Microporous
Chalcogenides
Powell and Vaqueiro
What are microporous solids?
Microporous solids
contain regular arrays of molecule-sized channels and cavities, of
up to 2 nm, and have high surface areas. These materials are able to
adsorb molecules reversibly and selectively based on differences in
their size and shape. For this reason, microporous solids are
promising materials for gas storage (e.g hydrogen), CO2
separation, and for catalysis applications.
[C7H10N][In9Se14] |
Our research
Much of our research on microporous
solids focuses on the design of multifunctional materials,
combining the properties of conventional porous solids, such
as zeolites, with semiconducting behaviour. In particular,
we are seeking to produce new porous semiconducting
chalcogenides, containing sulphide, selenide or telluride
units. This work may lead to microporous materials with
improved gas selectivity, due to the highly polarisable
surfaces found in metal chalcogenides, and with the ability
to resist sulphur poisoning. In addition, their
semiconducting behaviour may result in additional
applications, including molecule discriminating sensors (or
"chemical noses").
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