Density Functional Theory Study of CO2 Hydrogenation on Transition-Metal-Doped Cu(211) Surfaces.

The massive emission of CO2 has caused a series of environmental problems, including global warming, which exacerbates natural disasters and human health. Cu-based catalysts have shown great activity in the reduction of CO2, but the mechanism of CO2 activation remains ambiguous. In this work, we performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the hydrogenation of CO2 on Cu(211)-Rh, Cu(211)-Ni, Cu(211)-Co, and Cu(211)-Ru surfaces. The doping of Rh, Ni, Co, and Ru was found to enhance CO2 hydrogenation to produce COOH. For CO2 hydrogenation to produce HCOO, Ru plays a positive role in promoting CO dissociation, while Rh, Ni, and Co increase the barriers. These results indicate that Ru is the most effective additive for CO2 reduction in Cu-based catalysts. In addition, the doping of Rh, Ni, Co, and Ru alters the electronic properties of Cu, and the activity of Cu-based catalysts was subsequently affected according to differential charge analysis. The analysis of Bader charge shows good predictions for CO2 reduction over Cu-based catalysts. This study provides some fundamental aids for the rational design of efficient and stable CO2-reducing agents to mitigate CO2 emission.

Thermodynamic modeling of freeze pretreatment in the destruction of rice straw structure combined with alkaline-hydrothermal method for enzymatic hydrolysis.

Freeze pretreatment combined with alkaline-hydrothermal method of rice straw for enzymatic hydrolysis was studied. Crystallization stress in the rice stem pores caused by water freezing at -20- -40 °C was modeled to illustrate the destruction mechanism. The stress was calculated as 22.5-38.3 MPa that were higher than the tensile yield stress of untreated stems (3.0 MPa), indicating ice formation damaging pore structure. After freeze at -20 °C, rice straw was further hydrothermally treated at 190 °C with 0.4 M Na2CO3, achieving 72.0 % lignin removal and 97.2 % cellulose recovery. Glucose yield rose to 91.1 % by 4.3 times after 24 h hydrolysis at 10 FPU loading of Cellic®CTec2 cellulase. The specific surface area of rice straw was 2.6 m2/g increased by 1.2 times after freeze. Freeze combined with alkaline-hydrothermal treatment is a green and energy-efficient method for improving enzymatic hydrolysis.

Effects of preheating on briquetting and subsequent hydrothermal pretreatment for enzymatic saccharification of wheat straw.

Briquetting of plant biomass with low bulk density is an advantage for handling, transport, and storage of the material, and heating of the biomass prior to the briquetting facilitates the densification process and improves the physical properties of the briquettes. This study investigates the effects of preheating prior to briquetting of wheat straw (WS) on subsequent hydrothermal pretreatment and enzymatic conversion to fermentable sugars. WS (11% moisture content) was densified to briquettes under different conditions; without preheating or with preheating at 75 or 125°C for either 5 or 10 min. Subsequent hydrothermal pretreatment was done for both un-briquetted WS and for briquettes. Enzymatic saccharification was afterwards performed for all samples. The results showed that as expected, nonpretreated WS briquettes gave very low sugar yields (22-29% of the cellulose content), even though preheating at 125°C prior to briquetting (without pretreatment) improved sugar yields somewhat. When combined with pretreatment, briquetting with preheating showed neutral or negative effects on sugar yield. This result suggests that moderate preheating (75°C for 5 min) before briquetting improved bulk density and compressive resistance of briquettes without impeding subsequent enzymatic conversion. However, excessive preheating (75 or 125°C for 10 min) before briquetting may result in irreversible structural modifications that hinder the interaction between biomass and water during pretreatment, thereby decreasing the accessibility of cellulose to enzymatic saccharification.

Co-pelletizing characteristics of torrefied wheat straw with peanut shell.

The co-pelletizing characteristics of torrefied wheat straw and peanut shell with adding water were investigated. The physicochemical and friction characteristics of biochar were determined to investigate the mechanism of biochar inter-particle cohesive bonding. Results showed that optimized process conditions were obtained with 15% peanut shell and 10% water content. The volume density, maximum breaking force of pellets initially decreased and then increased, while energy consumption increased with increasing temperature. The main factors contributing to the cohesion of mixing pellet were the peanut shell content, water content and friction characteristics of biochar. The moisture absorption of the pellet was improved significantly, while the water absorption of pellets did not always decrease with increased temperature. Peanut shell is an effective and inexpensive binder in the preparation of good-quality biochar pellets. Biochar pellets derived from torrefaction temperature of 275-300°C showed superior qualities for application as renewable biofuels.

Effects and mechanism of ball milling on torrefaction of pine sawdust.

The effects and mechanism of ball milling on the torrefaction process were studied. Ball- and hammer-milled (screen size 1mm) pine sawdust samples were torrefied at three temperatures (230, 260, and 290°C) and two durations (30 and 60min) to investigate into their torrefaction behavior and physicochemical properties. The results showed that, under identical torrefaction conditions, torrefied ball-milled pine sawdust had a higher carbon content and fixed carbon, and lower hydrogen and oxygen contents than torrefied hammer-milled pine sawdust. Torrefied ball-milled pine sawdust produced lower mass and energy yields, but higher heating values than torrefied hammer-milled pine sawdust. Ball milling destroyed the crystalline structure of cellulose and thus reduced the thermal stability of hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin, causing them to degrade at relatively lower temperatures. In conclusion, biomass pretreated with a combination of ball milling and torrefaction has the potential to produce an alternative fuel to coal.