Environmental photochemistry with thiol- and silica-modified plasmonic nanocomposites: SERS sensing of municipal solid waste and tannery waste leachate from groundwater

Mismanagement of obsolete solid waste generates a massive deteriorating effect on the environment. There is a high level of open trash disposal contaminating its neighboring water bodies. This despoliation trash causes an endangerment to the living environment. The waste management act is to hinder harmful effects on human beings, animals, plants, and their natural environment through the principles of waste prevention, waste processing, and waste disposal. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhances the hazardous chemical sensing of environmental pollutants. To vigorously focus on the leaching of a couple of landfills in groundwater and surface water, an unusual combination of SERS-based poly vinyl thiol and silica-modified silver nanocomposites (PVT/SiO2@Ag NCs) was synthesized. The optical, crystalline, and structural properties of PVT/SiO₂@Ag NCs were described with UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is detected at 403 nm from the PVT/SiO₂@Ag NPs. The average crystallite size of PVT/SiO₂ @ Ag NCs is estimated using the Scherrer formula as 11 nm. The calculated specific surface area (SSA), strains, and dislocation densities demonstrate the improved mechanical properties of the substrate. The well-separated spherical shape of NPs is also observed, and the composition of silica and sulfur element in addition of Ag was confirmed by EDAX. Negatively charged SiO₂ were bound strongly with the SH group and Ag NPs through electrostatic interaction mechanism as S-Ag-O-Si-O-Ag-S. SERS sensitivity is demonstrated by the prepared nanoparticles using an environmentally ignored leachate of municipal solid waste (MSW) and tannery waste (TW) landfill. PVT/SiO₂@Ag NCs has detected the presence of innards of MSW leachate viz., aromatic hydrocarbon, phenols, phthalates, and pesticide from the groundwater. Furthermore, the TW leachate compositions of benzenes, hydrocarbons, amines, and chromium VI were analytically identified. Also, the leaching of TW leachate was confirmed in the water samples referred. Hence, this study provides a novel SERS sensor of PVT/SiO₂@Ag NCs in the tile to detect and analyze environmentally ignored organic and inorganic compounds.

Pyrolysis Kinetic Analysis of Sequential Extract Residues from Hefeng Subbituminous Coal Based on the Coats-Redfern Method

Sequential extract residues (R _i , i = 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) were obtained from Hefeng acid-washing coal (HF_AC) by petroleum ether, carbon disulfide, methanol, acetone, and isometric carbon disulfide/acetone mixture, sequentially. Pyrolysis behavior of the residues was determined using thermogravimetry analysis. The Coats-Redfern method with different reaction orders was used to analyze the pyrolysis kinetic of each sample, and the kinetic parameters, including correlation coefficient (R ²), activation energy (E), and pre-exponential factor (A), were calculated. Results showed that the weight loss of extract residues was higher than HF_AC, and pyrolysis behavior varies greatly for residues, which is related to the unstable structure after extraction. From conversion-temperature (α-T) curves, the pyrolysis process was divided into three stages: low-temperature stage (150-350 °C), medium-temperature stage (350-550 °C), and high-temperature stage (550-950 °C). The medium-temperature stage made great contribution to the process of pyrolysis, which was dominated by depolymerization and decomposition reaction. The relationship between kinetic parameters and reaction order showed that the swelling effect is an important reason for the discrepancy of E for each sample in the process of pyrolysis.

Mechanistic insights into CoOx–Ag/CeO2 catalysts for the aerobic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid

CoOx–Ag/CeO2 catalysts achieve satisfactory FDCA yield from HMF, and a fundamental understanding about the reaction mechanism is provided.

Ag/CeO2 Composites for Catalytic Abatement of CO, Soot and VOCs

Nowadays catalytic technologies are widely used to purify indoor and outdoor air from harmful compounds. Recently, Ag–CeO2 composites have found various applications in catalysis due to distinctive physical-chemical properties and relatively low costs as compared to those based on other noble metals. Currently, metal–support interaction is considered the key factor that determines high catalytic performance of silver–ceria composites. Despite thorough investigations, several questions remain debating. Among such issues, there are (1) morphology and size effects of both Ag and CeO2 particles, including their defective structure, (2) chemical and charge state of silver, (3) charge transfer between silver and ceria, (4) role of oxygen vacancies, (5) reducibility of support and the catalyst on the basis thereof. In this review, we consider recent advances and trends on the role of silver–ceria interactions in catalytic performance of Ag/CeO2 composites in low-temperature CO oxidation, soot oxidation, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) abatement. Promising photo- and electrocatalytic applications of Ag/CeO2 composites are also discussed.

Bioethanol selective oxidation to acetaldehyde over Ag–CeO2: role of metal–support interactions

Inserted Ag creates oxygen vacancy on the surface of CeO₂, leading to enhanced catalytic activity.

Toluene removal by sequential adsorption-plasma catalytic process: Effects of Ag and Mn impregnation sequence on Ag-Mn/γ-Al2O3

A series of Ag-Mn/γ-Al2O3 were prepared under different Ag/Mn impregnation sequence and tested in the sequential adsorption-plasma catalytic removal of toluene. When Mn was impregnated first, the resulting catalyst, Ag-Mn(F)/γ-Al2O3, had longer breakthrough time, gave less emission of toluene, had higher CO2 selectivity, and had better carbon balance and COx yield compared to catalysts prepared via other impregnation sequences. After 120 min of NTP treatment, the carbon balance of Ag-Mn(F)/γ-Al2O3 was 91%, with 87% as COx contributions. A Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results show that, the impregnation sequence impacts the BET surface area and the ratio and existing state of Ag on the surface of the catalysts. The longer breakthrough time when using Ag-Mn(F)/γ-Al2O3 as catalyst is attributed to the large amount of Ag(+) on the surface. Ag(+) is a new active site for toluene adsorption. When Ag was impregnated first (Ag(F)-Mn/γ-Al2O3) or Ag and Mn co-impregnated (Ag-Mn-C/γ-Al2O3), the predominant specie was Ag(+). Both Ag(0) and Ag(+) species were detected on Ag-Mn(F)/γ-Al2O3. Ag(0) cooperation with MnOx may promote the migration of surface active oxygen. This would facilitate the oxidation of adsorbed toluene with CC bond already weakened by Ag(+) and would result in higher CO2 selectivity and better carbon balance as seen in the Ag-Mn(F)/γ-Al2O3 system.

Removal of ethylene from air stream by adsorption and plasma-catalytic oxidation using silver-based bimetallic catalysts supported on zeolite

Dynamic adsorption of ethylene on 13X zeolite-supported Ag and Ag-M(x)O(y) (M: Co, Cu, Mn, and Fe), and plasma-catalytic oxidation of the adsorbed ethylene were investigated. The experimental results showed that the incorporation of Ag into zeolite afforded a marked enhancement in the adsorptivity for ethylene. The addition of transition metal oxides was found to have a positive influence on the ethylene adsorption, except Fe(x)O(y). The presence of the additional metal oxides, however, appeared to somewhat interrupt the diffusion of ozone into the zeolite micro-pores, leading to a decrease in the plasma-catalytic oxidation efficiency of the ethylene adsorbed there. Among the second additional metal oxides, Fe(x)O(y) was able to reduce the emission of ozone during the plasma-catalytic oxidation stage while keeping a high effectiveness for the oxidative removal of the adsorbed ethylene. The periodical treatment consisting of adsorption followed by plasma-catalytic oxidation may be a promising energy-efficient ethylene abatement method.