In this contribution, we review the electrochemical upgrading of saccharides (e.g., glucose) and sugar alcohols (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this work, we present a comprehensive study of the electrocatalytic reduction of fructose to sorbitol and mannitol, in a mild alkaline medium (pH = 11.3), with a Cu wire as the cathode. Particular attention was paid to the reaction mechanism, investigated by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and chronopotentiometry (CP) coupled with high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe electrochemical reduction of organic contaminants allows their removal from water. In this contribution, the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene is studied using both oxidized carbon fibres and ruthenium nanoparticles supported on unmodified carbon fibres as catalysts. The two systems produce azoxynitrobenzene as the main product, while aniline is only observed in minor quantities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBoth global warming and limited fossil resources make the transition from fossil to solar fuels an urgent matter. In this regard, the splitting of water activated by sunlight is a sustainable and carbon-free new energy conversion scheme able to produce efficient technological devices. The availability of appropriate catalysts is essential for the proper kinetics of the two key processes involved, namely, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroorganisms living in hypersaline microbial mats frequently form consortia under stressful and changing environmental conditions. In this paper, the heterotrophic strain DE2010 from a microalgae consortium (Scenedesmus sp. DE2009) from Ebro Delta microbial mats has been phenotypically and genotypically characterized and identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
December 2016
Molecular ruthenium-based water oxidation catalyst precursors of general formula [Ru(tda)(L ) ] (tda is [2,2':6',2''-terpyridine]-6,6''-dicarboxylato; L =4-(pyren-1-yl)-N-(pyridin-4-ylmethyl)butanamide, 1 b; L =4-(pyren-1-yl)pyridine), 1 c), have been prepared and thoroughly characterized. Both complexes contain a pyrene group allowing ready and efficiently anchoring via π interactions on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). These hybrid solid state materials are exceptionally stable molecular water-oxidation anodes capable of carrying out more than a million turnover numbers (TNs) at pH 7 with an E =1.
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