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The incorporation of inorganic fillers into composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs) is a common strategy to improve ionic conductivity. However, the high surface energy of inorganic fillers typically aggravates poor interfacial contact with polymer chains. Herein, we develop a surface positive-charge modification strategy for enhancing the intermolecular interaction of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) electrolytes with inorganic fillers and optimizing lithium ion (Li

Some industrial wastewater containing complicated contents (e.g., heavy metals and organics) and extensive concentration-variation cannot be well-treated by physical-chemical treatment processes. In order to obtain the feasible electrochemical technique, an electrocatalytic-membrane process (ECMP) was established to treat such wastewater from a mint factory in Taiwan. Wastewater samples with pollutants of Cu2+, Ni2+ and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were categorized into three types based on pH and concentrations. The complexity of wastewater is attributed that a verity of chemical reagents and manufacturing methods are employed to produce different kind of coins. In this study, each type of wastewater was treated by the ECMP and integrated with other techniques to find out the appropriate procedures. Results indicate that the sole ECMP can effectively remove the Cu2+, Ni2+, and COD when the wastewater is with relatively low pH (around 3–5), low COD (around 50 mg L−1), and high concentration of heavy metals (Cu2+ concentration over 500 mg L−1). However, the ECMP should combine with pH-adjustment to effectively remove the Cu2+, Ni2+, and COD when the wastewater is with very low pH (close to 1), high COD (over 200 mg L−1), and high concentration of heavy metals. In addition, the ECMP has to link the electrocoagulation (ECG) to decrease the Cu2+, Ni2+, and COD concentration when the wastewater is with neutral pH (around 7), middle-level COD (around 130 mg L−1), and low concentration of heavy metals (Cu2+ concentration around 1.0 mg L−1). Accordingly, the ECMP integrated with other treatment processes gains potential to treat refractory wastewater.

Some agricultural lands have been contaminated by heavy metals in Taiwan for several decades, because the irrigation system was polluted by wastewater. In this study, a circulation-enhanced electrokinetics (CEEK) and phytoremediation were applied alternately to the real lead-contaminated site. In the beginning, the CEEK was used; then, the corn plants were raised. After this phytoremediation, the CEEK was employed again. Experimental results show that the lead concentration can be reduced from 5672 mg/kg to 2083 mg/kg (around 63%) after the three-stage treatment (CEEK + corn + CEEK). At each stage, CEEK, corn plants, and CEEK can remove around 25%, 5%, and 30% lead from the soil, respectively. During the whole process, the soil pH can maintain around neutral range and the electrical conductivity of soil was stable. The electricity consumption of the CEEK was quite low (89 USD per ton) and the corn plants still were alive throughout the remediation.

A structured support of carbon nanotubes modified nickel foam (CNTs@NF) was synthesized through a facile method of chemical vapor deposition. The entangled CNTs layer with open pores and the dense carbon layer beneath covered around the skeleton of nickel foam establishes a hybrid hierarchical structure with large effective surface area which dramatically promotes the internal diffusion of large polystyrene (PS) coils. Palladium was chosen as the catalyst for PS hydrogenation and deposited on the CNTs@NF support in the form of nanoparticles. Characterization analysis including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman spectrum and N2 physisorption were conducted to investigate the morphology and structure of the resulting Pd supported on CNTs@NF catalysts (Pd/CNTs@NF). The macroscopic structured Pd/CNTs@NF catalyst was applied to PS hydrogenation and displayed a quite excellent hydrogenation activity with a final hydrogenation degree (HD) of 73.6%, almost 8 times higher than nickel foam supported Pd catalyst (Pd/NF) and remarkably similar to powdered CNTs supported Pd catalyst (Pd/CNTs) under the identical condition. Moreover, the turn-over-frequency (TOF) of Pd/CNTs@NF (0.041 s−1) was also comparable to Pd/CNTs (0.056 s−1), which confirmed a similar intrinsic catalytic activity of Pd on both supports. Inspiringly, the performance of Pd/CNTs@NF catalyst was comparable to powdered Pd/CNTs catalyst with the merit of eliminating filtration operation. It has revealed the structured Pd/CNTs@NF catalyst with outstanding recyclability could be an attractive alternative to the powdered Pd/CNTs catalyst for heterogeneously catalyzed polymers hydrogenation reactions.

The present report investigates the various MoO3 morphologies prepared via different approaches such as morphologies are cubic sheet, ribbon, and hexagonal sheet. These prepared nanostructures are modified as a MoO3/Ni–F electrode used to detect hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The influence of the morphology on the microstructural, morphological, electronic state, optical and electrochemical properties of MoO3 nanostructures are systematically studied. The recorded XRD spectra confirmed that the good crystalline nature with the orthorhombic crystal structure. The FESEM analysis shows that preparation approaches strongly influenced the MoO3 morphology. The elemental mapping and XPS analysis confirm the formation of MoO3. The obtained optical band gap values show that the MoO3 morphology-based bandgap values are 3.38, 3.17, and 2.94 eV. The modified MoO3/Ni–F electrode electrochemical impedance spectra show the CP-MoO3 has good conductivity. Moreover, the CP-MoO3/Ni–F electrode has a wide detection window, long-term stability, reproducibility, and a low detection limit is 1.2 μM. Hence, the CP-MoO3/Ni–F electrode electrochemical results suggest that the modified electrode has offered a good matrix for toxic contaminants sensing applications.

This study applied circulation-enhanced electrokinetics (CEEK) technique to remove Cd and Pb from the real-site contaminated soils. Soil samples were collected in certain polluted agricultural land in Yunlin, Taiwan. The CEEK system mainly composed of a reactor fulfilling soil samples, one pair of electrodes, a circulation system of working solution and DC power supply. Results demonstrate that the real-site Cd and Pb contaminated soils can be effectively treated by the CEEK technique; the removal efficiency of Cd and Pb can reach 91% and 85%, respectively. The CEEK system can maintain relatively neutral pH of treated soils. The bonding patterns of heavy metals and H+ produced on the anode play the critical roles for removal efficiency. The recovery efficiency of Cd and Pb in the CEEK system can reach 85% and 70%; the species of recovered heavy metals is Cd(OH)2 and Pb5O8, respectively.

Rotaviruses are double-stranded RNA viruses that are a major cause of viral diarrhea in infants. Examining virus-host cell interaction is important for elucidating mechanisms of virus proliferation in host cells. Viruses can create an environment that promotes their survival and self-proliferation by encoding miRNAs or miRNA-like molecules that target various host cell. However, it remains unclear whether RNA viruses encode viral miRNAs, and their regulation mechanisms are largely unknown. We previously performed deep sequencing analysis to investigate rotavirus-encoded miRNAs, and identified the small RNA molecule Chr17_1755, which we named RV-vsRNA1755. In our present study, we determined that RV-vsRNA1755 is encoded by the rotavirus NSP4 gene and that it targets the host cell IGF1R, which is part of the PI3K/Akt pathway. We further explored the biological characteristics and functions of RV-vsRNA1755.Our results suggest that rotavirus adapts to manipulate PI3K/Akt signaling at early phases of infection. RV-vsRNA1755 targets IGF1R, blockading the PI3K/Akt pathway and triggering autophagy, but it ultimately inhibits autophagy maturation. A mechanism through which rotavirus encodes a virus-like small RNA (RV-vsRNA1755) that triggers autophagy by targeting the host cell IGF1R gene was revealed. These data provide a theoretical basis for therapeutic drug screening targeting RV-vsRNA1755.

Inorganic characteristics of cake layer in an anoxic/oxic membrane bioreactor (A/O MBR) for anaerobically digested leachate from a municipal solid waste incineration plant with MAP (magnesium ammonium phosphate precipitation) pretreatment was reported. During 90 days of operation, the A/O-MBR had formed a thick cake layer, causing severe fouling. BCR (European Community Bureau of Reference) results showed that Fe, Al, Ca, Mg, Si were the dominant inorganic components (especially residual Si and Al) in the cake layer. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis further presented that the cake layer contained complex inorganic substances with FeSiO 3 , CaAl 2 O 3 , Ca 5 (PO 4 ) 3 OH, CaCO 3 , CaPO 3 OH, Mg 2 (PO 4 )OH, etc., while Si-Al crystal was the major inorganic component in the cake layer. Additionally, SEM-EDX showed a consistent distribution of inorganics along the front cross-section of the cake layer, indicating that the stable particles and metal ions led to the steady inorganic accumulation onto the membrane surface. However, it was revealed that high suction pressure aggravated the inorganic particle accumulation, especially for the Si-Al crystals, at the end of the cake layer.

Three distinct operational conditions, namely, ohmic, limiting current, and electroconvection region, respectively, can be created by applying different electric fields during ED operations. The fundamental of cation transport under ohmic and limiting current is well understood, however, the mechanism on cation transport under electroconvection is unclear. In order to clarify the feasibility of operating ED under electroconvection for the treatment of industrial wastewater (copper ion as the target pollutant), the methods of current–voltage profiling (C–V curve) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to study the transport characteristics of Cu2+ through a cationic exchange membrane (CEM). The relevant operational parameters obtained above under electroconvection conditions were applied to a continuous ED system as to investigate the removal efficiency of Cu2+-containing wastewater. Results indicated that ED system operated under electroconvection conditions was able to achieve high Cu2+ removal efficiency (around 74% in 4-min treatment) at high electricity efficiency as the theoretical calculation (based on Cu2+ transport number close to 1.0). The pH of copper wastewater in the ED system decreased slightly from 4.7 to 4.0 under electroconvection operation. The interface at the membrane-water was perturbed by the electroconvection operation, which facilitated ions transport across the membrane. An equivalent circuit composed of the Rs, Cm and Rm (parallel circuit representing the CEM), and constant phase element described well the Cu2+ transport behavior in the membrane-solution system according to the p value is greater than 1.0.