• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.449-454
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• 2016

In this study, highly monodispersed porous carbon microcapsules with a hollow core were synthesized using polystyrene (PS) beads as a hard template. The surface of PS was first modified with polyvinylpyrollidone (PVP) for the easy attachment of inorganic silica sol. After coating the surface of PVP modified PS microspheres with SBA-16 sol, the carbon microcapsules with a hollow macroporous core were fabricated through reverse replication method by filling carbon sources in the mesopores of silica mold. The hollow carbons having a mesoporous shell structure and narrow particle size distribution could be obtained after the carbonization of carbon source and the dissolution of silica mold by HF solution. The mesoporous characteristics and electrochemical properties of hollow carbon microcapsules were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, $N_2$ adsorption/desorption analysis and cyclic voltammetry. They showed the high electric conductivity and capability for use as efficient electro-materials such as a supercapacitor.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.352-359
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• 2024

Environmental pollution from heavy metal ions (HMIs) is a global concern. Recently, biosorption methods using cellulose sorbents have gained popularity. The objective of this study was to assess the removal efficiency of Cu(II), Pb(II), and Hg(II) ions at low concentration levels (100-700 ppb) from aqueous solutions using three different cellulose fiber-based filter media. Sample A was pure cellulose fiber, Sample B was 10% activated carbon-cellulose fiber, and Sample C was cellulose fiber-glass fiber-30% activated carbon-20% amorphous titanium silicate (ATS). The samples were characterized by several physicochemical techniques. The porosity measurements using N₂ sorption isotherms revealed that Samples A and B are nonporous or macroporous materials, whereas the addition of 50% filler materials into the cellulose resulted in a microporous material. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and pore volume of Sample C were found to be 320.34 m²/g and 0.162 cm³/g, respectively. The single ion batch adsorption experiments reveal that at 700 ppb initial metal ion concentration, Sample A had removal efficiencies of 7.5, 11.5, and 13.7% for Cu(II), Pb(II), and Hg(II) ions, respectively. Sample B effectively eliminated 99.6% of Cu(II) ions compared to Pb(II) (14.2%) and Hg(II) (31.9%) ions. Cu(II) (99.37%) and Pb(II) (96.3%) ions are more efficiently removed by Sample C than Hg(II) (68.2%) ions. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) wild survey spectrum revealed the presence of Cu(II), Pb(II), and Hg(II) ions in HMI-adsorbed filter media. The high-resolution C1s spectra of Samples A and B reveal the presence of -C-OH and -COOH groups on their surface, which are essential for HMIs adsorption via complexation reactions. Additionally, the ATS in Sample C facilitates the adsorption of Pb(II) and Hg(II) ions through ion exchange.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.2178-2182
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• 2011

Recently, the synthesis of ordered macroporous materials has received much attention due to its potential use as photonic band gap materials.$^1$ In this study, we have used the three-dimensional (3D) latex array template impregnated with benzenesulfonic acid (BSA), which is capable of catalyzing the reaction using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor and distilled water. The polystyrene (PS) templates were reacted with TEOS in $scCO_2$ at 40 $^{\circ}C$ and at 80 bar. In the reactor, TEOS was filtrated into the PS particle lattice. After the reaction, porous silica materials were obtained by calcinations of the template. The stability test of the PS template in pure $CO_2$ was conducted before the main experiment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the reaction in $scCO_2$ takes place only on the particle surface. This new method using $scCO_2$ has advantages over conventional sol-gel processes in its capability to control the fluid properties such as viscosity and interfacial tension. It has been found that the reaction in $scCO_2$ occurs only on the particle surface, making the proposed technique as more rapid and sustainable method of synthesizing inverse opal materials than conventional coating processes in the liquid phase and in the vapor phase.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.759-764
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• 2018

3D porous carbon electrodes (cNPIM), prepared by solution casting of a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1) followed by nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) and carbonization are presented. In order to effectively control the pore size of 3D porous carbon structures, cNPIM was prepared by varying the THF ratio of mixed solvents. The SEM analysis revealed that cNPIMs have a unique 3D macroporous structure having a gradient pore structure, which is expected to grant a smooth and easy ion transfer capability as an electrode material. In addition, the cNPIMs presented a very large specific surface area ($2,101.1m^2/g$) with a narrow micropore size distribution (0.75 nm). Consequently, the cNPIM exhibits a high specific capacitance (304.8 F/g) and superior rate capability of 77% in an aqueous electrolyte. We believe that our approach can provide a variety of new 3D porous carbon materials for the application to an electrochemical energy storage.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2019

A macroporous Sn thick film as a high capacity negative electrode for a lithium ion secondary battery was prepared by using a chemical etching method using nitric acid for a Sn film having a thickness of $52{\mu}m$. The porous Sn thick film greatly reduced the over-voltage for the alloying reaction with lithium by the increased reaction area. At the same time. The porous structure of active Sn film plays a part in the buffer and reduces the damage by the volume change during cycles. Since the porous Sn thick film electrode does not require the use of the binder and the conductive carbon black, it has substantially larger energy density. As the concentration of nitric acid in etching solution increased, the degree of the etching increased. The etching of the Sn film effectively proceeded with nitric acid of 3 M concentration or more. The porous Sn film could not be recovered because the most of Sn was eluted within 60 seconds by the rapid etching rate in the 5 M nitric acid. In the case of etching with 4 M nitric acid for 60 seconds, the appropriate porous Sn film was formed with 48.9% of weight loss and 40.3% of thickness change during chemical acid etching process. As the degree of etching of Sn film increased, the electrochemical activity and the reversible capacity for the lithium storage of the Sn film electrode were increased. The highest reversible specific capacity of 650 mAh/g was achieved at the etching condition with 4 M nitric acid. The porous Sn film electrode showed better cycle performance than the conventional electrode using a Sn powder.