Apparent Anomalous Temperature Dependence of Self-Diffusion Studied by Pulsed-Field Gradient Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Thermodynamic Modeling

The self-diffusivity of cyclohexane and n-octane adsorbed in hierarchical zeolite monoliths has been investigated by using PFG-NMR. In these samples, the intrinsic FAU-X zeolite microporosity combines with a complex macroporous network composed of aggregated zeolite nanocrystals. As temperature is increased, cyclohexane self-diffusivity apparently decreases, reaches a minimum, and then starts increasing upon further increasing the temperature. Such striking, i.e., non-Arrhenius, temperature dependence is not observed for n-octane in the same samples and for cyclohexane adsorbed in purely microporous FAU-X. Through thermodynamic modeling, we show that this anomalous behavior can be rationalized by considering the evolution in the adsorbate populations when changing the temperature. In more detail, we show that the slow and fast diffusing species present in the microporosity and secondary porosity arising from the packing of zeolite nanocrystals vary significantly with a strong impact on the effective diffusivity. Applying the temperature evolution of their relative fractions to a simple two-phase diffusion model helps obtain insights into the physicochemical factors responsible for the complex behavior of effective self-diffusivity in hierarchical zeolites.

Influence of the Mesoporosity of Hierarchical ZSM-5 in Toluene Alkylation by Methanol

Among the different strategies to design highly shape-selective ZSM-5 to obtain para-xylene through toluene alkylation with methanol, the introduction of mesopores to increase reactant and product diffusion has been proposed but barely studied. In this study, we prepared mesoporous ZSM-5 catalysts, named ZSM5-MT(x), from commercial ZSM-5 (Si/Al = 15), using a two-step micelle-templating procedure with octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide as a surfactant in basic medium (x = NaOH/Si). These materials were used as catalysts for the alkylation of toluene by methanol at a low contact time to avoid thermodynamic equilibrium of the xylene isomers. Compared to the parent ZSM-5, the mesoporous ZSM5-MT(x) catalysts did not improve the para-xylene selectivity, revealing that the strategy of increasing diffusion in the catalyst is not a good strategy to follow. However, ZSM5-MT(0.5) showed less deactivation on stream than the parent ZSM-5. Therefore, introducing mesopores to ZSM-5 could be interesting to explore, combined with another strategy of shape selectivity, such as the passivation of the external surface acidity.

Experimental and modeling of tetracycline degradation in water in a flow-through enzymatic monolithic reactor

In this work, the laccase from Trametes versicolor was immobilized in highly porous silica monoliths (0.6-cm diameter, 0.5-cm length). These monoliths feature a unique homogeneous network of interconnected macropores (20 μm) with mesopores (20 nm) in the skeleton and a high specific surface area (330 m²/g). The enzymatic monoliths were applied to degrade tetracycline (TC) in model aqueous solutions (20 ppm). For this purpose, a tubular flow-through reactor (FTR) configuration with recycling was built. The TC degradation was improved with oxygen saturation, presence of degradation products, and recirculation rate. The TC depletion reaches 50% in the FTR and 90% in a stirred tank reactor (CSTR) using crushed monoliths. These results indicate the importance of maintaining a high co-substrate concentration near active sites. A model coupling mass transfers with a Michaelis-Menten kinetics was applied to simulate the TC degradation in real wastewaters at actual TC concentration (2.8 10^-4 ppm). Simulation results show that industrial scale FTR reactor should be suitable to degrade 90% of TC in 5 h at a flow rate of 1 mL/min in a single passage flow configuration. Nevertheless, the process could certainly be further optimized in terms of laccase activity, oxygen supply near active sites, and contact time.

Biocatalytic Elimination of Pharmaceutics Found in Water With Hierarchical Silica Monoliths in Continuous Flow

Pharmaceutical products (PPs) are considered as emerging micropollutans in wastewaters, river and seawaters, and sediments. The biodegradation of PPs, such as ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin, sulfamethoxazole, and tetracycline by enzymes in aqueous solution was investigated. Laccase from Trametes versicolor was immobilized on silica monoliths with hierarchical meso-/macropores. Different methods of enzyme immobilization were experienced. The most efficient process was the enzyme covalent bonding through glutaraldehyde coupling on amino-grafted silica monoliths. Silica monoliths with different macropore and mesopore diameters were studied. The best support was the monolith featuring the largest macropore diameter (20 µm) leading to the highest permeability and the lowest pressure drop and the largest mesopore diameter (20 nm) ensuring high enzyme accessibility. The optimized enzymatic reactor (150 mg) was used for the degradation of a PP mixture (20 ppm each in 30 ml) in a continuous recycling configuration at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The PP elimination efficiency after 24 h was as high as 100% for amoxicillin, 60% for sulfamethoxazole, 55% for tetracycline, and 30% for ciprofloxacin.

Silica based ionogels: interface effects with aprotic and protic ionic liquids with lithium

In the frame of the development of solid ionogel electrolytes with enhanced ion transport properties, this paper investigates ionogel systems constituted by ∼80 wt% of ionic liquids (ILs) confined in meso-/macroporous silica monolith materials. The anion-cation coordination for two closely related ILs, either aprotic (AIL) butylmethylpyrrolidinium or protic (PIL) butylpyrrolidinium, both with bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (TFSI) anions, with and without lithium cations, is studied in depth. The ILs are confined within silica with well-defined mesoporosities (8 to 16 nm). The effects of this confinement, onto melting points, onto conductivity followed by impedance spectroscopy, and onto lithium-TFSI coordination followed by Raman spectroscopy, are presented. Opposite effects have been observed on the melting temperature: it increased for the AIL (+2 °C) upon confinement, while it decreased for the PIL (-2 °C). With lithium, the confinement led to an increase of the melting temperature (+1 °C) for the PIL and AIL. Regarding ionic conductivities, a relative maximum was observed at 40 °C for a mesopore diameter of 10 nm for the AIL with 0.5 M lithium, while it was not clearly visible for the PIL. These differences are discussed in view of the charge balance at the interface between silanols and ILs: the presence of a PIL, contrary to an AIL, is expected to modify the acidity of the silica. Raman data showed that the coordination number of lithium by TFSI is reduced upon AIL confinement, although this was not observed for PILs. At last, this work highlights the impact of the acidity of a PIL on the chemistry occurring at the interface of the host network within ionogels.

Specific Surface Area Determination for Microporous/Mesoporous Materials: The Case of Mesoporous FAU-Y Zeolites

A methodology for determining the micropore, mesopore, and external surface areas of hierarchical microporous/mesoporous materials from N₂ adsorption isotherms at 77 K is described. For FAU-Y zeolites, the microporous surface area calculated using the Rouquerol criterion and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) equation is in accord with the geometrical surface determined by the chord length distribution method. Therefore, BET surface area ( S_BET) is the well representative of micropore surface areas of microporous materials and of total surface area of microporous/mesoporous materials. Mechanical mixtures of mesoporous MCM-41 and microporous FAU-Y powders of known surface areas were used to calculate the respective surface areas by weighted linear combination and the results were compared to the values obtained by the t-plot method. The first slope of the t-plot determined the mesopore and external surface areas ( S_mes+ext). The linear fit of the first slope is in general in the range 0.01 < p/ p₀ < 0.17 and contains the volumes and relative pressures at which all micropores are filled ( p/ p₀ > 0.10). Overestimation of S_mes+ext values was evident and appropriate corrections were provided. External surface areas ( S_ext) were obtained from the second slope of the t-plot, without noting an overestimation of S_ext, thus allowing the determination of mesopore surface areas ( S_mes) by difference. Micropore surface areas were calculated by subtracting S_mes+ext from the total surface area, S_BET. As an example, this methodology was applied to characterize a family of hierarchical microporous/mesoporous FAU-Y (FAUmes) synthesized from H-FAU-Y (H-Y, Si/Al = 15) using C18TAB as the surfactant and different NaOH/Si ratios (0.05 < NaOH/Si < 0.25). By increasing the NaOH/Si ratio in the synthesis of FAUmes, it was shown that as the micropore surface area decreases, the mesopore surface area increases, whereas the micropore and mesopore surface area remains constant. This methodology allows accurate characterization of the surface areas of microporous/mesoporous materials.

Revelation on the Complex Nature of Mesoporous Hierarchical FAU-Y Zeolites

The texture of mesoporous FAU-Y (FAUmes) prepared by surfactant-templating in basic media is a subject of debate. It is proposed that mesoporous FAU-Y consists of: (1) ordered mesoporous zeolite networks formed by a surfactant-assisted zeolite rearrangement process involving local dissolution and reconstruction of the crystalline framework, and (2) ordered mesoporous amorphous phases as Al-MCM-41, which coexist with zeolite nanodomains obtained by a dissolution-reassembly process. By the present systematic study, performed with FAU-Y (Si/Al = 15) in the presence of octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and 0 < NaOH/Si ratio < 0.25 at 115 °C for 20 h, we demonstrate that mesoporous FAU zeolites consist, in fact, of a complex family of materials with textural features strongly impacted by the experimental conditions. Two main families have been disclosed: (1) for 0.0625 < NaOH/Si < 0.10, FAUmes are ordered mesoporous materials with zeolite walls, which coexist with zeolite nanodomains (100-200 nm) and (2) for 0.125 < NaOH/Si < 0.25, FAUmes are ordered mesoporous materials with amorphous walls as Al-MCM-41, which coexist with zeolite nanodomains (5-100 nm). The zeolite nanodomains decrease in size with the increase of NaOH/Si ratio. Increasing NaOH/Si ratio leads to an increase of mesopore volume, while the total surface area remains constant, and to a decrease of strong acidity in line with the decrease of micropore volume. The ordered mesoporous materials with zeolite walls feature the highest acidity strength. The ordered mesoporous materials with amorphous walls present additional large pores (50-200 nm), which increase in size and amount with the increase of NaOH/Si ratio. This alkaline treatment of FAU-Y represents a way to obtain ordered mesoporous materials with zeolite walls with high mesopore volume for NaOH/Si = 0.10 and a new way to synthesize mesoporous Al-MCM-41 materials containing extralarge pores (50-200 nm) ideal for optimal diffusion (NaOH/Si = 0.25).

Noninvasive Experimental Evidence of the Linear Pore Size Dependence of Water Diffusion in Nanoconfinement

We show that nuclear magnetic relaxation experiments at variable magnetic fields (NMRD) provide noninvasive means for probing the spatial dependence of liquid diffusion close to solid interfaces. These experiments performed on samples of cylindrical and spherical nanopore geometries demonstrate that the average diffusion coefficient parallel to the interface is proportional to the pore radii in different dynamics regimes. A master curve method allows extraction of gradients of diffusion coefficients in proximity of the pore surfaces, indicative of the efficiency of coupling between liquid layers. Due to their selectivity in frequency, NMRD experiments are able to differentiate the different water dynamical events induced by heterogeneous surfaces or composed dynamical processes. This analysis relevant in physical and biological confinements highlights the interplay between the molecular and continuous description of fluid dynamics near interfaces.

Phospholipid–silica mesophases formed in hydroalcoholic solution as precursors of mesoporous silica

The fusion of lipid bilayers in sponge silica–lecithin composites is favoured by natural cosurfactants-induced local opposite curvatures.

Enhancement of lithium transport by controlling the mesoporosity of silica monoliths filled by ionic liquids

A systematic study of the effect of the mesopore diameter of silica monoliths with hierarchical porosity (meso-/macroporosity) on charge transport of confined ionic liquid with lithium salt shows an optimum for mesopore of 10 nm diameter.

Introduction to the themed issue in honor of Dr François Fajula: “An exciting journey in the creative world of ordered porous materials and their applications”

This themed issue, dedicated to François Fajula, includes the latest achievements in the field of ordered porous solids, which is among the most creative, fascinating and attractive fields of chemistry.

Visible emission from Ag(+) exchanged SOD zeolites

Broad visible emissions dominant at green or red have been observed for the thermally-treated Ag(+) exchanged SOD zeolites, determined by the Ag(+) loading contents and the excitation wavelengths. Contrary to the notable reversible green/red dominant emission evolution in the Ag(+) exchanged LTA zeolites upon hydration/dehydration in air (or water vapor)/vacuum, emission spectra of the Ag(+) exchanged SOD zeolites are insensitive to the environmental change. This is most probably due to the difficult H2O permeation in SOD zeolites in comparison with LTA zeolites. By combining the environment dependent emission spectra of the Ag(+) exchanged LTA and SOD zeolites, we proposed the following emission mechanisms for Ag(+) exchanged LTA and SOD zeolites: the green emission is due to the transition from ligand-to-metal (framework O(2-)→ Ag(+)) charge transfer state to the ground state and the red emission is due to the transition from the metal-metal (Ag(+)-Ag(+)) charge transfer state to the ground state. The insensitive environment dependent emission characteristics of Ag(+) exchanged SOD zeolites may have potential applications as robust phosphors.

Control of the Pore Texture in Nanoporous Silicon via Chemical Dissolution

The surface and textural properties of porous silicon (pSi) control many of its physical properties essential to its performance in key applications such as optoelectronics, energy storage, luminescence, sensing, and drug delivery. Here, we combine experimental and theoretical tools to demonstrate that the surface roughness at the nanometer scale of pSi can be tuned in a controlled fashion using partial thermal oxidation followed by removal of the resulting silicon oxide layer with hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution. Such a process is shown to smooth the pSi surface by means of nitrogen adsorption, electron microscopy, and small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering. Statistical mechanics Monte Carlo simulations, which are consistent with the experimental data, support the interpretation that the pore surface is initially rough and that the oxidation/oxide removal procedure diminishes the surface roughness while increasing the pore diameter. As a specific example considered in this work, the initial roughness ξ ∼ 3.2 nm of pSi pores having a diameter of 7.6 nm can be decreased to 1.0 nm following the simple procedure above. This study allows envisioning the design of pSi samples with optimal surface properties toward a specific process.

The bioinspired construction of an ordered carbon nitride array for photocatalytic mediated enzymatic reduction

A carbon nitride array (CNA) material has been constructed using a sacrificial diatom template. A regular carbon nitride nanorod array could be replicated from the periodic and regular nanochannel array of the template. The directional charge transport properties and high light harvesting capability of the CNA gives much better performance in splitting water to give hydrogen than its bulk counterpart. Furthermore, by combining with a rhodium complex as a mediator, the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) cofactor of many enzymes could be photocatalytically regenerated by the CNA. The rate of the in situ NADH regeneration is high enough to reverse the biological pathway of the three dehydrogenase enzymes, which then leads to the sustainable conversion of formaldehyde to methanol and also the reduction of carbon dioxide into methanol.

Validity of the t-plot method to assess microporosity in hierarchical micro/mesoporous materials

The t-plot method is a well-known technique which allows determining the micro- and/or mesoporous volumes and the specific surface area of a sample by comparison with a reference adsorption isotherm of a nonporous material having the same surface chemistry. In this paper, the validity of the t-plot method is discussed in the case of hierarchical porous materials exhibiting both micro- and mesoporosities. Different hierarchical zeolites with MCM-41 type ordered mesoporosity are prepared using pseudomorphic transformation. For comparison, we also consider simple mechanical mixtures of microporous and mesoporous materials. We first show an intrinsic failure of the t-plot method; this method does not describe the fact that, for a given surface chemistry and pressure, the thickness of the film adsorbed in micropores or small mesopores (< 10σ, σ being the diameter of the adsorbate) increases with decreasing the pore size (curvature effect). We further show that such an effect, which arises from the fact that the surface area and, hence, the free energy of the curved gas/liquid interface decreases with increasing the film thickness, is captured using the simple thermodynamical model by Derjaguin. The effect of such a drawback on the ability of the t-plot method to estimate the micro- and mesoporous volumes of hierarchical samples is then discussed, and an abacus is given to correct the underestimated microporous volume by the t-plot method.

Ion chromatography as highly suitable method for rapid and accurate determination of antibiotic fosfomycin in pharmaceutical wastewater

A rapid and accurate ion chromatography (IC) method (limit of detection as low as 0.06 mg L(-1)) for fosfomycin concentration determination in pharmaceutical industrial wastewater was developed. This method was compared with the performance of high performance liquid chromatography determination (with a high detection limit of 96.0 mg L(-1)) and ultraviolet spectrometry after reacting with alizarin (difficult to perform in colored solutions). The accuracy of the IC method was established in the linear range of 1.0-15.0 mg L(-1) and a linear correlation was found with a correlation coefficient of 0.9998. The recoveries of fosfomycin from industrial pharmaceutical wastewater at spiking concentrations of 2.0, 5.0 and 8.0 mg L(-1) ranged from 81.91 to 94.74%, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) from 1 to 4%. The recoveries of effluent from a sequencing batch reactor treated fosfomycin with activated sludge at spiking concentrations of 5.0, 8.0, 10.0 mg L(-1) ranging from 98.25 to 99.91%, with a RSD from 1 to 2%. The developed IC procedure provided a rapid, reliable and sensitive method for the determination of fosfomycin concentration in industrial pharmaceutical wastewater and samples containing complex components.

Molecular simulation of adsorption and transport in hierarchical porous materials

Adsorption and transport in hierarchical porous solids with micro- (~1 nm) and mesoporosities (>2 nm) are investigated by molecular simulation. Two models of hierarchical solids are considered: microporous materials in which mesopores are carved out (model A) and mesoporous materials in which microporous nanoparticles are inserted (model B). Adsorption isotherms for model A can be described as a linear combination of the adsorption isotherms for pure mesoporous and microporous solids. In contrast, adsorption in model B departs from adsorption in pure microporous and mesoporous solids; the inserted microporous particles act as defects, which help nucleate the liquid phase within the mesopore and shift capillary condensation toward lower pressures. As far as transport under a pressure gradient is concerned, the flux in hierarchical materials consisting of microporous solids in which mesopores are carved out obeys the Navier-Stokes equation so that Darcy's law is verified within the mesopore. Moreover, the flow in such materials is larger than in a single mesopore, due to the transfer between micropores and mesopores. This nonzero velocity at the mesopore surface implies that transport in such hierarchical materials involves slippage at the mesopore surface, although the adsorbate has a strong affinity for the surface. In contrast to model A, flux in model B is smaller than in a single mesopore, as the nanoparticles act as constrictions that hinder transport. By a subtle effect arising from fast transport in the mesopores, the presence of mesopores increases the number of molecules in the microporosity in hierarchical materials and, hence, decreases the flow in the micropores (due to mass conservation). As a result, we do not observe faster diffusion in the micropores of hierarchical materials upon flow but slower diffusion, which increases the contact time between the adsorbate and the surface of the microporosity.

Mesoporous materials for antihydrogen production

Antimatter is barely known by the chemist community and this article has the vocation to explain how antimatter, in particular antihydrogen, can be obtained, as well as to show how mesoporous materials could be used as a further improvement for the production of antimatter at very low temperatures (below 1 K). The first experiments with mesoporous materials highlighted in this review show very promising and exciting results. Mesoporous materials such as mesoporous silicon, mesoporous material films, pellets of MCM-41 and silica aerogel show remarkable features for antihydrogen formation. Yet, the characteristics for the best future mesoporous materials (e.g. pore sizes, pore connectivity, shape, surface chemistry) remain to be clearly identified. For now among the best candidates are pellets of MCM-41 and aerogel with pore sizes between 10 and 30 nm, possessing hydrophobic patches on their surface to avoid ice formation at low temperature. From a fundamental standpoint, antimatter experiments could help to shed light on open issues, such as the apparent asymmetry between matter and antimatter in our universe and the gravitational behaviour of antimatter. To this purpose, basic studies on antimatter are necessary and a convenient production of antimatter is required. It is exactly where mesoporous materials could be very useful.

Selective hydrogenation over Pd nanoparticles supported on a pore-flow-through silica monolith microreactor with hierarchical porosity

Well-dispersed Pd nanoparticles have been synthesized inside the mesoporosity of a silica monolith featuring hierarchical porosity of homogeneous interconnected macropores (4 microns) and mesopores (11 nm). These monoliths have been implemented as microreactors for selective hydrogenation reactions. Conversion and selectivity can be tuned by adjusting the flow rates of hydrogen and substrates. In the selective hydrogenation of cyclooctadiene, a conversion of 95% and a selectivity of 90% in the monohydrogenated product, constant over a period of 70 h, have been reached. These figures correspond to a productivity of 4.2 mmol s(-1) g(-1)(MonoSil) (or 0.32 mol s(-1) g(-1)(Pd)). In the stereoselective hydrogenation of 3-hexyn-1-ol a constant conversion of 85% was observed, with however moderate selectivity into the cis isomer, over a test period of 7 h. These results open the route to the synthesis of important chemicals and intermediates via safe and green processes.

New device to measure dynamic intrusion/extrusion cycles of lyophobic heterogeneous systems

Lyophobic heterogeneous systems (LHS) are made of mesoporous materials immersed in a non-wetting liquid. One application of LHS is the nonlinear damping of high frequency vibrations. The behaviour of LHS is characterized by P - ΔV cycles, where P is the pressure applied to the system, and ΔV its volume change due to the intrusion of the liquid into the pores of the material, or its extrusion out of the pores. Very few dynamic studies of LHS have been performed until now. We describe here a new apparatus that allows us to carry out dynamic intrusion/extrusion cycles with various liquid/porous material systems, controlling the temperature from ambient to 120 °C and the frequency from 0.01 to 20 Hz. We show that for two LHS: water/MTS and Galinstan/CPG, the energy dissipated during one cycle depends very weakly on the cycle frequency, in strong contrast to conventional dampers.

Experiment and theory of low-pressure nitrogen adsorption in organic layers supported or grafted on inorganic adsorbents: toward a tool to characterize surfaces of hybrid organic/inorganic systems

We report experimental nitrogen adsorption isotherms of organics-coated silicas, which exhibit a low-pressure desorption branch that does not meet the adsorption branch upon emptying of the pores. To address the physical origin of such a hysteresis loop, we propose an equilibrium thermodynamic model that enables one to explain this phenomenon. The present model assumes that, upon adsorption, a small amount of nitrogen molecules penetrate within the organic layer and reach adsorption sites that are located on the inorganic surface, between the grafted or adsorbed organic molecules. The number of accessible adsorption sites thus varies with the increasing gas pressure, and then we assume that it stays constant upon desorption. Comparison with experimental data shows that our model captures the features of nitrogen adsorption on such hybrid organic/inorganic materials. In particular, in addition to predicting the shape of the adsorption isotherm, the model is able to estimate, with a reasonable number of adjustable parameters, the height of the low-pressure hysteresis loop and to assess in a qualitative fashion the local density of the organic chains at the surface of the material.

Challenges and Strategies in the Synthesis of Mesoporous Alumina Powders and Hierarchical Alumina Monoliths

A new rapid, very simple and one-step sol-gel strategy for the large-scale preparation of highly porous γ-Al₂O₃ is presented. The resulting mesoporous alumina materials feature high surface areas (400 m² g⁻¹), large pore volumes (0.8 mL g⁻¹) and the γ-Al₂O₃ phase is obtained at low temperature (500 °C). The main advantages and drawbacks of different preparations of mesoporous alumina materials exhibiting high specific surface areas and large pore volumes such as surfactant-nanostructured alumina, sol-gel methods and hierarchically macro-/mesoporous alumina monoliths have been analyzed and compared. The most reproducible synthesis of mesoporous alumina are given. Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly (EISA) is the sole method to lead to nanostructured mesoporous alumina by direct templating, but it is a difficult method to scale-up. Alumina featuring macro- and mesoporosity in monolithic shape is a very promising material for in flow applications; an optimized synthesis is described.

Dissipative Forced Intrusion Of Water In Hydrophobic Porous Silica: A New Field of Applications For MCM-41 Type Materials

Recently microporous and mesoporous materials were found to be particularly suitable for a new type of applications in the mechanical field. This paper reports experimental features about the dissipative forced intrusion of water in highly hydrophobic mesoporous materials: this phenomenon can be used to develop a new type of dampers and/or actuators. Silica-based materials behavior was investigated. Among them, MCM-41 exhibit original and interesting properties towards the potential developments of dampers and appear to be of great interest for the comprehension of energy dissipation mechanisms.

Molecular simulation of nitrogen adsorption in nanoporous silica

This article reports on a molecular simulation study of nitrogen adsorption and condensation at 77 K in atomistic silica cylindrical nanopores (MCM-41). Two models are considered for the nitrogen molecule and its interaction with the silica substrate. In the "pea" model, the nitrogen molecule is described as a single Lennard-Jones sphere and only Lennard-Jones interactions between the nitrogen molecule and the oxygens atoms of the silica substrate are taken into account. In the "bean" model (TraPPE force field), the nitrogen molecule is composed of two Lennard-Jones sites and a linear array of three charges on the atomic positions and at the center of the nitrogen-nitrogen bond. In the bean model, the interactions between the sites on the nitrogen molecule and the Si, O, and H atoms of the substrate are the sum of the Coulombic and dispersion interactions with a repulsive short-range contribution. The data obtained with the pea and bean models in silica nanopores conform to the typical behavior observed in the experiments for adsorption/condensation in cylindrical MCM-41 nanopores; the adsorbed amount increases continuously in the multilayer adsorption regime until an irreversible jump occurs because of capillary condensation and evaporation of the fluid within the pore. Our results suggest that the pea model can be used for characterization purposes where one is interested in capturing the global experimental behavior upon adsorption and desorption in silica nanopores. However, the bean model is more suitable to investigating the details of the interaction with the surface because this model, which accounts for the partial charges located on the nitrogen atoms of the molecule (quadrupole), allows a description of the specific interactions between this adsorbate and silica surfaces (silanol groups and siloxane bridges) or grafted silica surfaces. In particular, the bean model provides a more realistic picture of nitrogen adsorption in the vicinity of silica surfaces or confined in silica nanopores, where the isosteric heat of adsorption curves show that the nitrogen molecule in this model is sensitive to the surface heterogeneity.

Catalase-like activity of bovine met-hemoglobin: interaction with the pseudo-catalytic peroxidation of anthracene traces in aqueous medium

Hemoglobin is a member of the hemoprotein superfamily whose main role is to transport O(2) in vertebrate organisms. It has two known promiscuous enzymatic activities, peroxidase and oxygenase. Here we show for the first time that bovine hemoglobin also presents a catalase-like activity characterized by a V(max )of 344 microM/min, a K(M )of 24 mM and a k(cat) equal to 115/min. For high anthracene and hemoglobin concentrations and low hydrogen peroxide concentrations, this activity inhibits the expected oxidation of anthracene, which occurs through a peroxidase-like mechanism. Anthracene belongs to the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) family whose members are carcinogenic and persistent pollutants found in industrial waste waters. Our results show that anthracene oxidation by hemoglobin and hydrogen peroxide follows a typical bi-bi ping-pong mechanism with a V(max) equal to 0.250 microM/min, K(M(H2O2) )of 80 microM, K(M(ANT)) of 1.1 microM and k(cat) of 0.17/min. The oxidation of anthracene is shown to be pseudo-catalytic because an excess of hemoglobin and hydrogen peroxide is required to make PAH completely disappear. Thus, bovine hemoglobin presents, in different degrees, all the catalytic activities of the hemoprotein group, which makes it a very interesting protein for biotechnological processes and one with which structure-activity relationships can be studied.