Structure and Catalytic Properties of Ceria-based Nickel Catalysts for CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Reforming of Methane

Carbon dioxide reforming (CDR) of methane to synthesis gas over supported nickel catalysts has been reviewed. The present review mainly focuses on the advantage of ceria based nickel catalysts for the CDR of methane. Nickel catalysts supported on ceria–zirconia showed the highest activity for CDR than nickel supported on other oxides such as zirconia, ceria and alumina. The addition of zirconia to ceria enhances the catalytic activity as well as the catalyst stability. The catalytic performance also depends on the crystal structure of Ni–Ce–ZrO₂. For example, nickel catalysts co-precipitated with Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ having cubic phase gave synthesis gas with CH₄ conversion more than 97% at 800 °C and the activity was maintained for 100 h during the reaction. On the contrary, Ni–Ce–ZrO₂ having tetragonal phase (Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂) or mixed oxide phase (Ce_0.5Zr_0.5O₂) deactivated during the reaction due to carbon formation. The enhanced catalytic performance of co-precipitated catalyst is attributed to a combination effect of nano-crystalline nature of cubic Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ support and the finely dispersed nano size NiO _x crystallites, resulting in the intimate contact between Ni and Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ particles. The Ni/Ce–ZrO₂/θ–Al₂O₃ also exhibited high catalytic activity during CDR with a synthesis gas conversion more than 97% at 800 °C without significant deactivation for more than 40 h. The high stability of the catalyst is mainly ascribed to the beneficial pre-coating of Ce–ZrO₂ resulting in the existence of stable NiO _x species, a strong interaction between Ni and the support, and an abundance of mobile oxygen species in itself. TPR results further confirmed that NiO _x formation was more favorable than NiO or NiAl₂O₄ formation and further results suggested the existence of strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) between Ni and the support. Some of the important factors to optimize the CDR of methane such as reaction temperature, space velocity, feed CO₂/CH₄ ratio and H₂O and/or O₂ addition were also examined.     

Microwave‐assisted regioselective one‐pot synthesis of trisubstituted pyridine scaffolds using K5CoW12O40.3H2O under solvent free conditions

A highly efficient, microwave‐assisted, regioselective synthesis of 2,3‐disubstituted‐6‐arylpyridines and new series of 7,7‐dimethyl‐2‐aryl‐5,6,7,8‐tetrahydroquinoline‐5‐ones from enaminones in the presence of K₅CoW₁₂O₄₀.3H₂O (1.0 mol %) as heterogeneous catalyst under solvent free conditions is reported.     

Optimal closed-loop control stability and transient behaviour of a class of linear dynamic economic models

In this paper an attempt is made to apply results from linear systems theory and Liapunov stability theory to analyze a class of linear economic models. For a quadratic performance index, the Riccati equation can be used to derive the optimal control law in closed-loop form. Once the system is synthesized, the second method of Liapunov can be used to study the transient behaviour of the system. The approach is illustrated through two simple economic models.     

Production potential of medical isotopes from natural uranium fission processes

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - We present the results of gamma ray yield measurements from the neutron induced fission of natural uranium at a low power research reactor. Our...     

A Novel and Efficient Production of Amines from Azides Using LiCl/NaBH4

A practical & efficient reagent system LiCl/NaBH₄ is used for the production of amines from azides is described.     

Friction and Adhesion of Gecko-Inspired PDMS Flaps on Rough Surfaces

Geckos have developed a unique hierarchical structure to maintain climbing ability on surfaces with different roughness, one of the extremely important parameters that affect the friction and adhesion forces between two surfaces. Although much attention has been paid on fabricating various structures that mimic the hierarchical structure of a gecko foot, yet no systematic effort, in experiment or theory, has been made to quantify the effect of surface roughness on the performance of the fabricated structures that mimic the hierarchical structure of geckos. Using a modified surface forces apparatus (SFA), we measured the adhesion and friction forces between microfabricated tilted PDMS flaps and optically smooth SiO(2) and rough SiO(2) surfaces created by plasma etching. Anisotropic adhesion and friction forces were measured when sliding the top glass surface along (+y) and against (-y) the tilted direction of the flaps. Increasing the surface roughness first increased the adhesion and friction forces measured between the flaps and the rough surface due to topological matching of the two surfaces but then led to a rapid decrease in both of these forces. Our results demonstrate that the surface roughness significantly affects the performance of gecko mimetic adhesives and that different surface textures can either increase or decrease the adhesion and friction forces of the fabricated adhesives.     

An efficient regioselective copper catalyzed multi-component synthesis of 1,3-disubstituted pyrazoles

An efficient synthesis of unsymmetrically substituted 1,3-pyrazole derivatives has been developed via three-component coupling reaction involving 3-(dimethylamino)-1-phenylprop-2-en-1-one, hydrazine, and aryl halides in one pot process exhibiting high regioselectivity. The pyrazole synthesis proceeds via a sequential series of reactions such as Michael addition, heterocyclization, dehydration, and Ullmann cross-coupling.     

Synthesis of cis-Fused Bicyclic Systems by Radical Cyclization Approach: Formal Synthesis of Ethisolide and iso-Avenaciolide

Formal synthesis of ethisolide and iso-avenaciolide was achieved using furanoid glycal-vinyl radical intermediates. The vinyl radical cyclization by 5-exo-dig mode gave the cis-fused bicyclic systems with an efficient introduction of the exo-methylene group, besides helping in the inversion of the adjacent stereocentre. Further, the study describes the synthesis of cis-fused bicyclic systems from L-arabinose and D-xylose for the creation of diverse natural and synthetic products of this class.