Among the potential non-food energy crops,the sugar-rich C4 grass sweet sorghum and the biomass-rich Miscanthus are increasingly considered as two leading candidates.Here,we outline the biological traits of these ener...Among the potential non-food energy crops,the sugar-rich C4 grass sweet sorghum and the biomass-rich Miscanthus are increasingly considered as two leading candidates.Here,we outline the biological traits of these energy crops for largescale production in China.We also review recent progress on understanding of plant cell wall composition and wall polymer features of both plant species from large populations that affect both biomass enzymatic digestibility and ethanol conversion rates under various pretreatment conditions.We finally propose genetic approaches to enhance biomass production,enzymatic digestibility and sugar-ethanol conversion efficiency of the energy crops.展开更多
Ethanol conversion to high-value-added products has attracted considerable attention in both academic research and industrial fields.In this study,we synthesized a series of tunable acid–base bifunctional Zn-Zr-Al me...Ethanol conversion to high-value-added products has attracted considerable attention in both academic research and industrial fields.In this study,we synthesized a series of tunable acid–base bifunctional Zn-Zr-Al metal oxides(represented as Zn2ZrxAl-MMO)in light of the structural topotactic transformation of Zn2ZrxAl-hydrotalcite precursors(Zn2ZrxAl-LDH).The resulting Zn2ZrxAl-MMO catalysts were employed in the conversion of ethanol to diethyl carbonate.The Zr^4+ ion content of the LDH precursor plays a key role in modulating the acid-base properties and determining catalytic performance:the Zn2Zr0.1Al-MMO sample exhibits the optimal catalytic behavior with a diethyl carbonate(DEC)yield of 42.1%,which is the highest reported for metal oxide catalysts.Structure-property correlation investigations revealed that the synergic catalysis between medium-strong basic sites and weak acid sites plays a predominant role in the catalytic behavior.Furthermore,in situ Fourier transform infrared measurements showed that the weak acidic site promotes activation adsorption of the reactant(urea)and the intermediate product(ethyl carbamate),while the medium-strong basic site accelerates ethanol activation.Moreover,the Zn2Zr0.1Al-MMO catalyst has the advantages of cost effectiveness,good stability,and reusability.Therefore,the acid-base bifunctional catalysts developed in this work can be employed as promising candidates in acid-base catalytic reactions such as ethanol conversion.展开更多
The direct conversion of ethanol to 1,1-diethoxyethane(DEE)through one-pot dehydrogenation-acetalization has attracted broad interest from both academia and industry.Based on thermodynamics,the oxidative dehydrogenati...The direct conversion of ethanol to 1,1-diethoxyethane(DEE)through one-pot dehydrogenation-acetalization has attracted broad interest from both academia and industry.Based on thermodynamics,the oxidative dehydrogenation of alcohol to acetaldehyde requires high temperature to activate oxygen to realize the C-H cleavage,while the acetalization of acetaldehyde with ethanol is exothermic reversible reaction favorable at low temperature.The mismatching of the reaction condition for the two consecutive steps makes it a great challenge to achieve both high ethanol conversion and high DEE selectivity.This work reports a highly efficient bi-functional catalysis by Bi/BiCeO_(x)for one-pot oxidative dehydrogenation-acetalization route from ethanol to DEE under 150℃and ambient pressure,affording a selectivity of 98.5%±0.5%to DEE at an ethanol conversion of 87.0%±1.0%.An efficient tandem catalysis has been achieved on the interfacial Bi^(δ)+-Ov-Ce^(III)sites in Bi/BiCeO_(x)established by strong metal-support interaction,in which Biδ+-Ov-sites contribute to the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethanol at mild temperature,and-Ov-CeIII sites to the subsequent acetalization between the generated acetaldehyde and ethanol.展开更多
Photoluminescence （PL） conversion of Si nanoparticles by absorbing ultraviolet （UV） lights and emitting visible ones has been used to improve the efficiency of crystalline Si solar cells. Si nanoparticle thin film...Photoluminescence （PL） conversion of Si nanoparticles by absorbing ultraviolet （UV） lights and emitting visible ones has been used to improve the efficiency of crystalline Si solar cells. Si nanoparticle thin films are prepared by pulverizing porous Si in ethanol and then mixing the suspension with a SiO2 sol-gel （SOG）. This SOG is spin-deposited onto the surface of the Si solar cells and dries in air. The short-circuit current as a function of Si nanoparticle concentration is investigated under UV illumination. The maximal increase is found at a Si concentration of 0.1 mg/mL. At such concentration and under the irradiation of an AM0 solar simulator, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the crystalline Si solar cell is relatively increased by 2.16% because of the PL conversion.展开更多
基金supported by grants from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Project , China (2013QC042)the Fundamental Research Funds for the 111 Project of Ministry of Education of China (B08032)the Starting Foundation for Changjiang Scholars Program of Ministry of Education of China (52204-14004)
文摘Among the potential non-food energy crops,the sugar-rich C4 grass sweet sorghum and the biomass-rich Miscanthus are increasingly considered as two leading candidates.Here,we outline the biological traits of these energy crops for largescale production in China.We also review recent progress on understanding of plant cell wall composition and wall polymer features of both plant species from large populations that affect both biomass enzymatic digestibility and ethanol conversion rates under various pretreatment conditions.We finally propose genetic approaches to enhance biomass production,enzymatic digestibility and sugar-ethanol conversion efficiency of the energy crops.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program(2017YFA0206804)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21871021,21521005)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(buctylkxj01,XK1802-6)~~
文摘Ethanol conversion to high-value-added products has attracted considerable attention in both academic research and industrial fields.In this study,we synthesized a series of tunable acid–base bifunctional Zn-Zr-Al metal oxides(represented as Zn2ZrxAl-MMO)in light of the structural topotactic transformation of Zn2ZrxAl-hydrotalcite precursors(Zn2ZrxAl-LDH).The resulting Zn2ZrxAl-MMO catalysts were employed in the conversion of ethanol to diethyl carbonate.The Zr^4+ ion content of the LDH precursor plays a key role in modulating the acid-base properties and determining catalytic performance:the Zn2Zr0.1Al-MMO sample exhibits the optimal catalytic behavior with a diethyl carbonate(DEC)yield of 42.1%,which is the highest reported for metal oxide catalysts.Structure-property correlation investigations revealed that the synergic catalysis between medium-strong basic sites and weak acid sites plays a predominant role in the catalytic behavior.Furthermore,in situ Fourier transform infrared measurements showed that the weak acidic site promotes activation adsorption of the reactant(urea)and the intermediate product(ethyl carbamate),while the medium-strong basic site accelerates ethanol activation.Moreover,the Zn2Zr0.1Al-MMO catalyst has the advantages of cost effectiveness,good stability,and reusability.Therefore,the acid-base bifunctional catalysts developed in this work can be employed as promising candidates in acid-base catalytic reactions such as ethanol conversion.
基金support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.22138001 and 21521005)the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2017YFA0206804)is acknowledged.
文摘The direct conversion of ethanol to 1,1-diethoxyethane(DEE)through one-pot dehydrogenation-acetalization has attracted broad interest from both academia and industry.Based on thermodynamics,the oxidative dehydrogenation of alcohol to acetaldehyde requires high temperature to activate oxygen to realize the C-H cleavage,while the acetalization of acetaldehyde with ethanol is exothermic reversible reaction favorable at low temperature.The mismatching of the reaction condition for the two consecutive steps makes it a great challenge to achieve both high ethanol conversion and high DEE selectivity.This work reports a highly efficient bi-functional catalysis by Bi/BiCeO_(x)for one-pot oxidative dehydrogenation-acetalization route from ethanol to DEE under 150℃and ambient pressure,affording a selectivity of 98.5%±0.5%to DEE at an ethanol conversion of 87.0%±1.0%.An efficient tandem catalysis has been achieved on the interfacial Bi^(δ)+-Ov-Ce^(III)sites in Bi/BiCeO_(x)established by strong metal-support interaction,in which Biδ+-Ov-sites contribute to the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethanol at mild temperature,and-Ov-CeIII sites to the subsequent acetalization between the generated acetaldehyde and ethanol.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2010CB933703)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.60878044)
文摘Photoluminescence （PL） conversion of Si nanoparticles by absorbing ultraviolet （UV） lights and emitting visible ones has been used to improve the efficiency of crystalline Si solar cells. Si nanoparticle thin films are prepared by pulverizing porous Si in ethanol and then mixing the suspension with a SiO2 sol-gel （SOG）. This SOG is spin-deposited onto the surface of the Si solar cells and dries in air. The short-circuit current as a function of Si nanoparticle concentration is investigated under UV illumination. The maximal increase is found at a Si concentration of 0.1 mg/mL. At such concentration and under the irradiation of an AM0 solar simulator, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the crystalline Si solar cell is relatively increased by 2.16% because of the PL conversion.
