Maghemite nanoparticles with high surface area were obtained from the dehydroxylation of lepidocrocite prismatic nanoparticles. The synthesis pathway from the precursor to the porous maghemite nanoparticles is inexpensive, simple and gives high surface area values for both lepidocrocite and maghemite. The obtained maghemite nanoparticles contained intraparticle and interparticle pores with a surface area ca. 30 x 10(3) m(2)/mol, with pore volumes in the order of 70 cm(3)/mol. Both the surface area and pore volume depended on the heating rate and annealing temperature, with the highest value near the transformation temperature (180-250 degrees C). Following the transformation, in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) allowed us to observe the temporal decoupling of the decomposition of lepidocrocite and the growth of maghemite. The combination of high-angle annular dark-field imaging using scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and surface adsorption isotherms is a powerful approach for the characterization of nanomaterials with high surface area and porosity.

In this paper, the effects of applying magnetic field on hydrodynamics and heat transfer of Fe3O4/water magnetic nanofluid flowing inside a vertical tube have been studied experimentally. The applied magnetic field was resulted from quadrupole magnets located at different axial positions along the tube length. The variations of the local heat transfer coefficient and also the pressure drop of the ferrofluid flow along the length of the tube by applying the magnetic quadrupole field have been investigated for different Reynolds numbers. The obtained experimental results show maximum enhancements of 23.4%, 37.9% and 48.9% in the local heat transfer coefficient for the magnetic nanofluid with 2 vol% Fe3O4 in the presence of the quadrupole magnets located at three different axial installation positions for the Reynolds number of 580 and the relative increase in total pressure drop by applying the magnetic field is about 1% for Re = 580. The increase of the heat transfer coefficient is due to the radial magnetic force toward the heated wall generated by magnetic quadrupole field acting over the ferrofluid flowing inside the tube so that the velocity of the ferrofluid in the vicinity of the heated wall is increased. It is also observed that the enhancement of heat transfer coefficient by applying magnetic quadrupole is decreased with increasing the Reynolds number.

The formation of nematically-ordered cellulose nanofiber (CNF) suspensions with an order parameter f(max) approximate to 0.8 is studied by polarized optical microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and rheological measurements as a function of CNF concentration. The wide range of CNF concentrations, from 0.5 wt% to 4.9 wt%, is obtained using osmotic dehydration. The rheological measurements show a strong entangled network over all the concentration range whereas SAXS measurements indicate that at concentrations >1.05 wt% the CNF suspension crosses an isotropic-anisotropic transition that is accompanied by a dramatic increase of the optical birefringence. The resulting nanostructures are modelled as mass fractal structures that converge into co-existing nematically-ordered regions and network-like regions where the correlation distances decrease with concentration. The use of rapid, upscalable osmotic dehydration is an effective method to increase the concentration of CNF suspensions while partly circumventing the gel/glass formation. The facile formation of highly ordered fibers can result in materials with interesting macroscopic properties.

Lignin is naturally abundant and a renewable [GRAPHICS] precursor with the potential to be used in the production of both chemicals and materials. As many lignin conversion processes suffer from a significant production of solid wastes in the form of hydrochars, this study focused on transforming hydrochars into magnetic activated carbons (MAC). The hydrochars were produced via hydrothermal treatment of lignins together with formic acid. The activation of the hydrochars was performed chemically with KOH with a focus on the optimization of the MACs as adsorbents for CO2. MACs are potentially relevant to carbon capture and storage (CCS) and gas purification processes. In general, the MACs had high specific surface areas (up to 2875 m(2)/g), high specific pore volumes, and CO2 adsorption capacities of up to 6.0 mmol/g (I atm, 0 degrees C). The textual properties of the MACs depended on the temperature of the activation. MACs activated at a temperature of 700 degrees C had very high ultramicropore volumes, which are relevant for potential adsorption-driven separation of CO2 from N-2. Activation at 800 degrees C led to MACs with larger pores and very high specific surface areas. This temperature-dependent optimization option, combined with the magnetic properties, provided numerous potential applications of the MACs besides those of CCS. The hydrochar was derived from eucalyptus lignin, and the corresponding MACs displayed soft magnetic behavior with coercivities of <100 Oe and saturation magnetization values of 1-10 emu/g.

Mineral surfaces exposed to moist air stabilize nanometer- to micrometer-thick water films. This study resolves the nature of thin water film formation at multifaceted hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) nanoparticle surfaces with crystallographic faces resolved by selected area electron diffraction. Dynamic vapor adsorption (DVA) in the 0-19 Torr range at 298 K showed that these particles stabilize water films consisting of up to 4-5 monolayers. Modeling of these data predicts water loadings in terms of an adsorption regime (up to 16 H2O/nm(2)) involving direct water binding to hematite surface sites, and of a condensation regime (up to 34 H2O/nm(2)) involving water binding to hematite-bound water nanodusters. Vibration spectroscopy identified the predominant hematite surface hydroxo groups (-OH, mu-OH, mu(3)-OH) through which first layer water molecules formed hydrogen bonds, as well as surface iron sites directly coordinating water molecules (i.e., as geminal eta-(OH2)(2) sites). Chemometric analyses of the vibration spectra also revealed a strong correspondence in the response of hematite surface hydroxo groups to DVA-derived water loadings. These findings point to a near-saturation of the hydrogen-bonding environment of surface hydroxo groups at a partial water vapor pressure of similar to 8 Torr (similar to 40% relative humidity). Classical molecular dynamics (MD) resolved the interfacial water structures and hydrogen bonding populations at five representative crystallographic faces expressed in these nanoparticles. Simulations of single oriented slabs underscored the individual roles of all (hydro)oxo groups in donating and accepting hydrogen bonds with first layer water in the adsorption regime. These analyses pointed to the preponderance of hydrogen bond-donating -OH groups in the stabilization of thin water films. Contributions of mu-OH and mu(3)-OH groups are secondary, yet remain essential in the stabilization of thin water films. MD simulations also helped resolve crystallographic controls on water water interactions occurring in the condensation regime. Water water hydrogen bond populations are greatest on the (001) face, and decrease in importance in the order (001) > (012) approximate to (110) > (014) >> (100). Simulations of a single (similar to 5 nm x similar to 6 nm x similar to 6 nm) nanometric hematite particle terminated by the (001), (110), (012), and (100) faces also highlighted the key roles that sites at particle edges play in interconnecting thin water films grown along contiguous crystallographic faces. Hydroxo water hydrogen bond populations showed that edges were the preferential loci of binding. These simulations also suggested that equilibration times for water binding at edges were slower than on crystallographic faces. In this regard, edges, and by extension roughened surfaces, are expected to play commanding roles in the stabilization of thin water films. Thus, in focusing on the properties of nanometric-thick water layers at hematite surfaces, this study revealed the nature of interactions between water and multifaced particle surfaces. Our results pave the way for furthering our understanding of mineral-thin water film interfacial structure and reactivity on a broader range of materials.