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1. Electrodeposition of Molybdenum from Water-in-Acetate Electrolytes

   https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ad59c8  

   Liu, Quanhong; Huang, Qiang (June 2024, Journal of The Electrochemical Society)

   This paper reports a systematic study on the electrodeposition of metallic molybdenum from water-in-salt electrolytes containing superhigh concentrations of acetate. Cyclic voltammetry and DC deposition were carried out on rotating disk electrodes with various concentrations of CH₃COOK and CH₃COONH₄to determine the effects of NH₄⁺and K⁺on Mo deposition. A comparison was performed between CH₃COOLi, CH₃COONa, and CH₃COOK to study the effects of different alkali metal cations. A synergistic effect was observed between K⁺and NH₄⁺, where Mo deposition rate is enhanced in the presence of both cations. However, such synergistic effect was not observed between NH₄⁺and other alkali cations. In addition, the impact of substrate on Mo deposition was also studied using Pt and Cu electrodes with different activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction. Electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the surface morphology, crystallographic structure, and metallic state of Mo in the electrodeposited films. 

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2. Nickel Perfluoroalkyl Complexes Supported by Simple Acetate Coligands

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.organomet.4c00029  

   Ravidas, Cherry Mae T.; Shreiber, Scott T.; Kletsch, Lukas; Klein, Axel; Vicic, David A. (March 2024, Organometallics)
3. Mechanistic insights into the electrochemical oxidation of acetate at noble metals

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.checat.2024.101190  

   Mosali, Venkata_Sai Sriram; Soucie, Hanna; Peng, Xiong; Faegh, Ehsan; Elam, Matthew; Street, Ian; Mustain, William E (November 2024, Chem Catalysis)

   Electrochemical acetate oxidation (AcOR) offers a sustainable approach to produce renewable biofuels. While CO₂ formation is thermodynamically favored, acetate oxidation can also yield various products through the Kolbe and Hofer-Moest mechanisms, enabling the scope for modulating product formation via partial oxidation. Given the complexity of the reaction, it is crucial to understand how different reaction conditions influence the product profile. Furthermore, this process generates methyl radicals, providing insights into methane partial oxidation. The current study explores AcOR on noble metal electrodes (Pt, Pd, Au) in a 0.5 M CH3COOK aqueous electrolyte, revealing the mechanism of product formation using potential- and time-dependent electrolysis and isotope labeling experiments. The effect of surface chemistry, ion transport, electrolyte concentration, and electrolysis techniques on product selectivity is analyzed. Additionally, the study compares product profiles from an electrolyzer cell to those obtained from model electrodes in batch cell setup. 

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4. Mechanistic insights into the acetate-accelerated synthesis of crystalline ceria nanoparticles

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ra02309d  

   Fisher, Tamra J.; Choudhry, Deepa; Derr, Kaitlynn; Azadehranjbar, Soodabeh; Stasko, Dan; Cheung, Chin Li (May 2020, RSC Advances)

   Recent increasing uses of ceria in research and industrial applications have fostered continuing developments of efficient routes to synthesize the material. Here we report our investigation of the effects and the mechanistic roles of lithium acetate to accelerate the growth of crystalline ceria nanoparticles in ozone-mediated synthesis. By increasing the mole ratio of the acetate to cerium nitrate in the reactions, the reaction yields of ceria nanoparticles were observed to increase from ca. 10% to up to over 90% by cerium content in 30 min reactions. Microscopy images and Raman spectra of the as-synthesized nanoparticles revealed that increasing the acetate additions led to a decrease in average particle size and size range but an increase in crystallinity. Through analyzing the organic by-products in the reaction mixtures, the acetate was inferred to base-catalyze the formation of acetals and cerium complexes and accelerate the formation of Ce–O–Ce bonds and hence the growth of ceria nanoparticles through alcohol-like condensation reactions. 

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5. Silk-Cellulose Acetate Biocomposite Materials Regenerated from Ionic Liquid

   https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13172911  

   Rivera-Galletti, Ashley; Gough, Christopher R.; Kaleem, Farhan; Burch, Michael; Ratcliffe, Chris; Lu, Ping; Salas-de la Cruz, David; Hu, Xiao (September 2021, Polymers)

   The novel use of ionic liquid as a solvent for biodegradable and natural organic biomaterials has increasingly sparked interest in the biomedical field. As compared to more volatile traditional solvents that rapidly degrade the protein molecular weight, the capability of polysaccharides and proteins to dissolve seamlessly in ionic liquid and form fine and tunable biomaterials after regeneration is the key interest of this study. Here, a blended system consisting of Bombyx Mori silk fibroin protein and a cellulose derivative, cellulose acetate (CA), in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMIMAc) was regenerated and underwent characterization to understand the structure and physical properties of the films. The change in the morphology of the biocomposites (by scanning electron microscope, SEM) and their secondary structure analysis (by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, FTIR) showed that the samples underwent a wavering conformational change on a microscopic level, resulting in strong interactions and changes in their crystalline structures such as the CA crystalline and silk beta-pleated sheets once the different ratios were applied. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results demonstrated that strong molecular interactions were generated between CA and silk chains, providing the blended films lower glass transitions than those of the pure silk or cellulose acetate. All films that were blended had higher thermal stability than the pure cellulose acetate sample but presented gradual changes amongst the changing of ratios, as demonstrated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). This study provides the basis for the comprehension of the protein-polysaccharide composites for various biomedical applications. 

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