Fast pyrolysis utilizes biomass to produce a product that is used both as an energy source and a feedstock for chemical production. Considerable efforts have been made to convert wood biomass to liquid fuels and chemicals since the oil crisis in mid-1970s. This review focuses on the recent developments in the wood pyrolysis and reports the characteristics of the resulting bio-oils, which are the main products of fast wood pyrolysis. Virtually any form of biomass can be considered for fast pyrolysis. Most work has been performed on wood, because of its consistency and comparability between tests. However, nearly 100 types of biomass have been tested, ranging from agricultural wastes such as straw, olive pits, and nut shells to energy crops such as miscanthus and sorghum. Forestry wastes such as bark and thinnings and other solid wastes, including sewage sludge and leather wastes, have also been studied. In this review, the main (although not exclusive) emphasis has been given to wood. The literature on woo...

Pyrolysis of Wood/Biomass for Bio-oil: A Critical Review

Chemical doping with foreign atoms is an effective method to intrinsically modify the properties of host materials. Among them, nitrogen doping plays a critical role in regulating the electronic properties of carbon materials. Recently, graphene, as a true two-dimensional carbon material, has shown fascinating applications in bioelectronics and biosensors. In this paper, we report a facile strategy to prepare N-doped graphene by using nitrogen plasma treatment of graphene synthesized via a chemical method. Meanwhile, a possible schematic diagram has been proposed to detail the structure of N-doped graphene. By controlling the exposure time, the N percentage in host graphene can be regulated, ranging from 0.11 to 1.35%. Moreover, the as-prepared N-doped graphene has displayed high electrocatalytic activity for reduction of hydrogen peroxide and fast direct electron transfer kinetics for glucose oxidase. The N-doped graphene has further been used for glucose biosensing with concentrations as low as 0.01 mM ...

Nitrogen-Doped Graphene and Its Application in Electrochemical Biosensing

Technologies for the removal of phenol from fluid streams: a short review of recent developments.

Catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – A review

Oil/water separation is an important field, not only for scientific research but also for practical applications aiming to resolve industrial oily wastewater and oil-spill pollution, as well as environmental protection. Recently, research into the role of special wettability for oil/water separation has attracted much attention. In this review we summarize the design, fabrication, applications and recent developments of special wettable materials for oil/water separation. Based on the different types of separation, we organize this review into three parts: “oil-removing” type materials with superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity (that selectively filter or absorb oil from oil/water mixtures), “water-removing” type materials with superhydrophilicity and superoleophobicity (that selectively separate water from oil/water mixtures), and smart controllable separation materials. In each section, we present in detail the representative work, introduce the design idea, outline their fabrication methods, and discuss the role of special wettability on the separation. Finally, the challenges and outlook for the future of this subject are discussed.

Special wettable materials for oil/water separation

Ce 3d XPS study of composite CexMn1 xO2 y wet oxidation catalysts

Mn–Ce–O composite catalysts have been widely used in sub- and supercritical catalytic wet oxidation of toxic organics contained in aqueous streams. In order to investigate their composition–activity relationship, 11 samples with Ce/(Mn+Ce) atomic bulk ratios ranging from 0 to 100% were prepared by co-precipitation. Phenol was selected as a model pollutant and the catalytic oxidation was carried out in a batch slurry reactor using oxygen as the oxidizing agent under mild reaction conditions. The results showed that the catalytic activity was greatly influenced by the catalyst composition. The catalyst with Mn/Ce ratio=6/4 was found to be the most active in reducing both phenol concentration and total organic carbon (TOC). All catalysts were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed reduction (TPR) and nitrogen adsorption techniques. Systematic shifts in binding energy, diffraction angle, and reduction temperature were observed in the XPS, XRD and TPR spectra, respectively. XPS and XRD data revealed the occurrence of significant interactions between Mn and Ce oxides, resulting in the evolution of textural, structural and oxidation state with composition. TPR analysis showed that the interaction between Mn and Ce greatly improved the oxygen storage capacity of manganese and cerium oxides as well as oxygen mobility on the surface of catalyst. Catalytic active sites have been ascribed to manganese oxide species exhibiting higher oxidation state. Furthermore, XPS revealed that the most active catalyst, i.e. Mn/Ce 6/4, exhibits an electron-rich surface which may be very important in the activation of adsorbed oxygen.

Composition–activity effects of Mn–Ce–O composites on phenol catalytic wet oxidation

An ESCA study of the interaction of oxygen with the surface of ruthenium

An x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) method is proposed for the identification and quantitation of Broensted and Lewis acid sites in ZSM-5 zeolites. The method consists of deconvoluting the N{sub 1s}XPS level of chemisorbed pyridine and measuring the relative intensities of the peak components. It was found that pyridine is chemisorbed in three different states on ZSM-5 zeolites corresponding to N{sub 1s} binding energy of 398.7, 400.0, and 401.8 eV, respectively. The first peak at 398.7 eV was assigned to N{sub 1s} level of pyridine adsorbed on Lewis sites, while the second and third were assigned to N{sub 1s} levels of pyridine adsorbed on relatively weak and strong Broensted acid sites, respectively. Comparison of the concentrations of the various acid sites as determined from the relative intensities of the N{sub 1s} components with IR spectroscopic data showed that XPS has potential applications in the identification and the quantitative determination of Broensted and Lewis acid sites in zeolites.

Alain Adnot

Papers

Ce 3d XPS study of composite CexMn1 xO2 y wet oxidation catalysts

Composition–activity effects of Mn–Ce–O composites on phenol catalytic wet oxidation

An ESCA study of the interaction of oxygen with the surface of ruthenium

Characterization of acidity in ZSM-5 zeolites: an x-ray photoelectron and IR spectroscopy study

Structurally stable composite PdAg alloy membranes: Introduction of a diffusion barrier