High yield of H2 of high purity from acetic acid, a model compound of bio-oil from the biomass fast pyrolysis, was produced by sorption enhanced steam reforming (SESR). An oxygen carrier was introduced into a chemical loop (CL) coupled to the cyclical SESR process to supply heat in situ for the endothermic sorbent regeneration, in order to increase the energy efficiency of the process. A new mu...

Being the only sustainable source of organic carbon, biomass is playing an ever-increasingly important role in our energy landscape. The conversion of renewable lignocellulosic biomass into liquid fuels is particularly attractive but extremely challenging due to the inertness and complexity of lignocellulose. Here we describe the direct hydrodeoxygenation of raw woods into liquid alkanes with m...

Over the past few decades, enantioselective phosphine organocatalysis has evolved rapidly into a highly efficient catalytic strategy for a range of useful reactions. However, as restricted by the traditional catalytic modes, some important reactions, such as asymmetric Strecker-type reactions, have thus far been out of reach of this strategy. Reported herein is an application of enantioselectiv...

Design of highly efficient multifunctional reaction processes for energy production is one of the main focus areas of Chemical Engineering. This article presents multiscale simulation frameworks for heterogeneously catalyzed reactors wherein numerous synthesis steps are integrated for high efficiency biodiesel production. The goal is the modeling of transport-adsorption-reactiondesorption pheno...

Recently, mesoporous carbon nitride (MCN) has aroused extensive interest for its potential applications in organocatalysis, photo- and electrochemistry and CO2 capture. However, further surface functionalization of MCN for advanced nanomaterials and catalysis still remains very challenging. Here we show that acidic carboxyl groups can be smoothly introduced onto the surface of well-ordered MCN ...

Green plants convert CO(2) to sugar for energy storage via photosynthesis. We report a novel catalyst that uses CO(2) and hydrogen to store energy in formic acid. Using a homogeneous iridium catalyst with a proton-responsive ligand, we show the first reversible and recyclable hydrogen storage system that operates under mild conditions using CO(2), formate and formic acid. This system is energy-...