Nanjing Tech University

About: Nanjing Tech University is a education organization based out in Nanjing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Membrane. The organization has 21827 authors who have published 21794 publications receiving 364050 citations. The organization is also known as: Nangongda & Nánjīng Gōngyè Dàxúe.

Synthesis of Biodiesel in Capillary Microreactors

Abstract: KOH-catalyzed synthesis of biodiesel was carried out in capillary microreactors with inner diameters of 0.25 or 0.53 mm, with unrefined rapeseed oil and cottonseed oil as raw materials. The influences of the methanol to oil molar ratio, the residence time, the catalyst concentration, the reaction temperature, and the dimension of the capillary on the production of biodiesel were examined. The results indicated that the residence time was greatly reduced by using microchannel reactors, compared with a conventional batch reactor. The reaction temperature was the minimal factor in the yield of methyl ester. Meanwhile, the methyl ester yield first increased with the methanol/oil ratio and then decreased due to emulsion and saponification. The inner diameter of the microchannel reactor had a strong influence on the transesterification reaction. Higher methyl ester yield could be obtained at shorter residence times for the microchannel reactor with the smaller inner diameter.

Versatile superhydrophobic and photocatalytic films generated from TiO2–SiO2@PDMS and their applications on fabrics

Abstract: We report a simple and practical approach to for the facile production of TiO2–SiO2@PDMS versatile hybrid films via a sol–gel process, which possess superhydrophobic and photocatalytic properties. The as-prepared films presented herein have high thermal stability even up to 400 °C, and then switch to superhydrophilicity upon calcination at 470 °C. Also, we successfully employed the TiO2–SiO2@PDMS hybrid solution to coat onto flexible polyester–cotton fabrics on a large scale, allowing them to be made superhydrophobic. The superhydrophobic fabrics are wash-resistant and resistant to strong acid attack, and can be applied as a filter cloth for both oil–water separation and colorful pattern printing. We further applied the TiO2–SiO2@PDMS hybrid solution to treat dye waste water, which became colorless under UV irradiation. More interestingly, small balls coated with the TiO2–SiO2@PDMS hybrid solution can move faster than the control sample owing to their smooth superhydrophobic surface. These findings suggest that this multifunctional TiO2–SiO2@PDMS hybrid material can be applied to fabric treatment and water-repellent ship coatings.