| 1. |
- Maurina Morais, Eduardo, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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Solvent-free synthesis of protic ionic liquids. Synthesis, characterization and computational studies of triazolium based ionic liquids
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Molecular Liquids. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-7322. ; 360
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A series of triazolium and imidazolium based protic ionic liquids were synthesized using a solvent-free method designed to address several limitations encountered with other commonly used methods. Using this method, pure (98–99% m/m) and dry (128–553 ppm of water) protic ionic liquids were synthesized (in a laboratory scale) without the need for purification methods that require heating the ionic liquid, hence avoiding the common issue of thermal decomposition. This method was also designed to allow for the accurate measurement of acid and base, and for the controlled mixing of both compounds, which is essential to avoid producing impure protic ionic liquids with excess of either acid or base. The system is constructed of only glass and chemically resistant polymer (PTFE and PVDF) parts, which avoid other contaminants that can result from unwanted reactions involving the reagents with common laboratory tools (metallic objects, paper, plastic, etc.). This process is described in detail in the paper as well as in a video. The resulting ionic liquids were carefully analyzed by spectroscopic and thermal methods designed to avoid water absorption, which is known to affect their properties. To complement this experimental characterization, computational chemistry tools were used to assess the ionic liquids’ properties, as well as to assign vibrational modes.
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| 2. |
- Sauer, Christopher, 1993
(författare)
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Green Aromatics: Catalytic Valorisation of bio-derived 2,5-dimethylfuran over Zeolites and Zeotypes
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis discusses the use of biomass as a potentially green feedstock for the chemical industry in the urgent shift away from fossil resources. I elaborate on reasons why we cannot afford to burn virgin biomass for energy production, among them a variety of ecosystem services that forests and other lands provide. In addition, the utilisation of biomass should be focused on products that sequester and lock away carbon for more extended periods, e.g. timber, materials and chemicals. In particular, biomass can be used as an alternative "carbon neutral" feedstock for the chemical industry, where we can preserve the already existing chemical complexity in the bio-based molecules. One example is the upgrading of furans to benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) aromatics with the help of zeolite catalysis. These aromatics are important commodity chemicals, where the shift to a bio-based resource could make use of already existing knowledge, catalyst and production infrastructure. However, research is necessary to understand these new feedstock molecules and their interaction with the catalysts and to enable the design of applicable catalysts. In order to study the interaction of the furans, in particular 2,5-dimethylfuran (2,5-dmf), I describe and discuss the development of an analytical methodology that utilises infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry for the on-line identification and quantification of product molecules during catalytic reactions. This on-line analysis method is then applied to the catalytic conversion of 2,5-dmf to aromatics over a range of zeolite and zeotype catalysts. In-depth studies with ammonia as a probe molecule of the catalytic active acid sites, as well as temperature programmed experiments with ammonia and 2,5-dmf give insights into product distribution, selectivity changes and deactivation of the catalyst. For example, olefins and aromatics are initially preferred products, while with increasing time on stream, the isomerisation of 2,5-dmf becomes dominant. The incorporation of Ga into the zeotype framework, resulting in a Ga-Silicate, shows how targeted catalyst design can increase overall aromatics production. This catalyst is also suitable for selective isomerisation of 2,5-dmf to 2,4-dimethylfuran, which has a rare substitution pattern. Finally, itwas found that the most valuable of BTX, p -xylene, can be produced more selectively when 2,5-dmf is pre-adsorbed onto zeolite ZSM-5 and then released during a temperature programmed product desorption.
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| 3. |
- Maurina Morais, Eduardo, 1989
(författare)
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Synthesis of protic ionic liquids. Challenges and solutions for the synthesis of pure compounds.
- 2022
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The urgent need to diversify our energy matrix is responsible for a renewed interest in fuel cell technology, which can use hydrogen gas, a renewable green fuel, as an energy source. This technology is currently a commercially available option, however, it still requires technological improvements before it can be widely used for different applications. One way this technology could potentially be improved is by increasing its temperature range of operation by developing new, anhydrous proton conducting materials. Protic ionic liquids, which are organic salts with low melting temperatures, are interesting candidates for this application, since they can conduct protons in the operational conditions of fuel cells and without the need of water. These compounds can be synthesized by a simple acid-base neutralization reaction, but certain considerations must be taken in order to obtain high quality (dry and pure) protic ionic liquids. In this thesis, a series of triazolium and imidazolium based protic ionic liquids were synthesized using a solvent-free method designed to address several limitations encountered with other commonly used methods. Using this method, pure (98-99% m/m) and dry (128-553 ppm of water) protic ionic liquids were synthesized (in a laboratory scale) without the need for purification methods that require heating the ionic liquid, hence avoiding the common issue of thermal decomposition. This method was also designed to allow for the accurate measurement of acid and base, and for the controlled mixing of both compounds, which is essential to avoid producing impure protic ionic liquids with excess of either acid or base. The system is consists of only glass and chemically resistant polymer(PTFE and PVDF) parts, which avoids other contaminants that can result from unwanted reactions involving the reagents with common laboratory tools (metallic objects, paper, plastic, etc.). The resulting ionic liquids were carefully analyzed by spectroscopic and thermal analysis methods designed to avoid water absorption, which is known to affect their properties. To complement this experimental characterization, computational chemistry tools were used to assess the ionic liquids’ properties, as well as to assign vibrational modes.
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| 4. |
- Singh, Shivangi, 1996
(författare)
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Investigating hydrothermal stability and influence of water on the activity of Cu-CHA catalysts for NH3-SCR
- 2024
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) with NH3 as a reducing agent (NH3- SCR) is a leading technology for diesel exhaust emission control. Cu-exchanged zeolites with the chabazite structure (Cu-CHA) have emerged as the preferred catalysts thanks to its high activity and hydrothermal stability. Hydrothermal stability is related to dealumination, i.e. removal of aluminum from the zeolite framework to form extraframework aluminum, at high temperatures in the presence of water vapor. Copperexchanged chabazite (Cu-CHA) zeolites have higher hydrothermal stability compared to H-chabazite (H-CHA). To understand the delayed dealumination of Cu-CHA catalysts, we have investigated the reaction paths for dealumination in H-CHA and Cu-CHA using density functional theory (DFT) calculations combined with microkinetic modeling. We find that Cu-CHA and H-CHA follow similar four-step hydrolysis processes, yet the dealumination of Cu-CHA has higher energy barriers, suggesting stabilization of the CHA structure by Cu ions. Furthermore, the preferred reaction product upon complete dealumination of Cu-CHA is a copper-aluminate like species bound to the zeolite framework. The microkinetic analysis quantifies the increased stability of Cu-CHA as compared to H-CHA. In addition to the high-temperature dealumination, we investigated the role of water on low-temperature SCR by experimentally measuring the activity and reaction order of water. The reaction order of water is found to be increasingly negative with increasing water pressure. DFT calculations reveal that water blocks the active Cu-sites and a DFT-based microkinetic model reproduces the measured change of reaction order with water pressure.
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| 5. |
- Artemenko, A., et al.
(författare)
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Reference XPS spectra of amino acids
- 2021
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this report we present XPS data for five amino acids (AAs) (tryptophan, methionine, glutamine, glutamic acid, and arginine) with different side chain groups measured in solid state (powder form). The theoretically and experimentally obtained chemical structure of AAs are compared. Here, we analyse and discuss C 1 s, N 1 s, O 1s and S 2p core level binding energies, FWHMs, atomic concentrations of the functional groups in AAs. The experimentally obtained and theoretically calculated ratio of atomic concentrations are compared. The zwitterionic nature of methionine and glutamine in solid state was determined from protonated amino groups in N 1s peak and deprotonated carboxylic groups in the C 1s spectrum. The obtained XPS results for AAs well correspond with previously reported data.
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| 6. |
- Barišić, Antun, et al.
(författare)
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Experimental Data Contributing to the Elusive Surface Charge of Inert Materials in Contact with Aqueous Media
- 2021
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Ingår i: Colloids and interfaces. - : MDPI. - 2504-5377. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We studied the charging of inert surfaces (polytetrafluoroethylene, i.e., PTFE; graphite; graphene; and hydrophobic silica) using classical colloid chemistry approaches. Potentiometric titrations showed that these surfaces acquired less charge from proton-related reactions than oxide minerals. The data from batch-type titrations for PTFE powder did not show an effect of ionic strength, which was also in contrast with results for classical colloids. In agreement with classical colloids, the electrokinetic results for inert surfaces showed the typical salt level dependence. In some cases, the point of zero net proton charge as determined from mass and tentatively from acid–base titration differed from isoelectric points, which has also been previously observed, for example by Chibowski and co-workers for ice electrolyte interfaces. Finally, we found no evidence for surface contaminations of our PTFE particles before and after immersion in aqueous solutions. Only in the presence of NaCl-containing solutions did cryo-XPS detect oxygen from water. We believe that our low isoelectric points for PTFE were not due to impurities. Moreover, the measured buffering at pH 3 could not be explained by sub-micromolar concentrations of contaminants. The most comprehensive explanation for the various sets of data is that hydroxide ion accumulation occurred at the interfaces between inert surfaces and aqueous solutions.
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| 7. |
- Asfaw, Habtom Desta, Dr. 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Facile synthesis of hard carbon microspheres from polyphenols for sodium-ion batteries : insight into local structure and interfacial kinetics
- 2020
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Ingår i: Materials Today Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 2468-6069. ; 18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hard carbons are the most promising negative active materials for sodium ion storage. In this work, a simple synthesis approach is proposed to produce hard carbon microspheres (CMSs) (with a mean diameter of ~1.3 μm) from resorcinol-formaldehyde precursors produced via acid-catalyzed polycondensation reaction. Samples prepared at 1200, 1400, and 1500 oC showed different electrochemical behavior in terms of reversible capacity, initial coulombic efficiency (iCE), and the mechanism of sodium ion storage. The specific capacity contributions from the flat voltage profile (<0.1 V) and the sloping voltage region (0.1–1 V) showed strong correlation to the local structure (and carbonization temperature) determined by the interlayer spacing (d002) and the Raman ID/IG ratio of the hard carbons (HCs) and the rate of cycling. Electrochemical tests indicated that the HC synthesized at 1500 oC performed best with an iCE of 85–89% and a reversible capacity of 300–340 mAh g−1 at 10 mA g−1, with the majority of charge stored below 0.1 V. The d002 and the ID/IG ratio for the sample were ~3.7 Å and ~1.27, respectively, parameters indicative of the ideal local structure in HCs required for optimum performance in sodium-ion cells. In addition, galvanostatic tests on three-electrode half-cells cells revealed that sodium metal plating occurred as cycling rates were increased beyond 80 mA g−1 leading to considerably high capacity and poor coulombic efficiency, a point that must be considered in full-cell batteries. Pairing the hard CMS electrodes with Prussian white positive electrode, a proof-of-concept cell could provide a specific capacity of almost 100 mAh g−1 maintained for more than 50 cycles with a nominal voltage of 3 V.
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| 8. |
- Renier, Olivier, et al.
(författare)
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Shape Preserving Single Crystal to Amorphous to Single Crystal Polymorphic Transformation Is Possible
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 143:48, s. 20202-20206
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many crystalline materials form polymorphs and undergo solid–solid transitions between different forms as a function of temperature or pressure. However, there is still a poor understanding of the mechanism of transformation. Conclusions about the transformation process are typically drawn by comparing the crystal structures before and after the conversion, but gaining detailed mechanistic knowledge is strongly impeded by the generally fast rate of these transitions. When the crystal morphology does not change, it is assumed that crystallinity is maintained throughout the process. Here we report transformation between polymorphs of ZnCl2(1,3-diethylimidazole-2-thione)2 which are sufficiently slow to allow unambiguous assignment of single crystal to single crystal transformation with shape preservation proceeding through an amorphous intermediate phase. This result fundamentally challenges the commonly accepted views of polymorphic phase transition mechanisms.
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| 9. |
- Sauer, Christopher, 1993
(författare)
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Green aromatics for a bio-based economy - Valorization of biomass derived model compounds over zeolites studied by online analysis
- 2021
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the strive towards sustainable chemical production, its carbon-based products can no longer be produced from fossil resources but need to be manufactured from a renewable feedstock. Simple aromatic building blocks like benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) can be obtained by catalytic valorization of biomass derived platform molecules such as furans provided efficient catalysts can be formulated. To evaluate catalysts for the conversion of furans to BTX and study the involved catalytic reactions, advanced analytical methods are needed. The observation of dynamic responses in catalytic activity and selectivity necessitates time-resolved analysis of rather complex hydrocarbon (HC) streams. In this work, an online analysis method combining Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ion molecule reaction mass spectrometry has been developed for the direct monitoring of the effluent stream during conversion of furans over zeolite catalysts. The sampling frequency is shown to be at least 4 per minute, which is considerably higher compared to that of separation-based methods operating on time scales of several minutes. A wide range of HCs and other smaller molecules is identified and individual species quantified simultaneously. The carbon balance of around 90% shows that the vast majority of the complex HC stream is indeed analysed. The developed online analysis has been applied to catalytic step-response experiments, where different zeolites were exposed to concentration steps of 2,5-dimethylfuran at steady temperatures. It is found that the HC stream consists of a range of olefins and aromatics, including BTX. Most interestingly, 2,5-dimethylfuran is isomerized to 2,4-dimethylfuran as well as 2- and 3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one. The formation of BTX is linked to the availability of olefins, which is supported by temperature programmed desorption experiments. Furthermore, to build understanding of the catalytic mechanisms, surface species were characterised in situ by use of diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. It is clear that upon adsorption, 2,5-dimethylfuran interacts with the zeolite structure and undergoes transforming reactions to olefins and aromatics upon temperature increase, but further studies are necessary to comprehend how the rather low selectivity towards BTX can be increased by catalyst design.
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| 10. |
- Yang, Yizhou, 1992, et al.
(författare)
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A self-standing three-dimensional covalent organic framework film
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723 .- 2041-1723. ; 14:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Covalent crystals such as diamonds are a class of fascinating materials that are challenging to fabricate in the form of thin films. This is because spatial kinetic control of bond formation is required to create covalently bonded crystal films. Directional crystal growth is commonly achieved by chemical vapor deposition, an approach that is hampered by technical complexity and associated high cost. Here we report on a liquid-liquid interfacial approach based on physical-organic considerations to synthesize an ultrathin covalent crystal film. By distributing reactants into separate phases using hydrophobicity, the chemical reaction is confined to an interface that orients the crystal growth. A molecular-smooth interface combined with in-plane isotropic conditions enables the synthesis of films on a centimeter size scale with a uniform thickness of 13 nm. The film exhibits considerable mechanical robustness enabling a free-standing length of 37 µm, as well as a clearly anisotropic chemical structure and crystal lattice alignment.
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