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Scientists Make Methanol Using Air Around Us
Scientists have created methanol from methane using oxygen from the air. Methanol is currently produced by breaking down natural gas at high temperatures. But researchers have discovered they can produce methanol from methane through simple catalysis that allows methanol production at low temperatures using oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. The findings have major implications for cleaner, greener industrial processes worldwide.
Journal Reference: ​Nishtha Agarwal, Simon J. Freakley, Rebecca U. McVicker, Sultan M. Althahban, Nikolaos Dimitratos, Qian He, David J. Morgan, Robert L. Jenkins, David J. Willock, Stuart H. Taylor, Christopher J. Kiely, Graham J. Hutchings. Aqueous Au-Pd colloids catalyze selective CH 4 oxidation to CH 3 OH with O 2 under mild conditions. Science, 2017; eaan6515 DOI: 10.1126/science.aan6515
Scientists Exploit Nanotechnology Approaches to Speed Up Chemical Reactions
A new way of catalysing-speeding up- chemical reactions has been developed by applying an electric field between the reacting molecules. This opens the door for the fabrication of chemical compounds, used in pharmaceutical products and materials, in a fast and cheaper way. The reaction studied was a classical Diels-Alder reaction that was promoted by applying an oriented electric field between two nano-electrodes containing the reacting molecules. This novel nano-chemical synthesis approach involves joining individual molecules to create new molecular backbones just like snapping “Legos” together, and might lead us to more efficient methods for the synthesis of challenging chemical compounds.
Journal Reference: Aragonès, Albert C., Naomi L. Haworth, Nadim Darwish, Simone Ciampi, Nathaniel J. Bloomfield, Gordon G. Wallace, Ismael Diez-Perez, and Michelle L. Coote. "Electrostatic catalysis of a Diels–Alder reaction." Nature 531, no. 7592 (2016): 88. DOI: 0.1038/nature16989
Sugar-Power: Scientists Harness the Reducing Potential of Renewable Sugars
Inspired by nature, researchers are pioneering the use of simple sugars to power chemical reactions. It means that industries such as pharmaceuticals and agro-chemicals will have a renewable, inexpensive and non-toxic method of catalysis.
Journal Reference: Camp, Jason E., Jay J. Dunsford, Oliver SG Dacosta, Rebecca K. Blundell, James Adams, Joshua Britton, Robert J. Smith, Thomas W. Bousfield, and Michael W. Fay. "Recyclable glucose-derived palladium (0) nanoparticles as in situ-formed catalysts for cross-coupling reactions in aqueous media." RSC Advances 6, no. 20 (2016): 16115-16121. DOI: 10.1039/C5RA25712C
Zeolite-Encapsulated Pt Nanoparticles for Tandem Catalysis
Encapsulation of metal nanoparticles in a zeolite matrix is a promising route to integrate multiple sequential reactions into a one-pot and one-step tandem catalytic reaction. Je Cho et al reported a cationic polymer-assisted synthetic strategy to encapsulate Pt nanoparticles (NPs) into MFI zeolites. Degrees of encapsulation of Pt NPs in their synthesized catalysts exceeding 90% were demonstrated via kinetic studies of model reactions involving substrates with different molecular dimensions. H-ZSM-5 zeolite-encapsulated Pt NPs are able to selectively mediate the tandem aldol condensation and hydrogenation of furfural and acetone to form hydrogenated C8 products with a combined yield of 87%.
Journal Reference: Cho, Hong Je, Doyoung Kim, Jing Li, Dong Su, and Bingjun Xu. "Zeolite Encapsulated Pt Nanoparticles for Tandem Catalysis." Journal of the American Chemical Society (2018). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b09568
Extraction Action
Meysam Shahami, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, extracts reacted benzene in the lab of Daniel Shantz. The solution will be used to analyze how much phenol is produced using a one-step reaction. Researchers hope to simplify the process of producing phenol which is used to make soft and hard plastics. LINK
Construction of Long Narrow Gaps in Ag Nanoplates
Tao et al. recently published a paper in JACS journal. They explore a new synthetic strategy to give long lines of ultra-narrow gaps in Ag nanoplates. The new growth phenomena emerged in the process are of great interest for future synthetic endeavor, including the growth of Ag bridge from the encapsulated seeds; the wrapping of nanoplate around the polymer shell; and the inability of merging the nanogaps. The open nanogaps allow easy access of probe molecules and exhibit excellent sensitivity in SERS detection.
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Tao Jiang, Gang Chen, Xiaoli Tian, SHIWEI TANG, Jun Zhou, YUHUA FENG, and Hongyu Chen, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2018). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b06969
UJI Patents New Graphene-Based Catalysts
By combining graphene and organometallic compounds, researchers have developed graphene-based materials that can catalyze reactions for the conversion and storage of energy. Researchers at the Universitat Jaume I have developed materials based on graphene that can catalyze reactions for the conversion and storage of energy. The technology patented by the UJI combines graphene and organometallic compounds in a single material without altering the most interesting properties of graphene, such as its electrical conductivity.
In the battery materials world, the anode’s time has come
It was 2007. Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, J. K. Rowling finished her seventh and final Harry Potter novel, and the worst financial crisis since the 1930s was about to hit.
It was also the year that Gene Berdichevsky, an engineer and employee number 7 at Tesla, the electric car pioneer, began questioning why gains in recent years in the energy density of lithium-ion batteries had fallen from 7–8% to 3–4%. With returns from improvements in battery cathode performance beginning to taper, Berdichevsky began to consider the next bottleneck—the poor energy density of the traditional graphite anode.
Tens of start-ups and established materials firms eventually began asking the same question. Many came to the same conclusion as Berdichevsky: that silicon or lithium would be ideal as an anode material. In theory, they are able to hold roughly 10 times the number of electrons as graphite, leading to lithium-ion batteries with 20–40% higher energy density.
https://cen.acs.org/materials/energy-storage/battery-materials-world-anodes-time/97/i14
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