Catalyst combines acid and base sites in a single, reusable structure, eliminating side reactions/ boosting efficiency in lithium-ion batteries

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1093350

"scalable: streamlines manufacture of Ethyl methyl carbonate which comprises 30–35% of electrolyte...  strong acid catalysts causes hydrolyzation into methanol/ carbon dioxide, while alkaline catalysts poorly soluble, leading to low conversion rates and wasted resources... overcome using [DBU+][IM-]@UiO-66 acid-base bifunctional catalyst creating synergistic environment... 62% yield, 99.5% selectivity, meaning nearly all reactants converted... yield only dropped slightly from 62% to 58.9% after six reuse cycles"