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Nanostructured Materials: From Surface to Porous Solids, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025 | Viewed by 1461

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Physic, Universit della Calabria, Via Pietro Bucci, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende, Italy
Interests: hydrogen; methane; CCS; porous materials; nanostructure; energy conversion and storage; 2D materials; self-assembled monolayer
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Porous materials, i.e., solids with pore sizes ranging from below 1 nm up to more than 50 nm, have been studied for several years because of their size-related properties and their versatility in many fields of science and technology. For this reason, these kinds of structures have attracted a lot of interest from both academic and industry research. They include carbon-based structures (e.g., activated carbon, carbon nanotubes, fullerene), zeolites, pillared materials, organosilicates, and so on. Novel synthesis methods are constantly being developed, mainly to customize materials and to enhance their performance and, as a second step, to make their synthesis both industrially and environmentally friendly.

On the other hand, in the past few years, two-dimensional materials with abundant in-plane pores (porous 2D materials), such as graphene, boron nitride, and transition metal chalcogenides, have attracted extensive attention due to their unique structure and properties, as well as promising applications. Due to their distinct microstructural advantages, stemming from both porous and 2D materials, these materials have shown high performances as catalyst, particularly for photocatalysis and electrocatalysis, and can potentially be used in high-performance electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, such as lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells.

In this Special Issue, contributions in the form of research papers, communications, and reviews are welcome from all areas of research on porous solid and 2D materials. Topics include, but are not limited to, recent research and new trends in the synthesis of porous structures, the development of advanced multifunctional materials, and in their use for energy and environmental applications, such as the conversion of gaseous organic pollutants, carbon capture, applications as super capacitors (with particular attention to gas sequestration and storage), as well as photocatalytic and electrocatalytic applications and energy storage and conversion devices.

Dr. Alfonso Policicchio
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • synthesis of porous materials
  • porous 2D materials
  • fabrication technologies
  • energy storage applications
  • gas purification and storage
  • advanced characterization
  • environmentally friendly
  • self-assembled monolayer

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 1300 KB  
Article
A New Generation of Methods for Obtaining Metal–Ceramic Nanocomposites with Specific Sizes of Metal Nanocrystallites Stable at Elevated Temperatures and Testing the Chemical Properties of the Obtained Nanomaterials
by Rafał Pelka, Ewa Ekiert, Urszula Nowosielecka, Izabela Moszyńska and Roman Jędrzejewski
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(21), 11752; https://doi.org/10.3390/app152111752 - 4 Nov 2025
Viewed by 438
Abstract
The starting material for this research was a metal–ceramic nanocomposite containing nanocrystalline iron with an average nanocrystallite size equal to 23 nm (based on X-Ray Diffraction; a specific surface area of 9 m2/g by the BET method) and a nanocrystallite size [...] Read more.
The starting material for this research was a metal–ceramic nanocomposite containing nanocrystalline iron with an average nanocrystallite size equal to 23 nm (based on X-Ray Diffraction; a specific surface area of 9 m2/g by the BET method) and a nanocrystallite size distribution standard deviation σ = 15 nm, promoted with hardly reducible oxides (Al2O3, CaO, K2O in total, max. 10 wt%), obtained by melting magnetite with promoter oxides at 1600 °C and reducing the resulting alloy with hydrogen at 500 °C. This material was then oxidized in a controlled manner with water vapor at 425 or 500 °C to achieve different oxidation degrees. Metallic iron remaining in the samples after the oxidizing step was removed by two-stage acid etching. Promoters introduced into the melt ensured the stability of the nanocomposite structure at elevated temperatures. After etching, the iron oxide was reduced with hydrogen at 375 or 500 °C. A series of nanocrystalline iron samples with different nanocrystallite sizes (in the range from 18 to 35 nm; specific surface areas decreased from 32 to 16 m2/g with increasing nanocrystallite size) and a narrowed nanocrystallite size distribution standard deviation σ = 3–5 nm was synthesized, which was then tested in the process of nitriding (at 375 and 500 °C), carburizing (400–550 °C), and oxidation (at 425 and 500 °C). The progress and rate of these reactions were measured in a differential tubular reactor with thermogravimetric measurement of mass changes in the solid sample and catharometric measurement of hydrogen concentration in the gas phase. The scalability of the proposed method was also investigated by conducting measurements on 1, 10, and 100 g samples. The effect of nanocrystallite size on the chemical properties of the tested samples was observed. The nanocomposite samples containing the smallest iron nanocrystallite sizes were found to be the most active in the nitriding reaction and catalytic decomposition of ammonia. All the tested modified samples were at least several times more active in the decomposition of ammonia than the unmodified sample. The practical effect of our work is the presentation and use of a new, more precise method for obtaining nanocrystallites of specific sizes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanostructured Materials: From Surface to Porous Solids, 2nd Edition)
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14 pages, 2123 KB  
Article
Optoelectronic Properties of Hydrogen-Terminated Silicon Nanowires via Aliphatic C8 Moieties: Impact of C–C Bond Order from First Principles
by Francesco Buonocore, Barbara Ferrucci, Sara Marchio, Simone Giusepponi, Sumesh Sadhujan, Musa Abu-Hilu, Muhammad Y. Bashouti and Massimo Celino
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(18), 10235; https://doi.org/10.3390/app151810235 - 19 Sep 2025
Viewed by 605
Abstract
In the present work we investigate by first principles calculations the structural, electronic, and optical properties of alkyl, 1-alkenyl and 1-alkynyl C8 moieties chemisorbed on hydrogen-terminated silicon nanowire oriented along the ⟨112⟩ direction. Our results disclose how the nature of the carbon–carbon [...] Read more.
In the present work we investigate by first principles calculations the structural, electronic, and optical properties of alkyl, 1-alkenyl and 1-alkynyl C8 moieties chemisorbed on hydrogen-terminated silicon nanowire oriented along the ⟨112⟩ direction. Our results disclose how the nature of the carbon–carbon bond contiguous to the Si surface influences the behavior of the system. While 1-alkynyl groups exhibit the strongest Si–C bonding, it is 1-alkenyl functionalization that induces the most significant enhancement in optical absorption within the visible range due to charge transfer. The charge transferred from the nanowire to the moiety confirms the electronic coupling of the two systems. We found that the highest occupied molecular orbital of the 1-alkenyl moiety lies only 0.3 eV below the valence band edge of the hydrogen-terminated silicon nanowire, enabling new low-energy optical transitions which are absent in both the unmodified silicon nanowire and the isolated molecule. These findings demonstrate a synergistic effect of functionalization. Our study provides valuable insights into the design of functionalized silicon nanostructures with tailored optical properties, with potential implications for applications in sensing, photonics, and energy conversion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanostructured Materials: From Surface to Porous Solids, 2nd Edition)
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