Photocatalytic CO 2 Valorization by Using Ti O2 , ZrO2 and Graphitic Based Semiconductors

In this century, a broad scientific interest has been devoted to fulfill sustainable industrial processes and climatic change remediation. In this prospective, various green technologies have been studied to valorize CO 2• The aim of this research is the CO 2 reduction in presence of water by using the photocatalytic technology with nanomaterials as the photocatalysts. The present work overviews the main outcomes obtained by using graphitic and oxide based photocatalysts both in gas/solid and liquid/solid batch reactors under simulated solar light. In all gas/solid regime tests the major products detected were methane, carbon monoxide, and acetaldehyde

ZrO2 Based materials as photocatalysts for 2-propanol oxidation by using UV and solar light irradiation and tests for CO2 reduction

Bare ZrO2, Ce doped ZrO2 and Er doped ZrO2 samples have been prepared by a hydrothermal process and have been used as photocatalysts for 2-propanol oxidation reaction in gas solid regime. Moreover, some preliminary tests have been carried out for CO2 reduction. The samples were physico-chemically characterized and both bare and doped ZrO2 based materials resulted active for oxidation and reduction reactions by using UV and solar irradiation. The reactivity results have been correlated with the compositional, structural and morphological features of the photocatalysts

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

CO2 reduction by C3N4-TiO2 Nafion photocatalytic membrane reactor as a promising environmental pathway to solar fuels

We investigated CO2 photocatalytic reduction coupling, for the first time in literature, the assets offered by the continuous operating mode using C3N4-TiO2 photo-catalyst embedded in a dense Nafion matrix. The reactor performance was analyzed under UV–vis light in terms of productivity, selectivity and converted carbon. Reaction pressure was specifically investigated for its effect as a “driver” in determining reactor performance, modulating products removal from the reaction volume. In addition, the membrane reactor performance was explored as a function of H2O/CO2 feed molar ratio and contact time. The higher feed pressure (5 bar) led to a lesser MeOH production and a greater amount of HCHO, owing to a hindered desorption, which promoted partial oxidation reactions. Total converted carbon instead did not vary significantly with reaction pressure. Membrane reactor with C3N4-TiO2 photocatalyst resulted more performant than other photocatalytic membrane reactors in terms of carbon converted (61 μmol gcatalyst−1 h−1

Study of the photocatalytic activity of Keggin and Wells Dawson heteropolyacids: role of the acidity and of the pseudo-liquid phase regime

Study of the photocatalytic activity of Keggin and Wells Dawson heteropolyacids: role of the acidity and of the pseudo-liquid phase regim

Supported Keggin heteropolyacid catalysts for glycerol acetylation

Supported Keggin heteropolyacid catalysts for glycerol acetylatio

Keggin heteropolyacid supported on BN and C3N4: Comparison between catalytic and photocatalytic alcohol dehydration

The Keggin heteropolyacid (HPA), H3PW12O40 (PW12) has been supported on commercial boron nitride (BN) and two types of home prepared carbon nitride (C3N4). The supported PW12 was used in the gas-solid (photo)catalytic 2-propanol dehydration reaction to give propene at atmospheric pressure and temperatures in the range 70–120 °C and resulted more active than the pristine PW12. Reaction rate increased by increasing the temperature. Noticeably, the propene formation rate was higher by irradiating the catalytic system. The PW12/BN material resulted more active than PW12/C3N4. The acidity of the HPA cluster accounts for the catalytic role, whereas both the acidity and the redox properties of the HPA species were responsible for the increase of the reaction rate in the photo-assisted catalytic reactio

C3N4 Impregnated with Porphyrins as Heterogeneous Photocatalysts for the Selective Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethyl-2-Furfural Under Solar Irradiation

The photocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) under natural solar irradiation was carried out in liquid–solid regime by using a batch reactor. Home prepared meso-tetra aryl substituted porphyrins (Pps) whether metal-free (H2Pp) or containing Cu(II) or Zn(II) complexes (CuPp, ZnPp), opportunely functionalized with lipophilic [(3-n-pentadecylphenoxyethoxy)-] chains, were supported on graphitic (g-C3N4) or thermo-exfoliated carbon nitride (C3N4-TE) to obtain a set of heterogeneous photocatalysts. The loading of the Pps on both carbon nitrides was 6&nbsp;μmol per gram of support. During the experiments all the photocatalysts resulted active for the conversion of HMF, and in all cases its partial oxidation product, 2,5-furandicarboxyaldehyde (FDC), was selectively obtained in the aqueous suspension. Both carbon nitrides played the key role as photocatalysts whereas the presence of porphyrin improved the visible light absorption. The presence of the metal-porphyrin in the composite slightly increased the selectivity to FDC. The best compromise between selectivity to FDC (36%) and conversion of HMF (73%) was obtained in the presence of the ZnPp-C3N4-TE photocatalyst at natural pH. Moreover, at pH 9 the CuPp-C3N4-TE sample showed the best performances, indicating that the pH can affect the photocatalytic activity of the samples towards the partial selective oxidation of HMF to FDC

CO2 conversion in continuous photocatalytic membrane reactor

CO2 conversion in continuous photocatalytic membrane reacto