(Press-News.org) In a study published in Science on September 4, a research team led by Prof. WANG Feng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with Prof. Paolo Fornasiero from the University of Trieste in Italy, has developed a photochemical strategy for heterolytic hydrogen (H2) dissociation at ambient temperature, a long-standing challenge in H2 activation chemistry.
Hydrogenation is one of the most fundamental reactions in the chemical industry. It is estimated that 25% of all chemical processes include at least one hydrogenation step. An essential procedure of hydrogenation is H2 dissociation. It occurs through two pathways: homolytic and heterolytic dissociation.
Heterolytic H2 dissociation stands out for producing many fine chemicals since it generates reactive, polar H2 species that can selectively reduce polar functional groups. However, it typically operates at high temperatures and pressures, leading to high energy consumption and safety concerns.
In this study, the researchers developed a light-induced strategy to realize heterolytic H2 dissociation. Using gold-loaded titanium dioxide (Au/TiO2) as a model photocatalyst, the researchers showed that upon Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, electrons migrated from TiO2 to gold (Au) nanoparticles, and holes were captured at the interfacial defects constituted by Au–O–Ti scaffolds. This spatial proximity of electrons on Au and holes at interfacial defects formed electron-hole pairs that drove the heterolytic H2 dissociation. The activity of the heterolytic H2 dissociation scaled almost linearly with light intensity, confirming the photocatalytic nature of H2 dissociation process.
Furthermore, the researchers demonstrated the advantages of this strategy. They reduced the inert carbon dioxide (CO2), and showed that the dissociated H2 species almost fully reduced CO2 into ethane at ambient temperature. Furthermore, cascading with a subsequent photocatalytic ethane dehydrogenation generated ethylene with >99% yield over 1,500 h of UV irradiation.
The light-induced H2 dissociation is universal and can be extended to visible-light responsive photocatalysts, such as Au/N-doped TiO2, Au/CeO2, and Au/BiVO4. A demonstration utilizing solar energy to convert CO2 achieved an ethane selectivity of up to 90%.
"This work offers a promising route to produce high-value chemicals like ethane and ethylene from H2 and CO2 under ambient conditions, which could lower the energy cost and reduce carbon emissions," said Prof. WANG. "In the future, we hope the strategy develops into a scalable, sunlight-driven or photothermal coupled technique to upgrade modern coal-based chemical industries."
END
Researchers achieve light-induced heterolytic hydrogen dissociation at ambient temperature
2025-09-04
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Intestinal surface cells pull rather than push
2025-09-04
Cells on the inner surface of the intestine are replaced every few days. But, how does this work? It was always assumed that cells leave the intestinal surface because excess cells are pushed out. In a recent publication in the journal Science, researchers of the Hubrecht Institute and AMOLF show that this is not correct. In reality, the situation is exactly the opposite: the cells do not push, but pull at each other. These pulling forces lead to the removal of the weakest cells. This insight gives a new perspective on how a malfunctioning intestine can lead to disease or infection.
Pulling rather than pushing
The general idea was as follows: old and malfunctioning ...
Game-changing biotech for engineering pathogen-resistant crops
2025-09-04
Researchers led by Ken Shirasu at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have identified an ancient protein that has the potential to help defend plants against tens of thousands of different bacteria and other pathogens. Dubbed “SCORE”, this receptor detects cold-shock protein—variations of which are found in more than 85% of known bacteria, as well as fungi and insects. Experiments published Sep 4 in Science revealed that simply swapping out key sections of SCORE with substitutes can predictably change the type of cold-shock protein, and thus pathogen, it recognizes. This strategy could be used engineer synthetic ...
Evolution of rodents’ unique thumbnail contributed to their successful radiation
2025-09-04
The humble rodent “thumb” may not seem like an obvious window into evolution, but its keratinized tip – the unguis (hoof, claw, or nail) – turns out to reveal striking insights into rodent history and adaptation, according to a new study. The findings suggest that rodents owe much of their evolutionary success to their thumb-nail (the first digit, D1), an adaptation that gave them dexterous hands for cracking seeds and nuts. The tetrapod (four-limbed vertebrate) hand is a crucial structure for interacting with the environment, and its digits show great evolutionary diversity in both form and function. Among them, the first ...
Estrogen-driven cell regeneration shields female kidneys from disease
2025-09-04
A new study in mice provides insights into why females in their reproductive years appear to be relatively protected from chronic kidney disease, a leading public health concern. The study reports that estrogen-regulated signaling promotes the regeneration of key filtration cells in female kidneys. The study also links pregnancy complications like preeclampsia to failures in this regenerative process. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) – which affects more than 10% of the global population – is a leading ...
Artificial intelligence helps boost LIGO
2025-09-04
LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, has been called the most precise ruler in the world for its ability to measure motions more than 10,000 times smaller than the width of a proton. By making these extremely precise measurements, the US National Science Foundation-funded LIGO, which consists of two facilities—one in Washington and one in Louisiana—can detect undulations in space-time called gravitational waves that roll outward from colliding cosmic bodies such as black holes.
LIGO ushered in the field of gravitational-wave astronomy beginning in 2015 when it made the first-ever direct detection of ...
The promise and tradeoffs of the 'drone revolution' in modern agriculture
2025-09-04
In a Policy Forum, Ben Belton and colleagues discuss the rapidly growing use of drone technology in agricultural applications and the important, yet understudied, benefits and trade-offs involved. “There are strong indications that drones can raise the efficiency and productivity of farming, improve worker safety, and enhance rural livelihoods, but these impacts have yet to be evaluated rigorously,” Belton et al. write. “Applied interdisciplinary research and corresponding policy responses are urgently needed to steer the global ...
Neutrophils 'perforate' heart cells to promote arrhythmia after heart attacks
2025-09-04
Following injury from a heart attack, immune cells called neutrophils release a peptide that punctures stressed heart cells and destabilizes their electrical activity. This triggers life-threatening arrhythmias. These findings offer a novel explanation – and potential therapeutic target – for these deadly cardiac events. Ischemic heart disease – cardiac damage caused by narrowed coronary arteries – is among the leading causes of death worldwide. It can lead to heart attacks and sudden cardiac death. When a coronary ...
AI model reveals hidden earthquake swarms and faults in Italy’s Campi Flegrei
2025-09-04
Scientists are using artificial intelligence to understand escalating unrest in Italy’s Campi Flegrei, a volcanic area that is home to hundreds of thousands of people.
Like adjusting a camera lens so a blurry image becomes clear, the new approach makes it possible for researchers to identify earthquakes that previous tools could not pick out from massive sets of seismic monitoring data.
The research, a collaboration between Stanford University, Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) - Osservatorio Vesuviano, and ...
International research team unlocks the power of passivation for perovskite silicon tandem solar cells
2025-09-04
An international research team of photovoltaics scientists has taken a crucial step toward the industrialization of perovskite silicon tandem solar cells. They demonstrated that passivation of the perovskite top cell is possible in combination with textured silicon bottom cells featuring large pyramid size, which are the current industry standard for solar cells. Additionally, they discovered that the passivation affects the entire perovskite layer—unlike silicon, where surface treatment only influences the upper layers—leading to further efficiency improvements. The researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and ...
Human impact on the ocean will double by 2050, UCSB scientists warn
2025-09-04
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — The seas have long sustained human life, but a new UC Santa Barbara study shows that rising climate and human pressures are pushing the oceans toward a dangerous threshold.
Vast and powerful, the oceans can seem limitless in their abundance and impervious to disturbances. For millennia, humans have supported their lives, livelihoods and lifestyles with the ocean, relying on its diverse ecosystems for food and material, but also for recreation, business, wellness and tourism.
Yet the future of our oceans is worrying, ...