Sonochemical conversion of CO2 into hydrocarbons: The Sabatier reaction at ambient conditions

In this study, we investigated an alternative method for the chemical CO₂ reduction reaction in which power ultrasound (488 kHz ultrasonic plate transducer) was applied to CO₂-saturated (up to 3%) pure water, NaCl and synthetic seawater solutions. Under ultrasonic conditions, the converted CO₂ products were found to be mainly CH₄, C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ including large amount of CO which was subsequently converted into CH₄. We have found that introducing molecular H₂ plays a crucial role in the CO₂ conversion process and that increasing hydrogen concentration increased the yields of hydrocarbons. However, it was observed that at higher hydrogen concentrations, the overall conversion decreased since hydrogen, a diatomic gas, is known to decrease cavitational activity in liquids. It was also found that 1.0 M NaCl solutions saturated with 2% CO₂ + 98% H₂ led to maximum hydrocarbon yields (close to 5%) and increasing the salt concentrations further decreased the yield of hydrocarbons due to the combined physical and chemical effects of ultrasound. It was shown that CO₂ present in a synthetic industrial flue gas (86.74% N₂, 13% CO₂, 0.2% O₂ and 600 ppm of CO) could be converted into hydrocarbons through this method by diluting the flue gas with hydrogen. Moreover, it was observed that in addition to pure water, synthetic seawater can also be used as an ultrasonicating media for the sonochemical process where the presence of NaCl improves the yields of hydrocarbons by ca. 40%. We have also shown that by using low frequency high-power ultrasound in the absence of catalysts, it is possible to carry out the conversion process at ambient conditions i.e., at room temperature and pressure. We are postulating that each cavitation bubble formed during ultrasonication act as a “micro-reactor” where the so-called Sabatier reaction -$C{O}_2+4H_2\stackrel{\mathit{Ultrasonication}}{\to }C{H}_4+2H_{2}O$ - takes place upon collapse of the bubble. We are naming this novel approach as the “Islam-Pollet-Hihn process”.     

Molecular Nickel Thiolate Complexes for Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to C1–3 Hydrocarbons

We report the unprecedented electrocatalytic activity of a series of molecular nickel thiolate complexes ( 1 – 5 ) in reducing CO₂ to C_1–3 hydrocarbons on carbon paper in pH-neutral aqueous solutions. Ni(mpo)₂ ( 3 , mpo=2-mercaptopyridyl-N-oxide), Ni(pyS)₃⁻ ( 4 , pyS=2-mercaptopyridine), and Ni(mp)₂⁻ ( 5 , mp=2-mercaptophenolate) were found to generate C₃ products from CO₂ for the first time in molecular complex. Compound 5 exhibits Faradaic efficiencies (FEs) of 10.6 %, 7.2 %, 8.2 % for C₁, C₂, C₃ hydrocarbons respectively at −1.0 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode. Addition of CO to the system significantly promotes the FE_C1–C3 to 41.1 %, suggesting that a key Ni−CO intermediate is associated with catalysis. A variety of spectroscopies have been performed to show that the structures of nickel complexes remain intact during CO₂ reduction.     

Design Strategies for Diradical Boron/Nitrogen Doped Carbon-Based Materials

New heterocyclic diradicaloids based on boron and nitrogen-doped polycyclic systems with open-shell ground-states are obtained via concomitant structural and quinoidal extensions, thus allowing to merge the best of both design strategies. A combination of experimental characterization and theoretical calculations have helped disclose their electronic structure, as well as rationalize their associated magnetic and photophysical properties, spanning the chemical space of available molecular templates for cutting-edge applications in organic electronics and spintronics.     

Organic superalkalis with closed-shell structure and aromaticity

Benzene (C₆H₆) and polycyclic hydrocarbons such as naphthalene (C₁₀H₈), anthracene (C₁₄H₁₀) and coronene (C₂₄H₁₂) are well known aromatic organic compounds. We study the substitution of Li replacing all H-atoms in these hydrocarbons using density functional method. The vertical ionisation energy of such lithiated species, i.e. C₆Li₆, C₁₀Li₈, C₁₄Li₁₀ and C₂₄Li₁₂ ranges 4.24–4.50 eV, which is lower than the ionisation energy (IE) of Li atom. Thus, these species may behave as superalkalis due to their lower IE than alkali metal. However, these lithiated species possess planar and closed-shell structure, unlike typical superalkalis. Furthermore, all Li-substituted species are aromatic although their degree of aromaticity is reduced as compared to corresponding hydrocarbon analogues. We have further explored the structure of C₆Li₆ as star-like, unlike its inorganic analogue B₃N₃Li₆, which appears as fan-like structure. We have also demonstrated that the interaction of C₆Li₆ with a superhalogen (such as BF₄) is similar to that of a typical superalkali (such as OLi₃). This may further suggest that the proposed lithiated species may form a new class of closed-shell organic superalkalis with aromaticity.     

恒能量同步荧光光谱法测定食用油中多环芳烃

用12%（w/V）的氢氧化钾-乙醇溶液皂化食用油的脂肪酸,以环己烷萃取皂化液中的多环芳烃,经浓缩,柱层析纯化并浓缩,取微量试样液稀释后,通过选择合适能量差,建立了同步荧光法测定食用油中多环芳烃含量的新方法,其线性范围为5—1000ng.mL-1,检出限在0.04—15.21ng.mL-1之间,平均加标回收率在81.94%—90.06%之间。该方法具有快速、简便、准确等特点。     

气相色谱-质谱联用法测定橡胶制品中多环芳烃（蒽）含量不确定度评定

目的对气相色谱-质谱联用仪法测定橡胶制品中多环芳烃（蒽）含量不确定度进行评定,确定影响不确定度的关键因素。方法依据《ZEK01.4-2008 GS认证过程中PAHs的测试和验证》,使用气相色谱-质谱联用仪法测定橡胶制品中多环芳烃（蒽）含量,并对结果的不确定度进行评定,分析影响测量不确定度的各个因素,对各个分量进行计算和合成。结果扩展不确定度U=5.7 mg/kg,置信概率95%。结论该实验的不确定度主要影响因素是曲线校准。     

Determination of Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Species in Aqueous Solution Using Teflon Coated ATR Waveguide/FTIR Spectroscopy

The potential of an optical sensor based on mid-infrared spectroscopy, utilising a zinc selenide (ZnSe) attenuated total reflectance (ATR) element coated with an amorphous Teflon polymer, to determine chlorinated hydrocarbon species (CHC) in an aqueous environment is examined. The polymer coating concentrates the analytes within the penetration depth of the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) evanescent wave and excludes water from the region. Teflon AF (Amorphous Fluoropolymer) is a family of amorphous copolymers based on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and is commercially available in two polymeric grades. Teflon AF is highly amorphous in nature with a large 'void volume', exhibits excellent chemical resistance and low water absorption. Such properties identify it as an excellent candidate for enrichment coating on an ATR/FTIR sensor. The potential of both polymeric grades of Teflon AF as enrichment membranes for ATR/FTIR analysis of CHC species was examined and contrasted. A rapid, repeatable, reversible response was observed with both grades to a range of CHC species. Linear responses in the mg/L region, with detection limits in the low mg/L region were achieved with the system used.     

A modification to the Peng–Robinson-fitted equation of state for pure substances

In this work we present two modifications to the Peng–Robinson-Fitted equation of state where pure component parameters are regressed to vapor pressure and saturated liquid density data. The first modification (PR-f-mod) is a method that enhances the equation of state pure component property predictions through simple temperature dependent pure component parameters. In the second modification (PR-f-prop) we propose a temperature dependency for co-volume b in the repulsive parameter of the EoS, and revise the temperature function in the attractive term. The agreement with experimental data for 72 pure substances, including highly polar compounds, is remarkably good. We obtain average absolute deviations in saturated liquid density of less than 1% for all substances studied.