Search
Results
-
Environmental and economic potential of decentralised electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis powered by solar energy
(2023)Energy & Environmental ScienceIntense efforts have been devoted to developing green and blue centralised Haber-Bosch processes (gHB and bHB, respectively), but the feasibility of a decentralised and more sustainable scheme has yet to be assessed. Here we reveal the conditions under which small-scale systems (NH3-leaves) based on the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrogen (eN(2)R) powered by photovoltaic energy could realise a decentralised scheme competitive in terms ...Journal Article -
Absolute environmental sustainability assessment of renewable dimethyl ether fuelled heavy-duty trucks
(2023)Sustainable Energy & FuelsIn recent years, liquid fuels from renewable carbon that can replace fossil ones with minimal infrastructure changes have attracted increasing interest in decarbonising the heavy-duty long-haul sector. Here we focus on dimethyl ether (DME), a promising alternative to diesel due to its high cetane number, oxygen content, and more efficient and cleaner propulsion that results in low particulate matter and sulphur oxide emissions. Going well ...Journal Article -
An artificial leaf device built with earth-abundant materials for combined H2 production and storage as formate with efficiency > 10%
(2023)Energy & Environmental ScienceA major challenge for achieving energy transition and transforming the current energy model into distributed production is the development of efficient artificial leaf-type devices capable of directly converting carbon dioxide (CO2), water and sunlight into sustainable fuels and chemicals under ambient conditions. These devices should avoid using critical raw materials to be sustainable and cost-competitive. We report top-level results ...Journal Article -
Redispersion strategy for high-loading carbon-supported metal catalysts with controlled nuclearity
(2022)Journal of Materials Chemistry ASupported low-nuclearity metal catalysts integrating single atoms or small clusters have emerged as promising materials for diverse applications. While sophisticated synthetic methods provide a high level of nuclearity control in the subnanometre regime, these routes do not fulfil the requirements for translation into industrial practice of (i) effectiveness for high metal contents and (ii) facile scalability. Herein, we present a gas-phase ...Journal Article -
Ten years of Catalysis Science & Technology
(2022)Catalysis Science & TechnologyOther Journal Item -
Mechanistic routes toward C3 products in copper-catalysed CO2 electroreduction
(2022)Catalysis Science & TechnologyThe electrocatalytic CO2 reduction (eCO2R) reaction powered by renewable electricity holds promise for the sustainable production of multi-carbon chemicals and fuels. On Cu-based catalysts, ethylene and ethanol (C2) have been produced in appreciable amounts. C3 products (mostly terminal oxygenates) have limited yields, whereas propylene is puzzlingly absent. Herein, we devise a divide-and-conquer strategy to explain the formation of the ...Journal Article -
Assessing the environmental benefit of palladium-based single-atom heterogeneous catalysts for Sonogashira coupling
(2022)Green ChemistryThe Pd-Cu catalysed Sonogashira coupling of terminal alkynes and aryl halides is a cornerstone synthetic strategy for C-C bond formation. Homogeneous organometallic systems conventionally applied are typically not reusable and require efficient downstream Pd removal steps for product purification, making it challenging to fully recover the precious metal. A holistic cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) unveils that process footprint ...Journal Article -
Planetary metrics for the absolute environmental sustainability assessment of chemicals
(2021)Green ChemistryEnvironmental assessments in green chemistry often rely on simplified metrics that enable comparisons between alternative routes but fail to shed light on whether they are truly sustainable in absolute terms, viz. relative to the Earth's ecological capacity. To expand our currently limited knowledge of the extent to which chemicals are environmentally sustainable, here we analyse 492 chemical products through the lens of seven planetary ...Journal Article -
Process modelling and life cycle assessment coupled with experimental work to shape the future sustainable production of chemicals and fuels
(2021)Reaction Chemistry & EngineeringMeeting the sustainable development goals and carbon neutrality targets requires transitioning to cleaner products, which poses significant challenges to the future chemical industry. Identifying alternative pathways to cover the growing demand for chemicals and fuels in a more sustainable manner calls for close collaborative programs between experimental and computational groups as well as new tools to support these joint endeavours. In ...Journal Article -
Substrate substitution effects in the Fries rearrangement of aryl esters over zeolite catalysts
(2020)Catalysis Science & TechnologyThe catalytic transformation of aryl esters to hydroxyacetophenonesviaFries rearrangement over solid acids is of interest to avoid the use of corrosive and toxic Lewis and Bronsted acids traditionally applied. Microporous zeolites are known to catalyze the reaction of simple substrates such as phenyl acetate, but their application to substituted derivatives has received limited attention. To refine structure-activity relationships, here ...Journal Article