Facile synthesis of nanostrip-structured pseudo-boehmite "nest" for nano-TiO2/γ-Al2O3construction to remove tetracycline hydrochloride in water.

A particular bird's nest-like pseudo-boehmite (PB) composed of cohesive nanostrips was prepared by a novel and facile approach based on the reaction of Al-Ga-In-Sn alloy and water, together with ammonium carbonate. The PB possesses a large specific surface area (465.2 m2g-1), pore volume (1.0 cm3g-1), and pore diameter (8.7 nm). Subsequently, it was utilized as a precursor to form the TiO2/γ-Al2O3nanocomposite for tetracycline hydrochloride removal. The removal efficiency can reach above 90% at TiO2:PB = 1:1.5 under the Sunlight irradiation simulated by a LED lamp. Our results indicate that the nest-like PB is a promising carrier precursor for efficient nanocomposite catalysts.

A General Route to Flame Aerosol Synthesis and In Situ Functionalization of Mesoporous Silica.

Mesoporous silica is a versatile material for energy, environmental, and medical applications. Here, for the first time, we report a flame aerosol synthesis method for a class of mesoporous silica with hollow structure and specific surface area exceeding 1000 m2 g-1 . We show its superior performance in water purification, as a drug carrier, and in thermal insulation. Moreover, we propose a general route to produce mesoporous nanoshell-supported nanocatalysts by in situ decoration with active nanoclusters, including noble metal (Pt/SiO2 ), transition metal (Ni/SiO2 ), metal oxide (CrO3 /SiO2 ), and alumina support (Co/Al2 O3 ). As a prototypical application, we perform dry reforming of methane using Ni/SiO2 , achieving constant 97 % CH4 and CO2 conversions for more than 200 hours, dramatically outperforming an MCM-41 supported Ni catalyst. This work provides a scalable strategy to produce mesoporous nanoshells and proposes an in situ functionalization mechanism to design and produce flexible catalysts for many reactions.