Isotopic Exchange Study on the Kinetics of Fe Carburization and the Mechanism of the Fischer-Tropsch Reaction

The kinetics of the transformation of metallic Fe to the active Fe carbide phase at the start of the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reaction were studied. The diffusion rates of C atoms going in or out of the lattice were determined using 13C-labeled synthesis gas in combination with measurements of the transient 12C and 13C contents in the carbide by...

SMC complexes can traverse physical roadblocks bigger than their ring size

Ring-shaped structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complexes like condensin and cohesin extrude loops of DNA. It remains, however, unclear how they can extrude DNA loops in chromatin that is bound with proteins. Here, we use in vitro single-molecule visualization to show that nucleosomes, RNA polymerase, and dCas9 pose virtually no...

Autogenous shrinkage of alkali-activated slag and fly ash materials: From mechanism to mitigating strategies

Alkali-activated materials (AAMs), as eco-friendly alternatives to Ordinary Portland cement (OPC), have attracted increasing attention of researchers in the past decades. Unlike cement, which requires calcination of limestone, AAMs can be made from industrial by-products, or even wastes, with the use of alkali-activator. The production of AAMs...

Geopolymer Coating of Bacteria-containing Granules for Use in Self-healing Concrete

Concrete structures are often reinforced with steel. In order for the reinforcement to take over tensile forces, concrete has to crack. Through such cracks, water and compounds that are harmful to concrete can enter. This can cause durability issues like leakage, concrete degradation and reinforcement corrosion. In situ repair of cracks is often...

Self-healing supramolecular nanocomposites

The aim of this thesis is to execute a bottom-up design of the intrinsically self-healing nanocomposites. We briefly introduced the self-healing materials in chapter 1, covering classification and basic self-healing mechanism. In chapter 2, we have synthesized polyborosiloxane (PBS) according to the last century recipe as the self-healing...

Inner-city station areas in Chinese cities

Redevelopments of Chinese inner-­?city station areas introduced both new transport infrastructures (high speed railway, urban mass transit system, etc.) and real estate projects to station vicinities during the past decades. However, existing station areas are isolated from the rest of the city, and seldom urban activities take place in station...

Inhibition of a Gold-Based Catalyst in Benzyl Alcohol Oxidation: Understanding and Remediation

Benzyl alcohol oxidation was carried out in toluene as solvent, in the presence of the potentially inhibiting oxidation products benzaldehyde and benzoic acid. Benzoic acid, or a product of benzoic acid, is identified to be the inhibiting species. The presence of a basic potassium salt (K2CO3 or KF) suppresses this inhibition, but promotes the...

Synthesis of zeolite composites with hierarchical porosity

Pt-Ce-soot generated from fuel-borne catalysts: Soot oxidation mechanism

Transfer hydrogenations and kinetic resolutions

Chapter 1 is a review on homogeneous transfer hydrogenations. It shows the different reaction mechanisms involved for different types of catalysts. Additionally, the importance of the right choice of hydrogen donors and solvents is discussed. A wide range of compounds can be reduced in this way and the selectivity of these catalysts is very high...

The Kinematic design of flight simulator motion bases