Alexander Aerts

Convenient synthesis of ordered mesoporous silica at room temperature and quasi-neutral pH

A new synthesis procedure is presented to prepare P6m ordered mesoporous silica at room temperature and quasi-neutral pH in a buffered medium using a cheap silicon source.

Polonium evaporation from liquid lead–bismuth eutectic with different oxygen content

Accurate knowledge of polonium evaporation from lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) is crucial for the design of accelerator driven nuclear systems in which LBE is used as target material or coolant. In this work we investigated the relation between the oxygen content and its distribution in liquid LBE samples and polonium evaporation from these samples at 400xa0°C. A fraction of the polonium was rapidly released, and we found a correlation between the amount of this fast-released polonium and the amount of oxygen concentrated in an oxide layer on top of the LBE sample. A qualitative model describing the polonium evaporation behavior in relation to oxygen content and distribution in polonium-doped LBE samples is outlined.

Synthesis and characterization of cok-12 ordered mesoporous silica at room temperature under buffered quasi neutral pH

Abstract A procedure to synthesize ordered mesoporous silica denoted COK-12 under mild conditions is presented. A P6m ordered mesoporous silica with uniform pores is synthesized at room temperature and quasi neutral pH. The synthesis makes use of P123 triblock copolymer in an aqueous citric acid / sodium citrate buffer solution and sodium silicate as Si precursor. Synthesis examples of COK-12 materials are presented and the materials characterized using small angle X-ray scattering, nitrogen sorption, electron microscopy, 29 Si MAS NMR and thermogravimetric analysis.