A four stage semi-pilot scale RFR reactor with ceramic disks as support for TiO₂ modified with silver particles was developed for the removal of organic pollutants. The design presented in this article is an adaptation of the rotating biological reactors (RBR) and its coupling with the modified catalyst provides additional advantages to designs where a catalyst in suspension is used. The optima...

The three-dimensional sponge-like mesoporous material TUD-1 is straightforward to prepare. Its synthesis can readily be modified to introduce metals into the framework of TUD-1, imparting many different catalytic activities. M-TUD-1 catalysts have proven to be very active, unlimited by diffusion and very stable. By combining two metals into one TUD-1 catalyst, synergy between Lewis and Brønsted...

Organoimidoylization of Polyoxometalates (POMs) can dramatically modify the electronic structures of POMs and gives rise to novel "value-adding" properties of the POMs for promising material applications including photo-electronic transformation and catalysis. To date, the preparation of multi-functionalized organoimido derivatives of POMs is generally conducted under strict condition and is ti...

Metal oxidation is one of the spontaneous chemical reaction, which is hard to control. Most metals inevitably have at least a few layers of oxides on the surface in natural environment. Because of the large impact of metal oxidation on infrastructure and transportation, surface oxidation and its role on structure and property have attracted significant attentions on the fundamental aspects of o...

Band structure of transition metal oxides plays a critical role in many applications such as photo-catalysis, photovoltaics, and electroluminescent devices. In this work we report findings that the band structure of MoO3 can be significantly altered by a distortion in the octahedral coordination structure. We discovered that, in addition to epitaxial type of structural strain, chemical force su...

g-C3N4 is a promising material for hydrogen production from water via photo-catalysis, if we can tune its band gap to desirable levels. Using a combined experimental and ab initio approach, we uncover an almost perfectly linear relationship between the band gap and structural aspects of g-C3N4, which we show to originate in a changing overlap of wave functions associated with the lattice consta...

Multi-electron heterogeneous catalysis is a pivotal element in the (photo)electrochemical generation of solar fuels. However, mechanistic studies of these systems are difficult to elucidate by means of electrochemical methods alone. Here we report a spectroelectrochemical analysis of hydrogen evolution on ruthenium oxide employed as an electrocatalyst and as part of a cuprous oxide-based photoc...

Two routes to the thermal decomposition of poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) have been consideredpolymer chain-end unzipping and random chain scission. The inhibition and catalysis of each mechanism has been studied. End-capping of low molecular weight (2 kDa) PPC has been achieved and confirmed with NMR analysis resulting in stabilization from unzipping. Citric acid was used as an additive and s...

Linkers that favor rectification of interfacial electron transfer are likely to be required for efficient photo-driven catalysis of multi-electron reactions at electrode surfaces. Design principles are discussed, together with the synthesis and characterization of a specific pair of molecular linkers, related by inversion of the direction of an amide bond in the heart of the molecule. The linke...

The substrate specificity of choline acetyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.6) isolated from squid ganglia was investigated. The enzyme catalyzed the acetylation of choline and aminocholine but not of homocholine. In D(2)O solution there was considerable slowing of the transacetylation reaction. Photo-oxidation in the presence of methylene blue or rose bengal rapidly inactivated the enzyme, suggesting inv...