Erika De Oliveira Jardim

University of Alicante | UA · Inorganic Chemistry

A series of activated carbon materials have been prepared from petroleum residue using KOH as activating agent. The gravimetric adsorption capacity for methane of the synthesized samples increases with the activation degree, albeit at a lower packing density of the carbon material. These results anticipate an optimum pitch/KOH ratio (1:3) to achiev...

To meet current economic demands enforcing the replacement of platinum-group metals, extensively used in three-way-catalytic converters (TWC), research is driven towards low-cost and widely available base metals. However, to cope with their lower activity, high metal loadings must be coupled with increased dispersion. Herein, a series of CuO/Al2O3...

Interzeolite transformation has been used to produce a novel family of hierarchical catalysts featuring excellent textural properties, strong acidity, and superior catalytic performance for the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of indole with benzhydrol, the Claisen-Schmidt condensation of benzaldehyde and hydroxyacetophenone, and the cracking of polystyre...

A series of activated carbon materials have been successfully prepared from a non-essential amino acid, such as L-cysteine. The synthesized carbons combine a widely developed porous structure (BET surface area up to 1000 m²/g) and a rich surface chemistry (mainly oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur functionalities). These surface functional groups are rel...

The catalytic reduction of nitrites over Pt-In catalysts supported on activated carbon has been studied in a semi-batch reactor, at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, and using hydrogen as the reducing agent. The influence of the indium content on the activity and selectivity was evaluated. Monometallic Pt catalysts are very active for nitr...

Selective CO2 capture in industrial streams is of paramount importance to decrease actual emissions to the atmosphere, and to minimize the associated environmental concerns. Among the different possibilities to capture CO2, adsorption using nanoporous networks is one of the most promising approaches, provided that the adsorbent can be properly desi...

Molecular separation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) is of growing interest for biogas upgrading, carbon capture and utilization, methane synthesis and for purification of natural gas. Here, we report a new zeolitic-imidazolate framework (ZIF), coined COK-17, with exceptionally high affinity for the adsorption of CO2 by London dispersion...

Este trabajo presenta la metodología desarrollada para la inclusión del uso de las TICs como instrumento de apoyo para la adquisición de habilidades y competencias en el ámbito de los estudios de la sostenibilidad en el aula, en estudios universitarios. De esta manera, se pretende fomentar el interés y el entusiasmo de los estudiantes en el Desarro...

The structural deterioration of archetypical, well‐faceted metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has been evaluated upon exposure to an acidic environment (H2S). Experimental results show that the structural damage highly depends on the nature of the hybrid network (e.g., softness of the metal ions, hydrophilic properties, among others) and the crystallo...

Spherical carbon molecular sieves (CMS) have selective adsorptive properties which are suitable for separation and purification of gas mixtures. Precise methods of characterization are needed to understand the performance of CMS in separation processes. To this end, the pore size distribution (PSD) of four carbon molecular sieves were evaluated exp...

High temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry has been used to determine that the slight destabilization caused by the additional surface generated by the mesoporosity introduced in USY zeolite through surfactant‐templating (ca. 2 kJ mol−1 SiO2) is significantly lower than the energetic stabilization resulting from surfactant–silica interactions...

With the aim of understanding the thermochemistry of the introduction of mesoporosity in zeolites by using surfactants, high temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry was used to determine the change in the enthalpy of formation of USY zeolite before and after the introduction of mesoporosity. Our results confirm that this process only slightly d...

Mesoporosity can be conveniently introduced in zeolites by treating them in basic surfactant solutions. The apparent activation energy involved in the formation of mesopores in USY via surfactant‐templating was obtained through the combination of in situ synchrotron XRD and ex situ gas adsorption. Additionally, techniques such as pH measurements an...

Mesoporosity can be conveniently introduced in zeolites by treating them in basic surfactant solutions. The apparent activation energy involved in the formation of mesopores in USY via surfactant‐templating was obtained through the combination of in situ synchrotron XRD and ex situ gas adsorption. Additionally, techniques such as pH measurements an...

Novel insights into the surfactant-templating process leading to the formation of tailored intracrystalline mesoporosity in USY zeolite are presented in the light of the changes in the textural, morphological, and chemical properties of this zeolite produced during its treatment in a basic solution of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The inab...

CH 4 and CO 2 adsorption capacity at 25, 50 and 75°C was evaluated in two metal-organic frameworks: Al-BDC and ZIF-8, the later with zeolite topology. Adsorption experiments were carried out under static conditions using a gravimetric suspension balance until 40 bar of pressure. Adsorption isotherms of type I were obtained for both materials showin...

The development of intracrystalline mesoporosity within zeolites has been a long-standing goal in catalysis as it greatly contributes to alleviating the diffusion limitations of these widely used microporous materials. The combination of in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy enabled the first in situ...

A series of CeO2–Nb2O5 mixed oxides with different Nb content, as well as the pure oxides, have been synthesized by co-precipitation with excess urea. These materials have been used as supports for platinum catalysts, with [Pt(NH3)4](NO3)2 as precursor. Both supports and catalysts have been characterized by several techniques: N2 physisorption at 7...

We analyzed the adsorption of CO2 in a Cu-BTC metal-organic framework (MOF) impregnated with ionic liquids (ILs) experimentally and by molecular simulation using the Monte Carlo method. The ILs [bmim][PF6] and [bmim][Tf2N] were impregnated in concentrations of 1, 5 and 10 wt%. Monte Carlo computations showed maximum impregnation load of approximate...

Structure–activity relationships for 1 wt.% Pt catalysts were investigated for a series of TixCe(1−x)O2 (x = 1, 0.98, 0.9, 0.5, 0.2 and 0) supports prepared by the sol–gel method. The catalysts prepared by impregnation were characterized in detail by applying a wide range of techniques as N2-isotherms, XRF, XRD, Raman, XPS, H2-TPR, Drifts, UV–vis,...

The effect of the metal precursor (presence or absence of chlorine) on the preferential oxidation of CO in the presence of H2 over Pt/CeO2 catalysts has been studied. The catalysts are prepared using (Pt(NH3)4)(NO3)2 and H2PtCl6, as precursors, in order to ascertain the effect of the chlorine species on the chemical properties of the support and on...

Herein, the preferential oxidation of CO in excess hydrogen (PROX reaction) was studied over Au catalysts supported on ceria and Y or Nb doped ceria. Both supports and catalysts have been extensively characterized by a number of advanced techniques; XRD, N2-adsortion, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, and H2-TPR. The catalytic results showed that when an id...

With global warming becoming one of the main problems our society is facing nowadays, there is an urgent demand to develop materials suitable for CO2 storage as well as for gas separation. Within this context, hierarchical porous structures are of great interest for in-flow applications because of the desirable combination of an extensive internal...

Development of new silica membranes properties, e.g., molecular sieving properties, has been increasingly gaining importance in the last few years. A novel unsupported silica membrane, referred to as hydrophobic metal-doped silica, was developed by cobalt-doping within the organic templated silica matrix. The novel material was prepared by the acid...

Preferential oxidation of CO in excess hydrogen (PROX) was studied over Pt catalysts supported on multi-wall carbon nanotubes in the temperature range between room temperature and the temperature of the water-gas shift reaction (473 K). Experimental results show that the Pt/CNT catalyst exhibit a superior performance in terms of catalytic activity...

The effect of the support (activated carbon or titanium dioxide) on the catalytic activity and selectivity to nitrogen of Pt-Sn catalysts in nitrate reduction was studied. The effects of the preparation conditions and the Pt:Sn atomic ratio were also evaluated. It was observed that the support plays an important role in nitrate reduction and that d...

The effect of surface chemistry (nature and amount of oxygen groups) in the removal of ammonia was studied using a modified resin-based activated carbon. NH(3) breakthrough column experiments show that the modification of the original activated carbon with nitric acid, that is, the incorporation of oxygen surface groups, highly improves the adsorpt...

Different types of titanosilicates are synthesized, structurally characterized, and subsequently catalytically tested in the liquid-phase epoxidation of cyclohexene. The performance of three types of combined zeolitic/mesoporous materials is compared with that of widely studied Ti-grafted-MCM-41 molecular sieve and the TS-1 microporous titanosilica...

In this work, catalysts with acid and superabsorbent properties were obtained by sulfonation of expanded polystyrene and used to promote the esterification of oleic acid with ethanol. The prepared superabsorbent polymers (SAP) showed high concentration of active sulfonic acid sites (0.7–5.9 mmol acid sites g−1) and high water absorption capacity (4...

The porous structure of nanostructured silicas MCM-41 and SBA-15 has been characterized using N2 adsorption at 77 K, before and after n-nonane preadsorption, together with immersion calorimetry into liquids of different molecular dimensions. Selective blocking of the microporosity with n-nonane proves experimentally that MCM-41 is exclusively mesop...

In this work it is proposed a simple and versatile undergraduate chemical experiment in polymer and environmental technology based on the process of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) hydrolysis. Polyethylene terephthalate from post-consume bottles is submitted to a controlled partial hydrolysis which allows the students to follow the reaction by a s...

In this work it is proposed a simple and versatile undergraduate chemical experiment in polymer and environmental technology based on the process of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) hydrolysis. Polyethylene terephthalate from post-consume bottles is submitted to a controlled partial hydrolysis which allows the students to follow the reaction by a s...

In this work, the surface hydrolysis of postconsumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was used to produce an ion exchange material to adsorb cationic contaminants from water. The PET surface hydrolyses were carried out in neutral, alkaline, and acid media (NaOH or HNO3 at 7, 10, and 15 mol L−1) under reflux producing surface carboxylic acid sites (...