The electrocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) through the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) requires cost-effective catalysts with high selectivity, activity, and stability. Herein we report synthesis assessment nickel–nitrogen–carbon (Ni–N–C) electrocatalysts to gain insight into ORR activity selectivity toward H2O2. depended on amount nickel added during as well pH el...

Selective extraction of minor actinides from lanthanides is a critical step in the reduction of radiotoxicity of spent nuclear fuels. However, the design of suitable ligands for separating chemically similar 4f- and 5f-block trivalent metal ions poses a significant challenge. First-principles calculations should play an important role in the design of new separation agents, but their ability to...

We show from molecular dynamics simulations that porous graphene of a certain pore size can efficiently separate carbon dioxide from nitrogen with high permeance, in agreement with the recent experimental finding (Koenig et al., Nat. Nanotechnol., 2012, 7, 728-732). The high selectivity is reflected in the much higher number of CO2 passing-through events than that of N2 from the trajectories. T...

A series of CoIII carboxylate based upon N,N,O,O-tetradentate Schiff base ligand framework have been prepared. X-ray diffraction analysis confirms that these Schiff base CoIII carboxylate are all monomeric species with a six-coordinated central Co in their solid structures. The activities and polycarbonate selectivity of these complexes toward the copolymerization of epoxide (cyclohexene oxide ...

A molecular library of quaternary ammonium salts (QASs), mainly composed of symmetrical bis-quaternary heterocyclic bromides exhibiting choline kinase (ChoK) inhibitory activity, were evaluated for their ability to inhibit acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase (AChE and BChE, respectively). The molecular framework of QASs consisted of two positively charged heteroaromatic (pyridinium or quinolinium...

Due to the role of azotobacteria in nitrogen fixation and to their potential biotechnological applications, there is some challenge in developing an effective strategy for the selective isolation of these micro-organisms from soil. One hundred ninety-six Gram-negative strains were isolated from 35 soils sampled in central Italy, by using and comparing three different methods. The screening of s...

Engineering enzymes with novel reaction modes promises to expand the applications of biocatalysis in chemical synthesis and will enhance our understanding of how enzymes acquire new functions. The insertion of nitrogen-containing functional groups into unactivated C-H bonds is not catalyzed by known enzymes but was recently demonstrated using engineered variants of cytochrome P450BM3 (CYP102A1)...

Electrochemical nitrogen-to-ammonia fixation is emerging as a sustainable strategy to tackle the hydrogen- and energy-intensive operations by Haber-Bosch process for ammonia production. However, current electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) progress is impeded by overwhelming competition from the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) across all traditional NRR catalysts and the requirem...

Nitrogen atoms were found to exhibit a strong ability to promote the self-assembly of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) from gaseous carbons, without an assistance of metal atoms. On the basis of this discovery, pure metal-free CNTs with a nitrogen-doping level as high as 20 atom % can be directly synthesized using melamine as a C/N precursor. This offers a novel pathway for carbon nanotu...