An efficient, biphasic route towards oxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OMEs) allowing for catalyst recycling and reuse is presented (OMEs=CH 3 (À OCH 2 À ) n OÀ CH 3 , n = 3-5). OMEs are an interesting novel class of non-toxic, diesel-like synthetic fuels with soot-free combustion properties. A solution of commercial OMe 3 + BF 4 À in the ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimadazolium tetrafluoroborate acts as the immobilized catalyst. Upon addition of dimethoxymethane (OME 1 ) and anhydrous formaldehyde (FA) very pure OMEs form in the upper phase of the biphasic mixture. In the lower IL-phase, the catalyst remains immobilized. After phase separation and removal of the top OME layer, the catalytically active IL-phase is reusable for at least ten times without loss of activity and selectivity.Climate change and air pollution are two of the most critical health and sustainability challenges facing society today. They are also closely related: the major sources of CO 2 emissions are the most significant sources of air pollution. So it would seem only logical to seek joint solutions to these two problems. [1] Amongst others, the mobility sector makes a huge contribution to CO 2 emission (ca. 23 %). [2] This sector could be reduced drastically by substituting conventional fossil-based fuels by sustainable synthetic fuels, which are produced on the basis of CO 2 and H 2 . In this context oxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OMEs) with the general formula CH 3 (À OCH 2 À ) n OÀ CH 3 (n = 3-5) have diesel-like properties, are suited for the substitution of diesel and are classified as nontoxic. [3][4][5] Furthermore, based on the lack of covalent CÀ C-bonds and the high oxygen content, OMEs have soot-free combustion properties and can reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) significantly. [4,6] In addition, Hank et al. elaborated in a well-to-wheel analysis a potential reduction of CO 2 emissions of up to 86 % by using OMEs instead of diesel fuel. [7] However, the diesel consumption is enormous (e. g. 38.7 Mt in Germany in 2017), [8] whereas the largest OMEproduction plants produce 400 kt a À 1 and an optimized sustainable and technically viable OME production route is still lacking. [9] Conventional OME-syntheses are differentiated into aqueous and anhydrous syntheses. The aqueous route starts from methanol (MeOH) and aqueous formaldehyde (FA) solution, whereas anhydrous synthesis routes typically start from a FA-source (e. g. 1,3,5-trioxane, TRI; para-FA) and dimethoxymethane (OME 1 ) or dimethyl ether (DME). [10,11,12] The easily available educts MeOH and aqueous FA seemingly favor the aqueous route. However, the presence of water produces a large amount of side products (ca. 65 %), the separation of which requires about a third of the OME 3-5 energy content. [9,13] Instead, the avoidance of water in the anhydrous synthesis route provides relatively pure OME-mixtures. Yet, conventional anhydrous syntheses require the use of very energy-intensively synthesized anhydrous TRI, [11,14,15] largely increasing the CO 2footprint o...

Towards enhancement of the energy density of Li-ion batteries, BiF3 has recently attracted considerable attention as a compelling conversion-type cathode material due to its high theoretical capacity of 302 mAh g−1, average discharge voltage of ca. 3.0 V vs. Li+/Li, the low theoretical volume change of ca. 1.7% upon lithiation, and an intrinsically high oxidative stability. Here we report a facile and scalable synthesis of phase-pure and highly crystalline orthorhombic BiF3via thermal decomposition of bismuth(III) trifluoroacetate at T = 300 °C under inert atmosphere. The electrochemical measurements of BiF3 in both carbonate (LiPF6-EC/DMC)- and ionic liquid-based (LiFSI-Pyr1,4TFSI) Li-ion electrolytes demonstrated that ionic liquids improve the cyclic stability of BiF3. In particular, BiF3 in 4.3 M LiFSI-Pyr1,4TFSI shows a high initial capacity of 208 mA g−1 and capacity retention of ca. 50% over at least 80 cycles at a current density of 30 mA g−1.

Pyrochlore‐type iron (III) hydroxy fluorides (Pyr‐IHF) are appealing low‐cost stationary energy storage materials due to the virtually unlimited supply of their constituent elements, their high energy densities and fast Li‐ion diffusion. However, the prohibitively high cost of synthesis and cathode architecture currently prevent their commercial use in low‐cost Li‐ion batteries. Herein, we present a facile and cost‐effective dissolution‐precipitation synthesis of Pyr‐IHF from soluble iron (III) fluoride precursors. High capacity retention by synthesized Pyr‐IHF of > 80% after 600 cycles at a high current density of 1 A g‐1 was obtained, without elaborate electrode engineering. Operando synchrotron X‐ray diffraction guided the selective synthesis of Pyr‐IHF such that different water contents could be tested for their effect on the rate capability. Li‐ion diffusion was found to occur in the 3D hexagonal channels of Pyr‐IHF, formed by corner‐sharing FeF6‐x(OH)x octahedra.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved