Search

Harvesting solar energy for water desalination is one of the most promising ways to produce clean water. Because of the absorber detachment and base material degradation, the solar steam generator still suffers from drastic energy loss even when using absorber materials with high photothermal conversion efficiency. We herein propose a practical desalination design that can maintain both the working efficiency and operating life. This device is made from the Paulownia wood covalently bonded with MXene on the top. Paulownia wood, as a natural heat insulator, servers as an excellent transport and customized evaporator. This heat absorber-Paulownia wood system achieved an evaporation rate of 1.465 kg m

Platinum-based (Pt-based) catalysts are considered as the most effective electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Because of the high cost, it is essential to improve the mass ac...

This paper reports the characterization of the composition and morphology of mineral formation on glass and plastic (polymethylmethacrylate) substrates in a dishwasher environment and the identification of suitable phosphate-free mineral crystallization inhibitors as environmentally benign candidates to replace the currently used phosphate-containing inhibitor 1-hydroxyethane 1,1-diphosphoric acid (HEDP). Screening of the calcium carbonate crystallization inhibition performance of twenty-eight different compounds resulted in the identification of two phosphate-free, cyclic polycarboxylic acid inhibitors, which were found in combination to be effective replacements. Each inhibitor proved to be highly substrate specific with all-cis-cyclohexane-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexacarboxylic acid (CHHCA) preventing deposition on glass (where calcite is the dominant polymorph) and cis,cis,cis,cis-cyclopentane-1,2,3,4-tetracarboxylic acid (CPTCA) inhibiting aragonite deposition on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). When used in combination, these two species prevented all forms of calcium carbonate deposition on both substrate types. The underlying inhibition mechanism and structural requirements of an efficient calcium carbonate inhibitor are also discussed.

A series of platinum based low-molecular-weight urea-based gelators C1, C2, and C3, mimicking the structure of the anticancer drug cisplatin has been synthesized, as part of the development of a targeted, supramolecular gel phase crystallization and polymorphism screening strategy. Morphological and rheological studies established that inclusion of a longer spacer between the urea and cisplatin-mimetic regions of the gelator (C3) resulted in optimal gelation performance. Interfacial crystallization of cisplatin in a gel–sol biphasic system has been employed to address the insolubility of the drug molecule in organic solvents. A new N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) solvate of cisplatin has been identified and a crystal habit modification of the known N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solvate form of cisplatin has been observed on crystallization of cisplatin in C3 gels prepared in xylenes. While both targeted and nontargeted gels resulted in the formation of the new DMA solvate, only the targeted C3 gel resulted in high-quality single crystal suitable for characterization by single crystal crystallography. The high crystal quality is attributed to a close match between the core geometry of C3 with that of cisplatin together with local order in the gel fibers of C3.