Zinc-air batteries have been proposed for EV applications and large-scale electricity storage such as wind and solar power. Although zinc-air chemistries batteries are very promising, there are numerous technological barriers to overcome. We demonstrate for the first time, a new rechargeable zinc-air battery that utilizes a molten Li 0.87 Na 0.63 K 0.50 CO 3 eutectic electrolyte with added NaOH. Cyclic voltammetry reveals that a reversible deposition/dissolution of zinc occurs in the molten Li 0.87 Na 0.63 K 0.50 CO 3 eutectic. At 550 °C, this zinc-air battery performs with a coulombic efficiency of 96.9% over 110 cycles, having an average charging potential of ~1.43V and discharge potential of ~1.04V. The zinc-air battery uses cost effective steel and nickel electrodes without the need for any precious metal catalysts. Moreover, the molten salt electrolyte offers advantages over aqueous electrolytes, avoiding the common aqueous alkaline electrolyte issues of hydrogen evolution, Zn dendrite formation, "drying out", and carbonate precipitation.

Supercritical carbon dioxide was shown to be a suitable reaction medium for the highly efficient hydrogenation of citral using monometallic Pt and bimetallic Pt-Ru supported on a mesoporous material, MCM-48, as catalyst. A remarkable change in the product distribution was observed after the addition of Ru to the monometallic Pt catalyst in supercritical carbon dioxide. The monometallic Pt catalyst was found to be highly selective to the unsaturated alcohol (geraniol nerol) at a temperature of 323 K within 2 h whereas the bimetallic catalyst becomes selective to the partially saturated aldehyde (citronellal) under the same reaction conditions. Phase behavior plays an important role in the product distribution. Highest conversion and high selectivity to citronellal were achieved in the homogeneous phase for the Pt-Ru catalyst while on the other hand the unsaturated alcohol (geraniol nerol) was produced in the heterogeneous phase for the monometallic Pt catalyst. An XPS study offers strong evidence of the electronic modification of Pt after the addition of Ru in the bimetallic catalyst. The change in product distribution on the Pt-Ru bimetallic catalyst may be explained by the appreciable interaction between the medium and the metal particles promoted by the presence of metallic Ru.

Bimetallic Fe‐V‐HMS (HMS, hexagonal mesoporous silica) catalysts with various molar ratios of iron to vanadium were synthesized using a co‐synthesis method, and investigated for oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene (DBT) using tert‐butyl hydroperoxide as an oxidant. The catalysts were characterized using X‐ray diffraction, temperature‐programmed desorption of ammonia, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and N2 physical adsorption–desorption techniques. The Fe‐V‐HMS catalyst with a 2:1 molar ratio of iron to vanadium exhibited the highest total acidity and the highest catalytic activity. DBT was almost completely oxidized to dibenzothiophenesulfone, a species with a higher polarity that could be subsequently adsorbed on the Fe‐V‐HMS, and therefore the Fe‐V‐HMS acts as both a catalyst and an adsorbent simultaneously. The desulfurization rate was 98.1%. A pseudo‐first‐order model was fitted to the experimental data, and the activation energy was found to be 38.79 kJ mol−1. The encouraging performance of Fe‐V‐HMS offers the prospect of the design of a one‐pot oxidative desulfurization process without needing extraction of sulfones from fuel oil with a chemical solvent.