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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Highly Efficient and Atom Economic Route for the Production of Methyl Acrylate and Acetic Acid from a Biorefinery Side Stream
    (Washington, DC : American Chemical Society, 2020) El Ouahabi F.; Polyakov M.; Van Klink G.P.M.; Wohlrab S.; Tin S.; De Vries J.G.
    We report a highly efficient and 100% atom economic synthesis of methyl acrylate and acetic acid via gas phase pyrolysis of methyl 3-acetoxypropionate at 600 °C. The latter can be produced in a single step from methyl levulinate, a side product of Avantium's FDCA process. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.
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    Judging the feasibility of TiO2 as photocatalyst for chemical energy conversion by quantitative reactivity determinants
    (Cambridge : RSC Publ., 2019) Dilla, Martin; Moustakas, Nikolaos G.; Becerikli, Ahmet E.; Peppel, Tim; Springer, Armin; Schlögl, Robert; Strunk, Jennifer; Ristig, Simon
    In this study we assess the general applicability of the widely used P25-TiO2 in gas-phase photocatalytic CO2 reduction based on experimentally determined reactivity descriptors from classical heterogeneous catalysis (productivity) and photochemistry (apparent quantum yield/AQY). A comparison of the results with reports on the use of P25 for thermodynamically more feasible reactions and our own previous studies on P25-TiO2 as photocatalyst imply that the catalytic functionality of this material, rather than its properties as photoabsorber, limits its applicability in the heterogeneous photocatalytic CO2 reduction in the gas phase. The AQY of IrOx/TiO2 in overall water splitting in a similar high-purity gas-solid process was four times as high, but still far from commercial viability.
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    Poisoning of bubble propelled catalytic micromotors: The chemical environment matters
    (Cambridge [u.a.] : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013) Zhao, G.; Sanchez, S.; Schmidt, O.G.; Pumera, M.
    Self-propelled catalytic microjets have attracted considerable attention in recent years and these devices have exhibited the ability to move in complex media. The mechanism of propulsion is via the Pt catalysed decomposition of H2O2 and it is understood that the Pt surface is highly susceptible to poisoning by sulphur-containing molecules. Here, we show that important extracellular thiols as well as basic organic molecules can significantly hamper the motion of catalytic microjet engines. This is due to two different mechanisms: (i) molecules such as dimethyl sulfoxide can quench the hydroxyl radicals produced at Pt surfaces and reduce the amount of oxygen gas generated and (ii) molecules containing -SH, -SSR, and -SCH3 moieties can poison the catalytically active platinum surface, inhibiting the motion of the jet engines. It is essential that the presence of such molecules in the environment be taken into consideration for future design and operation of catalytic microjet engines. We show this effect on catalytic micromotors prepared by both rolled-up and electrodeposition approaches, demonstrating that such poisoning is universal for Pt catalyzed micromotors. We believe that our findings will contribute significantly to this field to develop alternative systems or catalysts for self-propulsion when practical applications in the real environment are considered.
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    Sulfonated covalent triazine-based frameworks as catalysts for the hydrolysis of cellobiose to glucose
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2018) Artz, Jens; Delidovich, Irina; Pilaski, Moritz; Niemeier, Johannes; Kübber, Britta Maria; Rahimi, Khosrow; Palkovits, Regina
    Covalent triazine-based frameworks (CTFs) were synthesized in large scale from various monomers. The materials were post-synthetically modified with acid functionalities via gas-phase sulfonation. Acid capacities of up to 0.83 mmol g−1 at sulfonation degrees of up to 10.7 mol% were achieved. Sulfonated CTFs exhibit high specific surface area and porosity as well as excellent thermal stability under aerobic conditions (>300 °C). Successful functionalization was verified investigating catalytic activity in the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of cellobiose to glucose at 150 °C in H2O. Catalytic activity is mostly affected by porosity, indicating that mesoporosity is beneficial for hydrolysis of cellobiose. Like other sulfonated materials, S-CTFs show low stability under hydrothermal reaction conditions. Recycling of the catalyst is challenging and significant amounts of sulfur leached out of the materials. Nevertheless, gas-phase sulfonation opens a path to tailored solid acids for application in various reactions. S-CTFs form the basis for multi-functional catalysts, containing basic coordination sites for metal catalysts, tunable structural parameters and surface acidity within one sole system.
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    All-in-one: a versatile gas sensor based on fiber enhanced Raman spectroscopy for monitoring postharvest fruit conservation and ripening
    (Cambridge : Soc., 2016) Jochum, Tobias; Rahal, Leila; Suckert, Renè J.; Popp, Jürgen; Frosch, Torsten
    In today's fruit conservation rooms the ripening of harvested fruit is delayed by precise management of the interior oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Ethylene (C2H4), a natural plant hormone, is commonly used to trigger fruit ripening shortly before entering the market. Monitoring of these critical process gases, also of the increasingly favored cooling agent ammonia (NH3), is a crucial task in modern postharvest fruit management. The goal of this work was to develop and characterize a gas sensor setup based on fiber enhanced Raman spectroscopy for fast (time resolution of a few minutes) and non-destructive process gas monitoring throughout the complete postharvest production chain encompassing storage and transport in fruit conservation chambers as well as commercial fruit ripening in industrial ripening rooms. Exploiting a micro-structured hollow-core photonic crystal fiber for analyte gas confinement and sensitivity enhancement, the sensor features simultaneous quantification of O2, CO2, NH3 and C2H4 without cross-sensitivity in just one single measurement. Laboratory measurements of typical fruit conservation gas mixtures showed that the sensor is capable of quantifying O2 and CO2 concentration levels with accuracy of 3% or less with respect to reference concentrations. The sensor detected ammonia concentrations, relevant for chemical alarm purposes. Due to the high spectral resolution of the gas sensor, ethylene could be quantified simultaneously with O2 and CO2 in a multi-component mixture. These results indicate that fiber enhanced Raman sensors have a potential to become universally usable on-site gas sensors for controlled atmosphere applications in postharvest fruit management.