The saturation of pore-structure carbon aerogels with water is a key issue in a variety of fields of application, as these materials are basically water repellent or hydrophobic. The Environmental Colloids Research Group of the Department of Physical Chemistry of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Debrecen examined how a joint interpretation of various procedures based on the principle of nuclear magnetic resonance and adsorption measurements made it possible to explore the ways of water filling and moving in this fairly complex pore system of a predominantly water-repellent surface.
“Our research was intended to prove that NMR cryoporometry, relaxometry and diffusiometry can be used to give a comprehensive description and characterization of the morphology of porous substances under conditions of practical application. Consequently, we could define the mechanism of how the porous structure is saturated or filled with water. The comparison of the results with the classic observations of gas and steam adsorption provides new information on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic character of the surfaces. On the basis of the vapor phase and inhibited diffusion then we can determine the distribution and mobility of water in complex pore systems. This non-invasive batch of methods may also be applied to rather complex but vitally important systems such as the human skin,” said István Bányai, Professor at the Department of Physical Chemistry of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) of the University of Debrecen (UD) and Head of Környezeti Kolloidok Kutatócsoport to hirek.unideb.hu.
The first and corresponding author of the study prepared jointly with Budapesti Műszaki Egyetem [Budapest University of Technology and Economics] is Mónika Kéri, an assistant professor of the Department of Physical Chemistry (FST, UD).
The study titled A Rezorcin-formaldehid szén aerogélek kölcsönhatása vízzel: átfogó NMR-vizsgálatok [Interaction of resorcinol-formaldehyde carbo aerogels with water: A comprehensive NMR study] was named one of the best publications by Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Kémiai Osztálya [the Section of Chemical Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences] in the month of May.
The English-language article describing the study was first published in the prestigious international academic journal (IF 9.56 in 2021) Carbon, which is devoted to multidisciplinary research and scientific advances in the field of carbon materials, including low-dimensional carbon-based nanostructures.
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