A new approach to an efficient and selective extraction of Cs⁺ ions from water, sea water enriched with Cs⁺ and a radioactive solution simulating the effluents of the Fukushima reactors (¹³⁷Cs, 29 kBq L⁻¹) was developed by using porous silica- or glass-based nanocomposites containing Prussian blue type nanoparticles, Co²⁺/[Fe(CN)₆]³⁻, with sizes below 10 nm. A particular emphasis is given on the kinetics of cesium sorption fitted by using the classical reaction order model as well as a diffusion model in order to better understand the sorption mechanism. Compared to the amount of Co²⁺/[Fe(CN)₆]³⁻ nanoparticles, the sorption capacities of studied nanocomposites are more than three times higher than the ones observed for the respective bulk materials. These nanocomposites present a high selectivity to Cs⁺ and extract it in trace amounts.

The stability of various structured mesoporous materials (SBA-1, SBA-3, SBA-15, MCM-41, MCM-48) was tested under acidic stress in order to understand the mechanism of their alteration. The native materials and the materials resulting from acidic attack under various conditions were analysed by small angle X-ray scattering coupled with nitrogen adsorption and solid ²⁹Si NMR. Among three acid media (HCl, H₂SO₄, H₃PO₄) at similar ionic strength, we focused particularly on phosphoric acid, which proved to have the strongest impact on the starting materials. The results are discussed by correlating the wall thickness and pore diameter values with regard to stability. In particular, the alteration kinetics were interpreted for the case of SBA-15 in the following scenario: the micropores were first damaged by the acidic stress, and then the mesopores were partially collapsed or partially blocked. We show that a material's resistance against acidic media is linked to a critical wall thickness–pore diameter threshold.

The electrical conductivity and viscosity of borosilicate glass-forming melts were studied over a wide composition and temperature range above the transition temperature $T_g$. High-temperature Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the structure of both molten and glassy states of the system. The temperature dependence of both electrical conductivity and viscosity are well described by a Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) law. Contrary to the solid state, it appears that in the molten state the boron coordination number is no longer the relevant parameter to account for the compositional dependence of both the electrical conductivity and the viscosity. Our results reveal an interdependence of the electrical conductivity and viscosity with a nonlinear character of the Stokes-Einstein law. This could be explained by a difference in the elementary mechanism of transport between these two properties.