S-doped carbon aerogels/GO composites as oxygen reduction catalysts

Composites of carbon aerogel and graphite oxide（GO） were synthesized using a self-assembly method based on dispersive forces. Their surface was modified by treatment in hydrogen sulfide at 650 and800 ℃. The samples obtained were characterized by adsorption of nitrogen, TA-MS, XPS, potentiometric titration, and HRTEM and tested as catalysts for oxygen reduction reactions（ORR） in an alkaline medium.The synergistic effect of the composite（electrical conductivity, porosity and surface chemistry） leads to a good ORR catalytic activity. The onset potential for the composite of carbon aerogel heated at 800 ℃ is shifted to a more positive value and the number of electron transfer was 2e-at the potential 0.68 V versus RHE and it increased to 4e-with an increase in the negative values of the potential. An excellent tolerance to methanol crossover was also recorded.

Machine learning for integrating combustion chemistry in numerical simulations

A strategy based on machine learning is discussed to close the gap between the detailed description of combustion chemistry and the numerical simulation of combustion systems.Indeed,the partial differential equations describ-ing chemical kinetics are stiffand involve many degrees of freedom,making their solving in three-dimensional unsteady simulations very challenging.It is discussed in this work how a reduction of the computing cost by an order of magnitude can be achieved using a set of neural networks trained for solving chemistry.The ther-mochemical database used for training is composed of time evolutions of stochastic particles carrying chemical species mass fractions and temperature according to a turbulent micro-mixing problem coupled with complex chemistry.The novelty of the work lies in the decomposition of the thermochemical hyperspace into clusters to facilitate the training of neural networks.This decomposition is performed with the Kmeans algorithm,a local principal component analysis is then applied to every cluster.This new methodology for combustion chemistry reduction is tested under conditions representative of a non-premixed syngas oxy-flame.

Selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide to formic acid on electrodeposited SnO_2@N-doped porous carbon catalysts

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO_2 is a promising route for energy storage and utilization. Herein we synthesized SnO_2 nanosheets and supported them on N-doped porous carbon (N-PC) by electrodeposition for the first time. The SnO_2 and N-PC in the SnO_2@N-PC composites had exellent synergistic effect for electrocatalytic reduction of CO_2 to HCOOH. The Faradaic efficiency of HCOOH could be as high as 94.1% with a current density of 28.4 mA cm-2 in ionic liquid-MeCN system. The reaction mechanism was proposed on the basis of some control experiments. This work opens a new way to prepare composite electrode for electrochemical reduction of CO_2.

A Fast and Highly Efficient Protocol for Reductive Amination of Aromatic Aldehydes Using NaBH4 and Isoxazole Amines in an Ionic Liquid Medium

Reductive amination of aromatic aldehydes using NaBH4 and isoxazole amines is carried out in a Bronsted acidic ionic liquid 1 -methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [（HMIm）BF4]. The ionic liquid plays dual roles of solvent as well as catalyst for the efficixcellent yields without any undesired side product formation. The newly synthesized compoundsent transformation of aromatic aldehydes to heterocyclic substituted amines in e （3, 6 and 7） were characterized by IR, 1H NMR and mass spectral techniques.

Ruthenium-promoted reductive transformation of CO2

The reductive transformation of CO_2 to energy related products including formic acid, CO, formamide, methanol and methylamine could be a promising option to supply renewable energy. In this aspect, ruthenium has found wide application in hydrogenation of various carbonyl groups, and has successfully been applied to reductive transformation of CO_2 with high catalytic efficiency and excellent selectivity. In addition, ruthenium complexes have also served as effective photosensitizers for CO_2 photoreduction.Classified by reductive products, this review summarizes and updates advances in the Ru-catalyzed reduction of CO_2 along with catalyst development on the basis of mechanistic understanding at a molecular level.