Enzyme immobilization strategies for the design of robust and efficient biocatalysts

Different strategies for the preparation of efficient and robust immobilized biocatalysts are here reviewed. Different physico-chemical approaches are discussed.i.- The stabilization of enzyme by any kind of immobilization on pre-existing porous supports.ii.- The stabilization of enzymes by multipoint covalent attachment on support surfaces.iii.- Additional stabilization of immobilized-stabilized enzyme by physical or chemical modification with polymers.These three strategies can be easily developed when enzymes are immobilized in pre-existing porous supports. In addition to that, these immobilized-stabilized derivatives are optimal to develop enzyme reaction engineering and reactor engineering. Stabilizations ranging between 1000 and 100,000 folds regarding diluted soluble enzymes are here reported.     

A general framework for describing photofission observables of actinides at an average excitation energy below 30 MeV

A reasonable prediction of photofission observables plays a paramount role in understanding the photofission process and guiding various photofission-induced applications, such as short-lived isotope production, nuclear waste disposal, and nuclear safeguards. However, the available experimental data for photofission observables are limited, and the existing models and programs have mainly been developed for neutron-induced fission processes. In this study, a general framework is proposed for characterizing the photofission observables of actinides, including the mass yield distributions (MYD) and isobaric charge distributions (ICD) of fission fragments and the multiplicity and energy distributions of prompt neutrons (n_p) and prompt γ rays (γ_p). The framework encompasses various systematic neutron models and empirical models considering the Bohr hypothesis and does not rely on the experimental data as input. These models are then validated individually against experimental data at an average excitation energy below 30 MeV, which shows the reliability and robustness of the general framework. Finally, we employ this framework to predict the characteristics of photofission fragments and the emissions of prompt particles for typical actinides including ²³²Th, ^{235, 238}U and ²⁴⁰Pu. It is found that the ²³⁸U(γ, f) reaction is more suitable for producing neutron-rich nuclei compared to the ²³²Th(γ, f) reaction. In addition, the average multiplicity number of both n_p and γ_p increases with the average excitation energy.     

Stabilized Nonconforming Mixed Finite Element Method for Linear Elasticity on Rectangular or Cubic Meshes

Based on the primal mixed variational formulation, a stabilized nonconforming mixed finite element method is proposed for the linear elasticity on rectangular and cubic meshes. Two kinds of penalty terms are introduced in the stabilized mixed formulation, which are the jump penalty term for the displacement and the divergence penalty term for the stress. We use the classical nonconforming rectangular and cubic elements for the displacement and the discontinuous piecewise polynomial space for the stress, where the discrete space for stress are carefully chosen to guarantee the well-posedness of discrete formulation. The stabilized mixed method is locking-free. The optimal convergence order is derived in the $L^2$-norm for stress and in the broken $H^1$-norm and $L^2$-norm for displacement. A numerical test is carried out to verify the optimal convergence of the stabilized method.     

光纤基底TiNi形状记忆合金薄膜制备工艺

将TiNi基记忆合金薄膜与光纤相结合可制成智能化、集成化且成本经济的微机电系统和微传感器件.本文采用磁控溅射法在二氧化硅光纤基底上制备TiNi记忆合金薄膜,系统讨论了溅射工艺参数以及后续退火处理对薄膜质量的影响.采用自研制光纤镀膜掩膜装置在直径为125μm的光纤圆周表面上形成均匀薄膜.实验表明:在靶基距、背底真空度、Ar气流量和溅射时间一定的条件下,溅射功率存在最佳值;溅射压强较大时,薄膜沉积速率较低,但薄膜表面粗糙度较小.进行退火处理后,薄膜形成较良好的晶体结构,Ti_49.09Ni_50.91薄膜中马氏体B19′相和奥氏体B2相共存,但以B19′为主.根据本文研究结果,在玻璃光纤基底上制备高质量的TiNi基记忆合金薄膜是可实现的,本工作为下一步研制微机电系统和微型传感器做了基础准备.     

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.     

A Closed‐Loop Control Strategy for Producing Nitrile Rubber of Uniform Chemical Composition in a Semibatch Reactor: A Simulation Study

To improve the quality of industrial nitrile rubbers, the copolymer chemical composition, p_A(t), should ideally be kept constant along the reaction. This work proposes a closed‐loop control strategy for the semibatch operation of the reactor with the aim of regulating p_A(t) within a reduced range of variability. The proposed strategy is evaluated by simulating a mathematical model of the process. To this effect, a simplified mathematical model of the reaction is first derived and then utilized to obtain a suboptimal control law and a soft‐sensor that estimates the polymerization rates. The suboptimal control law is compensated by adding a term proportional to errors in p_A(t). The simulated example considers the production of the low‐composition AJLT grade, with the copolymerization reaction represented by a detailed mathematical model adjusted to an industrial plant. Due to the high performance of the soft‐sensor, the simulation results suggest that the proposed closed‐loop strategy is efficient to adequately regulate p_A(t) in spite of structural and parametric uncertainties, while other quality variables remained practically unaffected.