Catalysis Science & Technology Blog

Jennifer Love obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College in 1994 and her PhD from Stanford University in 2000. After postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology, she began her independent career at the University of British Columbia in 2003. Her research interests span organic, organometallic and inorganic chemistry with a focus on developing new homogeneous catalytic transformations, mechanistic analysis, catalyst design and synthesis.

Read a selection of Jennifer’s papers – free to access until 15th June 2015:

Synthesis and reactivity of 2-azametallacyclobutanes, Alexander Dauth and Jennifer A. Love, Dalton Trans., 2012, 41, 7782-7791, DOI: 10.1039/C2DT30639E

Ring expansion of a 2-rhodaoxetane: insertion chemistry with unsaturated molecules, Addison N. Desnoyer, Alexander Dauth, Brian O. Patrick and Jennifer A. Love, Dalton Trans., 2014,43, 30-33, DOI: 10.1039/C3DT52569D

To ensure that Communications articles published in Catalysis Science and Technology are succinctly communicating the most novel and urgent research, we have recently altered the criteria for publishing Communications. As of 21^st April 2015, two additional criteria must be satisfied upon submission:

1)      Manuscript submissions should be a maximum of four printed journal pages and must be submitted using the template available on our website.

2)      Submissions must be accompanied by a statement that outlines:

• The significance and novelty (what are the key advances made in the article)
• The interest to the catalysis community
• Details of why rapid publication is warranted

Please click for further details on these changes or to access a Communication template.

Due to its sustainability appeal, carbon dioxide is gaining popularity as a feedstock for the synthesis of commercially-important chemicals, including fuels for energy applications. Methanol may be formed from carbon dioxide via water splitting with the assistance of photocatalysts. In this study, reverse photofuel cells incorporating tungsten oxide and layered double hydroxide (LDH) photocatalysts were used for the oxidation of water and the reduction of carbon dioxide, respectively. Two different fabrication designs were tested: in one cell, the catalysts were either used alone or mixed with carbon black; in the other, LDH was mounted on copper, tungsten oxide was mounted on carbon, and the photoelectrodes were immersed in hydrochloric acid solution.

The second cell outperformed the first in terms of the amount of photocurrent generated, since the transfer of protons across the Nafion film was more efficient in the acid solution. However, product selectivity differed between the two cells: gaseous carbon dioxide led to the preferential formation of methanol, whereas the second cell predominantly generated hydrogen due to the poor solubility of carbon dioxide in water.

The full paper is available here:
Photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into methanol in reverse fuel cells with tungsten oxide and layered double hydroxide photocatalysts for solar fuel generation
Motoharu Morikawa, Yuta Ogura, Naveed Ahmed, Shogo Kawamura, Gaku Mikami, Seiji Okamoto, and Yasuo Izumi
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2014, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C3CY00959A

Jenna Flogeras obtained her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton), Canada. Currently a Ph.D. student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, she is excited to spend some time outside the laboratory this summer to explore Thailand and Southeast Asia.

The latest issue of CS&T is now online. You can read the full issue here.

The outside front cover features the paper Deactivation studies of a carbon supported AuPt nanoparticulate catalyst in the liquid-phase aerobic oxidation of 1,2-propanediol by Carmine D’Agostino, Yulia Ryabenkova, Peter J. Miedziak, Stuart H. Taylor, Graham J. Hutchings, Lynn F. Gladden and Mick D. Mantle.

The authors gave the following explanation of their cover image: ‘This hand-made drawing represents the essence of our article. There are fishes (reactant molecules) that swim under water (the solvent for the reaction), in marine caves (porous catalyst matrix) looking for pots of gold and platinum (the active components of the catalyst). A cave is accessible (the catalyst mesopores) despite the presence of obstacles (the deposits formed during the reaction) and the smiling fishes rush happily towards the precious metal pots! The other cave (the micropores of the catalyst) is much narrower and the path is blocked by the deposits. What a pity for the fishes, who are unable to access the precious metal pots, showing disappointed faces!’

The drawing was made in collaboration with Chen Xi, a Cambridge local artist whose other works can be seen at: http://chenxi.carbonmade.com/about

Homogeneous catalysis for the conversion of biomass and biomass-derived platform chemicals is the paper highlighted on the inside front cover by Peter J. Deuss, Katalin Barta* and Johannes G. de Vries.

Issue 5 contains a number of excellent Mini-review articles:

Role of microwaves in heterogeneous catalytic systems
Satoshi Horikoshi* and Nick Serpone

Solar photocatalysis for water disinfection: materials and reactor design
Donal A. Keane, Kevin G. McGuigan, Pilar Fernández Ibáñez, M. Inmaculada Polo-López, J. Anthony Byrne, Patrick S. M. Dunlop, Kevin O’Shea, Dionysios D. Dionysiou and Suresh C. Pillai