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Nanosized zeolites enable better catalytic performance; however, their synthesis is non-trivial. Here, a simple treatment is presented that enables the growth of nanosized fins on zeolites that act as pseudo-nanoparticles, reducing deactivation rates for methanol-to-hydrocarbon catalysis.
Avelino Corma, professor at the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ-CSIC-Polytechnical University of Valencia), talks to Nature Materials about challenges facing zeolites, and issues faced in commercializing research.
Zeolitic catalyst particles are grown with nanosized fins that improve mass transport into the interior of the particle. This delays catalyst deactivation in the methanol-to-hydrocarbons process.
Polymeric glasses with significant thermodynamic and kinetic stability have been fabricated using physical vapour deposition, providing a mean to gather insight into the properties of glasses aged for millions of years.
Carbon nanotubes with single-digit diameter embedded in a solid artificial membrane show pressure-sensitive ionic conductance that is similar to the mechanically activated currents of biological ion channels.
Correlated real-space imaging and optical measurements of twisted MoSe2/WSe2 bilayers reveal strain-induced modulations of the moiré potential landscape, tuning arrays of 0D traps into 1D stripes and leading to substantial changes in the optical response of the heterostructures.
Lewis acid aluminium sites in zeolites enable some industrially relevant catalytic reactions, such as biomass valorization. This Perspective explores the origin and interpretation of these species, and discusses characterization techniques that can close knowledge gaps.
Carbon nanotubes with 2 nm channel radius are shown to display pressure-driven ionic currents, which share some similarities to the response of biological mechanosensitive ion channels to tension.
A spatially resolved optical polarimetry technique is used to identify a three-state Potts-nematic order parameter in a triangular lattice antiferromagnetic material.
The combination of piezoresponse force microscopy and optical measurements reveals the influence of strain in the formation of one-dimensional moiré patterns and the resulting behaviour of interlayer excitons in van der Waals heterostructures.
Nanosized zeolites enable better catalytic performance; however, their synthesis is non-trivial. Here, a simple treatment is presented that enables the growth of nanosized fins on zeolites that act as pseudo-nanoparticles, reducing deactivation rates for methanol-to-hydrocarbon catalysis.
The methanol-to-hydrocarbons reaction on zeolites produces olefins from many sources, but catalyst stability is a major challenge. Here, by combining operando measurements and simulations, the formation and identification of deactivating carbonaceous species throughout the reaction are achieved.
Understanding the competition between thermodynamics and kinetics is crucial for the rational synthesis of inorganic materials. The synthesis of two-layer sodium metal oxides is investigated by in situ synchrotron XRD and a model is developed to rationalize why the observed phase progression proceeds through non-equilibrium three-layered intermediates.
Non-uniform metal deposition and dendrite formation reduce the efficiency, safety and life of batteries with metal anodes. The influence of these factors in a sodium electrolyte now shows how a molten-salt-like structure at the electrode surface results in dendrite-free metal cycling at higher rates.
Stretchable and biodegradable elastic biogels based on gelatin, glucose, glycerol and citric acid are realized, whose mechanical properties can be adapted to a broad range of applications in soft robotics and wearable electronics.
The physical vapour deposition of ultrastable monodispersed polymer glasses is reported. This technique allows for the high tunability of glass transition temperatures of the deposited polymers, which could be useful for technological applications.
Mechanical properties and forces sculpt the behaviour of cells in living organisms. Silicon-based nanochips implanted into mouse one-cell embryos have been used to reveal mechanical changes during the early onset of embryonic development.