Search

To investigate the correlation between electrochemical performance and physicochemical properties, three types of 1D WO3 nanostructures were fabricated by hydrothermal method using K2SO4, Na2SO4, and (NH4)2SO4 as capping agents. Hexagonal phase was obtained with the assistant of Na2SO4 and (NH4)2SO4, while monoclinic phase was developed using K2SO4 as agent. WO3 nanostructures prepared by (NH4)2SO4 and Na2SO4 exhibited superior specific capacitance (400 F/g and 388 F/g) relative to WO3 prepared by K2SO4 (259 F/g), suggesting hexagonal phase is more suitable for energy storage. The nanostructures prepared using Na2SO4 exhibited inferior rate performance compared with those obtained by (NH4)2SO4 due to low specific surface area and high crystallinity. The electrochemical performance demonstrated nanostructures prepared by (NH4)2SO4 was surface-controlled whereas those using Na2SO4 and K2SO4 were battery-type material. These findings raise the prospects of developing tungsten oxide for energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrochar a carbon-rich material resulting from hydrothermal carbonization of biomass, has received substantial attention because of its potential application in various areas such as carbon sequestration, bioenergy production and environmental amelioration. A series of hydrochars were prepared by metal chloride-assisted hydrothermal carbonization of rice husk and characterized by elemental analysis, zeta potential, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results reveal that the prepared hydrochars have carbon contents ranging from 45.01 to 58.71%, BET specific areas between 13.23 and 45.97 m2/g, and rich O-containing functional groups on the surfaces. The metal chlorides added in the feedwater could improve the degree of carbonization and show significant effects on the physical, chemical and adsorption properties of the hydrochars. The adsorption of the selected organics on the hydrochars is a spontaneous and physisorption-dominated process. The hydrochars possess larger adsorption capacities for 2-naphthol than for berberine hydrochloride and Congo red, and the modeling maximum adsorption capacities of 2-naphthol are in the range of 170.1–2680 mg/g. The adsorption equilibrium could be accomplished in 10, 40 and 30 min for 2-naphthol, berberine hydrochloride and Congo red, respectively. These results suggest metal chloride-assisted hydrothermal carbonization a promising method for converting biomass waste into effective adsorbents for wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethanol use mainly as an alternative green fuel has attracted global attention, hence need for the development of more improved synthesis pathways. In this work, we proposed an in situ direct ethanol synthesis pathway, where dimethyl ether (DME) was co-fed with syngas (CO + H2) over a combination of metal impregnated zeolite (Cu-MOR) and ternary oxide CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 (CZA) catalysts, disjointly packed in a dual bed reactor. The route first transformed DME into an intermediate ester (methyl acetate) by carbonylation reaction on the upper modified zeolite catalyst, followed by hydrogenation of the intermediate ester into ethanol on the lower CZA catalyst. Dimethyl ether conversion reached 75.72% with an ethanol selectivity of 48.05% under Cu loading amount of 13 wt% of zeolite support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two mesoporous carbons were synthesized via a hydrothermal treatment approach, characterized and evaluated for adsorption properties of berberine hydrochloride and matrine from water. The mesoporous carbons have BET specific surface areas of 1568.1 and 769.3 m/g, pore volumes of 1.44 and 0.89 cm/g, average pore diameters of 3.75 and 8.22 nm, and few O-containing functional groups on the surfaces. Both the mesoporous carbon adsorbents can effectively adsorb berberine hydrochloride and matrine from aqueous solutions, the higher equilibrium adsorption capacities of berberine hydrochloride and matrine at 298 K are 385, and 275 mg/g at 0.10 mg/mL, respectively. Adsorption enthalpy, entropy and free energy of berberine hydrochloride and matrine on the selected mesoporous carbon (with higher BET specific surface area and pore volume) were calculated. The adsorption of berberine hydrochloride and matrine on the selected carbon sample is fast at 298 K, 95% of the adsorption equilibrium could be achieved within 180 and 120 min, respectively. The dynamic adsorption capacities on the selected adsorbent are calculated to be 343.1 and 383.4 mg/g for berberine hydrochloride and matrine, respectively; and 70.8% of the adsorbed berberine hydrochloride and 79.2% of the adsorbed matrine could be desorbed by a 70% alcohol solution. These results provide a reference to the large-scale industrial production and application of mesoporous carbons as potential adsorbents in purification of alkaloids from herbal plant extracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SrAlO:Eu, Dy phosphors were synthesized by the polymer precursor method. The X-ray powder diffraction patterns show that the samples have a cubic structure with a space group of Pa3. In the excitation spectrum, the phosphors show a wide absorption in the UV region from 250 to 450 nm, which corresponds to the crystal field splitting of the Eu d-orbital. All the emission spectrum of SrAlO:Eu, Dy phosphors show the broad band emission peaked at about 518 nm, which can be ascribed to the typical 4f5d → 4f transitions of Eu ions. And the best dopant concentration of Dy ions for SrAlO:2 mol%Eu, xDy phosphors is 2 mol%. The excitation wavelengths have no influences on emission peaks, but have clear influences on emission intensities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]