Nickel nanoparticles adorned on magnetized cellulose nanofibers: ultrasound-facilitated cross coupling reactions

Value-added synthesized acidic polymer nanocomposite with waste chicken eggshell: A novel metal-free and heterogeneous catalyst for Mannich and hantzsch cascade reactions from alcohols

Nano CeO2 (CeMOF) maintaining the primary micromorphology and pore structure of MOFs was successfully synthesized by controlled pyrolysis of UiO-66(Ce) in air. CeMOFs showed excellent activity for catalytic combustion of VOCs, including toluene, benzene and xylene. The results showed that the T10%, T50% and T90% of toluene over CeMOF were 185, 198 and 206 ℃ (GHSV = 22500 h−1, toluene concentration = 1000 ppm), respectively, which are the lowest among ever reported ceria catalysts. According to various characterization results, the high catalytic activity of CeMOF can be ascribed to its neat pore structure and high percentage of Ce with low chemical valence. The latter leads to massive surface oxygen species and oxygen vacancies which provides abundant oxidative sites for VOCs. The low-temperature reducibility and multiple weakly acidic sites also enhanced the catalytic activity. In addition, CeMOF shows good ability to resist H2O and thermal stability. The in-situ DRIFTs study of CeMOF shows toluene is degraded by continuous stages through quick conversion of toluene to benzaldehyde and adsorbed benzoate, and forms CO2 and H2O at last. 

CeO2 from pyrolysis of MOFs for efficient catalytic combustion of VOCs

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global crisis with an increasing number of untreatable or exceedingly difficult-to-treat bacterial infections, due to their growing resistance to existing drugs. It is predicted that AMR will be the leading cause of death by 2050. In addition to ongoing efforts on preventive strategies and infection control, there is ongoing research towards the development of novel vaccines, antimicrobial agents, and optimised diagnostic practices to address AMR. However, developing new therapeutic agents and medicines can be a lengthy process. Therefore, there is a parallel ongoing worldwide effort to develop materials for optimised drug delivery to improve efficacy and minimise AMR. Examples of such materials include functionalisation of surfaces so that they can become self-disinfecting or non-fouling, and the development of nanoparticles with promising antimicrobial properties attributed to their ability to damage numerous essential components of pathogens. A relatively new class of materials, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), is also being investigated for their ability to act as carriers of antimicrobial agents, because of their ultrahigh porosity and modular structures, which can be engineered to control the delivery mechanism of loaded drugs. Biodegradable polymers have also been found to show promising applications as antimicrobial carriers; and, recently, several studies have been reported on delivery of antimicrobial drugs using composites of MOF and biodegradable polymers. This review article reflects on MOFs and polymer–MOF composites, as carriers and delivery agents of antimicrobial drugs, that have been studied recently, and provides an overview of the state of the art in this highly topical area of research.

/pdf/metal-organic-frameworks-and-their-biodegradable-composites-t6vm9a6a.pdf

Metal–Organic Frameworks and Their Biodegradable Composites for Controlled Delivery of Antimicrobial Drugs

Upgrading of biomass wastes to value-added materials has been incessantly pursued worldwide with diverse applications, especially deploying photocatalytic composites encompassing metal oxides with acidic and carbon compounds. Herein, the fabrication of a morphologically unique acidic catalyst encompassing a two-dimensional (2D) TiO2/g-C3N4 heterojunction feature is described for the generation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), which exploits the acidic/ionic liquid (IL) bifunctional photocatalysis under visible light. The structural integrity of the synthesized TiO2/g-C3N4/SO3H(IL) was corroborated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy-energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX-EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), UV-vis, Tauc plots, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller-Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BET-BJH) analyses. Keeping environmental impact in mind, there are compelling advantages in the development of bio-derived pathways to access ILs from natural renewable resources. The outcomes of environmental assessments have revealed that the incorporation of TiO2 in g-C3N4 and ClSO3H can reduce the probability of recombination due to ionic charges present, therefore enhancing the photocatalytic activity via the transformation of cellulose and glucose to produce 5-HMF in higher yields, with the optimum conditions being reaction in water under a blue light-emitting diode (LED), at 100 °C, for 1-1.5 h. The main advantages of this production method include minimum number of synthetic steps as well as ample availability of and easy access to primary ingredients. While a significant volume of 5-HMF was produced under blue light-emitting diode (LED) radiation, the selectivity was drastically reduced in the dark. The salient attributes of the catalyst comprise stability in air, robustness, reusability, and its overall superior activity that is devoid of hazardous additives or agents. This inimitable method has uncovered a newer strategy for enhancing the photocatalytic attributes of deployed semiconducting materials for numerous photocatalytic functions while adhering to the tenets of environmental friendliness.

TiO2/g-C3N4/SO3H(IL): Unique Usage of Ionic Liquid-Based Sulfonic Acid as an Efficient Photocatalyst for Visible-Light-Driven Preparation of 5-HMF from Cellulose and Glucose.

In this paper, a new Mn-based metal-organic framework [UoB-6] was obtained via a one-step ultrasonic irradiation method with the ligand (H2bdda: 4,4'-(1,4-phenylenebis(azaneylylidene))bis(methaneylylidene))dibenzoic acid. The structural integrity of the synthesized BioMOF-Mn was corroborated by FT-IR, EDX, ICP, XRD, TEM, DLS, FESEM, and BET-BJH analyses. The aerobic oxidative domino reaction of benzyl alcohols or aldehydes with dimedone derivatives was performed in the presence of the UoB-6 catalyst to produce xanthene derivatives in good yields. Hot filtration and Hg poisoning tests proved the heterogeneous nature of the catalyst. Novel synthesized xanthene-based bis-aldehydes were introduced as potent HDAC1 inhibitors according to molecular docking calculations. Finally, the inhibitory activities of Mn-MOF nanoparticles were evaluated on Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. The MIC, MBC, and MFC values were determined from 2048 to 4096 μg·mL-1 according to antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods. The inhibitory effects of antimicrobial agents can be exacerbated when loaded on BioMOFs.

Soheila Arghavani

Papers

BioMOF-Mn: An Antimicrobial Agent and an Efficient Nanocatalyst for Domino One-Pot Preparation of Xanthene Derivatives.

TiO2/g-C3N4/SO3H(IL): Unique Usage of Ionic Liquid-Based Sulfonic Acid as an Efficient Photocatalyst for Visible-Light-Driven Preparation of 5-HMF from Cellulose and Glucose.