Differences between Zn/HZSM-5 and Zn/HZSM-11 zeolite catalysts in alkylation of benzene with dimethyl ether

HZSM-11 zeolite supported Zn catalysts with different Zn contents （xZn/HZSM-11A） were prepared. In the alkylation of benzene with dimethyl ether （DME） in a fixed bed reactor, the catalyst with Zn content of 6 wt% （6Zn/HZSM-11A） showed appropriate performance. Focus was put on the comparison between 6Zn/HZSM-5 and 6Zn/HZSM-11 with the same crystal size of 600-800 nm, and also with the similar BET surface area, micropore volume, Si/Al2 molar ratio, and acidity. In the alkylation of benzene with DME, the 6Zn/HZSM-11 showed better activity and stability, and especially enhanced the conversion of benzene and selectivities to xylene and trimethylbenzene, compared with the 6Zn/HZSM-5. This was mainly related to the higher adsorption capacity and adsorption-desorption rates to the three adsorbates （benzene, m-xylene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene） over the 6Zn/HZSM-11 in comparison with the 6Zn/HZSM-5.     

Fractional pyrolysis of Cyanobacteria from water blooms over HZSM-5 for high quality bio-oil production

Fractional pyrolysis and one-step pyrolysis of natural algae Cyanobacteria from Taihu Lake were comparatively studied from 200 to 500 ℃. One-step pyrolysis produced bio-oil with complex composition and low high heating value （HHV〈30.9 MJ/kg）. Fractional pyrolysis separated the degradation of different components in Cyanobacteria and improved the selectivity to products in bio-oil. That is, acids at 200 ℃, amides and acids at 300 ℃, phenols and nitriles at 400 ℃, and phenols at 500 ℃, were got as main products, respectively. HZSM-5 could promote the dehydration, cracking and aromatization of pyrolytic intermediates in fractional pyrolysis. At optimal HZSM-5 catalyst dosage of 1.0 g, the selectivity to products and the quality of bio-oil were improved obviously. The main products in bio-oil changed to nitriles （47.2%） at 300 ℃, indoles （51.3%） and phenols （36.3%） at 400 ℃. The oxygen content was reduced to 7.2 wt% and 9.4 wt%, and the HHV was raised to 38.1 and 37.3 MJ/kg at 300 and 400 ℃, respectively. Fractional catalytic pyrolysis was proposed to be an efficient method not only to provide a potential solution for alleviating environmental pressure from water blooms, but also to improve the selectivity to products and obtain high quality bio-oil.     

Influence of Reverse Pressure on the Shear Viscosity of Hydrophilic Poly（ethylene terephthalate） Melt

The effect of reverse pressure.on rheological behavior has been studied. The apparatus is a capillary rheometer with counter pressure chamber being held at a high reverse pressure by means of a cock. The results show that with the increase in temperature, the shear viscosity of hydrophilic PET is reduced. It is different that the effect of temperature on shear viscosity is varied under the condition of all shear rates or all pressures, and the effect is more prominent at 50 MPa or at 216 s-1. At the same time, the pressure coefficients decrease with increasing the shear rate and the temperature and tend to reach a constant value nearly at the temperature of 290 °C.     

Preparation of cassava starch-based superabsorbent polymer using a twin-roll mixer as reactor

Cassava starch-based superabsorbent polymer was successfully synthesized using a new technology that based on modification of a Haake twin-roll mixer as reactor. The cassava starch was first gelatinized then modified by grafting under external shear stress in the reactor. The torque and temperature curves as a function of time can reflect the variations in the reactor and also offer some information about the copolymerization reaction. The advantages of this system include starch modification can be carried out(1) with high starch concentration,(2) under controlled time and(3) smaller amount of sample(60 g) required. The technology provides useful guides for reactive extrusion. The starch grafted composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) and thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA). The TGA was also used for determining the percentage of grafting ratio. The results show that the cassava starch has been successfully grafted with acrylamide then crosslinked by N,N′-methylene-bisacrylamide using this reactor. The ultimate water absorbent capacity of the cassava-based superabsorbent polymer impacted by various pH values illustrated that the acid and basic solutions inhibit the ability of imbibing water. Additionally, gel properties of the cassava-based superabsorbent polymer were investigated. It can be concluded that the structure of cassava gel is stable, while the three dimensional network of cassava-based superabsorbent polymer is rigid but its structure could not resist external force effectively and everlastingly since G′ was decreased with increasing amplitude.     

Effect of Functionalized Magnetite Nanoparticles and Diaminoxanthone on the Curing,Thermal Degradation Kinetic and Corrosion Property of Diglycidyl Ether of Bisphenol A-Based Epoxy Resin

To prepare a high-performance epoxy resin with excellent thermal, chemical and corrosion stability, diaminoxanthone（DAX） was used to cure diglycidylether of bisphenol-A（DGEBA）-based epoxy resin and blend of DGEBA with functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Kinetic parameters of curing and thermal degradation of epoxy resin systems were estimated by differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） and thermogravimetric analysis（TGA）, respectively. The 10% weight loss temperature has been increased from 340 °C to 366 °C and there was an increase in the char yield from 32.6% to 45.3% for the above systems. The corrosion performance of epoxy coated carbon steel was examined by potentiodynamic polarization, along with immersion test in 1.0 mol/L HCl solution. The results showed that epoxy resins cured with DAX had low tendency to corrosion. In addition, the cured epoxy resin containing 10% Fe3O4 had higher anticorrosion activity than bare DGEBA system. The results showed that functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles enhanced char formation and improved the thermal stability as well as anticorrosion activity of the resin.     

Influence of aliphatic amide terminals on the thermoresponsive properties of hyperbranched polyethylenimines

Acetamide(C2), propionamide(C3), butyramide(C4), isobutyramide(i-C4), isovaleramide(i-C5) and trimethylacetamide(t-C5) groups each were introduced to the terminals of hyperbranched polyethylenimine(HPEI) through the amidation reaction between HPEI and the corresponding anhydride. Moreover, HPEIs terminated with two kinds of amides were also prepared. The first amide was fixed to be i-C4 with 52% degree of amidation(DA), and the second amide varied from C2, C3, C4, i-C5 to t-C5. All the polymers were characterized by 1H-NMR. Turbidimetry measurements were performed for these polymers in water at different temperatures. With respect to the polymers bearing only one kind of amide group, except C2, all the other amide groups could render thermoresponsive properties to HPEI. The specific ordering of these amide groups to reduce the cloud point temperature(Tcp) was as follows: i-C5 t-C5 C4 i-C4 C3. Moreover, the more branched i-C4 and t-C5 were better groups than their less branched isomers C4 and i-C5 in the Tcp range of 12-51 °C to render the sharper phase transition to the thermoresponsive polymers. As for the polymers bearing two kinds of amide groups, the further introduction of C2, C3, C4, i-C5 or t-C5 could effectively endow HPEI bearing 52% of i-C4 with thermoresponsive properties. The specific ordering of these second amide groups to reduce the Tcp was as follows: i-C5 C4 i-C4 C3 C2. C4, i-C5 and t-C5 were all effective second amide groups to prepare the thermoresponsive polymers with sharper phase transition.     

Electrospun Nanofibers Containing p-Nitrophenol Imprinted Nanoparticles for the Hydrolysis of Paraoxon

p-Nitrophenol imprinted nanoparticles with a size range of 150-300 nm in diameter were prepared through miniemulsion polymerization. The imprinted polymer exhibited higher adsorption capacity for p-nitrophenol than the nonimprinted polymer. The hydrolysis of paraoxon in aqueous phase can be accelerated in the presence of the p-nitrophenol imprinted nanoparticles. The hydrolysis rate of paraoxon incorporated with the imprinted nanoparticles was 2.83×10-7 mol/（L·min）, which was about 3.7 times higher compared to the non-imprinted nanoparticles, 12.7 times higher to the spontaneous hydrolysis. The nanoparticles have been mixed with polyacrylonitrile solution and electrospun into nanofibers, which can also be used to accelerate the hydrolysis of paraoxon and conveniently separated from liquid phase for further processing.     

Miscibility between PS and PSAN Affected by Solvent and Temperature of the System

The influence of solvent on the miscibility of polystyrene（PS） and poly（styrene-co-acrylonitrile）（PSAN） blends has been investigated viscometrically. The miscibility of different PS/PSAN blend（30/70, 50/50 and 70/30） compositions in acetone and benzene at 20, 30, and 40 °C was investigated on the basis of the sign of Chee（ΔB and ）, and Sun’s（α） criteria. The values of these parameters were evaluated from the analyses of reduced viscosity data of binary（solvent/polymer） and ternary（solvent/polymer1/polymer2） polymer systems. These investigations indicated partial miscibility for both the blend systems. However, PS/PSAN/acetone blend system showed somewhat higher partial miscibility than the PS/PSAN/Benzene blend system highlighting the impact of solvent over the polymer-polymer interactions and hence their miscibility. The results obtained through viscometry were also corroborated by the refractive index and density results for the blends under study. The effect of temperature on miscibility in both the cases was almost negligible.     

Low Temperature Heat Capacities and Thermodynamic Properties of Zinc L-Threonate Zn（C4H7O5）2（s） by Adiabatic Calorimetry

Low-temperature heat capacities of the solid compound Zn（C4H7O5）2（s） were measured in a temperature range from 78 to 374 K, with an automated adiabatic calorimeter. A solid-to-solid phase transition occurred in the temperature range of 295？322 K. The peak temperature, the enthalpy, and entropy of the phase transition were determined to be （316.269±1.039） K, （11.194±0.335） kJ？mol-1, and （35.391±0.654） J？K-1？mol-1, respectively. The experimental values of the molar heat capacities in the temperature regions of 78？295 K and 322？374 K were fitted to two polynomial equations of heat capacities（Cp,m） with reduced temperatures（X） and [X = f（T）], with the help of the least squares method, respectively. The smoothed molar heat capacities and thermodynamic functions of the compound, relative to that of the standard reference temperature 293.15 K, were calculated on the basis of the fitted polynomials and tabulated with an interval of 5 K. In addition, the possible mechanism of thermal decomposition of the compound was inferred by the result of TG-DTG analysis.     

Selective oxidation of ethane to aldehydes over SBA-15 supported molybdenum catalyst

SBA-15 supported Mo catalysts （Moy/SBA-15） were prepared by an ultrasonic assisted incipient-wetness impregnation method. The physical and chemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by means of N2-adsorption-desorption, XRD, TEM, UV-Vis, Raman, XANES and H2-TPR. The results showed that a trace amount of MoO3 was produced on high Mo content samples. Tum-over frequency （TOF） and product selectivity are dependent on the molybdenum content. Both Mo0.75/SBA-15 and Mo1.75/SBA-15 catalysts give the higher catalytic activity and the selectivity to the total aldehydes for the selective oxidation of C2H6. At the reaction temperature of 625℃, the maximum yield of aldehydes reached 4.2% over Mo0.75/SBA-15 catalyst. The improvement of the activity and selectivity was related with the state of MoOx species.     

Preferential oxidation of CO in excess H2 over the CeO2/CuO catalyst： Effect of initial support

Three series of CeO2/CuO samples were prepared by impregnation method and characterized by XRD, N2adsorption-desorption, temperatureprogrammed reduction(TPR), XPS and TEM techniques. In comparison with the samples prepared with CuO as initial support, the samples with Cu(OH)2as initial support have higher reducibilities and smaller relative TPR peak areas, and also larger specific surface areas at calcination temperatures of 400℃–600℃. As a result, Cu(OH)2is better than CuO as initial support for preferential oxidation of CO in excess H2(CO-PROX). The best catalytic performance was achieved on the sample calcined at 600℃ and with an atomic ratio of Ce/Cu at 40%. XPS analyses indicate that more interface linkages Ce-O-Cu could be formed when it was calcined at 600℃. And the atomic ratio of Ce/Cu at 40%led to a proper reducibility for the sample as illustrated by the TPR measurements.     

Effect of Ni,Fe and Fe-Ni alloy catalysts on the synthesis of metal contained carbon nano-onions and studies of their electrochemical hydrogen storage properties

Three types of carbon nano-onions(CNOs) including Ni@CNOs.Fe_3C@CNOs and Fe_(0.64)Ni_(0.36)@CNOs nanoparticles have been synthesized by catalytic decomposition of methane at 850 ℃ using nickel,iron and iron-nickel alloy catalysts.Comparative and systematic studies have been carried out on the morphology,structural characteristics and graphitic crystallinity of these CNOs products.Furthermore,the electrochemical hydrogen storage properties of three types of CNOs have been investigated.Measurements show that the Ni@CNOs have the highest discharge capacity of 387.2 mAh/g,coiTesponding to a hydrogen storage of 1.42%.This comparison study shows the advantages of each catalyst in the growth of CNOs.enabling the controllable synthesis and tuning the properties of CNOs by mediating different metals and their alloy for using in the fuel cell system.     

Performance of Co/MgO catalyst for C02 reforming of toluene as a model compound of tar derived from biomass gasification

Catalytic performances of the CO2 reforming of toluene on Co/MgO catalysts with different cobalt loadings were evaluated in a fluidized-bed reactor. The results showed that the conversion of toluene and the stability of Co/MgO increased, but the apparent reaction rate decreased at the initial stage with increasing the amount of metallic Co formed from the reduction of Co/MgO catalysts at 700 ~C. The deactivation of Co/MgO catalysts was mainly resulted from that a part of the metallic Co was oxidized by CO2 and could not be re-reduced by H2 at reaction temperature. Therefore, the excess metallic Co on the higher Co loading catalysts was beneficial to the catalyst stability.     

Preparation and Biosafety Evaluation of the Peptide Dendron Functionalized Mesoporous Silica Nanohybrid

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have been extensively studied and proposed as promising candidates for numerous biomedical applications.In this study,we report the design,preparation,characterization and biosafety evaluation of peptide dendron functionalized mesoporous silica nanohybrid.This nanohybrid was prepared by surface modification of MSNs via click reaction of azido-MSNs with alkynyl peptide dendrons,and characterized by TEM,SEM,TGA,dynamic light scattering (DLS).In vitro cytotoxicity of the nanohybrid was evaluated against different cell lines by CCK-8 assay.The in vivo toxicity evaluation was measured by body weight shift,blood routine test and histological analysis,suggesting that the peptide functionalized nanohybrid possessed good biocompatibility due to the non-observed significant side effects to normal organs of healthy mice.Overall,considering our results we believe that the peptide dendron functionalized mesoporous silica nanohybrid is very promising in further biomedical applications.     

Preparation of activated carbon with high surface area for high-capacity methane storage

Activated carbon （AC） was fabricated from corncob, which is cheap and abundant. Experimental parameters such as particle size of corncob, KOHlchar weight ratio, and activation temperature and time were optimized to generate AC, which shows high methane sorption capacity. AC has high specific surface area （3227 m^2/g）, with pore volume and pore size distribution equal to 1.829 cm^3/g and ca. 1.7-2.2 nm, respectively. Under the condition of 2℃ and less than 7.8 MPa, methane sorption in the presence of water （Rw = 1.4） was as high as 43.7 wt% methane per unit mass of dry AC. The result is significantly higher than those of coconut-derived AC （32 wt%） and ordered mesoporous carbon （41.2 wt%, Rw = 4.07） under the same condition. The physical properties and amorphous chaotic structure of AC were characterized by N2 adsorption isotherms, XRD, SEM and HRTEM. Hence, the corncob-derived AC can be considered as a competitive methane-storage material for vehicles, which are run by natural gas.

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Chemoselective hydrogenolysis of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol to 1,5-pentanediol over Ir-MoOx/Si02 catalyst

In this work, MoOx promoted Ir/SiO2 catalysts were prepared and used for the selective hydrogenolysis of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol （THFA） to 1,5-pentanediol in a continuous flow reactor. The effects of different noble metals （Ir, Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh）, supports and Ir contents were screened. Among the investigated catalysts, 4 wt%Ir-MoOx/SiO2 with a Mo/Ir atomic ratio of 0.13 exhibited the best catalytic performance. The synergy between Ix particles and the partially reduced isolated MoOx species attached on them is essential for the excellent catalytic performance of Ix-MoOx/SiO2. The catalyst exhibited a better hydrogenolysis efficiency of THFA with the selectivity of 1,5-pentanediol of 65%-74% at a conversion of THFA of 70%-75% when the initial THFA concentration is ranging from 20 wt% and 40 wt%. And higher system pressure was also in favor of the conversion of THFA. During a stability test, the conversion of THFA and 1,5-pentanediol yield over Ix-MoOz/SiO2 decreased with reaction time, which can be explained by the leaching of Mo species during the reaction.     

Unique catalysis of Ni-Al hydrotalcite derived catalyst in CO_2 methanation: cooperative effect between Ni nanoparticles and a basic support

Ni-Al hydrotalcite derived catalyst （Ni-Al2O3-HT） exhibited a narrow Ni particle-size distribution with an average particle size of 4.0 nm. Methanation of CO2 over this catalyst initiated at 225℃ and reached 82.5% CO2 conversion with 99.5% CH4 selectivity at 350℃, which was much better than its impregnated counterpart. Characterizations by means of CO2 microcalorimetry and 27 Al NMR indicated that large amount of strong basic sites existed on Ni-Al2O3-HT, originated from the formation of Ni-O-Al structure. The existence of strong basic sites facilitated the activation of CO2 and consequently promoted the activity. The combination of highly dispersed Ni with strong basic support led to its unique and high efficiency for this reaction.

Keywords     

Excellent complete conversion activity for methane and CO of Pd/TiOz-Zro.sA10.5O1.75 catalyst used in lean-bum natural gas vehicles

Palladium catalysts are supported on TiO2, ZrO2, A12O3, Zro.sAlo.501.75 and TiO2-Zro.sAlo.501.75 prepared by co-precipitation method, re- spectively. Catalytic activities for methane and CO oxidation are evaluated in a gas mixture that simulated the exhaust from lean-burn natural gas vehicles （NGVs）. Pd/TiO2-Zro.sAlo.501.75 performs the best catalytic activity among the tested five catalysts. For CH4, the light-off temperature （Tso） is 254 ℃, and the complete conversion temperature （Tgo） is 280 ℃; for CO, Tso is 84 ℃, and Tgo was 96 ℃. Various techniques, including N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, H2-temperature-programmed reduction （H2-TPR）, X-ray photoelec- tron spectroscopy （XPS）, and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） are employed to characterize the effect of supports on the physicochemical properties of prepared catalysts. N2 adsorption-desorption and SEM show that TiO2-Zro.5Al0.501.75 expresses uniform nano-particles and large meso-pore diameters of 26 nm. H2-TPR and XRD indicate that PdO is well dispersed on the supports and strongly interacted with each other. The results of XPS show that the electron density around PdO and the proportion of active oxygen on TiO2-Zro.sAl0.501.75 are maxima among the five supports.     

Fabrication of highly porous interconnected three-dimensional scaffolds with micro-channels

A novel highly porous 3-D poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL) scaffold with micro-channels was fabricated by injection molding and diluent acetic acids leaching technologies. In this study, the chitosan fiber was employed to form the microchannel in PCL matrix. The morphology, porosity and mechanical properties of the scaffolds were studied and calculated. It was found that the larger the content of chitosan fiber is, the higher the porosity would be, due to the volumetric expansion of chitosan fiber in PCL matrix during it being leached. In addition, the less the content of chitosan fiber is, the higher the compressive modulus would be.     

Improved electrochemical hydrogen storage properties of Mg-Y thin films as a function of substrate temperature

Pd-capped Mg_(78)Y_(22) thin films have been prepared by direct current magnetron co-sputtering system at different substrate temperatures and their electrochemical hydrogen storage properties have been investigated.It is found that rising substrate temperature to 60 ℃ can coarsen the surface of thin film,thus facilitating the diffusion of hydrogen atoms and then enhancing its discharge capacity to ~1725 mAh·g~(-1).Simultaneously,the cyclic stability is effectively improved due to the increased adhesion force between film and substrate as a function of temperature.In addition,the specimen exhibits a very long and flat discharge plateau at about —0.67 V,at which nearly 60%of capacity is maintained.The property is favorable for the application in metal hydride/nickel secondary batteries.The results indicate that rising optimal substrate temperature has a beneficial effect on the electrochemical hydrogen storage of Mg-Y thin films.