Wanling Shen

Amino Acid Adsorption on Mesoporous Materials: Influence of Types of Amino Acids, Modification of Mesoporous Materials, and Solution Conditions

In order to disclose the dominant interfacial interaction between amino acids and ordered mesoporous materials, the adsorption behaviors of five amino acids on four mesoporous materials were investigated in aqueous solutions with adjustable amino acid concentration, ion strength, and pH. The selected amino acids were acidic amino acid glutamic acid (Glu), basic amino acid arginine (Arg), and neutral amino acids phenylalanine (Phe), leucine (Leu), and alanine (Ala), and the selected mesoporous materials were SBA-15, Al-SBA-15, CH3(10%)-SBA-15, and CH3(20%)-SBA-15. The adsorption capacities of Glu and Arg were strongly dependent on pH and surface charge of the mesoporous adsorbent. The adsorption of Phe showed pH insensitivity but depended on the surface organic functionalization of mesoporous adsorbent. On the basis of the theoretical analysis about the interaction between amino acid and adsorbent, such a remarkable difference was attributed to the different nature of the interaction between amino acid and adsorbent. Arg could be readily adsorbed on the surface of SBA-15, especially Al-SBA-15, under appropriate pH in which the electrostatic interaction was predominant. The driving force of Phe adsorption on mesoporous adsorbent mainly came from the hydrophobic interaction. Therefore, the adsorption capability of Arg decreased with increasing ion strength of solution, while the adsorption capability of Phe increased with the increasing degree of CH3 functionalization on SBA-15. For neutral amino acid Phe, Ala, and Leu, the adsorption capability increased with the increase of the length of their side chains, which was another evidence of hydrophobic effect. Thus, all the adsorption of amino acids on mesoporous silica materials can be decided by the combined influence of two fundamental interactions: electrostatic attraction and hydrophobic effect.

Extra-framework aluminium species in hydrated faujasite zeolite as investigated by two-dimensional solid-state NMR spectroscopy and theoretical calculations

Extra-framework aluminium (EFAL) species in hydrated dealuminated HY zeolite were thoroughly investigated by various two-dimensional solid-state NMR techniques as well as density functional theoretical calculations. (27)Al MQ MAS NMR experiments demonstrated that five-coordinated and four-coordinated extra-framework aluminium subsequently disappeared with the increase of water loading, and the quadrupole interaction of each aluminium species decreased gradually during the hydration process. (1)H double quantum MAS NMR revealed that the EFAL species in the hydrated zeolite consisted of three components: a hydroxyl AlOH group, and two types of water molecule (rigid and mobile water). (1)H-(27)Al LG-CP HETCOR experiments indicated that both the extra-framework and the framework Al atoms were in close proximity to the rigid water in the fully rehydrated zeolite. The experimental results were further confirmed by DFT theoretical calculations. Moreover, theoretical calculation results further demonstrated that the EFAL species in the hydrated zeolite consisted of the three components and the calculated (1)H NMR chemical shift for each component agreed well with our NMR observations. It is the rigid water that connects the extra-framework aluminium with the four-coordinated framework aluminium through strong hydrogen bonds.