Electrochemical CO 2 reduction can convert CO 2 to value-added chemicals, but its selectivity toward C 3+ products are very limited. One possible solution is to run the reactions in hybrid processes by coupling electr...
详细信息
Electrochemical CO 2 reduction can convert CO 2 to value-added chemicals, but its selectivity toward C 3+ products are very limited. One possible solution is to run the reactions in hybrid processes by coupling electrocatalysis with other catalytic routes. In this contribution, we report the cascade electrocatalytic and thermocatalytic reduction of CO 2 to propionaldehyde. Using Cu(OH) 2 nanowires as the precatalyst, CO 2 /H 2 O is reduced to concentrated C 2 H 4 , CO, and H 2 gases in a zero-gap membrane electrode assembly (MEA) reactor. The thermochemical hydroformylation reaction is separately investigated with a series of rhodium-phosphine complexes. The best candidate is identified to be the one with the 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane diphosphine ligand, which exhibits a propionaldehyde turnover number of 1148 under a mild temperature and close-to-atmospheric pressure. By coupling and optimizing the upstream CO 2 electroreduction and downstream hydroformylation reaction, we achieve a propionaldehyde selectivity of ~38 % and a total C 3 oxygenate selectivity of 44 % based on reduced CO 2 . These values represent a more than seven times improvement over the best prior electrochemical system alone or over two times improvement over other hybrid systems.
Selective and effective adsorptive removal of radiocesium is of great importance in terms of nuclear waste management and environmental remediation, but is still challenging because of its radioactive and non-complexi...
详细信息
Selective and effective adsorptive removal of radiocesium is of great importance in terms of nuclear waste management and environmental remediation, but is still challenging because of its radioactive and non-complexing nature. Herein, metal hexacyanoferrates (MHCF, M = Cu, Co, or Ni) modified fibrous chitosan was prepared by multiple sequential adsorption and self-assembly approach, and applied for the selective and effective adsorption of Cs. The physically supported MHCF in chitosan fibers showed good crystallinity and stability, and the obtained fibrous composite has high specific surface area (18.2-29.4 m g). Moreover, MHCF crystals endowed the fibrous chitosan-based adsorbent with a high adsorption capacity and selectivity towards Cs. Its adsorption kinetic and isotherm performance followed the pseudo second-order model and the Sips model. The q value of three fibrous MHCF/chitosan (M = Cu, Co, or Ni) composites was 24.9-70.3 mg g. The fibrous CuHCF/chitosan composite had the highest q among the three composites. In summary, the modified chitosan can selectively and effectively remove Cs from complicated aqueous solutions.
The available processes for removing acetylene impurities from crude ethylene are tremendously energy-intensive. Herein, we demonstrate a novel aqueous Zn–C 2 H 2 battery, which not only switches energy-consuming ace...
详细信息
The available processes for removing acetylene impurities from crude ethylene are tremendously energy-intensive. Herein, we demonstrate a novel aqueous Zn–C 2 H 2 battery, which not only switches energy-consuming acetylene removal to electricity generation, but also reduces acetylene to ethylene through a unique discharge mechanism: C 2 H 2 +Zn+H 2 O→C 2 H 4 +ZnO. Under a pure acetylene stream, this Zn–C 2 H 2 battery exhibits an open circuit potential of 1.14 V and a peak power density of 2.2 mW cm −2 , which exceed those of reported Zn–CO 2 batteries. Even for simulated crude ethylene, the Zn–C 2 H 2 battery manifests an acetylene conversion of 99.97 % and continuously produces polymer-grade ethylene with only ≈3 ppm acetylene during a long-term discharge operation. Such a functional battery is universally appliable for reducing other alkynes and generating electricity. Therefore, this work provides an effective strategy for green ethylene purification and the design of functional batteries.
As bulky pollutants in industrial and agricultural wastewater, nitrate and formaldehyde pose serious threats to the human health and ecosystem. Current purification technologies including chemical and bio-/photo-/elec...
详细信息
As bulky pollutants in industrial and agricultural wastewater, nitrate and formaldehyde pose serious threats to the human health and ecosystem. Current purification technologies including chemical and bio-/photo-/electro-chemical methods, are generally high-cost, time-consuming, or energy-intensive. Here, we report a novel formaldehyde-nitrate battery by pairing anodic formaldehyde oxidation with cathodic nitrate reduction, which simultaneously enables wastewater purification, electricity generation, and the production of high-value-added ammonia and formate. As a result, the formaldehyde-nitrate battery remarkably exhibits an open-circuit voltage of 0.75 V, a peak power density of 3.38 mW cm −2 and the yield rates of 32.7 mg h −1 cm −2 for ammonia and 889.4 mg h −1 cm −2 for formate. In a large-scale formaldehyde-nitrate battery (25 cm 2 ), 99.9 % of nitrate and 99.8 % of formaldehyde are removed from simulated industrial wastewater and the electricity of 2.03 W⋅h per day is generated. Moreover, the design of such a multi-functional battery is universally applicable to the coupling of NO 3 − or NO 2 − reduction with various aldehyde oxidization, paving a new avenue for wastewater purification and chemical manufacturing.
Routine electrolyte additives are not effective enough for uniform zinc (Zn) deposition, because they are hard to proactively guide atomic-level Zn deposition. Here, based on underpotential deposition (UPD), we propos...
详细信息
Routine electrolyte additives are not effective enough for uniform zinc (Zn) deposition, because they are hard to proactively guide atomic-level Zn deposition. Here, based on underpotential deposition (UPD), we propose an “escort effect” of electrolyte additives for uniform Zn deposition at the atomic level. With nickel ion (Ni 2+ ) additives, we found that metallic Ni deposits preferentially and triggers the UPD of Zn on Ni. This facilitates firm nucleation and uniform growth of Zn while suppressing side reactions. Besides, Ni dissolves back into the electrolyte after Zn stripping with no influence on interfacial charge transfer resistance. Consequently, the optimized cell operates for over 900 h at 1 mA cm −2 (more than 4 times longer than the blank one). Moreover, the universality of “escort effect” is identified by using Cr 3+ and Co 2+ additives. This work would inspire a wide range of atomic-level principles by controlling interfacial electrochemistry for various metal batteries.
Intelligent solar water evaporation (iSWE) was achieved with a thermally responsive and microstructured graphene/poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) (mG/PNIPAm) membrane. As the solar intensity varies, the water evaporatio...
详细信息
Intelligent solar water evaporation (iSWE) was achieved with a thermally responsive and microstructured graphene/poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) (mG/PNIPAm) membrane. As the solar intensity varies, the water evaporation is tuned through reversible transformations of microstructures reminiscent of the stomatal opening and closing of leaves. Consequently, this mG/PNIPAm membrane displays a high water evaporation rate change (ΔWER) of 1.66 kg m −2 h −1 under weak sunlight (intensity<1 sun) and a low ΔWER of 0.24 kg m −2 h −1 under intense sunlight (1 sun
暂无评论