Although using supported noble-metal catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation is an effective solution due to their excellent catalytic properties, metal oxide supports themselves can exhibit good activity being more economically feasible. This work focuses on investigating the complexity of the Co3O4 system during the CO2 methanation reaction, which is usually accompanied by the formation of unstable dispersions of cobalt oxide and metallic Co. Herein, we have tested different types of Co3O4: synthetically prepared mesoporous m-Co3O4 (BET surface area, 95 m2/g) and commercial c-Co3O4 (BET surface area, 15 m2/g; purchased from Merck) in the CO2 methanation reaction under different reduction temperatures (273–673 K). The reduction temperature was adjusted to 573 K for both the catalysts to reach the optimal Co/cobalt oxide ratio and consequently the best catalytic performance. m-Co3O4 is more active (CO2 conversion 95%) and stable at higher temperatures compared to c-Co3O4 (CO2 conversion 63%) due to its morphology-induced ∼66 times higher surface basicity. DRIFTS results showed differences in the detected surface species: formate was observed on m-Co3O4 and was proven to contribute to the total methane formation. It was revealed that in CO2 methanation reaction, both bulk and surface properties such as morphology, cobalt oxidation states, acid–base properties, and presence of defect sites directly affect the catalytic performance and reaction mechanism. Furthermore, 1% 5 nm Pt nanoparticles were loaded onto the Co3O4s to check the competitiveness of the catalysts. This study evidences on a cheap noble-metal-free catalyst for CO2 methanation consisting of m-Co3O4 with competitive activity and ∼100% CH4 selectivity.

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The continuously growing number of short-life electronics equipment inherently results in a massive amount of problematic waste, which poses risks of environmental pollution, endangers human health, and causes socioeconomic problems. Hence, to mitigate these negative impacts, it is our common interest to substitute conventional materials (polymers and metals) used in electronics devices with their environmentally benign renewable counterparts, wherever possible, while considering the aspects of functionality, manufacturability, and cost. To support such an effort, in this study, we explore the use of biodegradable bioplastics, such as polylactic acid (PLA), its blends with polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and composites with pyrolyzed lignin (PL), and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), in conjunction with processes typical in the fabrication of electronics components, including plasma treatment, dip coating, inkjet and screen printing, as well as hot mixing, extrusion, and molding. We show that after a short argon plasma treatment of the surface of hot-blown PLA-PHB blend films, percolating networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) having sheet resistance well below 1 kΩ/□ can be deposited by dip coating to make electrode plates of capacitive touch sensors. We also demonstrate that the bioplastic films, as flexible dielectric substrates, are suitable for depositing conductive micropatterns of SWCNTs and Ag (1 kΩ/□ and 1 Ω/□, respectively) by means of inkjet and screen printing, with potential in printed circuit board applications. In addition, we exemplify compounded and molded composites of PLA with PL and MWCNTs as excellent candidates for electromagnetic interference shielding materials in the K-band radio frequencies (18.0−26.5 GHz) with shielding effectiveness of up to 40 and 46 dB, respectively.

Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) studies showed striking differences in the nature of the surface of the different silica supports, which may be responsible for the activation, and selectivity deviation in ethanol decomposition reactions. The SBA-15 has the most disordered mesostructure and SF has a fine surface structure with a diffuse phase boundary may resulted in the high activity and varying selectivity, respectively.

The accurate load concentration of ultra small nanoparticles in a Pt/SiO2 nanocomposite is determined by the novel spICP-MS analytical method.