Search results for "chemistry [Water]"

Uptake of actinides by calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) phases

2018

Abstract The sorption of actinides (Th, U – Am) was studied in dependence of the solid-to-liquid (S/L) ratio (0.5–20.0 g/L) and the calcium-to-silicon (C:S) ratio. The C:S ratio was varied between 1.80 and 0.70 to simulate the changing composition of the C-S-H phases during cement degradation from high to low C:S ratios. The decrease of the calcium content in the C-S-H phases by time is accompanied by a decrease in pH in the corresponding suspensions from 12.6 to 10.2. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the C-S-H phases showed an increasing depletion of Ca on the surface with increasing C:S ratio in comparison to the composition of the solid phase as a whole. The sorption experiments…

Electro-conversion as sustainable method for the fine chemical production from the biopolymer lignin

2018

Lignin, one of the most abundant polymers in nature, qualifies itself by the polyphenolic structure as potential renewable feedstock for the production of bio-based aromatic fine chemicals. However, the natural complexity and degradation stability of lignin make the depolymerization a highly challenging task. Several efforts have been pursued for the selective degradation of the biopolymer into suitable compounds. However, there are only a few technical approaches for the degradation of lignin to aromatic fine chemicals. Organic electrosynthesis is the synthetic method that enables the direct use of electricity for the production of valuable compounds. Moreover, electro-organic synthesis re…

Comparative high-resolution chemostratigraphy of the Bonarelli Level from the reference Bottaccione section (Umbria-Marche Apennines) and from an equ…

2006

The Bonarelli Level (BL) from the upper Cenomanian portion of the reference Bottaccione section (central Italy) is characterized by the presence of black shales containing high TOC concentrations (up to 17%) and amounts of CaCO3 near to zero. In the absence of carbonate and, consequently, of relative carbon- and oxygen-isotopic data, the elemental geochemistry revealed to be a very useful tool to obtain information about the palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic evolution of the Tethys Ocean during the OAE2. Based on several geochemical proxies (Rb, V, Ni, Cr, Si, Ba), the BL is interpreted as a high-productivity event driven by increasingly warm and humid climatic conditions promoting an a…

2021

Amino acids with small side chains and motifs of small residues in a distance of four are rather abundant in human single-span transmembrane helices. While interaction of such helices appears to be common, the role of the small residues in mediating and/or stabilizing transmembrane helix oligomers remains mostly elusive. Yet, the mere existence of (small)xxx(small) motifs in transmembrane helices is frequently used to model dimeric TM helix structures. The single transmembrane helix of the human carbonic anhydrases XII contains a large number of amino acids with small side chains, and critical involvement of these small amino acids in dimerization of the transmembrane domain has been sugges…

Cell adhesion on UV-crosslinked polyurethane gels with adjustable mechanical strength and thermoresponsiveness

2021

Temperature-responsive polyurethane (PU) hydrogels represent a versatile material platform for modern tissue engineering and biomedical applications. However, besides intrinsic advantages such as high mechanical strength and a hydrolysable backbone composition, plain PU materials are generally lacking bio-adhesive properties. To overcome this shortcoming, the authors focus on the synthesis of thermoresponsive PU hydrogels with variable mechanical and cell adhesive properties obtained from linear precursor PUs based on poly(ethylene glycol)s (pEG) with different molar masses, isophorone diisocyanate, and a dimerizable dimethylmaleimide (DMMI)-diol. The cloud point temperatures of the dilute,…

Tapered copolymers of styrene and 4‐vinylbenzocyclobutene via carbanionic polymerization for crosslinkable polymer films

2019

Nickel‐Mediated Photoreductive Cross Coupling of Carboxylic Acid Derivatives for Ketone Synthesis**

2021

A simple photochemical, nickel-catalyzed synthesis of ketones starting from carboxylic acids is presented. Hantzsch-ester (HE) functions as a cheap, green and strong photoreductant upon visible-light excitation to facilitate radical generation and also engages in the Ni-catalytic cycle to restore the reactive species. With this dual role, HE allows for the coupling of a large variety of radicals (1°,2°, benzylic, α-oxy & α-amino) with aroyl and alkanoyl moieties, a new feature in the synthesis of ketones through dual nickel photoredox catalysis. With both precursors deriving from abundant carboxylic acids, this protocol is a welcome addition to the organic chemistry toolbox. The reactio…

Alkane dehydrogenation on defective BN quasi-molecular nanoflakes: DFT studies

2020

Lower alkanes are feedstocks readily available but relatively inert. The con- version of low cost alkanes to industrially relevant alkenes is usually carried out on metal-based heterogeneous catalysts. Considering both the cost and the potential harmfulness of the metal involved in the dehydrogenation cat- alysts (typically, platinum or chromium), the study of metal-free processes represents an important challenge for the industrial chemistry in order to address more sustainable protocols and different routes either to activate or transform alkanes. Framed in this context, it was investigated, using a den- sity functional theory approach, the potential dehydrogenation activity of de- fectiv…

Anatase photocatalyst with supported low crystalline TiO2: The influence of amorphous phase on the activity

2018

Abstract In a previous study on commercial TiO2 nanoparticles (J. Soria et al.) we had shown that the superficial disordered layers influence their textural and reactivity features. In the present work we used well crystallized anatase particles (commercial TiO2, BDH) as support of different amounts of titania powders, prepared by TiCl4 hydrolysis and constituted by nanocrystals diluted into an amorphous matrix. The reactivity of these photocatalysts has been tested for the selective oxidation of 4-methoxybenzyl alcohol to aldehyde in aqueous suspension. The catalyst characteristics have been studied using adsorption-desorption isotherms, TEM, HRTEM, TGA, PL, DRIFT-IR, and 1H MAS-NMR spectr…

Photocatalytic oxidation of aromatic alcohols to aldehydes in aqueous suspension of home prepared titanium dioxide

2008

In this paper some intrinsic electronic properties of home prepared (HP) TiO2 catalysts were investigated by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and quasi-Fermi level measurements. These powders were used for carrying out the photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and CO2 in water; the selectivity for aldehyde formation was enhanced by the addition of small amounts of ethanol, a typical hole trap. The values of band gap, valence band and conduction band edges are almost identical for all the HP samples in which anatase phase is predominant, whereas appreciable differences can be noticed for an HP sample containing high amount of rutile phase. A comparative ATR-FTIR study of…