Reaction induced thermally stabilized TS-1 zeolite as a novel long-lasting catalyst for methyl lactate production.

Commercial TS-1 zeolite was functionalized as a stable catalyst for the one-pot transformation of fructose to methyl lactate (MLA) by the reaction solvent (methanol) to generate increased catalytic activity. As a result, TS-1 was recycled for 14 cycles without a regeneration process by calcination and accompanied by a surprising increased catalytic activity. This work is expected to provide a new option for the industrial production of biomass-based MLA by heterogeneous chemocatalysis.

Modulating Electron Density of Ni-N-C Sites by N-doped Ni for Industrial-level CO2 Electroreduction in Acidic Media.

Electro-chemically reducing CO2 in a highly acidic medium is promising for addressing the issue of carbonate accumulation. However, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) typically dominates the acidic CO2 reduction. Herein, we construct an efficient electro-catalyst for CO formation based on a core-shell structure, where nitrogen-doped Ni nanoparticles coexist with nitrogen-coordinated Ni single atoms. The optimal catalyst demonstrates a significantly improved CO faradaic efficiency (FE) of 96.7 % in the acidic electrolyte (pH=1) at an industrial-scale current density of 500 mA cm-2 . Notably, the optimal catalyst maintains a high FE of CO exceeding 90 % (current density=500 mA cm-2 ) in the electrolyte with a wide pH range from 0.67 to 14. In-situ spectroscopic characterization and density functional theory calculations show that the local electron density of Ni-N-C sites is enhanced by N-doped Ni particles, which facilitates the formation of *COOH intermediate and the adsorption of *CO. This study demonstrates the potential of a hybrid metal/Ni-N-C interface in boosting acidic CO2 electro-reduction.

Encapsulation of CuO nanoparticles within silicalite-1 as a regenerative catalyst for transfer hydrogenation of furfural.

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of biomass-derived furfural (FAL) to furfuryl alcohol is recognized as one of the most versatile techniques for biomass valorization. However, the irreversible sintering of metal sites under the high-temperature reaction or during the coke removal regeneration process poses a serious concern. Herein, we present a silicalite-1-confined ultrasmall CuO structure (CuO@silicalite-1) and then compared its catalytic efficiency against conventional surface-supported CuO structure (CuO/silicalite-1) toward CTF of FAL with alcohols. Characterization results revealed that CuO nanoparticles encapsulated within the silicalite-1 matrix are ∼1.3 nm in size in CuO@silicalite-1, exhibiting better dispersion as compared to that in the CuO/silicalite-1. The CuO@silicalite-1, as a result, exhibited nearly 100-fold higher Cu-mass-based activity than the CuO/silicalite-1 counterpart. More importantly, the activity of the CuO@silicalite-1 catalyst can be regenerated via facile calcination to remove the surface-bound carbon deposits, unlike the CuO/silicalite-1 that suffered severe deactivation after use and cannot be effectively regenerated.

Heterogeneous Non-noble Catalyst for Highly Selective Production of Linear α-Olefins from Fatty Acids: A Discovery of NiFe/C.

Catalytic deoxygenation of even-numbered fatty acids into odd-chain linear α-olefins (LAOs) has emerged as a complementary strategy to oligomerization of ethylene, which only affords even-chain LAOs. Although enzymes and homogeneous catalysts have shown promising potential for this application, industrial production of LAOs through these catalytic systems is still very difficult to accomplish to date. A recent breakthrough involves the use of an expensive noble-metal catalyst, Pd/C, through a phosphine ligands-assisted method for LAOs production from fatty acid conversion. This study presents a unique, cost-friendly, non-noble bimetallic NiFe/C catalyst for highly selective LAOs production from fatty acids through decarbonylative dehydration. In the presence of acetic anhydride and phosphine ligand, a remarkable improvement in the yield of 1-heptadecene from the conversion of stearic acid was found over the supported bimetallic catalyst (NiFe/C) as compared to corresponding monometallic counterparts (Ni/C and Fe/C). Through optimization of the reaction conditions, a 70.1 % heptadecene yield with selectivity to 1-heptadecene as high as 92.8 % could be achieved over the bimetallic catalyst at just 190 °C. This unique bimetallic NiFe/C catalyst is composed of NiFe alloy in the material bulk phase and a surface mixture of NiFe alloy and oxidized NiFeδ+ species, which offer a synergized contribution towards decarbonylative dehydration of stearic acid for 1-heptadecene production.

Highly selective production of linear 1-heptadecene from stearic acid over a partially reduced MoOx catalyst.

Here, a MoOx-T based catalyst was developed by a simple reduction of MoO3 precursors at different temperatures. Interestingly, a partially reduced MoOx-600 catalyst obtained by reducing the MoO3 precursor at 600 °C shows the co-existence of a mixture of different valence states (0, +4, ∼+6) of Mo, and as a result, provides a superior catalytic activity.

Poly(ethylene oxide) helical conformation and alkali metal cation selectivity studied using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE: The poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-alkali metal cation interaction is widely used in many areas. The conformation of the PEO-alkali metal cation complex has been studied extensively, but the conformational mechanism is still unclear. Simulations have been used to explain the mechanism, but there is a lack of experimental data from long PEO chains to verify the simulation results. METHODS: The relative peak abundance of PEO (iso-C10 H21 (OC2 H4 )n OH (naverage = 7, where n denotes the number of ethylene oxide (EO) units) oligomers complexed to five alkali metal cations (Li+ , Na+ , K+ , Rb+ and Cs+ ) was studied using positive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The ion selectivity of PEO oligomers to alkali metal cations corresponded to the peak abundance in competitive ESI-MS. RESULTS: PEO formed its first helix when the number of EO units reached six and the helix played an important role in the ion selectivity of PEO. For larger PEO oligomers with a helix, the ion selectivity of PEO depended on the degree of host-guest matching of the cations and the helix. The highest selectivity of PEO to K+ was due to K+ providing the best shape matching with the helical cavity. For smaller PEO oligomers without a helix, the selectivity was mainly determined by the surface charge density of the cations. CONCLUSIONS: The formational mechanism of the PEO-alkali metal cation complex was predicted. The results gave straightforward evidence to explain the conformational mechanism of the PEO-alkali metal cation complex and provided experimental data for further simulation studies.

Characterization of polyethermethylsiloxanes using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Polyethermethylsiloxanes (PEMSs) are silicone based polymers formed by attaching one or more ethylene oxide (EO)/propylene oxide (PO) chains to a siloxane chain. As the siloxane chain is lengthened, the polarity of the PEMSs are reduced. Little research has been conducted on the use of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-mass spectrometry (MS) to analyze PEMS oligomers with more than 4 siloxane groups because of their low polarity and poor solubility in water and acetonitrile (ACN). In this study, we developed a high chromatographic resolution method for PEMS and polyether oligomers using the water-ACN-isopropanol (IPA) tertiary solvents gradient. PEMSs oligomers containing one EO pendant chain and 3-13 silicone groups were analyzed. More than 102 PEMS oligomers and 21 polyether oligomers were separated within 45 min and identified by accurate molecular masses. During this gradient elution process, different chromatographic modes were used: both precipitation-redissolution and adsorption mode for PEMSs, adsorption mode for EO chains in polyethers, and exclusion mode for EO chains in PEMSs. This efficient separation method for PEMSs would broaden the characterization of silicone surfactants. Also, it is beneficial to establish the relationship between surfactant structure, synthetic route and performance optimization.

Simultaneous Conversion of C5 and C6 Sugars into Methyl Levulinate with the Addition of 1,3,5-Trioxane.

The simultaneous conversion of C5 and C6 mixed sugars into methyl levulinate (MLE) has emerged as a versatile strategy to eliminate costly separation steps. However, the traditional upgrading of C5 sugars into MLE is very complex as it requires both acid-catalyzed and hydrogenation processes. This study concerns the development of a one-pot, hydrogenation-free conversion of C5 sugars into MLE over different acid catalysts at near-critical methanol conditions with the help of 1,3,5-trioxane. For the conversion of C5 sugars over zeolites without the addition of 1,3,5-trioxane, the MLE yield is quite low, owing to low hydrogenation activity. The addition of 1,3,5-trioxane significantly boosts the MLE yield by providing an alternative conversion pathway that does not include the hydrogenation step. A direct comparison of the catalytic performance of five different zeolites reveals that Hß zeolite, which has high densities of both Lewis and Brønsted acid sites, affords the highest MLE yield. With the addition of 1,3,5-trioxane, the hydroxymethylation of furfural derivative and formaldehyde is a key step. Notably, the simultaneous conversion of C5 and C6 sugars catalyzed by Hß zeolite can attain an MLE yield as high as 50.4 % when the reaction conditions are fully optimized. Moreover, the Hß zeolite catalyst can be reused at least five times without significant change in performance.

Prediction of Carbon Dioxide Adsorption via Deep Learning.

Porous carbons with different textural properties exhibit great differences in CO2 adsorption capacity. It is generally known that narrow micropores contribute to higher CO2 adsorption capacity. However, it is still unclear what role each variable in the textural properties plays in CO2 adsorption. Herein, a deep neural network is trained as a generative model to direct the relationship between CO2 adsorption of porous carbons and corresponding textural properties. The trained neural network is further employed as an implicit model to estimate its ability to predict the CO2 adsorption capacity of unknown porous carbons. Interestingly, the practical CO2 adsorption amounts are in good agreement with predicted values using surface area, micropore and mesopore volumes as the input values simultaneously. This unprecedented deep learning neural network (DNN) approach, a type of machine learning algorithm, exhibits great potential to predict gas adsorption and guide the development of next-generation carbons.

Enhancement in the aromatic yield from the catalytic fast pyrolysis of rice straw over hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide modified hierarchical HZSM-5.

Modified H-type ZSM-5 (HZSM-5) catalysts were prepared using hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as mesopore templates to enhance the activity for the catalytic fast pyrolysis of rice straw for aromatics compounds. A certain quantity of CTAB added into the HZSM-5 (HZ) forming hierarchical structure exhibited an improvement in the yield of the aromatics and a decrease in the yield of coke in comparison with that of bare HZ. In contrast, excessive CTAB addition resulted in a decrease in aromatic yield and an increase in coke yield. The effects of crystallinity, textural properties, morphological structure and acidity distribution on the production of aromatic compounds were measured by XRD, BET, TEM and NH3-TPD. The good crystallinity, small amount of mesopore formation and highest total acidity discovered in HZ-0.01 (the mole ratio of CTAB/SiO2 is 0.01) provided the highest aromatic compound yield of 26.8% and the lowest coke yield of 39.2%.

Controlled release of silyl ether camptothecin from thiol-ene click chemistry-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles.

As efficient drug carriers, stimuli-responsive mesoporous silica nanoparticles are at the forefront of research on drug delivery systems. An acid-responsive system based on silyl ether has been applied to deliver a hybrid prodrug. Thiol-ene click chemistry has been successfully utilized for tethering this prodrug to mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Here, by altering the steric bulk of the substituent on the silicon atom, the release rate of a model drug, camptothecin, was controlled. The synthesized drug delivery system was investigated by analytical methods to confirm the functionalization and conjugation of the mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Herein, trimethyl silyl ether and triethyl silyl ether were selected to regulate the release rate. Under normal plasma conditions (pH 7.4), both types of camptothecin-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (i.e., MSN-Me-CPT and MSN-Et-CPT) did not release the model drug. However, under in vitro acidic conditions (pH 4.0), based on a comparison of the release rates, camptothecin was released from MSN-Me-CPT more rapidly than from MSN-Et-CPT. To determine the biocompatibility of the modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles and the in vivo camptothecin uptake behavior, MTT assays with cancer cells and confocal microscopy observations were conducted, with positive results. These functionalized nanoparticles could be useful in clinical treatments requiring controlled drug release. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: As the release rate of drug from drug-carrier plays important role in therapy effects, trimethyl silyl ether (TMS) and triethyl silyl ether (TES) were selected as acid-sensitive silanes to control the release rates of model drugs conjugated from MSNs by thiol-ene click chemistry. The kinetic profiles of TMS and TES materials have been studied. At pH 4.0, the release of camptothecin from MSN-Et-CPT occurred after 2h, whereas MSN-Me-CPT showed immediate drug release. The results showed that silyl ether could be used to control release rates of drugs from MSNs under acid environment, which could be useful in clinical treatments requiring controlled drug release.

Catalytic Decarboxylation of Fatty Acids to Aviation Fuels over Nickel Supported on Activated Carbon.

Decarboxylation of fatty acids over non-noble metal catalysts without added hydrogen was studied. Ni/C catalysts were prepared and exhibited excellent activity and maintenance for decarboxylation. Thereafter, the effects of nickel loading, catalyst loading, temperature, and carbon number on the decarboxylation of fatty acids were investigated. The results indicate that the products of cracking increased with high nickel loading or catalyst loading. Temperature significantly impacted the conversion of stearic acid but did not influence the selectivity. The fatty acids with large carbon numbers tend to be cracked in this reaction system. Stearic acid can be completely converted at 370 °C for 5 h, and the selectivity to heptadecane was around 80%.

Optimization of mesoporous carbons for efficient adsorption of berberine hydrochloride from aqueous solutions.

Sixteen mesoporous carbon adsorbents were synthesized by varying the ratio of soft to hard templates in order to optimize the pore textural properties of these adsorbents. The mesoporous carbon adsorbents have a high BET specific surface area (1590.3-2193.5 m(2)/g), large pore volume (1.72-2.56 cm(3)/g), and uniform pore size distribution with a median pore diameter ranging from 3.51 nm to 4.52 nm. It was observed that pore textural properties of the carbon adsorbents critically depend on the molar ratio of carbon sources to templates, and the hard template plays a more important role than the soft template in manipulating the pore textures. Adsorption isotherms of berberine hydrochloride at 303 K were measured to evaluate the adsorption efficacy of these adsorbents. The adsorption of berberine hydrochloride from aqueous solutions on the sixteen mesoporous carbon adsorbents synthesized in this work is very efficient, and the adsorption equilibrium capacities on all samples are more than double the adsorption capacities of berberine hydrochloride of the benchmark adsorbents (polymer resins and spherical activated carbons) at similar conditions. It was observed from the adsorption experiments that the equilibrium adsorption amounts of berberine hydrochloride are strongly correlated with the BET specific surface area and pore volume of the adsorbents. The adsorbent with the highest BET of 2193.5 m(2)/g displayed the largest adsorption capacity of 574 mg/g at an equilibrium concentration of 0.10mg/mL of berberine hydrochloride in an aqueous solution.

Production of aviation fuel via catalytic hydrothermal decarboxylation of fatty acids in microalgae oil.

A series of fatty acids in microalgae oil, such as stearic acid, palmitic acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, arachidic acid and behenic acid, were selected as the raw materials to produce aviation fuel via hydrothermal decarboxylation over a multi-wall carbon nanotube supported Pt catalyst (Pt/MWCNTs). It was found that Pt/MWCNTs catalysts exhibited higher activity for the hydrothermal decarboxylation of stearic acid with a 97% selectivity toward heptadecane compared to Pt/C and Ru/C under the same conditions. And Pt/MWCNTs is also capable for the decarboxylation of different fatty acids in microalgae oil. The reaction conditions, such as Pt/MWCNTs loading amount, reaction temperature and time were optimized. The activation energy of stearic acid decarboxylation over Pt/MWCNTs was calculated (114 kJ/mol).

Adsorption of alkaloids on ordered mesoporous carbon.

An ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) adsorbent was synthesized, characterized, and evaluated for effective separation and purification of alkaloid compounds from aqueous solutions. The OMC adsorbent has a large BET specific surface area (1532.2m(2)/g), large pore volume (2.13cm(3)/g), and narrow pore diameter distribution with a median pore diameter of 4.21nm. Berberine hydrochloride, colchicine, and matrine were selected as the model compounds for evaluating the adsorption properties of the OMC adsorbent for alkaloid purification. Batch adsorption experiments of pure components in water were carried out to measure both adsorption equilibria and kinetics, and column breakthrough and desorption experiments were performed to validate the separation and regeneration efficacy of the OMC adsorbent. The adsorption equilibrium capacities of berberine hydrochloride, colchicine, and matrine on the OMC adsorbent at 0.100mg/L and 298K are 450, 600, and 480mg/g, respectively, which are more than double the adsorption capacities of these compounds on two commonly used commercial resins (HPD300 and HPD100B) at similar conditions. Adsorption equilibrium of all three alkaloids could be obtained within 120min at 298K. The dynamic adsorption capacities determined from the breakthrough experiments are within 12% of the estimated equilibrium capacities from the Langmuir isotherms; and 74.3-92.8% of the adsorbed amounts could be recovered by desorbing with a 70% alcohol solution. The adsorption isotherms are analyzed with both Langmuir and Freundlich models, the adsorption kinetic data with the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models, and the breakthrough curves with four breakthrough models. The large adsorption capacity, fast adsorption rate, and easy regeneration make the ordered mesoporous carbon a promising adsorbent for adsorption and purification of alkaloid compounds from the extracts of herbal plants.

Analysis of hexavalent chromium in Colla corii asini with on-line sample pretreatment valve-switching ion chromatography.

An ion chromatography (IC) system with on-line sample pretreatment using valve-switching technique was developed for the determination of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in Colla corii asini. Colla corii asini is a complicated sample with organics as main matrix. In this work, a polymer-based reversed-phase column was used as a pretreatment column. Via valve-switching technique, sample solution with target ions were eluted from a collection loop to analytical columns, with matrix eliminated on-line. Under the optimized separation conditions, the method showed good linearity (r=0.9998) in the range of 0.004-1.0mg/L and satisfactory repeatability (RSD<3%, n=6). The limit of detection (LOD) was 1.4µg/L (S/N=3). The average spiked recoveries of Cr(VI) were 93.4-102.0%. The result showed that the on-line sample pretreatment IC system was convenient and practical for the determination of trace Cr(VI) in Colla corii asini samples.

In situ ethyl ester production from wet algal biomass under microwave-mediated supercritical ethanol conditions.

An in situ transesterification approach was demonstrated for converting lipid-rich wet algae (Nannochloropsis salina) into fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) under microwave-mediated supercritical ethanol conditions, while preserving the nutrients and other valuable components in the algae. This single-step process can simultaneously and effectively extract the lipids from wet algae and transesterify them into crude biodiesel. Experimental runs were designed to optimize the process parameters and to evaluate their effects on algal biodiesel yield. The algal biomass characterization and algal biodiesel analysis were carried out by using various analytical instruments such as FTIR, SEM-EDS, TLC, GC-MS and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) under nitrogen and oxygen environments was also performed to examine the thermal and oxidative stability of ethyl esters produced from wet algae. This simple in situ transesterification process using a green solvent and catalyst-free approach can be a potentially efficient route for algal biodiesel production.

Hypercrosslinked poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) resin as a specific polymeric adsorbent for purification of berberine hydrochloride from aqueous solutions.

A hypercrosslinked poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) resin (TEPA) was synthesized and characterized as a specific polymeric adsorbent for concentrating berberine hydrochloride from aqueous solutions. Three organic molecules of different sizes (2-naphthol, berberine hydrochloride, and Congo red) were used as target molecules to elucidate the molecular sieving effect of the TEPA adsorbent. Because the TEPA adsorbent has a pore structure consisting mainly of micropores and mesopores, the adsorption of 2-naphthol from aqueous solutions is very efficient due to the micropore filling effect. The adsorption of berberine hydrochloride mostly takes place in the mesopores as well as macropores, while the adsorption of Congo red mainly occurs in the macropores. The smaller adsorbate molecule (2-naphthol) reaches the adsorption equilibrium much faster than the larger ones (berberine hydrochloride and Congo red). An adsorption breakthrough experiment with an aqueous solution containing 2-naphthol and berberine hydrochloride demonstrated that the TEPA adsorbent could effectively remove 2-naphthol from berberine hydrochloride at 0-107 BV (bed volume, 1 BV=10 ml), and the berberine hydrochloride concentration was increased from 66.7% to 99.4%, suggesting that this polymeric adsorbent is promising for purifying berberine hydrochloride and similar alkaloids from herbal plant extracts.

One-pot preparation of methyl levulinate from catalytic alcoholysis of cellulose in near-critical methanol.

One-pot preparation of methyl levulinate (MLA) from cellulose in near-critical methanol was studied. Acids containing SO(3)H group were proven to be effective catalysts for the production of MLA from cellulose's catalytic alcoholysis. The effects of different reaction conditions, such as an initial cellulose concentration of 10-30 g/L, a temperature range from 170 to 190°C, and a sulfuric acid concentration of 0.01-0.03 mol/L, on the production of MLA were investigated. The results showed the reaction temperature and acid concentration significantly affected the process of cellulose alcoholysis and the yield of MLA. A high yield of up to 55% MLA was achieved at 190°C for 5h, using 0.02 mol/L H(2)SO(4) as a catalyst.

Hydrothermal decomposition of glucose and fructose with inorganic and organic potassium salts.

The effects of 15 inorganic and organic acid potassium salts on hydrothermal decomposition of glucose, fructose and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) were investigated at 180°C. The rate constants for glucose, fructose and 5-HMF decomposition with anions were calculated by a pseudo first-order equation, and the impact factors of the rate constants were calculated, to demonstrate the catalytic effect of the different anions. Compared to the results without added salts, chloride, bromide, iodide and nitrate anions did not significantly accelerate the decomposition rate of glucose or improve the selectivity for 5-HMF, but increased the decomposition rate of fructose from 19% to 44%, and improved the selectivity for 5-HMF by 4-29%. Phosphate, fluoride, sulfate and all organic acid anions increased the decomposition rate of glucose and fructose by 23-2781%, but lowered the selectivity for 5-HMF from 36% to 100% as compared to the results without added salts. These findings provide insights on the reactivity and mechanism of the hydrothermal decomposition of glucose and fructose with inorganic and organic salts.