Oxidative destruction of organic compounds in water streams could significantly reduce environmental effects associated with discharging waste. We report the development of a process to oxidise phenol in aqueous solutions, a model for waste stream contaminants, using Fenton’s reactions combined with in situ synthesised hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Bifunctional palladium-iron supported catalysts, where Pd is responsible for H₂O₂ synthesis while Fe ensures the production of reactive oxygen species required for the degradation of phenol to less toxic species is reported. A comparison is made between in situ generated and commercial H₂O₂ and the effect of phenol degradation products on catalyst stability is explored.

Exhaust gas recirculation is a widely used technology on conventional vehicles, primarily for lowering emissions of local pollutants. Here we use chemical models to show that an exhaust-gas recirculation loop can be converted into a heat-recovery system by incorporating a catalytic reformer. The system is predicted to be particularly effective for gasoline-fuelled spark ignition engines. The high temperature and low oxygen-content of the exhaust gas mean that endothermic reactions will predominate, when some of the gasoline is injected into the recirculation loop upstream of the reformer. The output of the reformer will, therefore, have a higher fuel heating value than the gasoline consumed. Chemical efficiency calculations, based on the predicted reformer output at chemical equilibrium, indicate that the direct improvement in fuel economy could be as high as 14%. Initial tests using a rhodium reforming catalyst suggest that much of the heat recovery predicted by the thermodynamic models can be achieved in practice, which together with a reduction in throttling may allow a gasoline spark ignition engine to match the fuel economy of a diesel engine.

The aim of catalytic wet air oxidation is to use air to remove organic contaminants from wastewater through their complete oxidation, without having to vaporise the water. To date, the widespread exploitation of this process has been held back by the low activity of available catalysts, which means that it has to be operated at above-atmospheric pressure in order to keep the water in the liquid phase at the elevated temperatures required to achieve complete oxidation. Here we present an overview of an ongoing study examining the key requirements of both the active phase and the support material in precious metal catalysts for wet air oxidation, using phenol as the model contaminant. The major outcome to date is that the results reveal a synergy between platinum and hydrophobic support materials, which is not apparent when the active phase is ruthenium.

Introduction “Advances in Biofuel Production: Algae and Aquatic Plants” is a compilation of papers that have previously been published elsewhere, presented as 12 chapters. These have been edited by Barnabas Gikonyo, whose research interests range from the application of biocompatible polymeric materials for the repair of spinal cord injuries to the development of non-food biofuels. The...

The remarkable benefits associated with the attraction of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-containing nanomicelles to metal nanoparticles in water allows for varying types of important catalysis to be done under very mild and green conditions.

Introduction “Green Catalysts for Energy Transformation and Emission Control” is book 1184 in the ACS Symposium Series, which has been published since 1974 and is peer-reviewed, consisting of original research papers and review articles. The purpose of the series is to publish comprehensive books based on current scientific research presented at ACS sponsored symposia. The content of this...

Introduction The use of biomass as a starting point for the manufacture of chemicals and fuels has been the subject of increasing research effort in recent years. A wide range of biomass sources are being investigated and reported in the literature, but with a particular focus on second generation biorenewables, which use non-food sources of biomass. Examples of such biomass sources...

There is a growing move away from so called first generation biorenewables (which use food crops as the feedstock) towards second generation biorenewables which use non-food sources of biomass. Biorenewable products have the potential to support growing resource needs while addressing concerns regarding climate change and energy security. Examples of second generation biorenewable...