@article {46728,
	title = {Bifunctional rice husk-derived SiO2-Cu-Al-Mg nanohybrid catalyst for one-pot conversion of biomass-derived furfural to furfuryl acetate},
	journal = {Fuel},
	volume = {275},
	year = {2020},
	month = {SEP },
	pages = {117953},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {<p>Developing one-pot reaction methodologies, which typically require multifunctional catalyst systems, is crucial for sustainable production of bio-derived fuels and chemicals. This work reports one-pot hydrogenation-esterification of furfural to furfuryl acetate using a bifunctional metal-based nanohybrid catalyst, composed of rice husk (RH) derived SiO2, Cu, Al, and Mg species (RHSiO2-Cu-Al-Mg). For comparison, the catalytic efficiency of RHSiO2-Cu and RHSiO2-Cu-Al were tested under similar reaction conditions. Various analytical techniques were used to elucidate the physicochemical, textural, and acid-redox properties of the catalysts. It was found that the RHSiO2-Cu-Al-Mg catalyst contains an optimum amount of acid and redox sites, as illustrated by NH3-TPD and H-2-TPR studies, respectively. Especially, Mg addition played a vital role in tailoring acidity of the RHSiO2-Cu-Al catalyst to promote in-situ esterification of furfuryl alcohol with acetic acid to yield furfuryl acetate. As a result, the RHSiO2-Cu-Al-Mg catalyst exhibited the best performance in one-pot conversion of furfural to furfuryl acetate, outperforming various noble metal/silica based catalysts. This study offers potential opportunities for the rational design of novel, bifunctional heterogeneous catalysts for efficient production of bio-derived fuels and value added chemicals.</p>
},
	keywords = {Acid-redox sites, Bifunctional catalyst, Bio-oil upgrading, One-pot furfural conversion, Rice husk silica},
	issn = {0016-2361},
	doi = {10.1016/j.fuel.2020.117953},
	author = {Hashim, Luqman H. and Halilu, Ahmed and Sudarsanam, Putla and Umar, Yahaya Balarabe and Bin Johan, Mohd Rafie and Bhargava, Suresh K.}
}
@article {46704,
	title = {Bimetallic palladium nickel nanoparticles anchored on carbon as high-performance electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and formic acid oxidation reactions},
	journal = {ACS Applied Energy Materials},
	volume = {3},
	year = {2020},
	month = {SEP },
	pages = {9285-9295},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {<p>{Herein, we report the synthesis of carbon-supported palladium-nickel electrocatalysts (ECs) (Pd4-xNix/C ECs</p>
},
	keywords = {electrocatalysts, Formic Acid Oxidation, fuel cells, oxygen reduction reaction, palladium-nickel alloy},
	issn = {2574-0962},
	doi = {10.1021/acsaem.0c01622},
	author = {Goswami, Chiranjita and Saikia, Himadri and Tada, Kohei and Tanaka, Shingo and Sudarsanam, Putla and Bhargava, Suresh K. and Bharali, Pankaj}
}
