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The development of highly-efficient photocatalyst for H2 production integrated with microplastic degradation is significant to meet the demand for clean energy and resolve “white pollution”. Herein, a series of MXene/ZnxCd1-xS photocatalysts were successfully fabricated for H2 evolution integrated with degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The resultant photocatalysts exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance, and the best photocatalytic H2 evolution rate can reach 14.17 mmol·g−1·h−1 in alkaline PET alkaline solution. What’s more, the PET was also converted to the useful organic micromolecule, including glycolate, acetate, ethanol, etc. The highly-efficient photocatalytic performance of MXene/ZnxCd1-xS photocatalysts can be attributed to the enhanced separation ability of photocarriers and optimum band structure with enhanced oxidation capacity of valence band. Finally, the photocatalytic mechanism was investigated in detail. Overall, this work supplied a new useful guidance for solving the energy problem and microplastic pollution issues, simultaneously.

Industrial sour gas flaring is difficult to operate appropriately, especially when the gas stream contains high concentrations of sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans. However, most of the detailed combustion mechanisms for hydrocarbons are too complicated, and the computation can be time consuming. In addition, most of the available combustion mechanisms for sulfur compounds are not tailored for sour gas flaring. A reduced combustion mechanism for sour gas will be highly desirable for practical application. In this work, a reduced combustion kinetic mechanism for sour gas combustion, namely the H&S mechanism, was created. This mechanism was validated against experimental data from the literature with proven accuracy. During mechanism analysis, it was found that the addition of H2S had a significant impact on the radical pool. A small amount of H2S leads to a fast buildup of H, OH, and O radicals and a rapid decomposition of CH4. The impact on ignition delay time due to an increase in H2S concentration by 3 vol. % was also analyzed. The impact needs to be compensated by the addition of supplementary fuel. This research will contribute to the clean combustion of sour gas, especially sour gas flares.

Low-grade uranium ore, which was challenging to be treated economically by conventional methods, can be treated by uranium leaching by bacteria. However, high uranium concentration will lead to the death of bacteria. This work researched the oxidative leaching performance of bacteria (Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans with uranium resistance) under different iron valence conditions. Oxidative leaching of UO2 by bacteria from energy substrates with varying states of the valence of iron ions was studied through an Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans oxidation model. The results showed that the probability of pyrite being oxidized by the Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans system was 98.05% under the condition of Fe2+, while it was 87.30% exposed to Fe3+. In addition, the leaching rate of UO2 by the Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans & Fe2+ system was 94.70%. Under the same conditions, while adding 1 g/L pyrite, the leaching rate of UO2 increased to 99.96%. This study revealed the oxidative leaching mechanism of UO2 and provided a new theoretical basis for the bacterial leaching of uranium.

Exosomes are membrane-bound nanovesicles that are secreted by most types of cells and contain a range of biologically important molecules, including lipids, proteins, ribonucleic acids, etc. Emerging evidences show that exosomes can affect cells' physiological status by transmitting molecular messages among cells. As such, exosomes are involved in various pathological processes. Studying exosomes is of great importance for understanding their biological functions and relevance to disease diagnosis. However, it is difficult to separate and analyze exosomes due to their small size, and because their density is similar to that of bodily fluids. Traditional methods, including ultracentrifugation and ultrafiltration are time-consuming and require expensive equipment. Other methods for exosome separation, including immunoaffinity-based methods, are expensive and rely heavily on specific antibodies. Precipitation-based methods do not yield acceptable purity for downstream analysis, due to polymer contamination. Thus, urgent demand exists for a portable, simple, affordable method for exosome separation. Microfluidic chip technology offers a potential platform for separation and detection of exosomes, with several remarkable characteristics, including low sample consumption, high throughput, and easy integration. This paper provides an overview of current microfluidic strategies for separation and analysis of circulating exosomes. In our introduction to exosome separation, we divide existing separation methods into two categories. Category one is based on exosome physical properties, and includes membrane filtration, nano-column array sorting, and physical isolation. The other is immune capture, which is based on biochemical characteristics of exosomes, and includes fixed base immune capture and unfixed base immune capture. In our introduction to exosome analyses, some commonly used methods, including western blotting, scanning electron microscopy, and flow cytometry are briefly described. Some new systems, which combine microfluidic technology with fluorescence, electrochemical sensing, surface plasmon resonance, or other multimodal analysis methods for integrated detection of exosomes are then described in detail. Finally, the challenges faced by microfluidic technology in improving exosome purity and making systems more portable are analyzed. Prospects for application of microfluidic chips in this area are also discussed. With the rapid development of micro/nano-manufacturing, new materials, and information technology, microfluidic exosome separation and analysis systems will become smaller, more integrated, and more automated. Microfluidic chip technology will play important roles in exosome separation, biochemical detection, and mechanism analysis.

Gaining insight into the timing of cell apoptosis events requires single-cell-resolution measurements of cell viability. We explore the supposition that mechanism-based scrutiny of programmed cell death would benefit from same-cell analysis of both the DNA state (intact vs fragmented) and the protein states, specifically the full-length vs cleaved state of the DNA-repair protein PARP1, which is cleaved by caspase-3 during caspase-dependent apoptosis. To make this same-cell, multimode measurement, we introduce the single-cell electrophoresis-based viability and protein (SEVAP) assay. Using SEVAP, we (1) isolate human breast cancer SKBR3 cells in microwells molded in thin polyacrylamide gels, (2) electrophoretically separate protein molecular states and DNA molecular states—using differences in electrophoretic mobility—from each single-cell lysate, and (3) perform in-gel DNA staining and PARP1 immunoprobing. Performed in an open microfluidic device, SEVAP scrutinized hundreds to thousands of individual SKBR3 cells. In each single-cell lysate separation, SEVAP baseline-resolved fragmented DNA from intact DNA (Rs = 5.17) as well as cleaved PARP1 from full-length PARP1 (Rs = 0.66). Comparing apoptotic and viable cells showed statistically similar profiles (expression, mobility, peak width) of housekeeping protein β-tubulin (Mann–Whitney U test). Clustering and cross-correlation analysis of DNA migration and PARP1 migration identified nonapoptotic vs apoptotic cells. Clustering analysis further suggested that cleaved PARP1 is a suitable apoptosis marker for this system. SEVAP is an efficient, multimode, end-point assay designed to elucidate cell-to-cell heterogeneity in mechanism-specific signaling during programmed cell death.

Chemical degradation is a critical matter related to synthetic oil. Putranjiva oil has the potency to be a synthetic oil alternative and is readily accessible in India. During this research, the oil was epoxidized to strengthen the oxidation stability of the Putranjiva oil. In addition, silicon dioxide nanoparticles have been introduced into chemically synthesized Putranjiva oil in a proportion that is tribologically assessed. The test was conducted using a pin on a disk tribometer, taking into account various conditions. Depending upon the specified concentration of silicon oxide nanoparticles, blends of lubricating oil nanoparticles have been distributed equally via the ultrasonication process. The different proportions of silicon dioxide nanoparticles were added to the chemically modified Putranjiva oil and tested for tribo-mechanism. Throughout the flow functioning review, all lubricant specimens demonstrate Newtonian characteristics by showing a direct correlation between shear rate and shear stress. Under the context of the exploration, a 0.6% magnitude of silicon oxide nanoparticles showed a decrease in the coefficient of friction and the wear rate. The scanning electron microscope pictures display improved surfaces immediately after the nanoparticle has been applied up to 0.6% concentration that was because of adhesion impact. The optimum level application was observed at 0.6% concentration to the epoxidized oil.

As one of the most harmful environmental pollutants, cadmium (Cd) has arisen much interest, and many researches have been carried out to study the adsorption of heavy metals by biochar, but the mechanisms were poorly explored and the roles components in biochar played are still indistinct. In this study, we evaluated the adsorption capacities and mechanisms of soybean root biochar pyrolyzed at four different temperatures. The results indicate the biochar properties are significantly determined by pyrolysis temperature, which affects the removal mechanisms of Cd(II) consequently. Microstructure characteristics and mechanism analysis further suggest that Cd(II)-π interactions and sulfur-containing functional groups are the main mechanisms of Cd(II) adsorption. This work shows a new perspective to explain the adsorption mechanisms onto biochar adsorbents and has a benefit for the exploitation of economical and effective adsorbents for Cd(II) removal based on biochars.

Cinnamate-based polyesters were synthesized, including poly(4-hydroxycinnamic acid), poly(4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid), poly(3-hydroxycinnamic acid) (P3HCA), and hyperbranched poly(3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid) (PdHCA). These materials were further processed into hard and dry membranes by casting and underwent photoreactions by ultraviolet (UV) light. The photodeformation behavior of the linear and hyperbranched polyester containing membranes with cinnamate derivatives in the main chain was observed macroscopically and microscopically. The PdHCA and P3HCA membranes were amorphous and exhibited photodeformations. The PdHCA surface visibly contracts, which is a typically observed phenomenon in photoresponsive polymers; however, the P3HCA surface showed a unique photoexpansion behavior. Time-resolution infrared spectroscopy of the P3HCA film revealed trans-to-cis isomerism in the polymer main chains that bent convexly as a result of photoexpansion of the UV-irradiated regions. Furthermore, photomasking created a micropattern on the P3HCA film, which supported the photoexpansion mechanism of the P3HCA film.

To efficiently utilize bone by-products at the industrial level and alleviate the shortage of protein resources, it is important to improve enzymolytic efficiency by developing economical, effective, and eco-friendly pretreatment methods, and to explore the main factor influencing the efficiency of protein extraction and recovery. A comparative analysis was made on the effect of the pretreatments of lipase, high temperature and pressure, and the combination of both. All pretreatments significantly improved the enzymolytic efficiency, while the lipase pretreatment showed the best overall performance. The degree of hydrolysis after three pretreatments was 12.58%, 9.82%, and 11.79%, respectively. Mechanism analysis indicated that the main factor influencing enzymolytic efficiency was lipid content based on the analysis of the physicochemical properties of bones. The enzymolytic efficiency could reach the maximum at 14.15% by decreasing the lipid content to an optimal level of about 5% and changing the surface elemental content of C, N, and O. These results suggest that the pretreatment that efficiently reduced lipid content was an economical and efficient strategy for improving enzymolytic efficiency of bones.

Temperature showed obvious effect on the reaction rate and conversion when CuO was used as an oxygen carrier (OC), in which in situ gasification chemical-looping combustion (iG-CLC) occurred at low...

Heavy oil emulsions such as water in oil (W/O), oil in water (O/W), and water in oil in water (W/O/W) would be formed during the development of heavy oil reservoirs. The key to the efficient development of heavy oil reservoirs is to clarify the fluidity of heavy oil emulsions in formation pores medium. In this study, the main factors that determine the fluidity of heavy oil emulsion were analyzed under the condition of simulating the formation pores medium. The reasons for the difference between the viscosity of heavy oil emulsions in formation pores medium and the viscosity measured by laboratory rheometer were analyzed. Then, experiments have confirmed the shortcomings of the current screening and evaluation method of emulsified viscosity reducer. Finally, through experimental research and mechanism analysis, the mechanism of the emulsified viscosity reducer was studied and suggestions were made to improve the effect of emulsified viscosity reducer in the oil field. When heavy emulsions flow in a formation pores medium, since the size of the droplets would be larger than the size of the pores medium, when the heavy emulsion passes through the pores medium, it would receive additional resistance brought by the Jiamin effect. But when a rheometer is used for viscosity testing, this additional resistance is almost nonexistent. Therefore, the current method of viscosity test using rheometer cannot fully reflect the actual flow state of heavy oil emulsion in formation pores medium. The research in this paper proves that the larger the droplets of the emulsion, the less accurate the rheometer test results. Temperature, permeability, oil-water ratio, and the type of emulsified viscosity reducer all have a certain effect on the flow of heavy oil emulsion in formation pores medium. This article evaluated four types of emulsified viscosity reducers. When the viscosity test was performed by a rheometer, the results showed excellent viscosity-reducing effects. However, when simulating formation pores medium conditions, the effects of some types of emulsified viscosity reducers are not so good. It is no longer accurate to judge the effect of emulsified viscosity reducer by the way of measuring viscosity with a rheometer. It should be screened by the flow capacity of the heavy oil emulsions in formation pores medium. In oil field development, the contact area of heavy oil and emulsified viscosity reducer solution should be increased as much as possible and provide more time for the substitution effect of emulsified viscosity reducer molecules.

The coating processing condition was used for the research of coating ammonium nitrate particles by means of the surfactants as coating materials which have the same polar heads with different non-polar straight hydrocarbon tails or the same non-polar straight hydrocarbon tails with different polar heads, in order to investigate the relationships between structures of surfactants and their anti-hygroscopicity used in ammonium nitrate particles coated. Furthermore, the relationships and possibly mechanism were analyzed and discussed based on both the experimental results and the selected coating processing, basic property of materials and behaviors of material in coating processes. The experimental results indicated that, the anti-hygroscopicity performance of C16-alchol and C18-acid were best ones within the all groups of selected surfactants with polar heads. The best declines of hygroscopicity of ammonium nitrate particles coated were 29.26% for C16-alcohol and 24.0% for C18-acid. And for the later, the anti-hygroscopicity performance of C18-acid and C20-acid were best ones within the all groups of selected surfactants with longer tails, and that of C16-alcohol and C14-amine were best ones with shorter tails, their best declines were 24.0%, 20.39%, 29.26% and 18.6%, respectively. The mechanism analysis results indicated that the decline of hygroscopicity were influenced by both the coating processing condition and the material properties, such as the polarity, hydroscopicity, solublity in solves and especially the surfactivity of the used surfactants, and the later, i.e. the material properties would play an important role when the processing condition and solvent used in coating ammonium nitrate particles were fixed. Therfore, the property of coating materials which are depending on their structures and the bahaviours of coating material molecules in coating processes dominated commonly and ultimatly anti-hydroscopicity of coated ammonium nitrate particles, under a selected coating processing condition. This work provides new insights on understanding the relationship between structure of surfactants and anti-hygroscopicity performance to further improve the anti-hygroscopicity performance of ammonium nitrate particles.

Numerous extensive efforts have been done to acquire the applicable green corrosion inhibitors in order to decrease the corrosion rate of the materials. The corrosion inhibition of mild steel is vital for technology due to the increased industrial applications of these materials. In this report, the inhibitive action of Cymbopogon Citratus on the marine corrosion of mild steel was evaluated. The inhibition efficiency was calculated using weight loss measurement method, electrochemical measurement and inhibitor mechanism analysis. It was found that, Cymbopogon Citratus exhibited a very good performance as a green corrosion inhibitor for mild steel corrosion in seawater. All the experimental methods used for this project show that the presence of Cymbopogon Citratus in the seawater significantly decreases the corrosion rates and further decreasing the corrosion rates as the concentration of Cymbopogon Citratus increases. To sum it up, the inhibition efficiency increases with an increase in Cymbopogon Citratus concentration.

Mercury from recycled oxy-fuel gas needs to be removed because it can damage the aluminum devices in the system. In this work, low-cost NH4Br-modified rice husk char (RHCBr) was prepared as the bio...

Iron, copper oxides composite particles (Fe/Cu oxides CPs) were produced using rapid, single-step, green and sustainable pathway from biomolecules of pine needle extract and were adopted as a poten...

The effect of hydrogen-rich smelting on the softening-melting behavior of the iron-bearing burden in a blast furnace (BF) was analyzed by simulating the actual burden structure of the BF and by studying the changes in the softening-melting behavior of the iron-bearing burden as well as the reaction behavior and interface characteristics of coke and slag-iron in the high-temperature zone. The influence mechanism of the softening-melting behavior of the iron-bearing burden after hydrogen-rich smelting in the BF was analyzed. The results show that after hydrogen-rich smelting in the BF, Ti decreases, T10% and T40% increase, ΔT increases when ϕ(CO) is 30%, ΔT decreases when ϕ(CO) is 40%, and the shrinkage rate decreases significantly at the same temperature. The assimilation of the burden is weakened, and the smelting reduction erosion of coke is decreased. Ts and Td increase substantially, Tds decreases, and ΔPmax and S decrease. An increase in ϕ(H2) causes the softening-melting zone to move downward and become narrow, effectively improving the permeability. When 10% H2 is used instead of 10% CO, the softening-melting zone becomes narrow and moves to the high-temperature zone, and the permeability of the burden improves, which shows that the influence of H2 on the softening-melting zone is stronger than that of CO. After hydrogen-rich smelting, at 1673 K, the metallic iron phase gradually changes from a fragmental distribution to a flaky distribution, and the amount of molten slag and iron infiltrated into the pores of coke decreases. In addition, the amount of nonreduced wustite decreases substantially; the ash content on the coke surface is high; and hydrogen-rich smelting increases the temperature at which the slag phase and the ash on the coke surface fuse together. At 1713 K, a large amount of slag accumulates at the reaction interface of coke and hinders the carburization of iron.

Aluminum alloy 7050-T7451 is widely used in aeronautical large structural parts, and high speed cutting is often used in machining. The serrated chip is a critical state for chip formation in high speed cutting, and its formation and control mechanism are of great significance for actual machining. To study the chip formation of high speed cutting aluminum alloy 7050-T7451, the chips at different cutting speeds are obtained by high speed cutting experiments. Combined with microscopic observation, the chip shape evolution, chip localization fracture process and mechanism of different cutting speeds are analyzed. The morphological evolution of chips and the mechanism of chip breaking during high speed cutting of aluminum alloy are revealed. According to the machined surface of the chip root and the angle of the chip, the formation mechanism of the curl radius formed by the chip is analyzed. The critical cutting speed of plastic-brittle transformation of aluminum alloy 7050-T7451 in high speed cutting is obtained by studying the critical condition for strip-to-serration transition of chip morphology.

This research presents a method to solve the problem of poor durability of cement pavement caused by long-term use of deicing salt as well as improve the salt-frost resistance of self-developed sup...

The fast electron–hole recombination and low light utilization are two significant constraints to hinder the development of photocatalysis technology. Particularly, properly engineered heterojunction photocatalysts exhibit superior photoactivity because of spatial separation of photoinduced electron–hole pairs. Therefore, we prepared a heterojunction of zinc carbonate and zinc oxide by calcining precursor at 350 °C for 2 h. The as-prepared photocatalysts were obtained via a facile method and possessed promising photocatalytic activity for NO oxidation under UV light irradiation; the NO removal efficiency of heterojunction (42%) was better than that of pristine zinc oxide (28%) and precursor; the composites still maintained 88% activity after five cycles. Some relevant physicochemical properties were delicately investigated to elucidate that heterojunction can remarkably suppress the recombination of the electron–hole pairs, and promote the carriers transforming to activity species, which can participate in the redox reaction occurring on the surface of photocatalysts. More importantly, electron spin resonance measurement integrated with in situ DRIFTS spectra was applied to intuitively and dynamically monitor the reaction process and uncover the promotion mechanism. Finally, we believe that the synthesis strategy and mechanism analysis would provide guidance for understanding the gas-phase reaction.

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) represent an emerging type of engineered nanomaterials with intrinsic enzymatic activity for both chemical and biological applications, but the catalytic activity of most reported AuNCs remains rather limited. Herein, we report a new, efficient strategy of promoting the peroxidase-mimic activity of AuNCs by tailoring their catalytic interfaces via small molecule-mediated weak interactions. Inspired by the presence of imidazole structures in many biocatalytic centers, we screened a series of imidazole-containing small molecules to evaluate their impact on the enzymatic activity of AuNCs. Through monitoring the absorbance change of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine, 1-methyl-2-imidazolecarboxaldehyde (MCA) was identified to possess the most significant effect on enhancing the peroxidase-mimic activity of glutathione-stabilized AuNCs (GSH-AuNCs) among all the examined molecules. Interestingly, the enhancement effect of MCA on the catalytic activity of these AuNCs was found to be highly reversible and can be switched on/off by simply adding MCA/dialysis treatment. Molecular dynamics simulations and further experimental analysis confirmed that these MCA molecules were adsorbed on the surface of GSH-AuNCs through weak non-covalent interactions. The underlying mechanism analysis suggested that the presence of MCA can efficiently promote the production of •OH in the GSH-AuNC system. As a proof of example, we then demonstrated that the presence of MCA can greatly increase the bioanalytical performance of AuNC-based peroxidase mimics, as evidenced by a 65-fold lower LOD for glucose detection of AuNCs@MCA than that using AuNCs only. Finally, the present system has been successfully applied for sensing the blood glucose level of both healthy people and diabetics with promising results.

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) decompose before melting, making it difficult for melt processing. This phenomenon limits the applications of PVA. Therefore, to widen the application of PVA, in the present work, the PVA films have been prepared by the flow casting method. And talc added as an inorganic nucleating agent to improve the crystallinity of PVA. The effects of talc on the crystallization behavior of PVA are tested by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and successive self-nucleation annealing (SSA). The crystallization kinetics behavior of talc was is further studied by Mo Zhishen equation and Avrami equation. The results show that the addition of talc to the PVA film promotes its crystallization, and as the content of the nucleating agent increases, the crystallinity tends to increase, and the thickness of the wafer becomes uniform due to the increase of nucleation points. These results show that talc regulates the crystallization of PVA, improves the crystallinity and crystallization rate of PVA, and has a heterogeneous nucleation effect. PVA itself exhibits hydrophilicity because it contains large number of hydroxyl groups, and has good physical and chemical properties. In addition, the mechanical properties and water resistance have been further improved by improving the crystallinity of PVA, and the practicability of PVA film in actual production was improved.

The hydrothermal-alkaline treatment (HAT) is an efficient sludge reduction method. However, the roles of HAT in tannery sludge reduction are not very clear. In this study, the sludge reduction mechanism of HAT was explored. The results showed that HAT had good performance for the organic dissolution of tannery sludge. The reduction of the sludge mass was calculated by the mass of the separated wet sludge solid (4000 rpm, 10 min) before and after HAT. The HAT parameters for sludge reduction (SR) were optimized by the Box–Behnken, and the sludge reduction was 62.5% under optimal conditions (198 °C, 87 min and 8.7 g L−1 NaOH). The soluble organics, especially a polysaccharide (PS) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3–N), showed a close correspondence with the SR ratio. The rheological properties of the sludge indicated that the reticular structures in the sludge were destroyed after HAT. The tannery sludge solid became more pyknotic than raw sludge after the hydrothermal-alkaline treatment. The tannery sludge reduction can be attributed to the damage of reticular structures, organic dissolution and release of bound water.

By using WCl6 as a precursor and absolute ethanol as a solvent, ultrafine W18O49 nanowires (UFNWs) were synthesized by a one-pot solution-phase method and used as gas sensing materials. Their cryst...

Ionic liquids (ILs) are used in separation of organic substances in industry. In order to screen suitable ILs for industrial separation, the interaction between molecules is studied based on the ex...

Leaching liquid of smelting dust was used as the As(∨) source. Common octahedral-shaped scorodite and large spindle-shaped scorodite were synthesized. Through the analysis, the high concentration H+ can inhibit the forming and growth of (1 1 1) and (2 0 0) lattice planes. The particles aggregated together and assessed during the ageing process. The large high crystallinity spindle-shaped scorodite was formed at last. TCLP tests at pH 4.93 and leaching tests were carried out in alkaline solutions with pH of 9.30. Large spindle-shaped scorodite materials have better stability than the common octahedral-shaped scorodite.

A novel array double dielectric barrier discharge (ADDBD) combined with a TiO2/Al2O3-Co3O4/AC (Ti Co) catalyst was applied to remove toluene. The effects of catalyst setting distance, catalyst combination mode, and process factors (including specific input energy, initial toluene concentration, and relative humidity) were investigated in terms of the toluene degradation efficiency (ηtoluene) and the selectivity of CO2 (SCO2). When the specific input energy was 65 J·L−1, the initial toluene concentration was 100 mg·m−3, and the relative humidity was 30%, the highest ηtoluene of 72% and SCO2 of 44% could be achieved with TiO2/Al2O3 10 cm and Co3O4/AC 20 cm downstream of the ADDBD. Based on the determination of active substances (e.g., O3, OH) and the catalyst activation mode, a synergistic effect of active substances and photon between the ADDBD and the Ti Co catalyst was proposed for the removal of toluene. Finally, the biodegradability and toxicity of the outlet gas were evaluated, and the results showed that the outlet gas was more convenient for subsequent biopurification and less toxic to the surroundings after the treatment by the ADDBD combined with the Ti Co catalyst.

This paper researches the oil property from three different districts in Daqing Oilfield. And then the sulfur contents in crude oil and emulsified oil is tested to explore the dissolution o...

Silicon-based material is one of the most promising substitutes of widely used graphite anodes for the next generation Li-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity, low working potential, environmental friendliness, and abundant natural resource. However, the huge volume expansion and serious interfacial side reactions during lithiation and delithiation progresses of the silicon anode are the key issues which impede their further practical applications. Rational designs of silicon nanostructures are effective ways to address these problems. In this progress report, we firstly highlight the fundamental scientific problems, and then focus on recent progresses in design, preparation, in - situ characterization methods and failure mechanism of nanostructured silicon anode for high capacity lithium battery. We also summarize the key lessons from the successes so far and offer perspectives and future challenges to promote the applications of silicon anode in practical lithium batteries.

Vegetable oils are sustainable and used as raw material in many industrial areas. For coal flotation cleaning industry, hydrocarbon oils are always required as the flotation collector. If the veget...

Migration testing of cyclic organosiloxane oligomer molecules from silicone rubber into food simulants was performed as a function of three factors: temperature, time, and food simulant type (i.e.,...

Coal fly ash (CFA) in some areas contains higher levels of rare earth elements (REEs), which can be seen as a potential substitute for rare earth resources. As an effective method of hydrometallurg...

A spinel structure for NiAl₂O₄ in nickel-based alumina has a significant impact on catalytic performance. To illustrate the relationship between the textural properties of spinel and catalytic performance, four nickel-based alumina catalysts using co-precipitation with different calcination temperatures were prepared and evaluated for the re-forming of simulated pyrolysis gas (CH₄ + CO₂) and then applied to the re-forming of gaseous products from rice husks pyrolysis. The results indicated that the spinel structure could improve the catalytic performance. Various characterization methods combined with mechanism analysis were applied to illustrate the contribution of surface properties and structure parameters of the spinel catalysts on catalytic performance. The influence of spinel structure in catalysts on the textural properties, the specific form of surface nickel species, and the anticoking ability of the catalysts have been established. Finally, the relationship between the spinel structure of the catalysts and the catalytic re-forming performance has been thoroughly explained.

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) is a technology for enrichment extraction and detection of organic pesticide in samples. In this paper, 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluo...

The mechanism of dodecyltrimethyl bromide (DTAB) on the change in surface wettability of low-rank coal and its relationship to flotability were investigated in this study. Experimental tests of con...

Effective removal of antibacterial drugs attracts more and more attentions with the rapid development of pharmacy industry, while still facing large challenge in removal efficiency to date. Herein, porous MIL-101 and SO3H-MIL-101 were systematically studied for their adsorption performances toward two common antibacterial drugs, gemifioxacin mesylate (GEM) and moxifloxacin hydrochloride (MOX). It was found that SO3H-MIL-101 can exhibit high adsorption capacities of 528 mg g−1 and 447 mg g−1 for GEM and MOX at natural pH respectively, superior to those of MIL-101 and other common MOFs-based adsorbents. The adsorption kinetics study indicates that the adsorption onto SO3H-MIL-101 follows pseudo-second-order model. Furthermore, it was found that the adsorption capacity of SO3H-MIL-101 increased at pH range of 2.0–7.0 and decreased at pH range of 7.0–10.0. Further study indicates that the two MOFs can be easily regenerated even after four cycles. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that surface potentials of the MOFs play critical effects on the adsorption processes for the amphipathic drugs and the introduction of –SO3H groups can effectively regulate the adsorption performance of the MOF. This work may provide an effective approach to modify the adsorption behaviour of the MOFs.

Low brominated diphenyl ethers and brominated dioxins with high toxicity were easily produced in the pyrolysis process of decabromodiphenyl ethers, Based on this, the pyrolysis process of BDE-209 and ZnO was studied by differential thermal gravimetric analysis (DTA-TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), GC and GC / MS. The results showed that the addition of zinc oxide reduced the activation energy of BDE-209 thermal degradation reaction, thus reducing the thermal degradation temperature of BDE-209; after the addition of zinc oxide, BDE-209 pyrolysis produced more brominated dioxins at 400 ℃ When BDE-209 and ZnO were degraded at 400 ℃ at 2.4:1 (w / W), the degradation rate reached 100% at 2 h. At this time, the relative content of hexabromo- and heptabromo- dioxins was lower, and the relative content of hexabromobenzene and pentabromobenzene was the highest. Combined with Arrhenius formula calculation, soft and hard acid-base theory and XRD product analysis of pyrolysis residue, the mixed pyrolysis mechanism of BDE-209 and zinc oxide was deeply discussed, which provided a theoretical basis for pollution prevention and control of waste printed circuit boards in heat treatment.

Vehicle exhaust, as one of the most important compositions of air pollution, induced various adverse health effects, especially diabetes, on human beings. Even though monitoring and epidemiological data indicates that particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is an inducing factor of diabetes, the specific causative mechanisms are still unclear. In the current study, the concentration of particulate matters (PMs, including PM1.0, PM2.5 and PM10.0) and PAHs was investigated at rush hour of weekday in three urban underground parking garages (UPGs). To evaluate the impacts of particle-bound PAHs on human beings, analysis of non-target metabolomics and unmetabolized PAHs were conducted for UPG and non-UPG worker urine samples. The results showed that the highest concentrations of PMs and total PAHs were found at the UPG entrance. The concentrations of unmetabolized 5-6 rings PAHs in the UPG worker urine were significantly higher than that in non-UPG worker urine samples, which induced glucose metabolism disorders through hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) signaling pathway. This could be a reason for particle-bound PAHs induced-diabetes on road workers, drivers and garage staff. These findings can serve as a step towards air pollution management and the pathological mechanism analysis of environmental factor induced-diseases.

Intracellular substance analysis is critical for understanding cellular physiological mechanisms and predicting disease progression. Isothermal amplification technologies have been raised to accurately detect intracellular substances due to their low abundance, which is significant for the mechanism analysis and clinical application. However, traditional isothermal method still needs to cell destruction and extraction, resulting in fluctuant results. Moreover, it only works on dead cells. Therefore, non-destructive analysis based on isothermal amplification deserves to be studied, which directly reveals the content and position of relevant molecules. In recent years, metastable DNA hairpins-driven isothermal amplification (Mh-IA) blazes a trail for analysis in living cells. This review tracks the recent advances of Mh-IA strategy in living cell detection and highlights the potential challenges regarding this field, aiming to improve in vivo isothermal amplification. Also, challenges and prospects of Mh-IA for in situ and intracellular analysis are considered.

Sustainability : Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 13(17), 9520 (2021). doi:10.3390/su13179520 special issue: "Special Issue "Sustainable Organic Materials Used in the Construction Sector" / Special Issue Editors: Prof. Dr. Michael Wistuba, Guest Editor; Dr. Di Wang, Guest Editor; Dr. Chiara Riccardi, Guest Editor; Prof. Dr. Libo Yan, Guest Editor; Prof. Dr. Zhanping You, Guest Editor; Dr. Lily Poulikakos, Guest Editor; Dr. Ana Jiménez del Barco Carrión, Guest Editor", Published by MDPI, Basel

Guar gum and its derivative based-gels cross-linked with boron have been used in hydraulic fracturing for decades. In order to achieve gel strength requirements, conventional fracturing requires the use of a large amount of thickener and cross-linking agent, which results in more residue and difficulty in the recovery of permeability. At the same time, the gel can be used to achieve the best thermal stability in a high pH environment. Therefore, we proposed a highly efficient organoboron nanocellulose cross-linker for low polymer loading fracturing fluids. Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) resulted from sulfuric acid hydrolysis of cellulose microciystalline. Boron-modified nanoparticles were synthesized by one-pot reaction as nano boron cross-linker (NBC). Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane, Organic boron (OBC) was mixed at a ratio of 1:4:4 and stirred at a constant temperature of 85°C for 5 hours. The presence of surface modification was shown with FTIR spectroscopy and the particle size was characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy. The microscopic morphology of the NBC crosslinked gels was observed by SEM. The changes in gels rheology in different pH environments were investigated. In addition, the effect of mass ratio of NCC and OBC on the rheological properties of NBC crosslinked HPG gel was also investigated. The results of FTIR spectroscopy illustrated OBC was bonded onto the surface of NCC by B-N bond. The particles have a large aspect ratio with a diameter of 5-20 nm and a length of 50-300 nm. NBC cross-linked 0.25 wt.% gels exhibited excellent rheological properties at 90°C. When the pH was increased from 7 to 11, the viscosity of the NBC crosslinked gels increased from 56.64 mPa·s to 348.7 mPa·s, and as the pH continued to increase, the viscosity of the gels began to decrease. The gels maintained a shear rate of 170s-1 at 90°C and the residual viscosity after shearing for one hour was higher than 50 mPa·s, which is in accordance with the requirements of fracturing construction. Due to the thermal stability of the NBC cross-linked-gels, pH was affected. The NBC cross-linked-gels had different microscopic morphology at different pH and the microstructures become more complex at higher pH. NCC is a kind of natural macromolecular materials made from microcrystalline cellulose, which has the properties of abundance, biodegradability and low price, and has greater economic advantages compared with other nanoparticles. The NCC prepared by sulfuric acid hydrolysis has good dispersion due to electrostatic repulsion. The NBC crosslinker has excellent cross-linking properties, which may provide a possible solution to reduce the amount of cross-linking agent used, thereby reducing formation damage.

This paper presents the outcomes of a research program that tested and examined the behaviors of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bonded steel double-strap joints after being cured in a variety of harsh curing conditions. Nineteen specimens were manufactured, cured in an air environment (the reference specimen), treated with different wet&ndash, dry cyclic curing or hygrothermal pretreatment, and then tested under quasi-static loading. Based on the experimental studies, mixed failure modes, rather than the cohesive failure of the adhesive, were found in the harsh environmental cured specimens. Additionally, an approximately linear relationship of load&ndash, displacement curves was observed for all the GFRP/steel bonded specimens from which the tensile capacities and stiffness were discussed. By analyzing the strain development of the bonded specimens during quasi-static tensile testing, the fracture mechanism analysis focused on the threshold value of the strain curves for different cured specimens. Finally, based on the studies of interfacial fracture energy, Gf, the effects of harsh environmental curing were assessed. The results showed that the failure modes, joint tensile capacities, stiffness, and interfacial fracture energy Gf were highly dependent on the curing conditions, and a significant degradation of bonding performance could be introduced by the investigated harsh environments.