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A series of molecular basket sorbents (MBSs) consisting of SBA-15 loaded with ethylene glycol (EG) derivatives and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) are developed and investigated for sulfur dioxide (SO2) capture from industrial tail gas streams. The EG derivatives and DMSO are successfully immobilized on the support via surface interaction with the silanol groups as evidenced by DRIFTS analysis. The mesoporous structure of SBA-15 is preserved after loading with different compounds, with no major morphology changes. The SO2 sorption capacity increases with decreasing the molecular weight of EG derivatives. Furthermore, changing the terminal group of EG derivatives from hydroxyl (-OH) to methoxy (-OCH3) improves SO2 sorption capacity. DMSO-based MBS exhibits much higher SO2 affinity (64 mg-SO2/g-sorb.) than EG-based sorbents (

Effectively converting CO2 into fuels and value-added chemicals remains a major challenge in catalysis, especially under mild conditions. In this study, we report a one-step plasma-enabled catalytic process for CO2 hydrogenation to C2+ hydrocarbons operated at low temperature and atmospheric pressure in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) packed-bed reactor. Plasma without catalyst produces mainly CO (over 80% selectivity), while CH4 becomes the main product when plasma is coupled with the alumina-supported Co catalyst. Interestingly, by simply changing the catalyst-bed configuration within the plasma discharge zone, more C2+ hydrocarbons are selectively produced. High C2+ hydrocarbons selectivity of 46% at ca. 74% CO2 conversion is achieved when operated at the furnace temperature of 25 °C and 10 W DBD plasma. The possible origin of C2+ formation and the significance of catalyst-bed configuration are discussed.

Herein, we report on low-temperature sulfur dioxide (SO2) reduction to elemental sulfur via the coupling of nonthermal plasma (NTP) with supported transition metal sulfide catalysts in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor. The transition metals include Mo, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn. Combining NTP with supported metal sulfide catalysts significantly promotes low-temperature reduction of SO2 by 148–200%, with over 98% selectivity to elemental sulfur. Over FeS2/Al2O3 catalyst at low temperatures (

The low-temperature conversion of sulfur dioxide (SO2) to elemental sulfur in a single catalytic step remains elusive. Here we report a one-step, low-temperature, plasma-enhanced catalytic process ...

Novel palladium (Pd)-loaded titanium (Ti) devices with high biocompatibility and catalytic activity were prepared using a range of fabrication methods such as powder metallurgy (i.e. sintering with and without space-holder), sputtering, pulsed laser deposition and supersonic cluster beam deposition. The surface of the Ti-[Pd] devices were physico-chemically characterised to confirm the non-alloyed state of the Pd coating onto the titanium substrate. The Pd thickness was optimised to achieve maximum surface area (i.e. maximumcatalytic effect) using the minimum amount of material in each method for cost effective production. The catalytic response of the different Ti-[Pd] devices was evaluated under biocompatible conditions by employing an off-on Pd-activatable fluorescent probe. The most robust coating of Pd was produced by an optimised magnetron sputtering method. The sputtered Ti-[Pd] devices were selected to induce the bioorthogonal uncaging of the anticancer drug Vorinostat from a pharmacologically-inactive Pd-activatable precursor in cancer cell culture, demonstrating the capacity of these devices to mediate a local anti-tumour effect via in-situ release of a clinically approved drug. This approach is the first step towards surgically implantable devices that could facilitate targeting affected areas with high spatial selectivity, improvingpharmacological activity and reducing systemic side effects through localised treatment directly at the cancer site.

Complex processes take place when coupling nonthermal plasma with heterogenous catalysis, obscuring mechanistic understanding of the plasma–catalysis synergy. Simultaneous homogenous plasma-phase reactions and heterogenous surface catalytic reactions occur in the system, which makes distinguishing the plasma’s contributions very challenging. In this work, we perform a careful and rigorous evaluation of surface reactions under plasma conditions. We use SO2 hydrogenation as a probe reaction to examine plasma-induced surface reactions, desorption, and dissociation of SO2 adsorbate. A temperature-programmed plasma-induced surface reaction approach is used to decouple plasma-induced surface reactions from plasma-phase reactions. The qualitative and quantitative analyses reveal a new Eley-Rideal reaction between plasma-generated atomic hydrogen in the gas-phase and strongly adsorbed SO2 over alumina, a reaction that is not thermally feasible. Furthermore, plasma causes partial desorption of weakly adsorbed SO2 species and enhances the strong chemisorption of SO2 over supported iron sulfide catalyst. Moreover, plasma facilitates H2 chemisorption and reaction with iron sulfide, producing sulfur vacancies. This work sheds light on the possible origin of plasma–catalysis synergy and offers fundamental insight about the underlying mechanisms of plasma-assisted SO2 hydrogenation reaction.