Publications by authors named "J L Rodriguez-Fernandez"

We report the surface-assisted synthesis of a non-planar cyclophenylene derivative containing four meta- and two para- connected phenylene moieties on Au(111), via hierarchical Ullmann coupling of a 1,10-dibrominated angular [3]phenylene and subsequent C-C bond cleavage at the four-membered rings. Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS) were used for the characterization of its chemical structure and electronic properties. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations support the experimental observations.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Alcohols derived from biological waste and renewable electricity are emerging as eco-friendly alternatives for transportation fuels, requiring only minor modifications to engines for use in vehicles.
  • - The research utilizes terahertz (THz) and gigahertz (GHz) spectroscopies to analyze a range of fuels including diesel, ethanol, and n-butanol, ultimately enhancing fuel property modeling by introducing new Debye parameters for better accuracy.
  • - Findings indicate a linear correlation between alcohol concentration and dielectric properties, though challenges remain in accurately modeling low alcohol concentrations, suggesting avenues for future research in fuel characteristics.
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Renewable hydrogen and e-fuels, synthesized from captured CO and renewable H, are feasible ways to achieve transport decarbonization, particularly in medium/heavy-duty applications and the maritime sector, where compression ignition engines predominate. Hydrogen and methanol are low carbon-intensive fuels, which can be used in these engines by carrying out dual-fuel combustion with a diesel-like fuel. Under low load engine conditions, reaching very high substitutions of the fossil diesel fuel can be a major challenge as the presence of these fuels affects negatively the autoignition process.

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Starphenes are structurally appealing three-fold symmetric polycyclic aromatic compounds with potential interesting applications in molecular electronics and nanotechnology. This family of star-shaped polyarenes can be regarded as three acenes that are connected through a single benzene ring. In fact, just like acenes, unsubstituted large starphenes are poorly soluble and highly reactive molecules under ambient conditions making their synthesis difficult to achieve.

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