Improvement Of Catalytic Properties Research Articles

Trametes versicolor Laccase-Based Magnetic Inorganic-Protein Hybrid Nanobiocatalyst for Efficient Decolorization of Dyes in the Presence of Inhibitors.

In the present investigation, an ecofriendly magnetic inorganic-protein hybrid system-based enzyme immobilization was developed using partially purified laccase from Trametes versicolor (TvLac), Fe3O4 nanoparticles, and manganese (Mn), and was successfully applied for synthetic dye decolorization in the presence of enzyme inhibitors. After the partial purification of crude TvLac, the specific enzyme activity reached 212 U∙mg total protein-1. The synthesized Fe3O4/Mn3(PO4)2-laccase (Fe3O4/Mn-TvLac) and Mn3(PO4)2-laccase (Mn-TvLac) nanoflowers (NFs) exhibited encapsulation yields of 85.5% and 90.3%, respectively, with relative activities of 245% and 260%, respectively, compared with those of free TvLac. One-pot synthesized Fe3O4/Mn-TvLac exhibited significant improvements in catalytic properties and stability compared to those of the free enzyme. Fe3O4/Mn-TvLac retained a significantly higher residual activity of 96.8% over that of Mn-TvLac (47.1%) after 10 reuse cycles. The NFs showed potential for the efficient decolorization of synthetic dyes in the presence of enzyme inhibitors. For up to five reuse cycles, Fe3O4/Mn-TvLac retained a decolorization potential of 81.1% and 86.3% for Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 and xylene cyanol, respectively. The synthesized Fe3O4/Mn-TvLac showed a lower acute toxicity towards Vibrio fischeri than pure Fe3O4 nanoparticles did. This is the first report of the one-pot synthesis of biofriendly magnetic protein-inorganic hybrids using partially purified TvLac and Mn.

Rational design of bimetallic MXene solid solution with High-Performance electrocatalytic N2 reduction

Electrocatalytic N2 reduction reaction (eNRR) was an effective alternative method for green synthesis of NH3. By combining the first-principal Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation, we systematacially investigated 24 types equal-ratio bimetallic MXene solid solution, involving 88 different catalysts. Our focus was on the catalytic performance of these materials in eNRR. The computational result indicate that MoW(3Mo) has high stability, selectivity (93.8 % against the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)) and activity (UL = -0.26 V), which is significantly better than that of monometal Mo2CO2 and W2CO2. This improvement in catalytic properties is attributed to the unique electronic structure (e.g. d-band center, charge) of bimetallic MXene solid solution. In explicit solvent conditions, the microenvironment of hydrogen bond in aqueous liquid thermodynamically promotes the catalytic property for eNRR and reduce the catalytic property of HER side reaction, but the kinetic barrier is also increased due to the effect of the hydrogen-bond microenvironment on proton migration. Overall, the obtained bimetallic MXene solid solution MoW(3Mo) exhibits excellent catalytic performance in eNRR.

The influence of thermal pressure on the catalytic properties of SHS converter blocks during pre-start preparation of a diesel engine

The study is aimed at solving the important environmental problem of reducing harmful exhaust gas emissions from diesel engines with pre-heaters when operating at subzero ambient temperatures. The issue of cleaning the exhaust gases of the pre-heater in the catalytic converter during the heating of the catalytic units during the pre-start preparation period of the 8Ch12/12 diesel engine is considered. It was found that an increase in the specific heat flow and volumetric thermal gas pressure on the porous SHS catalytic material leads to an improvement in catalytic properties in exhaust gas purification processes. An increase in heat flow from 1589 to 3807 mJ/(m3×h) led to a decrease in the estimated values of harmful emissions: nitrogen oxides – by 1.6 times; carbon monoxide – 1.9 times; hydrocarbons – 1.23 times; solid particles - 2.1 times. It was revealed that when the exhaust gas temperature changed from 650 to 810 K, the efficiency of cleaning from solid particles increased from 50 to 75%, from nitrogen oxides - from 20 to 83%, and carbon monoxide - from 53 to 75%. An increase in the quality of hydrocarbon purification is noted up to 790 K; the quality of purification changes from 32 to 47%.

Study on Heterogeneous Catalytic Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Isopropylbenzene to α-Methylstyrene

The influence of the FeBiMoO catalysts composition on their properties in the oxidative dehydrogenation reaction of isopropylbenzene has been studied. The catalyst with the atomic ratio of active components Fe : Bi : Mo = 2 : 1 :2 was found to be the optimum for the maximum yield of α-methylstyrene. The assumption that the improvement of catalytic properties is due to the formation of a ternary compound Fe2Bi3Mo2O12, which provides optimal acid-base properties of the catalytic surface, has been approved. The kinetic regularities of the process have been investigated on the catalyst of optimal composition and kinetic equations describing the process have been proposed.

One-step synthesis of Mg-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets for efficient photo-Fenton-like catalysis

Recently, the design of efficient and environmentally friendly photo-Fenton-like catalysts has attracted much attention in the field of environmental remediation. In this work, Mg-doped graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets (MgCNNS) were fabricated using the thermal polymerization of melamine and MgCl2 with the assistance of the NH4Cl chemical blowing method. MgCNNS were used to activate H2O2 to degrade methylene blue (MB) under visible-light illumination. Results showed that the maximum reaction rate constant of MgCNNS was 24 times higher than that of pristine g-C3N4. The notable improvement in catalytic properties was attributed to the synergistic effect between photocatalysis and Fenton-like reaction. The strong adsorption and transfer ability of NMg bond to electrons not only effectively inhibited the recombination of photoinduced carriers, but also promoted the conversion of H2O2 into reactive oxygen species in the Fenton-like reaction. The influences of different reaction parameters (i.e., catalyst dosage, H2O2 dosage, pH value, MB concentration, and coexisting substance) on the catalytic properties in MB degradation were studied. Moreover, the MgCNNS catalyst had the characteristics of high stability, wide pH range, nontoxicity, low cost, and easy manufacturing and is a promising candidate for the treatment of organic contaminants in water.

Computation and Machine Learning for Catalyst Discovery

Towards a sustainable energy future, it is essential to develop new catalysts with improved properties for key catalytic systems such as Haber-Bosch process, water electrolysis and fuel cell. Unfortunately, the current state-of-the-art catalysts still suffer from high cost of noble metals, insufficient catalytic activity and long-term stability. Furthermore, the current strategy to develop new catalysts relies on “trial-and-error” method, which could be time-consuming and inefficient. To tackle this challenge, atomic-level simulations have demonstrated the potential to facilitate catalyst discovery. For the past decades, the simulations have become reasonably accurate so that they can provide useful insights toward the origin of experimentally observed improvements in catalytic properties. In addition, with the exponential increase in computing power, high-throughput catalyst screening has become feasible. More excitingly, recent advances in machine learning have opened the possibility to further accelerate catalyst discovery. Herein, we introduce recent applications and challenges of computation and machine learning for catalyst discovery.

Tailor-made novel electrospun polystyrene/poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) for oxidoreductases immobilization: Improvement of catalytic properties under extreme reaction conditions

Immobilized enzymes find applications in many areas such as pharmacy, medicine, food production and environmental protection. However, protecting these biocatalysts against harsh reaction conditions and retaining their enzymatic activity even after several biocatalytic cycles are major challenges. Properly selected supports and type of surface modifier therefore seem to be crucial for achieving high retention of catalytic activity of immobilized biomolecules. Here we propose production of novel composite electrospun fibers from polystyrene/poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PS/PDLG) and its application as a support for immobilization of oxidoreductases such as alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and laccase (LAC). Two strategies of covalent binding, (i) (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) with glutaraldehyde (GA) and (ii) polydopamine (PDA), were applied to attach oxidoreductases to PS/PDLG. The average fiber diameter was shown to increase from 1.252 µm to even 3.367 µm after enzyme immobilization. Effective production of PS/PDLG fibers and biomolecule attachment were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. The highest substrate conversion efficiency was observed at pH 6.5 and 5 for ADH and LAC, respectively, and at 25 °C for enzymes attached using the APTES + GA approach. Improvement of enzyme stabilization at high temperatures was confirmed in that relative activities of enzymes immobilized onto PS/PDLG fibers were over 20% higher than those of the free biomolecules, and enzyme leaching from the support using acetate and MES buffers was below 10 mg/g.

Catalytically Active Carbon From Cattail Fibers for Electrochemical Reduction Reaction.

Catalytically active carbons derived from plant biomass are conducive to the construction of renewable energy source system and utilization of sustainable resources. In this article, natural cattail fibers are used to fabricate porous nitrogen-doped carbon via direct chemical activation and heteroatom modification treatments. The graphene-like sheets from biomass pyrolysis are assembled into three-dimensional carbon frameworks. The chemical activation of KHCO3 generated unique porous structure and N-containing molecules pyrolysis modification provided nitrogen doping atoms. High surface area up to 2,345 m2·g−1 with simultaneous hierarchical pores (from micro to meso and macro) with abundant edge defects are achieved for these carbon materials. These materials have a very large external surface area up to 1,773 m2·g−1. The above strategy exhibits a significant synergistic effect on the improvement of catalytic properties toward hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen reduction reaction. The small over potentials and Tafel slopes of these catalytically active carbons demonstrate excellent potential applications in renewable energy conversion and storage systems. This research established a new link among environmental improvement, biomass conversion and renewable energy utilization.

Moving Frontiers in Transition Metal Catalysis: Synthesis, Characterization and Modeling.

Nanosized transition metal particles are important materials in catalysis with a key role not only in academic research but also in many processes with industrial and societal relevance. Although small improvements in catalytic properties can lead to significant economic and environmental impacts, it is only now that knowledge-based design of such materials is emerging, partly because the understanding of catalytic mechanisms on nanoparticle surfaces is increasingly improving. A knowledge-based design requires bottom-up synthesis of well-defined model catalysts, an understanding of the catalytic nanomaterials "at work" (operando), and both a detailed understanding and a prediction by theoretical methods. This article reports on progress in colloidal synthesis of transition metal nanoparticles for preparation of model catalysts to close the materials gap between the discoveries of fundamental surface science and industrial application. The transition metal particles, however, often undergo extensive transformations when applied to the catalytic process and much progress has recently been achieved operando characterization techniques under relevant reaction conditions. They allow better understanding of size/structure-activity correlations in these systems. Moreover, the growth of computing power and the improvement of theoretical methods uncover mechanisms on nanoparticles and have recently predicted highly active particles for CO/CO2 hydrogenation or direct H2 O2 synthesis.

Copper-Containing Catalytic Amyloids Promote Phosphoester Hydrolysis and Tandem Reactions.

Self-assembly of short de novo designed peptides gives rise to catalytic amyloids capable of facilitating multiple chemical transformations. We show that catalytic amyloids can efficiently hydrolyze paraoxon, a widely used, highly toxic organophosphate pesticide. Moreover, these robust and inexpensive metal-containing materials can be easily deposited on various surfaces producing catalytic flow devices. Finally, functional promiscuity of catalytic amyloids promotes tandem hydrolysis/oxidation reactions. High efficiency discovered in a very small library of peptides suggests an enormous potential for further improvement of catalytic properties both in terms of catalytic efficiency and substrate scope.

2H→1T Phase Engineering of Layered Tantalum Disulfides in Electrocatalysis: Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Tremendous attention is currently being paid to renewable sources of energy. Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been intensively studied for their promising catalytic activities in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this fundamental work, we explored the catalytic properties of TMD family members 2H TaS2 and 1T TaS2 . Our findings reveal that both polytypes exhibit poor HER performance, which is even more pronounced after electrochemical reduction/oxidation. Our experimental data show that 1T TaS2 has a lower overpotential at a current density of -10 mA cm-1 , despite theoretical DFT calculations that indicated that the more favorable free energy of hydrogen adsorption should make "perfect" 2H TaS2 a better HER catalyst. Thorough characterization showed that the higher conductivity of 1T TaS2 and a slightly higher surface oxidation of 2H TaS2 explains this discrepancy. Moreover, changes in the catalytic activity after electrochemical treatment are addressed here. For the ORR in an alkaline environment, the electrochemical treatment led to an improvement in catalytic properties. With onset potentials similar to that of Pt/C catalysts, TaS2 was found to be an efficient catalyst for the ORR, rather than for proton reduction, in contrast to the behavior of Group 6 layered TMDs.

Infrared radiation promoted preparation of cost-effective lamb bone supported cobalt catalyst: Efficacy in semi-batch monoolein synthesis

A series of highly efficient inexpensive hydroxyapatite (lamb bone derived) supported cobalt solid acid catalysts were developed via both conventional and infrared radiation (IRR) activation methods. The IRR activated catalysts demonstrated remarkable efficacy in accelerating semi-batch glycerol esterification with oleic acid (OA), rendering 98% OA conversion within much shorter time (80min). The IRR promoted optimal catalyst (164.68±0.2m2/g BET area and 7.16mmol/g acid-site concentration) demonstrated significantly greater monooleate selectivity (95±4%) and yield (87±1%) than conventionally prepared catalyst (68±1% yield and 83±1% selectivity). The results explore promising application of IRR in improvement of catalytic properties over conventional method.

Effect of surface decoration with LaSrFeO4 on oxygen mobility and catalytic activity of La0.4Sr0.6FeO3−δ in high-temperature N2O decomposition, methane combustion and ammonia oxidation

This article is an attempt to elucidate the role of lattice oxygen mobility in catalytic activity of Sr-substituted ferrites at high temperatures. For this goal, three catalysts with close element (La, Sr, Fe) content but different phases and surface compositions: LaSrFeO4(surface)–La0.4Sr0.6FeO3 (LSF-N), La0.15Sr0.85FeO3–La0.7Sr0.3FeO3 (LSF-C) and LaSrFeO4 have been studied in high temperature reactions of N2O decomposition, ammonia oxidation and methane combustion. The kinetics of 18O/16O oxygen exchange have been analyzed at 800°C and 0.005atm oxygen partial pressure, which is closely corresponding to the reaction conditions, and the rates of surface oxygen exchange and the coefficient of lattice oxygen diffusion have been evaluated. It allowed us to reveal the direct correlation between the surface exchange rate constant and the rate of N2O decomposition. For NH3 oxidation, evidence of the same order of the samples activity both in surface oxygen exchange and ammonia oxidation reaction was shown. In methane oxidation it was found that activity correlates with the rate of exchange for 20 monolayers of oxygen atoms indicating the growing influence of lattice oxygen mobility. The results show that improvement of catalytic properties can be achieved when synthesizing “LaSrFeO4(surface)–La0.4Sr0.6FeO3” composites. Such composites exhibit increased rate of surface oxygen exchange on retention of high lattice oxygen mobility, which can be attributed to formation of heterostructured interfaces.

Hierarchically structured zeolites: synthesis, mass transport properties and applications

Zeolites with hierarchically porous structures have garnered much attention due to their highly attractive properties. Hierarchically structured zeolites integrate at least two levels of porosity and present the advantages associated with each level of porosity, from selectivity to mass transport. They are categorized into three distinctly different types according to their hierarchical porosities: mesostructured zeolites, macrostructured zeolites, and micro–meso–macroporous structured zeolites. Most importantly, hierarchically structured zeolites offer an effective solution to the mass transport problem associated with conventional zeolites in catalysed reactions because they combine the catalytic features of micropores and the improved accessibility and increased molecular transport related to the addition of several porosities within a single body. In recent years, many strategies have been successfully developed to synthesize hierarchically structured zeolitic materials. This feature article thoroughly summarizes recent developments that have been achieved in the field of hierarchically structured zeolites, with the main focus on the synthesis strategies that are available, with examples given from the literature. Available approaches are reviewed for the preparation of micro–mesoporous structured zeolites, micro–macroporous structured zeolites and micro–meso–macroporous structured zeolites. Furthermore, the enhanced mass transport properties of hierarchically structured zeolites, featuring additional larger pores in addition to the crystalline micropores, have also been described. The significant improvement in catalytic properties in a range of important reactions resulting from enhanced mass transport properties have also been discussed through several representative cases. It is the intent of this work to stimulate intuition into the optimal design of related hierarchically organized zeolites with desired characteristics.

Applications of nano-catalyst in new era

In the era of nanoscience where all the devices and technologies are going to smaller and smaller in size with improved properties; catalysis is an important field of application. In this review article we are trying to summarize data reported in literature for application of nano sized catalyst in our daily life which are useful for human beings. Improvement in catalytic properties due size of catalyst reduced to nano scale is discussed here. Introductive points regarding nanoscience; their functional approaches; current research are also here.Main applications of nanocatalysts in water purification; fuel cell; energy storage; in composite solid rocket propellants; bio diesel production; in medicine; in dye; application of carbon nano tubes and several other point of application are discussed here in detail.

Vanadia-titania catalyst: II. Qualitative kinetic behavior

An improvement of catalytic properties has been observed at low vanadium loading in liquid-phase cumene oxidation, which is due to modification of the chemical nature of the surface as a result of active phase-support interaction.