Latest Articles of Sustainable Energy & Fuels


A new approach to the identification of high-potential materials for cost-efficient membrane-based post-combustion CO2 capture 10.1039/C8SE00039E 2018-04-11 Developing “good” membrane modules and materials is a key step towards reducing the cost of membrane-based CO2 capture. While this is traditionally being done through incremental development of existing and new materials, this paper presents a new approach to...
Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide with a Molecular Polypyridyl Nickel Complex 10.1039/C8SE00027A 2018-04-11 The synthesis and reactivity of a molecular nickel (II) complex 1 with the polypyridyl ligand framework N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine under electrochemically reducing conditions in the presence of CO2 is reported. Cyclic voltammetry, infr...
Nickel-iron catalysts for electrochemical water oxidation – redox synergism investigated by in-situ X-ray spectroscopy with millisecond time resolution 10.1039/C8SE00114F 2018-04-10 In future technological systems for chemical storage of renewable energy and production of non-fossil fuels, NiFe oxyhydroxides are prime candidates for efficient alkaline water oxidation (oxygen evolution reaction, OER). The synergistic effect of Ni and Fe i...
Maximizing tandem solar cell power extraction using a three-terminal design 10.1039/C8SE00133B 2018-04-09 Tandem or multijunction solar cells can greatly increase the efficiency of solar energy conversion by absorbing different energies of the incident solar illumination in semiconductors with different band-gaps, which can operate more efficiently than a single ...
Integration of metal organic framework with zeolite: A highly sustainable composite catalyst for the synthesis of γ-valerolactone and coumarins 10.1039/C8SE00098K 2018-04-06 In this study, two well known porous materials, zeolite Beta and metal-organic framework are entangled to form a highly efficient composite catalyst. The composite catalyst contains the characteristic features of both the porous materials and anticipates acti...
An Efficient Atom-Economical Chemoselective CO2 Cycloaddition using Lanthanum Oxide/Tetrabutyl Ammonium Bromide 10.1039/C8SE00092A 2018-04-06 The cycloaddition reaction between carbon dioxide (CO2) and epoxides is an attractive example for the synthesis of value-added chemicals exploiting CO2 greenhouse emissions. In this study, we reported on the propylene carbonate (PC) production mediated by lan...
Catalytic cracking of triglycerides with a base catalyst and modification of pyrolytic oils for production of aviation fuels 10.1039/C7SE00505A 2018-04-06 Molecular structure transformation is a critical step for synthesis of aviation biofuels from triglycerides, to yield alkanes, aromatics and cycloalkanes. To this end, triglycerides were treated by catalytic cracking coupled with rectification to obtain hydro...
Sodium phosphate synthesis through glycerol purification: Utilization for biodiesel production from dairy scum oil to economize production cost 10.1039/C8SE00034D 2018-04-05 In the present study, sodium phosphate was synthesized through glycerol purification. Synthesized sodium phosphate was characterized and effectively utilized as heterogeneous base catalyst for biodiesel production to dairy waste scum oil. In addition, sodium ...
Enhanced photoelectric performance of CdS/CdSe co-sensitized TiO2 nanosheets array films 10.1039/C8SE00084K 2018-04-05 In this study, vertically aligned titanium dioxide nanosheets (TiO2NSs) array films were employed for the fabrication of photoanodes for quantum-dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). The TiO2NSs array films were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Then, cadm...
Improved water oxidation under visible light on oxyhalide Bi4MO8X (M = Nb, Ta; X = Cl, Br) photocatalysts prepared using excess halogen precursors 10.1039/C8SE00097B 2018-03-30 We herein report the synthesis of a series of Bi-based oxyhalides Bi4MO8X (M = Nb, Ta; X = Cl, Br) via solid-state reaction at different calcination temperatures and using various precursor ratios to improve their photocatalytic activity for water oxidation u...

A new approach to the identification of high-potential materials for cost-efficient membrane-based post-combustion CO2 capture

10.1039/C8SE00039E

2018-04-11

Developing “good” membrane modules and materials is a key step towards reducing the cost of membrane-based CO2 capture. While this is traditionally being done through incremental development of existing and new materials, this paper presents a new approach to...

Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide with a Molecular Polypyridyl Nickel Complex

10.1039/C8SE00027A

2018-04-11

The synthesis and reactivity of a molecular nickel (II) complex 1 with the polypyridyl ligand framework N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine under electrochemically reducing conditions in the presence of CO2 is reported. Cyclic voltammetry, infr...

Nickel-iron catalysts for electrochemical water oxidation – redox synergism investigated by in-situ X-ray spectroscopy with millisecond time resolution

10.1039/C8SE00114F

2018-04-10

In future technological systems for chemical storage of renewable energy and production of non-fossil fuels, NiFe oxyhydroxides are prime candidates for efficient alkaline water oxidation (oxygen evolution reaction, OER). The synergistic effect of Ni and Fe i...

Maximizing tandem solar cell power extraction using a three-terminal design

10.1039/C8SE00133B

2018-04-09

Tandem or multijunction solar cells can greatly increase the efficiency of solar energy conversion by absorbing different energies of the incident solar illumination in semiconductors with different band-gaps, which can operate more efficiently than a single ...

Integration of metal organic framework with zeolite: A highly sustainable composite catalyst for the synthesis of γ-valerolactone and coumarins

10.1039/C8SE00098K

2018-04-06

In this study, two well known porous materials, zeolite Beta and metal-organic framework are entangled to form a highly efficient composite catalyst. The composite catalyst contains the characteristic features of both the porous materials and anticipates acti...

An Efficient Atom-Economical Chemoselective CO2 Cycloaddition using Lanthanum Oxide/Tetrabutyl Ammonium Bromide

10.1039/C8SE00092A

2018-04-06

The cycloaddition reaction between carbon dioxide (CO2) and epoxides is an attractive example for the synthesis of value-added chemicals exploiting CO2 greenhouse emissions. In this study, we reported on the propylene carbonate (PC) production mediated by lan...

Catalytic cracking of triglycerides with a base catalyst and modification of pyrolytic oils for production of aviation fuels

10.1039/C7SE00505A

2018-04-06

Molecular structure transformation is a critical step for synthesis of aviation biofuels from triglycerides, to yield alkanes, aromatics and cycloalkanes. To this end, triglycerides were treated by catalytic cracking coupled with rectification to obtain hydro...

Sodium phosphate synthesis through glycerol purification: Utilization for biodiesel production from dairy scum oil to economize production cost

10.1039/C8SE00034D

2018-04-05

In the present study, sodium phosphate was synthesized through glycerol purification. Synthesized sodium phosphate was characterized and effectively utilized as heterogeneous base catalyst for biodiesel production to dairy waste scum oil. In addition, sodium ...

Enhanced photoelectric performance of CdS/CdSe co-sensitized TiO2 nanosheets array films

10.1039/C8SE00084K

2018-04-05

In this study, vertically aligned titanium dioxide nanosheets (TiO2NSs) array films were employed for the fabrication of photoanodes for quantum-dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). The TiO2NSs array films were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Then, cadm...

Improved water oxidation under visible light on oxyhalide Bi4MO8X (M = Nb, Ta; X = Cl, Br) photocatalysts prepared using excess halogen precursors

10.1039/C8SE00097B

2018-03-30

We herein report the synthesis of a series of Bi-based oxyhalides Bi4MO8X (M = Nb, Ta; X = Cl, Br) via solid-state reaction at different calcination temperatures and using various precursor ratios to improve their photocatalytic activity for water oxidation u...