Francesco Di Renzo

Bio: Francesco Di Renzo is an academic researcher from University of Montpellier. The author has contributed to research in topics: Adsorption & Zeolite. The author has an hindex of 38, co-authored 110 publications receiving 4361 citations. Previous affiliations of Francesco Di Renzo include École Normale Supérieure & University of Urbino.

Mesoporosity as a new parameter for understanding tension stress generation in trees

Abstract: The mechanism for tree orientation in angiosperms is based on the production of high tensile stress on the upper side of the inclined axis. In many species, the stress level is strongly related to the presence of a peculiar layer, called G-layer, in the fibre wall. The structure of G-layer has been recently described as a hydrogel thanks to N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms of supercritically dried samples showing a high mesoporosity (pores size from 2 to 50 nm). This led us to revisit the concept of G-layer that was until now only described from anatomical observation. Adsorption isotherms of both normal wood and tension wood have been measured on six tropical species. Measurements show that mesoporosity is high in tension wood with typical thick G-layer while it is much less with thinner G-layer, sometimes no more than normal wood. The mesoporosity of tension wood species without G-layer is as low as in normal wood. Not depending on the amount of pores, the pore sizes distribution are always centred around 6-12 nm. These results suggest that, among species producing fibres with G-layer, large structural differences of G-layer exist between species

From Microporous to Mesoporous Molecular-Sieve Materials and Their Use in Catalysis

Abstract: It is possible to say that zeolites are the most widely used catalysts in industry They are crystalline microporous materials which have become extremely successful as catalysts for oil refining, petrochemistry, and organic synthesis in the production of fine and speciality chemicals, particularly when dealing with molecules having kinetic diameters below 10 A The reason for their success in catalysis is related to the following specific features of these materials:1 (1) They have very high surface area and adsorption capacity (2) The adsorption properties of the zeolites can be controlled, and they can be varied from hydrophobic to hydrophilic type materials (3) Active sites, such as acid sites for instance, can be generated in the framework and their strength and concentration can be tailored for a particular application (4) The sizes of their channels and cavities are in the range typical for many molecules of interest (5-12 A), and the strong electric fields2 existing in those micropores together with an electronic confinement of the guest molecules3 are responsible for a preactivation of the reactants (5) Their intricate channel structure allows the zeolites to present different types of shape selectivity, ie, product, reactant, and transition state, which can be used to direct a given catalytic reaction toward the desired product avoiding undesired side reactions (6) All of these properties of zeolites, which are of paramount importance in catalysis and make them attractive choices for the types of processes listed above, are ultimately dependent on the thermal and hydrothermal stability of these materials In the case of zeolites, they can be activated to produce very stable materials not just resistant to heat and steam but also to chemical attacks Avelino Corma Canos was born in Moncofar, Spain, in 1951 He studied chemistry at the Universidad de Valencia (1967−1973) and received his PhD at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1976 He became director of the Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica (UPV-CSIC) at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia in 1990 His current research field is zeolites as catalysts, covering aspects of synthesis, characterization and reactivity in acid−base and redox catalysis A Corma has written about 250 articles on these subjects in international journals, three books, and a number of reviews and book chapters He is a member of the Editorial Board of Zeolites, Catalysis Review Science and Engineering, Catalysis Letters, Applied Catalysis, Journal of Molecular Catalysis, Research Trends, CaTTech, and Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications A Corma is coauthor of 20 patents, five of them being for commercial applications He has been awarded with the Dupont Award on new materials (1995), and the Spanish National Award “Leonardo Torres Quevedo” on Technology Research (1996) 2373 Chem Rev 1997, 97, 2373−2419

Ordered porous materials for emerging applications

Abstract: "Space—the final frontier." This preamble to a well-known television series captures the challenge encountered not only in space travel adventures, but also in the field of porous materials, which aims to control the size, shape and uniformity of the porous space and the atoms and molecules that define it. The past decade has seen significant advances in the ability to fabricate new porous solids with ordered structures from a wide range of different materials. This has resulted in materials with unusual properties and broadened their application range beyond the traditional use as catalysts and adsorbents. In fact, porous materials now seem set to contribute to developments in areas ranging from microelectronics to medical diagnosis.

Gas adsorption characterization of ordered organic-inorganic nanocomposite materials

Abstract: A critical review of adsorption methods that are currently used in the characterization of ordered organic−inorganic nanocomposite materials is presented, and the adsorption methodology that is potentially useful for this characterization, but has not yet been applied, is discussed. The ordered organic−inorganic nanocomposites include surface-functionalized ordered mesoporous materials (OMMs) with siliceous frameworks (synthesized either via postsynthesis surface modification or via direct co-condensation method), periodic mesoporous organosilicas, and surfactant-containing OMMs. This review covers the methods for determination of the specific surface area and pore volume. The available methods for mesopore size analysis are critically compared and evaluated, with special emphasis on the recent developments related to the application of advanced computational methods for studying adsorption in porous media and to the direct modeling of adsorption using highly ordered surface-functionalized OMMs as model a...