Functional nanoporous materiels: synthesis, inclusion properties and applications

纳米技术现已成为一个重要的研究分支，在许多经济和社会效益领域带来潜在的重大突破。 制造能够执行特定任务的材料的能力是材料科学研究的主要目标之一。在“纳米尺度”（接近分子的长度尺度）下操纵物质，现在被认为是制造材料（称为纳米材料）的极好方法，其反应性可以精确调节。在这项研究中，我们的目标是制备高效的纳米材料，可用于改善环境健康，以及使某些工业过程更有效。 我们的一般方法是制备“海绵状”纳米材料，其中包含许多具有纳米尺寸开口的孔道。 使用化学工具，这些孔道的表面将被改性，使材料对特定的环境和工业任务具有活性。 我们的一些具体环境目标包括设计纳米材料，可以从水系统中去除有毒化合物，如重金属和杀虫剂，并清理矿山冶炼厂的有毒气体排放。 我们还将设计纳米材料，以提高将矿石转化为金属产品的效率，从而降低这些过程的能耗和污染。

Nanotechnology has now emerged as a important research branch leading to potentially major breakthoughs in many areas of economic and social benefit.  The ability to make materials that can execute specific tasks is one of the main objectives in materials science research. The manipulation of matter at the "nanoscale" (length scale approaching that of molecules), is now recognized as an excellent approach to make materials (known as nanomaterials) whose reactivity can be precisely tuned. In this research, we aim to prepare highly efficient nanomaterials that can be used to improve the health of the environment, as well as to make certain industrial processes more efficient.   Our general approach is to prepare "sponge-like" nanomaterials that contain numerous pore channels with nano-sized openings.  Using the tools of chemistry, the surface of these pore channels will be modified to make the materials active for specific environmental and industrial tasks.   Some of our specific environmental goals include the design of nanomaterials that can remove toxic compounds such as heavy metals and pesticides from water systems, and to clean up toxic gas emissions from mine smelters.  We will also design nanomaterials that can improve the efficiency of converting ores into metal products, so that these processes become less energy-intensive and less polluting.