Scalable thermochromic smart windows with passive radiative cooling regulation.

Radiative cooling materials spontaneously radiate long-wave infrared (LWIR) to the cold outer space, providing cooling power that is preferred in hot seasons. Radiative cooling has been widely explored for walls and roofs but rarely for windows, which are one of the least energy-efficient parts of buildings. We fabricated scalable smart windows using a solution process giving different emissivity (ε) at high (εLWIR-H of 0.61) and low (εLWIR-L of 0.21) temperatures to regulate radiative cooling automatically while maintaining luminous transparency and near-infrared (NIR) modulation. These passive and independent visible­NIR­LWIR regulated smart windows are capable of dynamic radiative cooling for self-adapting applications across different climate zones.

Deposition of Palladium Nanoparticles by the Coating of the Carbonaceous Layer from Wastepaper-Derived Bio-Oil.

A highly active and recyclable Pd-deposited catalyst has been successfully prepared for the Heck reaction. Bio-oil liquid, a byproduct from the microwave pyrolysis of wastepaper, is employed to immobilize palladium nanoparticles on a solid support. FTIR, GC, and NMR results indicate the self-polymerization feature of bio-oil, thus giving rise to a uniform carbonaceous layer coated around the surface of the catalyst. Characteristic analysis of the catalyst indicates that palladium nanoparticles are well-dispersed on the parent SBA-15 solid substrate, which is attributed to the carbonaceous layer that is derived from bio-oil carbonization, allowing a high catalytic performance as a heterogeneous catalyst for the Heck reaction. The as-synthesized catalyst demonstrates remarkable recyclability with firm deposition of palladium nanoparticles on the solid support and could be reused without a dramatic decrease in catalytic activity.

Synthesis and application of tuneable carbon-silica composites from the microwave pyrolysis of waste paper for selective recovery of gold from acidic solutions.

Microwave pyrolysis bio-oil from waste paper and K60 silica gel has successfully been utilised to synthesise mesoporous carbon-silica composites with uniquely tuneable surface properties, where functionality and structural characteristics can be altered and even enhanced by curing at different temperatures. This temperature-dependence resulted in composites ranging from highly oxygenated polymerised bio-oil composites at 300 °C to aromatic carbonaceous materials covering the silica surface at 800 °C, making them attractive materials for gold recovery from mining wastewater. The composite materials exhibit exceptional ability and selectivity to recover gold from dilute solutions. Metal adsorption on the surface of these composites proceeded via both chemisorption and physisorption leading to the reduction of Au(iii) to Au(0), resulting in high recovery capacities for gold. Composite material prepared at 500 °C demonstrated the optimum combination of surface functionality and porosity, allowing for an adsorption capacity of 320 mg g-1 of gold and with 99.5% removal being achieved at concentrations mimicking those of real-life mine tailing wastes. All materials pioneered in this research display great potential as selective adsorbents for the recovery of gold from acidic media.