Electrochemical and photoelectrochemical cells for the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and/or 2,5-diformylfuran are provided. Also provided are methods of using the cells to carry out the electrochemical and photoelectrochemical oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and/or 2,5-diformylfuran.

Disclosed herein is an electrode material comprising a carbon-containing substrate, comprising a surface and a plurality of R.sub.F moieties wherein each R.sub.F moiety is covalently bound to the surface; and each R.sub.F moiety comprises a fluorine atom. Also, disclosed herein is a method of preparing an electrode material.

The present disclosure provides a ready-to-use bio-electrode stable for long term storage and a process of constructing the same. The process for construction of bio-electrode for electro-biocatalysis comprising of: selection of an electro-active bacteria; enrichment of said electro-active bacteria in a nutrient rich medium; separation of said electro-active bacterial cells from said nutrient rich medium; selection of an electrode material; surface modification of said electrode material; layering the surface modified electrode material with conductive material; layering the surface modified electrode material with an electro-active bacterial cells along with biofilm inducing agents and stabilizing agents; conditioning the electro-active bacterial cells layered electrode; incubating the electrode obtained with an immobilizing agent along with conductive material; and conditioning the electrode with micronutrients to obtain a bio-electrode.

An electrode formed of synthetically produced, electrically conductive, doped diamond particles embedded in a carrier layer formed of electrically non-conductive material, wherein the diamond particles protrude on both sides of the carrier layer and come from a grain size range of 170 m to 420 m, wherein the diamond particles in the electrode have grain sizes which differ from one another by at most 50 m. At most 10% of the diamond particles have a grain size outside the particular grain size range.

A porous electrode substrate has a form of a tape material and contains a structure made of carbon fibers and a carbon matrix. A specific surface area, porosity, and pore distribution are determined by the carbon matrix. The carbon matrix contains carbon particles including activated carbon with a high specific surface area and a carbonized or graphitized residue of a carbonizable or graphitizable binder.

A cathode for water splitting production includes: (1) a porous substrate; and (2) an electrocatalyst affixed to the porous substrate. The electrocatalyst includes heterostructures of a first material and a second material that partially covers the first material.

There is described a carbon material comprising sp.sup.2 and sp.sup.3 hybridised carbon. Also described is a method of making a carbon material the method comprising: exposing a substrate to a flux of at least 10.sup.11 carbon ions per cm.sup.2 of substrate per 1 ms, a majority of the carbon ions having a kinetic energy of at least 10 eV. Further, electrodes comprising the carbon material are described. The electrodes may operate as an anode in Li ion battery characterised with improved specific capacity and operation life-time.

A negative electrode for a lithium ion secondary battery that can realize a lithium ion secondary battery that has both a high capacity and long cycle durability and a lithium ion secondary battery using the negative electrode for a lithium ion secondary battery are provided. A negative-electrode active material layer composes a negative electrode for a lithium ion secondary battery formed as a laminate in which a layer including crystalline carbon and a layer including amorphous carbon are laminated in a specific deposition. Specifically, the negative-electrode active material layer configured by the laminate including a lower layer adjacent to a current collector and an upper layer disposed on the side of the lower layer opposite to the current collector is set and the negative electrode for a lithium ion secondary battery in which the lower layer includes crystalline carbon particles and the upper layer includes amorphous carbon particles is set.

The present disclosure relates to a catalyst for electrochemical ammonia synthesis and a method for producing the same. The catalyst has an ammonia synthesis activity up to several times to several tens of times of the activity of the existing single metal or metal oxide catalysts. Thus, when using the catalyst, it is possible to provide a method for electrochemical ammonia synthesis having an improved ammonia production yield and rate.

A system for water disinfection by means of electroporation, comprising a reactor (1) composed of a plurality of electrodes that form an electrolytic cell, where they act as a plurality of anodes (2) and cathodes (3); a circuit that allows the water to be confined within the electrolytic cell and to flow through it between the water inlet point into the cell (4) and the water outlet point (5); a pump (6) used to propel the water through the reactor; at least one direct current source (7), which is connected to the reactor (1); and at least one device for process control (PLC) (8). The system produces the irreversible electroporation of bacterial membrane by applying specific electric potentials that alter the transmembrane potential and cause the oxidation of the exposed chemical groups in membrane proteins.