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Zinc oxide aerogels: Composition-structure relationships
Thesis abroad
keywords AEROGEL, ANTIMICROBIAL MATERIALS, SUPERCRITICAL FLUIDS PROCESSES, ZINC OXIDE
Reference persons MAURO BANCHERO, BARBARA ONIDA
External reference persons Prof. Houssam Rassy
Research Groups Department of Chemistry , American University of Beirut, SMAC
Thesis type EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY
Description Aerogels, due to their high specific surface area and pore volume, are fascinating materials with potential application in several fields, such as adsorption, engineering of biomedical devices and catalysis.
Zinc oxide is an effective antimicrobial material and the mechanism of its antimicrobial behaviour is strongly dependent on interface phenomena.
Zinc oxide aerogels will be prepared using the epoxide-addition sol-gel technique starting from a mixer of hydrated zinc salts, alcohol, and propylene oxide. The alcogels will be dried under supercritical carbon dioxide to obtain the so-called “aerogels”. This study aims to study the effect of the initial sol composition on the structure, texture, and morphology of the final porous material. This part of the experimental activity will be carried out at the Department of Chemistry of the American University of Lebanon under the supervision of Prof. Houssam Rassy.
The aerogels will be characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption-desorption technique, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). This part of the experimental activity will be carried out at Politecnico di Torino (DISAT) in the SMAc group.
Deadline 13/07/2024
PROPONI LA TUA CANDIDATURA