Copper species were incorporated into SBA-15 by solid-state grinding precursor with as-prepared mesoporous silica (SPA). The obtained materials (CuAS) were well-characterized by XRD, TEM, N(2) adsorption, H(2)-TPR, IR, and TG and compared with the material derived from calcined SBA-15 (CuCS). Surprisingly, CuO up to 6.7 mmol·g(-1) can be highly dispersed on SBA-15 by use of SPA strategy. Such CuO forms a smooth layer coated on the internal walls of SBA-15, which contributes to the spatial order and results in less-blocked mesopores. However, the aggregation of CuO takes place in CuCS material containing 6.7 mmol·g(-1) copper, which generates large CuO particles of 21.4 nm outside the mesopores. We reveal that the high dispersion extent of CuO is ascribed to the abundant silanols, as well as the confined space between template and silica walls provided by as-prepared SBA-15. The SPA strategy allows template removal and precursor conversion in one step, avoids the repeated calcination in conventional modification process, and saves time and energy. We also demonstrate that the CuAS material after autoreduction exhibits much better adsorptive desulfurization capacity than CuCS. Moreover, the adsorption capacity of regenerated adsorbent can be recovered completely.

The windmill-like chiral nature of individual ZnPc molecules adsorbed on Cu(100) surface at room temperature has been revealed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and the origin of such chirality is attributed to asymmetrical charge transfer between the molecules and the copper surface. Such chiral enantiomers do recognize each other in molecular level and spontaneously form second-level chiral supramolecular structures with the same chirality during thermally driven movements. The interactions between the ZnPc molecules during such chiral recognition process have been discussed based on the analysis of the sub-molecule-resolution STM images.

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Pd catalysts display excellent potential applications in H 2 O 2 direct synthesis from H 2 and O 2 . Facet dependence on catalytic selectivity for H 2 O 2 direct synthesis on Pd surfaces is investigated by the combination of DFT calculations and microkinetic study. It is found that the coadsorbed O plays a key role in catalytic activity and selectivity for H 2 O 2 direct synthesis on Pd(111) and Pd(100) surfaces. The coadsorbed O on Pd surfaces could not only increase the catalytic activity but also promote the catalytic selectivity on Pd surfaces. With the help of coadsorbed O, Pd(111) surface shows a very high selectivity (>99%) for H 2 O 2 products, but Pd(100) surface displays a high selectivity (>99%) for H 2 O formation. The role of proton transfer is also investigated in H 2 O 2 direct synthesis, and it is found that proton transfer reactions are harmful to H 2 O 2 formation. This work sheds light on the reaction mechanism of H 2 O 2 direct synthesis reaction on different Pd surfaces, and it may create a new path to understand the facet-dependent on catalytic selectivity.

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