Solvent-Free Synthesis of CuO/HKUST-1 Composite and Its Photocatalytic Application.

A metal-organic framework (MOF) is one kind of crystalline microporous material and is increasingly used as a host of catalytically active guests. Nanostructured materials supported on MOFs have presented enhanced catalytic activity and stability. Templates or several steps are essential to the synthesis of MOF composites.

Ultrastructure and Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Deuterated Switchgrass.

Neutron scattering of deuterated plants can provide fundamental insight into the structure of lignocellulosics in plant cell walls and its deconstruction by pretreatment and enzymes. Such plants need to be characterized for any alterations to lignocellulosic structure caused by growth in deuterated media. Here we show that glucose yields from enzymatic hydrolysis at lower enzyme loading were 35% and 30% for untreated deuterated and protiated switchgrass, respectively.

A Solvent-Free Synthesis of Lignin-Derived Renewable Carbon with Tunable Porosity for Supercapacitor Electrodes.

Synthesis of multiphase materials from lignin, a biorefinery coproduct, offers limited success owing to the inherent difficulty in controlling dispersion of these renewable hyperbranched macromolecules in the product or its intermediates. Effective use of the chemically reactive functionalities in lignin, however, enables tuning morphologies of the materials. Here, we bind lignin oligomers with a rubbery macromolecule followed by thermal crosslinking to form a carbon precursor with phase contrasted morphology at submicron scale.

Amending the Structure of Renewable Carbon from Biorefinery Waste-Streams for Energy Storage Applications.

Biorefineries produce impure sugar waste streams that are being underutilized. By converting this waste to a profitable by-product, biorefineries could be safeguarded against low oil prices. We demonstrate controlled production of useful carbon materials from the waste concentrate via hydrothermal synthesis and carbonization.

Nanoporous Boron Nitride as Exceptionally Thermally Stable Adsorbent: Role in Efficient Separation of Light Hydrocarbons.

In this work, nanoporous boron nitride sample was synthesized with a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 1360 m/g and particle size 5-7 μm. The boron nitride was characterized with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electron microscopy (TEM and SEM). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) under nitrogen and air and subsequent analysis with XPS and XRD suggested that its structure is stable in air up to 800 °C and in nitrogen up to 1050 °C, which is higher than most of the common adsorbents reported so far.