The surface chemistry of adsorbed isopropoxy groups on supported vanadia–alumina and vanadia–silica catalysts was investigated with multiple in situ spectroscopic techniques. The in situ FT-IR, Raman and UV–vis spectroscopic measurements provided molecular level information about the surface intermediates and the surface vanadium oxide species as a function of different conditions. The spectros...

The TiO 2 /TPU fiber shows excellent mechanical and photocatalytic performance, which opens a new avenue to overcome the separation recovery problems from solutions during practical applications of nanostructured catalysts.

Driven by the serious ecological problems, it is urgent to explore high-efficiency sustainable energy technologies. Oxygen electrocatalysis acts as important half-reactions in emerging electrochemical techniques including electrolysis and batteries. Gel composites exhibit merits of rich porous, superior hydrophilic, large specific surface area, which can significantly improve electrolyte penetr...

X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, 3’P MAS-NMR and spin-echo NMR indicated that model vanadium phosphorus oxide (VPO) precursors and catalysts contained various minor phases depending oxboth the synthetic approach and P/V ratios used. Raman spectroscopy revealed the presence of a number of micro-crystalline and amorphous V(W) and V(V) phases not evident by XRD. The presence of VOPO, phases ...

Although lithium-ion batteries are traditionally considered to be the most promising candidate for electrochemical energy storage owing to their relatively long cycle life and high energy efficiency, their limited energy density as well as high cost are still causing a bottleneck for their long-term applications. Alternatively, rechargeable Li-O2 batteries have the potential to practically prov...

Reducing the noble-metal catalyst content of acid Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers without compromising catalytic activity and stability is a goal of fundamental scientific interest and substantial technical importance for cost-effective hydrogen-based energy storage. This study presents nanostructured iridium nanodendrites (Ir-ND) supported on antimony doped tin oxide (AT...

This review covers the recent developments and the present state of selective oxidation of propane to acrylic acid with molecular oxygen. The current commercial manufacturing process of acrylic acid, as well as the possible oxidation pathways of propane are included as background information. Special attention is given to three classes of leading catalysts: vanadium pyrophosphate, heteropoly ac...

Lignin samples isolated from Miscanthus giganteus using organosolv processes were treated with vanadium catalysts that were previously developed in our group. We demonstrate that the catalyst with high β-O-4′ bond-cleaving activity in dimeric lignin models was also effective in depolymerizing actual lignin. Molecular weight-lowering was evidenced by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), whereas ...