In-situ multicore fibre-based pH mapping through obstacles in integrated microfluidic devices.

Microfluidic systems with integrated sensors are ideal platforms to study and emulate processes such as complex multiphase flow and reactive transport in porous media, numerical modeling of bulk systems in medicine, and in engineering. Existing commercial optical fibre sensing systems used in integrated microfluidic devices are based on single-core fibres, limiting the spatial resolution in parameter measurements in such application scenarios. Here, we propose a multicore fibre-based pH system for in-situ pH mapping with tens of micrometer spatial resolution in microfluidic devices.

Photoelectrocatalytic Surfactant Pollutant Degradation and Simultaneous Green Hydrogen Generation.

For the first time, we demonstrate a photoelectrocatalysis technique for simultaneous surfactant pollutant degradation and green hydrogen generation using mesoporous WO/BiVO photoanode under simulated sunlight irradiation. The materials properties such as morphology, crystallite structure, chemical environment, optical absorbance, and bandgap energy of the WO/BiVO films are examined and discussed. We have tested the anionic type (sodium 2-naphthalenesulfonate (S2NS)) and cationic type surfactants (benzyl alkyl dimethylammonium compounds (BAC-C12)) as model pollutants.

Core-shell nanostructured Cu-based bi-metallic electrocatalysts for co-production of ethylene and acetate.

Direct electrocatalytic CCU routes to produce a myriad of valuable chemicals (, methanol, acetic acid, ethylene, propanol, among others) will allow the chemical industry to shift away from the conventional fossil-based production. Electrofuels need to go beyond the current electroreduction of CO to CO, and we will here demonstrate the continuous flow electroreduction of syngas (, CO and H), which are the products from CO-to-CO, with enhanced product selectivity (∼90% towards ethylene). To overcome current drawbacks, including bicarbonate formation that resulted in low CO utilisation and low C product selectivity, the development of nanostructured core-shell bi-metallic electrocatalysts for direct electrochemical reduction of syngas to C is proposed.

Highly selective CO photoreduction to CO on MOF-derived TiO.

Metal-Organic Framework (MOF)-derived TiO, synthesised through the calcination of MIL-125-NH, is investigated for its potential as a CO photoreduction catalyst. The effect of the reaction parameters: irradiance, temperature and partial pressure of water was investigated. Using a two-level design of experiments, we were able to evaluate the influence of each parameter and their potential interactions on the reaction products, specifically the production of CO and CH.

Facile Synthesis of Gram-Scale Mesoporous Ag/TiO Photocatalysts for Pharmaceutical Water Pollutant Removal and Green Hydrogen Generation.

This work demonstrates a two-step gram-scale synthesis of presynthesized silver (Ag) nanoparticles impregnated with mesoporous TiO and evaluates their feasibility for wastewater treatment and hydrogen gas generation under natural sunlight. Paracetamol was chosen as the model pharmaceutical pollutant for evaluating photocatalytic performance. A systematic material analysis (morphology, chemical environment, optical bandgap energy) of the Ag/TiO photocatalyst powder was carried out, and the influence of material properties on the performance is discussed in detail.