NBC Seminar High Surface Area Mesostructured Solids: Promising Functional Materials for Selective Sorption and Catalytic Applications? Speaker : Prof. Freddy Kleitz Department of Chemistry, Université Laval The discovery of ordered mesoporous materials obtained through cooperative self-assembly of inorganic precursors and amphiphilic micellar structure-directing agents has been a major breakthrough in the development of porous materials.1 These mesoporous materials consist of extended inorganic or organic-inorganic hybrid arrays with exceptional long-range ordering and tailored pore volume and pore size (generally between 2 and 20 nm). In heterogeneous catalysis, for instance, catalysts based on ordered mesoporous materials can provide significant advantages owing to their very high surface area and large mesopores suitable to carry out reactions involving adsorption and diffusion of bulky substrates and/or products. In addition, numerous methods of modification are available to modulate surface properties, introduce functionalities, e.g. adsorption sites, catalytic sites, bioactive functions, etc., or control size and shape of the particles of these mesoporous solids.2 This overview seminar will present recent synthesis concepts for the design of functional mesostructured materials and some perspectives of application in catalysis and sorption. Different synthesis methods and modifications for the preparation of functionalized nanoporous materials will be discussed,3 namely 1) the insertion of hetero-elements, e.g. Ti4+, into ordered mesoporous silica to generate useful redox properties;3 2) the preparation of high-surface-area mixed metal oxide catalysts using the nanocasting strategy,4 and 3) surface functionalization of silica with organics to generate specific properties for selective sorption.5 Examples of applications in catalysis will be presented, as well as, in the adsorption of actinides and rare earths. When: 16:00 on Nov 6th (Tue) Where: Engineering Building 1, Room 811 Contact: Prof. Sang Hoon Joo (2522) / Shjoo@unist.ac.kr School of Nano-Bioscience & Chemical Engineering UNIST