The binary phase diagram of water–C₁₂E₅ has been studied with emphasis on the L₃ and dilute lamellar phases, which were found to swell to approximately 99.5 and 98.8 wt % of water, respectively, much further than has been reported previously. Focusing on these two phases, we have carried out static light and small-angle neutron scattering and electrical conductivity measurements. The repeat distance in the lamellar phase was found to exceed 3000 Å. A small, but significant deviation from ideal one-dimensional swelling was observed. This deviation may be explained in terms of flexibility of the bilayers that are flat only on average. Electrical conductivity and small-angle neutron scattering data from the isotropic L₃ phase are, over most of the stability range, consistent with a three-dimensional continuous bilayer structure. However, at large water contents an increase in the conductivity indicates a breakup of the structure into smaller fragments. Our results show that the simpler binary system exhibits the same characteristic features as the more complex multicomponent systems, involving brine, ionic surfactant and cosurfactant.

When new covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are designed, the main efforts are typically focused on selecting specific building blocks with certain geometries and properties to control the structure and function of the final COFs. The nature of the linkage (imine, boroxine, vinyl, etc.) between these building blocks naturally also defines their properties. However, besides the linkage type, the orientation, i.e., the constitutional isomerism of these linkages, has rarely been considered so far as an essential aspect. In this work, three pairs of constitutionally isomeric imine-linked donor-acceptor (D-A) COFs are synthesized, which are different in the orientation of the imine bonds (D-C=N-A (DCNA) and D-N=C-A (DNCA)). The constitutional isomers show substantial differences in their photophysical properties and consequently in their photocatalytic performance. Indeed, all DCNA COFs show enhanced photocatalytic H₂ evolution performance than the corresponding DNCA COFs. Besides the imine COFs shown here, it can be concluded that the proposed concept of constitutional isomerism of linkages in COFs is quite universal and should be considered when designing and tuning the properties of COFs.

Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) is an emerging technology field that can replace fossil carbon value chains, and that has a significant potential to achieve emissions mitigation or even “negative emissions”—however in many cases with challenging technology feasibility and economic viability. Further challenges arise in the decision making for CCU technology research, development, and deployment, in particular when allocating funding or time resources. No generally accepted techno-economic assessment (TEA) standard has evolved, and assessment studies often result in “apples vs. oranges” comparisons, a lack of transparency and a lack of comparability to other studies. A detailed guideline for systematic techno-economic (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) for CCU technologies was developed; this paper shows a summarized version of the TEA guideline, which includes distinct and prioritized (shall and should) rules and which allows conducting TEA in parallel to LCA. The TEA guideline was developed in a co-operative and creative approach with roughly 50 international experts and is based on a systematic literature review as well as on existing best practices from TEA and LCA from the areas of industry, academia, and policy. To the best of our knowledge, this guideline is the first TEA framework with a focus on CCU technologies and the first that is designed to be conducted in parallel to LCA due to aligned vocabulary and assessment steps, systematically including technology maturity. Therefore, this work extends current literature, improving the design, implementation, and reporting approaches of TEA studies for CCU technologies. Overall, the application of this TEA guideline aims at improved comparability of TEA studies, leading to improved decision making and more efficient allocation of funds and time resources for the research, development, and deployment of CCU technologies.

A fast and facile route for the optimization of covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) for photocatalytic hydrogen production is presented. Within 10 minutes a CTF with low photocatalytic activity can be converted into a highly active photocatalyst. Optimized CTF catalysts show an average hydrogen evolution rate of 1072 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ under visible light (>420 nm).

Li/MgO is one of the most frequently investigated catalysts for the oxidative coupling of methane. Besides catalytic testing, it is also a suitable system to perform surface science experiments and quantum chemical calculations, which is not possible for many other active catalysts. However, the real structure of Li/MgO, the nature of the active center and the structure - activity relationship remain unclear, despite all the research that has been done. The aim of this review is to summarize the available knowledge on Li/MgO to structure and accelerate and improve the ongoing work on this catalytic system.