Phase transition induced hydrogen activation for enhanced furfural reductive amination over a CoCu bimetallic catalyst.

The synthesis of primary amines from renewable biomass and its derivatives through reductive amination has garnered significant attention. How to construct efficient non-noble-metal catalysts that enable low-temperature catalysis still remains challenging. Herein, we report a Cu-doped Co@CoO heterostructure catalyst that features structural Co-CoCuO bifunctional sites, which enable room temperature reductive amination of various aldehydes with 1.

Sustainable Production of Biofuels from Biomass Feedstocks Using Modified Montmorillonite Catalysts.

The rampant exploitation of fossil fuels has led to the significant energy scarcity and environmental disruption, affecting the sound momentum of development and progress of human civilization. To build a closed-loop anthropogenic carbon cycle, development of biofuels employing sustainable biomass feedstocks stands at the forefront of advancing carbon neutrality, yet its widespread adoption is mainly hampered by the high production costs. Montmorillonite, however, has garnered considerable attention serving as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst of ideal economic feasibility for biofuel production, primarily due to its affordability, accessibility, stability, and excellent plasticity.

Enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulosic wood biomass: Effect of enzyme treatment in supercritical carbon dioxide and biomass pretreatment.

Energy and resource intensive mechanical and chemical pretreatment along with the use of hazardous chemicals are major bottlenecks in widespread lignocellulosic biomass utilization. Herein, the study investigated different pretreatment methods on spruce wood namely supercritical CO (scCO) pretreatment, ultrasound-assisted alkaline pretreatment, and acetosolv pulping-alkaline hydrogen peroxide bleaching, to enhance the enzymatic digestibility of wood using optimized enzyme cocktail. Also, the effect of scCO pretreatment on enzyme cocktail was investigated after optimizing the concentration and temperature of cellulolytic enzymes.

Comparison study of supercritical water gasification for hydrogen production on a continuous flow versus a batch reactor.

This study compares batch and continuous supercritical water gasification (SCWG) processes for green hydrogen production from biomass. It offers insights for optimizing processes, enhancing yields, quality, and energy efficiency, assessing scale-up feasibility, and supporting techno-economic analyses. Glucose, glycerol, and black liquor were SCWG-treated at 500 °C with KCO catalyst in a self-built continuous-flow reactor (150 g/h) and a batch reactor (75 mL).

`A critical review on current status and environmental sustainability of pre-treatment methods for bioethanol production from lignocellulose feedstocks.

Lignocellulosic biomass resource has been widely used as a natural resource for the synthesis of biofuels and bio-based products through pre-treatment, saccharification and fermentation processes. In this review, we delve into the environmental implications of bioethanol production from the widely utilized lignocellulosic biomass resource. The focus of our study is the critical stage of pre-treatment in the synthesis process, which also includes saccharification and fermentation.

Valorization strategies for hazardous proteinaceous waste from rendering production - Recent advances in specified risk materials (SRMs) conversion.

Strict bans on specific risk materials (SRMs) are in place to prevent the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). SRMs are characterized as tissues in cattle where misfolded proteins, the potential source of BSE infection, are concentrated. As a result of these bans, SRMs must be strictly isolated and disposed of, resulting in great costs for rendering companies.

Subcritical hydrothermal oxidation of semi-dry ash from iron ore sintering flue gas desulfurization: Experimental and kinetic studies.

Realization of low temperature and high efficiency oxidation of CaSO is the key to solve the issue of ecological hazards caused by semi-dry sintering flue gas desulfurization ash. The subcritical hydrothermal technology was employed for the oxidation of CaSO, achieving 89.83% of CaSO at 180 °C, 2 MPa for 120 min with a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:20.

Delignified porous wood as biofilm support for 1,4-dioxane-degrading bacterial consortium.

Delignified porous wood samples were used as carriers for biofilm formation of a bacterial consortium with the ability to degrade 1,4-dioxane (DX). The delignification treatment of the natural wood resulted in higher porosity, formation of macropores, increase in surface roughness and hydrophilicity of the treated wood pieces. These superior properties of two types of treated carriers (respectively, A and B) compared to the untreated wood resulted in 2.

Nanocrystalline cellulose derived from spruce wood: Influence of process parameters.

The cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were produced from spruce wood using less hazardous and toxic reagents with understanding of influence of process parameters on CNCs properties. This study employed acetosolv pulping followed by alkaline-peroxide bleaching, eliminating highly reactive chemicals such as Na-chlorites and Na-sulfite for cellulose pulp extraction from spruce wood. Cellulose pulp yield of 41.

Carbonyl sulfur removal from blast furnace gas: Recent progress, application status and future development.

Carbonyl sulfide (COS), a poisonous and harmful gas, is found in industrial gas products from various coal-firing processes. The emission of COS into the atmosphere contributes to aerosol particles that affect the global climate, posing a risk to climate change and population health. In recent years, the total amount of anthropogenic COS emissions has increased significantly, resulting in the prominent COS pollution problem and becoming a vital environmental issue.

Effect of Interphase Properties on Isothermal and Non-isothermal Crystallization Behavior of Poly(lactic acid)/Acetylated Starch Blends.

The effect of interphase properties on the crystallization behavior of blends of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/acetylated starch (AS) with different degrees of substitution (DSs) was investigated. Under isothermal crystallization conditions, the rate of crystallization was higher for PLA/DS0.5 and lower for PLA/DS1.

Synthesis of Halopyrazole Matrine Derivatives and Their Insecticidal and Fungicidal Activities.

Matrine is a traditional botanical pesticide with a broad-spectrum biological activity that is widely applied in agriculture. Halopyrazole groups are successfully introduced to the C13 of matrine to synthesize eight new derivatives with a yield of 78-87%. The insecticidal activity results show that the introduction of halopyrazole groups can significantly improve the insecticidal activity of matrine on , and with a corrected mortality rate of 100%, which is 25-65% higher than matrine.

Effects of Alcell Lignin Methylolation and Lignin Adding Stage on Lignin-Based Phenolic Adhesives.

To investigate the effects of lignin methylolation and lignin adding stage on the resulted lignin-based phenolic adhesives, Alcell lignin activated with NaOH (AL) or methylolation (ML) was integrated into the phenolic adhesives system by replacing phenol at various adhesive synthesis stages or directly co-polymerizing with phenolic adhesives. Lignin integration into phenolic adhesives greatly increased the viscosity of the resultant adhesives, regardless of lignin methylolation or adding stage. ML introduction at the second stage of adhesive synthesis led to much bigger viscosity than ML or AL introduction into phenolic adhesives at any other stages.

"Lignophines": lignin-based tertiary phosphines with metal-scavenging ability.

Methacrylated lignin was reacted with PH(g) to prepare a phosphorus rich bio-based polymer containing PH/PH functional groups, which were converted to tertiary phosphine units via the phosphane-ene reaction. This represents a straightforward method for the upconversion of low-value biomass waste to useful inorganic polymer with potential utility in metal scavenging applications.

Biohydrogen Production by Catalytic Supercritical Water Gasification: A Comparative Study.

In this article, supercritical water gasification of biocrude at different conditions was performed and compared to each other. Three scenarios were considered while treating biocrude originating from cattle manure (CM) and corn husk (CH), namely, uncatalyzed feedstock, catalyzed with 10% Ni-0.08% Ru/AlO and finally catalyzed with 10% Ni-0.

Sustainable Process for the Depolymerization/Oxidation of Softwood and Hardwood Kraft Lignins Using Hydrogen Peroxide under Ambient Conditions.

The present study demonstrated a sustainable and cost-effective approach to depolymerize/oxidize softwood (SW) and hardwood (HW) kraft lignins using concentrated hydrogen peroxide at temperatures ranging from 25 to 35 °C, in the absence of catalysts or organic solvents. The degree of lignin depolymerization could be simply controlled by reaction time, and no further separation process was needed at the completion of the treatment. The obtained depolymerized lignin products were comprehensively characterized by GPC-UV, FTIR, P-NMR, TGA, Py-GC/MS and elemental analysis.

Corncob-derived activated carbon for roxarsone removal from aqueous solution: isotherms, kinetics, and mechanism.

In this study, the adsorption of roxarsone (ROX) onto corncob-derived activated carbon (AC) was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). Following this, the AC was comprehensively characterized by FT-IR, SEM, and EDS analysis. The results showed that the highest ROX adsorption efficiency of 304.

Poly(lactic acid)/acetylated starch blends: Effect of starch acetylation on the material properties.

This study investigated the acetylation of starch to improve its processability and compatibility with poly(lactic acid). The temperature at the maximum rate of degradation increased by 3.2% for poly(lactic acid) blends containing acetylated starch degree of substitution 2.

Synthesis, characterization and in vitro biological evaluation of two matrine derivatives.

Matrine is a traditional Chinese medicine and botanical pesticide with broad biological activities, including pharmacological and agricultural activities. In present work, two matrine derivatives have been successfully synthesized via introducing indole and cyclohexylamino to 13 position of matrine, respectively, with sophocarpine as starting material, and structurally characterized via infrared spectroscopy(IR), MS, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR and X-ray crystal diffraction. The results of the in vitro biological activity tests showed that these two matrine derivatives exhibited even better activities against human cancer cells Hela229 and insect cell line Sf9 from Spodoptera frugiperda (J.

Effects of Process Parameters on Hydrolytic Treatment of Black Liquor for the Production of Low-Molecular-Weight Depolymerized Kraft Lignin.

The present research work aimed at hydrolytic treatment of kraft black liquor (KBL) at 200⁻300 °C for the production of low-molecular-weight depolymerized kraft lignin (DKL). Various process conditions such as reaction temperature, reaction time, initial kraft lignin (KL) substrate concentration, presence of a catalyst (NaOH), capping agent (phenol) or co-solvent (methanol) were evaluated. The research demonstrated effective depolymerization of KL in KBL at 250⁻300 °C with NaOH as a catalyst at a NaOH/lignin ratio of about 0.

Inexpensive but Highly Efficient Co-Mn Mixed-Oxide Catalysts for Selective Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-Furandicarboxylic Acid.

A highly active and inexpensive Co-Mn mixed-oxide catalyst was prepared and used for selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into 2, 5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). Co-Mn mixed-oxide catalysts with different Co/Mn molar ratios were prepared through a simple solid-state grinding method-a low-cost and green catalyst preparation method. The activity of these catalysts was evaluated for selective aerobic oxidation of HMF into FDCA in water.