Although the purchase price of cellulosic feedstocks is competitive with petroleum on an energy basis, the cost of lignocellulose conversion to ethanol using today's technology is high. Cost reductions can be pursued via either in-paradigm or new-paradigm innovation. As an example of new-paradigm innovation, consolidated bioprocessing using thermophilic bacteria combined with milling during fermentation (cotreatment) is analyzed. Acknowledging the nascent state of this approach, our analysis indicates potential for radically improved cost competitiveness and feasibility at smaller scale compared to current technology, arising from (a) R&D-driven advances (consolidated bioprocessing with cotreatment in lieu of thermochemical pretreatment and added fungal cellulase), and (b) configurational changes (fuel pellet coproduction instead of electricity, gas boiler(s) in lieu of a solid fuel boiler).
Tuning the intrinsic strain of Pt‐based nanomaterials has shown great promise for improving the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance. Herein, reported is a tunable surface strain in penta‐twinned ternary Pt–Cu–Mn nanoframes (NFs). Pt–Cu–Mn ultrafine NFs (UNFs) exhibit ≈1.5% compressive strain compared to Pt–Cu–Mn pentagonal NFs (PNFs) and show the superior activity toward ORR in an alkaline environment. Specifically, the specific and mass activity of Pt–Cu–Mn UNFs are 3.38 mA cm−2 and 1.45 A mg−1, respectively, which is 1.45 and 1.71 times higher than that of Pt–Cu–Mn PNFs, demonstrating that compressive strain in NFs structure can effectively enhance the catalytic activity of ORR. Impressively, Pt–Cu–Mn UNFs exhibit 8.67 and 9.67 times enhanced specific and mass activity compared with commercial Pt/C. Theoretical calculations reveal that compression on the surface of Pt–Cu–Mn UNFs can weaken the bonding strengths and adsorption of oxygen‐containing intermediates, resulting in an optimal condition for ORR.
In this paper, hollow nanospheres (HNSs) of metal oxides (NiO, CuO, and NiO/CuO) coated with a porous carbon shell (HNSs@C) with good structural stability were successfully prepared on the basis of the nanoscale Kirkendall effect. The formation process was based on a template-free method, and the as-prepared HNSs@C are very clean compared with products of the template process. In addition, the results of N adsorption-desorption noted that both the metal oxide HNSs and the coated carbon were mesoporous structures. Therefore, small molecules can access the inner space of the whole HNSs@C, which was expected to increase the active site area and to show better performances in applied fields, such as catalysts and sensors. As an example of the functional properties, the obtained HNSs@C were investigated as the catalyst for the hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and manifested highly catalytic activity and excellent stability. This work has opened up a novel route for the development of metal oxide HNSs nanocatalysts. This straightforward method is of significance for development of clean metal oxide HNSs with high stability and multiplied applications.
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