Bottoms up! The techniques of laser interference lithography and coarsening of Au dots are combined and used to place Au nanoparticles in inverted pyramids at precise locations on silicon surfaces. The fabrication process is robust against variations in the topographic factor, for example, pit‐to‐mesa width ratio. Excellent tunability of the diameter of the nanoparticles is achieved by a careful manipulation of Au thickness and annealing condition.

The hydrogenation of biomass-derived ethyl lactate was studied over several ruthenium catalysts (Ru/TiO 2 , Ru/SiO 2 , Ru/c-Al 2 O 3 , Ru/NaY and Ru/C), with the intent of developing a simple and additive-free catalytic system. The catalytic performance is dependent on the nature of the support. Ru/SiO 2 was found to be an efficient catalyst for the hydrogenation of ethyl lactate to 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO). Parametric studies show that the reaction temperature, hydrogen pressure and catalyst amount can significantly influence the catalytic performance. Under optimal reaction conditions (433 K, 5 MPa), high yield of 1,2-PDO (82.1%) was obtained without the introduction of any additives. Form a practical point of view, this study may open the way to a new approach for the production of 1,2-PDO.

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The hydrogenation of biomass-derived ethyl lactate was studied over several ruthenium catalysts. The effect of support (TiO2, SiO2, γ-Al2O3, NaY and active-carbon) on the catalytic performance was evaluated. The ruthenium catalysts were characterized by inductively coupled plasma (ICP), N2 physisorption, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The catalytic performance of the ruthenium catalysts is dependent on the intrinsic property of the support. Ru/SiO2 was found to be an efficient catalyst for the hydrogenation of ethyl lactate to 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO).