Palladium-bismuth intermetallic and surface-poisoned catalysts for the semi-hydrogenation of 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol

The effects of poisoning of Pd catalysts with Bi and annealing in a polyol (ethylene glycol) were studied on the semi-hydrogenation of 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol (MBY). An increase in the Pd:Bi ratio from 7 to 1 in the Bi-poisoned catalysts decreased the hydrogenation activity due to blocking of active sites, but increased maximum alkene yield from 91.5% for the Pd catalyst to 94–96% for all Bi-poisoned Pd catalysts, by decreasing the adsorption energy of alkene molecules and suppressing the formation of β-hydride phase. Annealing of the catalysts induced the formation of intermetallic phases and decreased its activity due to sintering of the catalytic particles and low activity of intermetallic compounds. Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetic modelling of the experimental data showed that poisoning of Pd with Bi changed the relative adsorption constants of organic species suggesting ligand effects at high Bi content

Rapid scan FTIR reveals propane (am)oxidation mechanisms over Vanadium based catalysts

Acknowledgements: MOGP acknowledges PRX17/00054 grant from Spanish Ministry of Education for performing a research stay at the University of Aberdeen.Peer reviewedPostprin

Acetylene hydrogenation over structured Au-Pd catalysts

Acknowledgements We thank the University of Aberdeen for financial support and Dr K. McManus (University of Aberdeen) for performing preliminary experiments with these samples. Electron microscopy and EDS were performed by RTB at the Electron Microscopy Facility, University of St Andrews.Peer reviewedPostprin

Household Mixed Plastic Waste Derived Adsorbents for CO2 Capture : A Feasibility Study

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Nigeria, for funding the Doctoral programme of Emmanuel Dan at the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom. Dr Claudia Fernández Martín thanks the Development Trust, Grant 1155, awarded for the acquisition of the microwave apparatus FlexiWave from Milestone used for this study. Also, authors thank the electrical/electronic workshop, University of Aberdeen, UK for supplying the electrical equipment for the energy measurement. For open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.Peer reviewe

The role of the activation heating source on the carbon capture performance of two new adsorbents produced from household-mixed-plastic waste

Peer reviewe

Towards low-cost and sustainable activated carbon production : influence of microwave activation time on yield and CO2 uptake of PET-derived adsorbents

The authors would like to thank the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Nigeria, for funding the Doctoral programme of Emmanuel Dan at the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom. Dr Claudia Fernández Martín acknowledges the Development Trust for the Grant 1155 awarded for the acquisition of the microwave instrument, FlexiWave from Milestone. For open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.Peer reviewe

Expression profile of a Caenorhabditis elegans model of adult neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis reveals down regulation of ubiquitin E3 ligase components.

Cysteine string protein (CSP) is a chaperone of the Dnaj/Hsp40 family of proteins and is essential for synaptic maintenance. Mutations in the human gene encoding CSP, DNAJC5, cause adult neuronal ceroid lipofucinosis (ANCL) which is characterised by progressive dementia, movement disorders, seizures and premature death. CSP null models in mice, flies and worms have been shown to also exhibit similar neurodegenerative phenotypes. Here we have explored the mechanisms underlying ANCL disease progression using Caenorhaditis elegans mutant strains of dnj-14, the worm orthologue of DNAJC5. Transcriptional profiling of these mutants compared to control strains revealed a broad down-regulation of ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS)-related genes, in particular, components of multimeric RING E3 ubiquitin ligases including F-Box, SKR and BTB proteins. These data were supported by the observation that dnj-14 mutant worm strains expressing a GFP-tagged ubiquitin fusion degradation substrate exhibited decreased ubiquitylated protein degradation. The results indicate that disruption of an essential synaptic chaperone leads to changes in expression levels of UPS-related proteins which has a knock-on effect on overall protein degradation in C. elegans. The specific over-representation of E3 ubiquitin ligase components revealed in our study, suggests that proteins and complexes upstream of the proteasome itself may be beneficial therapeutic targets

Sustainable microcrystalline cellulose-based activated carbons for a greener carbon capture at post-combustion conditions

Open Access via the Elsevier Agreement Authors would like to thank The Leverhulme Trust for the funding provided through the Grant DS-2017-073. Simbarashe Biti, a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholar, is part of the 15 PhD scholarships of the ‘Leverhulme Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Production of Chemicals and Materials’ at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland, United Kingdom). Surface morphology data was completed with the assistance of the ACEMAC SEM facility at the University of Aberdeen. Elemental analysis data was produced with the assistance of the Analytical Facilities in the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Quantification and qualification by in-situ FTIR of species formed on supported-cobalt catalysts during the Fischer-Tropsch reaction

We thanks the University of Aberdeen for a studentship (to A. McNab).Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Non-oxidative coupling of methane via plasma-catalysis over M/γ-Al2O3 catalysts (M = Ni, Fe, Rh, Pt and Pd) : Impact of active metal and noble gas co-feeding

Peer reviewe