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A new way of controllable releasing menthol with amorphous silica is reported for the first time. Porous silica adsorbed menthol in 373‐413 K and then was covered with cellulose acetate film to form a carrier‐embedded menthol. The sealed menthol would be released at elevated temperatures once the cover fractured. Here, the influence of temperature and nature of sorbent on the adsorption of menthol along with the covering manner were investigated carefully, and the thermal release of menthol was studied with headspace gas chromatography (HS‐GC) method. Silica adsorbed about 400 mg g⁻¹ of menthol at the optimal adsorption conditions and released most of them at about 473 K. Preliminary application in non‐combustible cigarette proven the feasibility of thermal release of menthol with the covered silica carrier.

To expand the application of the principle of selective adsorption, new hierarchical porous carbon was fabricated from cigarette filters and cheap metal salts via one-pot synthesis, in order to selectively capture the tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA) in solution. The type and amount of metal salt in the carbon precursor took charged of pore texture, electrical property and morphology, forming a new sorbent beyond activated carbon and zeolite in the selective liquid adsorption of TSNA. With the amount of FexO-doped of 10%–16.5%, new carbon sorbent captured the 29.4%–33.8% of TSNA in the tobacco extract solution though the solution contained thousands of components. Moreover, it exhibited a zeolite-like selectivity to remove 93% of 4-methylnitrosamino-1-3-pyridyl-1-butanone (NNK). The hierarchical sorbents combined the high adsorption capability of mesopore and the shape-selectivity of micropore, based on waste utilization and simply controllable process, offering a clue for preparation of new hierarchical material and resource regeneration and environmental protection.

The thermal regeneration of zeolite Hβ adsorbed tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNA) along with the impact of zeolitic pore size on the liquid adsorption of TSNA were investigated in this article for the first time. After calcination at 873 K, the regenerated Hβ zeolite exhibited a kind of self-activation to trap more TSNA in succeeding adsorption in tobacco solution, achieving the high capacity of 225 μg g−1. With the assistance of TG-MS technique, it was clear that no secondary pollution of volatile nitrosamines (VNA) occurred in the regeneration of Hβ zeolite. In order to seek cheap TSNA-capturer, three zeolites with different pore structures, Hβ, MCM-22 and NTY (the dealuminated NaY) zeolites were assessed in the TSNA adsorption in laboratory formulated surface water and tobacco solution to examine the influence of pore size. MCM-22 was the excellent selective sorbent of 4-methylnitrosamino-1-3-pyridyl-1-butanone (NNK), but its channels were easily clogged in tobacco solution. Zeolite Hβ showed a prominent TSNA adsorption in both solutions due to its pore size of 0.6–0.7 nm. The cheap zeolite NTY with the pore size of 0.74 nm exhibited a high adsorption capability of TSNA similar to Hβ in tobacco solution, making it a promising replacement for industrial applications.

The low Mg 2p value (47.0 eV) of MgO reported in Res Chem Intermed 44(2018)829 is carefully analyzed and discussed based on a series of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiments and literature results. Presence of carbon or ferric oxide did not change the binding energy (BE) of Mg 2p of MgO, and the Mg 2p peak of MgO should be above 49.0 eV instead of at 47.0 eV.

To design new mesoporous sucker-type selective sorbent for controlling environmental carcinogens like tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNA), polyaniline (PANI) was controlled carefully to grow at different sites such as near the pore opening, in the channel or on the outside of SBA-15 by in one-pot synthetic and post-synthetic methods. The influences of aniline additional order, aniline to organosilicone ratio and with or without template are investigated in order to obtain the optimal growth position of PANI. Different location of PANI on SBA-15 was confirmed by TEM, N2 adsorption-desorption characterization and zeta potential measurement. PANI grows preferentially in the channel and then near the pore orifice when proper amount aniline is added previous to silicon source. If aniline is added later after the silicon source, PANI will grow mainly on the outside surface of SBA-15. The location of PANI is in the pore entrances once the aniline is put into the solution after template is removed. Resulting composites realize different selectivity for TSNA and tobacco alkaloids. 1P-S15 production possesses a best TSNA adsorptive capacity (23.2%), higher than commercial activated carbon (15.5%). FTIR spectrum of TSNA in 1P-S15 and quantum calculations demonstrated that the adsorption of TSNA is controlled by hydrogen bonding.

The sustained release of heparin in sufficient amounts and over long time is a challenge to drive the development of functional materials. In this paper SBA-15 mesoporous silica is selected in the search for a favorable morphology and optimized surface state for the sustained release of heparin. In situ carbonization of the template in the as-synthesized sample enables SBA-15 to possess narrowed channels with rougher surfaces, while modification with (aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) through a one-pot synthesis offers SBA-15 with positive charges to attract heparin through electro-static interactions. The structure of modified SBA-15 samples is assessed with XRD (powder X-ray diffraction analysis), nitrogen adsorption–desorption and electron microscopy techniques, and their performance is evaluated in adsorption and release of heparin. These modifications improve the heparin adsorption in SBA-15 and thus promote its sustained release, prolonging the release-equilibrium time up to 60 days. Among them, the SBA-15 sample modified with APTES can trap three times as much heparin as the parent SBA-15, and the release ratio is elevated to 80% (that of SBA-15 is 38%), realizing the best performance of controlling heparin release to date.

This paper reported the attempt of endowing activated carbon the capability of selectively adsorption like that of zeolite for the first time. To create the optimal microenvironment in the activated carbon made from coconut shell, the sorbent was carefully modified with moderate ferric acetate through impregnation followed by carbonization, producing lots of ferric oxide extra-fine particles mingled with carbon nanoparticles to reduce the pore size of activated carbon and to increase the surface roughness of pore wall. Consequently, new activated carbon sorbent trapped 60% of tobacco specific nitrosamines in the tobacco extract solution with the concentration of 1796 ng mL−1, exhibiting the highest capacity (222 µg g−1) to date. Moreover, it showed a zeolite-like selectivity in the liquid adsorption to capture 98.5% of 4-methylnitrosamino-1-3-pyridyl-1-butanone because of the spindly shape of this strong carcinogen. Besides, distinguishable adsorption of tobacco specific nitrosamines from alkaloid by the new activated carbon sorbent in solution was discovered, providing a valuable clue for the development of new selective sorbents in environment protection.

To meet the requirement of selective removing environmental carcinogen, elaborated microporous interspaces were successfully fabricated inside the channel of mesoporous silica SBA-15. The discarded cigarette filters (CF) and ferric nitrate solution were infused into SBA-15, and carbonized to form carbon and FexO particles tailoring the tortuosity of mecsoporous channels and provide the necessary electrostatic interaction towards tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNA) in solution. Besides, the carefully modified SBA-15 displayed evidently selectivity towards 4-methylnitrosamino-1-3-pyridyl-1-butanone (NNK) and the representative sample Fe0.9CF1.2/S15c owned excellent performances in various tobacco solutions, with the high NNK-selectivity up to 58%, same as that of HZSM−5 zeolite. This strategy created new sorbents combining the high capability of mesoporous silica and the selectivity of microporous zeolite, giving certain enlightenment for new functional materials and environmental protection.

The controlled assembly of nanowires is one of the key challenges in the development of a range of functional 3D aerogels with unique physicochemical properties for practical applications. However, the deep understanding of the dynamic assemble process for fabricating nanowire aerogels remains elusive. Herein, a facile strategy is presented for the metallic ion-induced assembly of nanowires into macroscopic aerogels via a solution-based process. This method enables the interconnecting between polymer-decorated nanowires via metallic coordination, resulting in plenty of nanowire bundles with the same orientation. Besides, the coordinated binding strength of nanowires with different metallic ions is also discussed. The assembly mechanism that the metallic ions induced dynamic behavior of nanowires is revealed via molecular dynamics theoretical evaluation. These findings benefit for constructing nanowire-based aerogels with unique structural features and multi-function, which pave new opportunities for other material systems.

HZSM-5 zeolite was used to conquer the challenge of liquid adsorption of tobacco specific N -nitrosamines (TSNA), either in aqueous solution or tobacco extract solution, offering a candidate with an optimal Si/Al ratio and channel structure to capture the carcinogens. It could trap 84% of N ′-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) and 99% of 4-methylnitrosamino-1-3-pyridyl-1-butanone (NNK) in aqueous solution, much better than that by NaZSM-5 zeolite. Both FTIR and TG/MS technologies were employed to study the adsorption and catalytic degradation of NNN and NNK by HZSM-5 zeolite. The N–N bond of NNK was broken in the range of 423–573 K and the pyridine fragments appeared at 630 K due to the breakage of C–C bond between pyridine and carbonyl groups. Besides, HZSM-5 zeolite was sprayed on the rod of cigarette and smoked with different manners for the first time, in order to assess its function of reducing TSNA content in mainstream smoke and compared with that of liquid adsorption.

Adsorption of 4-methylnitrosamino-1-3-pyridyl-1-butanone (NNK) along with N ’-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) in water is studied for the first time with the monitoring of LC-MS/MS. In the mixed aqueous solution of NNK and NNN, NaZSM-5 zeolite uniquely captured NNK but refused NNN. And the influence of initial concentration, adsorption time and type of sorbents were systemically investigated. Degradation of NNK adsorbed on zeolite is studied with TG/MS and FTIR methods for the first time. It was degraded to NO, pyridine, amine and propanal at around 600 K, avoiding formation of volatile nitrosamines and secondary pollution.

Based on the synthesis of super hydrophobic silicic xerogel (SG) from methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS), siliceous hydrophobic nanoparticles were fabricated within the mesoporous channels of SBA-15, in order to enhance the efficiency of adsorbing tobacco specific N-nitrosamines (TSNA) in aqueous solution. The concentration of precursor solution was adjusted to master the distribution of hydrophobic particles and the mean hydrophobicity of resulting composite, 150% increasing the capacity of SBA-15 in liquid adsorption of TSNA.

In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time the use of gliadin colloid particles (GCPs) as an effective particulate stabilizer of oil-in-water emulsions of natural oils and water. For this purpose, we fabricated GCPs through a facile anti-solvent precipitation procedure and demonstrated their uses in the formation of Pickering emulsions as well as Pickering high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). We found that unmodified GCPs can produce stable, surfactant-free o/w emulsions with microscale droplet sizes under experimental mixing conditions at pH 4 and above. In contrast, the emulsions were not stable against coalescence at ∼pH 3.0. The microstructures, e.g., interfacial framework, GCPs partition between the continuous phase and interfacial region, and state of the droplets, of Pickering emulsions as a function of pH were visualized by optical microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), confirming that in addition to Pickering stabilization, the GCPs-based network and/or dispersed droplets-based network also contributed to the stabilization of the emulsions, in a pH-dependent manner. Clear correlations exist between colloid properties of the GCPs dispersions and the emulsion characteristics. Interestingly, stable surfactant-free Pickering HIPEs were fabricated by a facile shearing emulsification. This study opens a promising route based on Pickering HIPEs to transform liquid oils into viscoelastic emulsion gels with zero trans-fat and less saturated fat. The Pickering HIPEs possess promising potentials to replace solid fat in food formulations, which outline new directions for future fundamental research.

New selective carbonaceous sorbent is one-pot fabricated using microburst of bi-metal salts in order to eliminate carcinogens in environment. We used discarded cigarette butts as carbon source, aluminum nitrate and ferrous acetate as pore-forming agents to prepare the versatile sorbent with a developed porosity and the well-exposed metal oxides in order to replace zeolites for the selective adsorption in environment protection. Numerous finely divided porous particles endowed the composite a surface area of over 350 m2g-1, enabling it to be the best sorbent of tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNA) to date in solution. It adsorbed 41% of TSNA among hundreds of components in tobacco extract solution or 142 mg g−1of 4-methylnitrosamino-1-3-pyridyl-1-butanone (NNK) in aqueous solution, and rapidly trapped Pb(Ⅱ) at the S/L of 0.2 within 10 min with a capacity of 153 mg g−1. Moreover, new sorbent could catalyze the degradation of NNK in mild conditions, which is rare but is very important for environmental protection.

Super-hydrophobic silicic xerogel (SG) was prepared from methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS), and the optimized MTMS to DMDMS molar ratio was determined to be 3/2. To fabricate new effective nitrosamines sorbent in tobacco extract solution, SG was modified by epitaxial growth of mesoporous silica to form the coated composite named as MSGx with a large surface area (152–208 m2 g-1) and pore volume (0.133–0.162 mLg−1), and the new sorbent could capture 54–59% of nitrosamines in tobacco solution, superior to zeolite and mesoporous silica.

Adsorption of tobacco specific N-nitrosamines (TSNA) in industrial tobacco extract solution by ZnO modified activated carbon (AC) was deeply studied in order to discern the liquid adsorption. ZnO was coated on AC by wet impregnation and characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nitrogen-adsorption–desorption to evaluate its modification on the structure of sorbent. Apart from common tobacco extract solution, the industrial extract solution with a higher TSNA content and viscosity was used to assess the performance of ZnO modified AC with monitoring of LC–MS/MS technique. The influence of TSNA concentration, S/L ratio, adsorption time and recycle index was also systemically studied. To explore whether ZnO modification induces some selective adsorptive sites on AC, elution of TSNA from sorbent and the adsorption of main neutral aroma components in tobacco extract solution were performed. About 80% of TSNA could be trapped in the solution and the ZnO/AC sorbent showed a kind of selectivity for 4-methylnitrosamino-1-3-pyridyl-1-butanone (NNK).

The adsorption of organophosphorus pesticides in aqueous solution was studied in this paper, including acephate, folimat, phoxim, chlorpyrifos, dipterex, and two other pesticides carbendazim and imidacloprid. Sixteen sorbents were used in the experiments, involving zeolites, mesoporous silica and activated carbon, in order to explore how the pore structure, morphology and surface composition of the sorbent affected the liquid adsorption. Among them, MCM-22 zeolite and modified SBA-15 exhibited a high capacity of capturing carbendazim and dipterex in the solution. In order to prepare a new adsorbent with low cost and high efficiency, silica gel was coated with MgO followed by alkali corrosion, in accordance with the principle of printed circuits, to form the micro-porous sorbent with the tailored pore size and surface composition. This modified silica efficiently adsorbed the folimat and rogor in solution as expected, giving a clue for the development of specific sorbent to protect environment.

Diets containing partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) expose the human body to trans fatty acids, thus endangering cardiovascular health. Pickering high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) is a promising alternative of PHOs. This work attempted to construct stable Pickering HIPEs by engineering interface architecture through manipulating the interfacial, self-assembly, and packing behavior of zein particles using the interaction between protein and pectin. Partially wettable zein/pectin hybrid particles (ZPHPs) with three-phase contact angles ranging from 84° to 87° were developed successfully. ZPHPs were irreversibly anchored at the oil-water interface, resulting in robust and ordered interfacial structure, evidenced by the combination of LB-SEM and CLSM. This situation helped to hold a percolating 3D oil droplet network, which facilitated the formation of Pickering HIPEs with viscoelasticity, excellent thixotropy (>91.0%), and storage stability. Curcumin in HIPEs was well protected from UV-induced degradation and endowed HIPEs with ideal oxidant stability. Fabricated Pickering HIPEs possess a charming application prospect in foods and the pharmaceutical industry.

A novel menthol releaser is reported for the first time by utilizing the as-synthesized mesoporous silica MCM-41, MCM-48, and SBA-15, which not only saves the energy and time for the removal of the template, but also opens new applications for micelles. The micelles of CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) in the as-synthesized MCM-41 had a flexibility dependent on temperature, that is, they were flexible at around 373 K so that menthol could enter the channel, but rigid at ambient temperature so the adsorbed menthol was sealed through physical interception, and they would release the spice at 333 K. The influence of temperature, nature and distribution of micelles on the adsorption and release of menthol was carefully assessed, and among three as-synthesized mesoporous vessels, the as-synthesized MCM-41 exhibited the highest capability in thermal release of menthol at 333 K after open stored in ambient for 30 days or longer. Furthermore, this new menthol releaser was preliminarily used in the filter of cigarette.

A new strategy for fabricating an optimal porous strong base was reported for the first time. Magnesium and zinc acetates were mixed by microwave irradiation followed by carbonization at 823 K. Zn incorporation enabled the magnesia nanoparticles to have more surface defects, and about 80% of the basic sites were strong ones with the ability to capture CO2 at 473 K, which is the highest proportion to date. These porous binary metal oxides had large surface areas between 130–296 m2 g−1.

In order to control the tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNA) pollution caused by smoking, liquid adsorption of TSNA in tobacco-extract solution by modified activated carbon, zeolites and other porous materials was systemically studied with the monitor of Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) technique. The effect of solid–liquid ratio, the porous structure and surface acidic-basicity of sorbent on the liquid adsorption was assessed. Among various activated carbon (AC) samples modified with acid soak, ion-exchange or impregnation, the impregnated sorbent ZnAC could remove 73% of the TSNA in the solution, offering a cost-effective candidate for potential industrial application. Zeolite CaA was also efficient to trap more than 40% of TSNA in tobacco solution, and the influence of cation on the adsorption of TSNA by zeolite and the possible selectivity for the components of TSNA such as NNN, NAT and NNK were carefully examined. Besides, the fabrication of optimal micro-environment for liquid adsorption of TSNA was explored.

Multiple modification of SBA-15 in its electrostatic and geometric properties was simultaneously performed by titanium substitution in the framework of mesoporous silica, in order to fabricate versatile drug releaser based on the Ti-SBA-15 with subtle “critical state”. The SBA-15 with proper Ti-content, no more than 4.2 μmol g−1 without formation of TiO2, was synthesized via special hydrothermal conditions with assistance of fluorine ion, and the resulting composite had the appropriately distorted mesoporous structure provided the Si/Ti of initial gel no less than 50, plus the lowered surface negative charge (Zeta-potential). The controlled Ti-substitution enabled SBA-15 to be more active in adsorbing negative charged drug like heparin, especially in dilute solution. Also, sustained heparin release was achieved on the Ti-SBA-15 with a little initial burst. Ti-substitution also improved the loading and release of small drug such as ibuprofen on SBA-15, compensating the lack of fine geometric confinement in mesoporous silica. Moreover, liquid adsorption of probes with different negative charge and molecular size, including heparin, ibuprofen and volatile nitrosamines N-nitrosopyrrolidine was investigated to explore the influence of Ti-substitution on the electrostatic attraction and structural distortion of SBA-15, offering a tool to characterize the mesoporous materials and providing a valuable clue for design of new drug releaser.

The achievement of increasing both the adsorption and release of heparin in a drug delivery system is reported. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) material can efficiently adsorb heparin in aqueous solution up to 112 mg g−1 owing to its layered and stacked structure. Moreover, this carbon vessel is able to release 90 mg g−1 of the drug within 30 days, exhibiting the highest released/adsorbed ratio of 80% to date and has become a promising candidate as a novel drug releaser.

A new strategy utilizing carbon insertion to synthesize a highly efficient CO2-capturer through self-dispersion of MgO by co-existing carbon is reported in this paper. Carbon-adulterated magnesia is formed in situ during the carbonization of magnesium acetate for the first time, suppressing the aggregation of MgO nanoparticles and increasing the accessibility of basic sites for CO2. With few carbon particles (about 2%) inside as the adulterant, the porous MgO composites have a surface area of greater than 200 m2 g−1 and a high CO2 adsorption capacity of up to 28 mg g−1 at 473 K, offering a new candidate material for adsorbing CO2 in flue gas vents.

We report a facile method for the preparation of hypercrosslinked carbazole-based porous organic polymers (CPOPs) via FeCl3-promoted one-step oxidative coupling reaction and Friedel–Crafts alkylation in one pot. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface area of the obtained polymers is up to 1190 m2 g−1, which is competitive with the reported results for other hypercrosslinked porous polymers. Gas (hydrogen and carbon dioxide) adsorption isotherms show that their hydrogen storage is up to 1.29 wt% at 1.0 bar and 77 K, and the uptake capacity for carbon dioxide can reach 16.8 wt% at 1.0 bar and 273 K, which makes them promising candidates for applications in the energy and environment fields. Furthermore, the amount of toluene adsorbed by CPOP-15 is high, around 1470 mg g−1 (about 16.0 mmol g−1) at the saturated vapor pressure and the mass ratio of adsorbed water to toluene is up to 1 : 7. Moreover, the prepared CPOPs possess excellent adsorption capacities for formaldehyde (10.7 mg g−1) at ambient conditions and exhibit good thermal stability and reusability, at the same time, which makes them show potential in applications to eliminate harmful small molecules from the environment.

To expand heterogeneous catalysis to health care and to control the carcinogens in environment, molecular sieves are put into the tobacco rod of cigarettes as the cigarette-catalyst (cig-cat) to in situ eliminate tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) in mainstream smoke during the combustion of cigarette. Several zeolites and mesoporous silicas are utilized for comparison, in order to assess the impact of pore size, Al content, morphology as well as acid–base property of additives on the reduction of TSNA content in smoke. When these additives are activated as the hot zone in burning cigarette approaches, they will remove TSNAs once these carcinogens transfer or form in the smoke. Actually they can remove the TSNA up to 35% in the smoke of Burley type tobacco, and most of these additives can keep their structure after tobacco combustion. These latest results are beneficial for controlling the environment pollution caused by smoking.

A new preparative route of porous magnesia is reported in this paper to fabricate pores in magnesia through in situ carbonization. New foam-like magnesia materials were synthesized via one-pot pathway using P123 and PEO as templates and magnesium nitrate as precursor, forming the as-made Mg 2+ -block-polymer-rich composites at first. These composites were converted to magnesia–carbon monolith in the calcination under nitrogen, and then formed the foam-like MgO after the succeeding calcination in air to remove carbon species. Foam-like magnesia samples possess the interconnected porous architecture and cavity, and their framework were constructed by nano-crystalline MgO; they have the large surface area (101–130 m 2 g −1 ) and pore volume (0.24–0.36 cm 3 g −1 ) as well as multiple-length-scale porosity (macro- and mesopores). Apart from the advantage of synthesis, this porous magnesia exhibits a considerably high capacity in the CO 2 adsorption in the temperature range of 25–200 °C.

A new strategy of morphology control was applied for mesoporous silica SBA-15 to fabricate efficient envi- ronment protector, and the micro- and macro-morphology of SBA-15 were simultaneously controlled in weak acidic condition by using citric acid. Through simply tuning the synthetic temperature, monolithic SBA-15 materi- als with tunable macroporous structure was fabricated by using mild shearing force field in the citric acid route. Owning to the strong promotion of special morphology, the SBA-15 monolith can efficiently eliminate the phenol from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and the reduction ratio is twice higher than that by tetraethylenepen- tamine (TEPA) modified powder-like SBA-15. These results indicated that morphology of mesoporous materials played a dominant role in environmental purification.

Novel NO absorbent–releaser is discovered by utilizing the as-synthesized mesoporous silica MCM-41 or MCM-48, not only saving the energy and time for removal of template, but also establishing the way to utilize the micelles for new applications of health care. The micelles of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in the as-synthesized MCM-48 or MCM-41 have a configuration of spoke-like in the wheel or net-like inside the channel, intercepting and capturing the NO in gas flow with an unwonted high absorption capacity. Once NO is absorbed on these composites, it forms surface nitrous species and nitrates that are stable in atmosphere, achieving the storage of NO in ambient environment. Finally, the NO can be acid-triggered released in the solution with the pH value same as that of the gastric juice, providing a new low-cost candidate for delivering exogenous NO. Various factors, including surfactant types, framework structures, and absorption temperatures, are investigated to expatiate this new controllable absorption–release process, exploiting further the utilization of micelles and affording a new application of as-synthesized mesoporous material in the drug delivery system.

Soybean oil bodies and oleosins are known to be useful in foods and other emulsion systems. The influence of NaCl addition (0–500 mM), thermal processing (30, 60, 90 and 120 °C, 30 min), and freeze-thaw cycling (−20 °C, 24 h/30 °C, 2 h) on the stability of uncoated and ι-carrageenan coated soybean oil body emulsions at pH 3 and 7 was analyzed using particle electrical charge, particle size distribution, creaming stability and confocal laser scanning microscopy measurements. The stability of the uncoated emulsions to NaCl addition depended on pH, which was attributed to electrostatic screening effects. For NaCl, the uncoated emulsions were relatively stable from 0 to 150 mM at pH 3, but aggregated at ≥ 50 mM at pH 7; however, the ι-carrageenan coated emulsions at pH 3 and 7 were stable at all NaCl concentrations. The thermal stability of uncoated and ι-carrageenan coated emulsions may be relative to pH and holding temperature. Both uncoated and ι-carrageenan coated emulsions were stable at pH 7, whereas the uncoated emulsions at pH 3 became unstable when heated above 90 °C, but the ι-carrageenan coated emulsion droplets at pH 3 only extensively coalesced at 120 °C. The ι-carrageenan coated emulsions at pH 3 and 7 exhibited little droplet aggregation after three freeze-thaw cycles in the presence of sucrose. These results suggest that ι-carrageenan coated soybean oil body emulsions have similar or improved stability compared to uncoated emulsions and may be utilized as functional soy products in the food and other industries.

A new class of periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs), which contains various hydrophilic groups of –OH, –O– and –S–, is successfully synthesized with novel bridged organosilica precursor under the acid-catalyzed and inorganic-salt-assisted conditions. These hybrid materials possess the ordered mesostructure with uniform pore size distributions, thick framework walls, thermal stability and specific functional groups; and they are carefully characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption, TGA, FT-IR, TEM and NMR spectroscopies. Moreover, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is immobilized on these new PMO composites for the first time, and their enzyme activity in the oxidation of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (TMB) is elevated in the range of 25–59% compared with that of free HRP in solution. Again, the HRP immobilized samples can be reused for many cycles, resulting from the interfacial activation of the enzyme when it is attached to the surface of hybrid hosts where is filled with organic groups and hydrophobic parts.

SBA-3/cotton fiber composite materials have been in situ synthesized via a confinement self-assembly process by using cetyltrimethyl ammoniumbromide (C16H33(CH3)3NBr, CTAB) as a template to control the mesostructure and cotton fiber, a green and facile material, as a matrix to control the morphology. This kind of composite materials present the morphology of cotton fibers, and SBA-3 particles cover the surfaces of cotton fibers. Compared with powdery SBA-3, smaller silica particles are formed on these composite materials, which is beneficial for enhancing the availability of pores in mesoporous silica; and the cotton fibers promote the dispersion of functional modified guest in mesoporous silica. After modification with tetraethylenepentamine, these SBA-3/cotton fiber composite materials exhibit considerable CO2 adsorption capacity and stable cyclic adsorption–desorption performance. These composite materials can be directly used as cheaper shaped composites for practical CO2 capture, and this synthetic route has the potential to prepare some functional devices.

Large mesoporous silica spheres with centimeter-scale were synthesized for the first time via a multi-level self-assembly using an emulsion system of ethyl ether, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant. Apart from the controllable morphology and size, the inorganic hybrid or organic functionalized self-molding mesoporous materials could also be synthesized through one-pot method, that is, the synthesis and functionalization and self-molding with special morphology of the mesoporous material were realized simultaneously. According to the analysis of SEM, TEM, XRD and N 2 adsorption–desorption, the obtained macroscopic spheres were composed of nanosized silica spheres, which possessed relatively ordered mesostructure. Moreover, the obtained macroscopic silica spheres could resist a pressure of 46 N cm −2 . The adsorption of phenylalanine was performed to assess the performance of these macrospheres, in which the adsorption capacity of aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) functionalized sample was up to 196 mg g −1 , twice higher than the best value reported in the literature.

Heparin-loaded mesoporous-expanded poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (ePTFE) vascular prosthesis (HMVP- n ) are prepared and the biocompatibility is studied by contact angle, heparin release, platelet resistance, chromogenic assay, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) proliferation and produced-NO function, in order to illustrate the relationship between the performance of artificial vessels and their mesostructure. Through in situ synthesis of mesoporous silica on ePTFE grafts, different mesoporous silica materials can be uniformly coated on the surface as well as the internal fibers of the artificial vessels to give various mesoporous vascular prosthesis, named as MVP- n . Structure analysis through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray detector (EDX) analysis and nitrogen sorption experiment indicates that different MVP- n series own the similar n F / n Si ratio of both surface and cross-section, large Brunauer-Emmett-Tellerand (BET) surface area and average pore size located in meso range but different textural properties. Owning to the existence of mesostucture, controlled release and high bioactivity of heparin can be achieved, and the biocompatibility greatly enhance: surface hydrophilicity increases; no adherent platelet was observed on the surface of HMVP- n when they contacted with platelet-enriched plasma; endothelial progenitor cells proliferous potential and produced-NO function exhibit better endothelial coverage of grafts. And the performance is closely related to the mesostructure, suggesting a new way to improve the biocompatibility of biomaterials through controlling their mesostructure.

A rapid, sensitive and accurate matrix solid phase dispersion-accelerated solvent extraction (MSPD-ASE) method for selective determination of sixteen organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in fish samples has been developed and validated. 2 g fresh fish muscle was dispersed with 10 g anhydrous sodium sulfate and 2 g acid alumina thoroughly, and loaded into the stainless-steel extraction cell containing 6 g of acid alumina and 10 g anhydrous sodium sulfate. The temperature 60 °C and two extraction cycles of 5 min gave adequate extraction efficiency using DCM-hexane (3:7, v/v) mixture as solvent. Not only the lipids, but also other co-extracts, which peaks mostly located in the forepart of chromatograms and maybe interfere the identification or quantitation of analytes, were eliminated exhaustively, while analytes were extracted selectively. Sixteen OCPs were identified by retention time of standards and quantified using mirex as internal standards. These detected OCPs were confirmed by GC-MS in real samples. The performance of proposed method was evaluated and validated: the detection limits were 0.008-0.05 ng g-1, relative standard deviations were 1.9-5.0%, and recoveries were 91.0-104.1% spiked at 10 ng g-1 level. The accuracy and precision of proposed method were equal to or better than that of traditional Soxhlet extraction method.

A new route to promote the efficiency of copper species in the Al-containing MCM-41, by anchoring the copper species into the artificial defects on the channel wall, was proposed and validated in this article. These artificial defects in Al-MCM-41 were fabricated by acid leach of framework alumina, and three different loading methods, dry impregnation and grinding as well as microwave irradiation methods were utilized to disperse the copper oxide of 0.6 wt.% on the mesoporous support. Al-MCM-41 itself was also modified with CuO through dry impregnation as the comparison. The influence of modification on the structure and performance of Al-containing MCM-41 was investigated by use of XRD and N2 adsorption-desorption. A kind of volatile nitrosamine N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR), the typical carcinogenic pollutant in environment, was used in both instantaneous adsorption and temperature programmed surface reaction (TPSR) to explore the adsorption and catalytic properties of these mesoporous composites. Besides, Mass spectrometer was employed to analyze the gaseous products of NPYR decomposed during TPSR procedure. The CuO modifier anchored in acid-leached sample possessed a higher activity in eliminating volatile nitrosamines, in comparison with those located on the parent Al-containing MCM-41.

A series of Al-containing mesoporous SBA-15 was prepared in one-pot synthesis without adding mineral acid in order to tailor the pore structure and Al-distribution in the composites, and the impact of initial Al-content in the synthetic mixture, filtering or evaporation of the aged sample was studied in detail with XRD, N 2 adsorption and 27 Al MAS NMR and NH 3 -TPD techniques. The amount of Al embodied in SBA-15 was proportional to the initial Al-content of synthetic mixture, but less than 10%; as the Al-content increased in the initial mixture, the resulting composite had the tardily declined surface area and pore volume, while the octahedrally coordinated Al emerged apart from the tetrahedrally coordinated one. Evaporation of the aged sample made all the Al-species remain in the composite, especially suitable for preparing the sample with the initial Si/Al ratio equal to or higher than 4. Both the Al-content and the channel surface curvature of the one-pot synthesized SBA-15 determined its actual performance in adsorbing N -nitrosopyrrolidine, which could be tailored through adjusting the composition of initial mixture and the treatment of the aged sample. Moreover, a simple method, varying the flow rate of carrier gas in the instantaneous adsorption of volatile nitrosamines at 453 K, was reported to distinguish the adsorptive contribution of micropores in the mesoporous silica materials.

Well-defined periodic mesostructures of hydrophilic ultrathin Te nanowires with aspect ratios of at least 10(4) can be produced by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique without any extra hydrophobic pretreatment or functionalization. Packing the arrayed nanowire monolayers will allow construction of nanomesh-like mesostructures or more complex multilayered structures composed of ultrathin nanowires on a planar substrate. The well-organized monolayer of Te nanowires with periodic mesostructures can be readily used as a stamp to transfer such mesostructured nanopatterns to other substrates or can be embedded within a polymer matrix. The mesostructures of ultrathin Te nanowire films show reversibly switched photoelectric properties between the lower- and higher-conductivity states when the light is off and on, and the photocurrent is influenced by the light intensity and the number of mesostructured nanowire monolayer films. This method can be extended for fabrication of other mesostructured assemblies of ultrathin nanowires or nanotubes.

A new preparative route of Al-containing mesoporous silica is reported in this paper in order to elevate the capability of mesoporous materials in adsorbing small pollutant molecules such as volatile nitrosamines. A mass of aluminum salt additive was used in the synthesis of mesoporous silica for the purposes of both the insertion of Al into the framework and coating on the channel wall via evaporation. After washing products with an acidic solution, most of the aluminum species were removed to create many tiny flaws and artificial defects in the pore wall, whilst some aluminum species, forming acidic sites, survived in the resulting samples. Both the acidic sites and the hierarchical structure can be formed in the mesoporous silica through this nano-casting process, and the resulting samples exhibit a high performance in the adsorption of volatile nitrosamine N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR).

Cubic Ia3d mesoporous silica was synthesized through a novel and effective way for the first time, using cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and silica as the raw material plus vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) additive through a phase transition method. The organic additive VTES not only acted as the organic-functionalizing agent in the synthesis, but also influenced the interaction between the cationic surfactant and silica oligomers, which was proven to be crucial for the formation of cubic Ia3d structure. The optimal synthetic conditions were determined to spur the phase transition toward Ia3d structure, including the VTES/(SiO 2 + VTES) molar ratio of 0.176 and the HCl/(SiO 2 + VTES) of 0.24 as well as the aging time of sample (72 h). Moreover, the resulting vinyl-containing MCM-48 exhibited the higher capability than common MCM-48 in gaseous adsorption of phenol and liquid adsorption of phenylalanine (Phe), offering a new candidate for environment protection and pharmaceutical industry.

We report a new strategy to synthesize the hierarchical mesoporous zeolite through design of mesoscale cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelle with cosolvent tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) and the 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (TMB) additive, by which the formation of hierarchical mesostructure arose from the condensing of zeolite fragments on the mesoscale surfactant micelles. The hierarchical mesoporous silica with zeolite Y or sodalite fragment is synthesized for the first time, which exhibited both the mesostructure and the typical diffraction of zeolite. XRD, N2 adsorption−desorption, 27Al MAS NMR, FTIR, and NH3-TPD techniques were employed to characterize the resulting samples, and the adsorption of NPYR (N-nitrosopyrrolidine) and NNN (N-nitrosonornicotine) were performed to assess the adsorptive capability of the zeolitic mesoporous materials. The MS3-4t-5b sample synthesized by assembling zeolite gel exhibited the adsorptive capacity comparable to NaY zeolite for trapping NPYR in airf...

Toward the aim of matching to zeolite in adsorption of small pollutant molecules such as volatile nitrosamines in environment, MCM-41, the mesoporous silica with the relative small pore size, was chosen to be modified with alumina through one-pot synthesis, solvent-free solid grinding and gel-mixing methods, in order to optimize the adsorptive capability of mesoporous composite. To study how the preparative method affects the structure and function of the modified MCM-41 in detail, XRD, N2 adsorption–desorption, 27Al MAS NMR, FTIR and NH3-TPD techniques were employed to characterize the resulting composites, and the adsorption of NPYR (N-nitrosopyrrolidine) and NNN (N-nitrosonornicotine) was employed to assess the adsorptive capability of Al-containing MCM-41. Modification with alumina significantly increased the ability of MCM-41 to trap NPYR, and among various preparations the solvent-free solid grinding method was able to disperse alumina guest with high accessibility and to reserve surface silanol groups on MCM-41. Typically, the Al2O3/MCM-41 composite synthesized by solvent-free method with 12 wt.% alumina exhibited a capacity comparable to zeolite NaY for trapping NPYR in airflow but four times superior to NaY for adsorbing bulky nitrosamine NNN in solution. Finally, a proposal how to establish high adsorption performance in mesoporous silica was suggested.

A new attempt to make novel catalysts for environment protection is reported in this article. The mesoporous carbon with disordered structure is prepared using SBA-15 silica as the hard template and the P123 micelles colluded in the channel as the carbon precursor in one-pot synthesis. To develop the composite of metal-incorporated mesoporous carbon, the metal salt such as ferric sulfate is also utilized as the additive in the synthetic process, resulting in the disordered mesoporous carbon to contain metal species such as α-Fe. Compared with the order mesoporous carbon and the silica/carbon hybrid materials, the disordered mesoporous carbon possesses a good adsorption ability of volatile nitrosamines along with an excellent catalytic activity in the degradation of nitrosamines.

The zeolite Y was modified by a series of potassium compounds including KNO3, K2CO3, KHCO3, KOH, and KF. The obtained microporous materials exhibited quite different structural and basic properties. Such differences can be attributed to their different guest–host interaction. These materials displayed different catalytic activity on the vapor phase methylation of cyclopentadiene with methanol. The activity is well correlated with the basicity and surface areas of catalysts.

Experiments were carried out to study the adsorption of four nitrosamines (N-nitrosohexamethyleneimine (NHMI), N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR), N-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) and N-nirosodiphenylamine (NDPA)) by zeolites in organic solvents. It was found that zeolites of different pore structures and hierarchy exhibited different selectivity towards the nitrosamines. The behavior was generally governed by geometric matching between the adsorbate and adsorbent: zeolites with smaller pores favored the trap of smaller nitrosamines whereas mesoporous zeolites captured more bulky nitrosamines. Nevertheless the adsorption of bulky NDPA and NNN was found to take place on type A zeolite, which has a smaller pore size than the molecular diameter of the two nitrosamines. Meanwhile, the presence of other compounds with nitro group in the system appeared to interfere with the adsorption. Among the zeolites studied, CsA and KA could distinguish the bulky nitrosamines such as N-nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPA) and nitro compounds (nitrobenzene). The influence of the solvent on the adsorption was also studied.

The attempt of preparing efficient adsorbent to capture nitrosamines in aqueous solution is reported in this paper, in order to develop new mesoporous functional materials for environment protection. Adsorption of nitrosamines in an aqueous solution containing the tobacco-extract, by zeolite and mesoporous silica was investigated in detail. The influence of structural parameters such as pore size, Si/Al ratio and cation on the adsorption of zeolite was examined. Emphatically, two modification methods, one-pot synthesis and solid state grinding were employed to incorporate aluminum in mesoporous silica MCM-41 since MCM-41 possesses the suitable pore size for the trap of tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) in solution. The resulting composites were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption at 77 K, FTIR and NH3-TPD to inspect their property and function. The impact of modifier amount and preparative method on the actual adsorption of the Al-containing composite was investigated.

A new strategy was utilized to prepare strongly basic zeolite through precoating MgO on the zeolite NaY prior to KNO 3 modification. By controlling the loading amount of the precursor magnesium acetate, MgO could be well dispersed on NaY as long as its content did not exceed 12 wt%. The precoated MgO layer played a significant role in enhancing the basicity of zeolite by adjusting the host–guest interaction to promote the decomposition of KNO 3 on NaY, and at the same time this MgO layer prevented the zeolite framework from corroding by the resulting strongly basic potassium species. As a result, a strong basicity was successfully generated on NaY, and the resulting basic zeolites containing potassium species exhibited good catalytic performance on the vapor phase methylation of cyclopentadiene (CPD) with methanol. The conversion of CPD was 30.1% and 3.5% over parent NaY and Mg 12 Y, respectively, accompanied with the methylcyclopentadienes (MCPD) selectivity of 8.3% and 46.1% at the reaction temperature of 500 °C and time of 1 h. However, 38.1% of CPD could be converted over K 10 Mg 12 Y under the same reaction conditions, and the selectivity of MCPD achieved to 76.7%.

Removal of carcinogens such as nitrosamines in environment is one of the potential applications of zeolites in life science, which involves the molecular reorganization and selective adsorption. To explore how copper species promote the adsorption of volatile nitrosamines in zeolite, NaY was chosen as the host to be modified with copper cation through ion exchange and impregnation. The instantaneous adsorption of N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR) was used to assess the actual capture of nitrosamines by the modified zeolite in order to reveal the relation between the location of the copper cation and its promotion on the adsorption of nitrosamines. As the results revealed, incorporation of copper species in zeolite strengthened the electrostatic interaction between the nitrosamines and the adsorbent but occupies the space inside the channel to cause hindrance. According to the study, the promotion of the copper species overcame their negative effect and desorption of volatile nitrosamines from zeolite at 453 K was thus suppressed. Rather, the copper species dispersed in the channel of zeolite played the main role to improve adsorption of volatile nitrosamines.

Novel CO2 capturer with a high efficiency is fabricated through dispersing the amine mixture of tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) and diethanolamine (DEA) or glycerol within the as-synthesized mesoporous silica SBA-15, and the resulting sample is characterized by low angle X-ray diffraction and N2 adsorption to evaluate the distribution of the guest. The influence of hydroxyl group on the CO2 adsorption capacity of the composite is investigated by using CO2-TPD and TG–MS techniques. The hydroxyl group of the P123 ((EO)20(PO)70(EO)20, template preserved in as-synthesized SBA-15) and the guest could promote the capture of CO2 by the amine through changing the interaction mechanism. In addition, the presence of hydroxyl group promotes the formation of the intermediate between CO2 and the amine with a lower thermal stability hence the CO2 trapped by the composite is easier to be desorbed and thus the regeneration of adsorbent is facilitated. Therefore, using this mixed amine (TEPA and DEA) modified as-synthesized SBA-15 as CO2 capturer not only saves the energy for removal of template, but also cut down the cost in the preparation and regeneration of CO2 capturer, which is critical in CO2 separation and capture.