A Facile Route toward the Increase of Oxygen Content in Nanosized Zeolite by Insertion of Cerium and Fluorinated Compounds

Molecules 2018, 23(2), 37; doi:10.3390/molecules23020037

by Sarah Komaty, Clément Anfray, Moussa Zaarour, Hussein Awala, Valérie Ruaux, Samuel Valable and Svetlana Mintova

Abstract

Enriching oxygen content within nanosized zeolite X (as synthesized Na-X) by insertion of cerium (ion exchanged Ce-X) and functionalization with bromoperfluoro-n-octane (fluorinated F-X) is reported. The materials were fully characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), nitrogen adsorption, and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹⁹F NMR). The O₂ adsorption in the zeolite samples at various concentrations (0 to 165 Torr) at −196 °C was studied by in situ FTIR. The modification of nanosized zeolites did not alter their colloidal stability, crystallinity, porosity, and particle size distribution. The inclusion of cerium and bromoperfluoro-n-octane considerably increase the oxygen capacity by 33% for samples Ce-X and F-X in comparison to the as-synthesized Na-X zeolite. Further, toxicity tests revealed that these materials are safe, which opens the door for their implementation in medical applications, where controlled delivery of oxygen is highly desirable.

Keywords: zeolite; nanocrystals; oxygen adsorption; FTIR; fluorinated zeolite; cerium; toxicity test