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In this study, the catalytic performance of Ti 3 C 2 MXene materials in the reaction of α-pinene isomerization was demonstrated. The influence of etching agents (HF, HF/H 2 SO 4, and HF/HCl; weight ratios of mixed acids: 1 : 3, 1 : 4, and 1 : 5) on removing Al atoms from MAX phase, creation of an accordion-like structure typical for MXenes and catalytic activity of the produced samples have been revealed. The MXene HF obtained by MAX phase HF treatment exhibited the highest activity (conversion of α-pinene 74.65 mol%), while materials produced with the mixed acids (HF/H 2 SO 4 and HF/HCl) showed a significant reduction in the conversion of α-pinene (on average about 28-fold). However, these last samples displayed an increase of about 10 mol% in the selectivity to the most desirable product-camphene. The high activity of MXene HF is a result of a high concentration of acid sites (11.62 mmol g -1 ) - the concentration of acid sites in the samples obtained by MAX phase mixed acids treatment was about 2.5-5.5 times smaller. This work proposes possible mechanisms for the α-pinene isomerization reaction on the MXene HF and on the MXene HF/H 2 SO 4 X  :  Y and MXene HF/HCl X  :  Y in connection with their structure., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Green synthesis of nanoparticles for use in food packaging or biomedical applications is attracting increasing interest. In this study, the effect of the degree of substitution (0.7, 0.9 and 1.2) of a carboxymethylcellulose polymer matrix on the synthesis and properties of silver nanoparticles using melanin as a reductant was investigated. For this purpose, the mechanical, UV-Vis barrier, crystallinity, morphology, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the films were determined, as well as the color and changes in chemical bonds. The degree of substitution effected noticeable changes in the color of the films (the L* parameter was 2.87 ± 0.76, 5.59 ± 1.30 and 13.45 ± 1.11 for CMC 0.7 + Ag, CMC 0.9 + Ag and CMC 1.2 + Ag samples, respectively), the UV-Vis barrier properties (the transmittance at 280 nm was 4.51 ± 0.58, 7.65 ± 0.84 and 7.98 ± 0.75 for CMC 0.7 + Ag, CMC 0.9 + Ag and CMC 1.2 + Ag, respectively) or the antimicrobial properties of the films (the higher the degree of substitution, the better the antimicrobial properties of the silver nanoparticle-modified films). The differences in the properties of films with silver nanoparticles synthesized in situ might be linked to the increasing dispersion of silver nanoparticles as the degree of CMC substitution increases. Potentially, such films could be used in food packaging or biomedical applications.