Construction of porous Cu/CeO catalyst with abundant interfacial sites for effective methanol steam reforming.

Methanol is a promising hydrogen carrier for fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) via methanol steam reforming (MSR) reaction. Ceria supported copper catalyst has attracted extensive attentions due to the extraordinary oxygen storage capacity and abundant oxygen vacancies. Herein, we developed a colloidal solution combustion (CSC) method to synthesize a porous Cu/CeO(CSC) catalyst.

Dual active sites over Cu-ZnO-ZrO catalysts for carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol.

CO hydrogenation to methanol is a significant approach to tackle the problem of global warming and simultaneously meet the demand for the portable fuel. Cu-ZnO catalysts with various kinds of promoters have received wide attention. However, the role of promoter and the form of active sites in CO hydrogenation are still in debate.

Sustainable Carbon Materials toward Emerging Applications.

It is desirable for a sustainable society that the production and utilization of renewable materials are net-zero in terms of carbon emissions. Carbon materials with emerging applications in CO utilization, renewable energy storage and conversion, and biomedicine have attracted much attention both academically and industrially. However, the preparation process of some new carbon materials suffers from energy consumption and environmental pollution issues.

Atomic Pyridinic Nitrogen Sites Promoting Levulinic Acid Hydrogenations over Double-Shelled Hollow Ru/C Nanoreactors.

Nitrogen-doped nanocarbons are widely used as supports for metal-heterogeneous catalytic conversions. When nitrogen-doped nanocarbon supports are used to disperse metallic nanoparticles (MNPs), the nitrogen dopant can enhance MNPs electron density to reach higher catalytic activity and promote MNPs stability through anchoring effects. However, the precise identification of active nitrogen species between N-dopants and reactants is rarely reported.

Generalized reactivity descriptor of defective carbon catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination: the ratio of sp : sp hybridization.

The golden section point in carbon catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination has been determined. The surface sp2 : sp3 ratio of two types of carbon catalysts, including nanodiamond- and graphite-oriented carbons, both have a volcano relationship with the catalytic performance for acetylene hydrochlorination, and the optimized ratios are both around 32-35%.

Constructing and controlling ruthenium active phases for acetylene hydrochlorination.

Ru-Based catalysts with distinct active phases from Ru0, to RuO2, RuCl3 and RuCl2N were synthesized and evaluated in acetylene hydrochlorination. RuCl2N is identified as the efficient active phase due to its co-activation of acetylene and hydrogen chloride. This discovery holds great potential to accelerate the large-scale application of Ru-based catalysts in industry.

Effect of nitrogen co-doping with ruthenium on the catalytic performance of Ba/Ru-N-MC catalysts for ammonia synthesis.

Nitrogen co-doping with ruthenium mesoporous carbons (Ru-N-MC) was prepared by co-impregnation of sucrose and urea on a RuCl/SiO template followed by a thermal carbonization process. The turnover frequency (TOF) of the Ba/Ru-N-MC catalyst in ammonia synthesis is 0.16 s under reaction conditions of 400 °C, pressure of 10 MPa and space velocity of 10 000 h.

Defective graphene@diamond hybrid nanocarbon material as an effective and stable metal-free catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination.

A defective nanodiamond-graphene material (ND@G) exhibits superior catalytic activity in acetylene hydrochlorination with an acetylene conversion of 50%, selectivity to vinyl chloride of up to 99.5% at 220 °C, and a C2H2 gas hourly space velocity of 300 h-1, which is the first example of a metal-free catalyst with comparable performance to that of the 0.25% Au/C catalyst.

Wheat flour-derived N-doped mesoporous carbon extrudate as superior metal-free catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination.

N-Doped mesoporous carbon extrudate with a major quaternary N species has been successfully prepared through direct carbonization of wheat flour/gluten with silica, which is a cheap and convenient method for scale-up production approach. The obtained carbon extrudate metal-free catalyst enables highly efficient production of vinyl chloride monomer through acetylene hydrochlorination, with a superior catalytic performance and excellent stability (>85% conversion and vinyl chloride selectivity over 99% at 220 °C).

Fabrication of Efficient Hydrogenation Nanoreactors by Modifying the Freedom of Ultrasmall Platinum Nanoparticles within Yolk-Shell Nanospheres.

The synthesis of silica-based yolk-shell nanospheres confined with ultrasmall platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) stabilized with poly(amidoamine), in which the interaction strength between Pt NPs and the support could be facilely tuned, is reported. By ingenious utilization of silica cores with different surface wettability (hydrophilic vs. -phobic) as the adsorbent, Pt NPs could be confined in different locations of the yolk-shell nanoreactor (core vs.

Effect of sulfuric acid on textural properties and catalytic performance of ruthenium-containing ordered mesoporous carbon prepared via a direct RuCl3/SBA-15 hard templated method.

Ruthenium-containing ordered mesoporous carbon (Ru-OMC) catalysts with highly dispersed Ru nanoparticles semi-embedded in carbon framework were prepared via a direct RuCl3/SBA-15 hard templated method. The effect of sulfuric acid on the texture structure and catalytic performance of Ru-OMC were studied. The status of Ru nanoparticles and mesoporous structure of Ru-OMC catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), nitrogen sorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and CO chemisorption techniques.

Enzyme confined in silica-based nanocages for biocatalysis in a Pickering emulsion.

The encapsulation of lipase into the nanocages of FDU-12 and the amphiphilic modification of the surfaces of FDU-12 can concurrently be accomplished via a facile silylation method. The obtained lipase-loaded FDU-12 particles featuring superior biocatalytic activity and negligible enzyme leaching can serve as efficient stabilizers for a Pickering emulsion to enhance the performance of biphasic enzymatic reactions.