Development of a Phytochemical-Based Lure for the Dried Bean Beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

The dried bean beetle, Acanthoscelides obtectus, is an economically important, worldwide pest of legume crops including dry beans, Phaseolus vulgaris. Assessment of A. obtectus infestation levels in pre-harvest field crops and post-harvest granaries is difficult to achieve because there is no effective monitoring tool for early detection so that interventions can be deployed as needed. Because A. obtectus is a generic pollen and nectar feeder, we adopted an electrophysiological (EAG) screening approach, using the antennae of female A. obtectus to identify physiologically active, volatile phytochemicals, which could then be investigated for their attractiveness to A. obtectus in laboratory behavioral assays and preliminary field tests. Of the 27 compounds tested in EAG screening, 5 compounds, i.e., methyl anthranilate, methyl eugenol, benzyl alcohol, (RS)-lavandulol, and 2-phenylethanol, elicited stronger EAG responses than the standard (1-phenylethanol). In 4-arm olfactometer bioassays, female A. obtectus preferred the olfactometer arm containing the odor of either methyl anthranilate or benzyl alcohol compared to the solvent control. In preliminary field tests using these 2 compounds as a binary mixture, at least 5 times as many beetles were caught on baited traps compared to non-baited traps. The field data also suggested that benzyl alcohol was primarily responsible for the field activity of the blend. We hypothesize that the attraction of A. obtectus to the combined benzyl alcohol/methyl anthranilate and the single benzyl alcohol baits is connected to the species` nectar- and pollen-feeding behaviour and not to its intraspecific communication. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that A. obtectus behavior in the field can be modified by the deployment of plant-derived semiochemicals.

     

Utilization of geothermal systems in South-East Hungary

Thermal wells have been used in Hungary for over 140 years. As thermal water production has increased during the past decades, the pressure drawdown has increased in the geothermal systems of the Pannonian basin, showing that their sustainable management is lacking. The Hódmez?vásárhely, Szeged, and Szentes case histories are presented, including the very first indications of stabilization and recharge of the Pannonian thermal aquifers, as a result of reduction of thermal water production. Sustainable production and overall resource management of geothermal systems in SE-Hungary can only be achieved by injection.     

Conversion of N2O to N2 on TiO2(1 1 0)

In this study, we examine the interaction of N₂O with TiO₂(1 1 0) in an effort to better understand the conversion of NO_x species to N₂ over TiO₂-based catalysts. The TiO₂(1 1 0) surface was chosen as a model system because this material is commonly used as a support and because oxygen vacancies on this surface are perhaps the best available models for the role of electronic defects in catalysis. Annealing TiO₂(1 1 0) in vacuum at high temperature (above about 800 K) generates oxygen vacancy sites that are associated with reduced surface cations (Ti³⁺ sites) and that are easily quantified using temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of water. Using TPD, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), we found that the majority of N₂O molecules adsorbed at 90 K on TiO₂(1 1 0) are weakly held and desorb from the surface at 130 K. However, a small fraction of the N₂O molecules exposed to TiO₂(1 1 0) at 90 K decompose to N₂ via one of two channels, both of which are vacancy-mediated. One channel occurs at 90 K, and results in N₂ ejection from the surface and vacancy oxidation. We propose that this channel involves N₂O molecules bound at vacancies with the O-end of the molecule in the vacancy. The second channel results from an adsorbed state of N₂O that decomposes at 170 K to liberate N₂ in the gas phase and deposit oxygen adatoms at non-defect Ti⁴⁺ sites. The presence of these O adatoms is clearly evident in subsequent water TPD measurements. We propose that this channel involves N₂O molecules that are bound at vacancies with the N-end of the molecule in the vacancy, which permits the O-end of the molecule to interact with an adjacent Ti⁴⁺ site. The partitioning between these two channels is roughly 1:1 for adsorption at 90 K, but neither is observed to occur for moderate N₂O exposures at temperatures above 200 K. EELS data indicate that vacancies readily transfer charge to N₂O at 90 K, and this charge transfer facilitates N₂O decomposition. Based on these results, it appears that the decomposition of N₂O to N₂ requires trapping of the molecule at vacancies and that the lifetime of the N₂O–vacancy interaction may be key to the conversion of N₂O to N₂.     

The Effect of Copper Loading on the Selective Catalytic Reduction of Nitric Oxide by Ammonia Over Cu-SSZ-13

Abstract  

The effect of Cu loading on the selective catalytic reduction of NO_x by NH₃ was examined over a series of Cu ion-exchanged (20–80%) SSZ-13 zeolite catalysts. High NO reduction efficiencies (80–95%) were obtained over all catalyst samples between 250 and 500 °C, and at the gas hourly space velocity of 200,000 h⁻¹. Both NO reduction and NH₃ oxidation activities under these conditions were found to increase slightly with increasing Cu loading at low temperatures. However, NO reduction activity was suppressed with increasing Cu loadings at high temperatures (>500 °C) due to excess NH₃ oxidation. The optimum Cu ion exchange level appears to be ~40–60% since higher than 80% NO reduction efficiency was obtained over 50% Cu ion-exchanged SSZ-13 up to 600 °C. The NO oxidation activity of Cu-SSZ-13 was found to be low regardless of Cu loading, although it was somewhat improved with increasing Cu ion exchange level at high temperatures. During the “fast” SCR (i.e., NO/NO₂ = 1), only a slight improvement in NO_x reduction activity was obtained for Cu-SSZ-13. Regardless of Cu loading, near 100% selectivity to N₂ was observed; only a very small amount of N₂O was produced even in the presence of NO₂. The apparent activation energies for NO oxidation and NO SCR were estimated to be ~58 and ~41 kJ/mol, respectively.     

(100) facets of γ-Al2O3: The Active Surfaces for Alcohol Dehydration Reactions

Abstract  

Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of ethanol, as well as ethanol and methanol dehydration reactions were studied on γ-Al₂O₃ in order to identify the active catalytic sites for alcohol dehydration reactions. Two high temperature (>473 K) desorption features were observed following ethanol adsorption. Samples calcined at T ≤ 473 K displayed a desorption feature in the 523–533 K temperature range, while those calcined at T ≥ 673 K showed a single desorption feature at 498 K. These two high temperature desorption features correspond to the exclusive formation of ethylene on the Lewis (498 K) and Br?nsted acidic (~525 K) sites. The amount of ethylene formed under conditions where the competition between water and ethanol for adsorption sites is minimized is identical over the two surfaces. Furthermore, a nearly 1-to-1 correlation between the number of under-coordinated Al³⁺ ions on the (100) facets of γ-Al₂O₃ and the number of ethylene molecules formed in the ethanol TPD experiments on samples calcined at T ≥ 673 K was found. Titration of the penta-coordinate Al³⁺ sites on the (100) facets of γ-Al₂O₃ by BaO completely eliminated the methanol dehydration reaction activity. These results demonstrate that in alcohol dehydration reactions on γ-Al₂O₃, the (100) facets are the active catalytic surfaces. The observed activities can be linked to the same Al³⁺ ions on both hydrated and dehydrated surfaces: penta-coordinate Al³⁺ ions (Lewis acid sites), and their corresponding –OH groups (Br?nsted acid sites), depending on the calcination temperature.     

Current Understanding of Cu-Exchanged Chabazite Molecular Sieves for Use as Commercial Diesel Engine DeNOx Catalysts

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO_x with ammonia using metal-exchanged molecular sieves with a chabazite structure has recently been commercialized on diesel vehicles. One of the commercialized catalysts, i.e., Cu-SSZ-13, has received much attention for both practical and fundamental studies. For the latter, the particularly well-defined structure of this zeolite is allowing long-standing issues of the catalytically active site for SCR in metal-exchanged zeolites to be addressed. In this review, recent progress is summarized with a focus on two areas. First, the technical significance of Cu-SSZ-13 as compared to other Cu ion-exchanged zeolites (e.g., Cu-ZSM-5 and Cu-beta) is highlighted. Specifically, the much enhanced hydrothermal stability for Cu-SSZ-13 compared to other zeolite catalysts is addressed via performance measurements and catalyst characterization using several techniques. The enhanced stability of Cu-SSZ-13 is rationalized in terms of the unique small pore structure of this zeolite catalyst. Second, the fundamentals of the catalytically active center; i.e., the chemical nature and locations within the SSZ-13 framework are presented with an emphasis on understanding structure–function relationships. For the SCR reaction, traditional kinetic studies are complicated by intra-crystalline diffusion limitations. However, a major side reaction, nonselective ammonia oxidation by oxygen, does not suffer from mass-transfer limitations at relatively low temperatures due to significantly lower reaction rates. This allows structure–function relationships that are rather well understood in terms of Cu ion locations and redox properties. Finally, some aspects of the SCR reaction mechanism are addressed on the basis of in situ spectroscopic studies.