Novel ferrocene-containing amphiphilic block copolymer nanoparticles as high-capacity charge carriers in aqueous redox flow systems

Size-exclusion polymer electrolytes are promising charge carriers to diminish the crossover and allowing commercially available low-cost porous membranes in redox flow batteries. Boosting the solubility in water and maximizing the number of redox sites to enhance the capacity of these polymeric systems is challenging. New highly water dispersed amphiphilic diblock copolymers are reported here, with an average concentration value of 1.7 10^?3 mmol of Ferrocene (Fc)-linked moieties per mg of polymer, determined by total X-ray reflection fluorescence. These redox amphiphilic block copolymers are stabilized in water as spherical nanoparticles (20 nm) by using a simple phase solvent inversion procedure. We evidence a maximum polymer dispersibility value of 6 g/L in water, for long-term stable polymer nanoparticle suspensions, yielding a theoretical capacity value of 4.78 mAh at 10.5 mM Fc. Further adjustment of the ionic conductivity and pH of these stable redox block copolymer suspensions has rendered a conductivity value of 44.5 mS/cm at pH values close to a neutral one, by adding a variety of salt supports. Studies using a 3-electrode configuration cell reveal an efficient charge transport between each of the Fc motifs in the polymer nanoparticle. A capacity value of 3.1 mAh with no transient of the polymer nanoparticles crosswise the cheap porous membrane is evidenced when cycled as polycatholyte material in a Zn hybrid aqueous redox flow battery. The particle size and electronic changes of these novel amphiphilic redox block copolymer electrolytes during consecutive redox cycles have also been monitored by dynamic light scattering and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, respectively. The analysis of the results enables the understanding of the main mechanisms behind their non-fully reversible capacity. Among them, aggregation and sedimentation, along with retention inside the graphite felt electrode acting the latter as a filter. These insights will aid the design of future polymer electrolyte materials and redox flow battery components with better performance and cost.     

Preparative separation of immunoglobulins from bovine colostrum by continuous divergent-flow electrophoresis

Immunoglobulins in bovine colostrum were separated and fractionated from other proteins using the method and instrumentation developed in our laboratory. The proposed separation was based on bidirectional isotachophoresis/moving boundary electrophoresis with electrofocusing of the analytes in a pH gradient from 3.9 to 10.1. The preparative instrumentation included the trapezoidal non-woven fabric that served as separation space with divergent continuous flow. The defatted and casein precipitate-free colostrum supernatant was loaded directly into the instrument without any additional colostrum pre-preparation. Immunoglobulin G was fractionated from other immune proteins such as bovine serum albumin, β-lactoglobulin, and α-lactalbumin, and was continuously collected in separated fractions over 3 h. The fractions were further processed, and isolated immunoglobulin G in the liquid fractions was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by re-focusing in gel isoelectric focusing. Separated immunoglobulin G was detected in seven fractions by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a gradually decreased concentration in the fractions. Re-focusing of the proteins in the fractions by gel isoelectric focusing revealed multiple separated zones of immunoglobulin G with the isoelectric point values covering the range from 5.4 to 7.2. Each fraction contained distinct zones with gradually increased isoelectric point values and decreased concentrations from fraction to fraction.     

Synthesis of polyaspartic acid-glycidyl adduct and evaluation of its scale inhibition performance and corrosion inhibition capacity for Q235 steel applications

In this work, the development of the eco-friendly comprehensive scale and corrosion inhibitor based on green polyaspartic acid (PASP) was presented. In this view, PASPG was prepared by a ring-opening graft modification reaction of polysuccinimide (PSI) with glycidyl. In addition, the molecular structure and the thermal stability of PASPG were characterized by using three different methods (FTIR, ¹H NMR, and TGA). PASPG’s scale inhibition efficiency and corrosion inhibition efficiency were also evaluated, respectively. More concretely, the scale inhibition efficiency of PASPG achieved 94.6 % and 95.1 % for CaCO₃ and CaSO₄, respectively. With the aid of the FTIR and SEM measurement techniques, it was found that PASPG could induce the irregular growth of the CaCO₃ and CaSO₄ morphology and destroy the formation of crystals. On the other hand, the higher corrosion efficiency of 85.17 % was achieved by PASPG in comparison with PASP (72.53 %). PASPG is a mixed inhibitor and the adsorption of PASPG on the Q235 steel surface followed the Langmuir mono-layer adsorption isotherm. The formation of a protective film on the surface of carbon steel was proved by PASPG’s adsorption, which increased the resistance to be eroded. Thus, the surface of carbon steel can be effectively protected. The present work provides a simple and effective pathway for the synthesis of high-efficiency green scale and corrosion inhibitor, by introducing a functional group into the PASP chains. The implementation of such type of chemical modification method may also be an effective strategy for improving the efficiency of other polymers green scale and corrosion inhibitors.     

基于LSTM的浮选钼精矿品位软测量模型

战略性稀有金属钼矿品位低,组分复杂、嵌布粒度细等特点,其有价金属分离回收难。浮选作为微细粒钼矿分离回收的主要选矿方法之一,其浮选钼精矿品位一直是选厂的关键性产品指标。国内大多数选厂采取轮班制采样,人工化验得到精矿品位结果,但此方式严重滞后于浮选工艺,难以满足对生产过程进行实时监测和操作指导。LSTM是一种特殊的循环神经网络,引入门机制有效的传递或选择性遗忘长时间序列中的信息,解决RNN中的长期依赖、梯度消失和爆炸问题。本文分析整理东坡选厂中各平台源数据,结合选厂浮选工艺及机理,筛选出多个影响浮选钼精矿品位的变量作为模型输入;将输入变量进行异常值判定,缺失值填充和数据降噪等数据预处理,建立高质量浮选钼精矿品位数据库;软测量模型采用PyCharm软件编码,使用BatchNorm批量规范化处理样本数据,加入Dropout正则化防止过拟合,建立基于LSTM的浮选钼精矿品位软测量模型,通过前向传播算法更新神经网络结构参数,并于Linear模型和CNN模型的预测性能指标结果比较。结果表明：基于LSTM的浮选钼精矿品位软测量模型预测准确度高,样本数据误差波动平稳,浮动范围小,模型泛化能力强,模型平均绝对百分比误差MAPE为1.13%,均方根误差RMSE为0.7049%,决定系数R2为0.8763,实现了浮选钼精矿品位的在线预测。     

流动注射-分光光度法测定天然产物对酪氨酸酶活性的影响

建立了一种快速、灵敏且高精度的流动注射-分光光度法用于研究天然产物对酪氨酸酶活性的影响。此方法基于一定介质条件下L-3,4-二羟基苯丙氨酸(L-DOPA)在酪氨酸酶的作用下,发生氧化生成棕褐色多巴醌,其最大吸收峰位于475 nm处,而酪氨酸酶抑制剂能降低酶促反应速度,减少多巴醌形成的量,从而降低475 nm下的吸光度值,形成倒峰。在优化实验条件下,半抑制浓度的曲酸抑制酪氨酸酶活性测定相对标准偏差(n=10)为0.036%,与分光光度法和酶标仪微量法相比,精密度提高了10倍以上。咖啡酸对酪氨酸酶有较强的激活作用,对二酚酶相对激活率达到50%时的浓度(IC50)为0.170 mmol/L;薰衣草花水相提取物具有较强的抑制活性,其IC50值为0.96 mg/m L。与分光光度法及酶标仪微量法相比,流动注射-分光光度法精密度高,重复性好,适用于天然产物对酪氨酸酶活性影响的测定。     

A Three‐Minute Synthesis and Purification of Ibuprofen: Pushing the Limits of Continuous‐Flow Processing

In a total residence time of three minutes, ibuprofen was assembled from its elementary building blocks with an average yield of above 90 % for each step. A scale‐up of this five‐stage process (3 bond‐forming steps, one work‐up, and one in‐line liquid–liquid separation) provided ibuprofen at a rate of 8.09 g h^?1 (equivalent to 70.8 kg y^?1) using a system with an overall footprint of half the size of a standard laboratory fume hood. Aside from the high throughput, several other aspects of this synthesis expand the capabilities of continuous‐flow processing, including a Friedel–Crafts acylation run under neat conditions and promoted by AlCl₃, an exothermic in‐line quench of high concentrations of precipitation‐prone AlCl₃, liquid–liquid separations run at or above 200 psi to provide solvent‐free product, and the use of highly aggressive oxidants, such as iodine monochloride. The use of simple, inexpensive, and readily available reagents thus affords a practical synthesis of this important generic pharmaceutical.     

Rapid and Efficient Copper‐Catalyzed Finkelstein Reaction of (Hetero)Aromatics under Continuous‐Flow Conditions

A general, rapid, and efficient method for the copper‐catalyzed Finkelstein reaction of (hetero)aromatics has been developed using continuous flow to generate a variety of aryl iodides. The described method can tolerate a broad spectrum of functional groups, including N‐H and O‐H groups. Additionally, in lieu of isolation, the aryl iodide solutions were used in two distinct multistep continuous‐flow processes (amidation and Mg–I exchange/nucleophilic addition) to demonstrate the flexibility of this method.     

Effects of GC temperature and carrier gas flow rate on on‐line oxygen isotope measurement as studied by on‐column CO injection

Although deemed important to δ¹⁸O measurement by on‐line high‐temperature conversion techniques, how the GC conditions affect δ¹⁸O measurement is rarely examined adequately. We therefore directly injected different volumes of CO or CO–N₂ mix onto the GC column by a six‐port valve and examined the CO yield, CO peak shape, CO–N₂ separation, and δ¹⁸O value under different GC temperatures and carrier gas flow rates. The results show the CO peak area decreases when the carrier gas flow rate increases. The GC temperature has no effect on peak area. The peak width increases with the increase of CO injection volume but decreases with the increase of GC temperature and carrier gas flow rate. The peak intensity increases with the increase of GC temperature and CO injection volume but decreases with the increase of carrier gas flow rate. The peak separation time between N₂ and CO decreases with an increase of GC temperature and carrier gas flow rate. δ¹⁸O value decreases with the increase of CO injection volume (when half m/z 28 intensity is <3 V) and GC temperature but is insensitive to carrier gas flow rate. On average, the δ¹⁸O value of the injected CO is about 1‰ higher than that of identical reference CO. The δ¹⁸O distribution pattern of the injected CO is probably a combined result of ion source nonlinearity and preferential loss of C¹⁶O or oxygen isotopic exchange between zeolite and CO. For practical application, a lower carrier gas flow rate is therefore recommended as it has the combined advantages of higher CO yield, better N₂–CO separation, lower He consumption, and insignificant effect on δ¹⁸O value, while a higher‐than‐60 °C GC temperature and a larger‐than‐100 µl CO volume is also recommended. When no N₂ peak is expected, a higher GC temperature is recommended, and vice versa. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radical Compatibility with Nonaqueous Electrolytes and Its Impact on an All‐Organic Redox Flow Battery

Nonaqueous redox flow batteries hold the promise of achieving higher energy density because of the broader voltage window than aqueous systems, but their current performance is limited by low redox material concentration, cell efficiency, cycling stability, and current density. We report a new nonaqueous all‐organic flow battery based on high concentrations of redox materials, which shows significant, comprehensive improvement in flow battery performance. A mechanistic electron spin resonance study reveals that the choice of supporting electrolytes greatly affects the chemical stability of the charged radical species especially the negative side radical anion, which dominates the cycling stability of these flow cells. This finding not only increases our fundamental understanding of performance degradation in flow batteries using radical‐based redox species, but also offers insights toward rational electrolyte optimization for improving the cycling stability of these flow batteries.     

Quantitative surface-enhanced Raman measurements with embedded internal reference

Analytical applications of SERS are often more associated with qualitative than quantitative analysis, because of the difficulty in obtaining quantitative SERS results. In this paper we introduce a new strategy to quantitatively measure the SERS signals of analytes based on Au-core/Ag-shell nanoparticles with embedded 4-aminothiophenol as the internal reference. Successful detections of two analytes, Toluidine Blue O in aqueous solution (detection limit of 0.1 μM) and melamine in milk (detection limit of ∼5 μM), are demonstrated. The improvement in the linear fitting illustrates that the use of internal reference significantly improves the accuracy of the quantitative SERS measurements. The successful detection of melamine in milk illustrates the versatility of this detection scheme for a wide variety of analytes.