Functional hybrid materials based on magnesium lignosulfonate and silica were obtained and characterized. Magnesium lignosulfonate is a common waste product of the wood pulp industry, while silica is a well-known inorganic material with exceptional physicochemical properties. In this study, silicas with a spherical particle shape were synthesized using a sol-gel method and alternatively in a nonpolar medium. Silica was found to improve the thermal and electrokinetic properties of the final products. The resulting lignosulfonate/silica hybrid materials were analyzed with the use of advanced techniques and measuring methods: scanning electron microscopy, a laser diffraction method enabling particle size measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, thermogravimetry, electrophoretic light scattering, zeta potential measurements, low-temperature nitrogen sorption, and colorimetric analysis. The results enabled the hybrid materials to be characterized from the point of view of potential applications in various branches of industry (for example as polymer fillers, electroactive blends and biosorbents). We additionally indicate new methods for the utilization of waste products, a category to which lignosulfonate certainly belongs.
The research reported here concerns the synthesis, characterization and potential applications of silica/lignosulfonate hybrid materials. Three types of silica were used (Aerosil®200, Syloid®244 and hydrated silica), along with magnesium lignosulfonate. The effectiveness of the hybrid material synthesis methodology was confirmed indirectly, using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, elemental and colorimetric analysis. Dispersive-morphological analysis indicates that the products with the best properties were obtained using 10 parts by weight of magnesium lignosulfonate per 100 parts of Syloid®244 silica. The relatively high thermal stability recorded for the majority of the synthesized products indicates the potential use of this kind of a material as a polymer filler. Results indicating the high electrokinetic stability of the materials are also of great importance. Additionally, the very good porous structure properties indicate the potential use of silica/lignosulfonate systems as biosorbents of hazardous metal ions and harmful organic compounds.
Chitin originating from marine sponges possesses a unique nanofibrillar network structure that is the basic element of the microtubular scaffold-like skeleton of these organisms. Sponge chitin represents an intriguing example of thermostability, as it is stable up to 400 °C. It also constitutes a renewable biological source due to the high regeneration ability of Aplysina sponges under marine farming conditions. These properties can be exploited for the facile and environmentally friendly creation of novel, biocompatible organic-inorganic hybrid materials with a range of uses. Here, chitin-based scaffolds isolated from the skeleton of marine demosponge Aplysina aerophoba were used as a template for the in vitro formation of iron oxide from a saturated iron(III) chloride solution, under hydrothermal conditions (pH~1.5, 90 °C). The resultant chitin-Fe2O3 three dimensional composites, prepared for the first time via hydrothermal synthesis route, were thoroughly characterized using light, fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy; as well as with analytical methods like Raman spectroscopy, electron diffraction and HR-TEM. The results show that this versatile method allows for efficient chitin mineralization with respect to hematite. Additionally, we demonstrate that chitin nanofibers template the nucleation of uniform Fe2O3 nanocrystals.
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