Hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) is a hazardous gas found in natural gas and biogas, lethal over 100â ppm. When released into the atmosphere, it can turn into sulfur dioxide. One option to remove H2 S is using porous materials such as zeolites. Among them, mordenite stands out due to its channel structure, wide availability, and low cost. In this work, we evaluated the H2 S adsorption capacity of mordenite using a volumetric static method. The results show the adsorption capacity of H2 S in mordenite varies with the exchanged cation. The highest was measured in Na-mordenite (~4.08â mmol H2 S/g mordenite). The experimental breakthrough curves for this zeolite confirmed Langmuir-type adsorption and strong affinity between Na+ cations and H2 S. Despite this interaction, the XRD diffractograms of Na-mordenite show that the material retained its crystalline structure. More information about the differences in the amount of H2 S adsorbed in the zeolites caused by the change in exchanged cation was obtained by H2 S adsorption followed by FTIR spectroscopy. The spectra show differences in the position of the peaks related to the different adsorption modes of H2 S caused by a change in the polarizing power of the cations due to their charge and position inside the zeolite pores.
The environmentally benign metal-organic framework (MOF) CUK-1 based on 2,4-pyridine dicarboxylate has been prepared for the first time using Mn(II) as the inorganic node and water as the only solvent. Mn-CUK-1 shows reversible and efficient capture of H2O, SO2, and H2S. Compared to previously studied Co(II) and Mg(II) versions of the same MOF, Mn-CUK-1 also exhibited unique temperature-induced structural flexibility due to organic linker torsion, as detailed by variable-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Owing to this inherent solid-state flexibility, Mn-CUK-1 showed stepwise adsorption for polar gases, which induce structural deformations upon adsorption, while the nonpolar guest adsorbates were reversibly sorbed in a more classical manner. Notably, Mn-CUK-1 demonstrates the highest reported H2S capacity-to-surface area ratio among MOFs that are chemically stable toward this reactive acidic molecule. Moreover, Mn-CUK-1 displays exceptional structural stability in the presence of high relative humidity and corrosive gases and shows soft crystalline behavior triggered by changes in both the adsorption temperature and guest molecule identity.
Amine and nicotinamide groups grafted on ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) were investigated as stabilizers for RhNPs used as catalysts in the hydrogenation of several substrates, including carbonyl and aryl groups. Supported RhNPs on functionalized OMS were prepared by controlled decomposition of an organometallic precursor of rhodium under dihydrogen pressure. The resulting materials were characterized thoroughly by spectroscopic and physical techniques (FTIR, TGA, BET, SEM, TEM, EDX, XPS) to confirm the formation of spherical rhodium nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution supported on the silica surface. The use of nicotinamide functionalized OMS as a support afforded small RhNPs (2.3 ± 0.3 nm), and their size and shape were maintained after the catalyzed acetophenone hydrogenation. In contrast, amine-functionalized OMS formed RhNP aggregates after the catalytic reaction. The supported RhNPs could selectively reduce alkenyl, carbonyl, aryl and heteroaryl groups and were active in the reductive amination of phenol and morpholine, using a low concentration of the precious metal (0.07-0.18 mol%).
The first bioinspired microporous metal-organic framework (MOF) synthesized using ellagic acid, a common natural antioxidant and polyphenol building unit, is presented. Bi2O(H2O)2(C14H2O8)·nH2O (SU-101) was inspired by bismuth phenolate metallodrugs, and could be synthesized entirely from nonhazardous or edible reagents under ambient aqueous conditions, enabling simple scale-up. Reagent-grade and affordable dietary supplement-grade ellagic acid was sourced from tree bark and pomegranate hulls, respectively. Biocompatibility and colloidal stability were confirmed by in vitro assays. The material exhibits remarkable chemical stability for a bioinspired MOF (pH = 2-14, hydrothermal conditions, heated organic solvents, biological media, SO2 and H2S), attributed to the strongly chelating phenolates. A total H2S uptake of 15.95 mmol g-1 was recorded, representing one of the highest H2S capacities for a MOF, where polysulfides are formed inside the pores of the material. Phenolic phytochemicals remain largely unexplored as linkers for MOF synthesis, opening new avenues to design stable, eco-friendly, scalable, and low-cost MOFs for diverse applications, including drug delivery.
Biocompatible Materials/chemical synthesis , Bismuth/chemistry , Ellagic Acid/chemistry , Metal-Organic Frameworks/chemical synthesis , Biocompatible Materials/chemistry , Density Functional Theory , Metal-Organic Frameworks/chemistry , Molecular Structure
The metal-organic framework (MOF)-type MFM-300(Sc) exhibits a combined physisorption and chemisorption capture of H2S, leading to a high uptake (16.55 mmol g-1) associated with high structural stability. The irreversible chemisorbed sulfur species were identified as low-order polysulfide (n = 2) species. The isostructural MFM-300(In) was demonstrated to promote the formation of different polysulfide species, paving the way toward a new methodology to incorporate polysulfides within MOFs for the generation of novel MOF-lithium/sulfur batteries.
The MOF-type MIL-53(Al)-TDC was demonstrated to be an optimal adsorbent for H2S capture combining an unprecedented uptake at room temperature, excellent cyclability and low-temperature regeneration.
A greener synthesis of Cu-MOF-74 was obtained, for the first time, in methanol as the unique solvent and at room temperature. Full characterisation of the MOF material showed its purity and also its nanocrystalline nature. Complete activation (150 °C for 1 h and 10-3 bar) of Cu-MOF-74 afforded unsaturated Cu metal sites and this was corroborated by in situ DRIFT spectroscopy. The access to these Cu open metal sites was tested for the catalytic transformation of trans-ferulic acid to vanillin (yield of 71% and 97% selectivity) and a plausible catalytic reaction mechanism was postulated based on quantum chemical calculations.
BACKGROUND: Natural aromatic polymers, mainly melanins, have potential and current applications in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The biotechnological production of this class of compounds is based on tyrosinase-dependent conversion of L-tyrosine and other aromatic substrates into melanins. The purpose of this work was to apply metabolic engineering for generating Escherichia coli strains with the capacity to synthesize an aromatic polymer from a simple carbon source. RESULTS: The strategy was based on the expression in E. coli of the MutmelA gene from Rhizobium etli, encoding an improved mutant tyrosinase. To direct the carbon flow from central metabolism into the common aromatic and the L-tyrosine biosynthetic pathways, feedback inhibition resistant versions of key enzymes were expressed in strains lacking the sugar phosphotransferase system and TyrR repressor. The expressed tyrosinase consumed intracellular L-tyrosine, thus causing growth impairment in the engineered strains. To avoid this issue, a two phase production process was devised, where tyrosinase activity was controlled by the delayed addition of the cofactor Cu. Following this procedure, 3.22 g/L of melanin were produced in 120 h with glucose as carbon source. Analysis of produced melanin by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed similar characteristics to a pure eumelanin standard. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of a process for producing melanin from a simple carbon source at grams level, having the potential for reducing production cost when compared to technologies employing L-tyrosine as raw material.
Escherichia coli/enzymology , Glucose/metabolism , Melanins/chemical synthesis , Monophenol Monooxygenase/metabolism , Tyrosine/metabolism , Escherichia coli/genetics , Escherichia coli/metabolism , Melanins/biosynthesis , Metabolic Engineering , Plasmids/metabolism , Tyrosine/biosynthesis , Tyrosine/genetics
Ni-containing catalysts are investigated under reaction conditions for two different cases, during sulfidation, with Ni-Mo based catalysts, and during ammoxidation reaction, with the Ni-Nb catalysts. It is shown how Raman spectroscopy can follow some of the transformations of these catalysts upon different treatments. For the NiMo/Al(2)O(3)-SiO(2) system it was possible to identify some of the sulfided Mo species formed during the sulfidation of the oxide precursors, while for the bulk Ni-Nb oxide catalysts the simultaneous reaction-Raman results strongly suggest that the incipient interaction between niobium and nickel oxides at low Nb/Ni atomic ratios is directly related to catalytic activity, and that a larger size well-defined NiNb(2)O(6) mixed oxide phase is not active for this reaction. Moreover, the promotion by niobium doping appears to be limited to a moderate niobium loading. It was found that in situ and operando Raman are valuable techniques that allowed the identification of active Mo-S and Ni-Nb species under reaction conditions, and that are not stable under air atmospheres.
