Solution phase growth and analysis of super-thin zigzag tin selenide nanoribbons

Tin selenide (SnSe), a highly promising layered material, has been garnering particular interest in recent times due to its significant promise for future energy devices. Herein we report a simple solution phase approach for growing highly crystalline layered SnSe nanoribbons. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was used as a templating agent to selectively passivates the (100) and (001) facets of the SnSe nanoribbons resulting in the unique growth of nanoribbons along their b-axis with a defined zigzag edge state along the sidewalls. The SnSe nanoribbons are few layers thick (~ 20 layers), with mean widths of ~40 nm, and achievable length of > 1 m. Nanoribbons could be produced in relatively high quantities (>150 mg) in a single batch experiment. The PVP coating also offer some resistance to oxidation, with removal of the PVP seen to lead to the formation a SnSe/SnOx core shell structure. The use of non-toxic PVP to replace toxic amines that are typically employed for other 1D forms of SnSe is a significant advantage for sustainable and environmentally friendly applications. Heat transport properties of the SnSe nanoribbons, derived from power dependent Raman spectroscopy, demonstrate the potential of SnSe nanoribbons as thermoelectric material.

Insight in the crystallization kinetics of AlPO4-11 molecular sieve using di-isopropylamine as template

The hydrothermal synthesis of aluminophosphate molecular sieve type AlPO4-11 was processed from chemicals containing psueudobohemite, 85% phosphoric acid, water, and di-isopropylamine as templating agent. The crystallization of the samples was studied by taking samples in times from 2 to 74 hours. The obtained white powder products have been characterized by XRD patterns, FT-IR spectra, thermogravimetric data, scanning electron microscopy and pH measurement of the mother liquor. The pore volume, as determined from TG and DTG curves, was ca. 0.17 cm3g-1. The crystallization process of the aluminophosphate exhibited in its initial phase a behavior of first order reaction with a specific velocity constant of ca. 0.25 h-1, as determined from XRD and FT-IR data.

The Novel Use of PVP K30 as Templating Agent in Production of Porous Lactose

It is necessary to prepare porous lactose in order to improve the dissolution behavior of insoluble active ingredient. In this study, polyvinylpyrrolidone K30 (PVP K30) was firstly utilized as a templating agent with different use levels in preparing porous lactose. Then, the physical properties were profoundly characterized. Finally, the porous lactose was also employed as a health functional food/drug carrier to explore the effect on the dissolution behavior of curcumin. The results confirmed that (i) porous lactose was successfully prepared using PVP K30 as templating agent; (ii) PVP K30 significantly improved the yield of lactose in the spray drying; (iii) the improved powder properties of porous lactose were more conducive to the downstream operating process for the preparation of health functional food or drug; and (iv) the porous lactose significantly improved the dissolution behavior of curcumin. Therefore, the results obtained are beneficial to boosting the development of porous materials.

Synchronously improved graphitization and surface area in a 3D porous carbon network as a high capacity anode material for lithium/sodium-ion batteries

Using bifunctional silica as a catalyst for graphitization and a templating agent for pore-formation, high graphitization and surface area are synchronously realized in porous N/P doped carbonaceous materials.

Formulation Development of Porous Mannitol carrier: Improving the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs

Major challenges in the design of oral dosage forms are their low solubility and low bioavailability. Improving the dissolution of these oral dosage forms are one of the most challenging tasks for the formulation scientists as most of the drug candidates are highly lipophilic in nature. Telmisartan and Ezetimibe belongs to the BCS class II, having high lipophilicity, poor water solubility and poor dissolution. The objective of this work was to improve the dissolution rate of poorly water soluble drugs by using porous carrier drug delivery system. Templating based spray drying methodology was used to prepare porous mannitol. Drug (Telmisartan, Ezetimibe) loaded porous mannitol carriers then characterized by P-XRD, DSC, SEM, BET surface area analysis and ATR-FTIR. ATR-FTIR studies showed complete removal of templating agent from carrier. P-XRD and DSC studies confirmed nano- confinement of drug in crystalline form. In vitro dissolution study results indicated that porous mannitol prepared using tartaric acid as templating agent showed significant improvement in dissolution rate than pure drugs and respective physical mixtures .These results suggest that, these porous carriers can be useful as drug carriers for improving the dissolution of lipophilic drugs. Keywords: Templating agent, Spray drying, Mannitol, Surface area, Tartaric acid.