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The hydrophobic membranes used in membrane distillation (MD) are inherently prone to fouling by hydrophobic contaminants due to the long-range hydrophobic-hydrophobic interaction, which limits the application of this promising technology. In this study, a novel dual-layer composite membrane was fabricated through eletrospinning a hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) coating on a commercial hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane and then cross-linking with glutaraldehyde for robust anti-oil-fouling MD. The prepared composite membrane showed an asymmetric wettability, the coating surface was underwater oleophobic with underwater oil contact angle of 148.7° and the PTFE substrate surface was hydrophobic with in-air water contact angle of 134.5°. The test results of the adhesive force between an oil droplet and membrane surface exhibited that the fabricated membrane had a desirable surface to resist oil adhesion. Direct contact MD experiments were conducted using a saline emulsion with 1000 mg/L crude oil to compare the performance of the modified membrane and the pristine PTFE membrane. The results demonstrated that the modified membrane can present stable performance with robust resistance to oil-fouling compared to the pristine PTFE membrane. It is believed that the fabricated composite membrane has great potential to be applied in MD process with high concentration of hydrophobic organics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five series of dihydrotriazine derivatives containing chalcone ( 13a–i ), phenoxy acetophenone ( 14a–b ), benzyl benzene ( 15a–c ), naphthoxyl acetophenone ( 16a–b ) and benzyl naphthalene ( 17a–h ) moieties were designed and synthesized. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of these compounds were evaluated against several strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as a single fungus. Compound 17h was found to be the most potent of all of the compounds tested, with an MIC value of 0.5 μg/mL against several Gram-positive ( Staphylococcus aureus 4220 and QRSA CCARM 3505) and Gram-negative ( Escherichia coli 1924) strains of bacteria. However, this compound was inactive against Pseudomonas aeruginosa 2742 and Salmonella typhimurium 2421, indicating that its antibacterial spectrum is similar to those of the positive controls gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin. The cytotoxic activity of the compound 13i , 16b and 17h was assessed in Human normal liver cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bench-scale fixed bed reactor was used to study the influences of water vapor and fly ash on Hg 0 removal efficiency over CeO 2 -modified semi-coke adsorbent (Ce/SC). Adsorption results showed that the mercury removal efficiency of Ce/SC decreased by 30% in the presence of 10% water vapor, and the introduction of 0.5 g fly ash had no significant effect on the Hg 0 removal efficiency of Ce/SC. In the condition of water vapor and fly ash coexisted, the Hg 0 removal efficiency of Ce/SC decreased by only 15%, indicated that the fly ash slowed down the inhibitory effects of water vapor on Hg 0 removal efficiency over Ce/SC, which is mainly due to the interaction between water vapor and Fe 2 O 3 in the fly ash to form Fe-OH groups, furthermore, γ-Fe 2 O 3 exhibited higher Hg 0 removal performance than α-Fe 2 O 3 . Hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR) revealed that the oxidation activity and capacity of α-Fe 2 O 3 and γ-Fe 2 O 3 increased significantly after water vapor treatment. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed that the Fe-OH content of α-Fe 2 O 3 and γ-Fe 2 O 3 increased from 37.97% and 15.99% to 44.56% and 43.39%, while the lattice oxygen content decreased from 26.53% and 82.46% to 19.08% and 46.49%, respectively. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that H 2 O molecules can be dissociated on both α-Fe 2 O 3 (1 0 4) and γ-Fe 2 O 3 (2 2 0) surfaces to form H atoms and OH fragments, the H atoms bound with O atoms in Fe-O groups of both α-Fe 2 O 3 (1 0 4) and γ-Fe 2 O 3 (2 2 0) surfaces, and the OH fragments associated with the adjacent iron atoms of α-Fe 2 O 3 (1 0 4) surface or Fe-O groups of γ-Fe 2 O 3 (2 2 0) surface to form Fe-OH. The formation of Fe-OH groups increased the oxidation activity and Hg 0 removal efficiency of Fe 2 O 3 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microbial fuel cell (MFC), as a cleaner wastewater treatment process, can recover electricity from organic wastes. However, high power production and high quality effluent are difficult to achieve simultaneously. In this study, a novel filtration composite anode (FCA), which combined carbon fiber brush and carbon textile was proposed to enhance COD removal and power generation performance of MFCs. The COD removal rate constant of MFCs with the filtration composite anode (FCA-MFC) was 0.33 h −1 , much higher than that of MFCs with single brush anode (FB-MFC) (0.23 h −1 ) or textile anode (FT-MFC) (0.18 h −1 ) in the recirculation mode, and also exceeded that of CA-MFC in non-recirculation mode (0.12 h −1 ). FCA-MFC delivered a maximum power density of 1140 mW m −2 at a recirculation rate of 2 mL min −1 , which was higher than the FB-MFC (990 mW m −2 ) and the FT-MFC (80 mW m −2 ) and its counterparts in non-recirculation mode (1000 mW m −2 ). Moreover, the FCA-MFC maintained a higher current density (4.0 A m −2 ) than the other two MFCs until the COD decreased to 40 mg L −1 at an external resistance of 100 Ω. CV and EIS tests verified a higher electrochemical performance of the filtration composite anode. These results demonstrated higher COD removals and power generation of the composite anode at ambient temperature, resulting from the filtration effect that facilitated mass transfer, increased microbial colonization, and improved electrochemical activity. Considering the high-quality effluent and high power generation, the filtration composite anode configuration promises a great potential for sustainable wastewater treatment application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High energy consumption remains to be a key problem for application of membrane bioreactor (MBR). Optimization of MBR to save energy requires a compressive understanding of the performance of the reactor, among which the mixing performance is a significant parameter, however received little attention. In this study, a tracer experiment was carried out in a full-scale MBR for municipal wastewater treatment in China. The mixing performance of both the entire plant and the membrane tanks were evaluated. The entire plant was found to be a cascade of 2.15 continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) with 8.02% of dead zones. The membrane tanks were also found to deviate from CSTR. The mixing energy was analyzed and compared with literature data from three aspects: the specific power used per unit of tank volume ( P s,v ), per unit of permeate volume ( P s,p ), and per unit of membrane area ( P s,m ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The location of membrane units in the membrane tank is a key factor in the construction of a full-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR), as it would greatly affect the hydrodynamics in the tank, which could in turn affect the membrane fouling rate while running. Yet, in most cases, these units were empirically installed in tanks, no theory guides were currently available for the design of a proper location. In this study, the hydrodynamics in the membrane tank of a full-scale MBR was simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Five indexes ( i Lu , i La , i Lb , i Lint , i Lw ) were used to indicate the unit location, and each of them was discussed for their individual impact on the risk water velocity ( v 0.05 ) in the membrane unit region. An optimal design with all the indexes equaling 0.6 was proposed, and was found to have a promotion of 146.9% for v 0.05 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilization of two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in bioelectrochemical systems (BES) is a novel way to generate H 2 O 2 from wastewater, and cathode catalyst is a key factor affecting ORR performance. Here, the catalytic performance of plain graphene, oxidized graphene and graphene oxide (GO) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and the influence of oxygen-containing functional groups are reported. Oxidized graphene air-cathode had 78% and 131% higher H 2 O 2 productions than plain graphene cathode respectively in an abiotic reactor and an MFC. GO showed nearly no H 2 O 2 production in the tests. XPS revealed that oxygen atomic fraction of oxidized graphene reached 5.7%, mostly in the form of C O C. These results show that oxidized graphene had good catalytic performance for H 2 O 2 production, and oxygen-containing functional groups, especially C O C could significantly enhance its performance, but overoxidation worked adversely. Meanwhile, using oxidized graphene air-cathode could realize simultaneous wastewater treatment, power output and H 2 O 2 generation in MFCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand how granular activated carbon (GAC) promotes methanogenesis, batch tests of CH 4 production potential in anaerobic serum bottles with addition of GAC or not were conducted. Tests showed that GAC promoted methanogenesis remarkably, but the non-conductive zeolite did not. The qPCR demonstrated that the biomass on GAC contributed little to the promotion. High-throughput sequencing data implied that promotion was related with direct interspecies electron transfer between Geobacteraceae and Methanosaetaceae . According to the c-type cytochromes ( c -Cyts) response to the supplement of GAC, it was speculated that GAC may play the role of c -Cyts’ substitution. In the undefined cultures, the phenomenon that c -Cyts were repressed by GAC was first observed. This research provided new evidence to microbial mechanism of promoting methanogenesis via GAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A structure with ion migration channels and continuous conductive network is crucial for the rate performance of activated carbon. In this work, a phenolic resin and ammonium alginate composite derived carbon is prepared by sol-gel method, carbonization and KOH activation. Compared with pure phenolic resin derived carbon, adding ammonium alginate in carbon preparation process can form interconnected coral-like carbon structure with higher specific surface area and meso-macro pores volume. These advantages of carbon make it provide sufficient access for ions diffusion and continuous skeleton for electron transport. In addition, the morphology of carbon materials can be adjusted by ammonium alginate. A two-electrode system coupled with 6 M KOH as electrolyte is assembled to test the electrochemical properties of these carbon materials. High specific capacitances of 282.8 F g−1 and 232.1 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and 100 A g−1 are obtained, respectively, with a high capacitance retention of 82%. Moreover, high energy density of 9.82 Wh kg−1 at 115 W kg−1 and conspicuous cycling stability with a capacitance retention of 95% after 20,000 cycles are showed for the symmetrical supercapacitor. This work provides reference for preparation of the 3D interconnected hierarchical porous carbon for high performance supercapacitor. [Display omitted] • Coral-like 3D interconnected morphology carbons were prepared. • Ammonium alginate as additive can improve the morphology of carbon. • The Coral-like 3D carbons showed high specific capacitance and cycling stability. • The improved electron/ion transport enhanced the rate performance of supercapacitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• True triaxial unloading tests were performed on sandstone with various moisture contents. • Slabbing is more prone to occur in higher moisture conditions for a constant σ 2 level. • Moisture contents and σ 2 may affect the failure intensity and fragmentation degree of sandstone. • The cracking mode was evaluated via AE features and microscopic morphological characteristics. • The cracking mechanism of immersed sandstone was revealed under true triaxial unloading condition. The presence of water has been confirmed to play an important role in affecting the failure properties of underground surrounding rock when subjected to complicated stress circumstances. In the current study, the crack propagation behavior of red sandstone affected by various moisture contents and intermediate principal stresses were investigated by using the QKX-YB200 true triaxial test system with unloading minimum principal stress. The experimental results demonstrate that the failure mode can be divided into shear, tension with shear, and slabbing. A clear observation of the fractured specimen shows that the extensional cracks tend to increase while shear cracks gradually diminish with the increase of moisture content and intermediate principal stress. For natural sandstone (with lower moisture content), the transition of failure mode from shear to slabbing requires higher intermediate principal stress. However, with the increase of moisture content, the occurrence of slabbing failure requires lower intermediate principal stress. The analysis of failure process indicates that the presence of water may restrain the possibility of rockburst, and the intermediate principal stress exhibits distinct functions in the failure behavior of natural and saturated sandstone. The surface microscopic morphological characteristics and acoustic emission signal feature were also analyzed to validate the transformation of the cracking mode. The current research indicated that the water-induced micro defect and damage effect, "water wedge" effect, intermediate principal stress effect are the key factors that contribute to the final slabbing failure in immersed hard rocks under true‑triaxial unloading conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fixed-bed reactor was used to study the effect of water vapor on the efficiency of Hg 0 removal over CeO 2 -modified semi-coke. Adsorption experiments showed that the oxidation activity, and therefore, the mercury adsorption efficiency decreased with increasing water vapor concentrations. Hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR) indicated that the oxidation activity of CeO 2 decreased after water vapor treatment. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) studies revealed that CeO 2 -H 2 O showed new bending vibration peaks at 1110 cm −1 ascribed to Ce–OH groups. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed that the content of Ce–OH increased from 20.85% to 39.99%, while the lattice oxygen content decreased from 68.21% to 45.83% after water vapor treatment. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that H 2 O can be dissociated on clean and oxygen-defective CeO 2 (1 1 1) surfaces to form H atoms and OH fragments. The H atoms associated with the adjacent oxygen atoms of CeO 2 , and the OH fragments were bound directly with Ce atoms to form Ce–OH for the clean CeO 2 surface; or occupied the oxygen vacancies and were surrounded by three Ce atoms via van der Waals forces, without additional bond formation for the oxygen-defective CeO 2 surface. Thus, the formation of Ce–OH groups and the consumption of lattice oxygens reduced the Hg 0 removal efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For lack of relevant investigation in the context of large-scale membrane bioreactors (MBRs), evaluation of the oxygen mass transfer parameters is important for the optimized design of the aeration system in an MBR process. In this study, we sampled the actual sludge from several large-scale MBRs (>10,000 m 3 /d) for the oxygen transfer tests. It was found that specific surface area of bubbles, aeration intensity, and diffuser submerged depth had positive effect on the oxygen transfer coefficient ( k L a ), while some mixed liquor characteristics such as the mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration and apparent viscosity exerted negative function on it. We further proposed quantitative expressions to predict the alpha-factor ( α -factor) under typical aeration conditions. The α -factor was found to be above 0.6 when MLSS was roughly less than 12 g/L, which was generally higher than the α -factor predicted in the previous literature, such that overestimation of aeration demand in large-scale MBRs might be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen exists in municipal wastewater in the form of ammonia/ammonium which is a recoverable resource. Recovering nitrogen to improve nitrogen-use efficiency should be carefully considered to promote global environmental sustainability. However, ammonia/ammonium is always not well recovered but removed as one of the main pathways for nitrogen release into the environment, which is due to ineffective ammonia capture. In this study, a new method of ion-exchange resin ammonium recovery combined with membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI + IE process) pretreatment is proposed. Selective ion removal by MCDI is demonstrated and ammonium ratio to the total prior ion (K + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ ) in outflow of MCDI cell is respectively increased from ∼15% to over 30% and 45% after 3 and 5 MCDI cycles. The MCDI + IE process could deal with 2.48 and 3.89 times of inflow, respectively, compared with the single IE process after 3 and 5 MCDI charge–discharge cycles and recover more than 65% of ammonium in a resin regeneration cycle after 3 MCDI cycles. It ascribes to MCDI desalination eliminating the negative effects of divalent cations, such as Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , on the IE absorb–desorb process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel type of biochar was produced by mixing bamboo sawdust with sewage sludge (1:1, w/w) via a co-pyrolysis process at 400–600 °C. Changes in physico-chemical properties and the intrinsic speciation of metals were investigated before and after pyrolysis. Co-pyrolysis resulted in a lower biochar yield but a higher C content in the end product compared with use of sludge alone as the raw material. FT-IR analysis indicates that phosphine derivatives containing P H bonds were formed in the co-pyrolyzed biochars. In addition, co-pyrolysis of sludge with bamboo sawdust transformed the potentially toxic metals in the sludge into more stable fractions, leading to a considerable decrease in their direct toxicity and bioavailability in the co-pyrolyzed biochar. In conclusion, the co-pyrolysis technology provides a feasible method for the safe disposal of metal-contaminated sewage sludge in an attempt to minimize the environmental risk from potentially toxic metals after land application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Coupling anodic and cathodic reactions enables regulable reaction mechanisms. • Appropriate coupling strategy actuates ultra-efficient electrocatalytic degradation. • Systematic tests unravel complex interaction between anode and cathode reactions. • Flexible tuning of direct and indirect oxidation meets versatile degradation need. The versatile reaction possibilities arising from the interaction between the anodic and cathodic reactions naturally contained in electrocatalytic membrane filtration (EMF) systems are of great valuable in meeting the current complex water treatment requirements. But currently, most studies only focus on half-cell reactions with a single electrocatalytic membrane, which limits the research progress of the EMF technology. Here we report a coupling strategy that utilizes the interaction between the anodic and cathodic reactions to actuate ultra-efficient degradation performance with regulable reaction mechanisms. An electrocatalytic dual-membrane filtration (EDMF) system was established. Six typical configurations of the EDMF system were set up and systematically investigated by adjusting the electrode distance and filtration sequence. Based on the obtained results of degradation performance and mechanisms, a regulation strategy which enabled flexible tuning of direct nonradical oxidation (e.g., h +) and indirect oxidation (e.g., 1O 2 , ·OH, HO 2 ·, O 2 ·−, etc.) was proposed. In particular, cathodic reactions were found to adversely affect the anodic reactions at the relatively short electrode distance of 0.9 mm. Anodic reactions could inhibit the generation of 1O 2 at short distance of 0.9 mm but promote its generation at long distances of 9 and 17 mm. The A–C_0.9 configuration achieved the highest degradation performance, while the C–A_9 configuration was revealed to be much more conducive to 1O 2 production. Overall, our findings demonstrate the versatility and tunability of the reaction mechanism and performance of the EDMF system due to the flexible coupling of the anodic and cathodic reactions, which potentially lays a foundation for future development of ultra-efficient mechanism-adjustable electrocatalysis technologies. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Conductivity is a comparable metric to characterize EET. • Nanowires and microbial aggregates have substantially different conductivity levels. • Several factors can cause a large variability in the measured conductivity. • Calculating the EET flux in microbial aggregates from conductivity measurement. Microbial extracellular electron transfer (EET) plays a crucial role in bioenergy production and resource recovery from wastewater. Interdisciplinary efforts have been made to unveil EET processes at various spatial scales, from nanowires to microbial aggregates. Electrical conductivity has been frequently measured as an indicator of EET efficiency. In this review, the conductivity of nanowires, biofilms, and granular sludge was summarized, and factors including subjects, measurement methods, and conducting conditions that affect the conductivity difference were discussed in detail. The high conductivity of nanowires does not necessarily result in efficient EET in microbial aggregates due to the existence of non-conductive substances and contact resistance. Improving the conductivity measurement of microbial aggregates is important because it enables the calculation of an EET flux from conductivity and a comparison of the flux with mass transfer coefficients. This review provides new insight into the significance, characterization, and optimization of EET in microbial aggregates during a wastewater treatment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A heat transfer, reaction, pyrolysis mathematical model for the non-isothermal coal particles by using circulating ash as heat carrier toward the moving bed has been established. Combined with the Thermogravimetry-Mass spectrometry technology and Coats–Redfern integral method, the model has the ability to predict the temperature distribution of pyrolysis gas-coal-ash as well as the evolution characteristics of the main volatile products (such as CH 4 , CO 2 , H 2 , CO, C 2 H 4 , C 2 H 6 , C 6 H 6 , C 7 H 8 , C 8 H 10 , C 10 H 8 ). The results show that, the maximum temperature difference between the core and surface of coal (10 mm) has reached 406 K at the bed height of 0.05 m. The layer closer to the coal core has a higher but later peak value of the devolatilization rate. The evolution of the main volatile products is concentrated at the bed height of 0.08–0.24 m. The velocity of the moving bed, blending ratio of ash to coal, coal particle size, preheating temperature of coal and initial temperature of ash have obvious influence on the devolatilization process. Radiation is the most significant factor affecting the devolatilization behavior. The model can be applied to different coal species. This study can provide a theoretic foundation for the amplification design of the moving-bed reactor in the poly-generation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three novel series of chalcone derivatives containing an aminoguanidine or acylhydrazone moiety were designed, synthesized and evaluated in terms of their antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory activities. Most of the synthesized compounds showed potent inhibitory activity towards various bacteria and one fungus with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 1 to 8 μg/mL. Compared with our previously reported chalcone derivatives (MICs >64 μg/mL), these compounds exhibited improved antibacterial activities (MICs = 2 μg/mL) against Gram-negative bacterial strains ( Escherichia coli 1924 and 1356). Compounds 4f and 4h were found to be the most potent with an MIC value of 1 μg/mL against the Gram-negative bacterial strains Salmonella typhimurium 1926 and the fungus Candida albicans 7535. In addition, compound 4f displayed the most potent anti-inflammatory activity of all of the compounds prepared in the current study with 92.45% inhibition after intraperitoneal administration, making it more potent than the reference drugs indomethacin and ibuprofen. The cytotoxic activity of the compound 4f was assessed in HeLa, Hep3B and L02 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Catalytic mechanism of hydrogen bonds on –CHO during DCL was firstly proposed. • Generation mechanism of –CHO was studied with experimental and theoretical ways. • Hydrogen bonds obviously affect hydrogen transfer and liquefaction reactivity. • Hydrogen bonds modulation is proposed during selection of liquefaction solvents. Direct coal liquefaction (DCL) is considered to be the effective method for production of aviation fuel and valuable chemicals, while low rank coal is appropriate feedstock because of high thermal reactivity. Original hydrogen bonds could promote low-temperature crosslinking reactions. liquefaction solvents could partially break original hydrogen bonds by forming new species. Impacts of hydrogen bonds formed by solvents on DCL reactions have rarely been studied. In order to figure out role of hydrogen bonds in DCL, a conjoint study of DCL experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations was carried out. More carboxyl groups were promoted to decompose. Meanwhile more aldehyde groups were found in solid products with increase of liquefaction temperature. As aldehyde groups are generated, hydrogen consumption increases. In terms of mechanism, effect of stronger hydrogen bonds on cleavage of covalent bonds were investigated by DFT-based potential energy surface scan. It turns out that cleavage of C O bonds in carboxyl groups could be enhanced, so that stabilization of free radicals results in consumption of extra hydrogen, which is provided by tetralin. Results of experimental methods are consistent with DFT calculations. The catalytic mechanism of hydrogen bonds upon conversion of carboxyl groups during DCL is proposed. Hydrogen bonds between coal and liquefaction solvents promote decomposition of carboxyl groups and consequently improve hydrogen transfer and thermal reactivity of solid products. Consequently, hydrogen bonds modulation should be taken into account during preparation of DCL solvents, for suppression of crosslinking reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Three novel osteogenic peptides were screened from tilapia scale collagen hydrolysate. • The osteogenic activity and active mechanism were studied. • These osteogenic peptides are expected to be used as functional food additives to prevent osteoporosis. On the basis of our previous study that 133 peptides were identified from the tilapia scale peptide-calcium chelate, the potential osteogenic peptide monomers through the calcium-binding properties of peptides and molecular docking were screened, and the osteogenic activity and active mechanism of the peptides were further researched in this study. Three highly osteogenic peptides GPAGPHGPVG (844.4191 Da), APDPFRMY (995.4534 Da), and TPERYY (827.3813 Da) were screened. Molecular docking showed that the three osteogenic peptides had the same interaction sites in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), namely ARG 285, GLN 8, GLY 317, THR 406, and HIS 409. Compared to the blank control group, within 50 μg/mL of GPAGPHGPVG, APDPFRMY, and TPERYY increased the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells by changing the cell proportion in the S and G2/M phases, and the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of MC3T3-E1 cells treated with 50 μg/mL of the three active peptides increased by 25%, 37%, and 56%, respectively. The three active peptides at 10 μg/mL concentration significantly promoted the mineralization of osteoblasts, and the mineralized calcium nodules increased by 166%, 161%, and 111%, respectively. TPERYY significantly increased the expression of osteogenic genes (osteocalcin (OCN), type I collagen (Col I α) and transcription factor (OSX)). Moreover, TPERYY significantly increased the mRNA and protein expression of β-catenin to 1.39 and 2.6 times of the blank control group, respectively, while decreased the mRNA and protein expression of glycogen synthesis kinase (GSK3β) to 1.6 and 2.3 times of the blank control group, respectively. This study provides a theoretical basis for using GPAGPHGPVG, APDPFRMY, and TPERYY peptides as functional foods to prevent osteoporosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), we realistically simulated the transport variations of the upstream Kuroshio (referring to the Kuroshio from its origin to the south of Taiwan), particularly for the seasonal transport reduction. Then, we investigated the effects of the optimal initial errors estimated by the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation ( CNOP ) approach on predicting the seasonal transport reduction. Two transport reduction events (denoted as Event 1 and Event 2) were chosen, and CNOP1 and CNOP2 were obtained for each event. By examining the spatial structures of the two types of CNOPs, we found that the dominant amplitudes are located around (128°E, 17°N) horizontally and in the upper 1000 m vertically. For each event, the two CNOPs caused large prediction errors. Specifically, at the prediction time, CNOP1 (CNOP2) develops into an anticyclonic (cyclonic) eddy-like structure centered around 124°E, leading to the increase (decrease) of the upstream Kuroshio transport. By investigating the time evolution of the CNOPs in Event 1, we found that the eddy-like structures originating from east of Luzon gradually grow and simultaneously propagate westward. The eddy-energetic analysis indicated that the errors obtain energy from the background state through barotropic and baroclinic instabilities and that the latter plays a more important role. These results suggest that improving the initial conditions in east of Luzon could lead to better prediction of the upstream Kuroshio transport variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube (N-CNT) membrane compared with Pt-coated CNT (Pt-CNT) membrane and pristine CNT membrane were utilized as air cathode as well as filtration material of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The MFCs were continuously operated for 39 days to investigate their power generation, organics removal, proton transfer, and fouling behavior under various influent concentrations and hydraulic retention times (HRTs). During operation, the N-CNT filtration MFC achieved the best effluent quality and power generation, with efficient removal of total organic carbon (TOC) (95.2%) and NH 4 + -N (97.7%), and maximum power density and current density of 408 mW/m 2 and 2.36 A/m 2 respectively. The excellent performance of the N-CNT MFC was mainly attributed to its special morphology and rich N-functional groups. The N-CNT membrane has a nanotube diameter of 37 ± 4 nm, pore size of 95 ± 33 nm, and porosity of 79.9%, which was even better than traditional microfiltration membrane as a filtration material for pollutant removal. The high nitrogen content (2.12 at%) and high specific surface area (93.5 m 2 /g) due to its network structure also enhanced O 2 reduction. In addition to the excellent performance of N-CNT cathode, the filtration operation enhanced cathode O 2 reduction by increasing mass transfer in cathode micro-pore and improving proton transfer with water flowing from anode to cathode. Moreover, a separate experiment also demonstrated that the cathode fouling could be mitigated under high current operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective and facile method for the synthesis of N- substituted trihydroxypiperidine derivatives is described. The Mannich-type reaction of protected 5- O -tosylate pentoses with amines and ketones in the presence of p -TsOH provides convenient access to the stereoselective synthesis of N -substituted iminosugar C -glycosides as potential glucosidase inhibitors in good to excellent yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel stacked microbial fuel cell (MFC) which had a total volume of 72 L with granular activated carbon (GAC) packed bed electrodes was constructed and verified to present remarkable power generation and COD removal performance due to its advantageous design of stack and electrode configuration. During the fed-batch operation period, a power density of 50.9 ± 1.7 W/m 3 and a COD removal efficiency of 97% were achieved within 48 h. Because of the differences among MFC modules in the stack, reversal current occurred in parallel circuit connection with high external resistances (>100 Ω). This reversal current consequently reduced the electrochemical performance of some MFC modules and led to a lower power density in parallel circuit connection than that in independent circuit connection. While increasing the influent COD concentrations from 200 to 800 mg/L at hydraulic retention time of 1.25 h in continuous operation mode, the power density of stacked MFC increased from 25.6 ± 2.5 to 42.1 ± 1.2 W/m 3 and the COD removal rates increased from 1.3 to 5.2 kg COD/(m 3 d). This study demonstrated that this novel MFC stack configuration coupling with GAC packed bed electrode could be a feasible strategy to effectively scale up MFC systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The processing, mechanical properties and thermal stability of kaolinite/styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) composite were investigated, and the influences of kaolinite particles size and filled contents on these properties were analyzed. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the rubber chains may be confined within the interparticles space and the kaolinite particles presented a physical dispersion in SBR matrix. The scorch time ( t s2 ) and cure time ( t c90 ) of the kaolinite/SBR composites decreased simultaneously relative to those of the pure SBR. The minimum torque of the kaolinite/SBR composite increased relative to that of pure SBR, and it decreased with decreasing filler particle size and increased with increasing filler content. The modified kaolinite gave a progressive reinforcement on mechanical properties of the kaolinite/SBR composite, even at high filler content (80 phr).The tensile strength and tear strength of the kaolinite/SBR composite at 80 phr filler loading were 19.62 MPa and 40.63 kN/m respectively. The prepared composite exhibited significantly improvement in thermal stability compared with that of pure SBR. The characteristic decomposition temperatures of kaolinite/SBR composite gradually increased with decreasing particle size and increasing content. The improvement of mechanical properties and thermal stability of kaolinite/SBR composite is attributed to the fine dispersion of kaolinite particles in the rubber matrix and the strong interactions between kaolinite particles and rubber chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prenatal nicotine exposure is a risk factor for intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Steroid hormones synthesized from cholesterol in the fetal adrenal play an important role in the fetal development. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of prenatal nicotine exposure on steroidogenesis in fetal rat adrenals from the perspective of cholesterol supply and explore the underlying epigenetic mechanisms. Pregnant Wistar rats were administered 1.0 mg/kg nicotine subcutaneously twice a day from gestational day (GD) 7 to GD17. The results showed that prenatal nicotine exposure increased IUGR rates. Histological changes, decreased steroid hormone concentrations and decreased cholesterol supply were observed in nicotine-treated fetal adrenals. In the gene expression array, the expression of genes regulating ketone metabolic process decreased in nicotine-treated fetal adrenals. The following conjoint analysis of DNA methylation array with these differentially expressed genes suggested that acetoacetyl-CoA synthetase (AACS), the enzyme utilizing ketones for cholesterol supply, may play an important role in nicotine-induced cholesterol supply deficiency. Moreover, the decreased expression of AACS and increased DNA methylation in the proximal promoter of AACS in the fetal adrenal was verified by real-time reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP), respectively. In conclusion, prenatal nicotine exposure can cause DNA hypermethylation of the AACS promoter in the rat fetal adrenal. These changes may result in decreased AACS expression and cholesterol supply, which inhibits steroidogenesis in the fetal adrenal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geometry property would affect the hydrodynamics of membrane bioreactor (MBR), which was directly related to membrane fouling rate. The simulation of a bench-scale MBR by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) showed that the shear stress on membrane surface could be elevated by 74% if the membrane was sandwiched between two baffles (baffled MBR), compared with that without baffles (unbaffled MBR). The effects of horizontal geometry characteristics of a bench-scale membrane tank were discussed (riser length index L r , downcomer length index L d , tank width index W t ). Simulation results indicated that the average cross flow of the riser was negatively correlated to the ratio of riser and downcomer cross-sectional area. A relatively small tank width would also be preferable in promoting shear stress on membrane surface. The optimized MBR had a shear elevation of 21.3–91.4% compared with unbaffled MBR under same aeration intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relative strengths of membrane bioreactors (MBR) versus conventional activated sludge (CAS) processes have long been debated, but never compared systematically at full scale. To this end, we monitored full-scale wastewater treatment performance and mixed-liquor characteristics (sludge biomass, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), supernatant with molecular weight and hydrophilic/hydrophobic distribution) for parallel MBR and CAS (via oxidation ditch—OD), for a year. Ammonia and suspended solids were better removed by MBR; temperature affected ammonia removal in OD. At low temperatures, sludge settlement declined in both processes, but solid–liquid separation via membrane filtration continued, although the membrane fouled. EPS characteristics were similar, and organic components in EPS and supernatant varied seasonally, in both processes. MBR had a lower production rate, but higher concentration, of supernatant organics and accumulated large molecular-weight polysaccharides. Ammonia removal was correlated with tightly bound proteinaceous EPS. Polysaccharides, in loosely bound EPS and supernatant, were responsible for effective settlement (OD), and membrane fouling (MBR). These results demonstrate how mixed liquor intermediates process and performance, and that performance depends on effective solid–liquid separation. MBRs excel when stringent requirements for pollutant-removal and extreme environmental conditions exist. The much cheaper OD remains competitive under less demanding conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three series of 1,3-diaryl pyrazole derivatives bearing aminoguanidine or furan-2-carbohydrazide moieties have been synthesized, characterized and evaluated for antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities. Most of the synthesized compounds showed potent inhibition of several Gram-positive bacterial strains (including multidrug-resistant clinical isolates) and Gram-negative bacterial strains with minimum inhibitory concentration values in the range of 1–64 μg/mL. Compounds 6g , 6l and 7l presented the most potent inhibitory activity against Gram-positive bacteria (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus 4220), Gram-negative bacteria (e.g. Escherichia coli 1924) and the fungus, Candida albicans 7535, with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 1 or 2 μg/mL. Compared with previous studies, these compounds exhibited a broad spectrum of inhibitory activity. Furthermore, compound 7l showed the greatest anti-inflammatory activity (93.59% inhibition, 30 min after intraperitoneal administration), which was more potent than the reference drugs ibuprofen and indomethacin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problems of worldwide energy shortage and environment pollution are becoming more and more serious, thus lots of attention has been paid to renewable and sustainable energy. The development of photovoltaic technology was rapid in recent years as one of the promising renewable energy, the worldwide total amount of photovoltaic power plants had reached nearly 100 GW in 2012, and about 90% of the worldwide solar cells are crystalline silicon solar cells. But there is still a large gap between the electricity costs of photovoltaic and traditional fossil energy, lots of methods have been tried to decrease the costs. The efficiency of the cell could be increased by concentration, and parts of the solar cells are replaced by cheaper optical elements in concentration photovoltaic, thus the costs of photovoltaic could be decreased by concentration. The traditional solar cells used for concentration were III–V multi-junction solar cells, their costs were high although they had high efficiency, thus people tried to use cheaper silicon solar cells for concentration to decrease the costs further. In this work, six kinds of silicon solar cells with different structures used for concentration were summarized; the device structures, manufacturing processes and efficiencies of the cells were compared. The prospects of concentrator silicon solar cells were predicted, the Si HIT cell using back contact structure, the multi-junction cell containing Si back contact cell and the Si VMJ cell used with Ge and GaP VMJ cells were considered to have good potential in low, middle, high and very high concentration photovoltaic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Oxidative stability of marine phospholipids at different temperatures (100 °C, 140 °C and 180 °C) were elucidated. • 94 volatile compounds were identified in LYCPLs after heating treatment by HS-SPME-GC-MS. • 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone was the typical volatile compound at unheated and 100 °C, while 3-hexene-2-one was the typical volatile compound at 140 °C and 180 °C. Large yellow croaker roe phospholipids (LYCPLs) have various functions and high nutritional value, which are expected to be functional foods ingredients. The aim of this study is to investigate the oxidative stability of LYCPLs at different temperatures (100 °C, 140 °C and 180 °C) in terms of peroxide value (POV), thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances value (TBARS), acid value (AV) and fatty acids compositions of phospholipids. The volatile compounds were also identified and analyzed via headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (HS-SPME-GC-MS) and headspace gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS). The results showed that the highest POV was 192.92, 133.70 and 121.25 meq/kg at 100 °C, 140 °C and 180 °C within 10–20 min, respectively, then fell along with the increment of heating time, while the highest TBARS was 6.38, 7.66 and 8.19 mg/kg at 30 min, respectively. The AV was increased, but monounsaturated fatty acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid content were decreased with the increment of temperatures. A total of 94 volatile compounds were identified, and the content of alkanes, aldehydes, and heterocyclic compounds were reasonably increased, while the aromatic compound and amide compound content were decreased when LYCPLs heated at 180 °C. The present research improves the comprehensive understanding of oxidative stability of marine phospholipids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A technology of grading conversion of F-T synthetic paraffin residue is explored. • N-heptane shows the highest extraction yield to recycle paraffin. • 94.33% organic components in the residue is recovered by the grading process. • The specific surface area of the regenerated clay is raised to 84.41 m2/g. • 1852.5 t/a paraffin can be obtained by the technology in Lu′an F-T synthetic plant. The Fischer-Tropsch synthetic paraffin residue are mainly treated by combustion or landfill. In this study, an innovative process has been developed for the grading utilization of the Fischer-Tropsch synthetic paraffin residue by extraction and pyrolysis. Firstly, the Fischer-Tropsch synthetic paraffin residue was respectively extracted by n-pentane, n-hexane, n-heptane, cyclohexane and dichloromethane. The yield of extracted paraffin was related to solvent molecular weight and polarity, light alkanes were extracted more easily in non-polar solvents with relatively larger molecular weight. N-heptane showed the highest extraction yield of 57.86%, the extracted paraffin was similar to the paraffin product from Fischer-Tropsch and had more light components, less alkenes and oxygenated components. Afterwards, the solid residues after extraction were pyrolyzed at optimum conditions with 10 ℃/min and 500 ℃. The maximum yield of paraffin was up to 61.75% with the solvent of n-heptane in the grading utilization process, which accounted for 94.33% of the organic components in the Fischer-Tropsch synthetic paraffin residue. The recovered paraffin had higher saturation and less impurity than the Fischer-Tropsch paraffin. The solid product after pyrolysis had high specific surface area and could be processed into adsorbent and catalyst carrier. The grading technology could provide a rationalizing industrial scheme for handling the Fischer-Tropsch synthetic paraffin residue from the Shanxi Lu′an group corporation coal to oil plant of 1.0 million tons/a, 1852.5 tons of high-quality paraffin can be recovered each year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper it was demonstrated that a small quantity of silicone oil could be employed as a secondary lubricant to assist water lubrication when there appear short-time sever working conditions. With a deliberately fabricated fiber-guide nozzle a short-time injection of silicone oil to water lubricated block-on-ring contact in the mixed lubrication could reduce friction of the contact markedly. With increase of the ring speed the friction reduction ratio decreases first and then slightly increase thereafter. Measurements of the wear track displayed more wear reduction under higher ring speeds and larger viscosity. It was proposed that the friction and wear reduction could be attributed to the water-excluded lubrication film formation in the whole contact zone by silicone oil, which was validated by optical interferometry measurement of the lubrication films. In addition, through fluorescence technique it was found that water environment can reduce the wettability of the silicone oil on the lubrication track so that the oil replenishment on the track is enhanced and the film thickness increases. [Display omitted] • A small quantity of secondary lubricant can be used to improve water lubrication under tough working conditions. • Short-time supply of a small quantity of silicone oil demonstrated marked friction-reduction and wear-reduction. • A small quantity of silicone oil supplied in a short time could assist the water lubrication for quite a while. • The water environment can reduce the wettability of the silicone oil so that the oil film thickness increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • FNN was developed for monitoring color changes in large yellow croaker fillets. • FNN presented high predictive power for color changes based on optimal spectra. • Different freshness of fish fillets can be distinguished by distribution maps. Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system combined with artificial neural networks was investigated for the first time to monitor color changes of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) fillets during low-temperature storage. Feed-forward neural networks (FNN) empowered with the leaky rectified linear unit (Leaky-Relu) have been developed as a non-linear quantitative analysis model. It presented accurate predictive power for color changes based on optimal spectra (with R2 P of 0.908, 0.915, and 0.977; and RMSEP of 1.062, 3.315, and 0.082 for L *, a *, and b *, respectively). In final, the simplified FNN-Leaky-Relu model (S-FNN-L) was utilized to visualize the distribution maps of color parameters in the fillets. The results demonstrated the feasibility of HSI could replace the traditional colorimeter to determine the spatial distribution in the color measurement of fish fillets with a rapid and non-invasive technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Biofilm disassembly agents helped to incorporate more Fe/Fe oxides into AGS. • Loading Fe/Fe oxides promoted flavins and c-Cyts secretion in EPS of AGS. • The resistance of EPS was reduced and interspecies electron transfer was increased. • AGS with Fe/Fe oxides showed an enhanced methane production capacity. Anaerobic granular sludge (AGS) is a promising technology for organic wastewater treatment and energy recovery. In this study, three different kinds of Fe and Fe oxides nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 , Fe 2 O 3 and ZVI) were tried to be incorporated into AGS through direct loading or aided with biofilm disassembly agents of norspermidine and D-tyrosine, which was aimed to enhance methane production capacity of AGS via increasing redox activity of extracellular polymer substance (EPS) and interspecies electron transfer. Despite the loading methods, incorporation of Fe and Fe oxides nanoparticles into AGS increased methane production capacity remarkably, with an enhancement of 36.49–85.17%, 20.37–204.95% and 189.71–243.32%, respectively, for the Fe 3 O 4 , Fe 2 O 3 and ZVI loaded AGS. Pretreatment of AGS using biofilm disassembly agents helped to incorporate more Fe and Fe oxides into the inner structure of AGS, which further enhanced methane production capacity by 48.68% and 184.58%, respectively, for the Fe 3 O 4 and Fe 2 O 3 loaded AGS. Loading Fe and Fe oxides into AGS not only introduced exogenous conductive substances and Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couples into EPS matrix of AGS, but also stimulated the production of redox active components of flavins and c-Cyts. All these factors may contribute to the reduced resistance of EPS, enhanced interspecies electron transfer and methane production capacity of AGS. This study provides a novel strategy and facile method to accelerate interspecies electron transfer and enhance methane production for matured AGS. [Display omitted]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monodisperse Ni nanoparticles with sizes varying from 4.8 to 11.3 nm are prepared via a one-pot reaction that involves the reduction of nickel(II) acetylacetonate in oleylamine in the presence of trioctylphosphine and 1,2-hexadecanediol. Reaction parameters such as temperature and the concentration of capping agent and metal precursor are critical for the adjustment of particle size. The decrease of crystallinity is observed for the samples with smaller particle sizes, which significantly affects the magnetic properties. Three-dimensional (3D) superlattices that are composed of Ni nanoparticles with different sizes are obtained on different substrates by a facile self-assembly process, and are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and small-angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD). The Ni nanoparticle superlattices formed on carbon-coated TEM copper grids exhibit a dominant hexagonal close-packed (hcp) symmetry, although local fcc packing is also occasionally observed. The formation of 3D nanoparticle superlattice structures on Si substrates is confirmed from the SAXRD measurements. The method revealed in this study for the preparation of 3D superlattices composed of Ni nanoparticles with tunable sizes offers the potential to explore their interesting collective properties for multiple applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Enrichment characteristics are probed from the molecular structure. • Aliphatic hydrocarbons were selectively enriched by polydimethylsiloxane coating. • Oxygenated aromatic species with multiple and/or long side chains were enriched. Due to the low concentration of minor compounds and the detection limit of instruments, numerous compounds in the thermal dissolution (TD) extract of coals cannot be detected. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce solid phase microextraction (SPME) for sampling before analysis, which can enrich compounds in mixtures with similar molecular structures and exclude interferences from other components. In this work, partial species in the TD extract of Zhaotong lignite were enriched by SPME with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coating. The enrichment characteristics of the coating on TD extract were examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Nitrogen-containing compounds and sulfur-containing compounds were removed from the enriched species, and the content of aliphatic hydrocarbons increased from 30.0% to 93.2% after enrichment. Oxygenated aromatic compounds with structures similar to the long-chain siloxane bonds of PDMS were also enriched. This study establishes a SPME method and provides a basis for the analysis of lignite and its derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-energetic and low-sensitive explosive material of 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105) was theoretically investigated by first principles calculations and Hirshfeld surface analysis. The experimental and partly optimized LLM-105 crystals were compared which indicated that it is important to correct the hydrogen positions. Hirshfeld surface analyses of the experimental and partly optimized LLM-105 crystals were also compared, which showed that the intermolecular H⋯O interactions significantly contribute to the stability of the LLM-105 crystal, while the contributions of other intermolecular interactions in the experimental and partly optimized LLM-105 crystals are quite different. The geometrical and electronic structures of LLM-105 molecules in the experimental and partly optimized crystals as well as that in the gas phase were compared. QTAIM analysis was employed to illustrate the existences of intermolecular interactions in the molecular pairs taken from partly optimized LLM-105 crystal, and the types of intermolecular interactions from QTAIM analysis are in agreement with the results of Hirshfeld surface analysis. The reason why the LLM-105 molecule in the partly optimized crystal adopts a non-coplanar structure in which the NO 2 and NH 2 groups is not coplanar with the six-membered ring is elaborated. The existence of cooperativity among different intermolecular interactions were verified by analysing the trimeric complexes formed among three LLM-105 molecules in the partly optimized crystal. The non-coplanar of the NO 2 and NH 2 groups with the six-membered ring in LLM-105 molecule is favorable in forming more intermolecular interactions which cooperate and stabilize the crystal. [Display omitted] • The explosive material of 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105) crystal was investigated theoretically. • The single LLM-105 molecule, the dimeric and trimeric complexes were analyzed. • The non-coplanar LLM-105 molecule favors the formation of more intermolecular interactions which stabilize the crystal. • The cooperativity among the intermolecular interactions was verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Mass spectrometry was used to underatand the molecular composition of carbon precursors. • Reveal the relationships between composition of precursor and performance of supercapacitors. • N- and O-containing compounds can improve the conductive and capacitance of carbon materials. In this work, soluble portions obtained from the co-thermal dissolution (CTD) of rice husk (RH) and coal were used as the carbon precursor for the synthesis of 3D hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs). The electrochemical properties of HPCs were tested in supercapacitors as working electrode. HPC-RH 3/1 showed a specific capacitance of 352 F/g at 1 A/g and a retention rate of 100% after 10,000 cycles. The composition of the carbon precursors is a key factor determining the characteristics of carbon-based materials. The detailed composition of carbon precursors was obtained by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and Orbitrap MS. The N-containing organic matters in carbon precursors can improve conductivity and the O-containing compounds can contribute to pseudocapacitance. According to the MS analysis, the high content of compounds with unsaturated structures was of benefit to excellent electrochemical properties. The study on the relationships between molecular compositions of carbon precursors and electrochemical characteristics can give a direction of selection and optimization of carbon precursors, which further improve the electrochemical performance of carbon materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, Mn(CeZr)O x was synthesized by using chelation-induced synergistic self-assembly strategy for the combustion of toluene. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, ICP-MS, SEM, TEM, XPS and N 2 sorption. The Mn(CeZr)O x catalyst with T 90 = 225 °C exhibited improved catalytic performance than the original MnO x catalyst (T 90 = 260 °C) and had significant low-temperature activity. The relationship between catalyst activity and structure was analyzed. By substituting Ce and Zr elements into the hollow microspheres of MnO 2 , oxygen vacancies were produced. The main factors affecting the catalytic activity of the catalyst and the reason why it remained high catalytic activity after a long period of hydrothermal treatment were discussed. After hydrothermal aging, the original pore structure of Mn(CeZr)O x catalyst collapsed and the specific surface area decreased, but the overall crystallinity of the catalyst increased and the content of oxygen species in the lattice increased. The distribution of Mn and oxygen species on the catalyst surface changed significantly after hydrothermal treatment. The appropriate ratio of Mn4+ to Mn3+ and the ratio of lattice oxygen to adsorbed oxygen species are beneficial to the redox reaction cycle. [Display omitted] • A novel Mn(CeZr)O x was prepared by a chelation-induced self-assembly strategy. • The hydrothermal aging resistance of Mn(CeZr)O x was studied. • Synergistic effect of metal species significantly improved the toluene combustion. • The superior redox and structural properties made catalysts have high activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Geochemical characteristics of aeolian sand from two different dune fields were studied. • Spatial differences are primarily caused by surface processes and provenances. • Aeolian sand in the Horqin Sandy Land experienced intense chemical weathering. • Coarse and fine sand fractions move via separate transportation pathways. Geochemical studies examining surface aeolian sediments are significant for understanding Earth's surface processes and determining sediment provenance in arid and semi-arid regions. However, there is limited research on the geochemical comparison of aeolian sediments formed under distinctive tectonic and climatic settings. Surficial sand samples from the Taklamakan Desert and Horqin Sandy Land in northern China were collected, and the major, trace, and rare earth elements (REEs) in the bulk samples, fine fractions (<75 µm) and coarse fractions (>75 µm) of sand were analyzed. This study aimed to explore the spatial variation in the geochemical composition of aeolian sand and its drivers. The results show that differences between the two regions are primarily caused by the intensity of chemical weathering, sedimentary recycling, and provenance. The mean chemical proxy of alteration (72.3 vs. 77.8) and the Parker's weathering values (37.8 vs. 55.8) both suggest the bulk samples from the Horqin Sandy Land experienced more intense chemical weathering, whereas physical weathering is a dominant process in the Taklamakan Desert. These differences may be attributed to the different climatic conditions in the two regions and the exposure time to weathering. A combination of the index of compositional variability and immobile trace element ratios shows that aeolian sand in the Horqin Sandy Land underwent more intense sedimentary recycling than sediments in the Taklamakan Desert. REEs ratios (such as Cr/V and Y/Ni) and the Al 2 O 3 -CaO*+Na 2 O-K 2 O (A-CN-K) diagram indicate aeolian sand in the Taklamakan Desert is probably derived from mixed source rocks of tonalite, granite, and granodiorite. Eu anomaly vs. (La/Yb) N diagrams suggest that the primary source-rocks contributing to the coarse and fine fractions in the Horqin Sandy Land are different but mainly derived from the Great Hinggan Mountains. Differences in the provenance of the fine- and coarse-grained fractions are primarily controlled by interactions between wind and fluvial systems. This study confirms that surface processes and sediment provenance in drylands of northern china have distinct spatial differences, implying that geochemical signatures in aeolian sand need to be interpreted in the specific climatic and tectonic contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel sorbent was prepared for simultaneous removal of H 2 S and Hg0 in natural gas. • H 2 S and Hg0 capacities of 1Cu1Zn/SBA-15 were 296.78 mg·g−1 and 12.75 mg·g−1 at 10% breakthrough. • The 1Cu1Zn/SBA-15 sorbent exhibited excellent the regeneration performance over 5 cycles. • the S n 2− formed by chemisorption of H 2 S are the active sites for Hg0 capture. Inspired by the fact that H 2 S can easily decompose on some metal oxides to form sulfur species and the resulting products are usually used as Hg0 removal active sites, a novel Cu-Zn mixed oxide supported SBA-15 zeolite was controllably synthesized for simultaneous removal of Hg0 and H 2 S. The Cu-Zn nanoparticles with a particle size range of 4.4–5.0 nm were successfully confined and uniformly dispersed in the two-dimensional mesopores of SBA-15. The obtained 1Cu1Zn/SBA-15 adsorbent presented an outstanding H 2 S and Hg0 removal efficiencies at 30 °C and 30,000 h−1, and the H 2 S and Hg0 capture capacities reached to 296.78 mg·g−1 and 12.75 mg·g−1 at a 10% breakthrough. In addition, the spent adsorbent could be regenerated in a 5% O 2 and 95% N 2 atmosphere at 600 °C without obvious degradation of adsorption capacities over five cycles. We considered that the doping effects of Cu-Zn oxides were beneficial for its excellent H 2 S and Hg0 removal performance at low temperatures, and the nano-confinement effect of SBA-15 was conducive to prevent the oxides nanoparticles from agglomeration in the regeneration process, thus achieving the outstanding regeneration performance. Furthermore, the polysulfide polymer formed by chemisorption of H 2 S on the Cu-Zn oxides surface was confirmed to be the Hg0 active sites, which could react with gaseous mercury to form HgS. This work provided an effective way for simultaneous removal of H 2 S and Hg0 in natural gas by confining nano-sized active metal oxides into the mesopores of zeolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers believe that adding conductive mediums in electrochemically active biofilms (EABs) would improve the sensitivity of EAB-based biosensor for real-time water quality early-warning through facilitating the extracellular electron transfer (EET), which has been hardly evidenced mostly because naturally formed EABs employed in previous biosensor studies were recognized distinct and incapable of delivering comparable electrical signals. By preparing artificial EABs where Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 was encapsulated in sodium alginate (SA), this study solved how polypyrrole (PPy) as conductive medium would affect the sensitivity of EAB-based biosensor, as well as mass transfer of toxicant during this process. Different mass ratios (0.125:1, 0.25:1 and 1:1) of PPy over SA were tested, and the sensitivity promoted by 20%, 15% and 6%, respectively. Results indicated that a small amount of PPy addition (PPy: SA = 0.125: 1 in mass ratio) was more effective to increase the biosensor's sensitivity compared to larger amount of PPy employed in EAB. This was when improved conductivity introduced by PPy would dominate in affecting the sensitivity over contrarily weakened mass transfer in the meantime. • Artificial electroactive biofilms containing polypyrrole were prepared. • Polypyrrole increases conductivity as well as decreases mass transfer. • Small amount of polypyrrole better increased biosensor's sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Applying electric field suppressed membrane fouling rate of AnMBR. • Applying electric field decreased the deposition of organic foulants on membrane. • Contribution of electrophoresis to membrane fouling suppression was quantified. • Applying electric field improved mixed liquor filterability of AnMBR. • Mechanism of mixed liquor filterability improvement was analyzed. Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) is a promising technology for wastewater treatment. However, membrane fouling as an inevitable challenge restricts its application. Recently novel membrane fouling control technology by applying electric field in AnMBR showed its economics and effectiveness. Nevertheless, the mechanism of fouling suppression is still unclear, limiting the development of this technology. In this study, electro-AnMBR was constructed. Long-term running showed that applying electric field of 0.5 V suppressed the membrane fouling evolution rate by nearly 23% and reduced the organic foulants on membrane by nearly 10%. To clarify the mechanism of fouling suppression, the contribution of electrophoresis to membrane fouling suppression was quantified by theoretical calculation for the first time. Results showed that electrophoresis was approximately equivalent to backwash with a flux of 0.56 L/(m2·h). Besides, impact of electric field on mixed liquor filterability of AnMBR was first investigated by dead-end filtration. Results presented that electric field reduced the filtration resistance of mixed liquor by nearly 77%. Then mixed liquor properties analysis, electrochemical oxidation simulation tests and metagenomic analysis revealed that electric field might improve mixed liquor filterability by bioelectrochemical oxidation. Finally, novel mechanism of electric field suppressed membrane fouling was elucidated, including electrophoresis to drive off the foulants and mixed liquor filterability improvement. This study might contribute to better understanding for membrane fouling control by applying electric field in AnMBR, and was meaningful for technical development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling, monitoring, and experimental data have shown that global climate change can impact aquatic phytoplankton communities directly, through the effects of warming on primary producers, as well as indirectly through cascading effects from higher trophic levels. Although both concepts are common in modern limnological studies, it remains unclear whether the 'top-down' effects from higher trophic levels on phytoplankton exert strong effects in natural systems over long (centennial) timescales. Here, we use multiproxy data including pigments, zooplankton remains, nutrient concentrations, and paleoclimate indicators from a sediment core in Dagze Co, Central Tibet (a two-trophic level lake) to reconstruct algal production, zooplankton community, nutrient and salinity changes. Our results show that top-down effects of higher trophic levels offset effects from warming and nutrient addition on algal growth. Warming enhanced glacial meltwater inflow to the lake, and intensive human activities increased nutrient inputs. Changes in lake salinity and N:P ratios coincided with zooplankton community shifts during the past 600 years, and Daphnia tibetana replaced the brine shrimp, Artemia tibetiana , after the relocation of a town to upstream of the lake in the 1980s led to overharvesting of the brine shrimp. These shifts contributed strongly to changes in algal communities, with changes in zooplankton leading to strong top-down effects that decreased algal production through increasing grazing pressure despite increasing nutrient concentrations. Our results suggest that the typical external drivers (climate and nutrients) of lake ecosystems may be suppressed by internal shifts in plankton communities in lakes. • Salinity and N:P ratio dominated zooplankton community in past 600 years. • Warming enhanced grazing decreased algal production despite increasing nutrient. • External drivers may be suppressed by internal shifts in plankton communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a series of Pt–Ce 0.63 Zr 0·37 O 2 –Y catalysts were prepared by unique simple mechanical mixing method. The catalytic activity of these catalysts for toluene oxidation was investigated. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, ICP-MS, SEM, TEM, XPS and N 2 sorption. Pore size distribution was analyzed according nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms. The catalytic results showed that using NaY as support for Pt–Ce 0.63 Zr 0·37 O 2 –Y could enhance the conversion of toluene during the oxidation process in comparison with HY. Further mixing cerium zirconium solid solution with Pt–NaY can improve the oxidation catalytic property of these catalysts. The conversion of toluene over Pt–Ce 0.63 Zr 0·37 O 2 –NaY reached more than 90% at 200 °C. High catalytic stability was obtained for toluene oxidation over Pt–Ce 0.63 Zr 0·37 O 2 –NaY. Platinum, cerium and zirconium can be uniformly dispersed on Y zeolite with small particle size by simple mechanical synthesis. The effect of drying methods on catalytic activity and hydrothermal stability of catalysts were also investigated in this research. [Display omitted] • Pt–Ce 0.63 Zr 0·37 O 2 –Y was synthesized by a unique simple mechanical mixing method. • High catalytic activity of Pt–Ce 0.63 Zr 0·37 O 2 –NaY was shown for toluene oxidation. • The hydrothermal stability of Pt–Ce 0.63 Zr 0·37 O 2 –Y was investigated. • Drying methods had no effect on the catalytic activity of the catalysts. • The addition of Pt and CeZrO can improve the oxidation performance of catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Ionic liquids exhibited higher extraction efficiency than organic solvents. • Ionic liquids extract was more abundant components than organic solvents. • The yield of liquid increased and the highest yield was 60.51 % after pretreatment. • The distribution of pyrolysis products and nitrogen changed significantly. • The oxygen content was reduced and the oxygen was converted to phenols in bio-oil. As an important renewable bioresource, it is extremely important to find an efficient utilization approach for microalgae. During the main utilization method of pyrolysis process, a large number of high value-added products are wasted. In this article, extract-pyrolysis cascading utilization technical scheme was proposed and explored. The extract characteristic of microalgae using different solvents under mild condition were investigated. The selected solvents include conventional organic solvents and green solvent ionic liquids (ILs).The organic solvents were ethyl alcohol (EA), tetrahydrofuran (THF), pyridine (Py) and ILs were 3-dimethylamine propylamine formate (DMAPAF), diethylamine formate (DEAF), triethylamine formate (TEAF). ILs obtained higher extraction yields and wider varieties of compounds than organic solvents. Among them, TEAF possessed highest extraction yield of 22.97 % and oxygen-containing compounds account for 47.24 % of the extracts. The cross-linking bonds between the macromolecular structures of chlorella were destroyed after extraction. The product distribution of the subsequent pyrolysis process changed significantly. Compared with RAWC, the relative content of aromatic compounds and phenols in pyrolysis bio-oil increased, while the relative content of aliphatic compounds and nitrogen-containing compounds decreased. The total liquid yields increased through extract-pyrolysis cascading utilization, with the highest value of 58.51 % for TEAF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Biohythane production from MEC led to positive energy recovery • Dual-chamber MEC could stabilize biohythane generation and composition • Methanogen in single-chamber MEC consumed hydrogen to unbalance composition • CEM was key part to maintain hydrogen production for stable biohythane composition • Geobacter and methanogens were key species to affect biohythane composition Biohythane is alternative fuel to replace fossil fuel for car combustion, and biohythane generation could be potential pathway for energy recovery from wastewater treatment. Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) is electrochemical technique to convert waste to methane and hydrogen gas for biohythane generation, but the feasibility and stability of MEC needs further investigation to assure sustainable energy recovery. System configuration is paramount factor for electrochemical reaction and mass transfer, and this study was to investigate the configuration impact (single vs dual chamber) of MEC for biohythane generation rate and stability. This study showed that dual-chamber MEC could separate methane and hydrogen gas production in the anode and cathode, and combined both together to produce biohythane. To reduce ohmic resistance for higher current, cation exchange membrane (CEM) was removed from dual-chamber to single-chamber MEC. However, free hydrogen diffusion was allowed in the single chamber since CEM was removed. The diffused hydrogen and substrate towards the cathode would favor the methanogen growth, and thus the hydrogen was consumed to reduce the biohythane generation and energy recovery efficiency (i.e., 7.5 × 10−3 reduced to 5.7 × 10−3 kWh kg−1 degraded COD day−1 after converting dual-chamber to single-chamber MEC). Absolute abundance of methanogen in single-chamber MEC was greatly boosted, as Methanosarcina and Methanobacteriale on the anode surface, increased by 132% and 243%, respectively, while the original dual-chamber MEC could maintain Geobacter growth for high current generation. This is the keystone study to demonstrate the importance of dual-chamber MEC for the feasibility and stability for the biohythane generation, building up the foundation to use electrochemical device to convert the organic waste to the alternative biohythane. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

l Why FCDI can be part electrodialysis and part electrosorption? l Resistance to charge transport is essential towards the performance of FCDI. l Distinguish the electronic and ionic resistance within a flow-electrode. l Enhancing electronic conduction greatly contributes to improve FCDI performance. Flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI), as a novel electro-driven desalination technology, has attracted growing exploration towards brackish water treatment, hypersaline water treatment, and selective resource recovery in recent years. As a flow-electrode-based electrochemical technology, FCDI has similarities with several other electrochemical technologies such as electrochemical flow capacitors and semi-solid fuel cells, whose performance are closely coupled with the characteristics of the flow-electrodes. In this review, we sort out the potentially parallel mechanisms of electrosorption and electrodialysis in the FCDI desalination process, and make clear the importance of the flowable capacitive electrodes. We then adopt an equivalent circuit model to distinguish the resistances to ion transport and electron transport within the electrodes, and clarify the importance of electronic conductivity on the system performance based on a series of electrochemical tests. Furthermore, we discuss the effects of electrode selection and flow circulation patterns on system performance (energy consumption, salt removal rate), review the current treatment targets and system performance, and then provide an outlook on the research directions in the field to support further applications of FCDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]