CO2 storage in cement and concrete by mineral carbonation

The production of cement is responsible for about 8% of man-made CO₂ emissions. CO₂ fixation by mineral carbonation in Ca- and Mg-rich raw materials such as cement-based concrete in various stages of its lifetime and magnesium silicate-based rocks (e.g. olivine) can provide a significant and long-lasting sink of CO₂. Carbonated material can be used in novel construction materials, which potentially could even be CO₂ negative. Despite first applications beyond pilot stage, further research is needed to reach economically and environmentally friendly processes. The properties of the novel construction materials, their reaction mechanisms, suitable mix designs, mechanical properties, and durability need to be explored further.     

A review of recent progress in gas phase CO2 reduction and suggestions on future advancement

The 2018 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) details how rapidly Earth's climate is changing due to rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. Maintaining a recognizable terrestrial ecosphere over the next eighty years will require, by 2030, a decrease in global CO₂ emissions by 45% from their 2010 levels, with zero net global emissions by 2050. However in 2018, global CO₂ emissions were 112% of 2010 levels. Our interest lies in the use of sunlight to efficiently recycle CO₂ from a waste combustion product, together with water vapor, into hydrocarbon fuels that can be readily stored, transported and used within the current energy infrastructure. While the concept is intriguing until 2019 such a solar fuels technology has been limited by the vanishingly small CO₂-to-fuel photoconversion efficiencies achieved. Recently there has been a significant advance in CO₂ to fuel photoconversion efficiencies with researchers achieving, in an unoptimized system, over a 6 h period, a Joule (sunlight) to Joule (fuel) photoconversion efficiency of 1%. Just as photovoltaics went from niche market devices of low photoconversion efficiency to highly efficient devices enabling a global industry, such a sunlight-to-fuel photoconversion efficiency suggest utility-scale implementation of a sunlight-powered recycled-CO₂ to hydrocarbon fuel technology is realistically achievable in the near future. With an aim towards enabling significant advances in the field, leading to translation of the technology from laboratory to industrial-scale application, we examine what we believe are the key opportunities for achieving significant advances in sunlight-to-fuel photoconversion efficiencies.     

A stratospheric chemical reaction controlling climatic change

It has been established from geological studies that change in the atmospheric content of carbon dioxide gas commenced about one hundred million years ago. The likely origin of this change is advanced as being the onset of the Brewer circulation caused by the rise in terrain induced by tectonic plate movement. It is demonstrated that tectonic plate movement can be affected by impacts from external bodies which penetrate the crust of the Earth. The consequences of the change in atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide are proposed as first, extinctions and reductions in animal numbers, including primates, as a result of changes in body chemistry of these animals and second, a change in the rate of weathering of rocks giving rise to changes in the availability of chemicals such as calcium and potassium which are essential for plant and animal life. This latter change contributing to the extinctions and reductions in animal numbers. It is shown that the change in weathering can account for the rise to dominance of angiosperm plants. It is concluded that there were several simultaneous evolutionary environments on Earth which were a function of altitude which gave rise to a vertical variation in atmospheric content of carbon dioxide. This variation disappeared with rise of terrain and the onset of the Brewer circulation. Such changes are advanced and being much more important than any changes in temperature caused by greenhouse effects since the disappearance of atmospheric variations in carbon dioxide allowed animal migration. It is demonstrated that the conditions of extinction could be reintroduced by human activities.     

CO2催化转化为高附加值燃料：现状、挑战及其未来方向

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 into liquid fuels especially coupling with the intermittent renewable electricity offers a promising means of storing electricity in chemical form, which reduc‐es the dependence on fossil fuels and mitigates the negative impact of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on the planet. Although converting CO2 to fuels is not in itself a new concept, the field has not sub‐stantially advanced in the last 30 years primarily because of the challenge of discovery of structural electrocatalysts and the development of membrane architectures for efficient collection of reactants and separation of products. This overview summarizes recent advances in catalytic conversion of CO2 and presents the challenges and future directions in producing value‐added fuels.     

气候变化对持久性有机污染物环境过程与生态效应的影响

气候变化对持久性有机污染物(POPs)的影响是目前环境科学领域普遍关注的热点问题。本文介绍了气候变化如何影响POPs向环境的排放、长程传输、环境归趋和对人类与环境的暴露。同时,也强调减缓气候变化的政策和措施与POPs的消除和管理之间的协同作用。为了更好地在国家、区域以及全球成功履行《斯德哥尔摩公约》,本文基于现有的关于POPs和气候变化相互影响效应的知识,从管理和政策层面上给出了建言。     

Zinc Powder Catalysed Formylation and Urealation of Amines Using CO2 as a C1 Building Block†

Transformation of CO₂ into valuable organic compounds catalysed by cheap and biocompatible metal catalysts is one of important topics of current organic synthesis and catalysis. Herein, we report the zinc powder catalysed formylation and urealation of amines with CO₂ and (EtO)₃SiH under solvent free condition. Using 2 mol% zinc powder as the catalyst, a series of secondary amines, both the aromatic ones and the aliphatic ones, can be formylated into formamides. When primary aromatic amines were used as the substrates, the reactions produce urea derivatives. The electronic and steric effects from the substrates on the formylation and urealation reactions were observed and discussed. The recovery and reusability of zinc powder were investigated, showing the zinc powder can be reused in the formylation reaction without loss of catalytic activity. The analysis on the reactants/products mixture after filtering out the zinc powder showed the zinc concentration in the mixture is low to 1 ppm. The pathways for the formylation and urealation of amines with this catalytic system were also investigated, and related to the different substrates.     

Bifunctional Onium and Potassium Iodides as Nucleophilic Catalysts for the Solvent-Free Syntheses of Carbonates,Thiocarbonates, and Oxazolidinones from Epoxides

The catalytic potential of organo-onium iodides as nucleophilic catalysts is aptly demonstrated in the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide (CO₂), as a representative CO₂ utilization reaction. Although organo-onium iodide nucleophilic catalysts are metal-free environmentally benign catalysts, harsh reaction conditions are generally required to efficiently promote the coupling reactions of epoxides and CO₂. To solve this problem and accomplish efficient CO₂ utilization reactions under mild conditions, bifunctional onium iodide nucleophilic catalysts bearing a hydrogen bond donor moiety were developed by our research group. Based on the successful bifunctional design of the onium iodide catalysts, nucleophilic catalysis using a potassium iodide (KI)-tetraethylene glycol complex was also investigated in coupling reactions of epoxides and CO₂ under mild reaction conditions. These effective bifunctional onium and potassium iodide nucleophilic catalysts were applied to the solvent-free syntheses of 2-oxazolidinones and cyclic thiocarbonates from epoxides.     

Functionalized Ionic (Poly)Styrenes and their Application as Catalysts in the Cycloaddition of CO2 to Epoxides

Valorization of CO₂, an abundant C(1) synthon, into platform chemicals is of growing interest. In this context, a key reaction is the cycloaddition of CO₂ to epoxides to form carbonates (CCE). A series of organocatalysts for this reaction, based on imidazolium salts modified with a styrene functional group and a second variable functional group, were prepared and characterized. Both the ionic salts and ionic polymers derived from the salts were evaluated in this reaction. In general, the monomers perform slightly better than the polymers; however, the latter are considerably more convenient to use. Of the catalysts studied, the ionic polystyrene imidazolium salt with an ammonium functionality shows highest activity, tolerates a range of epoxides, and can be recycled multiple times without loss of activity.     

Resilient and agile engineering solutions to address societal challenges such as coronavirus pandemic

The world is witnessing tumultuous times as major economic powers including the US, UK, Russia, India, and most of Europe continue to be in a state of lockdown. The worst-hit sectors due to this lockdown are sales, production (manufacturing), transport (aerospace and automotive) and tourism. Lockdowns became necessary as a preventive measure to avoid the spread of the contagious and infectious “Coronavirus Disease 2019” (COVID-19). This newly identified disease is caused by a new strain of the virus being referred to as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS CoV-2; formerly called 2019-nCoV). We review the current medical and manufacturing response to COVID-19, including advances in instrumentation, sensing, use of lasers, fumigation chambers and development of novel tools such as lab-on-the-chip using combinatorial additive and subtractive manufacturing techniques and use of molecular modelling and molecular docking in drug and vaccine discovery. We also offer perspectives on future considerations on climate change, outsourced versus indigenous manufacturing, automation, and antimicrobial resistance. Overall, this paper attempts to identify key areas where manufacturing can be employed to address societal challenges such as COVID-19.     

Synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (dmc) from co2, ethylene oxide and methanol using heterogeneous anion exchange resins as catalysts

Summary A two-step synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from ethylene oxide (EO), carbon dioxide and methanol using heterogeneous anion exchange resins as catalysts is reported. The first step is the reaction of EO with CO₂ to form ethylene carbonate (EC), and the second one the transesterification of EC with methanol to yield DMC. Effect of various reaction parameters on the activity and selectivity of the catalysts used was investigated. After the first step, the crude mixture containing EC was directly reacted with methanol in the presence of a heterogeneous anion exchange resin catalyst to produce DMC in high yield and selectivity. Our process is highly economic.     

Subcritical fluid chromatography of water soluble nucleobases on various polar stationary phases facilitated with alcohol‐modified CO2 and water as the polar additive

The separation of four water soluble nucleobases (thymine, uracil, adenine, and cytosine) via supercritical fluid chromatography with a CO₂‐based mobile phase containing an alcohol modifier and additive is described. Methanol, ethanol, 1‐propanol, and 1‐butanol were examined in conjunction with water as a neutral additive. Packed column stationary phases included silica bonded diol, cyanopropyl, and 2‐ethyl pyridine. Thymine and uracil eluted with good peak shapes without additive, while adenine and cytosine yielded late eluting, severely tailing peaks. The addition of up to 5% water to each of the five alcohols gave rise to much sharper peaks that eluted under gradient conditions in less than 10 min with no baseline noise. Results with water under identical chromatographic conditions were compared with formic acid and ammonium acetate as additives. Water proved to be much superior to formic acid, and it was comparable to ammonium acetate. The role of water was speculated to not only enhance the solvating power of the binary mobile phase for water soluble analytes, but the common elution pattern exhibited by each of the three stationary phases suggested that water had altered the surface chemistry of the packed phase.     

Effective synthesis of cyclic carbonates from carbon dioxide and epoxides by phosphonium iodides as catalysts in alcoholic solvents

Phosphonium iodides effectively catalyzed the reaction of CO₂ and epoxides under mild conditions such as ordinary pressure and ambient temperature in 2-propanol, and the corresponding five-membered cyclic carbonates were obtained in high yields.     

A Biomass-Ligand-Based Ru(III) Complex as a Catalyst for Cycloaddition of CO2 and Epoxides to Cyclic Carbonates and a Study of the Mechanism

Aiming highly efficient conversion of greenhouse gas CO₂ to cyclic carbonates, a biomass Ru(III) Schiff base complex catalyst ( SalRu ) was constructed by employing a derivative of Lignin degradation (5-aldehyde vanillin). The SalRu catalyst had a remarkable conversion for epoxides into corresponding cyclic carbonates even at atmospheric pressure of CO₂ without the presence of co-catalyst. As the condition at 120 °C and 2 MPa CO₂ the conversion reached to 94 % with selectivity at 99 % after 8 h. 32 % cyclic carbonate production was obtained even under 0.2 MPa CO₂ pressure. The epoxide activation and ring opening, CO₂ insertion and cyclic carbonate formation were illuminated explicitly through the of characteristic absorption peaks changing, which further providing direct and visual evidence for the mechanism proposing. This study has important theoretical significance for the comprehensive utilization of environmental pollutants and energy.     

A study of the reaction of n-BuLi with Ti(Oi-Pr)4 as a method to generate titanacyclopropane and titanacyclopropene species

The use of the combination of reagents Ti(Oi-Pr)₄/n-BuLi, introduced by the group of J.J. Eisch in 2001, has only found a few applications so far, with sometimes conflicting observations. This article describes a study aimed at clarifying the nature, the stability and the reactivity of the active organometallic species involved. Reactions with CO₂ and other trapping reagents reveal that it is generated within a few minutes at 0 °C in THF, where it can be considered to be stable for 30 min. Most of our results are consistent with the expected titanacyclopropane nature of this reagent but some observations suggest that the chemistry at play may be more complicated.     

TiO2‐modified Carbon Paste Electrode as a Sensor for the Assay of Weak Organic Acids/Bases and Complex Matrix Samples

The construction, general performance characteristics and analytical application of a titanium dioxide–modified carbon paste electrode sensitive to hydrogen ions, based on incorporation of titanium dioxide in a carbon paste matrix, is described. The proposed electrochemical sensor exhibits a linear response in the pH range from 2 to 10, at 25 °C, with a sub‐Nernstian slope. The value of a slope is in a direct correlation with the electrode composition – the optimum content of a titanium dioxide in carbon paste is 30 %. Titanium dioxide‐modified carbon paste electrode shows fast response time and reproducibility, confirmed by different compounds determination in both, individual and complex material, namely, in synthetic and real samples. Besides, the electrode shows high selectivity in the presence of the alkali and the alkaline earth ions as Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺ or Mg²⁺. The standard deviation of the investigated acids (acetic, oxalic, 5‐sulfosalicylic, p‐toluensulfonic acid, and amino acid‐glycine) and bases (N,N′‐diphenylguanidine and collidine) is less than 1.3 %. The obtained data are compared with those obtained by using a conventional glass pH‐electrode under the same experimental conditions and indicate a high correlation between them.     

Metal-organic frameworks MOF-808-X as highly efficient catalysts for direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from CO2 and methanol

A series of metal-organic frameworks MOF-808-X (6-connected) were synthesized by regulating the ZrOCl₂·8H₂O/1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTC) molar ratio (X) and tested for the direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from CO₂ and CH₃OH with 1,1,1-trimethoxymethane (TMM) as a dehydrating agent. The effect of the ZrOCl₂·8H₂O/BTC molar ratio on the physicochemical properties and catalytic performance of MOF-808-X was investigated. Results showed that a proper ZrOCl₂·8H₂O/BTC molar ratio during MOF-808-X synthesis was fairly important to reduce the redundant BTC or zirconium clusters trapped in the micropores of MOF-808-X. MOF-808-4, with almost no redundant BTC or zirconium clusters trapped in the micropores, exhibited the largest surface area, micropore size, and the number of acidic-basic sites, and consequently showed the best activity among all MOF-808-X, with the highest DMC yield of 21.5% under the optimal reaction conditions. Moreover, benefiting from the larger micropore size, MOF-808-4 outperformed our previously reported UiO-66-24 (12-connected), which had even more acidic-basic sites and larger surface area than MOF-808-4, mainly because the larger micropore size of MOF-808-4 provided higher accessibility for the reactant to the active sites located in the micropores. Furthermore, a possible reaction mechanism over MOF-808-4 was proposed based on the in situ FT-IR results. The effects of different reaction parameters on DMC formation and the reusability of MOF-808-X were also studied.     

Towards a combined use of Mn(Salen) and quaternary ammonium salts as catalysts for the direct conversion of styrene to styrene carbonate in the presence of dioxygen and carbon dioxide

The use of oxygen in combination with carbon dioxide to afford the direct conversion of alkenes into cyclic carbonates could help to promote the greenhouse gas while minimizing the impact of the oxidation reaction on the environment. In this work, we focused, for the first time, on the association of two catalytic systems individually efficient for the epoxidation of styrene (Mn(salen)/O₂ bubbling/isobutyraldehyde at 80 °C) and the cyclocarbonatation of styrene oxide (choline chloride/CO₂ at 15 bar and 120 °C). First, the feasibility of the cyclocarbonatation reaction, starting from the non-isolated epoxide, has been proven as styrene carbonate was formed with a 24% yield. The objective was, then, to determine the best conditions allowing the overall transformation in a common solvent. Taking into account the differences in optimal temperatures and kinetics of the two individual steps, it was decided to vary the temperature during the reaction [first 80 °C (3 h) and 120 °C (23 h)]. Under these conditions, styrene was converted into the epoxide but, unfortunately, styrene carbonate formation could not be demonstrated. Blank experiments have clearly shown that isobutyraldehyde, which is essential to the first step, must be completely consumed before the temperature rise. Otherwise, autoxidation of the aldehyde in the presence of styrene oxide at 120 °C leads to other products than styrene carbonate.     

Silicon containing new salicylaldimine Pd(II) and Co(II) metal complexes as efficient catalysts in transformation of carbon dioxide (CO2) to cyclic carbonates

A new series of metal complexes of salicyladimine ligands with Pd(II) and Co(II) have been prepared and characterized by different techniques (elemental analysis, UV-vis, FT-IR, ¹H NMR spectra, magnetic susceptibility measurements). Electronic spectra and magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal square planar geometry for Pd(II) metal complex and tetrahedral geometry for Co(II) metal complex. The synthesized Pd(II) and Co(II) complexes were also tested as catalysts for the formation of cyclic organic carbonates from carbon dioxide and liquid epoxides which served as both reactant and solvent. The results showed that the [M(L₃)₂] (M = Pd or Co) complexes bearing 5-methyl substituent on the aryl ring are more efficient than the other Pd(II) and Co(II) metal complexes for the formation of cyclic organic carbonates from carbon dioxide. These catalysts, [Pd(L₃)₂] and [Co(L₃)₂] complexes and location (p-position of phenoxy) of electron donating methyl substituent in particular, effectively promote the of carbon dioxide activation with liquid epoxides under solvent-free homogeneous conditions. Furthermore, [Pd(L₃)₂] can be reused more than eight times with a minimal loss of its original catalytic activities.     

Synthesis of Dimethyl Carbonate from CO2 , Methanol, and Epoxides Using Re（CO） 5 Cl/K2 CO3 as Catalyst System

IntroductionOver the past few years, dimethyl carbonate(DMC) has been proven to be an efficientmethylating,methoxylating, and methoxycarbonylating agent inorganic syntheses, in which DMC is used to replace thetoxic methyl halides, dimethyl sulfate or carb