Microwave-Assisted Production of Defibrillated Lignocelluloses from Blackcurrant Pomace via Citric Acid and Acid-Free Conditions.

Blackcurrant pomace (BCP) is an example of an annual, high-volume, under-utilized renewable resource with potential to generate chemicals, materials and bioenergy within the context of a zero-waste biorefinery. Herein, the microwave-assisted isolation, characterization and potential application of defibrillated lignocelluloses from depectinated blackcurrant pomace are reported. Depectination was achieved using citric acid (0.

Nitrogen-Doped Starbons®: Methodology Development and Carbon Dioxide Capture Capability.

Five nitrogen sources (glycine, β-alanine, urea, melamine and nicotinamide) and three heating methods (thermal, monomodal microwave and multimodal microwave) are used to prepare nitrogen-doped Starbons® derived from starch. The materials are initially produced at 250-300 °C (SN 300 ), then heated in vacuo to 800 °C to produce nitrogen-doped SN 800 's. Melamine gives the highest nitrogen incorporation without destroying the Starbon® pore structure and the microwave heating methods give higher nitrogen incorporations than thermal heating.

Biomass Derived, Hierarchically Porous, Activated Starbons® as Adsorbents for Volatile Organic Compounds.

The use of potassium hydroxide activated Starbons® derived from starch and alginic acid as adsorbents for 29 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was investigated. In every case, the alginic acid derived Starbon (A800K2) was found to be the optimal adsorbent, significantly outperforming both commercial activated carbon and starch derived, activated Starbon (S800K2). The saturated adsorption capacity of A800K2 depends on both the size of the VOC and the functional groups it contains.

General Approach to Silica-Supported Salens and Salophens and Their Use as Catalysts for the Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonates from Epoxides and Carbon Dioxide.

General routes for the synthesis of silica-immobilized symmetrical and unsymmetrical salophen and salen ligands and metal complexes have been developed starting from the natural product 4-allylanisole (methyl-chavicol and estragole). The key step of the syntheses is a microwave-assisted, platinum oxide catalyzed hydrosilylation of the terminal alkene of 5-allyl-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde to afford a sol-gel precursor which can be immobilized into silica before or after conversion to salen and salophen ligands to afford unsymmetrical and symmetrical silica-supported ligands, respectively. Both the symmetrical and unsymmetrical silica-supported salophens were found to catalyze the formation of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide with catalytic activities at least comparable to those previously reported for non-immobilized homogeneous salophens.