Sittichai Natesakhawat

Copolymer-templated nitrogen-enriched porous nanocarbons for CO2 capture

Nitrogen-enriched porous carbon materials made via the carbonization of polyacrylonitrile containing block copolymer act as efficient and highly selective CO(2) sorbents. Nitrogen content and surface area, which are both influenced by pyrolysis temperature and atmosphere, are crucial for CO(2) adsorption performance.

Visible light plasmonic heating of Au–ZnO for the catalytic reduction of CO2

Plasmonic excitation of Au nanoparticles attached to the surface of ZnO catalysts using low power 532 nm laser illumination leads to significant heating of the catalyst and the conversion of CO2 and H2 reactants to CH4 and CO products. Temperature-calibrated Raman spectra of ZnO phonons show that intensity-dependent plasmonic excitation can controllably heat Au-ZnO from 30 to ~600 °C and simultaneously tune the CH4 : CO product ratio. The laser induced heating and resulting CH4 : CO product distribution agrees well with predictions from thermodynamic models and temperature-programmed reaction experiments indicating that the reaction is a thermally driven process resulting from the plasmonic heating of the Au-ZnO. The apparent quantum yield for CO2 conversion under continuous wave (cw) 532 nm laser illumination is 0.030%. The Au-ZnO catalysts are robust and remain active after repeated laser exposure and cycling. The light intensity required to initiate CO2 reduction is low (~2.5 × 10(5) W m(-2)) and achievable with solar concentrators. Our results illustrate the viability of plasmonic heating approaches for CO2 utilization and other practical thermal catalytic applications.

In-situ and ex-situ characterization of TiO2 and Au nanoparticle incorporated TiO2 thin films for optical gas sensing at extreme temperatures

Sensor technologies that can operate under extreme conditions including high temperatures, high pressures, highly reducing and oxidizing environments, and corrosive gases are needed for process monitoring and control in advanced fossil energy applications. Sensor technologies based on optical waveguide-based techniques are highly attractive for passive, embedded, and remote sensing. A critical enabling technology for optical waveguide sensors is the development of advanced optical thin film coatings which have a desired set of optical properties that change in a rapid, selective, and sensitive manner to a particular quantity of interest. TiO2 and Au nanoparticle incorporated TiO2 nanocomposite thin films were prepared through sol-gel deposition techniques and their respective optical responses to a 4% H2/N2 mixture were investigated in the visible / near-IR range of 400–1000 nm. A tendency for Au nanoparticles to occupy special sites on the TiO2 microstructure, such as grain boundaries, twin boundaries, a...

An experimental and computational investigation of the oxygen storage properties of BaLnFe2O5+δ and BaLnCo2O5+δ (Ln = La, Y) perovskites

One interesting class of materials for oxygen storage applications are double perovskite oxides due to their ability to rapidly store and release oxygen. Previously, the double perovskite BaYMn2O5+δ was shown to rapidly and reversibly store and release oxygen with unprecedented kinetics. In this work, four double perovskite materials, BaLaFe2O5+δ, BaLaCo2O5+δ, BaYCo2O5+δ, and BaYFe2O5+δ, were synthesized and characterized. TGA experimental results for all four samples demonstrate rapid and reversible oxygen storage. The two Fe-containing compounds are the most stable for multiple adsorption/desorption cycles with both nitrogen/air and hydrogen/air at multiple temperatures and have been demonstrated to oxidize methane.

Individual Nanoporous Carbon Spheres with High Nitrogen Content from Polyacrylonitrile Nanoparticles with Sacrificial Protective Layers

Functional nanoporous carbon spheres (NPC-S) are important for applications ranging from adsorption, catalysis, separation to energy storage, and biomedicine. The development of effective NPC-S materials has been hindered by the fusion of particles during the pyrolytic process that results in agglomerated materials with reduced activity. Herein, we present a process that enables the scalable synthesis of dispersed NPC-S materials by coating sacrificial protective layers around polyacrylonitrile nanoparticles (PAN NPs) to prevent interparticle cross-linking during carbonization. In a first step, PAN NPs are synthesized using miniemulsion polymerization, followed by grafting of 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TESPMA) to form well-defined core-shell structured PAN@PTESPMA nanospheres. The cross-linked PTESPMA brush layer suppresses cross-linking reactions during carbonization. Uniform NPC-S exhibiting diameters of ∼100 nm, with relatively high accessible surface area (∼424 m2/g), and high nitrogen content (14.8 wt %) was obtained. When compared to a regular nanoporous carbon monolith (NPC-M), the nitrogen-doped NPC-S demonstrated better performance for CO2 capture with a higher CO2/N2 selectivity, an increased efficiency in catalytic oxygen reduction reactions, as well as improved electrochemical capacitive behavior. This miniemulsion polymerization-based strategy for the preparation of functional PAN NPs provides a new, facile approach to prepare high-performance porous carbon spheres for diverse applications.