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The use of HZSM-5 and modified catalysts for the pyrolysis of lignin to produce aromatics has been extensively investigated. But certain limitations including catalyst deactivation and high-cost modifications still exist. A magnetic field (MF) was used to assist Fe and HZSM-5 catalytic lignin pyrolysis for aromatics production in this study. Product composition analysis revealed that the monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (MAH) and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) contents exhibited an upward trend in correlation with the MF intensity. The introduction of a MF significantly affects the improvement of the BTEX yield. Under the conditions of 80 mT MF intensity, 500 °C temperature and 50 mL min−1 carrier gas flow rate, the MAH and BTEX contents reach 32.94% and 27.19%, while the BTEX yield reaches roughly 19.55 mg g−1. Compared to no MF, these values rose by about 1.28, 1.36, and 1.94 times, respectively. Characterization results from XRD, XPS, TPO, N2 adsorption–desorption, and NH3–TPD tests showed that the MF facilitated the deoxidation and fragmentation of macromolecular oxygenates on the surface of Fe, promoting the ingress of smaller molecular compounds into the pores of HZSM-5 and boosting MAH production. Simultaneously, the MF impeded pore blockage in HZSM-5 and kept acidic sites from deactivating due to carbon deposition. This study lays a crucial groundwork for improving advanced technologies aimed at optimizing the utilization of organic solid waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tar conversion during biomass pyrolysis is essential for hydrogen production. In this study, phenol and 10 wt.% Ni/CaO-Ca12Al14O33 were used as the tar model compound and catalyst, respectively. The purpose of the present investigation was to analyze the influence of varying magnetic field strength (ranging from 0 to 80 mT), reaction temperature (ranging from 550 to 700 °C), and carrier gas velocity (ranging from 20 to 30 mL/min) on the catalytic pyrolysis outcomes obtained from phenol. The findings indicated that the conversion rate of phenol and H2 output exhibited an increase with an escalation in magnetic field strength and reaction temperature but demonstrated a decrease with an upsurge in the carrier gas velocity. The ideal conditions for achieving the maximum phenol conversion (91%) and H2 yield (458.5 mL/g) were realized by adjusting the temperature to 650 °C, retaining the carrier gas velocity at 20 mL/min, and elevating the magnetic field intensity to 80 mT. These conditions resulted in a considerable increase in phenol conversion and H2 yield by 22.2% and 28.2%, respectively, compared with those achieved without magnetism. According to the kinetic calculations, it was indicated that the inclusion of a magnetic force had a beneficial effect on the catalytic efficacy of 10 wt.% CaO-Ca12Al14O33. Additionally, this magnetic field was observed to lower the activation energy required for the production of H2 when compared with the activation energy required during phenol catalytic pyrolysis. This consequently resulted in an enhancement of the overall efficiency of H2 production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the model compound of tar, the catalytic cracking performances of toluene with CaO-based catalysts were studied by DFT simulation and fixed bed experiment. The DFT results showed the adsorption energy of toluene on (1 0 0) surfaces increased as FC < CaO < NC < NFC at 650 °C. The optimal reaction path for toluene to dissociate H was obtained in the process of toluene cracking using NC and NFC catalysts. The NC catalyst doped with Fe enhanced the catalytic activity of Ni, and the rate determining step reaction activation barrier to generate H 2 was decreased from 1.50 eV to 0.58 eV. And the activation barrier for CH 4 formation was higher than that for H 2 , which promoted the cracking reaction to produce H 2. The experimental results showed that the catalytic toluene cracking effect of NFC was the best among the four catalysts at 650 °C, with 98.11% conversion rate and 93.11% H 2 yield. Compared with NC, H 2 yield was increased by 27.92%, CH 4 yield was decreased by 50.43%. Thermogravimetric results showed that NFC was less likely to be inactivated due to carbon deposition than NC. NFC will be a kind of compound catalyst for tar cracking with high efficiency. • The order of adsorption capacity of toluene at 650 °C was FC＜CaO＜NC＜NFC. • Fe doping in NC decrease the barrier to generate H 2 and promote to produce H 2. • NFC composite catalyst is less prone to carbon deposition than NC. • The conversion rate of toluene catalyzed by NFC is 98.11%, and 93.11% H 2 yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sandstone aquifer covers the primary mineable coal seam within the Jurassic Ningdong coal field in western China and threatens the safety of mining the shallow seam. Although geological boreholes were located in and surrounding the study area, no hydrogeological boreholes existed within it, so six factors (the ratio between the sandstone aquifer and entire strata thicknesses, sandstone thickness, grit thickness, number of sandstone layers, fault fractal dimension, and fold fractal dimension) were used as indicators of aquifer permeability. Using a pair-wise comparison approach, the influence weights of these six factors on the permeability coefficient were defined as 0.131, 0.243, 0.161, 0.106, 0.197, and 0.161, respectively. Integration of the area's geological and hydrogeological conditions, and geological exploration, drilling, and three-dimensional seismic data resulted in partitioning of the permeability levels within the study area after fuzzy comprehensive evaluation. Comparing the results with actual conditions and the observed working panel water inflows verified that the proposed method for analysis of spatial differences can be used to guide future water prevention and control efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) are widely applied in polymer solar cells (PSCs) to solve the inherent drawbacks like unadjustable energy levels and limited absorptive region of fullerene-based acceptors. The suitable bandgaps with low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels of the donor materials are two preconditions to achieve highly efficient non-fullerene PSCs. A mono-fluorinated quinoxaline-based alternating polymer (PBDTTFTQ-DO) possesses deep HOMO energy level (−5.37 eV) and wide bandgap (1.80 eV), which ensure its potential application as donor material with low bandgap NFAs. To investigate its performances in PSCs with different NFAs, three structurally similar NFAs (ITIC , ITIC-Th and ITIC-Th1) with tunable energy levels and adjustable absorption spectra were selected to match with PBDTTFTQ-DO. It was found that the performances of all three NFAs-based devices were improved to varying degrees after thermal annealing, especially for the PBDTTFTQ-DO : ITIC-Th -based device, a high power conversion efficiency of 7.81% was achieved due to the intensely enhanced film absorption and largely increased dielectric constant after thermal annealing treatment. These results illustrated that the promising performances of quinoxaline-based polymers in NF–PSCs, and what's more, the significant effects of suitable donor-acceptor combination and dielectric constants on the performances of NF–PSCs. Image 1 • Quinoxaline-based polymer and non-fullerene acceptors were used in solar cells. • High PCE (7.81%) was achieved in polymer:ITIC-Th blend after thermal annealing. • Thermal annealing improved the absorption and dielectric constant of the films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Significant driving forces are the prerequisite to achieve fast and efficient charge separation in fullerene derivatives-based polymer solar cells to achieve high power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, the large driving forces both in photo-induced hole transfer (PHT) and in photo-induced electron transfer (PET) processes lead to significant energy losses, resulting in low open-circuit voltage in the devices. Recent studies indicate the driving forces in non-fullerene acceptors-based devices can be reduced to very low values but still with high PCE and low energy losses. Herein, we report a new donor:acceptor system with high lying energy of charge-transfer excitons (E CT) of 1.50 eV and very small driving forces (PHT of 0.28 eV and PET of 0.11 eV), in which a fluorinated quinoxaline-based alternating polymer (FTQ) and an alkyl-thienyl side-chain modified small molecule (ITIC-Th) are taken as the donor material and non-fullerene acceptor material, respectively. A high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.19% with maximal external quantum efficiency of 71% are achieved successfully in FTQ : ITIC-Th -based device after appropriate thermal annealing treatment, indicating FTQ can be further applied as donor materials with other highly efficient NF-acceptors to achieve enhanced performances and low energy losses. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • High energy of charge-transfer states (E CT) of 1.50 eV was achieved in FTQ : ITIC-Th blend. • This blend possessed small photo-induced hole/electron transfer driving forces of 0.28/0.11 eV. • A high PCE of 8.19% was obtained for the blend after 110 °C thermal annealing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, by incorporating imide-fused benzothiadiazole (BIBT) as the electron-withdrawing core unit, for the first time we designed and synthesized a novel A1–D–A2–D–A1 type small molecule acceptor denoted BIBT-NI for organic solar cell (OSC) applications. Its thermal, optical and electrochemical properties were thoroughly investigated. Density functional theory was also applied to shed light on the molecular configuration and energy level distribution of the acceptor. This molecule exhibited a strong absorption spectrum in the range of 420–550 nm together with an optical bandgap of 2.04 eV. The inverted OSC devices based on BIBT-NI as an electron-acceptor combined with the classical polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an electron-donor afforded an optimal power conversion efficiency of 2.11% with a comparatively high open-circuit voltage of 0.78 V. These results underscore the promising potential of BIBT as an electron-deficient building block in constructing nonfullerene acceptors for OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Solvent vapour annealing (SVA) treatments have been proven to be an efficient approach to optimize the morphology of the active layer in bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells. For an alternating polymer based on dioctylthiophene substituted benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene and 4,7-di(4-hexyl-thiophen-2-yl)-5,6-difluorine-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (PBDTT-DFDTBT), enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 7.65% to 8.06% was achieved in regular device configuration as ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ PBDTT-DFDTBT :phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM)/poly(9,9-bis(3-(N,N-dimethylamino)propyl)-2,7-fluorene)- alt -2,7-(9,9-dioctylfluoren)(PFN)/Al after tetrahydrofuran (THF) SVA treatment. As for the inverted device configuration of ITO/ZnO/PFN/ PBDTT-DFDTBT :PC 71 BM/MoO 3 /Al with THF SVA post-treatment, simultaneously decreased open-circuit voltage (V OC) and short-circuit current density (J SC) were obtained, giving rise to a reduced PCE of 6.60%. We observed increased absorption intensity, improved hole/electron mobility and phase purity for the THF treated blend films, implying the improvement of the photovoltaic performances. However, the THF SVA-induced upper migration of the PC 71 BM in the active layer and the resulting trap-induced recombination are ascribed to the suppressed photovoltaic parameters of inverted device relative to the regular one. Highlights • Enhanced PCE of 8.06% is achieved for a regular polymer solar cell after SVA treatment. • Under same SVA condition, suppressed result of 6.60% is observed for the inverted device. • The distinct performances of the two devices are ascribed to the solvent-induced PC 71 BM upper migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in-situ CO 2 removal pyrolysis of Chinese herb residue was studied by thermodynamic equilibrium simulation and experimental methods. The effects of temperature, pressure, and CaO loading on the gas composition, heating value and yield were determined. The simulation results indicate that the heating value of product gas increases with the increase of Ca/H and pressure, and slightly decreases with the increase of temperature. The simulation results were verified by the experiments conducted with a micro fixed-bed reactor. Under the simulated reaction conditions including atmospheric pressure, reaction temperature of 700 °C and the Ca/H of 0.65, the CO 2 in the product gas was effectively removed, resulting the syngas with a high heating value. The product gas was mainly composed of H 2 , CO, CO 2 and CH 4 with the contents of 47.52, 22.04, 9.01 and 14.02 respectively by experiment. And the lower heating value of the product gas reached 18.1 MJ/Nm 3 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel tetra-armed D-A type small molecule 4BTF-DTPA-T was designed here by utilizing the thiophene connected ditriphenylamine (DTPA) core and fluorinated benzothiadiazole (BTF) arms. To make a better comparison, tri-armed (star-shaped) 3BTF-TPA was also synthesized. Although a similar absorption spectra covering from 300 to 600 nm was observed for 3BTF-TPA and 4BTF-DTPA-T, much higher extinction coefficient was achieved for tetra-armed 4BTF-DTPA-T in both solution and thin films. Bulk hetero-junction (BHJ) organic solar cells were also fabricated to investigate their photovoltaic performance and as anticipated, a moderate PCE value of 2.61% with a V oc of 1.00 eV was observed in 3BTF-TPA-based solar cells. However, when the tetra-armed 4BTF-DTPA-T was employed as the electron-donors, much enhanced J sc and FF values up to 9.33 mA/cm 2 and 44.80% were achieved for its homogeneous morphology in solar cells, finally leading to the maximum PCE value of 3.68%, indicating that the tetra-armed small molecules could be the promising electron-donors for solution-processed organic solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nogo-B receptor (NgBR) is a specific receptor of Nogo-B that regulates vascular remodeling and angiogenesis. Previously, we found that NgBR promotes the membrane translocation and activation of Ras in breast cancer cells and enhances the chemoresistance of hepatocellular carcinoma cells to 5-fluorouracil. However, the role of NgBR in lung cancer has not yet been elucidated. In the present study, we found that NgBR knockdown inhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells in vitro and metastasis of NSCLC cells in vivo. In contrast, NgBR overexpression promoted EMT in and lung metastasis of NSCLC cells. At the molecular level, NgBR modulated the expression of EMT-related proteins and enhanced the protein expression of Snail1, a crucial transcription factor that represses epithelial cell protein marker E-cadherin. Moreover, we found that NgBR overexpression promoted the membrane localization of Ras and activation of downstream MEK/ERK signaling pathway and that NgBR knockdown by using a specific shRNA inversely affected the expression of EMT-related proteins in NSCLC cells. Thus, our results provide novel insights on the regulatory role of NgBR in the metastasis of NSCLC that should be investigated further for developing a therapeutic strategy for treating patients with NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively modulate the molecular energy levels of indacenodithiophene (IDT)-based donor-acceptor (D-A) polymers, 4-hexyloxy-phenyl and 3-fluorine-4-hexyloxy-phenyl substituted IDT derivatives were designed and copolymerized with fluorinated quinoxaline derivatives (0F, 1F and 2F) to construct a series of novel alternating polymers. The effects of the side-chain modification in IDT units and the inclusion of fluorine atoms on quinoxaline units on the absorption performances, energy levels, hole transporting properties and photovoltaic performances of the resulting polymers were systemically studied. All polymers show high molecular weight, good solubility in common solvents, excellent thermal stabilities, finely tunable bandgaps and gradient adjusted energy levels. Above 5 % power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) were achieved for all six polymers in conventional structural solar cells blending with [6,6]-phenyl-C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM), in which the 3-fluorine-4-hexyloxy-phenyl substituted IDT and quinoxaline based polymer ( FO-TQ ) showed a high PCE of 5.97 % due to its high hole mobility and suitable energy level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) type of small molecules based on indacenodithieno[3,2- b ]thiophene ( IDTT ) or indacenodithiophene ( IDT ) as the electron-donating cores were very promising non-fullerene (NF) acceptors to overcome the energy levels and absorption drawbacks of the fullerene-based acceptors in polymer solar cells (PSCs). However, few attempts have been done to develop novel electron-donating cores to construct highly efficient A-D-A acceptors in PSCs. We design and prepare two novel non-fullerene small molecular acceptors ( DTF-IC and DTC-IC) based on dithienocyclopentafluorene and dithienocyclopentacarbazole as the electron-donating cores sealed with 2-(3-oxo-indane-1-ylidene)-malononitrile as the electron-withdrawing groups. The two molecules exhibit relatively high lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels and strong absorption in the region from 550 to 740 nm. Relative to the molecule DTF-IC possessing dithienocyclopentafluorene core, the dithienocyclopentacarbazole based acceptor DTC-IC shows slightly red-shifted absorption spectrum, enhanced extinction coefficients, better crystallinity and improved electron mobility. The polymer solar cells based on these two NF acceptors exhibit power conversion efficiencies of 7% when blended with the narrow bandgap polymer poly({4,8-bis[(5-(2-ethylhexyl)-2-thienyl]benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b ′]dithiophene-2,6-diyl}{3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4- b ]thiophenediyl}) ( PTB7-Th ) in inverted solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new donor-acceptor polymer ( PBDTT-DFTQ ) based on two-dimensional conjugated alkylthienyl substituted benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene and two fluorine substituted quinoxaline derivatives was synthesized and applied as donor materials for bulk heterojunction solar cells. Thermal stability, absorption properties, energy levels and photovoltaic properties of the polymer were intensively investigated. This polymer exhibited an optical bandgap of 1.76 eV and a deep highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level (−5.45 eV). Conventional devices were fabricated using PBDTT-DFTQ as donor blending with [6,6]-phenyl-C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM) as acceptor, a high open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) 0.95 V and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.52% were obtained for the optimal donor and acceptor weight ratio (1:3). After tetrahydrofuran vapor annealing, the device delivers balanced charge transport property and enhanced absorption in the visible region, which are benefit to obtain improved short-circuit current density ( J sc ) and fill factor (FF). Consequently, an enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.76% with a high V oc of 0.92 V, J sc of 11.43 mA cm −2 and FF of 72.1% was achieved, which among one of the best values of benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene and quinoxaline derivatives based alternating polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient wide bandgap small molecular electron acceptor 2,2'-((2Z,2′Z)-(((6,6,12,12-tetraoctyl-6,12-dihydroindeno[1,2- b ]fluorene-2,8-diyl)bis(thiophene-5,2-diyl))bis(methanylylidene))bis(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile ( IFTIC ) based on indenofluorene for organic solar cells was developed. With strong and broad absorption in shortwave region (470–690 nm) and suitable energy levels (HOMO = −5.42 eV, LUMO = −3.85 eV), this newly designed wide bandgap acceptor was able to preferably match the most typical low bandgap polymer donor material poly({4,8-bis[(5-(2-ethylhexyl)-2-thienyl]benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b ′]dithiophene-2,6-diyl}{3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4- b ]thiophenediyl}) ( PTB7-Th ). Benefit from its up-shifted LUMO energy level and complementary absorption spectrum, the inverted device based on IFTIC and PTB7-Th processed power conversion efficiencies (PCE) up to 6.56% and relatively high open circuit voltage ( Voc ) value (0.92 V). These results demonstrate that the indenofluorene type wide bandgap small molecule could be the promising electron acceptor in organic solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a relay network system with amplify and forward protocol, in this paper, analysis of performance is conducted, and an upper bound of pairwise error probability is obtained. Moreover, a scheme of relay selection is analyzed under assumptions that (i) the relays amplify and forward received signals without any signal processing; (ii) the receiver only knows channel state information from the relays to the receiver; and (iii) the transmitter and the relays do not have any channel state information. Based on the upper bound, a criterion of designing codebook is proposed. Surprisingly, this bound shows that increasing the number of relays can hardly improve performance. Furthermore, the error probability is decreasing with a speed of P−1, no matter how large the relay number is, where P is the total energy. Also, for the relay selection, the optimal selecting way is to select only one relay with the largest channel gain, which is very different from existing schemes. These results are all confirmed by simulations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electron–donor polymers containing dibenzo[a,c]phenazine (BPz) derivatives with 2,7-alkyl and 11,12-alkoxy substituted, PBDT-BPzC and PBDT-OBPz , respectively, were synthesized to investigate the photovoltaic effect of different side chain substitutions. The polymers exhibit similar physical properties, except the HOMO and LUMO of PBDT-BPzC are 0.18 and 0.15 eV deeper than PBDT-OBPz , resulting in the V oc of polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on PBDT-BPzC are above 0.1 V higher than that of PBDT-OBPz . With the contribution of the superior V oc , polymer PBDT-BPzC showed preferable photovoltaic performances, and the PCE reached 4.44%, which is 0.49% higher than PBDT-OBPz . This research reveals a preferred side chain substituted way to modify BPz unit, and gives an optimally developing the dibenzo[a,c]phenazine derivatives based electron–donor polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed novel hybrid ligands to passivate PbS colloidal quantum dots (CQDs), and two kinds of solar cells based on as-synthesized CQDs were fabricated to verify the passivation effects of the ligands. It was found that the ligands strongly affected the optical and electrical properties of CQDs, and the performances of solar cells were enhanced strongly. The optimized hybrid ligands, oleic amine/octyl-phosphine acid/CdCl improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) to much higher of 3.72 % for Schottky diode cell and 5.04 % for p-n junction cell. These results may be beneficial to design passivation strategy for low-cost and high-performance CQDs solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To decrease the bandgap and maintain low-lying highest occupied molecular orbit (HOMO) level of TQ1 type polymer, a novel copolymer (TTFQ) using mono-fluorinated quinoxaline as electron-withdrawing unit and thieno[3,2-b]thiophene as electron-rich unit was designed and synthesized. The polymer was characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy and electrochemical cyclic voltammetry (CV) to evaluate its bandgap and molecular energy levels. Thanks to the planar π-conjugated thieno[3,2-b]thiophene segment and fluorinated quinoxaline structure, the resulting polymer TTFQ showed broad absorption area with a small bandgap of 1.65 eV and owned relative deep HOMO level of −5.34 eV. Polymer solar cells (PSCs) were fabricated with TTFQ as donor blended with [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methylester (PC 71 BM) as acceptor. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSC was 2.33% with an open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) of 0.74 V for an optimized TTFQ:PC 71 BM weight ratio of 1:1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of blue-light-emitting conjugated polymers based on electron-donating trifluoren-2-ylamine and electron-deficient dibenzothiophene- S,S -dioxide were synthesized via typical Suzuki coupling reactions. Their thermal, photophysical and electrochemical properties were fully studied. Owing to the excellent thermal stability, film-forming ability as well as the favorable energy levels of the polymers, highly efficient non-doped single-layer blue devices by using these polymers as an emitting layer (EML) were achieved. Among them, the device based on PSFOFN1 showed the highest maximum current efficiency (CE max ) of 1.99 cd/A. Moreover, the device presented small efficiency roll-off with current efficiency (CE) of 1.97 cd/A at high brightness up to 100 cd/m 2 . In addition, the Commission Internationale de L’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of all the devices are very close to the deep blue region. Our findings suggest the potential applications of the polymers in full-color flat-panel displays and organic lighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two alternating polymers based on two-dimensional conjugated benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b ′]difuran and fluorinated quinoxaline derivatives were synthesized. Their structures are poly{4,8-bis(2,3-(dioctyl)thiophen-5-yl)-benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b ′]difuran- alt -5,8-bis(thiophen-2-yl)-6-fluoro-2,3-bis(3-octyloxyphenyl) quinoxaline} ( P1 , mono F) and poly{4,8-bis(2,3-(dioctyl)thiophen-5-yl)-benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b ′]difuran- alt -5,8-bis(thiophen-2-yl)-6,7-difluoro-2,3-bis(3-octyloxyphenyl) quinoxaline} ( P2 , double F). UV–vis absorption measurements show that the difluorinated polymer P2 exists a higher absorption in comparison with the mono fluorinated polymer P1 either in the solution or in the film. Electrochemical measurements confirm that the polymer P2 displays low energy levels (−5.30 eV and −3.25 eV) of both highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) in comparison with those of P1 (−5.25 eV and −3.20 eV). Photovoltaic cells with conventional device configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer:PC 71 BM/PFN/Al were fabricated. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the optimized polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on P1 reaches 2.22% with a current density of 5.28 mA/cm 2 . However, a high PCE of 4.44% with a high current density of 8.74 mA/cm 2 was obtained for the double fluorinated polymer P2 based device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four π-conjugated benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene (BDT) based polymers were synthesized for application in polymer solar cells. These polymers possessed desirable HOMO/LUMO levels for polymer photovoltaic applications. PBDTT–TTz and PBDTT–DTBT displayed strong absorption in the range of 300–650 nm, while PBDTT–DPP and PBDTT–TTDPP showed a further 100 nm extended absorption band. The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels of polymers were tuned effectively from −3.34 eV to −3.81 eV by fusing with different accepting units. A maximum power conversion efficiency of 2.60% was obtained from photovoltaic cells with a PBDTT–TTz : PC61BM (1 : 2, w/w) blend film as the active layer, with a short circuit current density of 8.37 mA cm−2, an open circuit voltage of 0.70 V, and a fill factor of 44.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nogo-B receptor (NgBR) is a type I receptor and specifically binds to ligand Nogo-B. Our previous work has shown that NgBR is highly expressed in human breast invasive ductal carcinoma. Here, comprehensive proteome quantification was performed to examine the alteration of protein expression profile in MDA-MB-231 breast tumor cells after knocking down NgBR using lentivirus-mediated shRNA approach. Among a total of 1771 proteins feasibly quantified, 994 proteins were quantified in two biological replicates with RSD < 50%. There are 122 proteins significantly down-regulated in NgBR knockdown MDA-MB-231 breast tumor cells, such as vimentin and S100A4, well-known markers for mesenchymal cells, and CD44, a stemness indicator. The decrease of vimentin, S100A4 and CD44 protein expression levels was further confirmed by Western blot analysis. MDA-MB-231 cells are typical breast invasive ductal carcinoma cells showing mesenchymal phenotype. Cell morphology analysis demonstrates NgBR knockdown in MDA-MB-231 cells results in reversibility of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is one of the major mechanisms involved in breast cancer metastasis. Furthermore, we demonstrated that NgBR knockdown in MCF-7 cells significantly prevented the TGF-β-induced EMT process as determined by the morphology change, and staining of E-cadherin intercellular junction as well as the decreased expression of vimentin. Biological significance Our previous publication showed that NgBR is highly expressed in human breast invasive ductal carcinoma. However, the roles of NgBR and NgBR-mediated signaling pathway in breast tumor cells are still unclear. Here, we not only demonstrated that the quantitative proteomics analysis is a powerful tool to investigate the global biological function of NgBR, but also revealed that NgBR is involved in the transition of breast epithelial cells to mesenchymal stem cells, which is one of the major mechanisms involved in breast cancer metastasis. These findings provide new insights for understanding the roles of NgBR in regulating breast epithelial cell transform during the pathogenesis of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel alternating copolymer with benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene as electron-rich unit and fluorinated phenanthrenequinoxaline segment as electron-withdrawing unit was synthesized. The polymer showed a low-lying highest occupied molecular orbit energy level of −5.34 eV with a very low bandgap of 1.53 eV. Solar cell devices were fabricated by using the polymer as donor and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester as acceptor, respectively. The photovoltaic properties were studied and power conversion efficiency of 1.90% was obtained with an open-circuit voltage of 0.72 V for an optimal donor/acceptor weight ratio of 1:2 with 3% 1,8-diiodooctane. These results demonstrated that fluorine substituted phenanthrenequinoxaline based D – A conjugated polymer might be promising materials for bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] CaO remarkably affects on the distribution of products from sawdust pyrolysis. [•] A system suitable for high quality fuel gas from biomass pyrolysis is developed. [•] Fuel gas has the tar content of under 50mg/Nm3 and LHV of above 16MJ/Nm3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A narrow-bandgap conjugated polymer, PFDTBTzQ-2OC1, is prepared by alternating [1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-g]quinoxaline and 9,9-didodecyl-fluorene. With a bandgap of 1.63 eV, this polymer has wide absorption ranging from 300-760 nm in film. Bulk heterojunction solar cells fabricated by blending PFDTBTzQ-2OC1 with [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester exhibit a maximum power conversion efficiency of 1.31%, with a short-circuit current density of 1.98 mA cm-2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.74 V, and a fill factor of 0.47. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NgBR is a type I receptor with a single transmembrane domain and was identified as a specific receptor for Nogo-B. Our recent findings demonstrated that NgBR binds farnesylated Ras and recruits Ras to the plasma membrane, which is a critical step required for the activation of Ras signaling in human breast cancer cells and tumorigenesis. Here, we first use immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR approaches to examine the expression patterns of Nogo-B and NgBR in both normal and breast tumor tissues. Then, we examine the relationship between NgBR expression and molecular subtypes of breast cancer, and the roles of NgBR in estrogen-dependent survivin signaling pathway. Results showed that NgBR and Nogo-B protein were detected in both normal and breast tumor tissues. However, the expression of Nogo-B and NgBR in breast tumor tissue was much stronger than in normal breast tissue. The statistical analysis demonstrated that NgBR is highly associated with ER-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer. We also found that the expression of NgBR has a strong correlation with the expression of survivin, which is a well-known apoptosis inhibitor. The correlation between NgBR and survivin gene expression was further confirmed by real-time PCR. In vitro results also demonstrated that estradiol induces the expression of survivin in ER-positive T47D breast tumor cells but not in ER-negative MDA-MB-468 breast tumor cells. NgBR knockdown with siRNA abolishes estradiol-induced survivin expression in ER-positive T47D cells but not in ER-negative MDA-MB-468 cells. In addition, estradiol increases the expression of survivin and cell growth in ER-positive MCF-7 and T47D cells whereas knockdown of NgBR with siRNA reduces estradiol-induced survivin expression and cell growth. In summary, these results indicate that NgBR is a new molecular marker for breast cancer. The data suggest that the expression of NgBR may be essential in promoting ER-positive tumor cell proliferation via survivin induction in breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Three novel donor-acceptor polymers have been synthesized with Suzuki cross-coupling between thiophenyl-methylene-9H-fluorene donating unit with thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole (PFTTTz), benzothiadiazole (PFTODTBT) or [1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-g]quinoxaline (PFTDTBTzQ) accepting unit. The polymer PFTTTz-THF prepared from tetrahydrofuran (THF) presented higher molecular weight and narrower polydiversity than that from toluene (PFTTTz-toluene), leading to higher photovoltaic performance in BHJ devices of these polymers blended with PC71BM ([6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester). These good solution processable polymers exhibit a bandgap of 1.66–1.93 eV and a low highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level ∼ −5.32 eV. Polymers PFTTTz and PFTODTBT displayed strong absorption in the range of 300–650 nm, while PFTDTBTzQ showed a further 100 nm extended absorption band. Overall efficiencies over 1.5% are achieved for BHJ devices fabricated from blends of PFTTTz with PC71BM as active layer. A maximum power conversion efficiency of 2.21% is obtained by the use of interlayer poly[(9,9-dioctyl-2,7-fluorene)-alt-(9,9-bis(3′-( N, N-dimethylamino)propyl)-2,7-fluorene)] (PFN) and Ca between active layer and Al anode. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An efficient method of hydrogen production from biomass was studied in this paper. The pyrolysis of biomass was combined with the secondary decomposition of gaseous intermediate for hydrogen-rich gas production, with the avoidance of N2 and CO2 dilution to the energy density of gaseous effluents. In order to acquire the optimum conditions for hydrogen generation, effects of operating parameters on this two-step decomposition of biomass were analyzed through simulation of thermodynamic equilibrium and experiments using Ni/cordierite catalyst. The results indicate that the operating parameters, including pyrolysis temperature 923K, 18min of residence time, the secondary decomposition temperature 1123K and molar steam to carbon ratio 2, satisfy all the criteria for high hydrogen content and energy efficiency. Hydrogen content of above 60% and hydrogen yield of around 65g/kg biomass were achieved with optimized conditions. The hydrogen-rich gas is preferred for potential utilization in downstream fuel cells for the implementation of distributed energy supply, and is also practical for pure hydrogen production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Steam reforming of tar during biomass pyrolysis for hydrogen will not only avoid frequent equipment shutdown for maintenance and repair but also increase hydrogen yield. In this paper, the effects of temperature and steam/carbon molar ration on steam reforming of toluene as model compound of tar was studied by simulation of thermodynamic equilibrium and experiments using Ni/cordierite catalyst in a fixed bed reactor. The results of thermodynamic simulations indicate that the S/C molar ratio of 2 and the temperature range from 1023K to 1173K provide favorable operating conditions for steam reforming of toluene in order to get high hydrogen productivity. These operating parameters were adopted in the experiments using Ni/cordierite catalyst in a fixed bed reactor. H2 content remains about 66mol% and slightly varies with the increasing temperature. Conversion efficiency of toluene increases with temperature, reaching 94.1% at 1173K. The simulation was improved in order to be closer to experimental results. It is found that only a very small amount of toluene did not participate in the reaction. In the aromatic hydrocarbons of reactive system, benzene and naphthalene were the main products and the proportion of naphthalene decreases with increasing temperature while that of benzene increases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • The biomass catalyst pyrolysis is assisted by a magnetic field. • 10 wt.% Ni/CaO with magnetic property has the favorable catalytic ability. • The liquid yield is decreased and the gas yield is increased by magnetic field. • The H 2 content and yield increased significantly to 62.2 vol.% and 469.22 mL/g. To prepare H 2 -rich gases from wood sawdust, thermal conversion experiments were conducted using magnetic field-assisted catalytic pyrolysis of biomass. The effects of catalyst content, magnetic field intensity and temperature on H 2 production by pyrolysis of biomass were studied. The experimental results indicated that a 10 wt.% Ni/CaO catalyst with magnetic property presented favorable catalytic ability to produce H 2 by biomass pyrolysis. The H 2 content and yield increased with increasing magnetic field intensity. Under the condition of temperature of 650 ℃, the magnetic field intensity of 80 m T and 10 wt.% Ni/CaO catalyst, the H 2 content and yield reached 62.20 vol.% and 469.2 mL/g. Compared with the absence of a magnetic field, they increased by 9.50 % and 19.78 %, respectively. Thus, H 2 -rich gas production by biomass catalytic pyrolysis assisted with a magnetic field is a promising technology for biomass utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past five years, plentiful efficient polymer solar cells (PSCs) developed rapidly with the application of small molecules as non‐fullerene acceptors (NFAs). Although most of the synthesized NFAs have planar backbones, the backbone twisted NFAs have exhibited impressive performances in devices with wide‐bandgaps polymer donors like J52 and PBDB‐T. To boost the performances of PSCs based on NFAs with contorting backbone, a systematic study of a twisted NFA (i‐IEICO‐4F), with J52 and its halogenated counterparts was conducted, because the attached halogen atoms have strong effects on the frontier molecular orbitals and the aggregation properties of the polymers. Despite the polymers possessing similar absorption spectra, they exhibited continuously deepened molecular energy levels. Among the three polymers, the device based on J52‐2F and i‐IEICO‐4F achieved the lowest efficiency of 11.78 %. Although differed in open‐circuit voltages and short‐circuit current densities, the J52‐ and J52‐2Cl‐based devices successfully acquired enhanced fill factors of 67.0 % and 67.6 %, giving rise to enhanced efficiencies of 12.47 % and 12.69 %. The superior performance of J52‐2Cl‐based device stems from its deepened molecular energy levels, improved charge transport properties, and better morphological features, demonstrating the important influence of halogenation substitution on the characteristic regulation of wide‐bandgap conjugated polymers for high‐performance PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through changing the terminated groups, three asymmetric non-fullerene acceptors containing a 4,4,9,9-tetramethyl-4,9-dihydroselenopheno[2',3':5,6]- s -indaceno[1,2- b ]thiophene fused-ring core were designed and synthesized. The resultant acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) type of small molecules all show broad absorption spectra with tunable molecular energy levels and distinct molar extinction coefficients in solutions. The 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1 H -inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile terminated molecule (T-Se), has the smallest molar extinction coefficient of 1.83 × 105 M−1cm−1 with a bandgap of 1.62 eV, and a high-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level (−3.83 eV). For the fluorinated molecule T-Se-4F , its molar absorption coefficient is enhanced to 2.05 × 105 M−1 cm−1, and its bandgap is narrowed to 1.58 eV, while its LUMO energy level is down-shifted to −3.93 eV. As for the molecule T-Se-Th having thiophene functionalized end-group, although the acquired LUMO energy level (−3.88 eV) is in between that of T-Se and T-Se-4F , it possesses the largest molar extinction coefficient (2.40 × 105 M−1cm−1), and a moderate bandgap of 1.60 eV. In solar cells with PM6 as electron-donor, the T-Se-4F- and T-Se-Th- based devices have superior exciton dissociation and charge collection properties, more weakly bimolecular recombination probabilities, and better electron transportability. As the results of the preceding characteristics, the T-Se-4F- and T-Se-Th- based devices achieve a higher current of 18.09 and 16.90 mA cm−2, better fill factors of 66.6 and 66.8%, relative to the 12.80 mA cm−2 and 62.1% of the T-Se- based device. Benefitting from the medium open-circuit voltage (V OC , 0.912 V), the T-Se-Th -based device successfully achieved the best power conversion efficiency of 10.29% among the three molecules. In contrast, the T-Se- and T-Se-4F- based devices owned the highest V OC of 0.935 V and the lowest V OC of 0.781 V, leading to the low efficiency of 7.44% and moderate efficiency of 9.41%, respectively, revealing the significant impact of the terminal groups on the properties of 4,4,9,9-tetramethyl-4,9-dihydroselenopheno[2',3':5,6]- s -indaceno[1,2- b ]thiophene based asymmetric non-fullerene acceptors. Image 1 • Three asymmetric small molecule acceptors containing selenophene ring were synthesized. • The acceptor T-Se-Th showed a red-shifted spectrum with an enhanced extinct coefficient. • The acceptor T-Se-Th-based device successfully achieved high efficiency of 10.29%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By altering the end-capping groups from 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro- 1H -inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile to 2-(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro- 1H -inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile and 2-(5,6-dichloro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro- 1H -inden-1-ylidene)malononitrile, three asymmetric non-fullerene electron-acceptors (T-TT , T-TT-4F , and T-TT-4Cl) containing thiophene–phenylene–thieno[3,2- b ]thiophene fused-ring as the electron-donating core were synthesized. Although the three asymmetric molecules all have bent geometries, the di-fluorinated and di-chlorinated acceptors show bathochromically-shifted spectra, enhanced molar extinct coefficients, deepened molecular energy levels, and reduced dipole moments. When blending with a wide-bandgap polymer PM6 in inverted solar cells, the T-TT- based device exhibits the highest open-circuit voltage (V OC) of 0.966 V, while the T-TT-4Cl- based device has the biggest short-circuit current density (J SC) of 19.00 mA cm−2, and the T-TT-4F- based device possesses the best fill factor (FF) of 66.1%, a moderate V OC (0.859 V), and a medium J SC (18.48 mA cm−2). As a result of the above properties and parameters, the T-TT-4F- and T-TT-4Cl- based solar cells successfully achieved high power conversion efficiencies of 10.49% and 10.16%, in comparison with that of 9.70% for the T-TT -based device, illustrating the importance of the influences of the terminal groups on the performances of asymmetric small molecular acceptors-based polymer solar cells. Image 1 • Three thiophene–phenylene–thieno[3,2- b ]thiophene-based asymmetric small molecule electronic-acceptors were synthesized. • The two halogenated acceptors show red-shifted spectra, enhanced extinct coefficients, and deepened energy levels. • The di-fluorinated acceptor T-TT-4F-based device successfully achieves a high efficiency of 10.49%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of non-fullerene (NF) acceptors in bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells (PSCs) is a promising approach to overcome the inherent drawbacks of fullerene derivatives-based acceptors. In PSCs, complementary absorption as well as matched molecular energy levels between the low bandgap acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) small molecular acceptor and medium/wide bandgap polymer donor is crucial to achieve high power conversion efficiency (PCE). Alternating polymers based on benzodithiophene (BDT) electron-donating segment and thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione (TPD) electron-withdrawing segment own medium bandgap and low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level, leading to presentable photovoltaic properties with fullerene derivatives. To probe into the performances of TPD-based polymers in NF-PSCs, two TPD-based polymers containing alkoxy or alkylthienyl modified benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene (BDT) were synthesized and adopted as electron-donors and blended with A-D-A-type electron-acceptor 2,2′-[[6,6,12,12-tetrakis(4- hexylphenyl)- s -indacenodithieno[3,2-b]thiophene]methylidyne(3-oxo-1 H -indene-2,1(3 H)-diylidene)]]bis(propanedinitrile) (ITIC) to fabricate the corresponding photovoltaic devices. The two-dimensional conjugated polymer PBDTT-TPD shows enhanced extinction coefficient, deeper HOMO energy level and better hole transport performance, resulting in improved PCE of 6.17%. To further boost the performances of the polymers, a small molecular acceptor 2,2′-((2 Z ,2′ Z)-((4,4,9,9-tetrahexyl-4,9-dihydro- s -indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene-2,7-diyl) bis(methanylylidene))bis(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro- 1H -indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (IDIC) with down-shifted energy level was also used to blend with the two polymers in PSCs. Despite the open-circuit voltage (V OC) of the PBDTT-TPD : IDIC -based device is slightly decreased, the short-circuit current density (J SC) and fill factor (FF) are simultaneously improved, yielding an promising PCE of 7.15%. These results indicate that two-dimensional conjugated TPD-based polymers can be potential application as medium bandgap polymeric donor to match with small molecular acceptors having suitable molecular energy levels to get high efficiency in PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass thermochemical conversion with in situ CO2 capture is a promising technology in the production of high-quality gas. The adsorption competition mechanism of gas molecules (H2O, CO2, CO, CH4, and H2) on CaO-based catalyst surfaces was studied using density functional theory (DFT) and experimental methods. The adsorption characteristics of CO2 on CaO and 10 wt % Ni/CaO (100) surfaces were investigated in a temperature range of 550–700 °C. The adsorption energies were increased and then weakened, reaching their maximum at 650 °C. The simulation results were verified by CO2 temperature-programmed desorption (CO2-TPD) experiments. By the density of states and Mulliken population analysis, CaO doped with Ni caused a change in the electronic structure of the Osurf atom and decreased the C–O bond stability. The molecular competition mechanism on the CaO-based catalyst surface was identified by DFT simulation. As a result, the adsorption energies decreased in the following order: H2O > CO2 > CO > CH4 > H2. The increase of CO2 adsorption energy on the 10 wt % Ni/CaO surface, compared with the CaO surface, was the largest among those of the studied molecules, and its value increased from 1.45 eV to 1.81 eV. Therefore, the 10 wt % Ni/CaO catalyst is conducive to in situ CO2 capture in biomass pyrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlled sequential crystallization of donors and acceptors is a critical factor for achieving enhanced phase separation and efficient charge transfer performance in polymer solar cells (PSCs). In this study, a comprehensive investigation of a structurally simple solvent additive, 1‐fluoro‐2‐iodobenzene (OFIB) is conducted, which efficiently controls the morphology of the active layer, resulting in fibrous assembly and significantly enhancing the power conversion efficiency from 16.34% to 18.38% based on the PM6:L8‐BO system. Density functional theory, molecular dynamics simulations, and grazing incidence small‐ and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering techniques reveal that the addition of OFIB to the processed blend aligns the orientation of the acceptor molecules, thereby enhancing the overall π–π stacking in the active layer. OFIB establishes nearly equal‐strength π–π interactions with the conjugated frameworks of both the donor and acceptor materials, benefiting from the multiple electron conjugation between its iodine atom and the conjugated framework in the active layer. Femtosecond‐timescale photophysical studies demonstrate that the OFIB‐optimized active layer shows reduced exciton losses at the donor–acceptor interface. This study offers a new perspective on the mechanism underlying the function of solvent additives and presents a comprehensive research methodology that will guide the development of next‐generation non‐fullerene acceptors for efficient PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and borehole drilling were used to study the mechanism of four large-scale water inrush events that occurred during the mining of the 1121 working face in the Hongliu coal mine in the Ningdong mine area. We concluded that the working face inrush was induced by water in the bed separations formed by overlying strata movement caused by the mining process. To control such inrushes, the location, size, and hydrogeological properties of the 18 m thick key aquiclude were investigated. We determined that the best time to drain the bed separation water was between when the beds separated and the roof caved, before water inrush occurred. The best place to drain water from was directly above the key aquiclude. These results should be useful for other sites with similar mine conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P -type copper niobate (CuNb 2 O 6) was prepared for the first time by a two-step spray pyrolysis method on FTO glass substrates. Its feasibility in photoelectrochemical (PEC) decomposition water was systematically evaluated. The physical and photophysical properties of the thin film, including band edge position, bandgap energy, carrier lifetime, and incident photo-to-current efficiency (IPCE), were characterized and analyzed. The optical band gap of the prepared gray CuNb 2 O 6 film is ∼1.41 eV, which indicates that it can absorb visible light and achieve sunlight-driven water splitting. The photocurrent density under simulated sunlight at AM1.5 was 0.25 mA/cm2, and the IPCE value could reach up to 3% at 400 nm in an aqueous solution (pH = 6.8) when applying a bias of 0.4 V vs. RHE. Despite exhibiting a good optical band gap and photocurrent density, the fabricated p -CuNb 2 O 6 thin films remained unstable under illumination in aqueous solutions due to the reduction reaction of copper. Based on these findings, this study provides a new opinion on the applicability of CuNb 2 O 6 as a photocathode material for PEC water splitting. P -type copper niobate (CuNb 2 O 6) was prepared for the first time by a two-step spray pyrolysis method on FTO glass substrates. Its feasibility in photoelectrochemical (PEC) decomposition water was systematically evaluated. The physical and photophysical properties of the thin film, including band edge position, bandgap energy, carrier lifetime, and incident photo-to-current efficiency (IPCE), were characterized and analyzed. [Display omitted] • P -type copper niobate (CuNb 2 O 6) was prepared for the first time by a two-step spray pyrolysis method. • The physical and photophysical properties of the thin films were characterized and analyzed. • The highest photocurrent density of −0.25 mA/cm2 was obtained at 0.4 V vs. RHE. • This study provides a new opinion on the applicability of CuNb 2 O 6 as a photocathode material for PEC water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Ionic liquids (ILs) as promising solvents have been quickly designed and applied in many areas spanning from electrochemistry, energy, chemical synthesis and catalysis to pharmaceutics. In recent ten years, with the advantages of good thermal stability, high chemical stability and strong dissolving power, ILs have also been good alternative to traditional organic and inorganic solvent for protein analysis, especially for large-scale proteomic studies. Herein, we present a critical overview of the advances of ILs for protein analysis. We give major coverage to applications of ILs in protein solubility, stability, refolding, extraction, crystallization, as well as large-scale proteomics analysis, and discuss the application potential of ILs still needed to be studied. We also comment on promising trends for ILs in proteome and interactome. Highlights • Present a critical overview of the advances of ionic liquids for protein analysis. • Review the applications of ionic liquids in single protein analysis. • Review the advances of ionic liquids for proteomics analysis. • Discuss the application potential of ionic liquids still needed to be studied in single protein and proteomics analysis. • Discuss the promising trends for ionic liquids in proteome and interactome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • TG-FTIR and thermodynamic analysis method are used. • CaO catalyst improves the quality of cracking gas. • In-situ CO 2 capture relieves thermodynamic constraints. Abstract Thermochemical conversion technology can be employed for the utilization of biomass resource, which not only disposes of the waste polluting the environment but also produces biomass gas and bio-oil for industrial applications. In this work, CaO catalyst was used to catalyze the pyrolysis of herb residues to produce biobased gas. The mechanism of biomass pyrolysis with in-situ CO 2 capture was studied by experimental investigation and thermodynamic simulation. The results of the thermogravimetric and infrared analysis showed that CaO could promote biomass pyrolysis, water gas shift reaction, methanation reaction, and macromolecular transformation, thus significantly improving the quality of catalytic cracking gas. The further mechanistic study indicated that in-situ CO 2 capture promoted by CaO relieved the thermodynamic constraints of methanation at high temperature and achieved a high CH 4 selectivity in the temperature range of biomass pyrolysis and tar catalytic cracking, which is consistent with the result of the thermodynamic analysis. Mechanistically, CaO promotes the water gas shift reaction by absorbing CO 2 , reduces the volume contents of CO 2 and CO in gas and improves H 2 and CH 4 concentration to afford high-quality gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, LDHs-derived Ni–Al nanosheet arrays (NiAl/NA) were successfully synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method, and applied in the steam-reforming of glycerol reaction for enhanced and stable hydrogen production. The physicochemical properties of catalysts were characterized using various techniques, including XRD, SEM–EDS, XPS, N2-physisorption, Raman, and TG–DTG. The results indicate that smooth and cross-linked Ni–Al mixed metal oxide nanosheets were orderly and perpendicularly grown on the Ni foam substrate. The SEM line scan characterization reveals the metal concentration gradient from the bottom to the top of nanosheet, which leads to distinctly optimized Ni valence states and an optimized binding strength to oxygen species. Owing to the improved reducibility and more exposed active sites afforded by its array structures, the NiAl/NA catalyst shows enhanced glycerol conversion (83.1%) and a higher H2 yield (85.4%), as well as longer stability (1000 min), compared to the traditional Ni–Al nanosheet powder. According to the characterization results of spent catalysts and to density functional theory (DFT) calculations, coke deposition is effectively suppressed via array construction, with only 1.25 wt.% of amorphous carbons formed on NiAl/NA catalyst via CO disproportionation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZrO2 and catalysts were prepared by a co-precipitate method and coupled with a HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst through a mechanical mixing method; these were applied to the direct synthesis of aromatic hydrocarbons from syngas through an oxygen-containing intermediate route. The physical and chemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, H2-TPR, CO2-TPD, and SEM methods. The comparative catalytic effects of ZrO2 and MgZrOx catalysts were discussed under different reaction conditions. The reaction results showed that the addition of Mg to a ZrO2 catalyst reduced the selectivity of CO2 by inhibiting the water–gas conversion reaction, and increased the selectivity of aromatics and the proportion of BTX in aromatic products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Quantitative analysis of GHGs emission in mainstream sludge treatment was studied. • Incineration and bio-stabilization technologies have high GHGs reduction potential. • The LCA method needs to be improved and unified in GWP of sludge treatment. • Resource recovery coupled with N 2 O and CH 4 reduction are the key points. • Novel anaerobic digestion pathways have considerable GHGs reduction potential. This study aims to comprehensively analyze the Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions from current sewage sludge treatment and disposal technologies (building material, landfill, land spreading, anaerobic digestion, and thermochemical processes) based on the database of Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) from 1998 to 2020. The general patterns, spatial distribution, and hotspots were provided by bibliometric analysis. A comparative quantitative analysis based on life cycle assessment (LCA) put forward the current emission situation and the key influencing factors of different technologies. The effective GHG emissions reduction methods were proposed to mitigate climate change. Results showed that incineration or building materials manufacturing of highly dewatered sludge, and land spreading after anaerobic digestion have the best GHG emissions reduction benefits. Biological treatment technologies and thermochemical processes have great potential for reducing GHGs. Enhancement of pretreatment effect, co-digestion, and new technologies (e.g., injection of carbon dioxide, directional acidification) are major approaches to facilitate substitution emissions in sludge anaerobic digestion. The relationship between the quality and efficiency of secondary energy in thermochemical process and GHGs emission still needs further study. Solid sludge products generated by bio-stabilization or thermochemical processes are considered to have a certain carbon sequestration value and can improve the soil environment to control GHG emissions. The findings are useful for future development and processes selection of sludge treatment and disposal facing carbon footprint reduction. Graphical Abstract. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, pyrolysis gasification experiment was carried out on a dual circulating fluidized bed gasifier using Chinese herb residues as raw material, and the effects of gasification temperature, the moisture content of raw materials, air equivalence ratio ER and steam to biomass mass ratio (S/B) on gasification characteristics were studied. The results show that the increase of gasification temperature can promote the gasification reaction and improve the gas production quality as well as the gasification efficiency. The rise of moisture content of raw materials leads to the decrease of the gasification temperature and φ CO , the significant increase of φ CO 2 , φ H 2 , gas heat value and gasification efficiency all showed the tendency to increase first and then decrease. With the increase of ER, the combustible gas, especially φ CO reduced continuously, leading to the gradual decrease of the calorific value of gas, φ CO 2 , carbon conversion rate and gasification efficiency increased firstly and then decreased. A certain amount of steam ratio can improve the gas quality and the gasification efficiency, but excessive steam will restrain the gasification, S/B has a suitable threshold range. When the raw material moisture content was controlled between 5 and 10%, the gasification temperature was between 750 and 800 °C, ER 0.23–0.26 and S/B 0.4–0.6, the residue gasification system in dual circulating fluidized bed displays good gasification characteristics with more than 8 MJ/m 3 the calorific value and 75% gasification efficiency. The results can provide a theoretical reference for the improvement of dual circulating fluidized bed gasification process and the further deepening utilization of Chinese herb residue resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, various enzymatic microreactors and on-line enzyme digestion strategies have been widely applied in high throughput proteome analysis. However, the incomplete and irreproducible digestion would introduce some unexpected variations in comparative proteome quantification when the samples are digested and then chemically isotope labeled in different aliquots. To address these problems, we developed an integrated platform for high throughput proteome quantification with combination of on-line low miss-cleavage protein digestion by an ultra-performance immobilized enzymatic reactor, on-line dimethyl labeling onto a C18 precolumn, peptide separation by two-dimensional nano liquid chromatography and MS detection. Compared to traditional off-line method, such a platform exhibits obvious advantages such as high sensitivity, throughput, accuracy, precision and ease of automation. All these results demonstrated that such a platform might become a promising technique for the quantitative proteome analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ubiquitination is a reversible post-translational modification that plays a pivotal role in numerous biological processes. Antibody-based approaches, as the most used methods for identifying ubiquitination sites, exist sequence recognition bias, high cost, and ubiquitin-like protein modification interference, limiting their widespread application. Here, we proposed an Antibody-Free approach for Ubiquitination Profiling, termed AFUP, by selectively clicking the ubiquitinated lysine to enrich and profile endogenous ubiquitinated peptides using mass spectrometry. Briefly, protein amines were blocked with formaldehyde, and then the ubiquitin molecules were hydrolyzed from the ubiquitinated proteins by non-specific deubiquitinases USP2 and USP21 to release the free ε-amine of lysine. Peptides containing free ε-amines were selectively enriched with streptavidin beads upon NHS-SS-biotin labeling. Finally, the enriched peptides were eluted by DTT and analyzed by LC-MS/MS, resulting in ubiquitination profiling. Preliminary experiment showed that 349 ± 7 ubiquitination sites were identified in 0.8 mg HeLa lysates with excellent reproducibility (CV = 2%) and high quantitative stability (Pearson, r ≥ 0.91) using our method. With the combination of AFUP and simple basic C18 pre-fractionation, approximately 4000 ubiquitination sites were identified in a single run of 293T cells. In addition, we showed that 209 ubiquitination sites were significantly regulated in UBE2O knockdown cells after normalized to protein abundance. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that AFUP is a robust alternative strategy for ubiquitomics research. [Display omitted] • An antibody-free approach for endogenous ubiquitination profiling was proposed. • The enrichment of ubiquitinated peptides was achieved by selectively clicking the ubiquitinated lysine ε-amine using cleavable biotinylation reagent. • A substate dataset regulated by UBE2O was built by AFUP strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction technology was adopted to convert the Chinese herb residue (CHR) into liquid bio-oil. The effect of the reaction conditions was investigated including temperature, water/biomass mass ratio (W/B) and time. Different combinations of Fe, Ni and ZSM-5 molecular sieve catalyst were evaluated to improve the bio-oil quality. The optimized liquefaction parameters were determined through experiments, which were the reaction temperature of 320 °C, W/B of 15:1, and reaction time of 10 min; the yield and high heat value (HHV) of bio-oil were 24.7 wt% and 29.39 MJ/kg, respectively. There was a synergy between Fe and ZSM-5, and Fe/ZSM-5 can achieve in situ hydrodeoxygenation in the liquefaction process, increasing the HHV of bio-oil to 31.74 M J/kg at 10 wt% loading with the yield of 21.3 wt%. The enhancement of bio-oil quality by Ni/ZSM-5 was weak due to the cleavage of C–C bond by Ni, resulting in the poor HHV and a low yield; the catalytic performance of Fe–Ni/ZSM-5 was between the former two catalysts. Elemental analysis and GC-MS showed that Fe/ZSM-5 increased H/C and decreased O/C in bio-oil, and the content of aliphatic compounds in bio-oil increased to 72.96%. • Chinese herb residue can be efficiently utilized by hydrothermal liquefaction. • Reaction temperature and W/B have a significant effect. • The operating conditions were given for highest yields of bio-oil. • Fe/ZSM-5 exhibits synergistic effect of hydrodeoxygenation. • 10 wt% Fe/ZSM-5 increases the HHV of bio-oil to 31.74 MJ/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]