Fluorine-Containing Poly(Fluorene)-Based Anion Exchange Membrane with High Hydroxide Conductivity and Physicochemical Stability for Water Electrolysis.

Improving the hydroxide conductivity and dimensional stability of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) while retaining their high alkaline stability is necessary to realize the commercialization of AEM water electrolysis (AEMWE). A strategy for improving the hydroxide conductivity and dimensional stability of AEMs by inserting fluorine atoms in the core structure of the backbone is reported, which not only reduces the glass transition temperature of the polymer due to steric strain, but also induces distinct phase separation by inducing polarity discrimination to facilitate the formation of ion transport channels. The resulting PFPFTP-QA AEM with fluorine into the core structure shows high hydroxide conductivity (>159 mS cm-1 at 80 °C), favorable dimensional stability (>25% at 80 °C), and excellent alkaline stability for 1000 h in 2 m KOH solution at 80 °C. Moreover, the PFPFTP-QA is used to construct an AEMWE cell with a platinum group metal (PGM)-free NiFe anode, which exhibits the current density of 6.86 A cm-2 at 1.9 V at 80 °C, the highest performance in Pt/C cathode and PGM-free anode reports so far and operates stably for over 100 h at a constant current of 0.5 A cm-2.

Recent Advances in Electrochemical, Photochemical, and Photoelectrochemical Reduction of CO2 to C2+ Products.

Environmental problems such as global warming are one of the most prominent global challenges. Researchers are investigating various methods for decreasing CO2 emissions. The CO2 reduction reaction via electrochemical, photochemical, and photoelectrochemical processes has been a popular research topic because the energy it requires can be sourced from renewable sources. The CO2 reduction reaction converts stable CO2 molecules into useful products such as CO, CH4 , C2 H4 , and C2 H5 OH. To obtain economic benefits from these products, it is important to convert them into hydrocarbons above C2 . Numerous investigations have demonstrated the uniqueness of the CC coupling reaction of Cu-based catalysts for the conversion of CO2 into useful hydrocarbons above C2 for electrocatalysis. Herein, the principle of semiconductors for photocatalysis is briefly introduced, followed by a description of the obstacles for C2+ production. This review presents an overview of the mechanism of hydrocarbon formation above C2 , along with advances in the improvement, direction, and comprehension of the CO2 reduction reaction via electrochemical, photochemical, and photoelectrochemical processes.

Low-Crystalline AuCuIn Catalyst for Gaseous CO2 Electrolyzer.

Despite its importance for the establishment of a carbon-neutral society, the electrochemical reduction of CO2  to value-added products has not been commercialized yet because of its sluggish kinetics and low selectivity. The present work reports the fabrication of a low-crystalline trimetallic (AuCuIn) CO2  electroreduction catalyst and demonstrates its high performance in a gaseous CO2  electrolyzer. The high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of CO formation observed at a low overpotential in a half-cell test is ascribed to the controlled crystallinity and composition of this catalyst as well as to its faster charge transfer, downshifted d-band center, and low oxophilicity. The gaseous CO2  electrolyzer with the optimal catalyst as the cathode exhibits superior cell performance with a high CO FE and production rate, outperforming state-of-the-art analogs. Thus, the obtained results pave the way to the commercialization of CO2  electrolyzers and promote the establishment of a greener society.

Electrodeposition: An efficient method to fabricate self-supported electrodes for electrochemical energy conversion systems.

The development of electrocatalysts for energy conversion systems is essential for alleviating environmental problems and producing useful energy sources as alternatives to fossil fuels. Improving the catalytic performance and stability of electrocatalysts is a major challenge in the development of energy conversion systems. Moreover, understanding their electrode structure is important for enhancing the energy efficiency. Recently, binder-free self-supported electrodes have been investigated because the seamless contact between the electrocatalyst and substrate minimizes the contact resistance as well as facilitates fast charge transfer at the catalyst/substrate interface and high catalyst utilization. Electrodeposition is an effective and facile method for fabricating self-supported electrodes in aqueous solutions under mild conditions. Facile fabrication without a polymer binder and controlability of the compositional and morphological properties of the electrocatalyst make electrodeposition methods suitable for enhancing the performance of energy conversion systems. Herein, we summarize recent research on self-supported electrodes fabricated by electrodeposition for energy conversion reactions, particularly focusing on cathodic reactions of electrolyzer system such as hydrogen evolution, electrochemical CO2 reduction, and electrochemical N2 reduction reactions. The deposition conditions, morphological and compositional properties, and catalytic performance of the electrocatalyst are reviewed. Finally, the prospective directions of electrocatalyst development for energy conversion systems are discussed.

Metabolomic approach for discrimination of processed ginseng genus (Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolius) using UPLC-QTOF MS.

Discriminating between two herbal medicines (Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolius), with similar chemical and physical properties but different therapeutic effects, is a very serious and difficult problem. Differentiation between two processed ginseng genera is even more difficult because the characteristics of their appearance are very similar. An ultraperformance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF MS)-based metabolomic technique was applied for the metabolite profiling of 40 processed P. ginseng and processed P. quinquefolius. Currently known biomarkers such as ginsenoside Rf and F11 have been used for the analysis using the UPLC-photodiode array detector. However, this method was not able to fully discriminate between the two processed ginseng genera. Thus, an optimized UPLC-QTOF-based metabolic profiling method was adapted for the analysis and evaluation of two processed ginseng genera. As a result, all known biomarkers were identified by the proposed metabolomics, and additional potential biomarkers were extracted from the huge amounts of global analysis data. Therefore, it is expected that such metabolomics techniques would be widely applied to the ginseng research field.

Simultaneous determination of 30 ginsenosides in Panax ginseng preparations using ultra performance liquid chromatography.

A quick and simple method for simultaneous determination of the 30 ginsenosides (ginsenoside Ro, Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd, Re, Rf, Rg1, 20(S)-Rg2, 20(R)-Rg2, 20(S)-Rg3, 20(R)-Rg3, 20(S)-Rh1, 20(S)-Rh2, 20(R)-Rh2, F1, F2, F4, Ra1, Rg6, Rh4, Rk3, Rg5, Rk1, Rb3, Rk2, Rh3, compound Y, compound K, and notoginsenoside R1) in Panax ginseng preparations was developed and validated by an ultra performance liquid chromatography photo diode array detector. The separation of the 30 ginsenosides was efficiently undertaken on the Acquity BEH C-18 column with gradient elution with phosphoric acids. Especially the chromatogram of the ginsenoside Ro was dramatically enhanced by adding phosphoric acid. Under optimized conditions, the detection limits were 0.4 to 1.7 mg/L and the calibration curves of the peak areas for the 30 ginsenosides were linear over three orders of magnitude with a correlation coefficients greater than 0.999. The accuracy of the method was tested by a recovery measurement of the spiked samples which yielded good results of 89% to 118%. From these overall results, the proposed method may be helpful in the development and quality of P. ginseng preparations because of its wide range of applications due to the simultaneous analysis of many kinds of ginsenosides.