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.
