Sharif Digital Repository

Exploring bi-functional electrocatalysts with excellent activity, good durability, and cost-effectiveness for electrochemical hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER) in the same electrolyte is a critical step towards a sustainable hydrogen economy. Three main features such as high density of active sites, improved charge transfer, and optimized electronic configuration have positive effects on the electrocatalyst activity. In this context, understanding structure–composition–property relationships and catalyst activity is very important and highly desirable. Herein, for the first time, we present the design and fabrication of novel MOF-derived ultra-small Ru/RuO2 nanoparticles... 

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with its sluggish kinetics has imposed a significant barrier to the sustainable and green generation of hydrogen fuel (via electrolysis of water) and the development of metal-air batteries. In this study, we report an efficient and novel OER electrocatalyst based on NiSe2nanoparticles (NPs) and the naturally abundant halloysite clay mineral. The NiSe2/halloysite nanocomposite (NiSe2/H) was prepared by a simple one-step hydrothermal route. The electrocatalytic performance of the as-synthesized nanocomposite and its components (pristine NiSe2and halloysite) toward OER in 1.0 KOH solution was examined. The NiSe2/H nanocomposite exhibited a significantly... 

Exploiting localized heat-generation density and the resulting enhanced temperature-rise for controlled growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is reported, and its potentials for batch-production of high-quality CNT probes are demonstrated. Optical near field chemical vapor deposition (ONF-CVD) benchtop fabrication schemes are developed for the localized integration of individual well-aligned carbon nanotubes without bending/buckling exactly at desired nanoscale sites. It is demonstrated that generating self-aligned catalyst nanoparticles superimposed on top of silicon nanotips, along with near-field induced absorption confinement, provide the ability to localize the generated heat at the... 

The development of active and stable materials has great importance for the commercialization of nickel-zinc (Ni–Zn) batteries and hydrogen production. Transition metal sulfides have good theoretical properties for these applications. In this research, we present the synthesis and characterization of Ni3S2@MoS2 nanocatalyst and its hybrid with reduced graphene oxide (Ni3S2@MoS2-rGO). The capability of these materials is investigated as cathode material for Ni–Zn batteries and hydrogen evolution in alkaline media. In the case of Ni–Zn batteries, the assembled Ni3S2@MoS2-rGO//Zn battery shows a discharge capacity of 249.3 mAh g−1 with coulombic efficiency of 97.2%, showing a higher... 

In this contribution, reduced grapheme oxides (rGO) with immobilized tin oxide (SnO2) nanocatalysts were synthesized via the Incipient Wetness Impregnation (IWI) method. To characterize the SnO2/rGO composites, several analyses including the; XRD, Raman, FTIR, ICP-OES, BET-BJH, XPS, TEM, and TPD were utilized. Then the effects of parameters including reaction time, total metal loading, and the initial sulfur concentration of model fuel in the dibenzothiophene (DBT) oxidation desulfurization process were evaluated. After determining the optimal conditions for the aforementioned parameters, the influences of 3 effective factors of the molar ratio of oxidant/substrate (O/S), the molar ratio of... 

A comprehensive study was carried out for the first time on the acidity of eleven different leaves. After functionalization of the leaves with –SO3H groups, the most acidic one was magnetized using nickel ferrite nanoparticles. This novel, inexpensive, green and biodegradable catalyst showed high activity in the synthesis of pyrazoline and 2-amino nicotinonitriles. Some compounds are new and have never been synthesized before and confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR analysis. All of these compounds possess multiple biological activities. The heterogeneous magnetic catalyst (NiFe2O4-Alnus-SO3H) was characterized by various physicochemical techniques such as FT-IR spectroscopy, field... 

The great promise of electrochemical water splitting for green and sustainable hydrogen fuel production has motivated researchers to strive for more efficient and low-cost catalysts based on non-precious metals. In this study, MoS2 nanoflowers decorated with CuCo2O4 were successfully synthesized, and their catalytic activities toward the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in an alkaline medium were investigated. The composition, structure, and morphology of the as-synthesized catalysts were explored by various techniques such as FT-IR, XRD, BET, SEM, and TEM. To maximize the catalytic activity, the composition of the nanocomposites was systematically varied. Catalytic results... 

Graphene oxide (GO) was chemically modified withpara-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) to immobilize copper(ii) ions on its surface and used as a nanocatalyst for the oxidative C(sp2)-H bond amination reaction. A practical method to prepare Cu2+supported onpara-aminobenzoic acid grafted on GO was reported. The prepared Cu2+@GO/PABA was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, AFM, TEM, UV-Vis, and ICP techniques. The results showed that the morphology, distribution, and loading of copper ions could be well-adjusted by grafting of PABA on GO. Moreover, just 2 mol% of Cu2+@GO-PABA could catalyze the C-H activation reaction of benzoxazole and benzothiazole with secondary amines in >94% yields. Also, the... 

An environmentally friendly heterogeneous ternary carbon dots (CDs)/MIL-88B (Fe)/Bi2S3 nanocomposite was synthesized by a multistep method. In this study, we have studied low-temperature calcination with relatively inexpensive reactants. The sufficient CD arrays were generated by loading the glucose molecules into the pores of an as-obtained metal-organic framework (MOF), i.e. MIL-88B (Fe)), by heating to 200 °C. Fabricated nanocomposite structures were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, EIS, SEM, TEM, BET, and TGA techniques, demonstrating the decoration of the Bi2S3 on the CDs/MIL-88B (Fe) nanocomposite surface. MOF templating has been chosen as a systemic method for limited size CD formation... 

The heterogeneous environmentally friendly catalyst and photocatalyst based on Ag, Pt, Ag–Pt nanoparticles (NPs) loading on the γ-Fe2O3/CuO nanocomposite which was derived from Fe-metal organic framework (Fe-MIL-88B) and Cu-metal organic framework (Cu (tpa)) was introduced. The catalytic and photocatalytic activities of Ag–Pt loading on the γ-Fe2O3/CuO nanocomposite were performed for a reduction process (4-nitrophenol (4-Nip) to 4-aminophenol (4-Amp)), and decomposition organic dyes (AB92, MB) in the LED light. Metal-organic framework (MOFs) composed with inorganic and organic linker which used as suitable precursors to obtain different type of nanostructures for environmental applications.... 

Herein, a novel Pt-APA composite (APA = pyridinium bromide salt) based on magnetic graphene oxide was synthesized and used as an effective catalyst. In this way, Fe3O4 nanoparticles are grown on graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets by a simple and practical method which creates a unique nanostructure (Fe3O4/GO) through dispersing uniformly among graphene nanosheets. The resulted Pt-APA composite was obtained via adding PtCl2 to an ethanol solution of Fe3O4/GO and α-keto stabilized pyridinium ylide in related conditions. The synthesized nanocomposite structure was identified using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive... 

Mass transfer efficiency and catalytic reactivity are the two major hurdles for heterogeneous catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) technologies. To address these issues, nanocomposite CuFeO2/Al2O3 was synthesized and assessed as a novel catalyst for enhanced adsorption and oxidation of anionic pollutants (catechol and reactive red 195 (RR195)) in waters. With a positive charge on the nanocomposite by introducing Al2O3, the adsorption of anionic pollutants was promoted. The surface complexation reaction on CuFeO2/Al2O3, which fits well to the Langmuir isotherm, has engined the mass transfer of pollutants to the nanocatalyst that demonstrated 96.46% and 99.75% removal of catechol and RR195... 

Abstract: In this study, an efficient, rapid and simple plant-mediated green sol–gel auto-combustion procedure was presented to synthesis magnesium–cobalt ferrite (MgCoFe2O4) nanocatalyst using an aqueous extract of apple skins as a chelating/combustion agent. The catalyst was assessed by multiple techniques, including FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDS, elemental mapping, TGA-DTA and VSM. Then, the catalytic potential of the as-prepared MgCoFe2O4 nanocatalyst was examined in the three-component condensation reaction of 1,3-dimethyl barbituric acid, aldehydes and malononitrile for the one-pot synthesis of pyrano[2,3-d]pyrimidinedione and their bis-derivatives. The obtained results indicated the... 

Abstract: In this study, an efficient, rapid and simple plant-mediated green sol–gel auto-combustion procedure was presented to synthesis magnesium–cobalt ferrite (MgCoFe2O4) nanocatalyst using an aqueous extract of apple skins as a chelating/combustion agent. The catalyst was assessed by multiple techniques, including FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDS, elemental mapping, TGA-DTA and VSM. Then, the catalytic potential of the as-prepared MgCoFe2O4 nanocatalyst was examined in the three-component condensation reaction of 1,3-dimethyl barbituric acid, aldehydes and malononitrile for the one-pot synthesis of pyrano[2,3-d]pyrimidinedione and their bis-derivatives. The obtained results indicated the... 

Palladium nanoparticles supported on polyoxometalate as a solid carrier were successfully prepared and evaluated as a heterogeneous nanocatalyst for the Mizoroki-Heck cross-coupling reactions. This supported catalyst was characterized by a set of techniques, including XRD, chemical analysis (ICP-OES), IR spectroscopy, TEM and FE-SEM analyses. Poly (ethylene glycol) was employed as an environmentally friendly solvent for coupling reactions. The various fundamental reaction parameters that influence the efficiency of the reaction and yield of the desired reaction products were optimized. This catalytic system showed good activities and evolve a strategy for achieving five times catalyst and... 

Aqueous-phase reforming (APR) of oxygenated hydrocarbons for hydrogen production presents several advantages as feed molecules might be easily found in a wide range of biomass; there is no need for its vaporization and the process allows thorough exploitation of the environmental benefits of using hydrogen as an energy carrier. In this contribution, catalysts with active phase Ni supported on Al2O3-MgO were synthesized at different loadings (1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 wt%) through the co-precipitation technique and tested for the Glycerol APR reaction. Effects of the Ni loading on physicochemical characteristics of Ni/Al2O3-MgO catalysts were examined. Moreover, catalytic performance was... 

As a novel, recyclable nanocatalyst, (Fe3O4)-GOTfOH based Ag nanoparticles doped Starch/PEG-poly (acrylic acid) nanocomposite (Fe3O4@GOTfOH/Ag/St-PEG-AcA) was applied for one-pot synthesis of 2,4,6-triarylpyridine derivatives under water solvent conditions. The prepared nanocomposite was also evaluated in terms of biocompatibility for wound healing. Fe3O4@GOTfOH/Ag/St-PEG-AcA could be easily removed from the mixture of the reaction by an external magnet and recycled without a considerable decrease of activity even after 10 runs. The new nanocatalyst offered better efficiencies than other commercially available sulfonic acid catalysts. In terms of the bioactivity of nanocatalyst, good... 

Selective oxidation of H2S to elemental sulfur is a low cost and highly efficient process for sulfur removal from H2S-containing hydrocarbon streams in medium scale (i.e. 0.2–10 ton sulfur/day) for environmental protection and prevention of emitting toxic gases to the atmosphere. In this research, in order to prepare a highly active and selective nanocatalyst for selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide, for the first time, molybdenum oxides were loaded uniformly over nitrogen- doped carbon nanotubes through incipient wetness impregnation. Different metal loadings including 5, 10, and 15 wt% Mo were considered in the synthesis procedure to achieve the optimized performance and provide... 

CoMo/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) catalyst was synthesized for the oxidative desulfurization process (ODS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) in n-decane. Parameters including total metal (Co and Mo) loading, Co/Mo and CA (citric Acid)/Mo molar ratios were investigated toward achieving optimum conditions. The catalysts were characterized by the XRD, ICP, FTIR, Raman Spectroscopy, BET-BJH, NH3-TPD, XPS, and TEM methods. The product sulfur content was measured by the ICP-OES while the product was evaluated using FTIR and 1H NMR analyses. All experimental stages were designed using Design-Expert software. High BET area, acidity, uniform particle size, and Co-promoter played key roles in this... 

Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 is considered as a promising strategy for production of a wide range of renewable hydrocarbon fuels by solar energy. In this investigation, a series of Ni and Bi doped TiO2 catalysts with different Ni and Bi contents were synthesized by the conventional sol-gel method and tested for CO2 photoreduction under visible light irradiation. Synthesized nano-photo-catalysts were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM, DRS, PL, FTIR and BET analyses. BET results indicated that the doping of Ni or/and Bi in the TiO2 framework resulted in BET specific surface area increment with respect to pure TiO2. DRS analysis showed that Ni doped TiO2, Bi doped TiO2, and co-doped samples...