DFT Calculation of Carbon-Doped TiO2 Nanocomposites.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been proven to be an excellent material for mitigating the continuous impact of elevated carbon dioxide concentrations. Carbon doping has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance the CO2 reduction performance of TiO2. In this study, we investigated the effects of carbon doping on TiO2 using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Two carbon doping concentrations were considered (4% and 6%), denoted as TiO2-2C and TiO2-3C, respectively. The results showed that after carbon doping, the band gaps of TiO2-2C and TiO2-3C were reduced to 1.58 eV and 1.47 eV, respectively, which is lower than the band gap of pure TiO2 (2.13 eV). This indicates an effective improvement in the electronic structure of TiO2. Barrier energy calculations revealed that compared to pure TiO2 (0.65 eV), TiO2-2C (0.54 eV) and TiO2-3C (0.59 eV) exhibited lower energy barriers, facilitating the transition to *COOH intermediates. These findings provide valuable insights into the electronic structure changes induced by carbon doping in TiO2, which can contribute to the development of sustainable energy and environmental conservation measures to address global climate challenges.

Sodium Persulfate Pre-treatment of Copper Foils Enabling Homogenous Growth of Cu(OH)2 Nanoneedle Films for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction.

Oxide-derived copper (OD-Cu) catalysts have received widespread attention for their ability to produce energy-dense multicarbon products. Within this class of materials, nanostructured copper hydroxide (Cu(OH)2 ) has shown excellent catalytic properties, but its synthesis requires complex pre-treatment steps of the Cu surface. In this study, we have developed a simple two-step synthesis method for homogenous Cu(OH)2 nanoneedle films using a sodium persulfate pre-treatment step prior to anodization. The Cu(OH)2 nanoneedle films show drastically enhanced uniformity after the pre-treatment due to improved current distribution and can be grown over large surface areas (63 cm2 ). As a catalyst for CO2 reduction, the Cu(OH)2 favours ethylene formation, with a near total suppression of methane production. A peak faradaic efficiency (FE) of 36.5 % is found at -1.0 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), and the catalyst remains stable while providing an ethylene to methane ratio of 27.8 after 6 h of reaction.

Recent advances on enhancing the multicarbon selectivity of nanostructured Cu-based catalysts.

The rapid development and affordability of renewable energy sources necessitate innovative energy storage technologies to compensate for their intermittency. The electrochemical reduction of CO2 presents an attractive strategy for renewable energy storage, with considerable advancements in recent years. Copper-based catalysts have spearheaded this progress due to their intrinsic ability to produce valuable multicarbon reaction products. However, Cu is inherently unselective, and considerable efforts are needed to achieve the selective production of multicarbon reaction products on Cu-based catalysts. A multitude of factors affect the selectivity of Cu-catalysts, such as morphology, metal co-catalysts, and incorporation of oxidizing agents. In this review, we have summarized the current progress and the most important strategies for tuning the selectivity towards multicarbon reaction products over nanostructured Cu-based catalysts.

Health care and social care costs of pneumonia in Denmark: a register-based study of all citizens and patients with COPD in three municipalities.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is a frequent lung infection and a serious illness, which is often diagnosed among patients hospitalized with acute exacerbations of COPD. The aim of this study was to estimate the attributable costs due to pneumonia among patients hospitalized with pneumonia compared to a matched general population control group without pneumonia hospitalization. METHODS: This study includes citizens older than 18 years from three municipalities (n=142,344). Based on national registers and municipal data, the health and social care costs of pneumonia in the second half of 2013 are estimated and compared with propensity score-matched population controls. RESULTS: The average health care costs of 383 patients hospitalized with pneumonia in the second half of 2013 were US$34,561 per patient. Among pneumonia patients with COPD, the costs were US$35,022. The attributable costs of patients with pneumonia compared to the population control group for the 6-month period were US$24,155 per case. Overall, the attributable costs for the 383 pneumonia cases amounted to US$9.25 million. Subgroup analyses showed that costs increased with age. The attributable costs due to pneumonia were highest among the 18-59-year-old and the 70-79-year-old patients. This difference is likely to reflect an increased risk of mortality among the pneumonia patients. Men have higher costs than women in the pneumonia group. CONCLUSION: The costs of pneumonia are considerable. In three Danish municipalities, the attributable costs due to pneumonia were US$24,155 per case or US$64,992 per 1,000 inhabitants in the second half of 2013. Similar high health care and social care costs were found for pneumonia patients with COPD - the largest group having pneumonia episodes. The municipalities are responsible for 49% of the costs, while a closer focus on the prevention of pneumonia may be advisable, eg, starting with citizens having COPD.