distribution. The macroporous cordierite monolith after heat-treated at 1200 degrees C is found to possess a total porosity of 54%, interconnected macropores and dense solid skeletons. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2013.08.016

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In this study, hierarchically porous bicrystalline nitrogen-doped titania (N-doped TiO2) monolithic material was fabricated by a simple two-step approach: (i) preparation of TiO2 porous monolith by a sol-gel process of titanium alkoxide in a mild condition utilizing a chelating agent and mineral salt and (ii) annealing of TiO2 porous monolith obtained under a modest flow of ammonia gas at 700 degrees C for 2 h. The phase composition, crystal structure, morphology, pore structure, and porous properties of the final product were studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mercury porosimetry, and nitrogen physisorption measurement, respectively. The resultant N-doped TiO2 porous monolith possesses a bicrystalline (anatase and rutile) framework with a well-defined macroporosity. The results from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirm the formation of O-Ti-N bonds in the N-doped TiO2 porous monolith. The photocatalytic activity of N-doped TiO2 porous monolith was evaluated by the photodegradation of Rhodamine B over the samples under visible light. Nearly 50% of Rhodamine B in aqueous solution was efficiently degraded by N-doped TiO2 porous monolith with the mixed-phase of anatase and ruffle under visible light within 120 mm. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2013.10.009

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Macromolecular Rapid Communications  

The direct synthesis of structurally well-defined protic polymeric ionic liquid (PIL) with controlled molecular weight and molecular weight distribution is examined using N,N-diethyl-N-(2-methacryloylethyl) ammonium bis(tri-fluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (DEMH-TFSI) as a monomer. Three polymerization methods, namely, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET)-ATRP, and organotellurium-mediated living radical polymerization (TERP) are employed in this study. While the polymerization by ATRP is slow and does not reach high monomer conversion that under ARGET-ATRP and TERP proceeds smoothly and affords structurally well-defined poly(DEMH-TFSI)s. TERP is especially efficient for the control and poly(DEMH-TFSI)s with low to high molecular weights (M̄n = 49 100-392 500) and narrow molecular weight distributions (M̄w/M̄n = 1.17-1.46) are obtained. These results represent the first example of synthesis of a structurally well-defined protic, ammonium PIL by direct polymerization of the protic ionic liquid monomer. The polymerization of N,N-diethyl-N-(2- methacryloylethyl)-N-methylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (DEMM-TFSI), which possesses a quaternary ammonium salt, also proceeds in a highly controlled manner under TERP conditions. A diblock copolymer, polystyrene-block-poly(DEMH-TFSI), is also successfully synthesized by TERP. Structurally well-defined protic polymeric ionic liquid is prepared by the direct polymerization of protic ammonium-salt ionic liquid monomers, N,N-diethyl-N-(2-methacryloylethyl) ammonium bis(tri-fluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (DEMH-TFSI), under ARGET-ATRP and TERP conditions. TERP is especially suitable for the controlled polymerization and afforded poly(DEMH-TFSI) with low to high molecular weight (M̄n = 49 100-392 500) and a narrow molecular weight distribution (M̄w/M̄n = 1.17-1.46). © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

DOI： 10.1002/marc.201300855

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Macroporous TiO2 monolith was first prepared by the sol-gel method and then macroporous TiO2-SrTiO3 heterostructured monolith was obtained by the impregnation of the as-prepared macroporous TiO2 monolith in the strontium-containing aqueous solution followed by calcination at different temperatures. The formation of SrTiO3 crystals in the TiO2 network was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy analyses. Macroporous structure of the heterostructured monolith was analyzed by mercury porosimetry. The photocatalytic activity of macroporous TiO2-SrTiO3 heterostructured monolithic photocatalyst was evaluated for the photodegradation of Rhodamine B over the samples under visible light irradiation. The obtained results reveal that the samples show an enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of organic dye molecules. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.matlet.2013.11.065

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The kinetic performance of commercially available first generation and prototype second generation silica monoliths has been investigated for 2.0 mm and 3.0-3.2 mm inner diameter columns. It is demonstrated that the altered sol-gel process employed for the production of second generation monoliths results in structures with a smaller characteristic size leading to an improved peak shape and higher efficiencies. The permeability of the columns however, decreases significantly due to the smaller throughpore and skeleton sizes. Scanning electron microscopy pictures suggest the first generation monoliths have cylindrical skeleton branches, whereas the second generation monoliths rather have skeleton branches that resemble a single chain of spherical globules. Using recently established correlations for the flow resistance of cylindrical and globule chain type monolithic structures, it is demonstrated that the higher flow resistance of the second generation monoliths can be entirely attributed to their smaller skeleton sizes, which is also evident from the external porosity that is largely the same for both monolith generations (epsilon(e) similar to 0.65). The recorded van Deemter plots show a clear improvement in efficiency for the second generation monoliths (minimal plate heights of 13.6-14.1 mu m for the first and 6.5-8.2 mu m for the second generation, when assessing the plate count using the Foley-Dorsey method). The corresponding kinetic plots, however, indicate that the much reduced permeability of the second generation monoliths results in kinetic performances (time needed to achieve a given efficiency) which are only better than those of the first generation for plate counts up to N similar to 45,000. For more complex samples (N &gt;= 50,000), the first generation monoliths can intrinsically still provide faster analysis due to their high permeability. It is also demonstrated that - despite the improved efficiency of the second generation monoliths in the practical range of separations (N = 10,000-50,000) - these columns can still not compete with state-of-the-art core-shell particle columns when all columns are evaluated at their own maximum operating pressure (200 bar for the monolithic columns, 600 bar for core-shell columns). It is suggested that monolithic columns will only become competitive with these high efficiency particle columns when further improvements to their production process are made and their pressure resistance is raised. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.chroma.2013.11.047

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

High-performance thermal insulating materials are desired especially from the viewpoint of saving energy for a sustainable society. Aerogel is the long-awaited material for extended applications due to its excellent thermal insulating ability. These materials are, however, seriously fragile against even small mechanical stress due to their low density, and their poor mechanical properties inhibit their practical use as superinsulators. In this paper, we report relationships between the thermal conductivity, pore size and mechanical properties of organic-inorganic hybrid polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ) aerogels with improved mechanical properties and controllable pore sizes from similar to 50 nm to 3 mu m. The dependency of thermal conductivity on gas pressure and pore properties can be well explained by the thermal conduction theory of porous materials. These PMSQ aerogels show improved mechanical properties due to their elastic networks, which enable easier handling compared to conventional aerogels and facile production by simple ambient pressure drying. An aerogel-like "xerogel" monolithic panel has been successfully prepared via ambient pressure drying, which shows a low thermal conductivity (0.015 W m(-1) K-1) comparable with those of the corresponding PMSQ aerogel and conventional silica aerogels. These results would open the gate for practical applications of these porous materials.

DOI： 10.1039/c3ta15094a

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Hierarchically porous layered double hydroxide (LDH) materials have potential in anion-exchange, adsorption and catalysis applications, because of their large surface areas and liquid transportation capabilities. The preparation of monolithic LDH-Al(OH)(3) composites with hierarchical mm and nm-scale channels and their adsorption behavior is reported. Monolithic gels were synthesized via sol-gel processing, from metal salt precursor solutions. mu m-scale macrochannels spontaneously formed by inducing phase separation during sol-gel transition. nm-scale mesochannels were accommodated as interstices between primary/secondary particles. In this study, these hierarchical channel sizes were controlled. The macrochannel size was controlled by tuning the degree of phase separation. The mesochannel size was controlled independently, by tuning the crystallite size of LDH under different solvothermal conditions. The relationship between pore characteristics and adsorption behavior of tailored hierarchically porous LDH-Al(OH)(3) monolithic gels were investigated by using dye molecules as adsorbates. Monolithic gels with larger macrochannels and mesochannels exhibit faster adsorption rate and higher affinity, respectively. LDH-Al(OH)(3) monolithic gels with hierarchical channels may have potential in some applications such as biosensing, water purification and catalysis.

DOI： 10.1039/c4ra00873a

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Pore architecture of catalyst supports is an important factor facilitating accessibility of reactants to catalytic sites. This holds the key to improving catalytic activities. Amongst various catalytic reactions, supported Pd nanoparticles-catalyzed C-C cross-coupling reactions have been attracting a great deal of attention in the last decade. Although various supports have been examined, applications of hierarchically porous monolithic materials have never been reported, mainly because of difficulties in multistep synthesis of catalysts. We herein report a novel on-site reduction-based methodology using hierarchically porous hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) monoliths for one-step synthesis of Pd nanoparticles-embedded monoliths (Pd@HSQ). Characterization of these monoliths evidences the on-site reduction, i.e. formation of Pd nanoparticles and conversion of Si-H present in the monolith to Si-OB similar to. Fast, quantitative reduction of Pd2+ to Pd(0) to form supported Pd nanoparticles is achieved with preservation of the porous structure of the original monolith, which makes this material attractive as a catalyst for C-C cross-coupling reactions. The obtained Pd@HSQ catalyst has been employed in the Mizoroki-Heck cross-coupling reaction. High accessibility of reactant molecules, undetectable leaching of Pd nanoparticles and easy separation of the monolith from liquid media provide high catalytic activity, reusability and easy handling.

DOI： 10.1039/c3nj01433a

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In this research, we have successfully prepared hierarchically porous chromium-based non-oxide ceramic monoliths (chromium nitride (CrN) and chromium carbide (Cr3C2)) by facile two-step methods. By utilizing an epoxide-mediated sol-gel reaction accompanied by phase separation, a well-defined macroporous structure is tailored in the chromium (oxy) hydroxide-urea composites in the presence of poly(acrylic acid). Urea works as a nitrogen and/or carbon source through the following heat-treatment, whereas poly(acrylic acid) behaves as a phase separation inducer as well as a network-supporting constituent. The macroporous morphology of xerogels is controllable by changing the starting composition. Heat-treatment for thus obtained xerogels under an air atmosphere provides chromium oxide (Cr2O3), whereas that under a nitrogen atmosphere leads to the crystallization of CrN at 700 degrees C and Cr3C2 at 900 degrees C without any deterioration of the porous morphologies. The heat-treated samples possess a high specific surface area up to 450 m(2) g(-1) as well as high porosity over 80%, preserving good mechanical strength. This facile and novel synthesis strategy has a potential extendability to other macroporous monoliths with high surface area based on various metal nitrides and carbides, which are useful in various applications such as catalysts, semiconductor devices, magnetic materials, and refractory materials.

DOI： 10.1039/c3ta13725b

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Supported metal alloy nanoparticles demonstrate high potential in designing heterogeneous catalysts for organic syntheses, pollution control and fuel cells. However, requirements of high temperature and multistep processes remain standing problems in traditional synthetic strategies. We herein present a low-temperature, single-step, liquid-phase methodology for designing monolith-supported metal alloy nanoparticles with high physicochemical stability and accessibility. Metal ions in aqueous solutions are reduced to form their corresponding metal alloy nanoparticles within hierarchically porous hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ, HSiO1.5) monoliths bearing well-defined macro-and mesopores and exhibiting high surface redox activity due to the presence of abundant Si-H groups. Supported bi-, tri- and tetrametallic nanoparticles have been synthesized with controlled compositions and loadings, and characterized in detail by microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. Examination of these supported metal alloy nanoparticles in catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol shows high catalytic activities depending on their compositions. Their recyclability and potential application in continuous flow reactors are also demonstrated.

DOI： 10.1039/c4ta01767f

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Hierarchically porous N-doped TiO2 materials have been synthesized from macroporous inorganic-organic hybrid gels composed of titanium bridged with ethylenediamine. Homogeneously dispersed nitrogen in the precursor gel networks leads to TiO2 doped with a large amount of nitrogen, which delivers high discharge capacity and good cycle performance as a negative electrode for Li-ion batteries.

DOI： 10.1039/c3nj01332d

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SPRINGER  

Macroporous methylsilsesquioxane (MSQ) monoliths have been prepared by in situ two-step processing using an initial acid catalysis step accompanied by an epoxide-mediated condensation step in the presence of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl). We investigate the effects of duration time of acidic step, heat-treatment and hydrothermal treatment on the macroporous morphology and pore structures of MSQ monoliths. The duration time of acidic step gives an important effect on the macroporous morphology and pore structures of MSQ monoliths, resulting from the polymerization of MSQ. Heat-treatment and hydrothermal treatment basically do not spoil the macroporous morphology of MSQ monoliths, while obviously varies the mesopore/micropore structures including pore size, pore volume, and pore size distribution. The macroporous MSQ materials with thick skeleton and intrinsic hydrophobicity are promising for wide applications such as ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), superhydrophobic materials and so on.

DOI： 10.1007/s10934-013-9733-z

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Synthesis of class II hybrid silica materials requires the formation of covalent linkage between organic moieties and inorganic frameworks. The requirement that organosilylating agents be present to provide the organic part limits the synthesis of functional inorganic oxides, however, due to the water sensitivity and challenges concerning purification of the silylating agents. Synthesis of hybrid materials with stable molecules such as simple alcohols, rather than with these difficult silylating agents, may therefore provide a path to unprecedented functionality. Herein, we report the novel functionalization of silica with organic alcohols for the first time. Instead of using hydrolyzable organosilylating agents, we used stable organic alcohols with a Zn(II) catalyst to modify the surface of a recently discovered highly reactive macro-mesoporous hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ, HSiO1.5) monolith, which was then treated with water with the catalyst to form surface- functionalized silica. These materials were comprehensively characterized with FT-IR, Raman, solid-state NMR, fluorescence spectroscopy, thermal analysis, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements. The results obtained from these measurements reveal facile immobilization of organic moieties by dehydrogenative addition onto surface silane (Si-H) at room temperature with high loading and good tolerance of functional groups. The organic moieties can also be retrieved from the monoliths for recycling and reuse, which enables cost-effective and ecological use of the introduced catalytic/reactive surface functionality. Preservation of the reactivity of as-immobilized organic alcohols has been confirmed, moreover, by successfully performing copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) "click" reactions on the immobilized silica surfaces. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

DOI： 10.1021/la402205j

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In this report, we demonstrate a novel synthesis method to obtain reduced titanium oxides with monolithic shape and with a well-defined hierarchically porous structure from the titanium-based network bridged with ethylenediamine. The hierarchically porous monoliths are fabricated by the nonhydrolytic sol-gel reaction accompanied by phase separation. This method allows a low-temperature crystallization into Ti4O7 and Ti3O5 at 800 and 900 C, respectively, with N-doped carbon. These reduced titanium oxides are well-doped with N atoms even under argon atmosphere without NH 3, which accounts for the low-temperature reduction. The resultant monolithic materials possess controllable macropores and high specific surface area together with excellent electric conductivity up to 230 S cm-1, indicating promise as a conductive substrate that can substitute carbon electrodes. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

DOI： 10.1021/cm401933a

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DOI： 10.1021/ma401385a

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCI LTD  

Mullite monoliths with well-defined macropores and mesostructured skeletons have been prepared via the sol gel process accompanied by phase separation in the presence of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). Gelation of Al2O3-SiO2 binary system with chloride salts as an additional precursor has been mediated by propylene oxide (PO) as an acid scavenger, while PEO worked as a phase-separation inducer. The dried gel and that heat-treated at 800 degrees C are amorphous, and gamma-Al2O3 or Si-Al spinel phase nanocrystals are crystallind at 900-1000 degrees C. After heat-treated at and above 1100 degrees C for 5 h, the complete crystalline mullite is generated, and the macroporous monoliths in large dimensions of more than 15 mm x 15 mm x 10 mm are obtained. Heat-treatment at 200-1400 degrees C does not basically spoil the macroporous structure of monoliths, while decreases the macropore size and significantly alters the phase compositions and micro-mesoporous structure. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2013.02.018

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Monolithic macroporous titanium dioxide (TiO2) derived from ionic precursors has been successfully prepared via the sol-gel route accompanied by phase separation in the presence of formamide (FA) and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP). The addition of FA promotes the gelation, whereas PVP enhances the polymerization-induced phase separation. Appropriate choice of the starting compositions allows the production of cocontinuous macroporous TiO2 monoliths in large dimensions, and controls the size of macropores. The resultant dried gel is amorphous, whereas anatase and rutile phases are precipitated at 500 and 900 A degrees C respectively, without spoiling the macroporous morphology. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements revealed that the dried gels exhibits mesostructure with a median pore size of about 3 nm and BET surface area of 228 m(2)/g, whereas 15 nm and 73 m(2)/g for the gels calcined at 600 A degrees C.

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-013-3123-5

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An in situ two-step processing using an initial acid catalysis step accompanied by an epoxide-mediated condensation step in the presence of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) is reported, and macroporous cocontinuous methylsilsesquioxane (MSQ) monoliths have been successfully prepared by this processing. We explain the hydrolysis, gelation behavior and phase separation of MTMS(methyltrimethoxysilane)-MeOH(methanol)-HCl-PO(propylene oxide) system and the in situ effect of NH4Cl, and examine the macroporous morphology and pore structures of MSQ monoliths obtained under different conditions. Macroporous MSQ monolith under optimized conditions possesses a narrow macropore size distribution between 3 to 10 μm, surface area as high as 366 m 2·g-1 and minimal shrinkage of only 1 %. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-013-3094-6

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Utilizing a facile sol-gel reaction accompanied by phase separation, rigid monolithic nickel hydroxide-based xerogels and nickel/carbon composites with hierarchical porosity have been successfully fabricated. In the synthetic route starting from nickel chloride as a nickel precursor, trimethylene oxide acts as a gelation initiator to increase pH in a reaction solution. In addition, poly(acrylic acid) plays a double role as a phase separation inducer and as a co-constituent with nickel hydroxide to comprise continuous gel skeletons in the micrometer range. As a result, obtained xerogels possess well-defined macropores evidenced by microscopy observation and mercury porosimetry. Subsequent heat-treatment in air led to the crystallization of NiO at 300 degrees C, while calcination under argon flow brought about the formation of nickel/carbon (Ni/C) composites with hierarchical pores and large specific surface area at temperatures higher than 300 degrees C. This is the first report on the preparation of rigid monolithic xerogels and metal/carbon composite with well-defined macropores based on a metal salt precursor containing "divalent" cation. (c) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.micromeso.2013.03.042

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD  

Monolithic aluminum phosphate (AlPO4) with a macro-mesoporous structure has been successfully prepared via the sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation in the presence of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). Gelation of the system has been mediated by propylene oxide (PO), while PEO induces a phase separation. The dried gel is amorphous, whereas the crystalline tridymite phase precipitates upon heating above 1000 degrees C. Heat treatment does not spoil the macroporous morphology of the AlPO4 monoliths. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements revealed that the skeletons of the dried gels possess a mesostructure with a median pore size of about 30 nm and a surface area as high as 120 m(2) g(-1). Hydrothermal treatment before heat treatment can increase the surface area to 282 m(2) g(-1).

DOI： 10.1088/1468-6996/14/4/045007

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH  

A facile synthesis of a new class of reactive porous materials is reported: hierarchically porous hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSiO1.5, HSQ) monoliths with well-defined macropores and mesopores. The HSQ monoliths are prepared via sol-gel accompanied by phase separation in a mild condition, and contain micrometer-sized co-continuous macropores and high specific surface area reaching up to 800 m2 g-1 because of the small mesopores. A total preservation of Si-H, which is always an issue of HSQ materials, is confirmed by 29Si solid-state NMR. The HSQ monolith has then been subjected to reduction of noble metal ions to their corresponding metal nanoparticles in simple aqueous solutions under an ambient condition. The nanoparticles produced in this manner are immobilized on the HSQ monolith and are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). Both the bare HSQ and nanoparticles-embedded HSQ are promising as heterogeneous catalysts, exhibiting reusability and recyclability.

DOI： 10.1002/adfm.201202558

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH  

Reproducible fabrication of the hierarchically porous monolithic silica in a large volume exceeding 1000 mL has been established. By the hydrothermal enlargement of the fully accessible small pores to exceed 50 nm in diameter, the capillary force emerged on solvent evaporation was dramatically reduced, which allowed the preparation of crack-free monoliths with evaporative solvent removal under an ambient pressure. The local temperature inhomogeneity within a reaction vessel in a large volume was precisely controlled to cancel the heat evolved by the hydrolysis reaction of tetramethoxysilane and that consumed to melt ice cubes dispersed in the solution, resulting in large monolithic silica pieces with improved structural homogeneity. Homogeneity of the pore structure was confirmed, both on macro- and mesoscales, using SEM, mercury intrusion, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements. Furthermore, the deviations in chromatographic performance were examined by evaluating multiple smaller monolithic columns prepared from the monolithic silica pieces cut from different parts of a large monolith. All the daughter columns thus prepared exhibited comparable performances to each other to prove the overall homogeneity of the mother monolith. Preliminary results on high-speed separation of peptides and proteins by the octadecylsilylated silica monolith of the above production have also been demonstrated.

DOI： 10.1002/jssc.201300123

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Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have been homogeneously introduced into hierarchically porous monolithic silica columns with well-defined macropores and SBA-15-type hexagonally ordered mesopores by using ethanol as the mild reductant. Within the cylindrical silica mesopores treated with aminopropyl groups as the host, monocrystalline Ag NPs and nanorods are obtained after being treated in silver nitrate/ethanol solution at room temperature for different durations of reducing time. The loading of Ag NPs in the monolith can be increased to 33 wt % by the repetitive treatment, which also led to the formation of polycrystalline Ag nanorods in the mesopores. Although the bare silica column cannot separate aromatic hydrocarbons, good separation of those molecules by noncharged Ag NPs confined in the porous structure of the monolith has been for the first time demonstrated with the Ag NP-embedded silica column. The NP-embedded monolithic silica would be a powerful separation tool for hydrocarbons with different number, position, and configuration of unsaturated bonds.

DOI： 10.1021/am303163s

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Macroporous SiO2 monoliths were prepared via a sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation using a tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) precursor, 0.01 mol·L-1 HCl catalyst, propylene oxide (PO) gelation agent, and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO, viscosity-averaged molecular weight (Mv): 10000) phase separation inducer. Monoliths were characterized by differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetry (DTA/ TG), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mercury porosimetry, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis (BET). The mechanism of the epoxide-mediated sol-gel reaction and PEO induced phase separation was discussed. The addition of PEO induced phase separation, and monolithic SiO2 with a cocontinuous macroporous skeletal structure was obtained at PEO/TMOS molar ratio of 0.0018. Monoliths had a narrow pore size distribution of 1-3 μm, surface area as high as 719 m2·g-1 and pore volume of 0.48 m3·g-1. This sol-gel transition is mediated by PO because of its strong nucleophilic properties and irreversible ring-opening reaction. Simultaneous phase separation is induced by PEO adsorbed on the SiO2 oligomers. © Editorial office of Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica.

DOI： 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201212252

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Monolithic Li2FeSiO4-carbon composites with well-defined macropores have been prepared from the silica-based gels containing Li, Fe, and carbon sources. The macroporous precursor gels can be fabricated by the sol-gel method accompanied by phase separation. A fine control of the macropore size in the resultant composites has been achieved by controlling the macropore size of the precursor gels simply by adjusting the starting compositions. The effects of pore properties on Li insertion-extraction capabilities have been investigated by utilizing the resultant Li2FeSiO4-carbon composites as the cathode of lithium ion batteries. The electrodes prepared from the Li2FeSiO4-carbon composites with different macropore sizes exhibit significant differences in the charge-discharge properties. The results strongly suggest that the smaller macropore size (equal to the thinner macropore skeletons) and the presence of micro-and mesopores in the macropore skeletons (hierarchically porous structure) are desirable for a better electrode in the case of Li2FeSiO4, which has extremely low ionic and electrical conductivities.

DOI： 10.1039/c3cp50352f

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Starting from an aqueous solution, porous zinc ferrite-based xerogel monoliths have been prepared via a sol-gel route accompanied by phase separation mediated by propylene oxide in the presence of poly(acrylamide). The xerogels possess well-defined macropores, and the macroporous morphologies could be easily controlled (macropore size ranges from 0.55 to 1.29 mu m) by simply changing the starting composition. As-dried xerogel samples were amorphous under X-ray diffraction, while heat-treatment in air brought about the formation of spinel type ferrite phase, ZnFe2O4. Calcination under Ar atmosphere allowed the crystallization of various iron-based phases/carbon composites (Fe3O4, Fe1-delta O, Fe3N, Fe4N, Fe3C, and Fe). Samples heated under Ar flow exhibited hierarchical pore structures, including continuous macropores, in addition to mesopores and micropores embedded in the carbon-containing composite matrices.

DOI： 10.1039/c3ra22481c

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DOI： 10.1039/c3ra90142d

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DOI： 10.1039/c3ra90142d

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Monolithic layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with interconnected channels have been expected to enhance sorption rate as well as increase accumulation of anions. Although powder molding can form easily-handled LDH compacts, interconnected channel formation therein has not been achieved. Herein, we demonstrate cm-scale monolithic LDH-based composites with interconnected hierarchical channels via a spontaneous sol-gel reaction. The synthesis was performed on Mg-Al hydrotalcite-type LDHs starting from metal chlorides aqueous/ethanolic solution with poly(ethylene oxide) incorporated. Addition of propylene oxide triggers a sol-gel reaction to form monolithic xerogels with a formula of [ Mg0.66Al0.33(OH)(2)Cl-0.33 center dot 2.92H(2)O]center dot 3.1Al(OH)(3). LDH crystals together with aluminum hydroxide crystals homogeneously build up gel skeletons with well-defined hierarchical channels. The interconnected channel in mm range (macrochannel) are formed as a phase-separated structure, whereas the channel in nm range (nanochannel) are as interstices of primary particles. The channel architectures are preserved in the course of rehydration process, affording enhanced sorption affinity for anion species in the process. Both of macro and mesochannels as well as high charge density of the obtained LDHs (Mg/Al = 2.0) contribute to enhanced anion sorption in the monolithic xerogels. The materials obtained here opens up applications of high performance adsorbents and ion-storage free from diffusion limitation.

DOI： 10.1039/c3ta11110e

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We report an electrically conducting oxygen-deficient anatase TiO2-x monolith with macro/meso/micro trimodal pores, prepared by reducing insulating porous TiO2 monoliths at low temperature. Without adding any conductive materials, the TiO2-x monolith itself was electrically conducting enough for lithium insertion, potentially opening a new avenue for carbon-free electrode materials.

DOI： 10.1039/c3ra40545a

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

The effects of the pore properties and the ionic sizes on the electric double-layer capacitances have been investigated by using the monolithic carbon electrodes with different pore properties. The carbon monoliths with high surface areas which possess homogeneous pore properties in the whole monoliths were prepared from the bridged-polysilsesquioxane gels via the nanophase extraction technique. The detailed investigations of the pore properties of the carbon monoliths were conducted by the nitrogen physisorption measurement as well as the mercury porosimetry. The electrochemical property of each monolithic carbon electrode was examined by the cyclic voltammetry in the different aqueous electrolytes in order to investigate the effects of the ionic sizes. These fundamental analyses have provided new insights into the efficient micropore sizes in each electrolyte for the superior electric double-layer capacitors.

DOI： 10.1021/jp309010p

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

Structure and physical properties of monolithic polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ CH3SiO1.5) aerogels have been systematically examined with varied starting compositions using a sol-gel system containing surfactant n-hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC). The precursor methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) undergoes hydrolysis and polycondensation under an acid-base two-step reaction to obtain uniform gels as a one-pot reaction. To compare the samples, each factor of starting composition, such as amount of CTAC, concentration of aqueous acetic acid solution, volume of solvent and amount of urea, is independently varied. With appropriate concentrations of surfactant CTAC, the aerogels with high light transmittance (at 550 nm) are obtained, owing to the effective suppression of macroscopic phase separation. Acid-base catalysts, acetic acid and urea also impose significant effects on the properties of obtained aerogels including their molecular-level structures. The aerogel with 91% of light transmittance was obtained under an optimized condition. The lowest density of the PMSQ aerogel in this system reaches 0.045 g cm(-3). (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.micromeso.2012.03.049

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Various iron-based polycrystalline monoliths, Fe3O4, iron, and Fe3C, with hierarchically distributed pores have been synthesized from ionic precursors using a sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation. Propylene oxide acts as a proton scavenger to increase pH moderately and uniformly in a reaction solution, which leads to homogeneous gelation. On the other hand, poly(acrylamide) works as a phase separation inducer as well as a precipitation inhibitor. Appropriate choice of iron precursor, solvent, polymer, and epoxide allowed the formation of iron(III)-based xerogels with cocontinuous macroporous structures. The dried gels were amorphous, whereas heating in air above 300 degrees C led to the formation of alpha-Fe2O3. Calcination under an inert condition above 400 degrees C formed Fe3O4, iron, and Fe3C without collapse of macrostructures. Examination has been carried out using SEM, TG-DTA, FT-IR, Hg diffraction, and N-2 adsorption-desorption.

DOI： 10.1021/cm300495j

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In this report, we demonstrate the facile preparation of macroporous monolithic materials based on graphitized carbon by utilizing catalytic graphitization at relatively low temperature (1000 degrees C). The precursor polymer, macroporous resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) xerogel, can be obtained without any surfactants or polymeric additives in water/ethanol mixed solvent via the sol-gel reaction accompanied by phase separation. The use of iron chloride as an acid catalyst for polymerization provides the RF monoliths incorporated with Fe, which catalyzes the graphitization. The effects of the starting composition on the morphologies of the resultant RF gels and the characteristics of the graphitized carbon monoliths have been discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.matlet.2012.02.069

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Hierarchically porous carbon monoliths with high specific surface area have been prepared via a nano-phase extraction technique from carbon/silica composites which had been prepared from arylene-bridged polysilsesquioxanes. The nano-sized silica phase developed in the composite has been removed to increase micropores, resulting in a similar effect to thermal activation of carbons. The resultant carbons are expected to possess homogeneously distributed micropores. Here we report the changes of the pore characteristics through the synthesis process by the nitrogen adsorption-desorption method and mercury porosimetry. In particular, the growth of silica phase in carbon/silica composites at different temperatures has been characterized by the micropore analysis using the Horvath-Kawazoe method. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.micromeso.2012.02.001

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

Organosiloxane (RnSiO(4-n)/2) gels can be prepared from organoalkoxysilanes using the sol-gel process. In general,however, formation of uniform networks from these precursors is strongly inhibited due to cyclization reactions. In addition, phase separation of hydrophobic condensates from polar solvent leads to inhomogeneous gels in these systems. A careful control of the hydrolysis and polycondensation reactions is therefore required to obtain a monolithic gel with desired properties. We have been trying to control the sol-gel reactions as well as phase separation in these systems to obtain unique porous materials particularly from methyltrimethoxysilane(MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS). Flexible aerogels and xerogels based on the methylsiloxane networks are discussed.

DOI： 10.2497/jjspm.59.320

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE  

Surface modification of titania materials to give flower-like structures has been achieved simply by the treatment in lithium hydroxide aqueous solution under mild conditions. The flower-like structured materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and Raman scattering. The analyses indicate that the flower-like materials are composed of layered hydrous lithium titanate. It is suggested that the unique intercalation behavior of lithium ions into titania allows dissolution and re-precipitation of titania to form the flower-like structure. The obtained flower-like structure can be retained up to 700 degrees C, while the crystal phase transforms into Li4Ti5O12. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jcis.2012.02.002

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Macroporous polymer monoliths based on poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) with varied styrene/divinylbenzene ratios have been prepared by organotellurium-mediated living radical polymerization. The well-defined cocontinuous macroporous structure can be obtained by polymerization-induced spinodal decomposition, and the pore structures are controlled by adjusting the starting composition. The separation efficiency of small molecules (alkylbenzenes) in the obtained monoliths has been evaluated in the capillary format by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) under the isocratic reversed-phase mode. Baseline separations of these molecules with a low pressure drop (similar to 2 MPa) have been achieved because of the well-defined macropores and to the less-heterogeneous cross-linked networks.

DOI： 10.1021/am300552q

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We report new flexible &ldquo;marshmallow-like&rdquo; aerogels and xerogels with a bendable feature from the di- and trifunctional organosilane co-precursor systems. A 2-step acid/base sol–gel process and surfactant are employed to control the phase separation of the hydrophobic networks, which give porous monolithic gels. The obtained gels from methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS) become softer and more flexible with increasing DMDMS fractions.

DOI： 10.14853/pcersj.2012S.0.280.0

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：HINDAWI PUBLISHING CORPORATION  

By combining the micellar templating in nanometer scale with the polymerization-induced phase separation in micrometer scale, ethylene-bridged polysilsesquioxane gels with hierarchical macropores and mesopores are prepared. The difference of mesopore structures depending on the method of the solvent removal has been observed by the X-ray diffraction and the nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements. During the hydrothermal treatment under the basic condition, the reorganization of the polysilsesquioxane gel network occurred differently depending on the alkoxy group contained in the precursors. From Si-29 CP/MAS NMR measurements, it was revealed that the crosslinking density of the hydrothermally treated gels was increased so that the highly ordered mesostructure of the wet gel could be preserved even after the evaporative drying of solvent.

DOI： 10.1155/2012/460835

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DOI： 10.1007/s10971-012-2790-y

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Ceramic Society of Japan  

We report selective preparation of macroporous monoliths of conductive titanium oxides Ti<SUB><I>n</I></SUB>O<SUB>2<I>n</I>-1</SUB> (<I>n</I> = 2, 3, 4, 6) as a single phase, by reducing a macroporous TiO<SUB>2</SUB> monolith using zirconium getter. All the reduced monoliths have uniform pore size distribution, retaining that of the precursor TiO<SUB>2</SUB> monoliths. Furthermore, their bulk densities of 1.8 g cm<SUP>-3</SUP> are about half smaller and their porosities of 60% are about three times larger than that of commercial porous Ebonex (shaped conductive Ti<SUB><I>n</I></SUB>O<SUB>2<I>n</I>-1</SUB>). The obtained Ti<SUB><I>n</I></SUB>O<SUB>2<I>n</I>-1</SUB> (<I>n</I> = 2, 3, 4, 6) macroporous monoliths could find their applications as electrodes for many electrochemical reactions.

DOI： 10.14853/pcersj.2012S.0.526.0

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Transparent and low-density methylsilsesquioxane (MSQ, CH3SiO1.5) aerogels can be obtained solely from methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) by a one-pot two-step process under the co-presence of surfactant. In the present study, we have systematically investigated the effects of the molecular structure of triblock copolymer-type nonionic surfactants PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO (PEO and PPO denote poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(propylene oxide) units, respectively) on the properties of the resultant MSQ aerogels. Macroscopic phase separation of hydrophobic MSQ networks from polar solvent occurs when no surfactant is employed, which results in macroporous opaque aerogels. In contrast, a co-presence of appropriate surfactant effectively suppresses the phase separation and yields transparent aerogels after supercritical drying. By employing various surfactants having different molecular weight and PO/EO ratio, the mechanism of suppression of phase separation or pore formation is discussed in detail. In situ H-1 NMR suggests that the PO units of surfactant interact with the hydrophobic MSQ network enriched with methyl groups and make the MSQ network hydrophilic by extending EO chains toward the aqueous solvent in the late phase of gelation, until which hydrogen bonding dominates between the Si-OH groups of polymerizing MSQ and the ether oxygens of the EO unit. Through the comprehensive understanding of the role of surfactant, the strategy for rational design of MSQ aerogels materials has become developable.

DOI： 10.1039/c2ra20799k

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

A novel and facile method for the preparation of monolithic LiFePO4/carbon composites with well-defined macropores has been developed. The precursor macroporous gels consisting of inorganic networks as well as organic polymers were fabricated by the epoxide-mediated sol-gel method accompanied by phase separation. The inorganic-organic hybrid gels were calcined under an inert atmosphere, resulting in LiFePO4/carbon monoliths. The influence of the starting compositions on the gel morphologies has been investigated, and the constituents of the gel network were discussed. The reaction mechanism of the crystallization of LiFePO4 from green bodies during calcination has also been investigated by thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, and Raman scattering. In addition, the electrochemical properties of the resultant LiFePO4/carbon composites were examined by the charge-discharge test.

DOI： 10.1021/cm2021438

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Macro/meso/microporous carbon monoliths doped with sulfur have been prepared from sulfonated polydivinylbenzene networks followed by the activation with CO 2 resulted in the activated carbon monoliths with high surface area of 2400 m 2 g -1. The monolithic electrode of the activated carbon shows remarkably high specific capacitance (175 F g -1 at 5 mV s -1 and 206 F g -1 at 0.5 A g -1). © 2011 Materials Research Society.

DOI： 10.1557/opl.2011.604

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Recent years, although silica aerogels are expected to be the promising material for energy savings, the lack of mechanical strength prevents from commercial applications such as to low-density thermal insulators. To improve mechanical properties, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS) are used in this study as the co-precursor of aerogels because the network becomes flexible due to the relatively low cross-linking density and to the unreacted methyl groups. Because of the strong hydrophobicity of MTMS/DMDMS-derived condensates, phase separation occurs in aqueous sol and must be suppressed to obtain uniform and monolithic gel. We employed surfactant n-hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) in starting compositions to control phase separation during a 2-step acid/base sol-gel reaction. By changing the starting composition, various microstructures of pores are obtained. In the uniaxial compression test, the aerogel showed high flexibility and spring-back to the original shape after removing the stress. © 2011 Materials Research Society.

DOI： 10.1557/opl.2011.216

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A transition of porous structures in monolithic poly(methylsilsesquioxane) (PMSQ, CH 3SiO 1.5) gels from uniform mesopores to hierarchical pore structures consisting of macro- and mesopores, has been investigated using a sol-gel system containing surfactant Pluronic F127. A broad variation of porous morphology is controlled by changing the concentration of F127. Sufficient concentrations of F127 inhibit the occurrence of macroscopic phase separation of hydrophobic PMSQ condensates and lead to well-defined mesoporous transparent aerogels with high specific pore volume. Mesopores are developed through microscopic phase separation of PMSQ colloid-surfactant complexes in the solvent. Macroscopic phase separation regulates well-defined macropores in the micrometer range on decreasing concentrations of F127, in which microscopic phase separation concurrently takes place in the PMSQ-rich gelling phase after the onset of macroscopic phase separation. Monolithic PMSQ gels with hierarchical macro- and mesopore structures are consequently obtained. © 2011 Materials Research Society.

DOI： 10.1557/opl.2011.96

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Language：English   Publishing type：Part of collection (book)   Publisher：Wiley-VCH  

DOI： 10.1002/9783527639588.ch8

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DOI： 10.1002/9783527639588.ch17

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-BLACKWELL  

Separation media based on hierarchically porous titania (TiO(2)) monoliths for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) have been successfully fabricated by the sol-gel process of titanium alkoxide in a mild condition utilizing a chelating agent and mineral salt. The as-gelled TiO(2) monoliths were subjected to a simple solvent exchange process from ethanol (EtOH) to H(2)O followed by drying and calcination. The resultant monolithic TiO(2) columns consist of anatase crystallites with the typical specific surface area of more than 200 m(2)/g. The resultant monolithic TiO(2) column calcined at 200 and 400 degrees C exhibited a good separation performance for organophosphates as well as for polar benzene derivatives in the normal-phase mode.

DOI： 10.1002/jssc.201100538

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Other Link： http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8069-4780

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY-BLACKWELL  

Hierarchically porous nanocrystalline CaTiO3, SrTiO3, and BaTiO3 ceramics have been produced by impregnating corresponding alkaline-earth metal ions into preformed macroporous TiO2 monoliths in a solution containing urea, followed by calcination. The macroporous TiO2 had been obtained via the sol-gel process accompanied by phase separation utilizing a chelating agent, ethyl acetylacetonate (EtAcAc), together with mineral salt and ammonium chloride, to decrease the reactivity of titanium alkoxide. Formations of CaCO3, SrCO3, and BaCO3 on the surface of TiO2 monoliths are promoted by CO2 generated by the concurrent two processes during impregnation; hydrolysis, and decarbonation of the chelating agent EtAcAc, and hydrolysis of urea at 60 degrees C. The latter also raises pH of the impregnating solution which further promotes the mineralization of the carbonate salts. Calcination of the resultant monolithic composite of metal carbonate/TiO2 allows the crystallization of metal titanate. The addition of urea to the impregnating solution is found to be an effective strategy for the formation of perovskite monoliths by the impregnation process. This study provides a versatile approach to the preparation of hierarchically porous titania-based perovskites.

DOI： 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2011.04613.x

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Rigid methacrylate-based polymer monoliths with well-defined macropores have been synthesized from glycerol 1,3-dimethacrylate (GDMA) and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (Trim) by organotellurium-mediated living radical polymerization. In each system, poly(ethylene oxide) induced spinodal decomposition with the progress of polymerization of COMA or Trim. Well-defined macroporous structure can be tailored by fixing the bicontinuous structure by the sol gel transition. Both polymer monoliths possessed macropores with narrow size distributions and the macropore size can be controlled simply by varying the amount of poly(ethylene oxide). Starting from GDMA, polymer monoliths with unimodal macropores can be obtained due to the collapse of micro- and mesopores, which were originally embedded in macropore skeletons, by large shrinkage during drying. In contrast, starting from Trim, the obtained polymer monoliths include not only macropores but also micro- and mesopores, which lead to high specific surface area (470 m(2) g(-1)), owing to the higher crosslinking density. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.polymer.2011.08.028

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：CERAMIC SOC JAPAN-NIPPON SERAMIKKUSU KYOKAI  

In this study, we for the first time came up with a facile approach to fabricate hierarchically porous nano-crystalline monolithic magnesium titanates (MgTi2O5/MgTiO3) by impregnating magnesium chloride into hierarchically porous TiO2 monolith in a solution containing urea followed by appropriate heat-treatment. The formation of porous MgTi2O5/MgTiO3 monolithic materials took place by the solid-state reaction between original TiO2 networks and precipitated MgCO3. The MgCO3 is precipitated within the TiO2 wet gel by the reaction between impregnated Mg2+ and CO2, which is produced by hydrolysis and decarbonation of chelating agent in the TiO2 wet gels and by the hydrolysis of urea at 60 degrees C. The resultant porous magnesium titanates retained narrow macropore size distribution centered at the diameter similar to 1 mu m. These porous monoliths produced by impregnation, a facile and the low-cost method, are expected to open various engineering applications owing to the low thermal expansion coefficients and high chemical and physical stabilities. (C)2011 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All rights reserved

DOI： 10.2109/jcersj2.119.440

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A systematic study is reported on the performance of long monolithic capillary columns in gradient mode. Using a commercial nano-LC system, reversed-phase peptide separations obtained through UV-detection were conducted. The chromatographic performance, in terms of conditional peak capacity and peak productivity, was investigated for different gradient times (varying between 90 and 1320 min) and different column lengths (0.25, 1, 2 and 4m) all originating from a single 4m long column. Peak capacities reaching values up to n = 10(3) were measured in case of the 4 m long column demonstrating the high potential of these long monoliths for the analysis of complex biological mixtures, amongst others. In addition, it was found that the different column fragments displayed similar flow resistance as well as consistent chromatographic performance in accordance with chromatographic theory indicating that the chromatographic bed of the original 4 m long column possessed a structural homogeneity over its entire length. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.chroma.2010.10.045

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE  

A transition from hierarchical pore structures (macro- and meso-pores) to uniform mesopores in monolithic polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ CH(3)SiO(1.5)) gels has been investigated using a sol-gel system containing surfactant Pluronic F127. The precursor methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) undergoes an acid/base two-step reaction, in which hydrolysis and polycondensation proceed in acidic and basic aqueous media, respectively, as a one-pot reaction. Porous morphology is controlled by changing the concentration of F127. Sufficient concentrations of F127 inhibit the occurrence of micrometer-scale phase separation (spinodal decomposition) of hydrophobic PMSQ condensates and lead to well-defined mesoporous transparent aerogels with high specific pore volume as a result of the colloidal network formation in a large amount of solvent. Phase separation regulates well-defined macropores in the micrometer range on decreasing concentrations of F127. In the PMSQ-rich gelling domain formed by phase separation, the PMSQ colloidal network formation forms mesopores, leading to monolithic PMSQ gels with hierarchical macro- and meso-pore structures. Mesopores in these gels do not collapse on evaporative drying owing to the flexible networks and repulsive interactions of methyl groups in PMSQ. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.jcis.2011.02.027

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Chromatographic properties of a new type of monolithic silica rod columns were examined. Silica rod columns employed for the study were prepared from tetramethoxysilane, modified with octadecylsilyl moieties, and encased in a stainless-steel protective column with two polymer layers between the silica and the stainless-steel tubing. A 25 cm column provided up to 45,000 theoretical plates for aromatic hydrocarbons, or a minimum plate height of about 5.5 mu m, at optimum linear velocity of ca. 2.3 mm/s and back pressure of 7.5 MPa in an acetonitrile-water (80/20, v/v) mobile phase at 40 degrees C. The permeability of the column was similar to that of a column packed with 5 mu m particles, with K-F about 2.4 x 10(-14) m(2) (based on the superficial linear velocity of the mobile phase), while the plate height value equivalent to that of a column packed with 2.5 mu m particles. Generation of 80,000-120,000 theoretical plates was feasible with back pressure below 30 MPa by employing two or three 25 cm columns connected in series. The use of the long columns enabled facile generation of large numbers of theoretical plates in comparison with conventional monolithic silica columns or particulate columns. Kinetic plot analysis indicates that the monolithic columns operated at 30 MPa can provide faster separations than a column packed with totally porous 3-mu m particles operated at 40 MPa in a range where the number of theoretical plates (N) is greater than 50,000. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.chroma.2010.11.032

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SPRINGER  

Starting from calcium chloride dihydrate (CaCl(2)center dot 2H(2)O), phosphoric acid (H(3)PO(4)), and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) dissolved in a mixture of water and methanol (MeOH), dicalcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA, CaHPO(4)) monoliths with co-continuous macropores and mesopores have been synthesized by the addition of propylene oxide. Macropores are formed as a result of phase separation, while mesopores as interstices between primary particles with the size of ca. 30 nm. Propylene oxide acts as a proton scavenger and leads to moderate pH increase in a reaction solution, which brings about gelation in several minutes. On the other hand, PAA acts as a crystal growth inhibitor as well as a phase separation inducer. The extensive crystal growth of DCPA is hindered by the addition of PAA which allows morphological control of the structure in micrometer range. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicates that PAA and DCPA form composite via interaction between the carboxyl groups and the surface of crystals, and together form gel phase. The solvent phase, which is converted to macropores after evaporative drying, is mainly comprised of solvent. The degree of supersaturation in a reaction solution considerably influence on the crystallization process, and thereby, influences on the porous structure in nano- and micrometer ranges.

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-010-2184-y

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Language：English   Publishing type：Part of collection (book)   Publisher：Wiley-VCH  

DOI： 10.1002/9783527633241.ch5

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DOI： 10.1002/9783527633241.ch2

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IOP PUBLISHING LTD  

Porous gel monolith was synthesized by reacting (3mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) with acetone on acidic conditions. It is known that MPTMS itself is difficult to turn into gel on acidic conditions and instead oligomers are obtained owing to the large mercaptopropyl group. In our system, the gels were obtained since acetone worked as a cross-linker via thioacetal reaction. Additionally, Au ions were selectively adsorbed on the obtained gel. When an obtained white gel was soaked in a chloroauric acid solution, the gel turned brown and was getting dark depending on the soaked time; on the other hand, the color of the solution turned from yellow to colorless.

DOI： 10.1088/1757-899X/18/3/032003

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Other Link： http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8069-4780

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1088/1757-899X/18/3/032001

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Hierarchically porous carbon monoliths with high specific surface areas have been fabricated by removing nano-sized silica phase from carbon/silica composites pyrolyzed from bridged poly(silsesquioxane). This activation method improves the homogeneity between inner and outer parts of the monoliths compared to the conventional thermal activation methods.

DOI： 10.1088/1757-899X/18/3/032005

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Other Link： http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8069-4780

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

Although silica aerogel is expected to be the material for energy savings, the lack of the strength prevents from commercial applications such as to low-density thermal insulators and acoustic absorbents. To improve mechanical properties, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS) are used as the co-precursor of aerogels in this study because the network becomes flexible due to the relatively low cross-linking density and to the unreacted methyl groups. Because of the strong hydrophobicity of MTMS/DMDMS-derived condensates, phase separation occurs, which must be suppressed in aqueous sol to obtain uniform and monolithic gel networks. We also employed surfactant n-hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) in starting compositions to control phase separation during a 2-step acid/base sol-gel reaction. By changing the starting composition, various microstructures of pores are obtained. In the uniaxial compression test, the aerogel showed high flexibility and spring-back to the original shape after removing the stress.

DOI： 10.1088/1757-899X/18/3/032013

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Macro/meso/microporous carbon monoliths doped with sulfur have been prepared from sulfonated poly(divinylbenzene) networks followed by the activation with CO2 resulted in the activated carbon monoliths with high surface area of 2400 m(2) g(-1). The monolithic electrode of the activated carbon shows remarkably high specific capacitance (175 F g(-1) at 5 mV s(-1) and 206 F g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1)).

DOI： 10.1039/c0jm03793a

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We report new flexible "marshmallow-like&apos;&apos; aerogels and xerogels with a bendable feature from the methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS) co-precursor systems. A 2-step acid/base sol-gel process and surfactant are employed to control the phase separation of the hydrophobic networks, which give porous monolithic gels. The obtained gels become softer and more flexible with increasing DMDMS fractions.

DOI： 10.1039/c1jm13664j

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE  

The structure formation process of hierarchically porous alumina gels has been investigated by in situ small angle X ray scattering (SAXS) The measurement was performed on the sol-gel solution containing aluminum chloride hexahydrate (AlCl(3) 6H(2)O) poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and propylene oxide (PO) The temporal divergence of scattering intensity in the low q regime was observed in the early stage of reaction indicating that the occurrence of spinodal-decomposition-type phase separation Detailed analysis of the SAXS profiles revealed that phase separation occurs between weakly branched polymenzing aluminum hydroxide (AH) and PEO Further progress of the condensation reaction forms phase-separated two phases that is AH rich phase and PEO rich phase with the micrometer range heterogeneity The growth and aggregation of primary particles occurs in the phase-separated AH-rich domain and there fore the addition of PEO influences on the structure in nanometer regime as well as micrometer regime The moderate stability of oligomeric species allows homogeneous condensation reaction parallel to phase separation and successful formation of hierarchically porous alumina gel (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved

DOI： 10.1016/j.jcis.2010.08.041

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

Using macroporous alumina as an aluminum source as well as structural support, high- and low-silica zeolites with trimodal pores have been fabricated in a monolithic form. Trimodally porous zeolites are obtained by the hydrothermal treatment of a monolithic alumina support impregnated with a mixture of AEROSIL 200, H(2)O, and sodium hydroxide or tetrapropylammonium hydroxide. The results of XRD measurement and (27)Al NMR analysis reveal the formation of zeolites and the incorporation of Al into zeolite frameworks in tetrahedrally-coordinated environment. Low-silica zeolites, such as PHI- and ANA-type zeolites are formed when sodium hydroxide is utilized as a base and a structure directing agent (SDA). On the other hand, MFI-type zeolites are crystallized from highly supersaturated solutions with the use of tetrapropylammonium hydroxide. High alkaline resistance of alumina support enables the choice of wide range of OH(-)/SiO(2) ratio, and moreover, the choice of desirable degree of supersaturation. As a result, the homogeneous crystallization of zeolites onto the alumina support has been successfully achieved. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.micromeso.2010.04.005

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV  

Ni/TiO2 with bimodal pore structure was prepared from nickel nitrate and titanium alkoxide by a sol-gel process under acidic conditions in the presence of formamide. The Ni/TiO2 has continuous macropores which are formed by fixing the transitional structure of phase separation. Although the addition of nickel nitrate in the sol-gel reaction of titanium alkoxide steeply decreases the phase separation tendency, the macropore size can be controlled by changing the composition of preparation. The Ni/TiO2 prepared by sol-gel has higher dispersion of Ni compared with that prepared by impregnation, and shows catalytic activity for the selective hydrogenation of crotonaldehyde: selectivity in the hydrogenation of C=C bond is much higher than that of C=O bond over sol-gel-derived Ni/TiO2. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.apcata.2010.05.025

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD  

Poly(divinylbenzene) (PDVB) monoliths with well-defined macropores that have been sulfonated and carbonized to obtain macroporous carbon monoliths. The original macroporous PDVB networks have been synthesized by living radical polymerization accompanied by spinodal decomposition. Sulfonation prevents polymer networks from large shrinkage and weight loss during carbonization by heat-treatment in an inert atmosphere. In the case of PDVB gels sulfonated at 120 degrees C using conc. H(2)SO(4), mesopores in the original skeletons as well as macropores are retained after carbonization. The obtained carbon monoliths are subsequently activated by CO(2), which resulted in activated carbons. The specific surface area of the obtained activated carbons reaches up to 2360 m(2) g(-1). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOI： 10.1016/j.carbon.2010.01.019

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Other Link： http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8069-4780

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER CHEMICAL SOC  

Macroporous polysilsesquioxane monoliths have been synthesized from biphenylene-bridged alkoxysilane via the sol-gel transition and concurrent phase separation both induced by the polycondensation reaction The obtained polysilsesquioxane gels have been subsequently converted to macroporous SiC/C composites by the carbothermal reduction The SiC/C monoliths thus obtained involve no visible cracks and their porosity reaches as high as &gt;90%. In addition, according to the nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurement results, the micro- and mesopore characteristics of the samples did not undergo a significant change during the carbothermal reduction and the SiC/C composites have large specific surface areas owing to the microporous carbons in the skeletons These composites therefore are more suitable for the applications to gas storage and catalyst supports compared to pure SiC.

DOI： 10.1021/cm9034616

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ELSEVIER FRANCE-EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER  

Carbon monoliths with well-defined macropores and high surface areas were prepared by carbonization of macroporous poly(divinylbenzene) (PDVB) monoliths The carbonization reactions of PDVB networks are studied by thermal analysis and FT-IR measurements. According to the measurement results. the PDVB networks are mostly pyrolyzed at 430 degrees C and their structures dynamically change to graphite-like structure between 600 and 700 degrees C The macropore structure retained while the mesopores disappeared after carbonization In addition, the surface area of the obtained carbons dramatically increased over 900 degrees C The typical carbon monolith carbonized at 1000 degrees C for 2 h had a surface area of 1500 m(2) g(-1) and uniform macropores with a diameter of jam To cite this article: J. Hasegawa et al., C. R. Chunk 13 (2010). (C) 2009 Academic des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS All rights reserved

DOI： 10.1016/j.crci.2009.04.003

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SPRINGER  

Highly homogeneous transparent titania gels have been successfully prepared from titanium alkoxide by a sol-gel method utilizing chelating agent, ethyl acetylacetate (EtAcAc), in the presence of strong acid anions. Only catalytic amount of a strong acid anion suppress the rapid hydrolysis of titanium alkoxide by blocking the nucleophilic attack of HO(-) and H(2)O, and the resultant moderate sol-gel reactions thus afford homogeneous gelation, leading to transparent monolithic titania gels. Gelation time can be widely controlled by changing amounts of water, chelating agent and salt. The ability of salts to suppress the too abrupt sol-gel reactions is strongly dependent on the electronegativity of anions and valence of cations. With employing NH(4)NO(3) as a suppressing electrolyte, the obtained titania gels can be converted to pure TiO(2) by simple washing and heat-treatment, and transformations to anatase and rutile structures were found to start at 400 and 600 A degrees C, respectively.

DOI： 10.1007/s10971-009-2056-5

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY  

Hierarchically porous carbon monoliths with high specific surface areas have been fabricated by removing nano-sized silica phase from carbon/silica composites pyrolyzed from bridged polysilsesquioxane. This activation method improves the homogeneity between inner and outer parts of the monoliths compared to the conventional thermal activation methods.

DOI： 10.1039/c0cc02974b

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：CERAMIC SOC JAPAN-NIPPON SERAMIKKUSU KYOKAI  

Organic-inorganic hybrid aerogels with polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ, CH3SiO15) composition have been synthesized by A modified two-step sol-gel process. The precursor alkoxysilane is hydrolyzed in weakly acidic condition, and subsequently allowed to undergo polycondensation in a weakly basic condition which is brought up fly the hydrolysis of urea. Two kinds of surfactant (nonionic and cationic) have been utilized to suppress macroscopic phase separation. The resultant porous morphology could be modified by the kind of surfactant used small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and nitrogen adsorption have been employed to assess the porous morphology and it is found that the obtained PMSQ aerogels consist of aggregated particles and each particle contains micropores. Compressive mechanical properties have also been discussed based oil tie obtained information oil porous morphology. (C) 2009 The Ceramic Society at Japan All rights reserved

DOI： 10.2109/jcersj2.117.1333

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

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