A broad overview of the achievements and emerging areas in the field of Green Chemistry.

Advances in the synthesis and scalable manufacturing of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) remain critical to realizing many important commercial applications. Here we review recent breakthroughs in the synthesis of SWCNTs and highlight key ongoing research areas and challenges. A few key applications that capitalize on the properties of SWCNTs are also reviewed with respect to the recent synthesis breakthroughs and ways in which synthesis science can enable advances in these applications. While the primary focus of this review is on the science framework of SWCNT growth, we draw connections to mechanisms underlying the synthesis of other 1D and 2D materials such as boron nitride nanotubes and graphene.

Summary Thermosets play a key role in the modern plastics and rubber industries, comprising ~20% of polymeric materials with a worldwide annual production of ~65 million tons. 1 , 2 The high density of crosslinks that gives thermosets their useful properties ( e.g ., chemical/thermal resistance, and tensile strength) comes at the expense of degradability and recyclability. Here, using the industrial thermoset polydicyclopentadiene (pDCPD) as a model system, we show that when a small number of cleavable bonds are selectively installed within the strands of thermoset plastics, the resulting materials can display the same mechanical properties as the native material, yet they are able to undergo triggered degradation to yield soluble, recyclable products of controlled size and functionality. In contrast, installation of cleavable crosslinks, even at comparably high loadings, does not produce degradable materials. These findings reveal cleavable bond location as a design principle for controlled thermoset degradation. Moreover, a new class of recyclable thermosets poised for rapid deployment is introduced.

Worldwide heavy oil and bitumen deposits amount to 9 trillion barrels of oil distributed in over 280 basins around the world, with Canada home to oil sands deposits of 1.7 trillion barrels. The global development of this resource and the increase in oil production from oil sands has caused environmental concerns over the presence of toxic compounds in nearby ecosystems and acid deposition. The contribution of oil sands exploration to secondary organic aerosol formation, an important component of atmospheric particulate matter that affects air quality and climate, remains poorly understood. Here we use data from airborne measurements over the Canadian oil sands, laboratory experiments and a box-model study to provide a quantitative assessment of the magnitude of secondary organic aerosol production from oil sands emissions. We find that the evaporation and atmospheric oxidation of low-volatility organic vapours from the mined oil sands material is directly responsible for the majority of the observed secondary organic aerosol mass. The resultant production rates of 45-84 tonnes per day make the oil sands one of the largest sources of anthropogenic secondary organic aerosols in North America. Heavy oil and bitumen account for over ten per cent of global oil production today, and this figure continues to grow. Our findings suggest that the production of the more viscous crude oils could be a large source of secondary organic aerosols in many production and refining regions worldwide, and that such production should be considered when assessing the environmental impacts of current and planned bitumen and heavy oil extraction projects globally.

We study synthesis of vertically aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) "forests" by a decoupled method that facilitates control of the mean diameter and structural quality of the CNTs and enables tuning of the kinetics for efficient growth to forest heights of several millimeters. The growth substrate temperature (T(s)) primarily determines the CNT diameter, whereas independent and rapid thermal treatment (T(p)) of the C(2)H(4)/H(2) reactant mixture significantly changes the growth rate and terminal forest height but does not change the CNT diameter. Synchrotron X-ray scattering is utilized for precise, nondestructive measurement of CNT diameter in large numbers of samples. CNT structural quality monotonically increases with T(s) yet decreases with T(p), and forests grown by this decoupled method have significantly higher quality than those grown using a conventional single-zone tube furnace. Chemical analysis reveals that the thermal treatment generates a broad population of hydrocarbon species, and a nonmonotonic relationship between catalyst lifetime and T(p) suggests that certain carbon species either enhance or inhibit CNT growth. However, the forest height kinetics, as measured in real-time during growth, are self-similar, thereby indicating that a common mechanism of growth termination may be present over a wide range of process conditions.