The use of formic acid (FA) to produce molecular H2 is a promising means of efficient energy storage in a fuel‐cell‐based hydrogen economy. To date, there has been a lack of heterogeneous catalyst ...systems that are sufficiently active, selective, and stable for clean H2 production by FA decomposition at room temperature. For the first time, we report that flexible pyridinic‐N‐doped carbon hybrids as support materials can significantly boost the efficiency of palladium nanoparticle for H2 generation; this is due to prominent surface electronic modulation. Under mild conditions, the optimized engineered Pd/CN0.25 catalyst exhibited high performance in both FA dehydrogenation (achieving almost full conversion, and a turnover frequency of 5530 h−1 at 25 °C) and the reversible process of CO2 hydrogenation into FA. This system can lead to a full carbon‐neutral energy cycle.
Pyridinic‐N‐tuned catalysis: An electron‐rich pyridinic‐N dopant modulates the electronic interactions between the active sites of palladium nanoparticles and the carbon support. Formic acid dehydrogenation at room temperature is significantly boosted by the pyridinic‐N‐doped palladium catalyst, presenting an efficient and reliable route to clean H2 generation and sustainable energy storage.
The formate‐based rechargeable hydrogen battery (RHB) promises high reversible capacity to meet the need for safe, reliable, and sustainable H2 storage used in fuel cell applications. Described ...herein is an additive‐free RHB which is based on repetitive cycles operated between aqueous formate dehydrogenation (discharging) and bicarbonate hydrogenation (charging). Key to this truly efficient and durable H2 handling system is the use of highly strained Pd nanoparticles anchored on graphite oxide nanosheets as a robust and efficient solid catalyst, which can facilitate both the discharging and charging processes in a reversible and highly facile manner. Up to six repeated discharging/charging cycles can be performed without noticeable degradation in the storage capacity.
The formate/bicarbonate pair: A rechargeable hydrogen battery based on repetitive formate/bicarbonate interconversion in aqueous solution was developed. A hybrid material of Pd nanoparticles and reduced graphite oxide serves as the robust and efficient catalyst for both steps. Multiple charging and discharging cycles were performed with comparable storage/release efficiency and the resulting H2 gas is free of CO and CO2.
The azo linkage is a prominent chemical motif which has found numerous applications in materials science, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals. Described herein is a sustainable ...heterogeneous‐gold‐catalyzed synthesis of azo arenes. Available nitroarenes are deoxygenated and linked selectively by the formation of NN bonds using molecular H2 without any external additives. As a result of a unique and remarkable synergy between the metal and support, a facile surface‐mediated condensation of nitroso and hydroxylamine intermediates is enabled, and the desired transformation proceeds in a highly selective manner under mild reaction conditions. The protocol tolerates a large variety of functional groups and offers a general and versatile method for the environmentally friendly synthesis of symmetric or asymmetric aromatic azo compounds.
Game of rates: A general approach for the chemoselective hydrogenative coupling of nitroarenes to give the corresponding azo compounds, using a heterogeneous gold catalyst, has been developed. As a result of the remarkable synergy between the metal and support, a facile condensation of transient nitroso and hydroxylamine intermediates proceeds. The desired transformation is highly selective under mild reaction conditions.
Developing new efficient catalytic systems to convert abundant and renewable feedstocks into valuable products in a compact, flexible, and target‐specific manner is of high importance in modern ...synthetic chemistry. Here, we describe a versatile set of mild catalytic conditions utilizing a single gold‐based solid catalyst that enables the direct and additive‐free preparation of four distinct and important amine derivatives (amines, formamides, benzimidazoles, and dimethlyated amines) from readily available formic acid (FA) and nitro starting materials with high level of chemoselectivity. By controlling the stoichiometry of the employed FA, which has attracted considerable interest in the area of sustainable chemistry because of its potential as an entirely renewable hydrogen carrier and as a versatile C1 source, a facile atom‐ and step‐efficient transformation of nitro compounds can be realized in a modular fashion.
Renewable formic acid as a flexible feedstock: A versatile heterogeneous gold‐based catalytic system has been developed for the controlled, flexible, and target‐specific reductive transformation of nitro compounds using stoichiometric equivalents of formic acid as a key starting material under mild and convenient conditions. The overall operational simplicity, high chemoselectivity, functional‐group tolerance, and reusability of the catalyst make this approach an attractive and reliable tool for organic and process chemists.
The pursuit of modern sustainable chemistry has stimulated the development of innovative catalytic processes that enable chemical transformations to be performed under mild and clean conditions with ...high efficiency. Herein, we report that gold nanoparticles supported on TiO(2) catalyze the chemoselective hydrogenation of functionalized quinolines with H(2) under mild reaction conditions. Our results point toward an unexpected role for quinolines in gold-mediated hydrogenation reactions, namely that of promoter; this is in stark contrast to what prevails in the traditional noble metal Pd-, Pt-, and Ru-based catalyst systems, in which quinolines and their derivatives typically act as poisons. As a result of the remarkable promotional effect of quinoline molecules to H(2) activation over supported gold, the transformation can proceed smoothly under very mild conditions (even at temperatures as low as 25 °C). Of practical significance is that various synthetically useful functional groups including halogens, ketone, and olefin remain intact during the hydrogenation of quinolines. Moreover, the protocol also shows promise for the regiospecific hydrogenation of the heterocyclic ring of a variety of other biologically important heteroaromatic nitrogen compounds, such as isoquinoline, acridine, and 7,8-benzoquinoline, in a facile manner. Apart from its importance in catalytic hydrogenation, we believe that this intriguing self-promoted effect by reactant molecules may have fundamental implications for the broad field of gold catalysis and form the basis for development of new catalytic procedures for other key transformations.
A golden opportunity: A highly robust catalyst system consisting of gold nanoparticles supported on acid‐tolerant ZrO2 promoted the conversion of biomass‐derived levulinic acid (1) and formic acid ...(2) into γ‐valerolactone without the use of an external H2 supply (see scheme, red). The Au/ZrO2 catalyst was also used for the direct one‐pot synthesis of highly valuable pyrrolidone derivatives from 1, 2, and primary amines (see scheme, blue).
As the NN bond in N2 is one of the strongest bonds in chemistry, the fixation of N2 to ammonia is a kinetically complex and energetically challenging reaction and, up to now, its synthesis is still ...heavily relying on energy and capital intensive Haber–Bosch process (150–350 atm, 350–550 °C), wherein the input of H2 and energy are largely derived from fossil fuels and thus result in large amount of CO2 emission. In this paper, it is demonstrated that by using Au sub‐nanoclusters (≈0.5 nm ) embedded on TiO2 (Au loading is 1.542 wt%), the electrocatalytic N2 reduction reaction (NRR) is indeed possible at ambient condition. Unexpectedly, NRR with very high and stable production yield (NH3: 21.4 µg h−1 mg−1cat., Faradaic efficiency: 8.11%) and good selectivity is achieved at −0.2 V versus RHE, which is much higher than that of the best results for N2 fixation under ambient conditions, and even comparable to the yield and activation energy under high temperatures and/or pressures. As isolated precious metal active centers dispersed onto oxide supports provide a well‐defined system, the special structure of atomic Au cluster would promote other important reactions besides NRR for water splitting, fuel cells, and other electrochemical devices.
Using Au sub‐nanoclusters anchored on TiO2 substrate as a heterogeneous electrocatalyst, the special Au active sites lead to the effective and stable electrochemical N2 reduction reaction with high NH3 yield (21.4 µg h−1 mg−1cat.) and Faradaic efficiency (8.11%) as well as 100% NH3 selectivity at ambient conditions.
Two birds with one auric stone: The title system acts as a highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the one-pot tandem synthesis of imines or oximes from alcohols and the corresponding amines ...under mild conditions (see scheme; HAP= hydroxyapatite).
Soft polymer materials, which are similar to human tissues, have played critical roles in modern interdisciplinary research. Compared with conventional methods, 3D printing allows rapid prototyping ...and mass customization and is ideal for processing soft polymer materials. However, 3D printing of soft polymer materials is still in the early stages of development and is facing many challenges including limited printable materials, low printing resolution and speed, and poor functionalities. The present review aims to summarize the ideas to address these challenges. It focuses on three points: 1) how to develop printable materials and make unprintable materials printable, 2) how to choose suitable methods and improve printing resolution, and 3) how to directly construct functional structures/systems with 3D printing. After a brief introduction on this topic, the mainstream 3D printing technologies for printing soft polymer materials are reviewed, with an emphasis on improving printing resolution and speed, choosing suitable printing techniques, developing printable materials, and printing multiple materials. Moreover, the state‐of‐the‐art advancements in multimaterial 3D printing of soft polymer materials are summarized. Furthermore, the revolutions brought about by 3D printing of soft polymer materials for applications similar to biology are highlighted. Finally, viewpoints and future perspectives for this emerging field are discussed.
3D printing of soft polymer materials allows the rapid prototyping of functional soft architectures in a highly integrated way. Herein, the recent advancements in this emerging topic are reviewed based on a target to improve its printing speed, resolution, printable material, and functionalities. The trends of multimaterial 3D printing are discussed and the perspectives for this emerging field are provided.
The human brain is a complex system whose topological organization can be represented using connectomics. Recent studies have shown that human connectomes can be constructed using various ...neuroimaging technologies and further characterized using sophisticated analytic strategies, such as graph theory. These methods reveal the intriguing topological architectures of human brain networks in healthy populations and explore the changes throughout normal development and aging and under various pathological conditions. However, given the huge complexity of this methodology, toolboxes for graph-based network visualization are still lacking. Here, using MATLAB with a graphical user interface (GUI), we developed a graph-theoretical network visualization toolbox, called BrainNet Viewer, to illustrate human connectomes as ball-and-stick models. Within this toolbox, several combinations of defined files with connectome information can be loaded to display different combinations of brain surface, nodes and edges. In addition, display properties, such as the color and size of network elements or the layout of the figure, can be adjusted within a comprehensive but easy-to-use settings panel. Moreover, BrainNet Viewer draws the brain surface, nodes and edges in sequence and displays brain networks in multiple views, as required by the user. The figure can be manipulated with certain interaction functions to display more detailed information. Furthermore, the figures can be exported as commonly used image file formats or demonstration video for further use. BrainNet Viewer helps researchers to visualize brain networks in an easy, flexible and quick manner, and this software is freely available on the NITRC website (www.nitrc.org/projects/bnv/).
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