Search

The rapid development of the shipping industry has made energy consumption and environmental problems of traditional ships increasingly prominent. Considering the carbon peaking and carbon neutralization goals and the Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships, ammonia-hydrogen powered marine ships will become an important development direction for waterway transportation vehicles. This study explores the demand for and the international development status of ammonia-hydrogen powered marine ships and analyzes the key technologies, involving ship safety, fuel filling, hydrogen production from ammonia reforming, power production from ammonia and hydrogen, hydrogen production from renewable energy, ammonia synthesis based on renewable energy, and treatment of harmful pollutant discharge. Moreover, staged goals and upper/mid/lower-stream industrial elements are examined based on China’s national conditions. To promote the sustainable and innovative development of ammoniahydrogen powered marine ships in China, we propose the following suggestions: (1) implementing special plans for an ammonia and hydrogen fuel supply system and the infrastructure construction of ammonia-hydrogen powered marine ships, (2) strengthening the maintenance of supportive service facilities, and (3) accumulating engineering experience to provide support for the subsequent large-scale industrial chain and infrastructure construction.

Synthesizing fine chemicals and valuable pharmaceutical intermediates through selective catalytic oxidation of alcohols is indispensable and crucial. However, the conventional methods of alcohol oxidation have inevitable drawbacks, including harsh reaction conditions and environmental pollution. Thus, it is imperative to develop efficient catalytic oxidation systems for alcohols. Herein, we successfully synthesized a 15 wt %PI‐TiO2 composite by a one‐step solid‐state heating polymerization technique. This catalyst exhibits excellent responsiveness to visible light and demonstrates remarkable catalytic activity. Furthermore, TEMPO was introduced as a cocatalyst to construct a PI‐TiO2/TEMPO/O2 system for the catalytic oxidation of alcohols. In comparison to the individual effects of PI or TiO2, this system showcases improved catalytic activity and broader substrate applicability. As a result, the conversion efficiency of benzyl alcohol increases by 3.44 times and 2.26 times, respectively. This research not only introduces a novel approach for preparing visible light‐active PI‐TiO2 catalysts but also indicates the significance of establishing an efficient electron transfer process in alcohol catalytic oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective cleavage of C–C bonds in the lignin structure is crucial for the depolymerization of lignin and producing value-added chemicals. In this study, we reported that Pd/CeO2 catalysts can selectively catalyze the Cα–Cβ bond cleavage of oxidized lignin model components and authentic lignin in an aqueous phase under mild conditions (50 °C, ambient pressure). A variety of β-O-4 and β-1 ketones with representative Cα–Cβ bonds were successfully cleaved yielding aromatic acids and phenols in 76.8–94.9% yields. Their unique catalytic properties are derived from the electron transfer between Pd and CeO2 support which facilitates active Pd2+ sites and reactive oxygen species formation. A mechanistic study elucidates that base-mediated C–H bond activation via enolization and in situ reactive oxygen species (˙O2−) formation are the key steps for the selective Cα–Cβ cleavage. Furthermore, the applicability of the system for the bond cleavage in an authentic lignin sample was demonstrated. Nearly 54.2 wt% of oxidized bamboo lignin was converted, generating aromatic monomer yields up to 35.9 wt%, with a high selectivity for aromatic aldehydes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium‐sulfur batteries are famous for high energy density but prevented by shuttling effect and sluggish electrochemical conversion kinetics due to the high energy barriers of Li+ transport across the electrode/electrolyte interface. Herein, the Li+‐solvents dissociation kinetics is catalyzed and stimulated by designing a carbon bridged metal‐organic framework (MOF@CC), aimed at realizing increased bare Li+ transport for the rapid conversion kinetics of sulfur species. Theoretical simulations and spectroscopic results demonstrate that the bridged MOF@CC well grants a special transport channel for accelerating Li+ benefited from aggregated anion/cation clusters. Moreover, the CN bridge between ‐NH2 ligand in MOF and carbon shell enhances electron exchange, and thus promotes polysulfide catalytic efficiency and hinder polysulfide aggregation and accumulation. With the MOF@CC‐modified separators, the assembled Li/S batteries deliver a reversible capability of 1063 mAh g‐1 at 0.5 C, a capacity retention of 88% after 100 cycles, and a high‐rate performance of 765 mAh g−1 at 5 C. Moreover, the large areal pouch cell with 100 µm Li foil and lean electrolyte is capable of stabilizing 855 mAh g−1 after 70 cycles. These results well demonstrate the efficiency of catalyzing desolvation for fast Li+ transport kinetics and the conversion of polysulfides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous zinc battery has been regarded as one of the most promising energy storage systems due to its low cost and environmental benignity. However, the safety concern on Zn anodes caused by uncontrolled Zn dendrite growth in aqueous electrolyte hinders their application. Herein, sucrose with multi-hydroxyl groups has been introduced into aqueous electrolyte to modify Zn2+ solvation environment and create a protection layer on Zn anode, thus effectively retarding the growth of zinc dendrites. Atomistic simulations and experiments confirm that sucrose molecules can enter into the solvation sheath of Zn2+, and the as-formed unique solvation structure enhances the mobility of Zn2+. Such fast Zn2+ kinetics in sucrose-modified electrolyte can successfully suppress the dendrite growth. With this sucrose-modified aqueous electrolyte, Zn/Zn symmetric cells present more stable cycle performance than those using pure aqueous electrolyte; Zn/C cells also deliver an impressive higher energy density of 129.7 Wh·kg−1 and improved stability, suggesting a great potential application of sucrose-modified electrolytes for future Zn batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]