In the past two decades, advances in the organic chemistry of fullerenes has enabled chemists to synthesise fully closed fullerene cages with atoms/molecules trapped inside [1-4], allowing the study of interesting effects that arise due to the confinement. In this report, a methodology to determine the INS spectrum of a single atom trapped inside a nano-cavity in a near-spherical symmetry by...
Imogolite is an aluminosilicate clay mineral, composed of single-walled nanotubes with stoichiometry of 3(OH)Al2O3SiOH, and having a nanometric inner diameter. Thanks to their one-dimensional inner cavity, they are a model system for studying the dynamics of nanoconfined water. We will present, by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, a study of the evolution of the structure and the...
Understanding the nanoscale dynamics of water molecules incorporated in layered and porous solids is key in designing next-generation materials for water filtration devices and fuel cells and requires the combination of experimental measurements and MD simulations. Cold neutrons, allowing investigations of molecular motions on a pico- to nano-seconds time regime, offer critical complementarity...
Water is an essential component in hydraulic binders, exerting control on the hydration reactions and on the long-term behavior of cementitious structures acting as a vector of ionic transportation. Here, a protocol based on water sorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis was designed to obtain C-S-H with controlled distribution of interlayer, adsorbed and bulk pore...
Ionic liquids (ILs) have been described as molten salts with a melting point below 100 °C, consisting of a large asymmetric organic cations and organic or inorganic anions. Since the ionic liquids are essentially ionic conductors, their utilization as novel electrolytes for electrochemical devices, such as batteries, electric double layer separators, dye-sensitized solar cells and fuel cells...
