Understanding the Kinetics of CO Hydrate Formation in Dry Water for Carbon Capture and Storage: X-ray Diffraction and In Situ Raman Studies.

Hydrate-based carbon capture and storage (HBCS) is a sustainable and promising approach to combating global warming by utilizing water, which is a ubiquitous resource. Here, we report a comprehensive study of CO hydrate formation in dry water (DW), a water-in-air dispersion confined in silica particles, for improving the kinetics of hydrate growth. Utilizing a combination of a home-built high-pressure reactor, in situ Raman spectroscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), we elucidate the crystal structure, growth dynamics, and morphology of CO hydrates formed in DW, with and without the kinetic hydrate promoter, l-tryptophan.

Impact of porous nanomaterials on inhibiting protein aggregation behaviour.

Aggregation of intrinsically disordered as well as the ordered proteins under certain premises or physiological conditions leads to pathological disorder. Here we have presented a detailed investigation on the effect of a porous metallic (Au) and a non-metallic (Si) nanomaterial on the formation of ordered (fiber-like/amyloid) and disordered (amorphous) aggregates of proteins. Porous nanogold (PNG) was found to reduce the amyloid aggregation of insulin but does not have much impact on the lag phase in the aggregation kinetics, whereas porous nano-silica (PNS) was found both to decrease the amount of aggregation as well as prolong the lag phase of amyloid fiber formation from insulin.