Publications by Xinjiang Cui | EPFL Graph Search

Lignin First: Confirming the Role of the Metal Catalyst in Reductive Fractionation

Gabor Laurenczy, Paul Joseph Dyson, Zhaofu Fei, Ning Yan, Antoine Philippe Van Muyden, Lu Chen, Xinjiang Cui

Rhodium nanoparticles embedded on the interior of hollow porous carbon nanospheres, able to sieve monomers from polymers, were used to confirm the precise role of metal catalysts in the reductive catalytic fractionation of lignin. The study provides clear ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2021

Selective hydrogenation of lignin-derived compounds under mild conditions

Gabor Laurenczy, Paul Joseph Dyson, Antoine Philippe Van Muyden, Lu Chen, Xinjiang Cui

A key challenge in the production of lignin-derived chemicals is to reduce the energy intensive processes used in their production. Here, we show that well-defined Rh nanoparticles dispersed in sub-micrometer size carbon hollow spheres, are able to hydroge ...

2020

Acceptorless dehydrogenation and hydrogenation of N- and O-containing compounds on Pd3Au1(111) facets

Paul Joseph Dyson, Zhaofu Fei, Antoine Philippe Van Muyden, Tao Wang, Zhangjun Huang, Xinjiang Cui

Catalytic dehydrogenation and hydrogenation of amines and alcohols are important in the synthesis of fine chemicals. Despite several efficient homogeneous catalysts having been identified, highly active heterogeneous catalysts remain elusive, although they ...

2020

Selective Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Primary Amines to Imines by Core-Shell Cobalt Nanoparticles

Paul Joseph Dyson, Zhaofu Fei, Matthias Beller, Xinjiang Cui

Core-shell nanocatalysts are attractive due to their versatility and stability. Here, we describe cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated within graphitic shells prepared via the pyrolysis of a cationic poly-ionic liquid (PIL) with a cobalt(II) chloride anion. T ...

Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH2020

CO(2)Methanation via Amino Alcohol Relay Molecules Employing a Ruthenium Nanoparticle/Metal Organic Framework Catalyst

Paul Joseph Dyson, Zhaofu Fei, Kyriakos Stylianou, Arunraj Chidambaram, Serhii Shyshkanov, Ngoc Tú Nguyên, Xinjiang Cui

Methanation of carbon dioxide (CO2) is attractive within the context of a renewable energy refinery. Herein, we report an indirect methanation method that harnesses amino alcohols as relay molecules in combination with a catalyst comprising ruthenium nanop ...

Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH2020

Metal-Sulfide Catalysts Derived from Lignosulfonate and their Efficient Use in Hydrogenolysis

Paul Joseph Dyson, Zhaofu Fei, Xile Hu, Antoine Philippe Van Muyden, Lichen Bai, Sijie Liu, Xinjiang Cui, Xiang Li

Catalytic lignosulfonate valorization is hampered by the in situ liberation of sulfur that ultimately poisons the catalyst. To overcome this limitation, metal sulfide catalysts were developed that are able to cleave the C-O bonds of lignosulfonate and are ...

2019

Oxidative cleavage of -O-4 bonds in lignin model compounds with a single-atom Co catalyst

Paul Joseph Dyson, Zhaofu Fei, Xile Hu, Antoine Philippe Van Muyden, Lichen Bai, Zhangjun Huang, Sijie Liu, Xinjiang Cui, Xiang Li

Single-atom catalysts are emerging as primary catalysts for many reactions due to their 100% utilization of active metal centers leading to high catalytic efficiencies. Herein, we report the use of a single-atom Co catalyst for the oxidative cleavage of th ...

2019