Capacity building in porous materials research for sustainable energy applications

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Authors

Langmi, Henrietta Wakuna
Musyoka, Nicholas M.
Kemmegne-Mbouguen, Justin Claude
Kowenje, Chrispin
Kengara, Fredrick
Mokaya, Robert

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

The Royal Society

Abstract

The project aimed to develop porous materials for sustainable energy applications, namely, hydrogen storage, and valorization of biomass to renewable fuels. At the core of the project was a training programme for Africa-based researchers in (i) the exploitation of renewable locally available raw materials; (ii) the use of advanced state-of-the-art techniques for the design and synthesis of porous materials (zeolites and metalorganic frameworks (MOFs)) for energy storage; and (iii) the valorization of sustainable low-value feedstock to renewable fuels. We found that compaction of the UiO-66 MOF at high pressure improves volumetric hydrogen storage capacity without any loss in gravimetric uptake, and experimentally demonstrated the temperature-dependent dynamic behaviour of UiO-66, which allowed us to propose an activation temperature of ≤ 150°C for UiO-66. Co-pelletization was used to fabricate UiO-66/nanofibre monoliths as hierarchical porous materials with enhanced usable (i.e. deliverable) hydrogen storage capacity. We clarified the use of naturally occurring kaolin as a source of silica and alumina species for zeolite synthesis. The kaolin-derived zeolite X was successfully used as a catalyst for the transesterification of Jatropha curcas oil (from non-edible biomass) to biodiesel. We also prepared porous composites (i.e. carbon/UiO-66, organoclay/UiO-66 and zeolite/carbon) that were successfully applied in electrochemical sensing.

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DATA AVAILABITY STATEMENT: This article has no additional data.

Keywords

Capacity, Porous, Materials, Research, Sustainable, Energy, Nanotechnology, SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy, SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Metalorganic framework (MOF)

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG-07:Affordable and clean energy
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Citation

Langmi, H.W., Musyoka, N.M., Kemmegne-Mbouguen, J.C., Kowenje, C., Kengara, F. & Mokaya, R. 2024 Capacity building in porous materials research for sustainable energy applications. Interface Focus 14: 20230067. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2023.0067.