The efficient storage of strategic gases—CH4, CO2, and H2—remains a critical challenge due to the need for high pressures or cryogenic temperatures to achieve sufficient storage densities, often resulting in energy- and cost-intensive processes. Adsorption-based storage using porous materials offers a promising alternative. In particular, ordered mesoporous carbons, such as CMK-8 and CMK-9, are attractive due to their mechanical, thermal, and chemical stability, as well as their highly tunable textural properties. Surface functionalization can further enhance gas uptake, though the effect is often gas-specific. This study investigates the adsorption performance of four carbon materials: pristine CMK-8 and CMK-9, and their oxygen-functionalized counterparts produced via HNO3 treatment. The adsorption capacities for CH4, CO2, and H2 were evaluated through a combination of experimental gas adsorption measurements and molecular simulations. The results reveal structure–property relationships between surface chemistry and gas-specific adsorption behavior, with implications for the rational design of carbon-based materials for gas storage.

Ordered mesoporous carbons have emerged as versatile supports for Fischer–Tropsch catalysts due to their high surface area, tunable pore architectures, and chemical stability. However, the influence of active-metal identity on product selectivity within a common carbon framework remains insufficiently understood, particularly when Fe and Co are compared under rigorously identical conditions. To address this aspect, we prepared Fe- and Co-based catalysts with comparable nominal metal loadings supported on CMK-5 carbon material and evaluated their structural, surface, and catalytic properties. Comprehensive characterization revealed distinct metal-dependent behaviors, and catalytic testing between 423 and 598 K at 2 MPa showed that the catalyst CMK-5(Co10) exhibited substantially higher activity, whereas CMK-5(Fe10) provided a more stable product distribution and exclusively paraffinic C2–C3 products across the studied temperature range. In contrast, CMK-5(Co10) displayed a pronounced temperature-dependent selectivity, with increasing methane formation and the emergence of olefinic C2–C3 species at intermediate and high temperatures. Chain-growth probabilities were consistent with these trends. Complementary Density Functional Theory and Kinetic Monte Carlo analyses indicated stronger binding of carbonaceous intermediates on Fe clusters and more accessible C–C coupling pathways on Co clusters. Together, these results clarify how active-metal identity governs selectivity within a shared CMK-5 architecture and provide guidelines for designing carbon-supported Fischer–Tropsch catalysts with controlled product distributions.

Ordered mesoporous carbons with a three-dimensional cubic structure, CMK-8 and CMK-9, were synthesized using the hard-template method and evaluated, for the first time, as drug delivery systems for cephalexin (CFX), a widely used antibiotic in infectious disease therapy. The materials were functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane via grafting to enhance aqueous dispersion and control drug release. CFX was loaded by adsorption, and its release was studied under simulated oral conditions at acidic (pH 1.2) and intestinal (pH 6.8) environments. Due to its dual mesoporosity and larger surface area, CMK-9 exhibited superior CFX adsorption capacity compared to CMK-8. Both materials facilitated controlled drug release, with CMK-9 achieving the highest release rate (89 %) within 14 h under acidic conditions, whereas pure CFX exhibited a much faster release. Kinetic analysis using the Weibull model indicated a Fickian diffusion mechanism governed by porosity and electrostatic interactions. These findings underscore the potential of ordered mesoporous carbons with cubic structures as promising platforms for controlled antibiotic delivery.

This study compares two in vitro loading and release systems for the antibiotic cephalexin (CFX), based on ordered mesoporous silica (SBA-15) and carbon (CMK-5) materials, both pure and modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. Drug loading was performed using the adsorption method under constant conditions (pH: 6, T: 30 degrees C, and t: 8 h), and the release mechanisms were investigated at gastric and intestinal pH to understand the phenomena involved in the oral delivery of CFX studied. The results revealed a higher adsorption capacity of CMK-5 due to its microporosity and it-it stacking interactions compared to SBA-15. Furthermore, the presence of functional groups prevented the formation of crystalline phases by adsorption on the external surface. A reduction in the release rate of CFX was observed with both carriers, governed by a Fickian diffusion mechanism. Notably, CMK-5 exhibited a higher release rate at gastric pH compared to SBA-15, while the opposite was true at intestinal pH. These findings provide deeper insights into the behavior of carriers with different chemical compositions in antibiotic release, suggesting their potential as an alternative to address issues associated with the dosing frequency of these drugs.

This work presents the synthesis of activated carbons from coffee husk pre- treated with steam explosion. The influence of the impregnation ratio (H3PO4/precursor) and impregnation time was evaluated. The synthesised materials were characterised by N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherms at 77 K and CO2 adsorption at 273 K, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy. These techniques confirmed the success of activated carbons from the coffee industry waste. Two selected activated carbons were further evaluated for their CO2, CH4, and H-2 adsorption capacities at 308 K, 298 K, and 77 K, respectively, under pressures of up to 10 bar. CA-1 and CA-5 exhibited promising H(2)adsorption capacities, comparable to values reported. These findings open up new possibilities for developing porous carbon- based activated materials for advanced gas separation applications.

This research focuses on developing MIL-53-type compounds with Fe obtained with ligands derived from PET waste, followed by the controlled addition of hydrofluoric acid (HF). Incorporating HF into the MOF structure induced substantial changes in the material textural properties, resulting in a significant change in CO2 adsorption. Furthermore, a distinctive structural alteration (breathing effect) was observed in the CO2 isotherms at different temperatures; these structural changes have not been observed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) because this characterization has been performed at room temperature, whereas the adsorption experiments were conducted at 260, 273, and 303 K and different pressures. Subsequently, DFT studies were performed to investigate the CO2-filling mechanisms and elucidate the material respiration effect. This approach offers promising opportunities for sustainable materials with improved gas adsorption properties.

It is known that the use of the Dubinin–Radushkevich method in micro-mesoporous samples does not give adequate values of micropore volumes, unlike when the samples contain only microporous. Based on that, in this work, we propose an easy method to calculate a reliable micropore volume ( V μP ) of micro-mesoporous (nanopores) samples, separating the microporous region from the experimental isotherm. For this, the original isotherm is modified, estimating the thickness of the adsorbed layer ( t ) as a function of relative pressure and changing the external surface area ( S ext ) to obtain a Type I adsorption isotherm in the microporous region; then, the DR method can be applied to the modified isotherm. This proposal, named the DR_t method , allows the calculation of a reliable V μP of any nanoporous material using different adsorbates. Using this method, we analyzed adsorbents of distinct nature (i.e., carbons and silicas) with different adsorbates as N 2 and O 2 at 77 K, Ar at 87 K, and CO 2 at 273 K. We used this method to calculate V μP in different samples and compare them with those obtained with the traditional DR method, highlighting that unlike the latter the DR_t method showed similar and consistent results with the different adsorbates. Therefore, the values of micropore volume calculated using the DR_t method demonstrate consistency across various adsorbates, not only for N 2 but especially for CO 2 , which is suggested to analyze narrow micropore volumes.

Layered double hydroxides were prepared by co-precipitating Mg2+ and Al3+ ions at constant pH. Three different methods of solution additions and two temperatures for synthesis and aging were tested in each method. Through X-ray diffraction, it was confirmed that all the synthesized solids have a hydrotalcite-type structure, obtaining more crystalline compounds when one solution of Mg/Al is added to another whit CO3- /OH- and compounds with greater interlaminar spacing when three different solutions are added (Mg/Al, CO3- and OH-). In addition, the solids obtained by this last method have a higher specific surface area and total pore volume, as confirmed by the N2 adsorption-desorption. A similar trend occurs with synthesis and aging temperatures where better textural properties are obtained at a higher temperature, reaching surface area values of 242 m2/g and pore volume of 0,93 cm3/g. All the synthesized solids were active for removing nitrates in water, obtaining the best results with the samples prepared by dripping three different solutions at 60 degrees C (26 mgNO3-/g.) This fact demonstrates the correlation between the synthesis method and the textural properties of the material with its potential appli-cation in removing contaminants.

Samples with HKUST-1-like structure were modified by the substitution of trimesic acid (BTC) by isophthalic acid (iBDC). HKUST-1-like structure was monitored by XRD, finding no changes up to a BTC molar fraction (X BTC ) equal to 0.67. The substitution of BTC by iBDC produced an increase of defects observed by SEM and led to a greater specific surface area. The increase in N 2 molecules adsorption was correlated with a 10% increase in H 2 uptake at 8 bar and 77 K. Interestingly, the ligand substitution showed no effects on methane uptake up to 40 bar and 298 K. The defect engineering showed to be a useful tool to increase the uptake of polar molecules with surface.

An ordered nanoporous carbon (ONC) was synthesized by the hard-template method and then superficially modified with amino groups from 3-aminopropyltrietoxisilane (ONC-A). Both carbons, ONC and ONC-A, were characterized and tested as carriers of a high-frequency dosing drug such as cephalexin (CFX). Density functional theory calculations were used to study the interactions between ONC and the amino groups of ONC-A and CFX. Finally, the biocompatibility of human colon carcinoma (Caco-2) cells and in vitro release kinetics at gastric and intestinal pH were evaluated. The results show that drug loading capacity was higher in ONC than in ONC-A, which was associated with a localized increase in adsorption energy and a decrease in the textural properties on the surface of the ONC-A sample. Both carbon materials showed cell viability above 80 %, even at high concentrations (1000 µg mL−1). The CFX release profiles of both carbons reached their maximum at 12 h, whereas the rapid release of pure CFX at gastric and intestinal pH was 30 min. The release mechanisms obeyed the Weibull model governed by Fickian diffusion, influenced by both porosity and functional groups in ONC and ONC-A.

We report on a detailed textural analysis of mechanochemically synthesized MOF-199 including N-2 adsorption-desorption and CO2 adsorption isotherms data at 77 K and 273 K (up to atmospheric pressure), respectively, and CH4 adsorption data at 298 K (up to 35 bar). We used the isotherm adsorption data to determine the micropore volume of the MOF-199 structures, to establish their methane uptake capacity and to understand how these properties depended on the Ethanol/BTC ratio used during the synthesis. The maximum methane uptake capacity for our specimens was recorded at 130 v/v at 35 bars. These results open an avenue for a better understanding of alternative manufacturing processes of MOF structures for gas storage applications.

KIT-6 mesoporous silica has been synthesized using the sol-gel method and functionalized with 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane by grafting route to obtain KIT-6/NH2. These samples were used as carriers in the loading and controlled release of cephalexin (CFX). The effect of temperature and gastric and intestinal pH on the stability of pure CFX and loaded in KIT-6 and KIT-6/NH2 were investigated. The properties of the synthesized materials and their CFX loading capacity were studied through FTIR, ads-des N2 at 77 K, TEM, SEM, XPS, and TGA. The controlled release tests were carried out in a simulated physiological medium at gastric (1.2) and intestinal pH (6.8). Furthermore, the biocompatibility of both materials was studied through cell viability tests in Caco-2 intestinal cells. The results revealed that KIT-6 and KIT-6/NH2 had similar CFX loading capacities. It was found that CFX degrades at pH 6.8, however, KIT-6 and KIT-6/NH2 were able to protect it from the aforemen-tioned degradation. Moreover, KIT-6 materials presented a good performance as CFX carriers since both mate-rials provided diffusion-controlled release profiles during 24 h, satisfying the Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetic model. Mesoporous silicas presented in this work are promising candidates to be used in CFX controlled release systems due to their chemical interactions, textural properties, and high cell viability.

There is a well-known relationship between porous materials performance in a given process and their textural properties. These properties include specific surface area, among others, where the most widely used experimental technique to determine them is gas adsorption. Although the most used adsorptive gas is N2 at 77 K up to atmospheric pressure, its quadrupole moment generates specific interactions with surface groups, as silanols in silica materials, causing a preferential orientation effect on the adsorbed N2 molecule affecting the specific surface area value. In this sense, we analyzed the adsorption–desorption isotherms at 77 K of nanoporous silica materials using different adsorptives. From these data, we obtained the specific surface area (SBET) values of the samples by applying the BET method with the IUPAC recommendations for each gas. The selected materials were MCM-41, MCM-48, SBA-15, and SBA-16, and the adsorptives used were Ar, O2, and CH4, along with N2. Among the chosen adsorptives, Ar and CH4 do not have a quadrupole moment, whereas this value is present for N2 and O2, being the latter four times smaller than nitrogen. In addition, at 77 K, both Ar and CH4 are below their triple-point temperature, while N2 and O2, which are above their triple-point temperature, are in the same thermodynamic state. Taking the SBET obtained by Ar at 77 K as the referential value of each sample, the corresponding molecular transversal areas of the other adsorptives were estimated. It was found that the variation of transversal area for the N2 molecule at 77 K on silica materials was between 0.133 and 0.149 nm2 (below its common value of 0.162 nm2). In contrast, in the case of the O2 molecule at 77 K, this value was almost constant, with an average of 0.123 nm2. These results showed that the quadrupole moment of the O2 does not play an important role in the interaction with surface silanol groups present in the samples, making oxygen at 77 K a potential and reliable adsorptive to determine the specific surface area of silica materials.

The implementation of MOF technologies in methane uptake requires scalable production methods. Mechanochemical methods showed to be scalable and cost-efficient with respect to solvent consumption and disposal, making them also greener with respect to other methods. The MOFs produced mechanochemically showed similar methane uptake performance to commercial Basolite C300, opening the chance to be implemented. A traditional Japanese food, Mochi (餅), is also produced mechanically, steamed rice is mashed and pounded with wooden mallets in a traditional mortar. More information can be found in the Full Paper by Eugenio Hernán Otal, Karim Sapag et al.

Porous materials with pores within molecular size are essential to solve several technological problems taking advantage of their textural properties related to their exposed surface and porosity. Among these materials, zeolites are in the podium, with technological and industrial applications, which are directly related to pore properties (e.g., size, surface chemistry, among others). To obtain their textural properties, there are several techniques, but gas adsorption plays an important role, and it is among the most widely used for this purpose. Despite being a popular technique, with nitrogen at 77 K as the reference probe molecule to obtain adsorption isotherms, the estimation of the textural properties is not a trivial procedure. On the other hand, it is possible to perform adsorption measurements with different gases at different temperatures and pressures, whereby is crucial the choice of adequate analysis conditions because the adsorption-desorption isotherm will be the unique information obtained from the experiment. Once the data are obtained, a careful selection of methods and models to analyze them is mandatory to evaluate textural properties of the samples in a reliable and reproducible manner. Particularly for zeolites, due to their pore sizes and the presence of surface functional groups, the application of this characterization technique is not straightforward, thus needing to pay attention to the previous knowledge that exists about this type of materials, to carry out the experiment as well as to choose the appropriate methodology for data treatment. In this chapter, we introduce an overview of the experimental procedure and data treatment to obtain the more reliable textural properties for zeolites.

Synthesis and characterization of hierarchical carbon materials, CMK-5 type, with high specific surface areas and large pore volumes is reported and tested in CO2 adsorption. These materials were successfully synthesized by the nanocasting process using a hard silica template SBA-15, furfuryl alcohol (FA) as carbon precursor, and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (TMB) as solvent. The percentage of FA, and the FA:TMB volume ratio were the synthesis parameters evaluated to determine the accurate amounts to impregnate the pore walls of the template. Both parameters influence the formation of carbon materials with a 2D porous structure and hexagonal tube array. CMK-5 materials achieved specific surface areas up to 2200 m(2)/g and total pore volumes ca. 2 cm(3)/g. The characterization techniques allowed us to establish a correlation between the different textural, structural and morphological properties and the carbon dioxide adsorption capacity. The CO2 adsorption capacity at 308 K up to 1 bar has a strong relationship only with the micropore volume, but at higher pressure (up to 10 bar) the CO2 adsorption capacity depends not simply on the amount of micropores but also of the small mesopores present in these carbons, reaching a maximum value of 7 mmol/g, at 308 K and up to 10 bar.

A series of M41S type mesoporous molecular sieves modified with copper were synthesized through Template-Ion Exchange (TIE). The influence of hydrothermal treatment and mixing time at room temperature over the solids structural and chemical properties was evaluated in detail for a single Cu content. Characterization of the materials was carried out through various techniques: XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, SEM, XPS, atomic absorption, UV–vis DR and TPR. It was found that different stirring times at room temperature had no significant influence over the physical and chemical characteristics of the final solid. However, hydrothermal treatment had a slight effect over the materials structure and metallic species distribution. In order to assess copper content influence, two other non-treated solids with different metallic contents were synthesized, characterized, and compared with hydrothermally treated samples. The catalytic performance of the hydrothermally treated and non-treated materials was tested in the liquid phase oxidation of limonene employing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as oxygen donor, an important fine chemical reaction. Only one of the evaluated Cu contents exhibited a minor difference in catalytic activity according to the applied synthesis conditions. Hence, a simple TIE procedure without hydrothermal treatment can be employed for the synthesis of Cu-MCM materials. By suppressing hydrothermal treatment, it is possible to save around 10% of the total energy requirement for the complete synthesis process.

In this work, we prepared four electrocatalysts based on trimetallic PtPdNi nanoparticles on different carbon supports, i. e., i) two activated carbons produced from biomass, ii) micro-mesoporous carbon synthesized by the nanocasting method, and iii) commercial carbon black. The electrocatalytic activity of the prepared materials was tested in the electro-oxidation of ethanol in alkaline medium. Well-distributed nanoparticles with sizes in the range of 3.5-5.2 nm were obtained through galvanic replacement. The bulk Pt, Pd and Ni contents were about 65, 25 and 15 at. %, measured by EDX and ICP-AES. By XPS the surface Pt : Pd atomic ratios were in the range of 1.82-2.2. Electrochemical experiments showed that the trimetallic nanoparticles deposited over micro-mesoporous carbon material exhibit the highest electrochemical activity towards ethanol electro-oxidation in alkaline medium. Results showed that both synthetic carbon and biomass-derived carbon are suitable materials to support electrocatalysts in low-temperature fuel cells.

CMK-3 carbons were synthesized varying the carbonization conditions and studying the effect of the templates calcined at different temperatures. The textural characterization of different SBA-15 templates calcined at 350, 450, and 550 degrees C shows a variation of the specific surface area below 10%. Based on the results, the SBA-15 obtained at 350 degrees C (the more affordable condition) was used as the final template for the CMK-3 synthesis. The results show that varying the time (from 2 to 6 h) and the temperature (from 600 to 900 degrees C) on the carbonization step, the textural, structural, and morphological properties of the carbons do not vary in a meaningful way. Thus, a CMK-3 carbon synthesized (using as template an SBA-15 calcined at 350 degrees C) obtained at 600 degrees C during 2 h was chosen to be used as adsorbent in hydrogen storage in order to stablish the relationship between the textural properties and its performance. Regarding the hydrogen storage, capacities of 15 mg H-2 g(-1) (1.5% w/w), and up to 28 mg H-2 g(-1) (2.8% w/w) were obtained at 1 and 10 bar, respectively. At high pressure, an important influence of the large micropores and narrow mesopores on the hydrogen adsorption was found.