A catalyst based on Pd on glass wool (Pd@GW) shows exceptional performance and durability for the reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline at room temperature and ambient pressure in aqueous solutions. The reaction is performed in a flow system and completed with 100% conversion under a variety of flow rates, 2 to 100 mLmin⁻¹ (normal laboratory fast flow conditions). Sodium borohydride or dihydrogen perform well as reducing agents. Scale-up of the reaction to flows of 100 mLmin⁻¹ also shows high conversions and robust catalytic performance. Catalyst deactivation can be readily corrected by flowing a NaBH₄ solution. The catalytic system proves to be generally efficient, performing well with a range of nitroaromatic compounds. The shelf life of the catalyst is excellent and its reusability after 6-8 months of storage showed the same performance as for the fresh catalyst.

Silver nanoparticles have become one of the most commercially and industrially relevant nanomaterials of the 21st century, owing to their potent antibacterial properties, as well as their useful catalytic and optical properties. Although many methods have been explored to produce AgNPs, we favor the photochemical approach using photoinitiators to produce AgNPs, owing to the high degree of control over reaction conditions, and the generation of so-called AgNP ‘seeds’ that can be used as-is, or as precursors for other silver nanostructures. In this work, we explore the scale-up of AgNP synthesis using flow chemistry and assess the usefulness of a range of industrial Norrish Type 1 photoinitiators in terms of flow compatibility and reaction time, as well as the resulting plasmonic absorption and morphologies. We establish that while all the photoinitiators used were able to generate AgNPs in a mixed aqueous/alcohol system, photoinitiators that generate ketyl radicals showed the greatest promise in terms of reaction times, while also showing greater flow compatibility compared to photoinitiators that generate 𝛼-aminoalkyl and α-hydroxybenzyl radicals. These findings help to establish a guideline for adapting photochemical AgNP syntheses to flow systems, helping to improve the scalability of the method in one of the largest industries in nanomaterial chemistry.

Contaminated drinking water is a major health hazard in large urban areas as well as remote communities. Several pollutants detected in rivers and lakes are hormone disruptors that are harmful to consumers as well as aquatic life. In this contribution, we present a new material, synthesized using novel green technologies, designed for solar- or LED-driven degradation of pollutants. This material is based on a glass fiber support, loaded with black TiO₂, a modified form of TiO₂ with strong visible light absorption and without any toxic metal or non-metal dopants. This photocatalyst is fully compatible with flow applications. The effectiveness of the catalyst is demonstrated with crocin and 17β-estradiol, the former being a natural carotenoid used as a screening tool and the latter being a common hormonal disruptor. Our work shows that under visible light illumination, our supported black TiO₂ can degrade these water contaminants with greater efficiency than conventional TiO₂. We envision that our findings can contribute to the production of inexpensive, large-scale solar or LED-based water decontamination systems that could be rapidly deployed to sites in need. Operation of such systems would require minimal training and could be monitored remotely. In addition to the catalyst’s non-toxicity and inflow compatibility, the material also has a long shelf life and is easy and inexpensive to produce, making it an attractive candidate for developing water treatment devices.

We devise simple and readily scaleable photochemical methods to synthesize silver nanostructures of varying size, morphologies, and optical properties using batch and flow strategies.

Contaminated drinking water is a major health hazard in large urban areas as well as remote communities. Several pollutants detected in untreated wastewater are hormonal disruptors which are harmful to consumers as well as aquatic life. In this contribution, we present a novel material designed for visible light driven decontamination of water. This material is based on a glass fiber support loaded with black TiO2, a modified form of TiO2 with an expanded light absorption capacity without any toxic metal or non-metal dopants. The photocatalyst developed in our laboratories is ideal for flow as the active material remians fixed while there is continous passage of solution occuring under visible light irradiation. The effectiveness of the catalyst is demonstrated with crocin and 17β-estradiol, the former being a natural carotenoid used as a screening tool, and the latter being a common hormonal disruptor. Our work shows that under visible light illumination, our supported black TiO2 is able to degrade these water contaminants with greater efficiency than conventional TiO2. Using this framework we envision that our findings can contribute to the production of inexpensive, large-scale solar or LED-based water decontamination systems which would be rapidly deployable to sites in need. Operation of such systems would require minimal training and could be monitored remotely. In addition to the catalyst’s non-toxicity and in-flow compatibility, the material also has a long shelf life and is easy and inexpensive to produce, making it an attractive candidate for developing water treatment devices