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Emerging applications of nanocatalysts synthesized by flame aerosol processes
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Yuan Sheng, Markus Kraft, Rong XuFlame aerosol synthesis (FAS) has been in industrial use for mass production of nanoparticle commodities, and in recent years has been developed into a tool for economic synthesis of novel catalytic nanomaterials as its scalability and versatility became recognized. In particular, a wide spectrum of metal oxide and noble metal nanoparticles/composites have been obtained by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) which have demonstrated applications in growing fields of catalysis such as CO2 utilization, gas ...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Alloys with Pt-skin or Pt-rich surface for electrocatalysis
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Jing Li, Li Li, Min Jie Wang, Jianchuan Wang, Zidong WeiThe Pt-based alloys with Pt-skin or Pt-rich surface own significant structural advantages for a range of electrocatalytic reactions. Herein, we give a minireview for such catalysts, which covers a brief background introduction, the mechanisms for the activity enhancements derived from the special Pt-skin structures, the very recent advances on the preparation routes and applications of the catalysts in various electrochemical reactions, and a future perspective. Indeed the ...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Progress in hydrogen production over transition metal carbide catalysts: challenges and opportunities
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Xiao Zhang, Chuan Shi, Bingbing Chen, Andrew N Kuhn, Ding Ma, Hong YangIncorporation of carbon into metal lattices yields transition metal carbides (TMCs) with properties quite different from their parent metals and corresponding metal oxides. In this short review, we summarize the recent progress on employing TMCs as active catalysts for hydrogen (H2) production, namely by the water-gas-shift reaction, methanol reforming, and the hydrogen evolution reaction in water electrolysis. Special interest is put on comparing the catalyt...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Transformation of CO2 by using nanoscale metal catalysts: cases studies on the formation of formic acid and dimethylether
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Ning Yan, Karine PhilippotThe valorization of CO2 has gained increasing interest in the scientific and industrial communities during the last decades with intensive research devoted to CO2 capture, sequestration and utilization. This is because the greenhouse gas emission has become a serious concern to face the global climate change and that efficient solutions are required to reduce the carbon footprint. Up to now the chemical transformation of CO2 into fuels and target molecules has been mainly investigated by using molecular...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Catalytic combustion of volatile organic compounds on pillared interlayered clay (PILC)-based catalysts
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Jingrong Li, Maocong Hu, Shufeng Zuo, Xianqin WangPillared interlayered clay (PILC) is one type of structure-controllable two-dimensional layered porous material with high specific surface area, large interlayer spacing and good heat-resistant stability. Due to these excellent structural characteristics, PILC has attracted intense interests and become an active research topic in recent years. Structure controllability and performance optimization are two major pending issues, while pore structure and heat-resistant stability are...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Nanostructured faceted ceria as oxidation catalyst
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Sukanya Datta, Laura Torrente-MurcianoThis review highlights the key importance of the selective exposure of crystal facets in nanostructured ceria and their effect on the formation of lattice oxygen vacancies and their mobility. These factors, in addition to surface area and concentration of surface defects greatly affect the resulting catalytic oxidation activity of the nanostructured ceria materials. To illustrate these aspects, this paper reviews the structure–activity relationship of nanoceria for the oxidation of CO and ...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Recent progress in photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide over gallium oxide and its nanocomposites
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Zeai Huang, Kentaro Teramura, Hiroyuki Asakura, Saburo Hosokawa, Tsunehiro TanakaPhotocatalytic conversion of CO2 is a promising method to solve problems of both energy crisis and global climate change. The efficient transfer of solar energy into high-value chemical energy is the ultimate goal of this technology. Gallium oxide is a suitable candidate for the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 due to its ideal band positions. Modification of Ga2O3 to achieve enhanced photocatalytic activity and understanding the catalytic mechanism...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Chemical looping at the nanoscale — challenges and opportunities
This article summarizes recent advances in nanoscale oxygen carrier development. Mechanistic insights in the redox reactions of the oxygen carriers and their implications for the design and optimization of oxygen carriers for chemical looping combustion and partial oxidation reactions are also discussed. (Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering)
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Understanding the influence of the electrochemical double-layer on heterogeneous electrochemical reactions
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Marco Dunwell, Yushan Yan, Bingjun XuA detailed understanding of the electrical double layer is key to the optimization of heterogeneous electrochemical reactions. In this work, we provide a brief summary of key experimental and computational studies of three key aspects of the double layer: Firstly, potential-dependent structure of the solvent; secondly, reaction-induced concentration gradients; and finally, the potential-dependent behavior of electrolyte cations and their effect on double layer structure, reaction activity, an...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Emerging opportunities for electrochemical processing to enable sustainable chemical manufacturing
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Michael J Orella, Yuriy Román-Leshkov, Fikile R BrushettElectrochemical processes are poised to play a critical role in the future energy economy by supporting widespread decarbonization efforts and providing new avenues for sustainable energy use including the electrification of industry. Opportunities exist for the development and integration of novel electrochemical processes that offer carbon-neutral or even carbon-negative synthetic routes to important products by exploiting new reactivities that enable molecular transform...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Surface-patterning of polymeric membranes: fabrication and performance
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Ozge Heinz, Masoud Aghajani, Alan R Greenberg, Yifu DingIn recent years, surface patterning of membranes has been explored as a new strategy to modify surface properties of polymeric membranes. A variety of methods including template-based micromolding and direct printing have been developed for effective fabrication of surface-patterned membranes. In this review, we compare the underlying pattern replication mechanisms and the advantages and challenges associated with the range of different fabrication methods. The presence of ...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Chemical modification of membrane surface — overview
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Lakshmeesha Upadhyaya, Xianghong Qian, S Ranil WickramasingheMembrane surface properties critically affect membrane performance as it is the membrane surface that contacts the feed. Chemical modification of membrane surfaces is an attractive method to impart desirable surface properties while retaining the desired bulk polymer properties such as mechanical and chemical resistance and membrane morphology. Fouling or adsorption of undesirable species onto the membrane surface affects membrane properties and leads to compromised pe...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Nanoporous materials in polymeric membranes for desalination
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Pinar Cay-Durgun, Mary Laura LindPressure-driven membrane desalination processes require new membranes that have increased energy-efficiency, perm-selectivity, resistance to chlorine, and resistance to fouling. Incorporation of nanoporous materials (e.g. zeolites, metal–organic frameworks, and graphene-based materials) into the state-of-the-art polyamide-based thin film composite (TFC) membranes is one strategy to address these challenges. This requires effectively incorporating nanomaterials into the polymer structure and und...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Two-dimensional materials: an emerging platform for gas separation membranes
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Farhad Moghadam, Ho Bum ParkGraphene and its derivatives are of particular interest as emerging platforms for molecular separation. However, there are abundant 2D nanomaterials other than graphene that have unique and intriguing structural features that can be exploited for membrane-based separation that have not been extensively studied. Furthermore, from a materials synthesis standpoint, realizing high yield and scalable methods for massive production of 2D nanomaterials is critical. Liquid-based exfoliation to produce 2D nano...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research

Sorption-enhanced membrane materials for gas separation: a road less traveled
Publication date: June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 20Author(s): Maryam Omidvar, Hien Nguyen, Junyi Liu, Haiqing LinSolubility and diffusivity constitute two vertically tunable parameters for designing high-performance membrane materials for gas separation. The latter approach has received great attention, yielding a wealth of size-sieving materials reported in the literature. By contrast, this review highlights recent achievements of sorption-enhanced materials with superior gas separation performance, including fluorinated polymers for He/gas and gas/CH4 separations, and polar polymers and ...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - July 11, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research