A highly efficient and recyclable silica-supported palladium catalyst for alcohol oxidation reaction

A silica supported palladium catalyst (SiO₂@APTES-Pd) showed excellent activity and reusability for selective oxidation of alcohols to corresponding carbonyl compounds with H₂O₂ as oxidant under base free environment. A wide range of alcohols including aliphatic alcohols are tolerated as substrates with a low loading of palladium (0.1 mol %).     

Alcoholic solvent‐assisted ligand‐free room temperature Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling reaction

We have observed the enhancing effect of alcoholic solvents in palladium‐catalysed ligand‐free Suzuki–Miyaura reactions. No extra additives or ligands are required for the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction of aryl bromides with arylboronic acids when we carried out the reaction in alcoholic or aqueous alcoholic solvents. Moreover, ethanol or aqueous ethanol is found to be a very good solvent for the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction involving electronically diverse aryl bromides and arylboronic acids under mild and ligand‐free conditions with low catalyst loading. It is observed from Hg(0) poisoning tests that the in situ generated palladium(0) species is the actual catalytic species for the reaction. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of hydrophobic polyurethane film from structurally modified castor oil and its anticorrosive performance

Hydrophobic polyurethane (PU) films are widely used for various commercial and industrial applications due to their excellent water repelling and self-cleaning property. Nevertheless, achieving appreciable hydrophobicity in PU film is quite a challenge. Herein, we report on the development of a novel hydrophobic PU (fluorinated polyurethane [FCO-PU]) film and comprehensively evaluate its anticorrosive property. The FCO-PU was prepared by structural modification of castor oil (CO) through attachment of long fluorocarbon chains as pendant groups onto the backbone of CO. A model PU film (CO-PU) was also prepared from unmodified CO to compare the properties of FCO-PU film. All intermediate compounds, FCO-PU and CO-PU films were characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. Morphological, thermal and mechanical properties of the PU films were analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) studies. Successful introduction of long fluorocarbon chains into the FCO-PU film is reflected by its high hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 119.1°, compared to the model CO-PU film with a water contact angle of 84.4°. Anticorrosive properties of the PU films were evaluated by polarization technique and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy under corrosive environment and the obtained results reveal a significant corrosion resistance (corrosion rate: 6.72 × 10⁻⁶ mm/year) behavior by the FCO-PU film. This work represents an effective strategy for the backbone modification of CO to develop novel functional PU materials.     

Progress of transition metal chalcogenides as efficient electrocatalysts for energy conversion

The continuous excessive usage of fossil fuels has resulted in its fast depletion, leading to an escalating energy crisis as well as several environmental issues leading to increased research towards sustainable energy conversion. Electrocatalysts play crucial role in the development of numerous novel energy conversion devices, including fuel cells and solar fuel generators. In particular, high-efficiency and cost-effective catalysts are required for large-scale implementation of these new devices. Over the last few years, transition metal chalcogenides have emerged as highly efficient electrocatalysts for several electrochemical devices such as water splitting, carbon dioxide electroreduction, and, solar energy converters. These transition metal chalcogenides exhibit high electrochemical tunability, abundant active sites, and superior electrical conductivity. Hence, they have been actively explored for various electrocatalytic activities. Herein, we have provided comprehensive review of transition-metal chalcogenide electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution, and carbon dioxide reduction and illustrated structure–property correlation that increases their catalytic activity.     

Phonon drag resistivity of potassium

The phonon drag resistivity for potassium is calculated by solving the Boltzman equations for both the electrons and phonons as opposed to the conventional method of Ziman where the phonon equation is not considered. By an application of the Schwartz inequality we can show that the drag resistivity in the present formalism is larger than that obtained by the conventional method. We substantiate this result by numerical calculation for potassium at very low temperatures, using a realistic phonon spectrum obtained from inelastic neutron scattering data. Parts of this paper were presented as partial fulfilment for a Ph.D. degree at Cornell University. The work was partially supported by CSIR funding.