title: Functional mesoporous silica nanoparticles for the selective sequestration of free fatty acids from microalgal oil.
abstract: A series of 2d-hexagonally packed mesoporous silica nanoparticle material with 10 nm pore diameter (MSN-10) covalently functionalized with organic surface modifiers have been synthesized via a post-synthesis grafting method. The material structure has been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and nitrogen sorption analyses, and the free fatty acid (FFA) sequestration capacity and selectivity was investigated and quantified by thermogravimetric and GC/MS analysis. We discovered that aminopropyl functionalized 10 nm pore mesoporous silica nanoparticle material (AP-MSN-10) sequestered all available FFAs and left nearly all other molecules in solution from a simulated microalgal extract containing FFAs, sterols, terpenes, and triacylglycerides. We also demonstrated selective FFA sequestration from commercially available microalgal oil.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States.
authors.forename: Justin S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Valenstein
authors.forename: Kapil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kandel
authors.forename: Forrest
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Melcher
authors.forename: Igor I
authors.initials: II
authors.lastname: Slowing
authors.forename: Victor S-Y
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Brian G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Trewyn