Theoretical study on the mechanism of alcohol photooxidation on Nb2O5 surface.

Theoretical modeling of the solid-state photocatalysis is one of the important issues as various useful photocatalysts have been developed to date. In this work, we investigated the mechanism of the alcohol photooxidation on niobium oxide (Nb2O5) which was experimentally developed, using the density functional theory (DFT)/time-dependent (TD)DFT calculations based on the cluster model. The alcohol adsorption and the first hydrogen transfer from hydroxy group to surface occur in the ground state, while the second hydrogen transfer from CH proceeds in the excited states during the photoirradiation of UV or visible light. The spin crossing was identified and the low-lying triplet states were solved for the reaction pathway. The photoabsorption in the visible light region was characterized as the charge transfer transition from O 2p of alcohol to Nb 4d of the Nb2O5 surface. The spin density and the natural population analysis indicated the generation of spin density in the moiety of carbonyl compound and its dissipation to the interface of the surface, which partly explains the electron paramagnetic resonance measurement. It was confirmed that the rate determining step is the desorption of carbonyl compound and water molecule in agreement with the experimental rate equation analysis. The present findings with the theoretical modeling will provide useful information for the further studies of the solid-state photocatalysis.

Cascade NH3 Oxidation and N2O Decomposition via Bifunctional Co and Cu Catalysts.

The selective catalytic oxidation of NH3 (NH3-SCO) to N2 is an important reaction for the treatment of diesel engine exhaust. Co3O4 has the highest activity among non-noble metals but suffers from N2O release. Such N2O emissions have recently been regulated due to having a 300× higher greenhouse gas effect than CO2. Here, we design CuO-supported Co3O4 as a cascade catalyst for the selective oxidation of NH3 to N2. The NH3-SCO reaction on CuO-Co3O4 follows a de-N2O pathway. Co3O4 activates gaseous oxygen to form N2O. The high redox property of the CuO-Co3O4 interface promotes the breaking of the N-O bond in N2O to form N2. The addition of CuO-Co3O4 to the Pt-Al2O3 catalyst reduces the full NH3 conversion temperature by 50 K and improves the N2 selectivity by 20%. These findings provide a promising strategy for reducing N2O emissions and will contribute to the rational design and development of non-noble metal catalysts.

Ruthenium and palladium bimetallic nanoparticles achieving functional parity with a rhodium cocatalyst for TiO2-photocatalyzed ring hydrogenation of benzoic acid.

Our previous study showed that a rhodium (Rh) cocatalyst is indispensable for ring hydrogenation of benzoic acid over a titanium(IV) oxide (TiO2) photocatalyst. In this study, we explored ring hydrogenation under an Rh-free condition by using two kinds of cocatalyst that were inactive for this reaction when used solely. Cyclohexanecarboxylic acid as the ring hydrogenation product was successfully obtained when ruthenium (Ru) and palladium (Pd) were simultaneously loaded on TiO2, indicating that this bimetallic system can be used in place of an Rh cocatalyst in ring hydrogenation. The state and distribution of Ru and Pd in particles loaded on TiO2 were investigated by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photon spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption near edge structure analysis. The functions of Ru and Pd as cocatalysts are discussed on the basis of results of characterization and activity tests. The effects of different contents of Ru and Pd in Ru-Pd/TiO2 prepared by a two-step photodeposition method on catalytic activity and the features of the reaction system were investigated in detail.

Impact of Lymphopenia Recovery After Chemoradiotherapy on Durvalumab Consolidation Therapy in Stage III NSCLC.

Introduction: Durvalumab maintenance therapy after definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the standard treatment modality for stage III NSCLC. Although severe treatment-related lymphopenia (TRL) during CRT may impair the efficacy of subsequent durvalumab therapy, data on the effect of TRL recovery on consolidation durvalumab therapy are lacking. Methods: This retrospective study evaluated patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC treated with durvalumab after concurrent CRT. The patients were enrolled across nine institutes throughout Japan between August 2018 and March 2020. The effect of TRL recovery on survival was evaluated. The patients were divided into two groups on the basis of their lymphocyte recovery status: the recovery group involved patients who did not experience severe TRL or experienced TRL but exhibited lymphocyte count recovery at durvalumab initiation, and the nonrecovery group involved patients who experienced severe TRL and did not exhibit lymphocyte count recovery on durvalumab initiation. Results: Among the 151 patients evaluated, 41 (27%) and 110 (73%) patients were classified into the recovery and the nonrecovery groups, respectively. The nonrecovery group had significantly worse progression-free survival than the recovery group (21.9 mo versus not reached, p = 0.018). Recovery from TRL (p = 0.027) and high pre-CRT lymphocyte count (p = 0.028) independently influenced progression-free survival. Conclusions: Baseline lymphocyte count and recovery from TRL at the start of durvalumab therapy were predictive factors for survival outcomes in patients with NSCLC treated with durvalumab consolidation after concurrent CRT.

Emergence of Dynamically-Disordered Phases During Fast Oxygen Deintercalation Reaction of Layered Perovskite.

Determination of a reaction pathway is an important issue for the optimization of reactions. However, reactions in solid-state compounds have remained poorly understood because of their complexity and technical limitations. Here, using state-of-the-art high-speed time-resolved synchrotron X-ray techniques, the topochemical solid-gas reduction mechanisms in layered perovskite Sr3 Fe2 O7- δ (from δ ∼ 0.4 to δ = 1.0), which is promising for an environmental catalyst material is revealed. Pristine Sr3 Fe2 O7- δ shows a gradual single-phase structural evolution during reduction, indicating that the reaction continuously proceeds through thermodynamically stable phases. In contrast, a nonequilibrium dynamically-disordered phase emerges a few seconds before a first-order transition during the reduction of a Pd-loaded sample. This drastic change in the reaction pathway can be explained by a change in the rate-determining step. The synchrotron X-ray technique can be applied to various solid-gas reactions and provides an opportunity for gaining a better understanding and optimizing reactions in solid-state compounds.

Ultralong Distance Hydrogen Spillover Enabled by Valence Changes in a Metal Oxide Surface.

Hydrogen spillover is a phenomenon in which hydrogen atoms generated on metal catalysts diffuse onto catalyst supports. This phenomenon offers reaction routes for functional materials. However, due to difficulties in visualizing hydrogen, the fundamental nature of the phenomenon, such as how far hydrogen diffuses, has not been well understood. Here, in this study, we fabricated catalytic model systems based on Pd-loaded SrFeOx (x ∼ 2.8) epitaxial films and investigated hydrogen spillover. We show that hydrogen spillover on the SrFeOx support extends over long distances (∼600 µm). Furthermore, the hydrogen-spillover-induced reduction of Fe4+ in the support yields large energies (as large as 200 kJ/mol), leading to the spontaneous hydrogen transfer and driving the surprisingly ultralong hydrogen diffusion. These results show that the valence changes in the supports' surfaces are the primary factor determining the hydrogen spillover distance. Our study leads to a deeper understanding of the long-debated issue of hydrogen spillover and provides insight into designing catalyst systems with enhanced properties.

Reactivity of Lattice Oxygen in Ti-Site-Substituted SrTiO3 Perovskite Catalysts.

An environmental catalyst in which a transition metal (Mn, Fe, or Co) was substituted into the Ti site of the host material, SrTiO3, was synthesized, and the reactivity of lattice oxygen was evaluated. For CO oxidation, Mn- and Co-doped SrTiO3 catalysts, which provided high thermal stabilities, exhibited higher activities than Pt/Al2O3 catalysts despite their low surface areas. Temperature-programmed reduction experiments using X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements showed that the lattice oxygen of Co-doped catalyst was released at the lowest temperature. Isotopic experiments with CO and 18O2 revealed that the lattice oxygen was involved in CO oxidation on Fe- and Co-doped catalysts; that is, CO oxidation on these catalysts proceeded via the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism. On the other hand, for Mn-doped catalyst, the contribution of lattice oxygen to CO oxidation was relatively negligible, indicating that the reaction proceeded according to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. This paper clearly demonstrates that the catalytic mechanism can be adjusted by substituting transition metals into SrTiO3.

Designing Reactive Bridging O2- at the Atomic Cu-O-Fe Site for Selective NH3 Oxidation.

Surface oxidation chemistry involves the formation and breaking of metal-oxygen (M-O) bonds. Ideally, the M-O bonding strength determines the rate of oxygen absorption and dissociation. Here, we design reactive bridging O2- species within the atomic Cu-O-Fe site to accelerate such oxidation chemistry. Using in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the O K-edge and density functional theory calculations, it is found that such bridging O2- has a lower antibonding orbital energy and thus weaker Cu-O/Fe-O strength. In selective NH3 oxidation, the weak Cu-O/Fe-O bond enables fast Cu redox for NH3 conversion and direct NO adsorption via Cu-O-NO to promote N-N coupling toward N2. As a result, 99% N2 selectivity at 100% conversion is achieved at 573 K, exceeding most of the reported results. This result suggests the importance to design, determine, and utilize the unique features of bridging O2- in catalysis.

Dual Ag/Co cocatalyst synergism for the highly effective photocatalytic conversion of CO2 by H2O over Al-SrTiO3.

Loading Ag and Co dual cocatalysts on Al-doped SrTiO3 (AgCo/Al-SrTiO3) led to a significantly improved CO-formation rate and extremely high selectivity toward CO evolution (99.8%) using H2O as an electron donor when irradiated with light at wavelengths above 300 nm. Furthermore, the CO-formation rate over AgCo/Al-SrTiO3 (52.7 µmol h-1) was a dozen times higher than that over Ag/Al-SrTiO3 (4.7 µmol h-1). The apparent quantum efficiency for CO evolution over AgCo/Al-SrTiO3 was about 0.03% when photoirradiated at a wavelength at 365 nm, with a CO-evolution selectivity of 98.6% (7.4 µmol h-1). The Ag and Co cocatalysts were found to function as reduction and oxidation sites for promoting the generation of CO and O2, respectively, on the Al-SrTiO3 surface.

Local Structure and L1- and L3-Edge X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structures of Middle Lanthanoid Elements (Eu, Gd, Tb, and Dy) in Their Complex Oxides.

Relationship between the local structures of middle lanthanoid elements (Ln; Eu, Gd, Tb, and Dy) in their complex oxides and the characteristic features of the L1-edge and L3-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) was investigated. There was a significant correlation between the pre-edge peak areas of the Ln L1-edge or the full widths at half maximum of the white line of the Ln L3-edge XANES spectra and the abstract physical indexes defined by bond angles formed by the middle Ln elements and the two adjacent oxygen atoms, which act as indicators of local configurational disorder of the target element. Theoretical simulation based on multiple scattering theory revealed that the pre-edge peak in the Ln L1-edge XANES spectra originates due to the p-d hybridization that occurs above the Fermi energy. This systematic survey demonstrated a universal method to estimate the local structure of the middle Ln elements by means of XANES spectroscopy.

NOx Storage Performance at Low Temperature over Platinum Group Metal-Free SrTiO3-Based Material.

Pt-based catalysts are commonly employed as NOx-trapping catalysts for automobiles, while perovskite oxides have received attention as Pt-free NOx-trapping catalysts. However, the NOx storage performance of perovskite catalysts is significantly inferior at low temperatures and with coexisting gases such as H2O, CO2, and SO2. This study demonstrates that NOx storage reactions proceed over redox site (Mn, Fe, and Co)-doped SrTiO3 perovskites. Among the examined catalysts, Mn-doped SrTiO3 exhibited the highest NOx storage capacity (NSC) and showed a high NSC even at a low temperature of 323 K. Moreover, the high NOx storage performance of Mn-doped SrTiO3 was retained in the presence of poisoning gases (H2O, CO2, and SO2). NO oxidation experiments revealed that the NSC of Co-doped SrTiO3 was dependent on the NO oxidation activity from NO to NO2 via lattice oxygen, which resulted in an inferior NSC at low temperatures. On the other hand, Mn-doped SrTiO3 successfully adsorbed NO molecules onto its surface at 323 K without the NO oxidation process using lattice oxygens. This unique adsorption behavior of Mn-doped SrTiO3 was concluded to be responsible for the high NSC in the presence of poisoning gases.

Oxygen Release and Storage Property of Fe-Al Spinel Compounds: A Three-Way Catalytic Reaction over a Supported Rh Catalyst.

We evaluated the catalytic performance of the Rh-Fe/Al2O3 catalyst during a three-way catalytic reaction and found, by chance, that a part of Fe species was dissolved into the γ-Al2O3 support and worked as an oxygen storage material, which adjusts the oxygen concentration around the catalytically active sites to a suitable level for three-way catalysis. In this study, we demonstrated that the Fe-doped γ-Al2O3 can reversibly store and release oxygen by the redox of Fe2+/Fe3+ at the tetrahedral (Td) site of the spinel structure without its structure deformation. The finding that a spinel-structured metal oxide, Fe-doped γ-Al2O3, could work as an oxygen storage material suggested a new opportunity for the development of oxygen storage materials without rare metals.

Oxidation and Storage Mechanisms for Nitrogen Oxides on Variously Terminated (001) Surfaces of SrFeO3-δ and Sr3Fe2O7-δ Perovskites.

The Ruddlesden-Popper (RP)-type layered perovskite is a candidate material for a new nitrogen oxide (NOx) storage catalyst. Here, we investigate the adsorption and oxidation of NOx on the (001) surfaces of RP-type oxide Sr3Fe2O7-δ for all of the terminations by comparing to those of simple perovskite SrFeO3-δ by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The possible (001) cleavages of Sr3Fe2O7 generate two FeO2- and three SrO-terminated surfaces, and the calculated surface energies indicated that the SrO-terminated surface generated by the cleavage at the rock salt layer is the most stable one. The oxygen of the FeO2-terminated surfaces could be removed with significantly low energy because the process involves the favorable reduction of the Fe4+ site. Consequently, the surface oxygen at the FeO2 site could easily oxidize adsorbed NO to NO2 by the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism. The resulting oxygen vacancy in the surface would be filled easily with lattice oxygen in bulk. The oxidation of NO with adsorbed molecular O2 was unfavorable by both the Langmuir-Hinshelwood and Eley-Rideal mechanisms because this process does not involve the reduction of the Fe4+ site. The oxygen of the SrO-terminated surfaces was tightly bound and acted as the adsorption site of NO and NO2. An electron transfer strengthened the NOx binding to the surface by forming nitrite (NO2-) or nitrate (NO3-) species. The DFT calculations revealed that the RP-type structure promoted NOx oxidation and storage properties by forming active oxygen due to the Jahn-Teller distortion and by exposing SrO-terminated surfaces due to the cleavage at the rock salt layer.

Secondary organizing pneumonia after coronavirus disease 2019: Two cases.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported to induce persistent symptoms even after an acute phase. However, the pathophysiology and treatment of this condition have been unclear. We report two patients who recovered from COVID-19, but presented persistent respiratory symptoms. Their respiratory conditions deteriorated, and computed tomography showed remaining ground glass opacities and consolidations. The pathological findings of transbronchial lung biopsy corresponded to organizing pneumonia. We diagnosed them with secondary organizing pneumonia after COVID-19. Subsequently, we administered systemic corticosteroids. Their symptoms, oxygenations, radiologic findings, and pulmonary functions rapidly improved after the treatment of corticosteroids. The two cases showed that secondary organizing pneumonia may be a cause of persistent respiratory failure after COVID-19. In this condition, corticosteroids may be effective.

A theoretical investigation into the role of catalyst support and regioselectivity of molecular adsorption on a metal oxide surface: NO reduction on Cu/γ-alumina.

The role of catalyst support and regioselectivity of molecular adsorption on a metal oxide surface is investigated for NO reduction on a Cu/γ-alumina heterogeneous catalyst. For the solid surface, computational models of the γ-alumina surface are constructed based on the Step-by-Step Hydrogen Termination (SSHT) approach. Dangling bonds, which appear upon cutting the crystal structure of a model, are terminated stepwise with H atoms until the model has an appropriate energy gap. The obtained SSHT models reflect the realistic infrared (IR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV/Vis) spectra. Vibronic coupling density (VCD), as a reactivity index, is employed to elucidate the regioselectivity of Cu adsorption on γ-alumina and that of NO adsorption on Cu/γ-alumina in place of the frontier orbital theory that could not provide clear results. We discovered that the highly dispersed Cu atoms are loaded on Lewis-basic O atoms, which is known as the anchoring effect, located in the tetrahedral sites of the γ-alumina surface. The role of the γ-alumina support is to raise the frontier orbital of the Cu catalyst, which in turn gives rise to the electron back-donation from Cu/γ-alumina to NO. In addition, the penetration of the VCD distribution of Cu/γ-alumina into the γ-alumina support indicates that the excessive reaction energy dissipates into the support after NO adsorption and reduction. In other words, the support plays the role of a heat bath. The NO reduction on Cu/γ-alumina proceeds even in an oxidative atmosphere because the Cu-NO bond is strong compared to the Cu-O2 bond.

Self-Regeneration Process of Ni-Cu Alloy Catalysts during a Three-Way Catalytic Reaction-An Operando Study.

It is important to understand the reduction processes of mixed metal oxides or metal oxide interfaces in three-way catalytic reactions toward replacing the currently used high-cost Pt group metal catalysts. The redox behavior of simple Ni-Cu alloy catalysts, which exhibit high catalytic activity and durability during a three-way catalytic reaction, was studied by operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The operando XAS analyses revealed that Ni-Cu species changed from the NiO-Cu2O to Ni-Cu alloy and vice versa under reductive and oxidative conditions, respectively. The real-time monitoring of the oxidation states of Ni and Cu species indicated that the Cu species assisted the reduction of Ni species, in agreement with the density functional theory-based study of NiO reduction by carbon monoxide in the presence of metallic Cu nanoparticles.

Low-temperature NO oxidation using lattice oxygen in Fe-site substituted SrFeO3-δ.

Improvement of the low-temperature activity for NO oxidation catalysts is a crucial issue to improve the NOx storage performance in automotive catalysts. We have recently reported that the lattice oxygen species in SrFeO3-δ (SFO) are reactive in the oxidation of NO to NO2 at low temperatures. The oxidation of NO using lattice oxygen species is a powerful means to oxidize NO in such kinetically restricted temperature regions. This paper shows that Fe-site substitution of SFO with Mn or Co improves the properties of lattice oxygen such as the temperature and amount of oxygen release/storage, resulting in the enhancement of the activity for NO oxidation in a low-temperature range. In particular, NO oxidation on SrFe0.8Mn0.2O3-δ is found to proceed even at extremely low temperatures <423 K. From oxygen release/storage profiles obtained by temperature-programmed reactions, Co doping into SFO increases the amount of released oxygen owing to the reducibility of the Co species and promotes the phase transformation to the brownmillerite phase. On the other hand, Mn doping does not increase the oxygen release amount and suppresses the phase transformation. However, it significantly decreases the oxygen migration barrier of SFO. Substitution with Mn renders the structure of SFO more robust and maintains the perovskite structure after the release of oxygen. Thus, the oxygen release properties are strongly dependent on the crystal structure change before and after oxygen release from the perovskite structure, which has a significant effect on NO oxidation and the NOx storage performance.

Zeolite-Encaged Pd-Mn Nanocatalysts for CO2 Hydrogenation and Formic Acid Dehydrogenation.

A CO2 -mediated hydrogen storage energy cycle is a promising way to implement a hydrogen economy, but the exploration of efficient catalysts to achieve this process remains challenging. Herein, sub-nanometer Pd-Mn clusters were encaged within silicalite-1 (S-1) zeolites by a ligand-protected method under direct hydrothermal conditions. The obtained zeolite-encaged metallic nanocatalysts exhibited extraordinary catalytic activity and durability in both CO2 hydrogenation into formate and formic acid (FA) dehydrogenation back to CO2 and hydrogen. Thanks to the formation of ultrasmall metal clusters and the synergic effect of bimetallic components, the PdMn0.6 @S-1 catalyst afforded a formate generation rate of 2151 molformate molPd -1 h-1 at 353 K, and an initial turnover frequency of 6860 mol H 2 molPd -1 h-1 for CO-free FA decomposition at 333 K without any additive. Both values represent the top levels among state-of-the-art heterogeneous catalysts under similar conditions. This work demonstrates that zeolite-encaged metallic catalysts hold great promise to realize CO2 -mediated hydrogen energy cycles in the future that feature fast charge and release kinetics.

Sarcopenia and Visceral Adiposity Did Not Affect Efficacy of Immune-Checkpoint Inhibitor Monotherapy for Pretreated Patients With Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the association of computed tomography (CT)-assessed sarcopenia and visceral adiposity with efficacy and prognosis of immune-checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy for pretreated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: We retrospectively collected 74 patients with pretreated NSCLC who had initiated programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor monotherapy between December 2015 and November 2018 at our hospital. As CT-assessed pretreatment markers, we used psoas muscle index (PMI), intramuscular adipose tissue content (IMAC), visceral-to-subcutaneous ratio (VSR) and visceral fat area (VFA) at lumbar vertebra L3 level. We divided 74 patients into high and low groups according to each Japanese sex-specific cut-off value. Using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests, we compared overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Adjusted by serum albumin, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, performance status and driver mutations, multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses evaluated various variables as independent prognostic factors of OS and PFS. RESULTS: We could not find significant difference in response rate (RR) and disease control rate (DCR) between low and high groups according to any factors. The OS of patients with body mass index (BMI) < 18.5 was significantly shorter than that of patients with BMI ≥ 18.5 (median 3.3 vs. 15.8 months, P < 0.01), while there was no significant difference in OS and PFS according to PMI, IMAC, VSR and VFA. Multivariate analyses detected no significant prognostic factor in OS and PFS, except for low IMAC (hazard ratio 0.43, 95% confidence interval 0.18 - 0.998, P = 0.0496) as a favorable prognostic factor of longer OS. CONCLUSIONS: Neither PMI nor VSR, VFA might be a significant prognostic factor of PFS and OS of ICI monotherapy for pretreated NSCLC. According to our multivariate analyses, IMAC was a significant prognostic factor of OS, but not of PFS. Thus, neither sarcopenia nor visceral adiposity may be associated with the efficacy of ICI therapy.