Search

The active distribution network (ADN) integrated optimization is the optimization of the system using three optimization techniques: reconfiguration, reactive power optimization and optimal configuration of distributed generation. This study establishes an optimization model of the renewable energy ADN and proposes a novel multi-objective bald eagle search algorithm to optimize the model. This study integrates three techniques of network reconfiguration, reactive power optimization and optimal configuration of distributed power sources to establish a comprehensive optimization model of ADN, which aims to reduce ADN energy losses, improve active distribution network power quality and economic efficiency. The contributions are as follows: (1) a multi-objective bald eagle search algorithm is proposed to deal with the complex nonlinear ADN integrated optimization problem, and its superiority is verified; (2) an ADN integrated optimization model is established; and (3) multiple scenarios are established in the IEEE33 node system for comparison and validation to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. The results show that the proposed model can effectively improve the ADN operation with power loss, node voltage deviation and system cost reduced by 86.34%, 83.12% and 30.27%. The proposed algorism improves the power quality of ADN and promotes economic production and sustainable energy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The preparation methods of MOFtors was systematically catalogued and analyzed. • Unique functions of MOFtors in biomedical and environmental fields were discussed. • The challenges and outlook of MOFtors' applications have been critically proposed. Micro/nanomotors (MNMs) are burgeoning micro/nanoscale devices with plentiful applications ranging from biomedicine to environmental remediation. However, some urgent problems of these MNMs, such as high cost, low stability, poor loading/adsorption capability and uncontrollable motion, have not been ultimately solved. Owing to the high porosity, flexible and tunable structure, huge surface area, abundant binding sites and excellent chemical and thermal stability, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) provide new alternatives into solving these problems of MNMs. Therefore, the past decade has witnessed the great achievement in the orchestration of MOF-based MNMs (MOFtors), with abundant applications in both biomedical and environmental fields. However, until now, there is few review dedicated to the systematic discussion on the synthetic approaches, propulsion mechanism, working principles, representative proof-of-concept applications, as well as the current challenges of MOFtors. Bearing it in mind and based on our research experience in this field, firstly, we summarized the synthesis methods of MOFtors. Then, we started from the discussion on functions and characteristics of MOFs, with further explorations on the applications of MOFtors. Finally, based on our understanding of this field, the challenges and outlook have been proposed, hoping to provide fundamental understanding for the future development of MOFtors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal energy storage is important for energy saving and social developing. Low-cost, high thermal conductivity, form-stable composite phase change materials are urgent in energy storage and management. In this work, a novel carbonized wood-based composite phase change materials (TDCW) are fabricated by impregnating of 1-tetradecanol (TD) into carbonized wood (CW). CW as supporting material exhibits porous three-dimensional (3D) structure, high specific surface area and high thermal conductivity. In addition, compared with conventional graphene, carbon nanotubes and other one-dimensional (1D) or two-dimensional (2D) carbon materials, CW is inexpensive and has higher loading content of 73.4 wt%. What's more, CW as supporting material is firstly used in composite phase change materials. According to differential scanning calorimetry measurement and thermogravimetric analysis, TDCW possesses high latent heat, good thermal reliability and favorable thermal stability. In addition, thermal conductivities of PW, CW, TDCW measured at axial direction are all higher than that at radial direction and the thermal conductivity of TDCW is 0.669 Wm −1 K −1  at axial direction at 50 °C, which is 114% higher than that of pure TD. The results of thermal conductivity and surface temperature variation collected by infrared thermal camera under heating and cooling process demonstrate that TDCW is beneficial for thermal management application. This work not only provides a novel and superior supporting material, but also prepares a suitable phase change temperature, high latent heat and high thermal conductivity composite phase change material for thermal energy storage and management civil applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase change materials applied in the thermal insulation of building or storage system are beneficial to slow down internal temperature fluctuation and decrease energy consumption. Visible temperature change can provide convenience for people's production and life. In this work, the thermochromic delignified wood composite phase change materials (TCDWs) composed of thermochromic (TC) compound and delignified wood (DW) are fabricated by vacuum-assisted impregnation method. Various techniques are applied to characterize mechanical and thermal properties of TCDWs. Results indicate that TCDWs exhibit suitable phase change temperature, large latent heat, good thermal reliability, as well as excellent thermal stability and mechanical properties. More importantly, TCDWs have excellent reversible thermochromic ability and visibly show the phase change progress and temperature by color change from dark blue to off-white. The thermal insulation ability of TCDWs can reduce heat flow and heat exchange between inside and outside environment, maintaining the internal temperature for longer time. The largest absorption capacity of DW is 65%, which is 15% more than that of pristine wood (PW). The excellent reversible thermochromic, thermal and mechanical properties of TCDWs have great potential in thermal energy storage applications including thermal insulation, decoration, furniture, storage and building energy conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar desalination technology is an effective approach to produce clean water through evaporating seawater driven by solar energy. However, it remains a great challenge to develop a kind of solar evaporator with high salt-resistance, great stability and superior efficiency. Herein, inspired by wood structure, a polyurethane/chitosan/MXene aerogel with directional channel structure was originally designed as the solar evaporator for desalination by the freeze-casting method. The constructed unique anisotropic three-dimensional (3D) structure enabled the solar evaporator with efficient water transport network, which can effectively improve the salt-rejecting capability. Meanwhile, due to the combination of the full spectral absorption capacity of MXene and the unique directional channel structure, a satisfactory evaporation rate (1.81 kg.m−2 h−1) and high evaporation efficiency (85.07 %) under one-sun irradiation were achieved. Moreover, taking chitosan and waterborne polyurethane (PU) as matrix materials endowed the evaporator with favorable mechanical stability, which made the evaporator continuously achieving high evaporation rate for 12 h under one-sun irradiation and stably floating on the high- concentration salt water for over 14 days. In addition, the evaporator showed excellent salt resistance performance owing to its anisotropic directional channel structure. Also, a series of simulation and numerical modeling were carried out to assist in proving the mechanism of water transportation and desalination in the evaporator. Together, this work may provide a promising avenue for developing an efficient solar evaporator with superior salt blocking ability that could be potentially used for long-term clean water generation. [Display omitted] • The wood-inspired anisotropic channel structure evaporator was acquired through directional freeze casting technology. • Water transport and salt-resistant mechanism were proved by the combination of the experiments and numerical simulation. • MXene nanosheets were selected for efficient photothermal thermogenesis. • Superior salt-resistant property was realized even for high-concentration salt water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The visible time window (VTW) calculation of satellites to ground targets is significant for Earth observation satellites' operation management and control. With the improvement of satellite maneuvering capability and the complexity of on-orbit observation tasks, the traditional VTW calculation methods can no longer meet the demands of satellite operation management and control due to a large amount of calculation and low efficiency. The purpose of this study is to propose a fast VTW calculation method based on map segmentation named map segmentation method (MSM), to improve the calculation efficiency, and further solve this problem. Design/methodology/approach: The main feature of the MSM method is to segment the map and subsatellite trajectories and traverse the subsatellite points within a specific range around the target, significantly reducing the search space and the amount of computation and improving computational efficiency. Findings: Numerical simulations for two satellite orbits are implemented to verify the feasibility of the proposed VTW calculation method, and the traditional traversal method (TM) is also performed for comparative analysis. The results show that the proposed method can obtain the same VTW, using less calculation time than the TM. The computational efficiency is significantly improved, especially for many tasks. The calculation time of observing 500 targets is saved by more than 70%, indicating a broad application prospect. Originality/value: This paper proposes an original VTW calculation method based on map segmentation to improve the calculation efficiency. The simulation scenarios are designed to verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method, and the observation targets are randomly distributed on the map. For comparative analysis, the TM is also performed under the same simulation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescent thermochromic wood-based composite phase change materials based on aggregation-induced emission carbon dots possessed effective solar-thermal conversion, storage and visual color change under solar radiation, especially as replacements for energy-saving buildings and optical lighting materials with thermal regulation capability. [Display omitted] • The WPCMs include DW, PEG and AIE-CDs. • The AIE-CDs are used as thermochromic and photothermal components in WPCMs. • The WPCMs possesses great solar-thermal energy conversion and storage capacity. • The WPCMs visibly shows solar-thermal energy storage and release processes by fluorescence color change. • The WPCMs are simulatively used as thermal regulation and fluorescent thermochromic building materials. Efficient solar-thermal energy conversion and storage is significant to overcome current energy shortage problems. Monitoring solar-thermal energy storage process by an evident and convenient display is conducive to improving energy utilization. Herein, fluorescent thermochromic wood-based composite phase change materials (WPCMs) were constructed for visual solar-thermal energy conversion and storage. It was fabricated by encapsulating polyethylene glycol (PEG) and aggregation-induced emission carbon dots (AIE-CDs) showing blue dispersed emission and red aggregation-induced emission into delignified wood (DW). The DW well-preserved the distinctive anisotropic porous structure and prevented the leakage problem of PEG. The WPCMs possessed great solar-thermal conversion capacity benefitting from strong and broad solar light absorption behaviors of AIE-CDs. Additionally, WPCMs showed real-time and visual fluorescent thermochromic property, it exhibited red AIE, and the fluorescence (FL) decreased and shifted into the blue emission band under solar radiation. The solar-thermal energy conversion and storage led to solid–liquid transformation of WPCMs, which promoted AIE-CDs' dispersion, thereby changing the FL. It also exhibited a high latent heat of fusion (160.8 J·g−1), favorable stability over 150 heating–cooling cycles, thermal stability below 210 °C and good shape stability. The WPCMs can be extended to applications in energy-saving buildings and optical lighting materials with visual thermal regulation capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce carbon dioxide emissions, wind power generation is receiving more attention. The conversion of wind energy into electricity requires frequent use of insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). Therefore, it is important to improve their reliability. This study proposed a method to predict the junction temperature of IGBTs, which helps to improve their reliability. Limited by the bad working environment, the physical temperature measurement method proposed by previous research is difficult to apply. Therefore, a junction temperature prediction method based on an extreme learning machine optimized by an improved honey badger algorithm was proposed in this study. First, the data of junction temperature were obtained by the electro-heat coupling model method. Then, the accuracy of the proposed method was verified with the data. The results show that the average absolute error of the proposed method is 0.0303 °C, which is 10.62%, 11.14%, 91.67%, and 95.54% lower than that of the extreme learning machine optimized by a honey badger algorithm, extreme learning machine optimized by a seagull optimization algorithm, extreme learning machine, and back propagation neural network model. Therefore, compared with other models, the proposed method in this paper has higher prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new strategy of "taken from the wood, back into the wood" is proposed. • The CQDs possess red and NIR emission light under visible light excitation. • The heat radiated from NIR emission could be stored by PEG to adjust ambient temperature. • The fluorescent intensity of full-wood composites could change at different temperature. Due to its unique structure and component, wood is widely used as matrix to develop functional composites. However, the lignin is removed from wood and thrown away as waste in most wood-based functional composites. In this work, a new strategy of "taken from the wood, back into the wood" to fabricate a full-wood photoluminescent and photothermic material is proposed. By facile delignification and solvothermal process, the delignified wood (DW) and carbon quantum dots (CQDs) derived from removal lignin are prepared. In addition, compared with other CQDs excited by UV light, the CQDs possess red (650 nm) and NIR (710 nm) emission light under visible light excitation (580 nm). Most importantly, the heat radiated from NIR emission could be stored by the introduced phase change materials (PCM) to adjust ambient temperature. The composite owns photoluminescent, photothermic and energy storage property (heat latent of 137.6 J/g), which is environmentally friendly, green and creative. The all-new technique for functional wood composite shows potential for application in energy-saving and optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials for energy collection, conversion and storage are important for overcoming energy-shortage problems. The research reported a nanocomposite containing polyethylene-glycol-10000 (PEG10000) as phase-change-material composite (PCMC) and graphene nanosheets functionalized with Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 -GNS) stored and loaded into a porous carbonized-wood-flour (CWF) matrix. The Fe 3 O 4 -GNS/CWF/PCMC nanocomposite possessed favorable photothermal and magnetocaloric conversion properties. Introducing Fe 3 O 4 -GNS and CWF enhances the inherently low thermal conductivity of the PCMC. Energy was stored by the PCMC and released during the phase transition process. Furthermore, additional magnetothermal conversion and storage via Fe 3 O 4 -GNS component could reversely promote photothermal conversion due to continuous thermal energy supply. PEG10000 as biocompatible and nontoxic PCMC could form efficient combination within Fe 3 O 4 -GNS/CWF/PCMC and conduct least environmental-related effect. The nanocomposite exhibited favorable thermal conversion performance as temperature rising over 65 °C within 150 s, excellent thermal stability below 300 °C, a high melting enthalpy over 95 J/g and crystallization enthalpy over 85 J/g, good stability over 100 heating-cooling cycles, and efficient synergetic energy conversion. The PCMC with Fe 3 O 4 -GNS adsorbed in CWF rapidly converted light and magnetic energy to thermal energy, because of the enhanced thermal conductivity. The Fe 3 O 4 -GNS/CWF/PCMC nanocomposite therefore would have great potential in energy collecting, conversion and storage applications. • Magnetocaloric-assisted photothermal conversion and storage process. • Biomass-derived and environmental materials function as function component. • Thermal conducting enhancement and energy conversion promotion. • High melting enthalpy over 95 J/g, crystallization enthalpy over 85 J/g of samples. • Fast thermal conducting with thermal conductivity up to 0.225 W (m K)−1 of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The composites own superhydrophobicity and thermal energy storage capacity. • The composites further prevent liquid leakage of TD in humid environment. • The composites could improve energy storage capacity in humid environment. • The composites with self-cleaning have efficient solar-to-thermal energy storage. Form-stable composite phase change materials, as thermal energy storage technology, show great promise for reducing energy consumption and relieving current energy shortage problems. However, porous supporting material s and most phase change materials are hydrophilic and hygroscopic, which cause crack-formation at the interfaces between supporting material s and phase change materials and decrease in thermal energy storage capacity of composite phase change material in wet or humid environment. There are almost no reports concerning this topic. Herein, form-stable and superhydrophobic composite phase change materials are fabricated by spraying superhydrophobic coating on the surface of composite phase change materials, in which delignified wood acts as a supporting material to protect against liquid leakage of 1-tetradecanol. The superhydrophobic composite phase change materials possess large water contact angle of 155° and superhydrophobic stability at 20–100 °C and pH 3–12, which prevents supporting material s and phase change materials from contacting with moisture in wet environment. In addition, the superhydrophobic composite phase change materials exhibit large latent heat of fusion (125.40 J/g), 29.58 J/g higher than that of composite phase change materials without superhydrophobic coating in wet environment. Moreover, the superhydrophobic composite phase change materials possess excellent thermal reliability and stability, efficient solar-to-thermal energy conversion and self-cleaning property, which are potential in the application of advanced energy-related devices and systems for thermal energy storage in wet or humid environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gels as compelling soft material shows its promising versatility in actuators, soft electronics, and biomedical sensors. However, most gel materials are too rigid to cope with long‐term changing scenarios and specific needs. Inspired by the switchable behavior of bio‐behavior of muscle, the study reports a thermodynamically controllable and stiffness‐transformative cellulose‐salt gel by simple thermal mixing of hydrous salt, cellulose nanofiber, and polyacrylamide. The achieved cellulosic gel with dynamic microstructure presents an amazing stiffness switchability between crystalline state and melted states of 32.38 to 0.02 MPa, as well as the regulable light transmittance between 41.59% and 93.43%. In addition, this cellulose‐salt gel has excellent thermal controllable behavior. That is, by controlling the crystallization process, the cellulose‐salt gel displays the start‐stop releasing‐energy behaviors on demand. Enabled by these outstanding properties, the study further demonstrates the promising application of cellulose‐salt gel in controllable soft‐rigid coupling thermoelectric device, showing the broader implications for wearable electronics aiming at on‐demand work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Balsa wood as supporting material has high loading content of PCMs over 80%. • The composites have high energy storage capacity and good thermal reliability. • The composites exhibit excellent magnetic property and magnetothermal effect. • The addition of Fe 3 O 4 improves the solar-to-thermal conversion efficiency. In recent years, multifunctional form-stable composite phase change materials have been the research focus in the field of thermal energy storage. In this work, magnetic wood-based composite phase change materials are prepared via the impregnation of a compound of 1-tetradecanol and Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles into delignified balsa wood. Delignified balsa wood, which has porous structure with low density and high loading content of over 80%, was used as a supporting material. The addition of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles provides an excellent magnetic property and improves the solar-to-thermal conversion efficiency of the composite. Benefiting from the magnetothermal effect, the magnetic wood-based composite phase change materials can be heated under an alternating magnetic field. Also, the magnetic wood-based composite phase change materials exhibit large latent heat (179 J/g), excellent thermal reliability after 100 heating-cooling cycles, and outstanding shape stability. And they have good thermal stability below 112 ℃. Considering the easy processing and excellent property, the magnetic wood-based composite phase change materials have great prospect in multifunctional thermal energy storage in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Room‐temperature liquid metals (RTLMs) have excellent shape reconfiguration capabilities, which make them ideal for flexible electrodes, sensors, and energy devices. However, due to the high surface tension and weak adhesion of RTLM, the types of printing substrates, patterning, and recovery processes are limited. It is essential to develop advanced encapsulation techniques for the patterning of RTLMs. Lignin has great potential for promotion as nanodispersants and nanocarriers because of its abundant hydroxyl groups and good self‐assembly properties. In this work, a green and facile encapsulation method using industrial lignin is reported for stable, uniform, and reproducible patterning of eutectic gallium–indium (EGaIn). Lignin‐encapsulated EGaIn particles exhibit good stability and can be patterned on the surface of various substrates with a simple ballpoint pen. The electrical resistance of the conductive tracks shows little change under bending and twisting (720°) conditions. More importantly, the lignin‐encapsulated system can be easily dissolved and regenerated, which is also supported by molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations. 96.9% of the EGaIn can be recovered from the system. These characteristics make it very environmentally friendly throughout the preparation process and find applications in flexible sensors, transient circuits, and many other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous materials are usually used as sound-absorbing materials to alleviate noise pollution problems. However, the heat energy conversed from the acoustic energy is wasteful. Herein, anisotropic cellulose-based phase change aerogels (MXene/CNF-C/PEG aerogels) are fabricated by facile directional freeze casting method with anisotropic porous structure, efficient sound wave absorption, acoustic-thermal conversion and thermal management capability. MXene/CNF-C/PEG aerogels with shape stability are formed by hydrogen bonding forces between carboxylated cellulose nanofibers (CNF-C) and PEG without chemical crosslinking. The addition of MXene not only increases thermal conductive performance to 150 % but also enhances acoustic-thermal conversion ability effectively. Moreover, the directional porous MXene/CNF-C/PEG aerogels (DMCPs) possess high energy storage density (143.0 J/g) and acoustic-thermal conversion performance, which open up broad application prospect in the field of acoustic to heat energy conversion and storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2-Arylsulfonylthiophenes represent a class of important biologically active compounds. Although methods for synthesizing C2-functionalized thiophenes have been extensively reported, research on the synthesis of 2-arylsulfonylthiophenes is extremely rare. Herein, we report a method for 2-arylsulfonylthiophenes via exogenous-oxidant-free electrochemical oxidative C H sulfonylation of thiophenes, which efficiently avoid the issues of desulfonylation or over-reduction of sulfonyl groups. These reactions exhibit broad substrate scope (32 examples) and offer operationally simple, low-cost procedures in a single step. [Display omitted] • A novel electrochemical method enables efficient synthesis of 2-arylsulfonylthiophenes. • The electrochemical approach avoids desulfonylation and over-reduction issues. • The method offers broad substrate scope and simplicity for 2-arylsulfonylthiophenes synthesis. 2-Arylsulfonylthiophenes represent a class of important biologically active compounds. Although methods for synthesizing C2-functionalized thiophenes have been extensively reported, research on the synthesis of 2-arylsulfonylthiophenes is extremely rare. Herein, we report a method for 2-arylsulfonylthiophenes via exogenous-oxidant-free electrochemical oxidative C H sulfonylation of thiophenes, which efficiently avoid the issues of desulfonylation or over-reduction of sulfonyl groups. These reactions exhibit broad substrate scope (32 examples) and offer operationally simple, low-cost procedures in a single step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood-based composite phase change materials (PCMs) have considerable development potential in shape-stable thermal energy storage. However, Wood-based composite PCMs possess inflammability due to wood-based supporting materials and organic PCM, which limits its practical application. In this work, a novel strategy of wood-based composite PCMs with flame retardant coating is adopted, in which the introduction of expanded graphite (EG)-based coating can not only enhance the flame retardant property, and EG can be used as photothermal material to improve the photothermal conversion efficiency. The flame-retardant wood-based composite PCMs show excellent flame retardant properties, which peak of heat release rate (pHRR) is reduced by 40.1–52.3% compared with PEG-1000@delignified wood (DW). It is worth noting that when the amount of EG is >0.5 g, the flame-retardant wood-based composite PCMs can be completely protected in the ignition combustion test, and the combustion flame is extinguished by itself. The loading mass fraction of the PEG-1000 of the flame-retardant wood-based composite PCMs is 53.1–73.4%, which shows that it has good energy storage performance. At the same time, the flame-retardant wood-based composite PCMs still have good cycle reliability after 100 heating-cooling cycles. Due to the excellent light absorption properties of EG, the flame-retardant wood-based composite PCMs exhibit excellent photothermal conversion efficiency (68.1–80.0%), which has considerable application potential in solar energy utilization systems and thermal management. [Display omitted] • A novel flame retardance strategy for wood-based composite PCMs by surface coating. • The synergistic effect of PDMS and EG imparts flame retardancy to the material. • Adding EG enhances thermal conductivity and photothermal conversion. • Preventing high temperature vaporization and combustion leakage of PCMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal ions have extremely high toxicity. As the top of food chain, human beings certainly will accumulate them by ingesting food and participating other activities, which eventually result in the damage to our health. Therefore, it is very meaningful and necessary to design a simple, portable, stable and efficient material for heavy metal ions detection. Based on the spirolactam Rhodamine 6G (SRh6G) fluorescent probe, we prepared two types of nanocomposite materials (membrane and aerogel) by vacuum filtration and freeze-drying methods with lignocellulose nanofiber (CNF) as a carrier, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) as the cross-linkers. Then the microstructure, chemical composition, wetting property, fluorescence intensity and selectivity of as-prepared SRh6G/PVA/CNF would be characterized and analyzed. Results showed that SRh6G/PVA/CNF nanocomposites would turn red in color under strong acidic environment and produced orange fluorescence under ultraviolet light. Besides, they were also to detect Al3+, Cu2+, Hg2+, Fe3+ and Ag+ through color and fluorescence variations. We had further tested its sensitivity, selectivity, adsorption, fluorescence limits of detection (LOD) to Fe3+ and Cu2+. The test towards real water samples (hospital wastewater, Songhua River and tap water) proved that SRh6G/PVA/CNF nanocomposites could detect the polluted water with low concentrations of Fe3+ and Cu2+. In addition, SRh6G/PVA/CNF nanocomposites have excellent mechanical property, repeatability, superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity, which may offer a theoretical reference for the assembly strategy and detection application of cellulose-based fluorescent probe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: lignin; recyclable; room‐temperature liquid metals; transient circuitsGreen EncapsulationIn article number 2310653, Lin Dai, Chuanling Si, and co‐workers present a green and facile lignin‐based encapsulation method for room‐temperature liquid metals with controllable sizes, good stability, dispersibility, adhesion, and extremely high recovery efficiency, that pioneer a promising application of lignin in high‐precision fields and promote transformation and upgrading of traditional lignin valorization..By Yong Zheng; Hai Liu; Li Yan; Haiyue Yang; Lin Dai and Chuanling SiReported by Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author [Extracted from the article]

High-performance biomass materials with good thermal insulation, flame retardrancy, and mechanical properties are urgently required for thermal management. Herein, a novel lignocellulose aerogel treated using a recyclable deep eutectic solvent (DES) was physically mixed with tourmaline particles (TPs) to enhance its structural stability, flame retardancy, and mechanical properties. The optimized TPs-modified lignocellulose aerogel (TLA-4) had good comprehensive performances due to the synergistic effect of ammonium sulfate and TPs. Compared with TPs-free lignocellulose aerogel (LA), the total heat release (THR) and heat release rate (HRR) of TLA-4 were reduced by 62.0 % and 66.3 %, respectively, and the limiting oxygen index (LOI) of TLA-4 was drastically enhanced by 74.1 %. TLA-4 also exhibited a low thermal conductivity of 29.67 mW/mK, showing favorable thermal insulation performance. When compressed to 5 %, the mechanical strength of TLA-4 increased by 8.3 times. Meanwhile, the presence of TPs and abundant pores in the aerogel contributed to the release of negative oxygen ions (NOIs), aiding air purification. A life cycle assessment (LCA) indicated that this composite had a minimal environmental impact (EI) in 17 categories compared to other similar aerogels. The proposed strategy for preparing an environment-friendly lignocellulose aerogel offers significant potential for applications in home decoration and building materials. • Tourmaline and deep eutectic solvent enhance the flame retardancy simultaneously. • Multifunctional lignocellulose aerogel acts as flame-retardant thermal insulator. • Life cycle assessment is evaluated the preparation method of lignocellulose aerogel. • Innovative air purifier is proposed with permanent release of negative oxygen ion. • The porosity of aerogel is conducive to release more negative oxygen ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is highly desirable in achieving biomass conversion. Generally, there are two strategies to enhance the electrocatalyst's activity: increasing the number of active site or increasing the intrinsic activity of each active site. Compared with the latter, the former is usually ignored in the HMF oxidation reaction (HMFOR), but it is very critical for practical applications. Herein, we fabricate a self-supporting three-dimensional porous Co 3 O 4 nanobelt array decorated on nickel foam (P-Co 3 O 4 -NBA@NF) electrode with numerous active sites. Benefiting from the unique structural feature, P-Co 3 O 4 -NBA@NF electrode demonstrates nearly 100% of HMF conversion efficiency, 96.9% of FDCA selectivity, and 97.0% of Faraday efficiency. Notably, it can also deliver remarkable long-term stability over 30 continuous cycles. These exceptional features position P-Co 3 O 4 -NBA@NF as one of the promising electrocatalysts reported thus far for HMFOR. [Display omitted] • Increasing the number of active site is very critical for practical electrocatalytic applications. • P-Co 3 O 4 -NBA@NF electrode is a promising HMFOR electrocatalyst. • The array architecture facilitates the electron/mass transfer during HMFOR. • The pores in Co 3 O 4 nanobelt expose abundant number of active site beneficial for HMFOR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most factories discharge untreated wastewater to reduce costs, causing serious environmental problems. Low-cost, biological, environmentally friendly and highly effective materials for the separation of emulsified oil/water mixtures are thus in great demand. In this study, a simple, green method was developed for separating oil-in-water emulsions. A corn straw powder (CSP)-nylon 6,6 membrane (CSPNM) was fabricated by a phase inversion process without any further chemical modification. The CSPNM showed superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic properties and could be used for the separation of oil-in-water emulsion with high separation efficiency and flux. The CSPNM maintained excellent separation ability after 20 cycles of separation with an oil rejection >99.60%, and the oil rejection and flux have no obvious change with an increasing number of cycles, suggesting a good antifouling property and the structural stability of CSPNM. In addition, the CSPNM exhibited excellent thermal and chemical stability under harsh conditions of high temperature and varying pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to compare the dissolution and the intestinal absorption of tacrolimus in self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) and solid dispersion (SD). Poloxamer 188 SD was prepared by the combination of the solvent evaporation method and the freeze drying method. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) SD was prepared by the solvent evaporation method combined with the vacuum drying method. The formation of SD was confirmed by SEM images which showed new solid phases. The SMEDDS was composed of oil (Labrafil M1944 CS 28%), surfactant (Cremophor EL 48%) and co-surfactant (Transcutol P 24%). The self microemulsion formed by the SMEDDS upon aqueous media had spherical droplets with a hydrodynamic size of 46.0 ± 3.2 nm. The dissolution of tacrolimus from SD and SMEDDS was performed in sink and non-sink conditions with various pH. As revealed by the DSC and FT-IR, the tacrolimus was molecularly or amorphously dispersed in the SMEDDS and SD. The in vivo intestinal absorption study in rats showed that both SMEDDS and SD improved the absorption of tacrolimus over the raw tacrolimus while the SMEDDS exhibited lower absorption rate constant ( K a ) and apparent permeability coefficients ( P app ) than the SD. The self-prepared SD with poloxamer 188 or HPMC had comparable intestinal absorption as compared with Prograf®. The tacrolimus-loaded SMEDDS and SD would be further compared by in vivo pharmacokinetic study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A green strategy for remediation of wastewater was achieved using BAM. • BAM enabled simultaneous removal of micro/nano-plastics and heavy metal ions. • The presence of micro/nano-plastics promoted removal of heavy metal ions. • Life cycle assessment confirmed low environmental impact using BAM. Globally, micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) have become a serious environmental threat due to significant pollutions caused by their multitude sources, widespread distribution, persistence, and adverse effects to ecosystem. Although MNPs can act as carriers of heavy metal ions, associated effort on simultaneous separation of MNPs and heavy metal ions is still in their infancy. Herein, we report a simple and green strategy that can simultaneously separate MNPs and heavy metal ions using cellulose membranes. The process takes advantage of vacuum filtration and in situ crosslinking using bacterial cellulose (BC) and attapulgite (APT). The purification efficiency of bacterial cellulose membrane (BAM) for MNPs is higher than 98 % and the adsorption efficiency for heavy metal ion is 97 %. The BAM also exhibits high tolerance on different aquatic conditions (strong acidic, saline and alkaline water) and adaptation to different sizes of MNPs. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed to evaluate the overall environmental impact for the bifunctional BAM, showing a low overall impact under 14 categories, which exceeds other filtering membranes on the aspect of environmental friendliness. This study opens an avenue for valorization of bacterial cellulose membranes on water remediation through efficient and simple separation of various types of plastic particles and heavy metal ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane is a considerable precursor for emulsions separation and organic dyes degradation used in water purification and oil reclamation. However, the tedious preparation method, the surface smears easily, and low degradation efficiency, these characteristics usually significantly hinder its applicability toward wastewater governance. Herein, a green, facile, and efficient fabrication strategy to prepare a bi-functional palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs)-loaded bacterial cellulose membrane (BCMPd) is proposed. A tri-functional bacterial cellulose membrane (BCM) was obtained by percolating bacterial cellulose (BC) on a basal membrane, and BCM served as a support, reducing agent, and stabilizer in the subsequent reduction of PdNPs. Bi-functional BCMPd was successfully obtained and used for continuously removing emulsions and reducing methylene blue (MB) from simulated wastewater via the integration of physical sieving and chemical reaction. Meanwhile, the enhancement factors for the water transfer ability and demulsification capacity correlated directly with the wettability and surface structure of BCMPd. Furthermore, the dosage of BC was adjusted to reveal the mechanism for the enhanced water transferability and demulsification capacity. Notably, PdNPs of BCMPd decreased Fermi potential difference between BH 4- and MB, accelerating the electron transfer of the reduction reaction and thus exhibiting a remarkable MB degradation efficiency. Together, the information obtained in this work can be useful for comprehensively addressing the bottleneck of forming a cost-effective, eco-friendly, and bi-functional membrane reactor, providing an alternative approach for better treatment of complex wastewater. [Display omitted] • A versatile PdNPs loaded membrane is fabricated toward environmental sustainability. • This membrane owns excellent water transferability and demulsification capacity. • This membrane exhibits fortes in flux, catalytic ability and reusability. • Mechanisms of synchronous organic pollutants removal are in-depth revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Hypertension is a common chronic disease that can lead to serious health problems. Previous studies have not drawn a consistent conclusion about the effect of proanthocyanidins (PCs) on blood pressure (BP). This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effect of PCs supplementation on blood pressure (BP). A comprehensive literature search was performed in 6 databases (Pubmed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Embase and Google Scholar) to identify the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the BP-lowering effect of PCs. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the potential heterogeneity. Meta-regression analysis was used to evaluate dose effects of PCs on BP. A total of 6 studies comprising 376 subjects were included in our meta-analysis to estimate the pooled effect size. This meta-analysis suggested that PCs supplementation could significantly reduce systolic blood pressure (SBP) (WMD: -4.598 mmHg; 95 % CI: -8.037, -1.159; I2 = 33.7 %; p = 0.009), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (WMD: -2.750 mmHg; 95 % CI: -5.087, -0.412; I2 = 0.0 %; p = 0.021) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) (WMD: -3.366 mmHg; 95 % CI: -6.719, -0.041 mmHg; I2 = 0.0 %; p = 0.049), but had no significant effect on pulse pressure (PP) (WMD: -2.131 mmHg; 95 % CI: -6.292, 2.030; I2 = 0.0 %; p = 0.315). When the studies were stratified according to the duration of the study, there was a significant reduction on SBP in the subset of the trials with <12 weeks of duration. On the contrary, there was a significant reduction on DBP in the subset of the trials with ≥12 weeks of duration. The Subgroup analysis by BMI indicated that a significant reduction on SBP for people with a higher BMI (BMI ≥ 25) and a significant reduction on DBP for people with a lower BMI (BMI < 25). Additional subgroup analysis revealed low-dose-PCs (<245 mg/day) could significantly reduce SBP, DBP and MAP. The meta-regression analyses did not indicate the dose effects of PCs on SBP, DBP, PP and MAP. Based on the current findings, PCs supplementation may be a useful treatment of hypertensive patients as well as a preventive measure in the prehypertensive and healthy subjects. However, further investigation is needed to confirm these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]