Synthesis of helical and supplementary chirally doped PMO materials. Suitable catalysts for asymmetric synthesis.

Exciting helical mesoporous organosilicas including supplementary chirally doped moieties into their spiral walls were one-pot successfully synthesized with good structural order for, to the best of our knowledge, the first time. This one-step direct synthesis of helical chirally doped periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) materials was carried out by combination of a tartrate-based bis-organosilicon precursor with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and two surfactants, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and perfluoroctanoic acid (CTAB and PFOA). For comparison purposes, a conventional two-step postsynthetic grafting methodology was carried out. In this method, the chiral tartrate-based moieties were grafted onto the helical silica mesoporous materials previously prepared by the dual-templating approach (CTAB and PFOA). The chirally doped materials prepared by both methodologies exhibited helical structure and high BET surface area, pore size distributions, and total pore volume in the range of mesopores. Solid-state (13)C and (29)Si MAS NMR experiments confirmed the presence of the chiral organic precursor in the silica wall covalently bonded to silicon atoms. Nevertheless, one-pot direct synthesis led to a greater control of surface properties and presented larger incorporation of organic species compared with the two-step postsynthetic methodology. To further prove the potential feasibility of these materials in enantiomeric applications, Mannich diastereoselective asymmetric synthesis was chosen as catalytic test. In the case of the one-pot PMO material, the rigidity of the chiral ligand backbone provided by its integration into the inorganic helical wall in combination with the steric impediments supplied by the twisted geometry led to the reagents to adopt specific orientations. These geometrical constrictions resulted in an outstanding diastereomeric induction toward the preferred enantiomer.

Design, synthesis and characterization of doped-titanium oxide nanomaterials with environmental and angiogenic applications.

Since the last decade, the metal composite nanostructures have evolved as promising candidates in regard to their wide applications in the fields of science and engineering. Recently, several investigators identified the titanium based nanomaterials as excellent agents for multifunctional environmental and biomedical applications. In this perspective, we have developed a series of zinc-doped (2 and 5%) titanium oxide-based nanomaterials using various reaction conditions and calcination temperatures (TZ1-TZ3: calcined at 500°C, TZ4-TZ6: calcined at 600°C and TZ7-TZ9: calcined at 700°C). The calcined materials (TZ1 to TZ9) were thoroughly analyzed by several physico-chemical characterization methods. The increase of the calcination temperature results in significant changes of the textural properties of the nanostructured materials. In addition, the increase of the calcination temperature leads to the formation of anatase/rutile mixtures with higher quantity of rutile. Furthermore, incorporation of zinc changes the morphology of the obtained nanoparticles. The materials were studied in the photodegradation of methylene blue observing that materials calcined at lower temperatures (TZ1-TZ3) have higher photocatalytic activity than those of the materials calcined at 600°C (TZ4-TZ6), rutile-based systems TZ7-TZ9 are not active. Based on the background literature of titanium and zinc based nanostructures in therapeutic angiogenesis, we have explored the pro-angiogenic properties of these materials using various in vitro and in vivo assays. The zinc-doped titanium dioxide nanostructures (TZ5 and TZ6) exhibited increased cell viability, proliferation, enhanced S-phase cell population, increased pro-angiogenic messengers (ROS: reactive oxygen species and NO: nitric oxide) production and promoted in vivo blood vessel formation in a plausible mechanistic p38/STAT3 dependent signaling cascade. Altogether, the results of the present study showcase these zinc doped-titanium oxide nanoparticles as promising candidates for environmental (water-remediation) and therapeutic angiogenic applications.

Photodegradation of organic pollutants in water and green hydrogen production via methanol photoreforming of doped titanium oxide nanoparticles.

Novel nanomaterials based on doped TiO2 nanoparticles with different morphological, textural and band-gap properties have been synthesized using scalable methods. The influence of synthetic parameters such as titanium source (titanium(IV) isopropoxide and titanium(IV) butoxide), doping quantity (0%, 2% or 5% Zn), acidic solution for the hydrolysis reaction (ascorbic acid, nitric acid) and calcination temperatures (500°C and 600°C) was simultaneously investigated. The obtained nanomaterials were characterized by different methods and photocatalytic tests of methylene blue (MB) degradation under UV-light were conducted to determine their activity. The results revealed that the synthesized nanomaterials are porous aggregates with very high crystallinity and are mainly composed of the anatase phase; although their physical properties vary depending on the different synthetic parameters employed. These changes are able to modify the apparent rate constant of the degradation of MB up to one order of magnitude, indicating, substantial changes in their photoactivity. Hybrid materials TiO2-Pd nanoparticles have also been prepared, characterized and tested for hydrogen production using photocatalytic methanol reforming where supported palladium nanoparticles acted as co-catalyst. Furthermore, the hybrid materials TiO2-Pd nanoparticles were studied in photocatalytic tests of methylene blue degradation under visible LED-light. The results obtained in the production of hydrogen from the photocatalytic reforming of methanol by hybrid materials suggest that the reported hybrid systems could be suitable photocatalysts for future sustainable hydrogen production upon tuning of the morphological, textural and band gap energy properties to allow processes to be carried out under visible light.