In a recent review article for Nature Communications Jeff Kenvin of Micromeritics and fellow authors explore the complexities in materials synthesis and the variety of techniques to characterize these materials in regard to distinguishing features and catalytic impact.
The review article revealed interesting information in regard to the porosity and structure of zeolites and how some of the older characterization techniques didn’t provide precise information which is necessary for individuals looking to modify the molecular structures.
“People often use standard methods to characterize the porosity of new or modified materials and these methods aren’t addressing key textural issues like connectivity of the pore network,” said Jeff Kenvin, Fellow Group Leader, Micromeritics.
The research required to contribute to a review article provided great clarity on the tools available but it also raised many questions that are unresolved. One of which was the ability to present a coherent picture of the characterization results instead of looking at each aspect independently.
“Take zeolites,” Dr. Kenvin explains. “These materials are molecular sieves with well-defined structures. Researchers want to be able to modify these structures so the molecules can move freely. Often these modifications have undesirable effects and create difficult to characterize small windows that control entry to a large cavity, like a door to enter a gymnasium. We’re in the process of unraveling some of these challenges for characterization in the next 6 – 12 months,” Dr. Kenvin projects.
Using this information a scientist can effectively define and differentiate new materials which will ultimately result in valuable information to guide research, development and engineering.
“We’re honored to have one of our scientists contribute to this research area and coauthor this review article in such a prestigious journal as Nature Communications,” said Dr. Jeff Sherman, Vice President of Business Development at Micromeritics. “This type of collaboration with academic and industry leaders has been a hallmark of Micromeritics for more than fifty years. It continues to provide us the insight necessary to design and build instrumentation which researchers require to answer the most important scientific questions of the day.”