Multi-scale Fractured Coal Gas–Solid Coupling Model and Its Applications in Engineering Projects

With coal mining entering the geological environment of “high stress, rich gas, strong adsorption and low permeability,” the difficulty of joint coal and gas extraction clearly augments, the risk of solid–gas coupling dynamic disasters greatly increases, and the underlying mechanisms become more complex. In this paper, based on the characteristics of coal’s multi-scale structure and spatiotemporal variation, the multi-scale fractured coal gas–solid coupling model (MSFM) was built. In this model, the interaction between coal matrix and its fractures and the mechanical characteristics of gas-bearing coal were considered, as well as their coupling relationship. By MATLAB software, the stress–damage–seepage numerical computation programs were developed, which were applied into Comsol Multiphysics to simulate gas flow caused by coal mining. The simulation results showed the spatial variability of coal elastic modulus and cross-flow behaviors of coal seam gas, which were superior to the results of traditional gas–solid coupling model. And the numerical results obtained from MSFM were closer to the measured results in field, while the computation results of traditional model were slightly higher than the measured results. Furthermore, the MSFM in a large scale was verified by field engineering project.     

An Object-Based Shale Permeability Model: Non-Darcy Gas Flow,Sorption, and Surface Diffusion Effects

Shale samples consist of two major components: organic matter (OM) and inorganic mineral component (iOM). Each component has its distinct pore network topology and morphology, which necessitates generating a model capable of distinguishing the two media. We constructed an object-based model using the OM and iOM composition of shale samples. In the model, we integrated information such as OM population and size distribution, as well as its associated pore-size distribution. For the iOM part, we used mineralogy and pore-size information derived from X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and nitrogen sorption measurements. Our proposed model results in millimeter-scale 2D realizations of shale samples by honoring OM and mineral types, their compositions, shapes, and size distributions. The model can capture heterogeneities smaller than 1 mm. We studied the effects of different gas flow processes and found that Knudsen diffusion and gas slippage dominate the flow, but surface diffusion has little impact on total gas flow.     

Freeze–Thaw-Promoted Fabrication of Clean and Hierarchically Structured Noble-Metal Aerogels for Electrocatalysis and Photoelectrocatalysis

Noble-metal aerogels (NMAs) have drawn increasing attention because of their self-supported conductive networks, high surface areas, and numerous optically/catalytically active sites, enabling their impressive performance in diverse fields. However, the fabrication methods suffer from tedious procedures, long preparation times, unavoidable impurities, and uncontrolled multiscale structures, discouraging their developments. By utilizing the self-healing properties of noble-metal aggregates, the freezing-promoted salting-out behavior, and the ice-templating effect, a freeze–thaw method is crafted that is capable of preparing various hierarchically structured noble-metal gels within one day without extra additives. In light of their cleanliness, the multi-scale structures, and combined catalytic/optical properties, the electrocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic performance of NMAs are demonstrated, which surpasses that of commercial noble-metal catalysts.     

The designing strategies of graphene-based peroxidase mimetic materials

Natural enzymes have been praised highly as ideal catalysts, presumably owing to their remarkable advantages of high efficiency, high selectivity, and mild reaction conditions. The reports of chemical simulation and systematic synthesis of natural enzymes such as peroxidase (POD) are rare because of their complex biological structures. POD represents a large family of oxidoreductases and offers a wide range of applications in many fields of science. Recent advance in the fusion of nanomaterial, catalysis, and biochemistry has inspired the development of artificial enzymes implemented with desired catalytic features of natural enzymes. Herein, we review the redox chemistry of POD and compare its catalytic performance to graphene-based nanomaterials (G-NMs) as POD mimetic nanoenzymes bases on catalytic center, binding site, and carrier function. Based on the viewpoints of stereo chemistry and molecular kinetic and dynamics in heterogeneous system, we evaluate and compare the suitability of different NMs as artificial enzyme constituent. We propose that reevaluates design strategies of graphene-based peroxidase (G-POD) mimetic materials and emphasizes on their selectivity (role as catalytic center, binding site, or carrier) is of uttermost.     

Inference for a change-point problem under a generalised Ornstein–Uhlenbeck setting

Determining accurately when regime and structural changes occur in various time-series data is critical in many social and natural sciences. We develop and show further the equivalence of two consistent estimation techniques in locating the change point under the framework of a generalised version of the one-dimensional Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process. Our methods are based on the least sum of squared error and the maximum log-likelihood approaches. The case where both the existence and the location of the change point are unknown is investigated and an informational methodology is employed to address these issues. Numerical illustrations are presented to assess the methods’ performance.     

Graph-Theoretical Method to the Existence of Stationary Distribution of Stochastic Coupled Systems

In this paper, by linking Fokker–Planck equations with stochastic coupled systems, a new method is provided to investigate the existence of a stationary distribution of stochastic coupled systems. Based on the graph theory and the Lyapunov method, an appropriate Lyapunov function associated with stationary Fokker–Planck equations is constructed. Moreover, a Lyapunov-type theorem and a coefficients-type criterion are obtained to guarantee the existence of a stationary distribution. Furthermore, theoretical results are applied to explore the existence of a stationary distribution of stochastic predator–prey models with dispersal and a sufficient criterion is presented correspondingly. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of our results.