Metal exsolution from perovskite-based anodes in solid oxide fuel cells.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are highly efficient and environmentally friendly devices for converting fuel into electrical energy. In this regard, metal nanoparticles (NPs) loaded onto the anode oxide play a crucial role due to their exceptional catalytic activity. NPs synthesized through exsolution exhibit excellent dispersion and stability, garnering significant attention for comprehending the exsolution process mechanism and consequently improving synthesis effectiveness. This review presents recent advancements in the exsolution process, focusing on the influence of oxygen vacancies, A-site defects, lattice strain, and phase transformation on the variation of the octahedral crystal field in perovskites. Moreover, we offer insights into future research directions to further enhance our understanding of the mechanism and achieve significant exsolution of NPs on perovskites.

Failure Mechanism and Optimization of Metal-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.

A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is a clean, efficient energy conversion device with wide fuel applicability. Metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells (MS-SOFCs) exhibit better thermal shock resistance, better machinability, and faster startup than traditional SOFCs, making them more suitable for commercial applications, especially in mobile transportation. However, many challenges remain that hinder the development and application of MS-SOFCs. High temperature may accelerate these challenges. In this paper, the existing problems in MS-SOFCs, including high-temperature oxidation, cationic interdiffusion, thermal matching, and electrolyte defects, as well as lower temperature preparation technologies, including the infiltration method, spraying method, and sintering aids method, are summarized from different perspectives, and the improvement strategy of existing material structure optimization and technology integration is put forward.

Combination of deep eutectic solvent and ionic liquid to improve biocatalytic reduction of 2-octanone with Acetobacter pasteurianus GIM1.158 cell.

The efficient anti-Prelog asymmetric reduction of 2-octanone with Acetobacter pasteurianus GIM1.158 cells was successfully performed in a biphasic system consisting of deep eutectic solvent (DES) and water-immiscible ionic liquid (IL). Various DESs exerted different effects on the synthesis of (R)-2-octanol. Choline chloride/ethylene glycol (ChCl/EG) exhibited good biocompatibility and could moderately increase the cell membrane permeability thus leading to the better results. Adding ChCl/EG increased the optimal substrate concentration from 40 mM to 60 mM and the product e.e. kept above 99.9%. To further improve the reaction efficiency, water-immiscible ILs were introduced to the reaction system and an enhanced substrate concentration (1.5 M) was observed with C4MIM·PF6. Additionally, the cells manifested good operational stability in the reaction system. Thus, the efficient biocatalytic process with ChCl/EG and C4MIM·PF6 was promising for efficient synthesis of (R)-2-octanol.

Biocatalytic anti-Prelog reduction of prochiral ketones with whole cells of Acetobacter pasteurianus GIM1.158.

BACKGROUND: Enantiomerically pure alcohols are important building blocks for production of chiral pharmaceuticals, flavors, agrochemicals and functional materials and appropriate whole-cell biocatalysts offer a highly enantioselective, minimally polluting route to these valuable compounds. At present, most of these biocatalysts follow Prelog's rule, and thus the (S)-alcohols are usually obtained when the smaller substituent of the ketone has the lower CIP priority. Only a few anti-Prelog (R)-specific whole cell biocatalysts have been reported. In this paper, the biocatalytic anti-Prelog reduction of 2-octanone to (R)-2-octanol was successfully conducted with high enantioselectivity using whole cells of Acetobacter pasteurianus GIM1.158. RESULTS: Compared with other microorganisms investigated, Acetobacter pasteurianus GIM1.158 was shown to be more effective for the reduction reaction, affording much higher yield, product enantiomeric excess (e.e.) and initial reaction rate. The optimal temperature, buffer pH, co-substrate and its concentration, substrate concentration, cell concentration and shaking rate were 35°C, 5.0, 500 mmol/L isopropanol, 40 mmol/L, 25 mg/mL and 120 r/min, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the maximum yield and the product e.e. were 89.5% and >99.9%, respectively, in 70 minutes. Compared with the best available data in aqueous system (yield of 55%), the yield of (R)-2-octanol was greatly increased. Additionally, the efficient whole-cell biocatalytic process was feasible on a 200-mL preparative scale and the chemical yield increased to 95.0% with the product e.e. being >99.9%. Moreover, Acetobacter pasteurianus GIM1.158 cells were proved to be capable of catalyzing the anti-Prelog bioreduction of other prochiral carbonyl compounds with high efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Via an effective increase in the maximum yield and the product e.e. with Acetobacter pasteurianus GIM1.158 cells, these results open the way to use of whole cells of this microorganism for challenging enantioselective reduction reactions on laboratory and commercial scales.