Center for Surface Science and Catalysis - Research in pictures
LEGO chemistry
Silica can be shaped into specific building units which then can be assembled into 3D tiles - THE ZEOTILES.
A combination of discrete Transmission Electron Tomography with structure simulation allowed solving the tiling pattern of Zeotile-4. This was achieved in collaboration with Sara Bals of the EMAT group in Antwerp.
At first, high resolution TEM was used to identify individual layers. They are composed from rectangular units (bottom)
The colleagues in Antwerp then applied discrete tomography to help unravelling the stacking of these layers (left). The resulting 3D visualisation allows to distinguish the alteration of three layers, turned by 120 degrees.
Some zeolites form in clear solution through self-organization of nanoparticles. If this organization is disrupted by addition of structure directing agents, the nanoparticles can assemble into slab-shaped building units which then tile in different patterns. The scales in the scheme above are in nm (0.000000001 m).
The resulting Zeotiles can be used for many applications, like catalysis or controlled medication release.
"Zeotile Analysis Through Discrete Electron Tomography"
with as authors SARA BALS, K.JOOST BATENBURG, GUSTAAF VAN TENDELOO, ALEXANDER. AERTS, JOHAN A. MARTENS AND CHRISTINE E. A. KIRSCHHOCK
has been submitted for publication to the Journal of the American Chemical Society
