Nanoporous Materials Lab

Aerogels are a special class of mesoporous materials with very high porosity and tunable physicochemical properties. They can be produced from a wide range of inorganic (silica, titania, zirconia, etc...), organic precursors (polysaccharides, PLA, proteins, etc…), or hybrids of them. This opens a large window of applications that need to be tested and evaluated for aerogels’ potential.

The Nanoporous materials lab at the GJU contains a state of the art high-pressure equipment that was designed and manufactured according to the highest engineering standards. This allows the usage of high-pressure technology in the manufacturing process of novel nanoporous materials. In addition, the exploration of supercritical fluid technology in the extraction of ultrapure essential oils and antioxidants for life sciences applications.

Figure 1 shows some of aerogel properties and their potential applications in biomedical and environmental applications. The Nanoporous materials lab has successfully conducted and participated in several research projects funded by national and international funds. Each project allows the lab to gain more capacity and experience to meet and counter more challenging research topics.

aerogels

Figure 1: general scheme of aerogel activities and targeted application at the Nanoporous materials lab at the GJU

List of projects:

June 2021 – October 2024	biodiesel a renewable energy source from waste cooking oil using innovative catalytical system based on nanoporous material 80,000 $ Development of a new heterogeneous catalyst manufactured from metal oxides for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil utilizing aerogels process. 2. Manufacturing of aerogel adsorbent material for biodiesel purifications, i.e. removal of free fatty acid and glycerol.
April 2019 – October 2023	COST CA18125 ‐ Advanced Engineering and Research of AERoGELS for Environment and Life Sciences To develop specific cutting‐edge bioactive aerogels considering their market impact. To develop specific innovative aerogel features and products for environmental applications, considering their market impact. To explore novel or modify existing chemical (sol‐gel) and physical (e.g., drying) routes for aerogel processing, and to develop and adapt analytical tools for aerogel characterization and performance. To evaluate innovative aerogel processing approaches to turn advanced materials development from lab‐scale into commercial products from technological, safety and economical points of view. To set the basis of a common knowledge on aerogels regarding toxicity, health, risk safety assessment, environmental impact and regulatory issues.
May 2019 – June 2023	Ceramic Nanofibers-Reinforced Silica Aerogel as a Potential Reforming Catalyst for Biofuel Upgrading 93,000 $ Enhance the mechanical stability of silica aerogel by modifying the production process parameters Production of ceramic nanofibers material with various properties and functionality using a chemical precursor approach. Incorporation of nanofibers ceramic material within the aerogel matric in a way that positively modify the mechanical and the functional properties of silica aerogel. Investigating the produced hybrid nanostructured material for its potential as a gas reforming catalyst.
January 2017 – Sep 2020	Ultra-low density nanoporous materials for innovative drug delivery routes 97,000 $ Production of microparticles from intelligent nanoporous materials with high porosity and ultralow density for respiratory drug delivery in the form of dry inhalable powder. Significant improvement of the particle flowability and lung delivery in comparison to state-of-the-art formulations. Analysis of the possibility to use organic aerogels and cryogels as drug delivery systems for the pulmonary administration route.
January 2015 – November 2018	Using supercritical fluid technology to prepare pulmonary drug delivery systems for treatment of lung cancer 90,000 $ Funded project from the Scientific Research Support Fund in collaboration with Jordan University of science and Technology To design drug carrier composed from chitosan and alginate with proper size and aerodynamic properties for pulmonary drug delivery using supercritical fluid technology. Different selected lung cancer drugs will be loaded on the prepared carrier and fully characterized.
January 2014- November 2017	TEMPUS project (development of new master study program) 1,468,222 Euro Excellence in Nanoscience Education for the MENA Region (XNEM)