Global demand for green and clean energy is increasing day by day owing to ongoing developments by the human race that are changing the face of the earth at a rate faster than ever. Exploring alternative sources of energy to replace fossil fuel consumption has become even more vital to control the growing concentration of CO 2 , and reduction of CO 2 into CO or other useful hydrocarbons (e.g., C 1 and C ≥2 products), as well as reduction of N 2 into ammonia, can greatly help in this regard. Various materials have been developed for the reduction of CO 2 and N 2 . The introduction of pores in these materials by porosity engineering has been demonstrated to be highly effective in increasing the efficiency of the involved redox reactions, over 40% increment for CO 2 reduction to date, by providing an increased number of exposed facets, kinks, edges, and catalytically active sites of catalysts. By shaping the surface porous structure, the selectivity of the redox reaction can also be enhanced. In order to better understand this area benefiting rational design for future solutions, this review systematically summarizes and constructively discusses the porosity engineering in catalytic materials, including various synthesis methods, characterization of porous materials, and the effects of porosity on performance of CO 2 reduction and N 2 reduction.
Controllable release of nutrients in soil can overcome the environmental problems associated with conventional fertilizer. Here we synthesized mesoporous nanocomposite of Zinc aluminosilicate (ZnAl2Si10O24) via co-precipitation method. Oryza sativa L. husk was used as source of silica for making the synthesis process green and economical. The nanocomposite was subsequently loaded with urea to achieve the demand of simultaneous and slow delivery of both zinc and urea. The structural characterization of nanocomposite was done by FTIR, XRD, TGA, BET, SEM/EDX and TEM. The release of urea and zinc was investigated with UV–Vis spectrophotometry and atomic absorption spectroscopy, respectively, up to 14 days. It was noted that urea holding capacity of mesoporous ZnAl2Si10O24 nanocomposite over long period of time was increased as compared to bulk aluminosilicates, due to its high surface area (193.07 m2 g−1) and small particle size of (64 nm). Urea release was found highest in first 24 h because of excess of adsorption on nanocomposite and least at 14th day. Fertilizer efficiency was checked on Oryza sativa L. in comparison with commercial urea and results showed significantly higher yield in case of urea loaded ZnAl2Si10O24 nanocomposite.
a b s t r a c tBiFeO 3 (BFO) multiferroics were synthesized via a low-cost wet chemical method. The enigma involved the optimization of different reaction conditions. A comprehensive study was carried out to optimize the reaction conditions such as molar ratios of surfactant with total concentration of precursors, chemical source and solubility of precursors and annealing temperature. A pragmatic nucleation of precursors was achieved at molar proportions 1:1 between cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and total molar concentration of precursors. An endeavor approach was made to accomplish the appropriate flexibility of emulsion phase by adding small quantity of ethanol as a co-surfactant, nevertheless the solubility of Bi(NO 3 ) 3 /BiCl 3 was unfavorably affected. Subsequently, the single phase product of BFO was observed with reaction conditions 1:1 molar concentration ratio between precursors and CTAB, with precursors BiCl 3 and Fe(NO 3 ).9H 2 O and annealing temperature of 900°C for a time of 7 h. The structural elucidation was made by comparing the extracted data with standard cards (ICDD -01-086-1518) of XRD. The crystallite size was computed to be 18 nm. The DC conductivity was found to be 1.005 × 10 -9 S cm -1. The optical band gap was found in the range of ~2.6 eV. Keeping in view the optical band gap, BFO nanoparticles were investigated for photocatalytic degradation of Congo Red dye under visible light. The photocatalytic degraded sample was investigated through the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and chemical oxygen demand estimation (COD value) for treated sample was calculated to be 63.27% which is less than the untreated sample which disclosed a photodegradation of Congo Red dye into simple hydrocarbon products as perceived in HPLC-chromatogram. The post XRD data showed the stability of BFO which could be separated through a simple bar magnet from reaction container.
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