Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the most abundant renewable source of commodity chemicals like hydroxymethylfurfural. Solvothermal hydrodeoxygenation of hydroxymethylfurfural towards value added chemicals was performed with a series of nickel based catalysts supported on different titania materials, ie. hydrothermally-prepared high aspect ratio and commercial TiO2 with different morphologies and crystallographic structures. The kind of titania strongly influenced the properties of the supported nickel nanoparticles, which allowed to tune the reaction selectivity towards specific products. Rutile-containing titania forced stronger Ni-Ti interaction, enhanced hydrogen adsorption, and formed larger Ni particles which resulted in high activity. Hydrothermally-prepared materials allowed to obtain selectively 2,5-bishydroxymethyltetrahydrofuran (biopolymer precursor) due a relatively small surface acidity and large Ni particles. By contrast, large surface area anatase with small nickel particles and small surface acidity allowed to selectively obtain 2,5-dimethylfuran (biofuel additive).
The aim of this study is to present an application of ToF-SIMS in forensic research, especially in the imaging of fingerprints and detection of traces of various substances, which do not exist in natural skin excretion, but can be connected with a crime scene. Exemplary ToF-SIMS images of fingerprints from fingers contaminated with traces of different substances (arsenic, nickel, gunshot residues, amphetamine drugs, etc.) using three kinds of bases (aluminum, stainless steel and brass) are showed. The results of the study show the potential of ToF-SIMS technique in the analysis of fingerprints with a view to use in forensic science.
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