Preparation,Characterization and Catalytic Activity of Palladium Nanoparticles Embedded in the Mesoporous Silica Matrices

Novel in-situ reduction approach was applied for the synthesis of palladium nanoparticles in the pores of mesoporous silica materials with grafted siliconhydride groups. Matrices possessing different structural properties (MCM-41, SBA-15 and Silochrom) were used. Samples were studied by nitrogen adsorption-desorption method, low-angle X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and FT-IR/PAS spectroscopy. The temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO) and reduction (TPR) methods were applied to examine reducibility of palladium species. Palladium containing catalysts were tested in methane oxidation reaction. It was demonstrated that relatively large pores in SBA-15 type silica facilitated formation of well-dispersed palladium nanoparticles confined in the pores channels. In the case of MCM-41 support, metallic palladium nanoparticles were formed on the external surface. The obtained materials showed high catalytic activity. Lower activity of the samples containing small crystallites located in the pore volume at high temperatures was related to worse accessibility of active sites to the reation mixture.

Easily prepared and stable functionalized magnetic ordered mesoporous silica for efficient uranium extraction

Functionalized magnetic Fe_3O_4@SiO_2 composite nanoparticles were prepared by simply embedding iron oxide nanoparticles into MCM-41 through one-step synthesis process, followed by aminopropyls grafting on the mesopore channels, aiming to efficiently and conveniently uptake U(VI) from aqueous solution. The resultant material possesses highly ordered mesoporous structure with large surface area, uniform pore size, excellent thermal stability, quick magnetic response, and desirable acids resistance, confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), N_2 adsorption/desorption experiments, powder X-ray diffraction(PXRD), and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). Detailed U(VI) sorption test indicated that this material is indeed an effective U(VI) sorbent with fast sorption kinetics of less than 2 h, large sorption capacity of 160 mg/g at p H 5.0±0.1, and desirable selectivity towards U(VI) ions over a range of competing metal ions. The absorbed U(VI) can be easily desorbed by 0.01 mol/L or more concentrated HNO_3 solution, and the reclaimed sorbent can be reused with no obvious decrease of sorption capacity even after 4 sorption-desorption cycles. The present results suggest the vast opportunities of this kind of magnetic composite on the solid-phase extraction of U(VI).