Mechanochemistry for sustainable, efficient dehydrogenation/hydrogenation

Hydrogenation reactions are one of the pillars of the chemical industry, with applications from bulk chemicals to pharmaceuticals manufacturing. The ability to selectively add hydrogen across double and/or triple bonds is key in the chemist’s toolbox, and the enabling component in the development of sustainable processes. Traditional solution-based approaches to hydrogenation reactions are tainted by significant consumption of energy and production of solvent waste. This review highlights the development and applications of recently emerged solvent-free approaches to conduct the hydrogenation of organic molecules using mechanochemistry, i.e. chemical transformations induced or sustained by mechanical force. In particular, we will show how mechanochemical techniques such as ball-milling enable catalytic or stoichiometric metal-mediated hydrogenation reactions that are simple, fast, and are conducted under significantly milder conditions compared to traditional solution routes. Importantly, we highlight the current challenges and opportunities in this field, while also identifying exciting cases in which mechanochemical hydrogenation strategies lead to new, unique targets and reactivity.

Upconverting tri-doped calcium fluoride-based thin films: a comparison of the MOCVD and sol–gel preparation methods

Chemical approaches, either through vapor or solution routes, are applied to the preparation of tri-doped CaF2-based films for upconversion applications.

Aqueous-solution synthesis of Na3SbS4 solid electrolytes for all-solid-state Na-ion batteries

Scalable synthesis of highly conductive Na3SbS4via aqueous-solution routes using precursors of Na2S, Sb2S4, and elemental sulfur for all-solid-state Na-ion batteries is successfully demonstrated.

Study on advanced Ce0.9La0.1O2/Gd2Zr2O7 buffer layers architecture towards all chemical solution processed coated conductors

Improvements of the surface quality in terms of crystallographic orientation and local flatness are achieved in a novel multi-layered structure Ce0.9La0.1O2/Gd2Zr2O7/NiW grown by all chemical solution routes.

Glass Ceramization as an Alternative Production Route of Forsterite Glass-Ceramics for Possible Multipurpose Uses

Homogenous, transparent and bubble-free glass was produced through the addition of an extra silica as a replacement for its structurally analogous AlPO4in an aluminophosphosilicate base glass. FT-IR, DSC, XRD and SEM coupled with EDX, were all used to characterize the obtained glass, and to establish the effect of silica as a substitution for AlPO4on the vibrational spectra and crystallization behavior of the obtained glass.Silica was found to lower the wavenumber of the main stretching vibrational band of aluminophosphosilicate glass, thus counterbalancing the increment in the wavenumber of the main stretching band caused by P2O5in the former base glass. The obtained glass crystallized in bulk at relatively low temperatures, and the first phase to crystallize was enstatite. As temperature was increased, both enstatite and forsterite coexisted. At yet higher temperatures, forsterite was the predominantly crystallizing phase with just traces of enstatite.Thus, it is believed that glass ceramization represents a challenging and yet a promising fabrication route with many technological advantages, over other making techniques, such as sol-gel and solid-state or solid solution routes, for production of forsterite-enstatite and forsterite ceramics. The obtained glass-ceramics are possible candidates for advanced applications, utilizing properties of forsterite, such as bioactivity, dielectricity and birefringence, among many others.