2022 roadmap on low temperature electrochemical CO2 reduction

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) is an attractive option for storing renewable electricity and for the sustainable production of valuable chemicals and fuels. In this roadmap, we review recent progress in fundamental understanding, catalyst development, and in engineering and scale-up. We discuss the outstanding challenges towards commercialization of electrochemical CO2R technology: energy efficiencies, selectivities, low current densities, and stability. We highlight the opportunities in establishing rigorous standards for benchmarking performance, advances in in operando characterization, the discovery of new materials towards high value products, the investigation of phenomena across multiple-length scales and the application of data science towards doing so. We hope that this collective perspective sparks new research activities that ultimately bring us a step closer towards establishing a low- or zero-emission carbon cycle.Catalysis and Surface Chemistr

Process for the preparation of Cyclen

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of Cyclen, in its turn widely employed in the manufacturing of a variety of macrocyclic gadolinium complexes for use as MRI contrast agents. The said process comprises an efficient coupling of glyoxal with triethylene tetramine and the subsequent reduction of the obtained intermediate derivative with an aluminium based reducing agent. The process is particularly advantageous for the industrial scale as it avoids the use and/or formation of hazardous compounds and further provides for Cyclen manufacturing in high yields and purity

Evaluation of Defects in Multilayer Carbon Fibre Epoxy for Aeronautics Applications

Production of carbon fibre reinforced polymers is an elaborate process unfree from faults and problems. Problems during the manufacturing, such as plies' overlapping, can cause flaws in the resulting material, so compromising its integrity. Compared with metallic materials, carbon epoxy composites show a number of advantages. Within this framework, ultrasonic tests are effective to identify the presence of defects. In this paper a Finite Element Method approach is proposed for evaluating the most effective incidence angle of an ultrasonic probe with regard to defects' identification. According to our goal, the analysis has been carried out considering a single-line plane emitting source varying the probe angle of inclination. The proposed model looks promising to specially emphasize the presence of delaminations as well as massive breaking in a specimen of multilayer carbon fibre epoxy. Subsequently, simulation parameters and results have been exploited and compared, respectively, for a preliminary experimental in-lab campaign of measurements with encouraging results

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells: role in the diagnosis of lung infections

The triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM)-1 is a recently described molecule, which plays an important role in myeloid cell-activated inflammatory responses. TREM-1 is expressed on blood neutrophils and monocytes, and also on alveolar macrophages, thus suggesting a potential role in lung inflammatory responses against infections. To investigate the differential expression of TREM-1 in lung infections, its levels were assessed in bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from patients with community-acquired pneumonia or tuberculosis. TREM-1 was also investigated in patients with interstitial lung diseases, as a model of noninfectious inflammatory disease of the lung. TREM-1 expression was significantly increased in lung neutrophils and in lung macrophages of patients with pneumonia (n=7; 387.9+/-61.4 and 660.5+/-18.3, respectively) compared with patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (n=7; 59.2+/-13.1 and 80.6+/-291.2) and patients with interstitial lung diseases (n=10; 91.8+/-23.3 and 123.9+/-22.8). In contrast, TREM-1 expression on peripheral blood neutrophils was no different among the three groups. In conclusion, these data suggest that triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 is selectively expressed in the lungs of patients with pneumonia caused by extracellular bacteria and not in patients with tuberculosis, providing a potential marker for differential diagnosis

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells: role in the diagnosis of lung infections

The triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM)-1 is a recently described molecule, which plays an important role in myeloid cell-activated inflammatory responses. TREM-1 is expressed on blood neutrophils and monocytes, and also on alveolar macrophages, thus suggesting a potential role in lung inflammatory responses against infections. To investigate the differential expression of TREM-1 in lung infections, its levels were assessed in bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from patients with community-acquired pneumonia or tuberculosis. TREM-1 was also investigated in patients with interstitial lung diseases, as a model of noninfectious inflammatory disease of the lung. TREM-1 expression was significantly increased in lung neutrophils; and in lung macrophages of patients with pneumonia (n=7; 387.9+/-61.4 and 660.5+/-18.3, respectively) compared with patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (n=7; 59.2+/-13.1 and 80.6+/-291.2) and patients with interstitial lung diseases (n=10; 91.8+/-23.3 and 123.9+/-22.8). In contrast, TREM-1 expression on peripheral blood neutrophils was no different among the three groups. In conclusion, these data suggest that triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 is selectively expressed in the lungs of patients with pneumonia caused by extracellular bacteria and not in patients with tuberculosis, providing a potential marker for differential diagnosis

High-quality photoelectrodes based on shape-tailored TiO2 nanocrystals for dye-sensitized solar cells

We demonstrate a general approach by which colloidal anatase TiO2 nanocrystals with anisotropically tailored linear and branched shapes can safely be processed into high-quality mesoporous photoelectrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A detailed study has been carried out to elucidate how the nanoscale architecture underlying the photoelectrodes impacts their ultimate performances. From the analysis of the most relevant electrochemical parameters,an intrinsic correlation between the photovoltaic performances and the structure of the nanocrystal building blocks has been deduced and explained on the basis of relative contributions of the electron transport and light-harvesting properties of the photoelectrodes. Depending on the nanocrystals incorporated,these devices can exhibit an energy conversion efficiency of 5.2% to 7.8%,which ranks 38% to 53% higher than that achievable with corresponding cells based on reference spherical nanoparticles. It has been ascertained that DSSCs based on high aspect-ratio linear nanorods allow for a remarkable improvement in the charge-collection efficiency due to minimization of detrimental charge-recombination processes at the photoelectrode/electrolyte interface. On the other hand,DSSCs fabricated from branched nanocrystals with a peculiar bundle-like configuration are characterized by a drastic reduction of undesired charge-trapping phenomena. These findings can be useful in the design and fabrication of future generations of high-performing DSSCs based on colloidal nanocrystals with properly engineered size and shape parameters