New functional materials derived from amorphous silica

ABSTRACT

Scientific research needs to get the most results with the lowest cost, hence how to modify the low-cost material to elevate its value is a valuable subject with both distinct scientific significance and extensive potential commercial application. This mini-review reports many achievements on this subject, in which amorphous silica is the starting material. Amorphous silica is a common porous oxide with a relatively low cost, but it can be modified to act as various new functional materials as long as the adopted strategy is smart and accurate. As these achievements are revealed in this review, silica can exert its versatility in environment protection as the efficient trapper of volatile nitrosamines, phenol and organophosphorus pesticide. Besides, silica plays the significant role of a solid strong base and thermal releaser of menthol, providing a clue on how to update the low-cost material into a specific new functional material.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Amorphous silica
• adsorbent
• thermal releaser
• solid strong base
• environment protection

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

For the reference from 1 to 14, and that from 16 to 39, the corresponding data are available at https://doi.org/10.1080/21622515.2023.2230532. However, the data of reference 15 was at ‘https://www.sciencedirect.com/bookseries/studies-in-surface-science-and-catalysis/volumes’, with the reference number of [2005 – Volume 158].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [21673113].

Notes on contributors

Zheng Wang

Mr. Zheng Wang is an assistant researcher at the Changzhou Centers for Disease Control and prevention, Jiangsu Province, China. He received his MSc degree in 2011 and his research is focused on the inspection of food pollutants and drinking water, for instance, the physiological functions of flavonoids and physicochemical properties, production, harm and detection methods of aflatoxin M1 in dairy products.

Ying Wang

Dr. Ying Wang is a professor at Nanjing University, an International member of the American Chemical Society. She received her Ph.D. in Material Engineering from Ehime University of Japan in 1998. Research in the Wang group is focused on understanding the surface/interface interactions between inorganic–organic materials and biomolecule-inorganic materials. Much of this work is based on the developing innovation of semiconductor photocatalysts with a visible light response, effective and low-cost metal oxide semiconductor and polymer photocatalysts, with a particular emphasis on the utilization of renewable energy for environmental purification. She has published 200 papers in journals and 18 Chinese invention patents.

Jian Hua Zhu

Dr. Jian Hua Zhu is a professor at Nanjing University, a member of the international zeolite society and the director of the zeolite committee in Jiangsu Province (China). He studied at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) as a visiting scholar from 1987 to 1988 and got his Ph.D. degree from Nanjing University in 1989. From 1993 to 1995 Dr. Zhu worked in Hokkaido University as a visiting researcher. He studied the selective adsorption and catalysis of zeolite and other molecular sieves, the fabrication of new functional porous materials such as mesoporous superbase and their application in environmental protection and life science, with an emphasis on tobacco harm reduction and drug-controllable release. Dr. Zhu has published 232 papers, and 39 review papers, applied 16 Chinese invention patents and authored 11.