Browsing by Author "Wei, Fei"

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    Carbon Nanotubes and Related Nanomaterials: Critical Advances and Challenges for Synthesis toward Mainstream Commercial Applications
    (American Chemical Society, 2018) Rao, Rahul; Pint, Cary L.; Islam, Ahmad E.; Weatherup, Robert S.; Hofmann, Stephan; Meshot, Eric R.; Wu, Fanqi; Zhou, Chongwu; Dee, Nicholas; Amama, Placidus B.; Carpena-Nuñez, Jennifer; Shi, Wenbo; Plata, Desiree L.; Penev, Evgeni S.; Yakobson, Boris I.; Balbuena, Perla B.; Bichara, Christophe; Futaba, Don N.; Noda, Suguru; Shin, Homin; Kim, Keun Su; Simard, Benoit; Mirri, Francesca; Pasquali, Matteo; Fornasiero, Francesco; Kauppinen, Esko I.; Arnold, Michael; Cola, Baratunde A.; Nikolaev, Pavel; Arepalli, Sivaram; Cheng, Hui-Ming; Zakharov, Dmitri N.; Stach, Eric A.; Zhang, Jin; Wei, Fei; Terrones, Mauricio; Geohegan, David B.; Maruyama, Benji; Maruyama, Shigeo; Li, Yan; Adams, W. Wade; Hart, A. John
    Advances in the synthesis and scalable manufacturing of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) remain critical to realizing many important commercial applications. Here we review recent breakthroughs in the synthesis of SWCNTs and highlight key ongoing research areas and challenges. A few key applications that capitalize on the properties of SWCNTs are also reviewed with respect to the recent synthesis breakthroughs and ways in which synthesis science can enable advances in these applications. While the primary focus of this review is on the science framework of SWCNT growth, we draw connections to mechanisms underlying the synthesis of other 1D and 2D materials such as boron nitride nanotubes and graphene.
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    Synergistic Gold-Bismuth Catalysis for Non-Mercury Hydrochlorination of Acetylene to Vinyl Chloride Monomer
    (American Chemical Society, 2014) Zhou, Kai; Wang, Wei; Zhao, Zhun; Luo, Guohua; Miller, Jeffrey T.; Wong, Michael S.; Wei, Fei
    Gold has been proposed as an environmentally friendly catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination for vinyl chloride monomer synthesis by replacing the commercially used mercury catalyst. However, long life with excellent activity is difficult to achieve because gold is readily reduced to metallic nanoparticles. The stability of gold limits its industrial application. In this paper, we promoted gold with bismuth for the hydrochlorination of acetylene. It was found that the Bi promotion leads to partial reduction to AuCl, rather than the complete reduction of Au to metallic nanoparticles in the absence of Bi. The optimized catalyst with a molar ratio of Bi/Au = 3:1 (0.3 wt % Au) showed comparable reactivity to 1.0 wt % Au catalyst and significantly improved stability. Furthermore, the gold-bismuth catalyst had higher activity and stability than the commercial mercury catalyst, is less toxic and more environmental-friendly, making it a potentially green, mercury-free industrial catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination.