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In Situ Transformation of Tin Microparticles to Nanoparticles on Nanotextured Carbon Support Boosts the Efficiency of the Electrochemical CO2 Reduction (2025)
Journal Article
Burwell, T., Thangamuthu, M., Besley, E., Chen, Y., Pyer, J., Alves Fernandes, J., Lanterna, A. E., Licence, P., Aliev, G. N., Theis, W., & Khlobystov, A. N. (2025). In Situ Transformation of Tin Microparticles to Nanoparticles on Nanotextured Carbon Support Boosts the Efficiency of the Electrochemical CO2 Reduction. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 8(4), 2281-2290. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.4c02830

Developing sustainable, efficient catalysts for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to valuable products remains a crucial challenge. Our research demonstrates that combining tin with nanostructured carbon support leads to a dynamic interface promo... Read More about In Situ Transformation of Tin Microparticles to Nanoparticles on Nanotextured Carbon Support Boosts the Efficiency of the Electrochemical CO2 Reduction.

Collaborating for Impact: Navigating Partnerships and Overcoming Challenges across the Sustainable Development Goals (2025)
Journal Article
Azim, H., Johnston, A.-L., Nixon, M., Woodliffe, J. L., Theunissen, R., Suresh, R., Sivapalan, S., Bobo, J., & Licence, P. (2025). Collaborating for Impact: Navigating Partnerships and Overcoming Challenges across the Sustainable Development Goals. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 13(3), 1164-1173. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c10171

We illustrate the importance of early career perspectives and diverse partnerships to develop solutions and overcome key challenges to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

A thermophysical investigation of weakly coordinated metals in ionic liquids (2024)
Journal Article
Clarke, C. J., Clayton, T., Palmer, M. J., Lovelock, K. R., & Licence, P. (2024). A thermophysical investigation of weakly coordinated metals in ionic liquids. Chemical Science, 15(34), 13832-13840. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sc03588g

Ionic liquids can solvate metals without strongly coordinating them, which gives a rare opportunity to probe the complexity of weakly coordinated metals through characterisation of liquid properties. In this work we use bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)i... Read More about A thermophysical investigation of weakly coordinated metals in ionic liquids.

Direct formation of copper nanoparticles from atoms at graphitic step edges lowers overpotential and improves selectivity of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction (2024)
Journal Article
Burwell, T., Thangamuthu, M., Aliev, G. N., Ghaderzadeh, S., Kohlrausch, E. C., Chen, Y., Theis, W., Norman, L. T., Alves Fernandes, J., Besley, E., Licence, P., & Khlobystov, A. N. (2024). Direct formation of copper nanoparticles from atoms at graphitic step edges lowers overpotential and improves selectivity of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. Communications Chemistry, 7(1), Article 140. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-024-01218-y

A key strategy for minimizing our reliance on precious metals is to increase the fraction of surface atoms and improve the metal-support interface. In this work, we employ a solvent/ligand/counterion-free method to deposit copper in the atomic form d... Read More about Direct formation of copper nanoparticles from atoms at graphitic step edges lowers overpotential and improves selectivity of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction.

Can “Electric Flare Stacks” Reduce CO2 Emissions? A Case Study with Nonthermal Plasma (2023)
Journal Article
Molteni, M., Walker, G., Parmar, D., Sutton, M., Licence, P., & Woodward, S. (2023). Can “Electric Flare Stacks” Reduce CO2 Emissions? A Case Study with Nonthermal Plasma. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 62(46), 19649-19657. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.3c02909

Gas flare stacks are the current benchmark technology for industrial pollution control. However, their impact on human health and the environment is not negligible. If net zero CO2 emissions are to be achieved, their current significant CO2 impact (4... Read More about Can “Electric Flare Stacks” Reduce CO2 Emissions? A Case Study with Nonthermal Plasma.

Unravelling synergistic effects in bi-metallic catalysts: deceleration of palladium–gold nanoparticle coarsening in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde (2023)
Journal Article
Pinto, J., Weilhard, A., Norman, L. T., Lodge, R. W., Rogers, D. M., Gual, A., Cano, I., Khlobystov, A. N., Licence, P., & Alves Fernandes, J. (2023). Unravelling synergistic effects in bi-metallic catalysts: deceleration of palladium–gold nanoparticle coarsening in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. Catalysis Science and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1039/d3cy00289f

In this work, we demonstrate that the synergistic effect of PdAu nanoparticles (NPs) in hydrogenation reactions is not only related to high activity but also to their stability when compared to Pd mono-metallic NPs. To demonstrate this, a series of m... Read More about Unravelling synergistic effects in bi-metallic catalysts: deceleration of palladium–gold nanoparticle coarsening in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde.

Exploring ionic liquids based on pyrrolidinium and imidazolium cations with low toxicity towards Escherichia coli for designing sustainable bioprocesses (2022)
Journal Article
Hernández-Fernández, F. J., de los Ríos, A. P., Licence, P., & Stephens, G. (2022). Exploring ionic liquids based on pyrrolidinium and imidazolium cations with low toxicity towards Escherichia coli for designing sustainable bioprocesses. Journal of Biotechnology, 360, 192-197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2022.11.001

Ionic liquids (ILs) are widely applied in many bioprocesses involving microorganisms due to their unique properties. In this work, the toxicity of imidazolium and pyrrolidinium ionic liquids towards E. coli., a bacterium for which there are limited t... Read More about Exploring ionic liquids based on pyrrolidinium and imidazolium cations with low toxicity towards Escherichia coli for designing sustainable bioprocesses.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of morpholinium ionic liquids: impact of a long alkyl side substituent on the cation-anion interactions (2022)
Journal Article
Men, S., Sun, Y., Licence, P., & Qu, J. (2022). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of morpholinium ionic liquids: impact of a long alkyl side substituent on the cation-anion interactions. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 24(40), 24845-24851. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2cp03674f

In this study, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is used to analyse nine morpholinium ionic liquids, which are of great interest in green chemistry because of their low toxicity and high recyclability. The effect of the alkyl chain length on the aliph... Read More about X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of morpholinium ionic liquids: impact of a long alkyl side substituent on the cation-anion interactions.

Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé Multicomponent Reaction Catalysed by Reusable Brϕnsted-Acidic Ionic Liquids (2022)
Journal Article
Anjos, N. S., Chapina, A. I., Santos, A. R., Licence, P., & Longo Junior, L. S. (2022). Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé Multicomponent Reaction Catalysed by Reusable Brϕnsted-Acidic Ionic Liquids. European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2022(40), Article e202200615. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.202200615

In the present work, the use of Brϕnsted acidic ionic liquids (BAIL) as catalysts for Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé (GBB) multicomponent reactions was systematically investigated. A series of four 1-(butyl-4-sulfonic)-3-methylimidazolium salts bearing d... Read More about Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé Multicomponent Reaction Catalysed by Reusable Brϕnsted-Acidic Ionic Liquids.

Rate of Formation of Industrial Lubricant Additive Precursors from Maleic Anhydride and Polyisobutylene (2022)
Journal Article
Streets, J., Proust, N., Parmar, D., Walker, G., Licence, P., & Woodward, S. (2022). Rate of Formation of Industrial Lubricant Additive Precursors from Maleic Anhydride and Polyisobutylene. Organic Process Research and Development, 26(9), 2749-2755. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.oprd.2c00207

The Alder-ene reaction of neat polyisobutylene (PIB) and maleic anhydride (MAA) to produce the industrially important lubricant additive precursor polyisobutylene succinic anhydride (PIBSA) is studied at 150-180 °C. Under anaerobic conditions with [P... Read More about Rate of Formation of Industrial Lubricant Additive Precursors from Maleic Anhydride and Polyisobutylene.

Halometallate ionic liquids: thermal properties, decomposition pathways, and life cycle considerations (2022)
Journal Article
Clarke, C. J., Baaqel, H., Matthews, R. P., Chen, Y., Lovelock, K. R., Hallett, J. P., & Licence, P. (2022). Halometallate ionic liquids: thermal properties, decomposition pathways, and life cycle considerations. Green Chemistry, 24(15), 5800-5812. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2gc01983c

Halometallate ionic liquids provide new opportunities for industrial catalytic processes because of their unique blend of physical and chemical properties. Tunability underpins the success of ionic liquids because small structural changes can have dr... Read More about Halometallate ionic liquids: thermal properties, decomposition pathways, and life cycle considerations.

Nucleophilic Fluorination Catalyzed by a Cyclometallated Rhodium Complex (2022)
Journal Article
Morgan, P. J., Saunders, G. C., Macgregor, S. A., Marr, A. C., & Licence, P. (2022). Nucleophilic Fluorination Catalyzed by a Cyclometallated Rhodium Complex. Organometallics, 41(7), 883–891. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.organomet.2c00052

Quantitative catalytic nucleophilic fluorination of a range of acyl chlorides to acyl fluorides was promoted by a cyclometallated rhodium complex [(η5,κ2C-C5Me4CH2C6F5CH2NC3H2NMe)- RhCl] (1). 1 can be prepared in high yields from commercially availab... Read More about Nucleophilic Fluorination Catalyzed by a Cyclometallated Rhodium Complex.

High Yielding Continuous-Flow Synthesis of Norketamine (2022)
Journal Article
Hernando, M. V., Moore, J. C., Howie, R. A., Castledine, R. A., Bourne, S. L., Jenkins, G. N., Licence, P., Poliakoff, M., & George, M. W. (2022). High Yielding Continuous-Flow Synthesis of Norketamine. Organic Process Research and Development, 26(4), 1145-1151. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.oprd.1c00407

A new continuous-flow process is presented for synthesis of the pharmaceutical intermediate norketamine (5). Our approach has been to take the well-established and industrially applied batch synthetic route to this promising antidepressant precursor... Read More about High Yielding Continuous-Flow Synthesis of Norketamine.

Diffuse Reflection Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy and Partial Least Squares Regression Analysis for Temperature Prediction of Irreversible Thermochromic Paints (2022)
Journal Article
Kitagawa, A., Welsh, C., Mackilligin, H., & Licence, P. (2022). Diffuse Reflection Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy and Partial Least Squares Regression Analysis for Temperature Prediction of Irreversible Thermochromic Paints. Applied Spectroscopy, 76(5), 531-540. https://doi.org/10.1177/00037028211065759

Temperature measurement of internal components of a jet engine is a crucial control parameter to ensure its component life and efficiency. Particularly for thermal analysis of internal components of jet engines, irreversible thermochromic paints (TPs... Read More about Diffuse Reflection Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy and Partial Least Squares Regression Analysis for Temperature Prediction of Irreversible Thermochromic Paints.

Experimental measurement and prediction of ionic liquid ionisation energies (2021)
Journal Article
Seymour, J. M., Gousseva, E., Large, A. I., Clarke, C. J., Licence, P., Fogarty, R. M., Duncan, D. A., Ferrer, P., Venturini, F., Bennett, R. A., Palgrave, R. G., & Lovelock, K. R. J. (2021). Experimental measurement and prediction of ionic liquid ionisation energies. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 23(37), 20957-20973. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1cp02441h

Ionic liquid (IL) valence electronic structure provides key descriptors for understanding and predicting IL properties. The ionisation energies of 60 ILs are measured and the most readily ionised valence state of each IL (the highest occupied molecul... Read More about Experimental measurement and prediction of ionic liquid ionisation energies.

Blurring the Boundary between Homogenous and Heterogeneous Catalysis using Palladium Nanoclusters with Dynamic Surfaces (2021)
Journal Article
Cano, I., Weilhard, A., Martin, C., Pinto, J., Lodge, R. W., Santos, A. R., Rance, G. A., Åhlgren, E. H., Jónsson, E., Yuan, J., Li, Z. Y., Licence, P., Khlobystov, A. N., & Fernandes, J. A. (2021). Blurring the Boundary between Homogenous and Heterogeneous Catalysis using Palladium Nanoclusters with Dynamic Surfaces. Nature Communications, 12(1), Article 4965. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25263-6

Using a magnetron sputtering approach that allows size-controlled formation of nanoclusters, we have created palladium nanoclusters that combine the features of both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts. Here we report the atomic structures and el... Read More about Blurring the Boundary between Homogenous and Heterogeneous Catalysis using Palladium Nanoclusters with Dynamic Surfaces.

Linking the the thermal and electronic properties of functional dicationic salts with their molecular structures (2021)
Journal Article
Clarke, C. J., Morgan, P. J., Hallett, J. P., & Licence, P. (2021). Linking the the thermal and electronic properties of functional dicationic salts with their molecular structures. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 9(18), 6224-6234. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c08564

The two major properties that underpin ionic liquids are tunability and the potential to create task-specific media. Together, these properties allow ionic liquids to surpass the roles long held by traditional molecular solvents. However, at elevated... Read More about Linking the the thermal and electronic properties of functional dicationic salts with their molecular structures.

Shaping Effective Practices for Incorporating Sustainability Assessment in Manuscripts Submitted to ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering: An Initiative by the Editors (2021)
Journal Article
Subramaniam, B., Licence, P., Moores, A., & Allen, D. T. (2021). Shaping Effective Practices for Incorporating Sustainability Assessment in Manuscripts Submitted to ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering: An Initiative by the Editors. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 9(11), 3977-3978. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c01511