An Eco‐Friendly, Tunable and Scalable Method for Producing Porous Functional Nanomaterials Designed Using Molecular Interactions. Issue 8 (29th March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Manning, Joseph R. H.; Yip, Thomas W. S.; Centi, Alessia; Jorge, Miguel; Patwardhan, Siddharth V.
• Is Part Of: ChemSusChem. Volume 10:Issue 8(2017)
• Page Start: 1683
• Page End: 1691
• Publication Date: 2017-03-29
• Subjects: green nanomaterials -- manufacturing -- molecular interactions -- porous materials -- silica; Green chemistry -- Periodicals; Sustainable engineering -- Periodicals; Chemistry -- Periodicals; Chemical engineering -- Periodicals; 660
• DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201700027
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1864-5631

Abstract

Abstract: Despite significant improvements in the synthesis of templated silica materials, post‐synthesis purification remains highly expensive and renders the materials industrially unviable. In this study this issue is addressed for porous bioinspired silica by developing a rapid room‐temperature solution method for complete extraction of organic additives. Using elemental analysis and N2 and CO2 adsorption, the ability to both purify and controllably tailor the composition, porosity and surface chemistry of bioinspired silica in a single step is demonstrated. For the first time the extraction is modelled using molecular dynamics, revealing that the removal mechanism is dominated by surface‐charge interactions. This is extended to other additive chemistry, leading to a wider applicability of the method to other materials. Finally the environmental benefits of the new method are estimated and compared with previous purification techniques, demonstrating significant improvements in sustainability. Abstract : Green silica : By applying green chemistry principles to the synthesis and purification of bioinspired silica a cleaner, cheaper and readily scalable method for silica production is developed, representing a significant technological advance.