Efficient CO_(2) fixation with acetophenone on Ag-CeO_(2) electrocatalyst by a double activation strategy

The electrocarboxylation reaction is an attractive means to convert CO_(2) into valuable chemicals under ambient conditions,while it still suffers from low efficiency due to the high stability of CO_(2).In this work,we report a double activation strategy for simultaneously activating CO_(2) and acetophenone by silver-doped CeO_(2)(Ag-CeO_(2)) nanowires,featuring as an effective electrocatalyst for electrocarboxylation of acetophenone with CO_(2).Compared to the Ag foil,Ag nanoparticles and CeO_(2) nanowires,the Ag-CeO_(2)nanowire catalyst allowed to reduce the onset potential difference between CO_(2) and acetophenone activation,thus enabling efficient electrocarboxylation to form 2-phenyllactic acid.The Faradaic efficiency for producing 2-phenyllactic acid reached 91%at−1.8 V versus Ag/AgI.This double activation strategy of activating both CO_(2)and organic substrate molecules can benefit the catalyst design to improve activities and selectivities in upgrading CO_(2)fixation for higher-value electrocarboxylation.

Formation mechanism of electroless plating nickel-based composite coating on highly active rare earth magnesium alloys and its corrosion resistance and adhesion performance

The process of preparing anodic oxide film containing active sites and electroless nickel plating on highly active rare earth magnesium alloy was developed.The formation mechanism of electroless nickel plating on active anodic oxide film and the structure and properties of the composite coating were studied by several surface and electrochemical techniques.The results showed that Ag nanograins with an average size of 10 nm were embedded into the anodic oxide film with pores of 0.1−2μm.Ag nanoparticles provided a catalytic site for the deposition of Ni-B alloy,and the Ni crystal nucleus was first grown in horizontal mode and then in cylindrical mode.The corrosion potential of the composite coating increased by 1.37 V and the corrosion current reduced two orders of magnitude due to the subsequent deposition of Ni-P alloy.The high corrosion resistance was attributed to the misaligning of these micro defects in the three different layers and the amorphous structure of the Ni-P alloy in the outer layer.These findings provide a new idea for electroless nickel plating on anodic oxide film.

Citric acid-assisted synthesis of nano-Ag/BiO Br with enhanced photocatalytic activity

In this study, silver nano-particles have been anchored in the surface of Bi OBr photocatalysts by a citric acid-assisted photoreduction method. The citric acid was served as a chelating and reductive agent for the preparation of Ag-decorated Bi OBr photocatalysts(named as Ag/Bi OBr-2). The as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), and UV-Vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy(DRS). The Ag/Bi OBr-2 photocatalyst exhibited excellent and stable photocatalytic activities on MO and phenol degradation under simulated sunlight irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be ascribed to the smaller size, rough surface, and the surface plasma resonance(SPR) effect of Ag. Also, the Schottky junction, between the surface of the Bi OBr and silver nanoparticles, accelerated the efficient transfer and separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs and promoted the photocatalytic performance. The active species tests indicated that the superoxide radical(·O-2) was responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic performance of Ag/Bi OBr-2. Finally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed.