Synthesis of Dy2O3 nanoparticles via hydroxide precipitation： effect of calcination temperature

This work described the preparation of dysprosium oxide, Dy2O3, nanoparticles using the homogeneous precipitation method. Dy3+ ions were precipitated using NaOH solution. The obtained product was filtered, dried, and then calcined for 1 h at the temperature range of 300–700 °C in static air. The calcination temperature of the Dy-precursor was chosen based on its decomposition as indicated by the TGA analysis. The crystalline structure and surface morphology of the calcined solids were studied by X-ray diffraction(XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS). The obtained results revealed that Dy2O3 with crystallites size of 11–21 nm was formed at 500 °C. Such value increased to 25–37 nm for the sample calcined at 700 °C.     

Propylsulfonic acid-functionalized partially crystalline silicalite-1 materials: synthesis and characterization

Propylsulfonic acid-functionalized partially crystalline silicalite-1 materials were synthesized via one step co-condensation technique by varying the molar ratio of organosilane source, 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (3MP) to tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) in the range of 0.05–0.30, and subsequent oxidation of thiol group to propylsulfonic acid using hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). These materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption–desorption method. The structure of these materials was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and ²⁹Si and ¹³C solid state NMR. XRD results show that % crystallinity of the materials decreased with the increase in 3MP concentration in the synthesis mixture. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) showed the presence of crystalline and amorphous phases in the samples. An amorphous phase was formed when 3MP concentration was 30 mol% of the total silica source. After elimination of the structure directing agent (SDA) by calcination at 420 °C, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) shows that the structure was thermally stable up to 550 °C. Ammonia temperature-programmed desorption (NH₃-TPD) shows that the acid capacity of these materials was in the range of 1.19–1.83 mmol H⁺/g, which shows that these materials could be used as potential heterogeneous acid catalyst.     

Synthesis of ultra-small silicon nanoparticles by femtosecond laser ablation of porous silicon

We report a detailed study on the synthesis of ultra-small (1–10 nm) colloidal silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) by ablating porous silicon (pSi) in acetone using femtosecond laser pulses. Porous silicon is considered as a target material for ablation because it contains a large number of light emitting silicon nanoparticles. The pSi samples were prepared by anodic etching of silicon in aqueous HF solution for different etching current densities. Transmission electron microscope measurements confirmed the successful formation of well-isolated spherical silicon nanoparticles. The average size of spherical NPs were estimated to be ~7.6, ~7, and ~6 nm when anodic etching current densities of 5, 10, and 20 mA/cm² were used respectively for preparing pSi targets. The crystallinity of these Si NPs was confirmed by selective area electron diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements. The observed blue shift in the absorption and emission spectra are attributed to reduction in the average particle size with increase in etching current density. These Si NPs may be useful for fabricating low-dimensional microelectronic compatible photonic devices.     

Investigation on the effect of spinning conditions on the properties of hollow fiber membrane for hemodialysis application

Polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated via the dry‐wet phase inversion spinning technique, aiming to produce an asymmetric, micro porous ultrafiltration hollow‐fiber specifically for hemodialysis membrane. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of spinning conditions on the morphological and permeation properties of the fabricated membrane. Among the parameters that were studied in this work are air gap distance, dope extrusion rate, bore fluid flow rate, and the take‐up speed. The contact angle was measured to determine the hydrophilicity of the fibers. Membrane with sufficient hydrophilicity properties is desired for hemodialysis application to avoid fouling and increase its biocompatibility. The influences of the hollow fiber's morphology (i.e., diameter and wall thickness) on the performance of the membranes were evaluated by pure water flux and BSA rejection. The experimental results showed that the dope extrusion rate to bore fluid flow rate ratio should be maintained at 1:1 ratio to produce a perfectly rounded asymmetric hollow fiber membrane. Moreover, the flux of the hollow fiber spun at higher air gap distance had better flux than the one spun at lower air gap distance. Furthermore, spinning asymmetric hollow fiber membranes at high air gap distance helps to produce a thin and porous skin layer, leading to a better flux but a relatively low percentage of rejection for BSA separation. Findings from this study would serve as primary data which will be a useful guide for fabricating a high performance hemodialysis hollow fiber membrane. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43633.     

Synthesis and Characterization of NiO Nano‐Spheres by Templating on Chitosan as a Green Precursor

In this study, nickel oxide was prepared through the calcination of extrusion dripped chitosan/nickel nitrate beads. The morphology and structural properties of the products were studied using various characterization techniques. Uniformly distributed nickel oxide was formed as observed from the studies of surface morphology where the processing parameters play a huge role on the resulting morphology. TEM results have shown that nickel oxide with crystallite sizes of 10–30 nm was obtained. The Fourier‐transform infrared spectra studies show an intense peak at 525 cm^?1, which is attributed to the vibration of Ni–O bond. Furthermore, the XRD results show NiO diffraction peaks correspond to (111), (200), (220), (311), and (222) which indicates that a bunsenite structure with a face‐centered cubic phase was produced in this study. The usage of 500°C as the lower limit in this study is justified due to the complete removal of the templating material as seen in the thermalgravimetric analysis studies. Furthermore, it was obtained that the largest surface area of nickel oxide synthesized using this technique is 48.024 m²/g with pore sizes of 19.843 nm. The usage of chitosan as a green template for the synthesis of nanoparticles has shown promising results which allows a more economical and sustainable approach for the fabrication of nanomaterials.