Metal-doped niobate pyrochlores and double-perovskites for glycerol valorization: structural and electronic properties and DFT calculations.

In this study, metal-doped niobates and perovskites were obtained by a solid-state reaction. The solids were evaluated in the esterification of glycerol in the presence of acetic acid to produce valuable esters of glycerol. The structural features of the solids indicated the ZnNbO, PbNbO and CuNbO columbite main phases and LaMnFeO double-perovskite.

Designed sol-gel precursors for atomically dispersed Nb and Pb within TiO as catalysts for dihydroxyacetone transformation.

The 'bottom-up' synthesis of homogeneously doped metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) with precision at the atomic/molecular level offers many advantages. We report here the synthesis, structural characterization and hydrolytic behavior of new N-methyldiethanolamine-modified precursors of Ti(iv), Nb(v) and Pb(ii) and their application as excellent sol-gel precursors for obtaining atomically dispersed Nb and Pb within TiO2 having high surface areas (253-355 m2 g-1) and tunable acidic properties. Preliminary results on the use of these doped TiO2 as water-tolerant catalysts in transforming dihydroxyacetone to lactic acid are presented.