Catalysts based on transition metals have been of particular interest in various fields of science for some time now. They are used in pharmaceuticals, natural products, chemicals, aromatic hydrocarbon hydrogenation, etc. An essential property of this type of catalysts is environmental friendliness and reusability. The most commonly used transition metal catalysts are rhodium, palladium, ruthenium, copper, nickel, and iron. Hydroxyapatite has recently been added to this list.

The excessive consumption of fossil fuels causes serious energy and environment issues. As an ideal alternative to fossil fuels, renewable biomass can be converted to fuels and chemicals. Thereinto, lipids, mainly containing 16 and 18 carbons in fatty acids, are very suitable for preparing diesel-like hydrocarbons via hydrodeoxygenation. The traditional hydrodeoxygenation is carried out under external hydrogen supply at a high-pressure. However, there is a potential safety problem in the transportation and storage of H2. Moreover, commercial H2 is mainly produced from fossil resources. Recently, the in-situ hydrogen supply through the aqueous phase reforming has attracted great attention. To achieve this, a challenge is to design the catalysts with high resistance to sintering and leaching under harsh hydrothermal condition. Now, the researchers at Tianjin University have designed a carbon-coated metallic catalyst, which is published online in Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering on September 23, 2021.

In a continuing effort to improve upon previous work, a research team at the Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, have applied their recently developed Bayesian phase difference estimation quantum algorithm to perform full configuration interaction (full-CI) calculations of atoms and molecules without simulating the time evolution of the wave function conditional on an ancillary qubit. Superior to conventional methods in terms of parallel execution of quantum gates during quantum computing, this new algorithm is expected to be much easier to implement in actual quantum computers.

A research team lead by PAN Xu from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), cooperated with ZHENG Haiying from Anhui University, achieved high-efficiency perovskite solar cells by passivating interface defects using new-type low-dimensional perovskite.

An SUTD-led study leverages systematic design and molecular engineering to develop brighter, more sensitive fluorophores used in detection probes and imaging labels.

Just as a voltage difference can generate electric current, a temperature difference can generate a current flow in thermoelectric materials governed by its “Peltier conductivity” (P). Now, researchers from Japan demonstrate an unprecedented large P in a single crystal of Ta2PdSe6 that is 200 times larger than the maximum P commercially available, opening doors to new research avenues which can potentially revolutionize modern electronics.