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Abstract
Nanosized α-zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP), unlike microcrystalline α-ZrP, takes less time to prepare and is synthesized directly in organic solvents. During the synthesis of nanosized α-ZrP, the heating step is critical because during which the particle growth/aggregation is ongoing. In order to explore more details of this step, extra water molecules were intentionally introduced to the ethanol gel of nanosized α-ZrP so that the evaporation of the solvent was slowed. To heat the gels at 65 °C for different periods (1-6 days), one could control with ease the synthesized α-ZrP in size, from 63 to 155 nm, and in morphology, from amorphous to highly crystalline. Furthermore, the heating step also affects the intercalated solvent and the dangling propionate groups on the edge of the nanosized α-ZrP, which could be deduced from the intercalation/exfoliation behavior of the nanocrystals. This modified synthesis method of nanosized α-ZrP offers an alternate means to tune the size and morphology of the nanosized α-ZrP for broad applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Ding
- Polymer Program, Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States
| | - Zaili Hou
- Polymer Program, Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States
| | - Luyi Sun
- Polymer Program, Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States
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Zeng M, Wang P, Luo J, Peng B, Ding B, Zhang L, Wang L, Huang D, Echols I, Abo Deeb E, Bordovsky E, Choi CH, Ybanez C, Meras P, Situ E, Mannan MS, Cheng Z. Hierarchical, Self-Healing and Superhydrophobic Zirconium Phosphate Hybrid Membrane Based on the Interfacial Crystal Growth of Lyotropic Two-Dimensional Nanoplatelets. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2018; 10:22793-22800. [PMID: 29893541 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b03414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate a facile route to in situ growth of lyotropic zirconium phosphate (ZrP) nanoplates on textiles via an interfacial crystal growing process. The as-prepared hybrid membrane shows a hierarchical architecture of textile fibers (porous platform for fluid transport), ZrP nanoplatelets (layered scaffolds for chemical barriers), and octadecylamine (organic species for superhydrophobic functionalization). Interestingly, such a hybrid membrane is able to separate the oily wastewater with a high separation efficiency of 99.9%, even at in harsh environments. After being chemically etched, the hybrid membrane is able to restore its hydrophobicity autonomously and repeatedly, owing to the hierarchical structure that enables facile loading of healing agent. We anticipate that the concept of implanting superhydrophobic self-healing features in anisotropic structure of lyotropic nanoparticles will open up new opportunities for developing advanced multifunctional materials for wastewater treatment, fuel purification, and oil spill mitigation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pingmei Wang
- Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development (RIPED), PetroChina , Beijing 100083 , China
- Key Laboratory of Nano Chemistry (KLNC) , CNPC , Beijing 100083 , China
| | - Jianhui Luo
- Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development (RIPED), PetroChina , Beijing 100083 , China
- Key Laboratory of Nano Chemistry (KLNC) , CNPC , Beijing 100083 , China
| | - Baoliang Peng
- Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development (RIPED), PetroChina , Beijing 100083 , China
- Key Laboratory of Nano Chemistry (KLNC) , CNPC , Beijing 100083 , China
| | - Bin Ding
- Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development (RIPED), PetroChina , Beijing 100083 , China
- Key Laboratory of Nano Chemistry (KLNC) , CNPC , Beijing 100083 , China
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Yu YH, Wang X, Shinde A, Cheng Z. Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals. J Vis Exp 2016. [PMID: 27284765 DOI: 10.3791/53511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to their abundance in natural clay and potential applications in advanced materials, discotic nanoparticles are of interest to scientists and engineers. Growth of such anisotropic nanocrystals through a simple chemical method is a challenging task. In this study, we fabricate discotic nanodisks of zirconium phosphate [Zr(HPO4)2·H2O] as a model material using hydrothermal, reflux and microwave-assisted methods. Growth of crystals is controlled by duration time, temperature, and concentration of reacting species. The novelty of the adopted methods is that discotic crystals of size ranging from hundred nanometers to few micrometers can be obtained while keeping the polydispersity well within control. The layered discotic crystals are converted to monolayers by exfoliation with tetra-(n)-butyl ammonium hydroxide [(C4H9)4NOH, TBAOH]. Exfoliated disks show isotropic and nematic liquid crystal phases. Size and polydispersity of disk suspensions is highly important in deciding their phase behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Hsien Yu
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University
| | - Xuezhen Wang
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University; Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, Texas A&M University
| | - Abhijeet Shinde
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University
| | - Zhengdong Cheng
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University; Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University; Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, Texas A&M University; Professional Program in Biotechnology, Texas A&M University;
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Chen M, Li H, Chen Y, Mejia AF, Wang X, Cheng Z. Observation of isotropic-isotropic demixing in colloidal platelet-sphere mixtures. SOFT MATTER 2015; 11:5775-5779. [PMID: 26095942 DOI: 10.1039/c5sm00615e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Mixtures of colloids with different sizes and shapes are ubiquitous in nature and industry. The possible existence of isotropic-isotropic (I1-I2) demixing of platelets and spheres remains an open question. Here we present direct experimental evidence of I1-I2 demixing using platelets with a very small thickness-to-diameter ratio mixed with silica spheres at the size ratio q = R(sphere)/R(disk) = 0.0901 ± 0.0004. The platelets cause the isotropic-to-nematic phase transition at a very low volume fraction because of their highly anisometric shape. The presence of silica spheres in the suspension accelerates the phase transition and packs the nematic phase more densely via depletion interaction. Increasing the sphere volume fraction to 0.0014, a tri-phase region emerges. This direct observation of I1-I2 demixing seems to validate the free-volume scaled particle theory and indicates the need for refinement of the fundamental measure density functional theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingfeng Chen
- Soft Matter Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Condensed Matter, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
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Wensink HH, Trizac E. Generalized Onsager theory for strongly anisometric patchy colloids. J Chem Phys 2014; 140:024901. [PMID: 24437905 DOI: 10.1063/1.4851217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The implications of soft "patchy" interactions on the orientational disorder-order transition of strongly elongated colloidal rods and flat disks is studied within a simple Onsager-van der Waals density functional theory. The theory provides a generic framework for studying the liquid crystal phase behaviour of highly anisometric cylindrical colloids which carry a distinct geometrical pattern of repulsive or attractive soft interactions localized on the particle surface. In this paper, we apply our theory to the case of charged rods and disks for which the local electrostatic interactions can be described by a screened-Coulomb potential. We consider infinitely thin rod like cylinders with a uniform line charge and infinitely thin discotic cylinders with several distinctly different surface charge patterns. Irrespective of the backbone shape the isotropic-nematic phase diagrams of charged colloids feature a generic destabilization of nematic order at low ionic strength, a dramatic narrowing of the biphasic density region, and a reentrant phenomenon upon reducing the electrostatic screening. The low screening regime is characterized by a complete suppression of nematic order in favor of positionally ordered liquid crystal phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- H H Wensink
- Laboratoire de Physique des Solides - UMR 8502, Université Paris-Sud and CNRS, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France
| | - E Trizac
- Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques - UMR 8626, Université Paris-Sud and CNRS, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France
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Li H, Wang X, Chen Y, Cheng Z. Temperature-dependent isotropic-to-nematic transition of charged nanoplates. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2014; 90:020504. [PMID: 25215677 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.90.020504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Studies of temperature-dependent phase behaviors of discotic colloids are found infrequently in the literature. We establish here the isotropic-to-nematic (I-N) transition phase diagram of charged platelets in the temperature-versus-volume fraction plane. We discover that the N phase can be melted by increasing temperature, and that coexistent samples are more sensitive to polydispersity at higher temperature and higher concentration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huawei Li
- Soft Matter Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Condensed Matter, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Xuezhen Wang
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3122, USA and Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3122, USA
| | - Ying Chen
- Soft Matter Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Condensed Matter, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Zhengdong Cheng
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3122, USA and Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3122, USA and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3003, USA and Professional Program in Biotechnology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3122, USA
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Di X, Peng X, McKenna GB. Dynamics of a thermo-responsive microgel colloid near to the glass transition. J Chem Phys 2014; 140:054903. [DOI: 10.1063/1.4863327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Shuai M, Mejia AF, Chang YW, Cheng Z. Hydrothermal synthesis of layered α-zirconium phosphate disks: control of aspect ratio and polydispersity for nano-architecture. CrystEngComm 2013. [DOI: 10.1039/c2ce26402a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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