The single-pot efficient oxidation of ethane to acetic acid catalysed by Au(I) or Au(III) compounds, chlorotriphenylphosphinegold(I) (1), chlorotrimethylphosphinegold(I) (2), 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidenegold(I) chloride (3), dichloro(2-pyridinecarboxylato)gold(III) (4), homogenous and supported on different carbon materials: activated carbon (AC), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) and carbon xerogel (CX), oxidised with nitric acid followed by treatment with NaOH (-ox-Na), is reported. The reactions were performed in water/acetonitrile. The materials were selective for the production of acetic acid, with no trace of by-products being detected. The best homogenous catalysts were complexes 2 and 3 which showed the highest ethane conversion and an acetic acid yield of ca. 21%, followed by 4 and 1. The heterogenised materials showed much better activity than the homogenous counterparts, with acetic acid yields up to 41.4% for 4@CNT-ox-Na, and remarkable selectivity (with acetic acid being the only product detected). The heterogenised catalysts with the best results were reused up to five cycles, with no significant loss of activity, and maintaining high selectivity for acetic acid. 4@CNT-ox-Na showed not only the best catalytic activity but also the best stability during the recycling runs.

Graphene-based materials have been extensively explored in recent years as valuable candidates as the key material for novel structures in the field, among many other applications, of sensing devices. This work reports a study about the applicability of rGO as a support for gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) prepared with an economic and eco-friendly method using phytochemicals present in tea extract at room temperature. The overall analysis is supported by simulation results about the LSPR effect in AuNPs-rGO, obtained by Mie theory and FDTD method. The residual phytochemicals are analysed as capping agent of the nanoparticles and their influence on the LSPR properties of the nanoparticles is outlined. The resulting composite is suitable for application as a low-cost sensing layer in biomedical LSPR sensor devices.

This review concerns metal-catalyzed reactions of oxidation of alcohols to the respective products, mainly ketones and aldehydes, mostly within the period of 2010–2014. Both conventional and unconventional systems, not only with usual reagents, but also with uncommon and prospective ones, are overviewed, with recently achieved developments.

Spray impingement on smooth and heated surfaces is a highly complex thermofluid phenomenon present in several engineering applications. The combination of phase Doppler interferometry, high-speed visualization, and time-resolved infrared thermography allows characterizing the heat transfer and fluid dynamics involved. Particular emphasis is given to the use of nanofluids in sprays due to their potential to enhance the heat transfer mechanisms. The results for low nanoparticle concentrations (up to 1 wt.%) show that the surfactant added to water, required to stabilize the nanofluids and minimize particle clustering, a ects the spray’s main characteristics. Namely, the surfactant decreases the liquid surface tension leading to a larger wetted area and wettability, promoting heat transfer between the surface and the liquid film. However, since lower surface tension also tends to enhance splash near the edges of the wetted area, the gold nanospheres act to lessen such disturbances due to an increase of the solutions’ viscosity, thus increasing the heat flux removed from the spray slightly. The experimental results obtained from this work demonstrate that the maximum heat convection coe cients evaluated for the nanofluids can be 9.8% to 21.9% higher than those obtained with the base fluid and 11.5% to 38.8% higher when compared with those obtained with DI water.

Aiming to develop a nanoparticle-based optical biosensor using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) synthesized using green methods and supported by carbon-based nanomaterials, we studied the role of carbon derivatives in promoting AuNPs localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), as well as their morphology, dispersion, and stability. Carbon derivatives are expected to work as immobi-lization platforms for AuNPs, improving their analytical performance. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared using an eco-friendly approach in a single step by reduction of HAuCl4·3H2O using phytochemicals (from tea) which act as both reducing and capping agents. UV–Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zeta potential (ζ-potential), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the AuNPs and nanocomposites. The addition of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) resulted in greater dispersion of AuNPs on the rGO surface compared with carbon-based nanomaterials used as a support. Differences in morphology due to the nature of the carbon support were observed and are discussed here. AuNPs/rGO seem to be the most promising candidates for the development of LSPR biosensors among the three composites we studied (AuNPs/G, AuNPs/GO, and AuNPs/rGO). Simulations based on the Mie scattering theory have been used to outline the effect of the phytochemicals on LSPR, showing that when the presence of the residuals is limited to the formation of a thin capping layer, the quality of the plasmonic resonance is not affected. A further discussion of the application framework is presented.

The copper(II) complexes [CuL(H 2 O) 2 ]·H 2 O (1) and [CuL(dea)] (2) [L = 2-(2-(1,3-dioxo-1H-inden-2(3H)-ylidene)hydrazinyl)benzenesulfonate, dea = diethanolamine] were applied as catalysts in the peroxidative (with tert-butyl-hydroperoxide or hydrogen peroxide) conversion of cyclohexane to cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone, either in acetonitrile or in any of the ionic liquids [bmim][NTf 2 ] and [hmim][NTf 2 ] [bmim = 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, hmim = 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium, NTf 2 = bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide]. Tert-butyl-hydroperoxide led to better product yields, as compared to H 2 O 2 , with a selectivity directed towards cyclohexanone. The ILs showed a better performance than the conventional solvent for the copper complex 1. No catalytic activity was observed for 2 in the presence of an IL.

This study addresses the combination of customized surface modification with the use of nanofluids, to infer on its potential to enhance pool-boiling heat transfer. Hydrophilic surfaces patterned with superhydrophobic regions were developed and used as surface interfaces with different nanofluids (water with gold, silver, aluminum and alumina nanoparticles), in order to evaluate the effect of the nature and concentration of the nanoparticles in bubble dynamics and consequently in heat transfer processes. The main qualitative and quantitative analysis was based on extensive post-processing of synchronized high-speed and thermographic images. To study the nucleation of a single bubble in pool boiling condition, a numerical model was also implemented. The results show an evident benefit of using biphilic patterns with well-established distances between the superhydrophobic regions. This can be observed in the resulting plot of the dissipated heat flux for a biphilic pattern with seven superhydrophobic spots, δ = 1/d and an imposed heat flux of 2132 w/m<sup>2</sup>. In this case, the dissipated heat flux is almost constant (except in the instant t* ≈ 0.9 when it reaches a peak of 2400 W/m<sup>2</sup>), whilst when using only a single superhydrophobic spot, where the heat flux dissipation reaches the maximum shortly after the detachment of the bubble, dropping continuously until a new necking phase starts. The biphilic patterns also allow a controlled bubble coalescence, which promotes fluid convection at the hydrophilic spacing between the superhydrophobic regions, which clearly contributes to cool down the surface. This effect is noticeable in the case of employing the Ag 1 wt% nanofluid, with an imposed heat flux of 2132 W/m<sup>2</sup>, where the coalescence of the drops promotes a surface cooling, identified by a temperature drop of 0.7 °C in the hydrophilic areas. Those areas have an average temperature of 101.8 °C, whilst the average temperature of the superhydrophobic spots at coalescence time is of 102.9 °C. For low concentrations as the ones used in this work, the effect of the nanofluids was observed to play a minor role. This can be observed on the slight discrepancy of the heat dissipation decay that occurred in the necking stage of the bubbles for nanofluids with the same kind of nanoparticles and different concentration. For the Au 0.1 wt% nanofluid, a heat dissipation decay of 350 W/m<sup>2</sup> was reported, whilst for the Au 0.5 wt% nanofluid, the same decay was only of 280 W/m<sup>2</sup>. The results of the numerical model concerning velocity fields indicated a sudden acceleration at the bubble detachment, as can be qualitatively analyzed in the thermographic images obtained in this work. Additionally, the temperature fields of the analyzed region present the same tendency as the experimental results.