Comparative Study of Catalytic Activity of Recyclable Au/Fe3O4 Microparticles for Reduction Of 2,4-Dinitrophenol and Anionic, Cationic Azo Dyes

We synthesized Au/Fe3O4 microparticles. Initially, citrate-capped Fe3O4 micro-sized particles were synthesized by the co-precipitation method with an excess amount of trisodium citrate. Gold ions were reduced on the surface of citrate-capped Fe3O4 and grew as gold sub-microparticles with an average diameter of 210 nm on the surface. The characteristic SPR peak of gold nanoparticles on the surface of Fe3O4 was detected at 584 nm, whereas the absorption in the near-infrared region was increased. SEM images has proved that the synthesized Au/Fe3O4 composite microparticles has an average diameter of 1.7 micrometers. The results of XRD patterns proved the existence of both crystal phases of Fe3O4 and Au particles. To investigate the catalytic activity, the reaction rate constant of reduction of 2,4-dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP) and degradation of Congo red (CR), and methylene blue (MB) with NaBH4 in the presence of Au/Fe3O4 catalyst was monitored by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The initial reaction rate constant calculated from the change in characteristic peak absorptions of 2,4-dinitrophenol was 3.97×10-3 s-1, while the reaction rate constants for the degradation of CR and MB were 9.72×10-3 s-1 and 14.25×10-3 s-1 respectively. After 5 cycles, Au/Fe3O4 microparticles preserved 99 % of the reaction rate constant, exhibiting considerable recycling efficiency in the reduction of nitro groups.

Development of an integrated high-voltage electron microscope-gas chromatograph-quadrupole mass spectrometer system for the operando analysis of catalytic gas reactions

This paper describes the development of a gas chromatography-quadrupole mass spectrometry system attached to a differential-pumping-type environmental cell of the reaction science high-voltage electron microscopy instrument at Nagoya University to distinguish unambiguously between different gas species with the same mass-to-charge ratio. Several model experiments were used to verify the efficacy of the newly proposed system, confirming its ability to analye the atomic-level structural changes during heterogeneous catalysts and the associated gas-reaction kinetics simultaneously, providing new insights into operando measurements in the field of environmental transmission electron microscopy.

Annealing temperature effects on monolayer WS2-veiled Ag nanoparticle array for surface catalytic reaction

Plasmonic-WS2 hybrids have attracted widespread interest for plasmon driven catalytic reactions. In this work, a Ag nanoparticles (NPs)/WS2 hybrid was fabricated by utilizing a one-step anodized Al template-assisted vacuum thermal evaporation technique and wet transfer method. To optimize the catalytic performance, the morphological evolution and corresponding changes in the catalytic properties of the Ag NPs/WS2 hybrid at different thermal annealing temperatures were investigated. It was found that the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and catalytic activity of the hybrid were optimized by tuning the annealing temperature, with the optimal SERS and catalytic properties observed at 290 °C. These results may open new avenues for improving the efficiency and expanding the research field of plasmon-driven reactions.

Performance and profiling data of plane-wave calculations in quantum ESPRESSO simulation on three supercomputing centres

This dataset reflects the parallel execution profiles of five Quantum ESPRESSO simulation (QE) versions in finding the total energy of the Cerium Oxide lattice using the self-consistent field (SCF) method. The data analysis used a strong scale setting to identify the optimal parameters and computing resources needed to complete a single SCF loop for one specific material efficiently. This analysis notably contributed to achieving the Best Performance Award at the 5th APAC HPC-AI Competition. The data comprises three sets. The first set features the parallel execution traces captured via the Extrae performance profiling tool, offering a broad view of the QE's model execution behaviour and how it used computational resources. The second set records how long QE's model ran on a single node at three HPC centres: ThaiSC TARA in Thailand, NSCC ASPIRE-1 in Singapore, and NCI Gadi in Australia. This set focuses on the impact of adjusting three parameters for K-point parallelisation. The final set presents benchmarking data generated by scaling out the QE's model across 32 nodes (1,536 CPU cores) on the NCI Gadi supercomputer. Despite its focus on a single material, the dataset serves as a roadmap for researchers to estimate required computational resources and understand scalability bottlenecks, offering general guidelines adaptable across different HPC systems.

Concave gold nano-arrows (AuCNAs) for efficient catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Anisotropic gold nanostructures have attracted great attention in different fields including catalysis. Thermodynamically driven selective surface growth offers a reliable and reproducible method for anisotropic gold nanoparticle synthesis with specific morphologies. Herein, monocrystalline concave gold nano-arrows (AuCNAs) are prepared by the over-growth method using Au nanorods (AuNRs) as seeds. The as-prepared AuCNAs consist of a biconical head and four concave structures. Interestingly, silver ions (Ag⁺) concentration significantly affects the product morphology by tuning the peak positions of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), aspect ratio, arrow, and concave morphology of AuCNAs. The position of longitudinal SPR peaks is observed at 810, 805 and 782 nm at [Ag⁺]/[Au³⁺] molar ratios of 1:2, 1:1, and 2:1, respectively. Diameters and lengths of AuCNAs varied from 25 nm to 36 nm; 104 nm, 78 nm, and 120 nm, respectively. Additionally, the AuCNAs are applied for the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in presence of excess NaBH₄. Compared to gold nanorods (AuNRs), the prepared AuCNAs catalyst shows excellent catalytic activity, demonstrating that concave structures and sharp corners significantly enhance the catalytic activity. The value of pseudo-first-order reaction kinetic constants (k_app) increased from 0.0051 to 0.0195 s^-1 with increasing catalyst valume from 7.5 to 37.5 μL. The highest normalized reaction rate constant (K_nor) and turnover frequency (TOF) reach 5.84 × 10⁴ min^-1 mmol^-1 and 443.47 h^-1, respectively, at [Ag⁺]/[Au³⁺] ratio of 1:1 in AuCNAs catalyst. This study expands catalytic applications of anisotropic gold nanostructures and widens their potential application areas, such as surface plasmon exciton photonics, biomedical photonics, and photocatalysis.

Effects analysis on hydrocarbon light-off performance of a catalytic gasoline particulate filter during cold start

In order to study the hydrocarbon combustion in the low-temperature catalytic process of a catalytic gasoline particulate filter (CGPF) during cold start, a mathematical model of the CGPF is established and verified firstly. Then, take T₅₀ (a temperature when the hydrocarbon conversion rate reaches 50%) as hydrocarbon light-off (LO) temperature; the effects of different exhaust parameters and structural parameters on hydrocarbon light-off performance and reaction rate are investigated based on simulation results. Finally, orthogonal experiment analysis is employed to further obtain the most significant factors and suggested parameter solution. The results show that the hydrocarbon LO performance of the CGPF during cold start is positively correlated with exhaust oxygen concentration, porosity, and filter length, but it is negatively correlated with exhaust flow rate and exhaust water vapor concentration. In addition, the inlet of the channel has a significant HC reaction when the oxygen concentration reaches 2.2%, and porosity mainly influences the front half part of the filter. Moreover, the influence degree relationship of the five factors is oxygen > mass flow > porosity > length > water vapor, and the optimum solution of length, vapor, mass flow, porosity, and oxygen is 150 mm, 12.31%, 0.002 kg/s, 0.55, and 2.2%, respectively. This work offers us great reference value for CGPF performance enhancement and hydrocarbon abatement of a GDI engine.

Plasmon-driven photocatalytic reaction based on gold microsphere array

Plasma-driven photocatalytic reactions have great research value in the fields of energy utilization, environmental pollution treatment and micro-nano information encryption. In most cases, the substrates used to study photocatalytic reactions are dispersed and disordered, which leads to poor signal reproducibility and makes it difficult to realize applications in the field of quantitative analysis. In this paper, two different sizes of polystyrene (PS) microspheres were used as templates to prepare gold microsphere arrays (Au MA) with homogeneous particle size and regular arrangement. The p-Aminothiophenol (PATP) was selected as the probe molecule to systematically investigate the photocatalytic reaction on Au MA, and the dependence of the photocatalytic reaction on the particle size of the spheres was discussed. It was found that the smaller size of Au MA has higher catalytic activity. In addition, using conventional gold films as a comparison, no significant photocatalytic reaction was found under the same experimental conditions. The reason is the existence of strong surface plasma "hot spots" in the interstices of the particles on the surface of the Au MA, which promotes the reaction. The above experimental results are of theoretical and practical significance for the in-depth study of the photocatalytic effect of micro-nano array catalytic substrates.

Solid-solid synthesis of covalent organic framework as a support for growth of controllable ultrafine Au nanoparticles

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are promising supports for the synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles (NM NPs) with controllable sizes and dispersities. However, it is still challenging to synthesize COFs using green and efficient routes. Herein, COFs (TpMA) were prepared by ball milling, which required less solvent and time. They were then used as a support for the growth of ultrafine Au NPs. Using the COFs as supports, five size-controlled ultrafine Au NPs (2.5 ± 0.55- 4.32 ± 1.39 nm) were synthesized (Au@TpMA). It was found that the Au NPs exhibited remarkable dispersibility owing to the support of TpMA. The reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol was used as a model reaction to evaluate the performance of the Au@TpMA catalyst, which showed excellent catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. The Au@TpMA catalyst exhibited good stability and recyclability, and the reduction rate was 95% at the end of six successive experiments. In addition, in the presence of the Au@TpMA catalyst, the maximum pseudo-first-order reaction rate constant of 4-nitrophenol was 0.2379 min^-1. From the results of this study, we hope that using COFs-based supports prepared by ball milling for the size-controlled synthesis of NM NPs provides a path forward for the mechanical synthesis of other COFs.

Recent advances on botanical biosynthesis of nanoparticles for catalytic, water treatment and agricultural applications: A review

Green synthesis of nanoparticles using plant extracts minimizes the usage of toxic chemicals or energy. Here, we concentrate on the green synthesis of nanoparticles using natural compounds from plant extracts and their applications in catalysis, water treatment and agriculture. Polyphenols, flavonoid, rutin, quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, coumarin, and gallic acid in the plant extracts engage in the reduction and stabilization of green nanoparticles. Ten types of nanoparticles involving Ag, Au, Cu, Pt, CuO, ZnO, MgO, TiO₂, Fe₃O₄, and ZrO₂ with emphasis on their formation mechanism are illuminated. We find that green nanoparticles serve as excellent, and recyclable catalysts for reduction of nitrophenols and synthesis of organic compounds with high yields of 83-100% and at least 5 recycles. Many emerging pollutants such as synthetic dyes, antibiotics, heavy metal and oils are effectively mitigated (90-100%) using green nanoparticles. In agriculture, green nanoparticles efficiently immobilize toxic compounds in soil. They are also sufficient nanopesticides to kill harmful larvae, and nanoinsecticides against dangerous vectors of pathogens. As potential nanofertilizers and nanoagrochemicals, green nanoparticles will open a revolution in green agriculture for sustainable development.

Effect of MoS2 on phenol decomposition in water after high-voltage pulse discharge treatment

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) was added to the system after being treated with high-voltage pulse discharge plasma to improve the degradation efficiency of pollutants and reduce energy consumption. The discharge plasma-treated solution contains hydrogen peroxide and metal iron ions, and MoS₂ addition can cause co-catalytic Fenton reaction. The effects of discharge time, initial pH, phenol concentration, MoS₂ dosage, discharge voltage, and gas type on phenol removal and aqueous H₂O₂ concentration were mainly investigated. Results showed that the addition of MoS₂ after plasma treatment can reduce the plasma treatment time by 70% and maintain or even increase the degradation efficiency of phenol from 40% (after 20 min of discharge plasma) to 92% (after turning off the discharge and dosing with MoS₂ for 30 min). Acidic conditions (pH = 3-4) and oxygen were beneficial to phenol removal. MoS₂ addition greatly improved the catalytic oxidation of discharge plasma. This study provides a promising direction for water treatment based on plasma technology.

Investigate on plasma catalytic reaction of 4-nitrobenzenethiol on Ag@SiO2Core-Shell substrate via Surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a promising technique to investigate the plasmon-driven catalytic reaction, in which the Raman signal originates from the electromagnetic (EM)enhancement mechanism and the chemical enhancement (CE) mechanism. Here, we designed and synthesized a novel SERS substrate based on SiO₂ wrapped Ag nanoparticles (Ag@SiO₂ core-shell nanoparticles substrate, Ag@SiO₂ CSNS). Meanwhile, the SERS substrate based on Ag nanoparticles (Ag NS) also was prepared for comparison. Then, plasmon-driven catalytic reaction of 4-nitrobenzenethiol (4-NBT) to p,p'-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) were systematically investigated on Ag and Ag@SiO₂, respectively. The result revealed that, the Fermi level of Ag@SiO₂ CSNS is lower than Ag NS, and the catalytic reaction greatly hindered by the Ag@SiO₂ CSNS under the same excitation laser wavelength. With the same condition excitation laser, Raman signal enhancement effects are different when applying Ag NS and Ag@SiO₂ CSNS, which could be attributed to that the inert SiO₂ shell eliminates CE mechanism of the Raman signal. These results provide a simple strategy to figure out the mechanism of the catalytic reaction based on Surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

Controllable plasmon-induced catalytic reaction by surface-enhanced and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

The controllable catalytic reaction plays a pivotal role in heterogeneous catalysis. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) are considered promising techniques for the study of catalytic reactions due to the highly localized sensitivity of SERS and the nanoscale spatial resolution of TERS. Herein, Ag/Au composite films were employed as catalyst for in situ monitoring of the catalytic reaction of 4‑nitrobenzenethiol (4NBT) to p, p'‑dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB). The catalytic reaction of 4NBT adsorbed on Au film can be manipulated at the nanoscale using TERS by controlling the height between the tip-apex and the sample surface in Ag tip-Au substrate geometry. According to finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations, the 'hot electron' induced by the localized surface plasmon is sufficient for promoting the catalytic reaction. These findings provide a novel way for controllable graph drawing of molecules at the nanoscale level.

Cascade catalytic nanoplatform for enhanced starvation and sonodynamic therapy

Background: Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has emerged as an alternative to the traditional treatments of cancer. However, the oxygen consumption induced by SDT and glucose oxidase (GOx) mediated starvation therapy would worsen the hypoxic tumor environment, which further impeded therapeutic efficacy. Purpose: To develop a nanoplatform and investigate its anti-cancer mechanism for enhanced starvation and SDT.Methods: We constructed a cascade catalytic nanoplatform based on GOx modified the mesoporous MnO₂ NPs loaded with hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether (HMME), which were designated as GOx-MnO₂/HMME. We characterized them for their catalytic activity, and investigate the magnetic resonance imaging and anti-tumor efficiency in vitro and in vivo.Results: MnO₂ NPs with catalase-like activity could oxidize H₂O₂ under acid condition to produce O₂, which not only in turn was supplied to the glucose-depletion reaction for an efficient starvation therapy, but also enhanced the ¹O₂ generation for HMME mediated SDT effect. In addition, the released Mn²⁺ ions in the system were able to enhance the MRI signal. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments suggested the cascade catalytic-therapeutic effect between GOx, MnO₂ NPs and HMME, demonstrating the enhanced starvation and SDT.

N2 yields from monochloramine conversion by granular activated carbons are decisive for effective swimming pool water treatment

Inorganic chloramines (mono-, di- and trichloramine) are formed in swimming pool water from the unintended reaction of free chlorine with ammonia that is introduced by bathers. Monochloramine is of particular interest as it is known to react further in pool water forming harmful DBPs, such carcinogenic N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). During pool water treatment with granular activated carbon (GAC) filters, monochloramine is transformed by chemical reactions on the carbon surface to N₂ and ammonia. As ammonia is led back into the pool where it is chlorinated again under the renewed formation of inorganic chloramines, it is recommended to use GACs with a high N₂ yield for monochloramine transformation in pool water treatment. In this study, yields of N₂ and ammonia from monochloramine conversion by commercially available GACs were determined using a fixed-bed reactor system under conditions that are typical for swimming pool water treatment. The N₂ yields remained constant with on-going exposure of the GAC to monochloramine and ranged from 0.5% to 21.3%, depending on the type of GAC used. Correlation analyses were conducted to identify carbon properties that can determine the N₂ yield for monochloramine conversion, such as the amount of oxygen groups, the elemental composition and the trace metal content. It was found that the N₂ yield significantly correlates with the copper content of the tested carbons. Model calculations combining pool hydraulics with formation/abatement of inorganic chloramines and NDMA as well as chloramine transformations in GAC filters showed that the concentration of inorganic chloramines and carcinogenic NDMA can be decreased by a factor of ∼2, if the tested GACs could be modified to convert up to ∼50% of the monochloramine to N₂.

Catalytic ozonation of sulfamethoxazole by composite iron-manganese silicate oxide: cooperation mechanism between adsorption and catalytic reaction

A systematic investigation of the cooperation mechanism between adsorption and catalytic reaction during the catalytic ozonation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) by composite iron-manganese silicate oxide (FMSO) was carried out in this work. Results showed that the total organic carbon (TOC) removal increased significantly from 27 % (sole-ozonation) to 79.8 % (FMSO catalytic ozonation). The presence of FMSO in the ozonation process effectively enhanced the ozone utilization efficiency and accelerated the transformation of ozone into hydroxyl radicals. The latter result was verified by the indirect method, using NaHSO₃ as the reductor, and the direct electron spin resonance (ESR) determination technology. The adsorption of SMX on FMSO was minimal (1.8 %). However, ozone rapidly converted SMX into various intermediates, which was exhibited by the much higher adsorption affinity on the surface of FMSO than that of SMX. The accumulation of various intermediates on the FMSO surface also increased their contact probability with the ·OH radicals generated by the ozone decomposition. The continuous interaction of intermediates with ·OH radicals could further promote the benign cycling of the release of adsorption sites and the succeeding adsorption/decomposition of ozone and intermediates on FMSO. This could be another reason for the higher and faster TOC removal rate.