Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Fluorescence Of Cdse/Zns Quantum Dots In Toluene: Effect Of Cyclic Temperature, Ting Chen, Weiling Luan, Shaofu Zhang, Fuqian Yang

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Quantum dots (QDs) are the potential material for the application in optical thermometry, and have been successfully applied to solar cells, LEDs, bio-labeling, structural health monitoring, etc. In this paper, we study the fluorescence properties of CdSe/ZnS QDs in toluene under the action of heating-cooling cycles. The experimental results show that, in a heating-cooling cycle, increasing temperature causes red-shift of the emission peak and the decrease of the PL intensity, and decreasing temperature causes blue-shift of the emission peak and the increase of the PL intensity. The surface structures of the QDs likely are dependent on the cycle numbers, which …

Exploring The Effects Of Electrospun Fiber Surface Nanotopography On Neurite Outgrowth And Branching In Neuron Cultures, Anthony R. D'Amato, Devan L. Puhl, Alexis M. Ziemba, Christopher D.L. Johnson, Janneke Doedee, Jonathan Bao, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Three aligned, electro spun fiber scaffolds with unique surface features were created from poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA). Fibers without surface nano topography (smooth fibers), fibers with surface divots (shallow pits), and fibers with surface pits (deeper pits) were fabricated, and fiber alignment, diameter, and density were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Whole dorsal root ganglia (DRG) were isolated from rats and placed onto uncoated fibers or fibers coated with laminin. On uncoated fibers, neurite outgrowth was restricted by fibers displaying devoted or pitted nano topography when compared to neurite outgrowth on smooth fibers. However, neurites extending from whole DRG cultured …

Optimization Of The Catalytic Performance Of Pd/Fe 3 O 4 Nanoparticles Prepared Via Microwave-Assisted Synthesis For Pharmaceutical And Catalysis Applications, Hany A. Elazab, Tamer T. El-Idreesy

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Microwave assisted synthesis technique was used to prepare palladium supported on iron oxide nanoparticles. The advantage of using microwave irradiation as a synthetic tool is due to its unique features as a one step, simple, versatile, and rapid process. The reactants are added simply at room temperature without using high-temperature injection. Hydrazine hydrate was added by the following ratios (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 1.6, and 3) ml to the different prepared samples at room temperature in order to investigate its effect on the catalytic performance of the prepared catalysts. The prepared catalyst could be used as an …

Raman Spectroscopy As A Predictive Tool For Monitoring Osteoporosis Therapy In A Rat Model Of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis, J. Renwick Beattie, Antonia Sophocleous, M. Clare Caraher, Olive O'Driscoll, Niamh M. Cummins, Steven E.J. Bell, Mark R. Towler, Alireza Rahimnejad Yazdi, Stuart H. Ralston, Aymen I. Idris

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Pharmacological therapy of osteoporosis reduces bone loss and risk of fracture in patients. Modulation of bone mineral density cannot explain all effects. Other aspects of bone quality affecting fragility and ways to monitor them need to be better understood. Keratinous tissue acts as surrogate marker for bone protein deterioration caused by oestrogen deficiency in rats. Ovariectomised rats were treated with alendronate (ALN), parathyroid hormone (PTH) or estrogen (E2). MicroCT assessed macro structural changes. Raman spectroscopy assessed biochemical changes. Micro CT confirmed that all treatments prevented ovariectomy-induced macro structural bone loss in rats. PTH induced macro structural changes unrelated to ovariectomy. …

Preformed Partial Gel Injection Chased By Low-Salinity Waterflooding In Fractured Carbonate Cores, Ali K. Alhuraishawy, Baojun Bai, Mingzhen Wei, Abdullah Almansour

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fractures and oil-wet conditions significantly limit oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs. Gel treatment has been applied in injector wells to modify the prevailing reservoir streamlines and significantly reduce fracture permeability, whereas low-salinity waterflooding has been applied experimentally to modify rock wettability toward water-wet for improved oil recovery. However, both processes have limitations that cannot be resolved using a single method. The objective of this study was to test whether low-salinity water could enable gel particles to move deeply into fractures to efficiently increase oil recovery and control water production. A semitransparent fracture model of carbonate cores and acrylic plates was …

Continuous Catalytic Deoxygenation Of Waste Free Fatty Acid-Based Feeds To Fuel-Like Hydrocarbons Over A Supported Ni-Cu Catalyst, Ryan Loe, Yasmeen Lavoignat, Miranda Maier, Mohanad Abdallah, Tonya Morgan, Dali Qian, Robert Pace, Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, Mark Crocker

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

While commercial hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) processes convert fats, oils, and grease (FOG) to fuel-like hydrocarbons, alternative processes based on decarboxylation/decarbonylation (deCO_x) continue to attract interest. In this contribution, the activity of 20% Ni-5% Cu/Al₂O₃ in the deCO_x of waste free fatty acid (FFA)-based feeds—including brown grease (BG) and an FFA feed obtained by steam stripping a biodiesel feedstock—was investigated, along with the structure-activity relationships responsible for Ni promotion by Cu and the structural evolution of catalysts during use and regeneration. In eight-hour experiments, near quantitative conversion of the aforementioned feeds to diesel-like hydrocarbons was achieved. …

An Experimental Study Of Fractional Wettability Effects On Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage (Gagd), Abdullah Abdulrahman A. Al-Tameemi

LSU Master's Theses

Utilizing the power of nature to solve engineering problems has been a time-honored tradition, for example, using the sunlight as a heat and light source. From this principle, the visionary idea of Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) came. The GAGD process utilizes the natural segregation phenomenon of fluids with different densities in order to produce oil efficiently and economically. Waterflooding processes typically do not recover more than 40% of the original oil in place (OOIP), leaving a vast amount of oil behind. A practical and well-planned enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method is needed. However, to plan a successful project, the …

An Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Flow Accelerated Flibe Corrosion, David B. Weitzel

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Renewed interest in molten salt reactor technology has brought to light the need for a better understanding of FLiBe corrosion. To this end a flowing FLiBe corrosion test loop was designed to test the flow effects of FLiBe corrosion. The loop consists of a pump, melt tank, and stainless-steel tubing assembly that heats the molten salt to high temperatures and circulates it over test specimens. The experiment has been constructed and has completed initial shakedown testing.

To support the flowing FLiBe experiment, a numerical corrosion model that couples FLiBe electrochemistry, solid metal diffusion, and mass transport was implemented. The model …

Modeling Of Leakage Through Fault-Zone Structures In Co2 Geological Storage, Dayna Rodriguez Zambrano

LSU Master's Theses

Faults intersecting target geological CO₂ storage zones have important implications for storage integrity. Potential leakage pathways due to fluid over-pressurization are investigated in this project to ensure long-term containment of injected CO₂. Numerical flow simulations coupled with a geomechanical module are presented in this work with the purpose of determining the extent of CO₂ up-fault migration, the driving mechanisms of leakage and the corresponding response of quantified pore pressure and stress variations.

This study uses dual-continuum models performed by using CMG (2017) to correctly account of flow through fractures in a fault damage zone. Numerical simulations …

The Effect Of Electrospun Fiber Diameter On Astrocyte-Mediated Neurite Guidance And Protection, Christopher D.L. Johnson, Jonathan M. Zuidema, Kathryn R. Kearns, Alianna B. Maguire, Gregory P. Desmond, Deanna M. Thompson, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The topography of electro spun fiber scaffolds modifies astrocytes toward in vivo-like morphologies and behaviors. However, little is known about how electro spun fiber diameter influences astrocyte behavior. In this work, aligned fibers with two distinct nanoscale fiber diameters (808 and 386 nm) were prepared, and the astrocyte response was measured over time. Astrocytes on the large diameter fibers showed significantly increased elongation as early as 2 h after seeding and remained significantly more elongated for up to 4 days compared to those on small diameter fibers. Astrocytes extending along larger diameter fibers were better equipped to support long neurite …

Coatings On Mammalian Cells: Interfacing Cells With Their Environment, Kara A. Davis, Pei-Jung Wu, Calvin F. Cahall, Cong Li, Anuhya Gottipati, Brad J. Berron

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The research community is intent on harnessing increasingly complex biological building blocks. At present, cells represent a highly functional component for integration into higher order systems. In this review, we discuss the current application space for cellular coating technologies and emphasize the relationship between the target application and coating design. We also discuss how the cell and the coating interact in common analytical techniques, and where caution must be exercised in the interpretation of results. Finally, we look ahead at emerging application areas that are ideal for innovation in cellular coatings. In all, cellular coatings leverage the machinery unique to …

Reaction Of Titanium Subhydride With Multiple Passivating Gasses, Erik C. Strobert Jr

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Sandia National Laboratories has used substoichiometric titanium hydride as a pyrotechnic fuel for decades. Production of titanium subhydride requires partial dehydriding of titanium hydride powder and subsequent chemical passivation to render the resultant bare titanium surface nonreactive and the powder non-pyrophoric. Novel passivation techniques, using a gas other than air, have been suggested in the past but have never been investigated. This work examines the reaction kinetics of titanium subhydride with three passivating agents, nitrogen, oxygen, and propane. These passivation experiments took place under isothermal conditions (420 ˚C) with varied dehydriding and passivation time periods. It was found that the …

Integration Of Pretreatment With Simultaneous Counter-Current Extraction Of Energy Sorghum For High-Titer Mixed Sugar Production, Daniel L. Williams, Rebecca Ong, John E. Mullet, David B. Hodge

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) offers substantial potential as a feedstock for the production of sugar-derived biofuels and biochemical products from cell wall polysaccharides (i. e., cellulose and hemicelluloses) and water-extractable sugars (i.e., glucose, fructose, sucrose, and starch). A number of preprocessing schemes can be envisioned that involve processes such as sugar extraction, pretreatment, and densification that could be employed in decentralized, regional-scale biomass processing depots. In this work, an energy sorghum exhibiting a combination of high biomass productivity and high sugar accumulation was evaluated for its potential for integration into several potential biomass preprocessing schemes. This included counter-current …

Effect Of Crystallization Modes In Tips-Pentacene/Insulating Polymer Blends On The Gas Sensing Properties Of Organic Field-Effect Transistors, Jung Hun Lee, Yena Seo, Yeong Don Park, John E. Anthony, Do Hun Kwak, Jung Ah Lim, Sunglim Ko, Ho Won Jang, Kilwon Cho, Wi Hyoung Lee

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

Blending organic semiconductors with insulating polymers has been known to be an effective way to overcome the disadvantages of single-component organic semiconductors for high-performance organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). We show that when a solution processable organic semiconductor (6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene, TIPS-pentacene) is blended with an insulating polymer (PS), morphological and structural characteristics of the blend films could be significantly influenced by the processing conditions like the spin coating time. Although vertical phase-separated structures (TIPS-pentacene-top/PS-bottom) were formed on the substrate regardless of the spin coating time, the spin time governed the growth mode of the TIPS-pentacene molecules that phase-separated and crystallized on the …

Injectable, Magnetically Orienting Electrospun Fiber Conduits For Neuron Guidance, Christopher D.L. Johnson, Debmalya Ganguly, Jonathan M. Zuidema, Thomas J. Cardinal, Alexis M. Ziemba, Kathryn R. Kearns, Simon M. Mccarthy, Deanna M. Thompson, Ganpati Ramanath, Diana A. Borca-Tasciuc, Silvio Dutz, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Magnetic electro spun fibers are of interest for minimally invasive biomaterial applications that also strive to provide cell guidance. Magnetic electro spun fibers can be injected and then magnetically positioned in situ, and the aligned fiber scaffolds provide consistent topographical guidance to cells. In this study, magnetically responsive aligned poly-l-lactic acid electro spun fiber scaffolds were developed and tested for neural applications. Incorporating oleic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles significantly increased neurite outgrowth, reduced the fiber alignment, and increased the surface nano topography of the electro spun fibers. After verifying neuron viability on two-dimensional scaffolds, the system was tested as an …

Investigation Of Microwave-Assisted Synthesis Of Palladium Nanoparticles Supported On Fe3o4 As Efficient Recyclable Magnetic Catalysts For Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Coupling, Hany A. Elazab Dr

Chemical Engineering

In this research, a facile and reproducible approach was implemented for synthesis of palladium nano particles supported on Fe₃O₄ with remarkable activity as an ideal catalyst for Suzuki Cross – Coupling. Magnetite supported Pd nano particles reveals a high activity towards Suzuki coupling reactions as it could be recycled up to seven times with the same high catalytic activity. This adopted method of catalyst synthesis has so many advantages as reproduciblity, and reliability of the adopted synthetic method. The produced catalyst has unique magnetic properties to facilitate the catalyst recovery from the reaction mixture through using a …

Optimization Of The Catalytic Performance Of Pd/Fe3o4 Nanoparticles Prepared Via Microwave-Assisted Synthesis For Pharmaceutical And Catalysis Applications, Hany A. Elazab Dr

Chemical Engineering

Microwave assisted synthesis technique was used to prepare palladium supported on iron oxide nanoparticles. The advantage of using microwave irradiation as a synthetic tool is due to its unique features as a one step, simple, versatile, and rapid process. The reactants are added simply at room temperature without using high-temperature injection. Hydrazine hydrate was added by the following ratios (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 1.6, and 3) ml to the different prepared samples at room temperature in order to investigate its effect on the catalytic performance of the prepared catalysts. The prepared catalyst could be used as an …

Facile Synthesis Of A Tailored-Designed Au/Pt Nanoanode For Enhanced Formic Acid, Methanol, And Ethylene Glycol Electrooxidation, Yaser M. Asal Mr., Islam M. Al-Akraa Dr, Ahmad M. Mohammad Prof

Chemical Engineering

The recent revolution in nanoscience and global energy demand have motivated research in liquid fuel cells (LFCs) due to their enhanced efficiency, moving flexibility, and reduced contamination. In line with this advancement, a glassy carbon (GC) electrode was modified with platinum (PtNPs) and gold (AuNPs) nanoparticles to fabricate a nanosized anode for formic acid, methanol, and ethylene glycol electrooxidation (abbreviated, respectively, to FAO, MO, and EGO), of the key anodic reactions of LFCs. The deposition sequence of the catalyst’s layers was important where the Au/Pt/GC electrode (in which PtNPs were directly deposited onto the GC surface followed by AuNPs—surface coverage …

Zeolitic 3d Scaffolds With Tailored Surface Topography For Methanol Conversion With Light Olefins Selectivity, Ali A. Rownaghi, Xin Li, Fateme Rezaei

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The present disclosure relates to 3D printed zeolite scaffolds . The zeolite scaffolds can be used as a catalyst for methanol to olefin ( MTO ) conversion and hydrocarbon cracking processes.

Towards More Stable And Ion-Conductive Organic Electrolytes For Rechargeable Batteries, Shuting Feng

Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Reports

The global society urgently needs to remedy the effects of climate change resulting from burning fossil fuels and significantly increase the utilization of renewable energy. Rechargeable batteries are important enablers of sustainable energy use, as they can be employed to store energy generated from renewable but intermittent source. Enhancing the functionality of battery electrolytes, such as (electro)chemical stability and ion conductivity, can improve battery energy density, operation efficiency, and safety. This project explores strategies to improve the stability and ion conductivity of organic electrolytes for rechargeable batteries. Special attention is given to aprotic lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries, which offer theoretical energy …

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps In Breast Cancer And Beyond: Current Perspectives On Net Stimuli, Thrombosis And Metastasis, And Clinical Utility For Diagnosis And Treatment, Hunter T. Snoderly, Brian A. Boone, Margaret F. Bennewitz

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract

The formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), known as NETosis, was first observed as a novel immune response to bacterial infection, but has since been found to occur abnormally in a variety of other inflammatory disease states including cancer. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in women. In breast cancer, NETosis has been linked to increased disease progression, metastasis, and complications such as venous thromboembolism. NET-targeted therapies have shown success in preclinical cancer models and may prove valuable clinical targets in slowing or halting tumor progression in breast cancer patients. We will briefly outline the mechanisms by …

Drilling Performance Monitoring And Optimization: A Data-Driven Approach, Shan E Zehra Lashari, Ali Takbiri-Borujeni, Ebrahim Fathi, Ting Sun, Reza Rahmani, Mehdi Khazaeli

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract Drilling performance monitoring and optimization are crucial in increasing the overall NPV of an oil and gas project. Even after rigorous planning, drilling phase of any project can be hindered by unanticipated problems, such as bit balling. The objective of this paper is to implement artifcial intelligence technique to develop a smart model for more accurate and robust real-time drilling performance monitoring and optimization. For this purpose, the back propagation, feed forward neural network model was developed to predict rate of penetration (ROP) using diferent input parameters such as weight on bit, rotations per minute, mud fow (GPM) and …

Cancer Nanotechnology: Enhancing Tumor Cell Response To Chemotherapy For Hepatocellular Carcinoma Therapy, Sun Yongbing, Ma Wen, Yang Yuanyuan, He Mengxue, Li Aimin, Bai Lei, Yu Bin, Yu Zhiqiang

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest cancers due to its complexities, reoccurrence after surgical resection, metastasis and heterogeneity. In addition to sorafenib and lenvatinib for the treatment of HCC approved by FDA, various strategies including transarterial chemoembolization, radiotherapy, locoregional therapy and chemotherapy have been investigated in clinics. Recently, cancer nanotechnology has got great attention for the treatment of various cancers including HCC. Both passive and active targetings are progressing at a steady rate. Herein, we describe the lessons learned from pathogenesis of HCC and the understanding of targeted and non-targeted nanoparticles used for the delivery of small …

Dataset On Hydrophobicity Indices And Differential Scanning Calorimetry Thermograms For Poly(Hema)-Based Hydrogels, Ankita Bhat, Blake Smith, Cerasela-Zoica Dinu, Anthony Guiseppi-Elie

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Hydrophobicity indices for poly(HEMA)-based hydrogels:HEMA, AEMA, and DMAEMA calculated from two differentmethods: 1) Partition coefficients, and 2) Kyte-Doolittle scaleare depicted.Thermograms from differential scanning calorimetry ofpoly(HEMA)-based hydrogels containing AEMA, DMAEMA, and amixture of AEMA and DMAEMA are included to represent the glasstransition temperature (Tg) values of the hydrogels.More information on the methodology to calculate the hydro-phobicity indices using the aforementioned methods and theprocedure for using a differential scanning calorimeter and anal-ysis of a thermogram is described.Details of how the changes in the feed composition ofpoly(HEMA)-based hydrogels was made is provided in theresearch article‘MOLECULAR ENGINEERING OF POLY(HEMA-co-PEGMA)-BASED HYDROGELS: ROLE OF MINOR AEMA …

Feasibility Of Integrating Microfluidics Into Point-Of-Care Bio-Diagnostics, Swetha Manoharan

Theses

Potassium in the body needs to be maintained in proper levels for the normal functioning of heart and kidneys. The aim of this work is to develop a simple technique to measure the concentration of Potassium present in a bodily fluid sample, which can be used to assess the health condition of extremely sick patients, especially when the patient's condition needs to be diagnosed and results needs to be obtained rapidly under Point-of-Care settings. Microfluidics is one of the platforms used in bio-diagnostics because of several advantages such as low sample volume requirement and integration into high-throughput screening. In this …

Controlling The Three-Dimensional Environment Of Catalytic Active Sites For Selective Heterogeneous Catalysis, Bingwen Wang

Wayne State University Dissertations

This thesis focuses on developing high performance heterogeneous catalytic structures for chemical and fuel production processes. This thesis work proposes to achieve enhanced catalytic performance by tuning the 3D environment of catalytically active sites. Two approaches toward development of enhanced catalytic structures are demonstrated.

The first approach involves tuning the 3D environment of active sites via the construction of the “inverted” structures, where metal core NPs are coated with a porous oxide layer. A facile, room-temperature method is utilized to synthesize the probe system, inverted Pd@TiO2 catalyst, with control over the oxide film and NPs structure. The “inverted” structures with …

Lignin Valorizations With Ni Catalysts For Renewable Chemicals And Fuels Productions, Xiao Chen, Weixiang Guan, Chi-Wing Tsang, Haoquan Hu, Changhai Liang

Faculty of Science & Technology (THEi)

Energy and fuels derived from biomass pose lesser impact on the environmental carbon footprint than those derived from fossil fuels. In order for the biomass-to-energy and biomass-to-chemicals processes to play their important role in the loop of the circular economy, highly active, selective, and stable catalysts and the related efficient chemical processes are urgently needed. Lignin is the most thermal stable fraction of biomass and a particularly important resource for the production of chemicals and fuels. This mini review mainly focuses on lignin valorizations for renewable chemicals and fuels production and summarizes the recent interest in the lignin valorization over …

Tuning The Acidity Of Pt/Cnts Catalysts For Hydrodeoxygenation Of Diphenyl Ether, Weixiang Guan, Chuang Li, Xiao Chen, Xiao-Ying Lu, Chi-Wing Tsang, Haoquan Hu, Hongxu Qi, Changhai Liang

Faculty of Science & Technology (THEi)

We herein present a method for the synthesis of HNbWO6, HNbMoO6, HTaWO6 solid acid nanosheet modified Pt/CNTs. By varying the weight of various solid acid nanosheets, a series of Pt/xHMNO6/CNTs with different solid acid compositions (x = 5, 20 wt%; M = Nb, Ta; N = Mo, W) have been prepared by carbon nanotube pretreatment, protonic exchange, solid acid exfoliation, aggregation and finally Pt particles impregnation. The Pt/xHMNO6/CNTs are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and NH3-temperature programmed desorption. The study revealed that HNbWO6 nanosheets were attached on CNTs, with some edges of the nanosheets being …

Nb(Ta)-Based Solid Acid Modified Pt/Cnts Catalysts For Hydrodeoxygenation Of Lignin-Derived Compounds, Weixiang Guan, Xiao Chen, Chuang Li, Jie Zhang, Chi-Wing Tsang, Haoquan Hu, Shaojie Li, Changhai Liang

Faculty of Science & Technology (THEi)

Efficient upgrading of lignin bio-oils into oxygen-free liquid alkane fuels is a challenging task owing to the incompatibility of the phenolic feedstock with conventional fuels and the availability of effective hydrotreating catalysts based on the current refinery infrastructure. In this work, a series of solid acid nanosheets (HNbWO6, HNbMoO6, HTaWO6) modified Pt/CNTs bifunctional catalysts were evaluated in hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of lignin-derived compounds. The effects of types of nanosheets and the synergistic effect between metal sites and acid sites were discussed via HDO of diphenyl ether. Pt/HNbWO6/CNTs catalyst exhibited the most efficient performance for the HDO of diphenyl ether to cyclohexane …

Anchoring Cu 1 Species Over Nanodiamond-Graphene For Semi-Hydrogenation Of Acetylene, Fei Huang, Yuchen Deng, Yunlei Chen, Xiangbin Cai, Mi Peng, Zhimin Jia, Jinglin Xie, Dequan Xiao, Xiaodong Wen, Ning Wang, Zheng Jiang, Hongyang Liu, Ding Ma

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

The design of cheap, non-toxic, and earth-abundant transition metal catalysts for selective hydrogenation of alkynes remains a challenge in both industry and academia. Here, we report a new atomically dispersed copper (Cu) catalyst supported on a defective nanodiamondgraphene (ND@G), which exhibits excellent catalytic performance for the selective conversion of acetylene to ethylene, i.e., with high conversion (95%), high selectivity (98%), and good stability (for more than 60 h). The unique structural feature of the Cu atoms anchored over graphene through Cu-C bonds ensures the effective activation of acetylene and easy desorption of ethylene, which is the key for the outstanding …