On the exploitation of self-propagating high-temperature reactions for environmental protection

The major achievements obtained in the field of self-propagating reactions when exploited for environmental protection are reviewed in this chapter. In particular, the fixation and consolidation of high-level radioactive wastes; the treating and recycling of a highly toxic solid waste from electrolytic zinc plants; the recycling of silicon sludge and aluminum dross produced by semiconductor industries and aluminum foundries, respectively; the degradation of chlorinated aromatics; and the treatment of wastes containing asbestos are addressed. Future scientific and technological directions related to this promising field of reaction engineering are also foreseen

Activated boron nitride as an effective adsorbent for metal ions and organic pollutants

Novel activated boron nitride (BN) as an effective adsorbent for pollutants in water and air has been reported in the present work. The activated BN was synthesized by a simple structure-directed method that enabled us to control the surface area, pore volume, crystal defects and surface groups. The obtained BN exhibits an super high surface area of 2078 m2/g, a large pore volume of 1.66 cm3/g and a special multimodal microporous/mesoporous structure located at ∼ 1.3, ∼ 2.7, and ∼ 3.9 nm, respectively. More importantly, the novel activated BN exhibits an excellent adsorption performance for various metal ions (Cr3+, Co2+, Ni2+, Ce3+, Pb2+) and organic pollutants (tetracycline, methyl orange and congo red) in water, as well as volatile organic compounds (benzene) in air. The excellent reusability of the activated BN has also been confirmed. All the features render the activated BN a promising material suitable for environmental remediation

Atomistic Description of Thiostannate-Capped CdSe Nanocrystals: Retention of Four-Coordinate SnS4 Motif and Preservation of Cd-Rich Stoichiometry

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) are widely studied as building blocks for novel solid-state materials. Inorganic surface functionalization, used to displace native organic capping ligands from NC surfaces, has been a major enabler of electronic solid-state devices based on colloidal NCs. At the same time, very little is known about the atomistic details of the organic-to-inorganic ligand exchange and binding motifs at the NC surface, severely limiting further progress in designing all-inorganic NCs and NC solids. Taking thiostannates (K4SnS4, K4Sn2S6, K6Sn2S7) as typical examples of chalcogenidometallate ligands and oleate-capped CdSe NCs as a model NC system, in this study we address these questions through the combined application of solution 1H NMR spectroscopy, solution and solid-state 119Sn NMR spectroscopy, far-infrared and X-ray absorption spectroscopies, elemental analysis, and by DFT modeling. We show that through the X-type oleate-to-thiostannate ligand exchange, CdSe NCs retain their Cd-rich stoichiometry, with a stoichiometric CdSe core and surface Cd adatoms serving as binding sites for terminal S atoms of the thiostannates ligands, leading to all-inorganic (CdSe)core[Cdm(Sn2S7)yK(6y-2m)]shell (taking Sn2S76- ligand as an example). Thiostannates SnS44- and Sn2S76- retain (distorted) tetrahedral SnS4 geometry upon binding to NC surface. At the same time, experiments and simulations point to lower stability of Sn2S64- (and SnS32-) in most solvents and its lower adaptability to the NC surface caused by rigid Sn2S2 rings. © 2015 American Chemical Society