Heteroatom-doped lamellar-structured carbon with high surface areas synthesized from alfalfa leaves is utilized as cathode catalyst in this study to improve the power output of MFCs. Different chemical activation agents are used to treat alfalfa leaf-derived carbon, it is found that chemical activation agents severely affect the catalytic activities of the alfalfa leaf-derived carbon (ALC) materials

3D network-like, ultrathin and controllable NixCo1-xMoO4 (0  x 1) nanosheets on carbon cloth have been successfully designed and synthesized by one-step hydrothermal process. All these NixCo1-xMoO4 (0  x 1) nanosheets possess similar morphologies and structures with thin nanosheets. The electrochemical performance can be optimized when x=0.75 owing to the synergistic effect of nickel and cobalt

Polymer stabilized palladium (Pd@PS) nanoparticles (NPs) catalyzed α-alkylation of acyclic, cyclic and aliphatic ketones were performed with methanol, ethanol, long chain alkyl and benzyl alcohols. The heterogeneous catalyst, Pd@PS was found to be highly active for most challenging small chain alkyl alcohols such as methanol and ethanol in alkylation reaction following oxidation, condensation and

Cellulosic biofuels present an opportunity to meet a significant fraction of liquid transportation fuel demand with renewable, low-carbon alternatives. Certain ionic liquids (ILs) have proven effective at facilitating hydrolysis of lignocellulose to produce fermentable sugars with high yields. Although their negligible vapor pressure and low flammability make ILs attractive solvents at the point of

Multifunctional magnetic microspheres (Mag@ZnO-Co3O4) with bi-metal oxide shell were synthesized via a facile method. The Mag@ZnO-Co3O4 composite was characterized through vibrating sample magnetometer, N2 adsorption analysis, FTIR, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses. The structural analysis showed that

A new method has been developed to enable the modification of the organosolv technical lignin. Using a walnut shell butanol alkoxasolv lignin as a source of high β-O-4 content material, the β-O-4 γ-position has been selectively modified via Tosylation, Azidation and Copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne Triazole formation (a TACTful protocol) we have developed. In addition, extensive model studies were used

Only 47 % of the total fertilizer nitrogen applied to the environment is taken up by the plants while approximately 40 % of the total fertilizer nitrogen lost to the environment reverts back into unreactive atmospheric dinitrogen which greatly affects the global nitrogen cycle including increased energy consumption for NH3 synthesis, as well as accumulation of nitrates in drinking water. In this letter

The rapid generation of e-waste has become a global problem owing to its potential environmental pollution and human-health risk, especially from informal recycling in developing countries. In 2014, however, only about 15.5% of the total global e-waste was formally treated by national take-back programs. Waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) are an integral part of e-waste, and they contain many valuable

Renewable resources (e.g., agricultural by-products) are widely used in the production of commercial activated carbon, but the acti-vation procedures still have serious drawbacks. Here we develop a green, activation-free, top-down method to prepare high-surface-area carbon materials from agricultural wastes through mechano-chemistry. The facile mechanochemical process can smash the monolithic agricultural

The effects of different pretreatments on performance and durability of the fct-structured Pt-based alloy catalyst were investigated under operating conditions in PEMFCs. The fct-structured PtCo catalyst (PtCo/CN) was prepared by impregnating transition metal salts into Pt/CN catalyst followed by a heat-treatment under a reducing atmosphere. To remove the excess amount of transition metal on the catalyst

Large quantities of waste slags are produced during the preparation of electrical manganese, causing serious pollution to the environment. The recycling and utilization of electrolytic manganese slags (EMS) is a serious challenge to the industry. Here, we report the utilization of EMS in preparation of high-performance mesoporous silica using amino-ended hyperbranched polyamide (AEHPA) as template

Ultra-fast and facile formation of stable and self-assembled rhenium (Re) nanoparticles (NPs) using poly-allylamine hydrochloride (PAH) scaffold within 120 sec of wet-chemical reaction at room temperature in aqueous solution has been reported. The average diameters of the synthesized two different sets of Re NPs are ~ 0.7 ± 0.25 nm and ~ 1.7 ± 0.3 nm respectively which can be easily achieved by controlling

LiCrTiO4 is a lithium insertion material which is isostructural with Li4Ti5O12. By modified its morphology, LiCrTiO4 nanowires exhibit a high charge capacity of 154.6 mAh g-1 at 100 mA g-1, and this value can be maintained at 121.0 mAh g-1 even at a high current density of 700 mA g-1. Furthermore, the cycling performance shows that LiCrTiO4 nanowires can also deliver a reversible capacity of 120.0

A facile two-step strategy was proposed to modify the ZnO nanoparticles electron transfer layer in inverted ternary blend polymer solar cells (TPSCs) by irradiating the ZnO with UV-ozone (UVO) and then spin-coating the poly[(9,9-bis(3'-(N,N-dimethylamino)propyl)-2,7-fluorene)-alt-2,7-(9,9-dioctyl-fluorene)] (PFN) interfacial modification layer. The combination of UVO and PFN showed the advantage of

The present work expands our previous studies related to cellulose processing with room temperature ionic liquids and simultaneous integration of functional nanoparticles towards photocatalytically active and easily recyclable nanocomposite porous films based on a renewable matrix material. Porosity can be tuned by the selection of phase separation conditions for the films obtained from the casting

In the present study, a multifunctional composite nanopaper was developed based on soy protein isolates (SPI) from the synergistic reinforcement of sheet-like graphene (RGO) and platelet-like starch nanocrystals (SNC), providing conductive function as well as enhanced mechanical and barrier properties. As a highly-crystalline and rigid nanoparticle derived from natural polymer, the introduction of

Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of guaiacol, a typical lignin-derived phenolic compound, at relatively mild conditions was studied over γ-Al2O3 and ZSM-5 supported catalysts with Ni and/Co as active metal. Among various catalysts, NiCo/γ-Al2O3 catalysts exhibited better guaiacol conversion up to 96.1% with cyclohexanol as main product in aqueous, due to the proper acidity and interaction between metal particles

The development of rapid and accurate techniques to predict the composition of crude bio-oils obtained via the pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass is a prerequisite for their industrial implementation. Here, we demonstrate the potential of the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to replace the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in determining the compositional groups of bio-oils. Using

The performance and biomass enrichment of the biocathode of a pair of lab-scale two-chambered microbial electrolysis cells (MEC) were assessed for 95 days as a technology for upgrading the biogas produced in anaerobic digesters, converting CO2 into CH4 through the electromethanogenic process. Two different inocula were compared: i) a mixture of biomass from the anode of a MEC and anaerobic granular

A series of unsymmetrical pyridine-bridged bis-pincer-type iron(II) complexes were synthesized, and the complexes were used as catalysts for the cycloaddition of CO2 and epoxides. At ambient temperature, the combined use of iron complexes and tetra-butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) resulted in an efficient catalytic system for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates under low CO2 pressure (0.5 MPa) and solvent-free

: In this paper, two green electrochemical strategies for the synthesis of new N-phenylquinoneimine derivatives are reported. In the first strategy, the electrophilic activity of electrochemically generated quinone-diimine derivatives was used in reaction with phenol as a model nucleophile. In the second strategy, the electrochemically formed 4-tert-butyl-o-benzoquinone was used as a model Michael

The depolymerization of kraft lignin with a copper-vanadium hydrotalcite-like catalyst (HTc-Cu-V) and V(acac)3/Cu(NO3)2·3H2O mixtures to monomeric aromatic aldehydes and aromatic acids such as vanillin and vanillic acid using molecular oxygen as oxidant is reported. The obtained products correlate to model-based studies with erythro-1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-1,3 propanediol (1a)

The present study is about the enzymatic modification of Thermomechanical Pulp (TMP) fibres for reduction of water uptake and their use in bio-based filaments for 3D printing. Additionally, TMP was used as fibre reinforcing material and polylactic acid (PLA) as polymer matrix. The hydrophilic TMP fibres were treated via laccase-assisted grafting of Octyl Gallate (OG) or Lauryl Gallate (LG) onto the

The Yandulov-Schrock catalyst, a mononuclear molybdenum complex with a tetra-coordinate triamidoamine chelate ligand with hexa-iso-propyl-terphenyl groups at the amide nitrogen atoms, catalyzes the reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia. Its turnover number is very low which may be attributed to the (partial) loss of the chelate ligand. Protonation of an amide nitrogen atom of the ligand and subsequent

Rising awareness pertaining to global waste management and environmental issues challenges development of efficient metal-free photocatalytic system for visible light assisted degradation of organic contaminants. We, herein, report the synthesis of bio-based luminescent reduced carbon nanodot (RCD) (average size 3 nm) by green reduction of starch based carbon nanodot (CD) using aqueous extracts of

To meet the increasing demands for sustainable and clean hydrogen energy source, development of pH-tolerant electrocatalysts with high-performance and low-cost towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an important but challenging task. MoS2 is believed as a promising candidate for HER in acidic solution, however, showing poor activity in alkaline media. Herein, to widen its application in various