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Molybdenum silicides (Mo–Si) have attracted great interest owing to their good electrical conductivity, ultra-high melting point and well oxidation resistance. In this work, the controllable syntheses of Mo5Si3 and Mo3Si powders by silicothermic reduction of MoS2 in the presence of lime are studied for the first time. The internal mixture composed of MoS2 and Si is wrapped by sufficient CaO. After the reaction is finished, the synthesized molybdenum silicides can be easily separated from the desulfurization layer by peeling off the desulfurization product. The results show that Mo3Si and Mo5Si3 can be prepared at 1500 °C for the samples with the MoS2:Si molar ratio of 1:1.7 and 1:2.33, respectively. In addition, the results show that both SiS2 and SiS can be formed during the heating process. The thermodynamic analysis about the disproportionation reaction of SiS indicates that the existence of SiS2 depends on the partial pressure of SiS (PSiS) and temperature. Moreover, it is demonstrated that SiS2 is preferentially formed under low temperature conditions. As the temperature rises, it is much easier for SiS2 to react with Si to form SiS. Additionally, this work experimentally proves for the first time that SiS gas can directly reduce MoS2 to form MoSi2 and SiS2. Subsequently, the recovery of S in the desulfurization product was studied. S in MoS2 was first captured by CaO in the form of CaS (accompanied by Ca2SiO4 and Si). In order to solve this CaS containing desulfurization product which is detrimental to the environment, CaS in the desulfurization product is react with Fe2O3 and C to form FeS. This work provides new insights into the closed-loop capture and recovery of S in the process of extracting metals or metal compounds from sulfide ores.

Previous studies have demonstrated that the levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, are strongly associated with hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Profilin‐1, an actin‐binding protein, has been documented to be involved in endothelial injury and in the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells resulting from hypertension. However, the role of profilin‐1 in ADMA‐induced vascular injury in hypertension remains largely unknown. Forty healthy subjects and forty‐two matched patients with essential hypertension were enrolled, and the related indexes of vascular injury in plasma were detected. Rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs) were treated with different concentrations of ADMA for different periods of time and transfected with profilin‐1 small hairpin RNA to interrupt the expression of profilin‐1. To determine the role of the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK2/STAT3) pathway, RASMCs were pretreated with AG490 or rapamycin. The expression of profilin‐1 was tested using real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blot analysis. Cell proliferation was measured by flow cytometry and 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazoliumbromide assays. Compared with healthy subjects, the levels of ADMA and profilin‐1 were markedly elevated in hypertensive individuals, while the levels of NO were significantly decreased (p

The method of fabricating low-cost adsorbents with high activity and durability via a convenient and eco-friendly procedure is of great importance to wastewater treatment. Herein, a high-efficient mechanical exfoliation strategy was proposed to facilely prepare few-layered graphene-analogue boron nitride (BN) via a one-step non-organic solvent assisted wet ball mill procedure. Ball-milling treatment increased the specific surface area of BN 3.5-fold by reducing the thickness to ∼3 layers with 45 min. The exfoliated BN exhibited strikingly improved sorption performance to organic contaminants with around 124% and 116% increased removal efficiency respectively for oxytetracycline (OTC) and Rhodamine B (RhB) as compared to the bulk BN. Batches sorption experiments showed that the sorption processes were thermodynamic endothermic, and well fitted to pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm equation. The π-π stacking interaction, hydrophobic effect and electrostatic interaction were proposed as the dominated sorption mechanism. In addition, no significant decline in adsorptive removal ability for the sorbent after 5 times recycling. The results indicate that the boll-milling exfoliation is a fast, green, sustainable and promising strategy for synthesis of highly potent BN based two-dimensional layered adsorbents.

Tungsten carbides (W2C and WC) materials, as promising non-precious electrocatalysts, possess highly efficient activity for HER. Herein, N-doped graphene supported tungsten carbide (N–W2C/WC) nanocomposite is synthesized by spray drying process followed with a two-step pyrolysis treatment, which exhibits a remarkable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and excellent stability in acidic solution and alkaline solution. N–W2C/WC displays low overpotentials of 166 mV and 125 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and small Tafel slopes of 60.97 and 62.66 mV dec−1 in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1.0 M KOH, respectively. After 1000 cycles, the electrocatalytic activity of N–W2C/WC is almost no change in acidic media but slightly decreases in alkaline media. This work might provide a new way to explore high comprehensive performance tungsten-based electrocatalyst for HER.

OBJECTIVE To study the association of hyperuricaemia with clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with IgA nephropathy, and to clarify adverse effects of hyperuricaemia on the onset and progression of IgA nephropathy. METHODS A total of 244 patients with IgA nephropathy enrolled in Jiangjin Center Hospital were divided into a group with normal serum uric acid level and a group with elevated level. Age, gender, course of disease, blood pressure, liver function, renal function, blood lipid levels, blood glucose level, 24-hour urine protein level and pathological grades were recorded. The correlations of serum uric acid level with clinical indices and pathological grades were analyzed. RESULTS The incidence rate of IgA nephropathy complicated with hyperuricaemia was 25.4%. The two groups had significantly different course of disease, body mass index (BMI), and levels of urea nitrogen, creatinine, triglyceride and urine protein (p

In this review, we highlight our recent developments on the formic acid refining of lignocellulosic biomass and how it can be an innovative way to produce sustainable hydrogen and fuels. There is a worldwide high demand for green energy and green chemistry endeavors to drastically slow down climate change in accord with the COP 21. This review mainly focuses on the deconstruction of the lignocellulosic biomass, using formic acid-based mixtures, into its 3 main components and how they can be the new resources for hydrogen, fuels, and products in the 21st century. We are underlining the natural carbon capture in the form of atmospheric CO2 concentrated into lignocellulosic biomass wastes from the forest and agricultural land sites and the subsequent low energy organic extraction of cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses. We illustrate in this review that our dependence on fossil fuels will be greatly reduced, and that atmospheric CO2, sunlight and water will provide safe energy and products for future generations.

The development of high-efficient adsorbents for the treatment of antibiotics from contaminated water has been of great concern. This work introduced an alcohol-solvent mediated strategy to increase the specific surface area (SSA) and porosity of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) for improving tetracycline (TC) removal efficiency. The BNNSs synthesized with the mediation of n-propanol solvent (BN-P) exhibited the largest pore volume and relatively high SSA (increased by 34% and 64%, respectively, compared with that synthesized under the mediation of water) in its structure, which in turn facilitated the mass transfer of TC molecules onto BN-P framework. The remarkable adsorption performance of BN-P, with 20% increase in equilibrium adsorption capacity and Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity of 556 mg·g−1, was achieved for capturing TC within just 3 h, which is mainly through π-π interaction and electrostatic force. Pseudo-second kinetics equation can well illustrate the adsorption process, while Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models fitted the equilibrium data well. Thermodynamics study demonstrated a spontaneous exothermal adsorption process. Furthermore, the strong environmental suitability and notable recycling performance of BN-P revealed its good application prospect in removing antibiotic TC from wastewater.

In this work, the sulfur-free emission route for the synthesis of Mo and Mo2C via carbothermal reduction of MoS2 was proposed. The internal MoS2-C mixture is wrapped by an external desulfurization layer composed of CaO and C. In the internal layer, MoS2 reacted with carbon black and generated Mo, Mo2C (or their mixture), as well as S2, CS2 and CS gas. Both experiments and thermodynamic calculations show that the main gaseous product should be CS2. The sulfur-containing gas produced can be completely captured by the desulfurization layer in the form of CaS. This strategy can avoid the emission of S-containing gas compared with the traditional route. In addition, after removing the unreacted desulfurizer and gently breaking the desulfurization product layer, the molybdenum-containing product can be collected. For the raw material with a MoS2:C molar ratio of 1:1, after reacting at 1600 °C for 4 hours, Mo with carbon and sulfur contents of 0.053 and 0.050 pct is acquired. In addition, Mo2C-dominant product can be obtained after reacting at 1600 °C for 4 hours at a MoS2:C molar ratio of 1:1.52, with the carbon and sulfur contents of 5.878 and 0.049 pct. The above shows that this strategy has the advantages of high-efficiency desulfurization and simple separation of desulfurization product, which is an environment-friendly method for the production of molybdenum additives.

Excessive aeration in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) will lead to energy waste. A large number of studies have shown that the control of low dissolved oxygen (DO) operation in WWTPs not only achieves considerable wastewater treatment effects, but also reduces energy waste. In this study, the transfer regulation of substrates and oxygen inside activated sludge flocs was measured under different equipment conditions (particle size of flocs, wastewater quality and sludge retention time of the treatment system) by using a microelectrode. A diffusion–reaction model based on the Monod kinetic model and Fick’s first law of diffusion was established by considering both the internal diffusion resistance and the diffusion rate of oxygen and substrates inside the activated sludge flocs, and the critical DO (DOc) was calculated by MATLAB software. The results showed that the attenuation of DO concentration in activated sludge flocs increased slightly with the increasing particle size, but it decreased with increasing external DO concentration. A critical DO as low as 0.3 mg/L could be achieved in flocs with low DO concentrations. This study provides strong support to carry out effective and feasible process design and process optimization. In addition, it can further guide WWTPs to achieve energy savings and consumption under stable operation.

Development of photocatalytic materials able to profit from the whole spectrum of sun for efficient organic pollution removal and bacterial elimination is a fascinating strategy in environmental engineering. In current work, GO-TiO2/(Ca,Y)F2:Tm,Yb, a full-spectrum composite photocatalyst, was prepared via hydrothermal processing with TiO2/(Ca,Y)F2:Tm,Yb particles deposited on the surface of graphene oxide (GO). The surface properties of GO-TiO2/(Ca,Y)F2:Tm,Yb were characterized using various characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analyzer. Besides, ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, electron spin resonance (ESR) and other methods were used to systematically explore the photocatalytic mechanism of GO enhancement of TiO2/(Ca,Y)F2:Tm,Yb. In photocatalytic degradation study, the degradation rate of methyl orange (MO) was improved by 40% when GO was added into the TiO2/(Ca,Y)F2:Tm,Yb system. In addition, the presence of GO also improves the antibacterial ability of TiO2/(Ca,Y)F2:Tm,Yb against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. All results reveal high efficacy of GO-TiO2/(Ca,Y)F2:Tm,Yb under full spectrum light irradiation, in which (Ca,Y)F2:Tm,Yb and TiO2 can improve its utilization of full spectrum sunlight, and GO can enhance adsorption ability of dye and electron–hole pair differentiation ability of TiO2/(Ca,Y)F2:Tm,Yb.

To improve the performance of Mo-based cermets, Mo-(Ni)-Al2O3 cermets were prepared with raw materials of nano-sized Al2O3 powder. The effects of Al2O3 and Ni additions on the densification behavior, microstructure, bending strength, and hardness of the Mo-(Ni)-Al2O3 cermets were experimentally analyzed. The results showed the content of Al2O3 had a great influence on the degree of densification of Mo-Al2O3 cermets at the sintering temperature of 1600°C. In addition, the Al2O3 particles were distributed evenly in the matrix of Mo-based cermets, which refined the grains of Mo and increased the hardness of cermets. Because of the weak interfacial bonding strength between Al2O3 ceramic phase and Mo metal phase, the bending strength decreased continuously with increasing Al2O3 content. However, Ni addition improved the wetting and adhesion of Al2O3 and Mo. With the addition of Ni, the relative density increased, and thus hardness and bending strength were improved.

Fully dense and magnetically controllable glass ceramics was successfully synthesized by method of hot pressing using CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-Na2O glass powder and Fe3O4 powder as raw materials. The influences of sintering temperature and time, content and particle size of Fe3O4, as well as particle size of glass powder on the densification and magnetic properties of samples were investigated. It was found that the saturation magnetization gradually increased with increasing magnetite content. In addition, the samples containing smaller size magnetite particles had a higher coercivity. However, for samples using smaller size glass powder, magnetite particles could partially dissolve into the glass matrix, which led to the decrease of saturation magnetization and the increase of coercivity. It was also concluded that the precipitation of crystalline phase from smaller size glass powder caused the decrease of degree of densification, and after decreasing the sintering temperature, the degree of densification of product was enhanced.

The separation of Cu from the CuxO-FexO containing waste (such as copper slag and electroplating sludge) is always intractable by using pyrometallurgy method. The carbothermic reduction methods, as well as the conventional sulfurization technology by using sulfurization agent FeS2, will introduce lots of iron into the prepared Cu–Fe alloy or Cu–Fe–S matte, and this results in the difficulty in further separation of Cu from Fe. In this work, CaS is utilized as the new sulfurization agent, and the iron content of prepared Cu–Fe–S matte is lower than 5%, while the copper grade is improved to about 76–79%. Such products could be used as the raw materials for producing metallic copper. According to the experimental results, at 1450 °C, the copper oxides in CuO–Fe2O3–SiO2–CaO system is selectively sulfurized by CaS, and Cu2S dominated product is formed and separated from slags. The recovery extent of copper reaches 98% when the CaS addition is 1.15 times (1.15CaS) of the stoichiometric quantity required. However, the increase of CaS addition (1.6CaS) will lead to the sulfurization of iron oxides, and make the iron content in Cu–Fe–S matte increase to 15%. Besides, when the Cu/Fe ratio (in mass) of synthetic waste is 0.5, part of the CaS is oxidized by Fe2O3, which results in the recovery extent of Cu to only about 73.30%. However, the copper recovery extent could be improved to 97% by adding extra reductant carbon.

High temperature (HT) severely limits rice production, but effective measures can reduce the adverse effects of HT. A 2-year experiment was conducted involving five sowing dates to investigate the effects of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4), salicylic acid (SA), and the sowing date on the physiological characteristics, yield and quality of rice subjected to HT. Under ambient HT conditions (daily average temperature ≥ 30 °C for ≥ 3 days or maximum temperature ≥ 35 °C for ≥ 3 days), KH2PO4 (KP1-KP2: 22.05 and 36.75 mmol L−1), SA (SA1-SA2: 0.5 and 1.5 mmol L−1), and their combinations were applied to leaves from the late-booting stage to the flowering stage, with deionized water as a control (CK). Compared with CK, KP1, KP2, SA1, KP1 + SA1, and KP2 + SA1 alleviated the adverse effects of HT on the number of grains per panicle, seed set, and yield, among which SA1, KP2 + SA1, and KP1 were the best. The antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase) activities, levels of osmotic protective substances (soluble sugars, soluble proteins, and proline), and chlorophyll content were increased and the malonaldehyde content and leaf temperature were decreased in the SA1, KP2 + SA1, and KP1 treatments. Compared with those sown on April 25 and May 5, plants sown on May 15, May 25, and June 5 had suitable temperature conditions and presented increased grain yield and quality. Therefore, the application of SA1, KP2 + SA1, and KP1 and the use of an optimal sowing date (from May 15 to June 5) increased the rice yield and quality under HT.

To explore whether acupuncture can improve sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment and emotional disorders caused by sleep deprivation, and its association with the attenuation of oxidative stress injury in prefrontal cortex. Fifty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control group (n=10), a model group (n=14), a manual acupuncture (MA) group (n=14), and a sham-MA group (n=14). All the groups were established as sleep deprivation models via the modified multiple platform method, except for the control group. Rats in both the MA group and the sham-MA group received corresponding intervention, respectively. After modeling and intervention, the four groups received three behavioral tests, namely sleep monitoring, by comprehensive lab animal monitoring system (CLAMS), Morris water maze (MWM) test and open-field test (OFT), followed by oxygen free radical level test and Western blot (WB) detection for the expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2. The MA group derived more sleep time within 24 h than either the model group or the sham-MA group (both P 0.05), and the escape latency was significantly shorter in these three groups than that in the model group (all P

Refractory metal diboride is a kind of excellent ultra-high temperature ceramics and could be applied as thermal shielding material for supersonic aircraft. In this paper, a two-step reaction process for the synthesis of refractory metal diboride powders was proposed using refractory metal oxide, carbon black (C), B4C, and calcium Ca as raw materials. Firstly, the carbothermal reduction reaction between oxides and C was taken place at 1773 K; and then, the reduction product was reacted with B4C and Ca for the purposes of boronization and decarburization. After acidic leaching, pure diboride was prepared. The experimental results indicated that diborides of Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb and Ta with low residual carbon content can be prepared by this method. In addition, the inheritance relationship of particle size between raw oxide and finally prepared diboride was revealed. By this method, ultra-fine TiB2 (123 nm) and ZrB2 (76 nm) powders were also successfully prepared, with the raw materials of nano TiO2 and nano ZrO2, respectively.

Volatilization loss of molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) always takes place during the synthesis of Mo-containing alloying steel in the steelmaking process. In this work, the sublimation kinetics and mechanism of MoO3 in the range of 1273 to 1373 K were analyzed, in which the methods of model fitting, FE-SEM, EDS, and thermodynamic calculation were adopted. The results showed that sublimation of high-purity MoO3 (defined as the case III) and industrial grade MoO3 with the thickness of 3 mm (defined as the case II) were mainly controlled by the chemical reaction on the surface; increasing the thickness of industrial grade MoO3 to 7 mm (defined as the case I), the diffusion model was obeyed, instead. Activation energies of the three cases were extracted to be 127.489 (case III), 197.418 (case II), and 89.76 kJ/mol (case I), respectively. With the adoption of lever principle, the weight ratio of melting (from solid to liquid) to vaporization (from liquid to gas) during the whole volatilization process was estimated, i.e., 2.52:1 for case III, 0.84:1 for case II, and 5.89:1 for case I. The possible sublimation mechanism of industrial grade MoO3 was also proposed.

Tungsten borides are special compounds with potential applications in superhard materials, anti-friction materials, and catalytic materials. In this study, a new synthetic method for tungsten boride is proposed using tungsten (W) and boron carbide (B4C) as raw materials. First, the boronization reaction between W and B4C was carried out at a high temperature; then, the boronization products were reacted with calcium to generate CaC2 for decarburization. After acidic leaching of the CaC2 and Ca, pure tungsten boride could be prepared. By investigating the reaction between different ratios of W and B4C, it was found that only pure W2B and WB were synthesized in the current method, and W2B5 could react rapidly with Ca to form WB and CaB6. However, in the absence of a decarburization treatment after the boronization process, carbon-containing WB (C content = 1.2 wt%) and W2B5 (C content = 3.4 wt%) could also be prepared. In addition, it was concluded that the prepared tungsten boride roughly maintained the morphology and particle size of raw W, and ultra-fine tungsten boride could be synthesized with ultra-fine W powder at a low boronization reaction temperature.

The influences of atmosphere during processes of melting and heat treatment, heat treatment temperature, Fe3O4 content and basicity on the magnetic properties of magnetite-based glass ceramics were investigated. For sample containing 20 % Fe3O4 melted in different atmospheres, the highest saturation magnetisation was realized in 20vol% air + 80 vol% Ar, due to the fact that ratio of Fe3+ to Fe2+ in melt obtained in this atmosphere was close to 2. However, it was found that the coercivity of glass ceramics was not affected by the melting atmosphere. A high sintering temperature led to the decrease of saturation magnetisation and the increase of coercivity. As increasing Fe3O4 content, the main crystal phase transformed from CaSiO3 to CaFe0.6Al1.3Si1.08O6 and finally to magnetite phase, accompanied by the increase of saturation magnetisation and coercivity. In addition, the increase of basicity caused the decrease of saturation magnetisation and the increase of coercivity.

There are abundant recyclable carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus resources in wastewater and their efficient recovery is a heavily studied topic at present. As an effective means of carbon and phosphorus recovery, the ultra-short-sludge retention time (SRT) activated sludge (USSAS) system has increasingly attracted the attention of researchers. In this study, the capture efficiency and mechanism of carbon/phosphorus, and the microbial characteristics of the USSAS system, were studied at different temperatures (12, 18, 24, and 30 °C) and a 3-day SRT. The results showed that temperature had little effect on the carbon capture efficiency but had a considerable impact on the carbon capture mode. Increasing temperature decreased the EPS content and increased the biological metabolic activity, then decreasing adsorption but increasing the biotransformation effect. There was a negative correlation between temperature and phosphorus capture efficiency. As the temperature increased, the biological phosphorus removal effect decreased, but the adsorptive phosphorus removal effect gradually increased. With decreasing temperatures, the mixed liquid volatile suspended solid (MLVSS)/mixed liquid suspended solid (MLSS) value increased, but there was a risk of sludge bulking. Kinetic parameters confirmed microbial energy storage under lower temperature conditions and high biological activity under higher temperature conditions.

Cannabinoids produce both rewarding and aversive effects in humans and experimental animals. However, the mechanisms underlying these conflicting findings are unclear. Here we examined the potential involvement of CB1 and CB2 receptors in cannabinoid action using transgenic CB1-knockout (CB1-KO) and CB2-knockout (CB2-KO) mice. We found that Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) induced conditioned place preference at a low dose (1 mg/kg) in WT mice that was attenuated by deletion of the CB1 receptor. At 5 mg/kg, no subjective effects of Δ9-THC were detected in WT mice, but CB1-KO mice exhibited a trend towards place aversion and CB2-KO mice developed significant place preferences. This data suggests that activation of the CB1 receptor is rewarding, while CB2R activation is aversive. We then examined the nucleus accumbens (NAc) dopamine (DA) response to Δ9-THC using in vivo microdialysis. Unexpectedly, Δ9-THC produced a dose-dependent decrease in extracellular DA in WT mice, that was potentiated in CB1-KO mice. However, in CB2-KO mice Δ9-THC produced a dose-dependent increase in extracellular DA, suggesting that activation of the CB2R inhibits DA release in the NAc. In contrast, Δ9-THC, when administered systemically or locally into the NAc, failed to alter extracellular DA in rats. Lastly, we examined the locomotor response to Δ9-THC. Both CB1 and CB2 receptor mechanisms were shown to underlie Δ9-THC-induced hypolocomotion. These findings indicate that Δ9-THC's variable subjective effects reflect differential activation of cannabinoid receptors. Specifically, the opposing actions of CB1 and CB2 receptors regulate cannabis reward and aversion, with CB2-mediated effects predominant in mice.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria significantly improve the efficiency and reduce cost of nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment plants. However, their slow growth and vulnerable activity limit the application of anammox technology. In this paper, the enhancement of biotin on the nitrogen removal activity of anammox bacteria in short-term batch experiments was studied. We found that biotin played a significant role in promoting anammox activity within a biotin concentration range of 0.1–1.5 mg/L. At a biotin concentration of 1.0 mg/L, the total nitrogen removal rate (NRR) increased by 112%, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) secretion and heme production significantly improved, and anammox bacterial biomass increased to maximum levels. Moreover, the predominant genus of anammox bacteria was Candidatus Brocadia.

In order to discover green herbicides with novel molecular scaffolds, natural tetramic acids were used as lead compounds to design and synthesize four pyrrolidine-2,4-dione derivatives incorporating a chainlike alkoxyalkyl moiety (4a–4d) and nineteen pyrrolidine-2,4-dione derivatives incorporating a substituted phenoxyethyl moiety (10a–10s) via substitution, acylation, cyclization, and acidification reactions. The synthesized target compounds were confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HRMS spectral analyses. The single-crystal structure of compound 10a was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, which revealed that the 1-hydroxyethylidene group links the third position of the pyrrolidine heterocycle through a double bond with the Z-configuration. The herbicidal activity was evaluated using barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) and rape (Brassica campestris) as model plants by a Petri dish culture method. Most target compounds were found to possess moderate to good inhibitory activities against the plant growth at 100 μg mL−1. Among them, the compounds 10q and 10n showed the highest herbicidal activities against the roots of barnyard grass and rape seedlings with the corresponding inhibition rates of 65.6% and 84.0%, respectively. This result indicated that pyrrolidine-2,4-dione derivatives incorporating a substituted phenoxyethyl moiety are worthy of further structural optimization.

In the search for novel sterol demethylase inhibitors (DMIs), a series of 1,2,4-triazole derivatives containing oxime ether and cyclopropyl moieties were designed using the bioactive substructure combination assisted by virtual molecular docking. The above-mentioned target compounds were characterized using the 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 19F NMR, and HR-MS spectra. The antifungal evaluation against Rhizoctonia solani (Rs), Fusarium graminearum (Fg), and Botrytis cinerea (Bc) indicated that most of the target compounds exhibited remarkable inhibitory activities against the above-mentioned tested fungi. Significantly, the compound 5k exhibited outstanding anti-Fg activity with an EC50 value of 1.22 μg mL−1in vitro, and a protective effect of 59.45% in vivo at 200 μg mL−1. Further investigation revealed that compound 5k evidently inhibited Fg spore germination and caused some wrinkles and dents on the surface of mycelia. Molecular docking showed that compound 5k bound with the target protein FgCYP51 via coordination, hydrogen bonding and stacking interactions that were similar, but slightly different from the interactions of tebuconazole with FgCYP51. These research results suggested that the target compounds are valuable for the further structural optimization of novel triazole fungicides.

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is a promising thin-film solar cell material consisting of earth-abundant and nontoxic elements. Yet there exists a fundamental bottleneck that hinders the performance of the devic...

The morphology evolution from monoclinic molybdenum trioxide (β-MoO3) to orthorhombic molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3) and quantitative analyses of their mixtures were examined. It was found that the morphology (from spherical to elliptical shape) and color (from green to white) displayed obvious changes when β-MoO3converted to α-MoO3in ambient air at 773 K. The transformation from β-MoO3to α-MoO3resulted from a change of the internal crystalline structure. The mass percent of β-MoO3in MoO3mixtures showed an excellent linear relationship with the relative intensity ratio of the strongest peaks in X-ray diffraction patterns. This approach provides a simple and time-saving method to evaluate the amount of β-MoO3, which is a promising material in catalyst and electrochemical applications, in such mixtures. This finding may provide guidance for the analysis of catalytic performance of MoO3mixtures. In addition, it was found that β-MoO3can be easily decomposed into suboxides such as MoO2and Mo4O11in pure argon gas atmosphere. The possible decomposition mechanism of β-MoO3is discussed.

Compared with the organic electrolyte, the solid electrolyte is more stable and non-volatile at high potential, which solves the decomposition problem of organic electrolyte and the potential safety hazard of flammability and explosion. Based on the advantages of inorganic solid electrolyte and polymer solid electrolyte, a ceramic/polyurethane composite polymer electrolyte (CPPE) based on Li0.35La0.55TiO3 (LLTO) and polyurethane (LPU) was prepared in this work. First, a linear polyurethane (LPU) was synthesized via 2,4-toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO), owing to the high ionic conductivity of LLTO and good mechanical property of LPU. The CPPE has a satisfactory lithium ion conductivity (3.8 × 10−4 S cm−1) at room temperature. Furthermore, the assembled LiFePO4|CPPE|Li battery exhibit excellent cycle performance at room temperature, the discharge capacity was still 149.8 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles and with a superior capacity retention of 97.8% at 0.5 °C. Additionally, the LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2|CPPE|Li exhibited remarkable rate capacity that the initial capacity reached to 216.4 mAh g−1 at 0.1 °C and maintains the excellent specific capacity of 138 mAh g−1 at 1 °C. These findings suggest that CPPE provides a viable idea for the development of high-performance lithium batteries.

Because of the high voltage and low cost, potassium-ion batteries have become a hotspot in the research of rechargeable batteries. In this paper, the electrochemical properties of poly-p-phenylenes...

Nano-sized transition-metal carbides with high purities were synthesized by vacuum carbothermal reduction coupled with a novel method for the removal of free carbon by molten calcium treatment. Transition-metals oxides were firstly reduced by excessive carbon black under vacuum condition, and then the obtained product was treated in molten calcium to remove the free carbon. After acidic leaching the product, pure carbides were obtained. The excess carbon in the carbothermic reduction stage could not only increase the contact between reactants and make the reduction more thorough, but also act as barrier to restrict the grain growth of the products. The effects of carbothermic reduction temperature, calcium treatment temperature and particle sizes of oxides on the reaction products were discussed in detail. It was concluded that after carbothermic reduction of corresponding oxides at 1823 K in vacuum and the following calcium treatment at 1173 K, TiC, ZrC, HfC, V8C7, NbC and TaC with the particle sizes of 100 nm, 70 nm, 130 nm, 200 nm, 150 nm and 120 nm, could be prepared, respectively.

Because of its high melting point, good wear resistance, and low reactivity, molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) is widely used as a coating material and as a reinforcement in metal ceramics in the high-temperature field. This paper proposes the approach of desulfurizer-enhanced carbothermal reduction of MoS2 to prepare Mo2C. Based on the experimental results, it can be concluded that Fe2O3, CaO, and Na2CO3 acting as desulfurizers can significantly reduce the reaction temperature from 1600°C to 850–1200°C. The sulfur from MoS2 is transformed to CS2 and S2 when there is no desulfurizer, while, when Fe2O3, CaO or Na2CO3 is added, FeS, CaS or Na2S is formed. Moreover, Na2CO3 has obvious advantages over Fe2O3 or CaO as a desulfurizer. By adding Na2CO3, there is a lower reaction temperature, and the by-product Na2S is much easier to separate from Mo2C by a simple water-leaching treatment.

Stainless steel pickling sludge is the precipitate from the neutralization process of stainless steel pickling liquor. Until now, many methods about the harmless treatments of pickling sludge have been developed, and among them the most effective one is to produce Fe-Cr-Ni alloy by carbothermic reduction process. However, the carbon and sulfur (harmful elements for steel) contents of the produced Fe-Cr-Ni alloy are difficult to be controlled, especially for the high-CaSO4 sludge. The current paper proposed a new method to produce the low-carbon and low-sulfur Fe-Cr-Ni-Si alloy by using the high-CaSO4 stainless steel pickling sludge. Firstly, the sludge was pre-reduced by carbon at 1100 °C. Then, the pre-reduced sludge was mixed with silicon powder and reacted at 1550 °C for the deep reduction, separation, and desulfurization. By the current method, the Fe-Cr-Ni-Si alloy with a carbon content of 0.513 wt pct and a sulfur content of 0.003 wt pct was produced. Meanwhile, the Fe, Cr, and Ni contents in alloys were 59.600, 15.440, and 13.570 wt pct, with recovery rates of 97.99, 97.61, and 98.65 pct, respectively. Such an alloy can be used as the alloy additive for stainless steel production.

The weathering of arsenopyrite in mine wastes is crucial for the formation of arsenic-containing acid mine drainage (AMD). Arsenopyrite is always associated with pyrite. In this study, the influence of pyrite on the biooxidation of arsenopyrite in the presence of Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans was investigated by leaching experiments and surface characterizations. Bioleaching experiments of 5 days showed that the presence of pyrite increased the ferric concentration, and then accelerated arsenopyrite bioleaching, but increasing the mass ratio of pyrite to arsenopyrite above 1 had no obvious impact on further arsenopyrite dissolution. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction (S-XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provided a direct understanding of arsenopyrite-pyrite galvanic interaction, and confirmed the formation of elemental sulfur and jarosite clusters, which did not passivate the arsenopyrite surface. Iron arsenate was detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES). Additionally, the bioleaching experiments of 18 days indicated that the presence of pyrite facilitated the oxidation of As(III) to As(V) since most of arsenopyrite had been bioleached, and the increase of pyrite addition triggered the further oxidation of As(III).

High-quality ferrovanadium nitride (FeV45N, FeV55N and Fe65N) was fabricated using the raw materials of Fe3O4, V2O5 and graphite via carbothermal reduction nitridation method. Compared with the traditional methods, it shortens the production process of ferrovanadium nitride by avoiding the preparation of ferrovanadium. The effects of C/O molar ratio and reaction temperature on phase transition, density, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen contents and microstructure were investigated. The appropriate C/O molar ratio is crucial to obtain the products with high nitrogen content. It is also found that a higher temperature is beneficial for the densification, and the density of the products obtained at 1550 °C is much higher than that at 1500 °C. Moreover, a higher temperature contributes to the increase in nitrogen content owing to the higher reaction kinetics. The carbothermal reduction nitridation method is proved to be a facile route to fabricate cost-effective ferrovanadium nitride and is possible to be applied for industrial production.

In this study, the effect of involvement of CaO–Al2O3–SiO2–MgO tundish flux into CaO–SiO2–Al2O3–Na2O–CaF2 mold flux on viscosity and structure of mold flux was investigated through employing the rotating viscometer and associated structure analysis including high resolution Raman spectroscopy and solid-state 27Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (27Al MAS-NMR). The results showed that the viscosity continuously increases with increasing involvement of tundish flux. The apparent activation energy obtained from the temperature dependence of the viscosity presents an increase from 128.5 kJ/mol to 149.1 kJ/mol with increase of involvement ratio from 0 to 0.75. Semi-quantitative analysis using the deconvoluted Raman spectra and 27Al MAS-NMR spectra revealed an increase in amounts of [AlO4] and Si–O–Al units, but in the meanwhile a decrease in amounts of [AlOnF4-n] and [AlO5] units, this indicates the structure transformation from prevalent silicate structure to complex alumino-silicate structure with increasing involvement ratio. A self-developed structurally-based viscosity model can predict the viscosity of mold flux with varying involvement ratio and presents a smallest deviation of 15.8% compared to those prevalent viscosity models despite of the great transformation of the melt from silicate system to alumino-silicate system.

High-purity ultrafine W or WC powder was prepared via a two-step process composed of the carbothermic pre-reduction of WO2.9 and the following deep reduction with H2 or carbonization with CH4+H2 mixed gases. The effects of C/WO2.9 molar ratio and temperature on phase composition, morphology, particle size, and impurity content of products were investigated. The results revealed that when the C/WO2.9 ratio was in the range from 2.1:1 to 2.5:1, the carbothermic pre-reduction products consisted of W and a small amount of WO2. With changing C/WO2.9 ratio from 2.1:1 to 2.5:1, the particle sizes were gradually decreased. In order to prepare ultrafine W or WC powder, a relatively high C/WO2.9 ratio and a lower reaction temperature at this stage were preferred. After the second reaction, the final products of ultrafine W and WC powders with a high purity could be obtained, respectively.

Molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) is one of most widely used transition metal carbides due to its remarkable physical and chemical properties, such as outstanding catalytic properties, good thermal stability, high hardness, excellent corrosion, and wear resistances. In the current work, a facile and feasible method was proposed to synthesize ultrafine molybdenum carbide powders with a high purity. Firstly, molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) powder was reduced with insufficient carbon black powder to remove oxygen from MoO3 and generate a mixture of Mo2C and Mo. Then, the mixture was further carbided at 1100 °C or 1200 °C by carbon black to obtain pure Mo2C with an average particle size of 230 nm or 250 nm, respectively. A complete deoxidation at the first step is of significant importance for the precisely determining the amount of carbon addition in the carbonization step. The currently proposed method is a low-cost and efficient method to produce high purity and ultrafine Mo2C in a large scale.

Microwave processing techniques have been extensively used in the food industry due to its significant reduction in time and energy consumption, but its effect on the potential degradation of the extracted target compounds cannot be ignored. In this paper, experiments were carried out to establish a model system of closed magnetic stirring and controlled temperature cooling microwave irradiation (CMCC-MI system); the model extraction solutions were constructed with the standards gallic acid and resveratrol as target compounds to be extracted; its type of free radicals were detected during microwave irradiation extraction, and its changes were monitored under different microwave extraction conditions, namely, solvent types, organic extractant concentrations, microwave irradiation power, extraction temperature, and extraction time, in order to understand the effect of microwave irradiation and provide an objective evaluation polyphenols under different microwave extraction conditions. The degradation and fragment ion peaks of gallic acid and resveratrol owing to hydroxyl free radicals imply that the extraction yield should not be over-focused in actual extraction applications of microwave irradiation; more attention should be paid to the potential degradation of the extracted target compounds induced by microwave irradiation.