Reduction of Aromatic α-Keto Esters by Commercially Available Zinc Dust and Ammonium Formate: Formation of Aromatic α-Hydroxy Esters

Various aromatic α-keto esters were rapidly and selectively reduced to aromatic α-hydroxy esters by commercially available zinc dust and ammonium formate in the presence of other functional groups such as halogens, methoxy and esters.

Aqueous Solution Preparation of Ruthenium Nanoparticles Using Ammonium Formate as the Reducing Agent

Ruthenium, one of the platinum group metals, has drawn much attention due to its catalytic behavior, hardness, electrical conductivity and density. Ruthenium particles are usually prepared on a small scale by the polyol process, however, the size of the obtained ruthenium nanoparticles is most below 10 nm. In this work, ruthenium particles about 200 nm in diameter were obtained in aqueous solution by using ammonium formate as the reducing agent. To have a better control of particle's size and shape, the effects of PVP, mixing mode, reaction temperature, solution pH and calcination temperature were investigated.

Reducing surficial and interfacial defects by thiocyanate ionic liquid additive and ammonium formate passivator for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells

Organic–inorganic metal halide perovskites have attained extensive attention owing to their outstanding photovoltaic performances,but the existence of numerous defects in crystalline perovskites is still a serious constraint for the further development of perovskite solar cells(PSCs).In particular,the rapid crystallization guided by anti-solvents leads to plenty of surficial and interfacial defects in perovskite films.Herein,we report the adoption of a pseudo-halide anion based ionic liquid additive,1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate(BMIMSCN)for growing ternary cation(CsFAMA,where FA=formamidinium and MA=methylammonium)perovskites with large-scale crystal grains and strong preferential orientation via the enhanced Ostwald ripening.Meanwhile,a novel halide-free passivator,benzylammonium formate(BAFa),was employed as a buffering layer on the perovskite films to suppress surface-dominated charge recombination.As a result,the cooperative effects of BMIMSCN additive and BAFa passivator lead to significant enhancements on fluorescence lifetime(from 79.41 to 201.01 ns),open-circuit voltage(from 1.13 to 1.19 V),photoelectric conversion efficiency(from 18.90%to 22.33%).Moreover,the BMIMSCN/BAFa-CsFAMA PSCs demonstrated greatly improved stability against moisture and heat.This work suggests a promising strategy to improve the quality of perovskite materials via reducing the surficial and interfacial defects by the synergistic effects of lattice doping and interface engineering.

New insights into the formation of ammonium nitrate from a physical and chemical level perspective

High levels of fine particulate matter(PM_(2.5))is linked to poor air quality and premature deaths,so haze pollution deserves the attention of the world.As abundant inorganic components in PM_(2.5),ammonium nitrate(NH_(4)NO_(3))formation includes two processes,the diffusion process(molecule of ammonia and nitric acid move from gas phase to liquid phase)and the ionization process(subsequent dissociation to form ions).In this study,we discuss the impact of meteorological factors,emission sources,and gaseous precursors on NH4NO3 formation based on thermodynamic theory,and identify the dominant factors during clean periods and haze periods.Results show that aerosol liquid water content has a more significant effect on ammonium nitrate formation regardless of the severity of pollution.The dust source is dominant emission source in clean periods;while a combination of coal combustion and vehicle exhaust sources is more important in haze periods.And the control of ammonia emission is more effective in reducing the formation of ammonium nitrate.The findings of this work inform the design of effective strategies to control particulate matter pollution.

Growth of nitrate contribution to aerosol pollution during wintertime in Xi'an,northwest China:Formation mechanism and effects of NH_(3)

With the strengthened controls on SO2 emissions and extensive increases in motor vehicles'exhaust,aerosol pollution shifts from sulfate-rich to nitrate-rich in recent years in Xi'an,China.To further gain insights into the factors on nitrate formation and efficiently mitigate air pollution,highly time-resolved observations of water-soluble inorganic ions(WSIIs)in PM_(2.5) were measured in a suburban area of Xi'an,China during wintertime.Hourly concentration of total WSIIs is 39.8μg m-3 on average,accounting for 50.3%of PM_(2.5) mass.In contrast to a slight decrease in the mass fraction of SO_(4)^(2-),NO_(3)-shows a sig-nificant increase of the PM_(2.5) contribution with the aggravation of aerosol pollution.This suggests the importance of NO_(3)-formation to haze evolution.Furthermore,homogeneous reactions govern the formation of NO_(3)-,while alkali metals such as calcium and sodium play an additional role in retaining NO_(3)-in PM_(2.5) during clean periods.However,the heterogeneous hydrolysis reaction contributed more to NO_(3)-formation during the pollution periods under high relative humidity.Our investigation reveals that temperature,relative humidity,oxidant,and ammonia emissions facilitate rapid NO_(3)-formation.Using the random forest(RF)model,NO_(3)-concentrations were successfully simulated with measured variables for the training and testing datasets(R2>0.95).Among these variables,CO,NH_(3),and NO_(2) were found to be the main factors affecting the NO_(3)-concentrations.Compared with the period without vehicle re-striction,the contributions of NO_(3)-and NH4+to PM_(2.5) mass decreased by 5.3%and 3.4%in traffic re-striction periods,respectively.The vehicle restriction leads to the decreases of precursor gases of NO_(2),SO_(2),and NH_(3) by 12.8%,5.9%,and 27.6%,respectively.The results demonstrate collaborative emission reduction of NO_(x) and NH_(3) by vehicle restrictions,and using new energy vehicles(or electric vehicles)can effectively alleviate particulate matter pollution in northwest China.