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The plasmonic Ag nanoparticles (NPs) loaded g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts (Ag/C₃N₄) were successfully prepared via a conventional procedure. The fully characterized Ag/C₃N₄ photocatalysts exhibited excellent stability and greatly enhanced visible light-driven photocatalytic performance both in the degradation of methyl orange (MO) and H₂ evolution from water splitting. The 1.0 wt% Ag/C₃N₄ allowed the highest reaction rate of 0.0294 min⁻¹ to be obtained in the MO degradation, which is about 2.3 times higher than the reaction rate of g-C₃N₄ alone of 0.0129 min⁻¹. Furthermore, the optimum H₂ evolution and the k value attained 20 µmol and 1.573 h⁻¹, respectively, after 12 h of visible light irradiation. The surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag NPs and the charge transfer between the two components of the photocatalyst, strongly promote generation of photoinduced charge carriers while suppressing their recombination. These factors are held responsible for the enhanced visible light photocatalytic performance of Ag/C₃N₄. Our methodology will provide guidance for the design and synthesis of plasmon-enhanced visible light photocatalysts derived from Ag NPs and g-C₃N₄ and their applications in environmental remediation and green energy development.

The Paris Agreement has set the goal of carbon neutrality to cope with global climate change. China has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, which will strategically change everything in our society. As the main source of carbon emissions, the consumption of fossil energy is the most profoundly affected by carbon neutrality. This work presents an analysis of how China can achieve its goal of carbon neutrality based on its status of fossil energy utilization. The significance of transforming fossils from energy to resource utilization in the future is addressed, while the development direction and key technologies are discussed.

Shale oil resources have proven to be quickly producible in large quantities and have recently revolutionized the oil and gas industry. The oil content in a shale oil formation includes free oil contained in pores and trapped oil in the organic material called kerogen. The latter can represent a significant portion of the total oil and yet production of shale oil currently targets only the free oil rather than the trapped oil in kerogen. Shale oil reservoirs also have a substantial capacity to store CO₂ by dissolving it in kerogen. In this paper, recent progress in the research of CO₂-kerogen interaction and its applications in CO₂ enhanced oil recovery and carbon sequestration in shale oil reservoirs are reviewed. The relevant topics reviewed for this relatively new area include characterization of organic matter, supercritical CO₂ extraction of oil in shale, experimental and simulation study of CO₂-hydrocarbons counter-current diffusion in organic matter, recovery of oil in kerogen during CO₂ huff ‘n’ puff process, and changes in microstructure of shale caused by CO₂-kerogen interaction. The results presented in this paper show that at reservoir conditions, supercritical CO₂ can spontaneously replace the hydrocarbons from the organic matter of shale formations. This mass transfer process is the key to releasing organic oil saturation and maximizing the capacity of carbon storage of a shale oil reservoir. It also presents a concern of the structure change of organic materials for long term CO₂ sequestration with shale or mudstone as the sealing rocks.

Bioethanol produced via valorisation of renewable biomass is of great interest to many industries. The increased availability and decreased cost of bioethanol make it a promising platform molecule to produce a wide range of value-added chemicals and fuels via the catalytic conversions. This paper provides a comprehensive review of catalytic conversions of bioethanol to a variety of chemicals/fuels such as hydrogen, C₂–C₄ olefins, gasoline and small oxygenates. Specifically, the focus was placed on the relationship between the catalyst property (such as pore structure, acidity, active metal sites, and catalyst supports) and the catalytic performance (including catalyst activity and stability), as well as the reaction mechanisms involved. Future research avenues on the catalyst design for improving catalytic valorisation of bioethanol are also discussed.