Monolithic SiC supports with tailored hierarchical porosity for molecularly selective membranes and supported liquid-phase catalysis

Monolithic support materials with the mechanical resistance and thermal conductivity of SiC as well as tunable surface chemistry and textural properties were developed for their use in catalytic membrane reactors. After heat treatment, the extruded SiC monoliths have a monomodal distribution of macropores of a few μm in diameter depending on the particle size of the starting material. A macroporous, defect-free, smoother skin was applied onto the external wall using a solution of sub-micrometer SiC particles. These monoliths with skin could be coated successfully with molecularly selective membranes, and thus have application in membrane reactor processes. Finally, metal oxide nanoparticles were infiltrated into the macropores to modify the surface texture and chemistry, allowing the immobilization of liquid phase catalysts. The resulting multimodal distribution of pore sizes could be tuned by the choice of SiC and oxide particle sizes, number of wash-coats and calcination temperature. Mesopores created between nanoparticles had diameters of roughly 40 % of those of the nanoparticles. Small macropores, between 10−1000 nm, were also created, with bigger size and volume at higher calcination temperatures due to the metal oxide particles contraction. The developed materials were validated as support for PDMS membranes and for continuous gas-phase hydroformylation of 1-butene using Rh-diphosphite catalysts.The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the European Commissionwithin the Horizon2020-SPIRE project ROMEO (Grant Agreement Number 680395). Furthermore, the authors would like to thank Dr. Andreas Bösmann and M. Sc. Patrick Wolf (Universit ̈at Erlangen-Nürnberg) for the XRF measurements, as well as Markus Wist (RWTH Aachen University) for his work in the membrane fabricatio

Tailored monolith supports for improved ultra-low temperature water-gas shift reaction

Supported ionic liquid-phase (SILP) particulate catalysts consisting of Ru-complexes dissolved in an ionic liquid that is dispersed on a γ-alumina porous substrate facilitate the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction at ultra-low temperatures. In this work, a screening of different ceramic support materials was performed to design a suitable monolithic support to disperse the SILP system with the objective of scaling up the WGS process efficiently. γ-Alumina-rich channeled monoliths were developed with the use of natural clays as binders (10 wt% bentonite and 20 wt% sepiolite) with the following properties: i) high volume of mesopores to maximize the catalyst loading and successfully immobilize the ionic liquid-catalyst system via capillary forces, ii) mechanical resistance to withstand the impregnation process and the reaction operating conditions, and iii) surface chemistry compatible with a highly active and selective phase for WGS. The developed monolithic-SILP catalyst demonstrated high stability and long-term WGS performance at 130 °C with an average steady-state CO conversion of around 30% after 190 h time-on-stream (TOS) and a conversion of 23% after 320 h TOS. Interestingly, the catalyst activity proved essentially unaffected by variation in the water partial pressure during operation due to accumulation of water in the monolith, thus making the system highly durable.European Commission within the Horizon 2020-SPIRE project ROMEO (GA 680395). Additional support by the Free State of Bavaria through its funding for the Energie Campus Nürnberg (www.encn.de) and by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI) is acknowledged as well

Biophotonic techniques for the study of malaria-infected red blood cells

Investigation of the homeostasis of red blood cells upon infection by Plasmodium falciparum poses complex experimental challenges. Changes in red cell shape, volume, protein, and ion balance are difficult to quantify. In this article, we review a wide range of optical techniques for quantitative measurements of critical homeostatic parameters in malaria-infected red blood cells. Fluorescence lifetime imaging and tomographic phase microscopy, quantitative deconvolution microscopy, and X-ray microanalysis, are used to measure haemoglobin concentration, cell volume, and ion contents. Atomic force microscopy is briefly reviewed in the context of these optical methodologies. We also describe how optical tweezers and optical stretchers can be usefully applied to empower basic malaria research to yield diagnostic information on cell compliance changes upon malaria infection. The combined application of these techniques sheds new light on the detailed mechanisms of malaria infection providing potential for new diagnostic or therapeutic approaches