Removal of single and dual ring thiophene’s from dodecane using cavitation based processes

Utilising cavitation for enhancing oxidative desulphurization has been investigated for nearly-two decades with recent investigations shifting focus from low-capacity acoustic cavitation (AC) to scalable hydrodynamic cavitation (HC). This work focuses on developing a viable means for removing thiophene’s from fuels. In the first phase of this work, use of vortex based HC devices for removal of single and dual ring thiophenes from dodecane was investigated. HC was shown to be able to remove single ring thiophene from dodecane without using any external catalyst or additives. However, in absence of catalyst or additives, it was not possible to remove dual ring thiophenes such as dibenzothiophene using HC. Therefore, in the second phase of this work, various strategies based on use of catalyst or additives to augment cavitation based process were investigated. AC based experiments were opted for shortlisting suitable catalysts and additives for intensifying cavitation based processes. The influence of using oxidant (H₂O₂) and carboxylic acid catalysts on efficacy of removal of dual ring thiophenes is presented. Several conditions were tested, and the optimal volumetric ratios of 0.95 v/v % H₂O₂ and 6.25 v/v % HCOOH was identified and utilised throughout the remainder of the study. Regeneration of extractant which accumulates oxidised sulphur species from dodecane was also investigated using AC. The additives and process conditions reported in this work are useful for enhancing desulphurization performance.     

温度对AZO薄膜红外辐射性能的影响

随着全球资源的减少和环境的恶化，节能减排已成为人们关注的焦点，具有保温隔热功能的低辐射玻璃成为研究的热点。提高玻璃保温隔热性能最有效的方法就是在其表面涂覆低辐射率层。原材料丰富、导电性能好、可见光透过率高等优势使得Al掺杂ZnO (AZO)薄膜成为最具潜力的低辐射率层。系统研究了温度对AZO薄膜红外辐射性能的影响，分析了变化机理。首先研究了在一定的温度下持续一段时间后，AZO薄膜的红外比辐射率的变化情况。然后研究了在变温环境中红外比辐射率的变化情况。采用直流磁控溅射法在室温下玻璃基片上沉积500 nm厚的AZO薄膜，将薄膜放到马弗炉中进行热处理，在100～400 ℃空气气氛下保温1 h，随炉冷却。采用X射线衍射仪对AZO薄膜进行物相分析，采用扫描电子显微镜观察薄膜表面形貌变化。利用四探针测试法测量AZO薄膜的电阻率，采用红外比辐射率测试仪测试薄膜红外比辐射率, 可见分光光度计测量可见光谱。测试的结果表明，薄膜热处理前后均为六角纤锌矿结构，(002)择优取向。300 ℃及以下热处理1 h后，(002)衍射峰增强，半高宽变窄，晶粒尺寸长大。随着热处理温度的升高，薄膜的电阻率先减小后增大，200 ℃热处理后的薄膜具有最小的电阻率(0.9×10-3 Ω·cm)。热处理温度升高，晶粒长大使得薄膜电阻率降低。热处理温度过高，薄膜会从空气中吸收氧，电阻率下降。薄膜的红外比辐射率变化趋势和电阻率的一致，在200 ℃热处理后获得最小值(0.48)。自由电子对红外光子有较强的反射作用，当电阻率低，自由电子浓度高的时候，更多的红外光子被反射，红外辐射作用弱，红外比辐射率小。薄膜的可见光透过率随着热处理温度的升高先减小后增大，200 ℃热处理后的薄膜的可见光透过率最小，但仍高达82%。这种变化是由于自由电子浓度变化引起的，自由电子对可见光有很强的反射作用。选取未热处理和200 ℃热处理后的样品进行变温红外比辐射率的测量，将样品放在可加热的样品台上，位置固定，在室温到350 ℃的升温和降温过程中每隔25 ℃测量一次红外比辐射率，结果表明，在室温到350 ℃的温度范围内，AZO薄膜的红外比辐射率在升温过程中随着温度的上升而增大，在降温过程中减小，经过整个升、降温过程后，薄膜的红外比辐射率增大。     

单发太赫兹时域光谱技术

太赫兹时域光谱技术(THz-TDS)广泛应用于材料、生物医学、化学、药学、安检等诸多领域。传统扫描式THz-TDS技术需要通过改变探测光延时逐点扫描并重构时域信号，仅适合于具有较高重复频率且稳定的太赫兹辐射源情形下的样品探测。在低重复频率或涨落较大的太赫兹辐射源情形下和不可逆过程中样品的探测，扫描式THz-TDS不再适用，需要使用单发THz-TDS技术，单发THz-TDS技术原则上仅需要一个激光脉冲就可以获取一个完整的太赫兹时域脉冲波形。介绍几种主要的单发THz-TDS探测技术，这些技术都利用了电光晶体的泡克尔斯效应，通过测量探测光的某个物理量的变化来提取太赫兹信号。根据探测方法不同可分为光谱编码、空间编码和互相关等技术。在光谱编码技术中，探测光不同频率成分在时间上发生分离，不同时间成分分别被太赫兹脉冲不同时刻电场调制，通过测量探测光各个频率被太赫兹脉冲调制前后的光谱的变化提取太赫兹脉冲波形。该方法光路简单，测量结果直观，有较高的信噪比，但其时间分辨率较低，且被测太赫兹信号容易产生失真。为提高被测信号的时间分辨率，有人提出了空间编码技术，即不同位置探测光分别被太赫兹脉冲不同时刻电场调制，通过测量探测光各个位置太赫兹脉冲调制前后的光强变化提取太赫兹脉冲波形。根据不同空间展开方法可分为一维空间编码技术和二维空间编码技术。空间编码技术中虽然有较高的时间分辨率，但由于探测光在空间展开能量分散使得其信噪比相对较低。此外，还有一种较高时间分辨率的技术即互相关技术，可分为共线互相关和非共线互相关技术。在非共线互相关技术中，被太赫兹脉冲调制的激光啁啾脉冲与短脉冲互相关作用产生二次谐波，通过太赫兹脉冲调制前后二次谐波空间分布变化来提取太赫兹信号；在共线互相关技术中被太赫兹脉冲调制的啁啾脉冲与短脉冲共线入射到光谱仪，通过干涉条纹提取太赫兹信号，该技术提高了时间分辨率和信噪比，但光路布置复杂，不能进行实时监测。回顾了这几种单发THz-TDS探测技术的发展历程，综述探测技术的原理、实验方案和测量结果，并讨论了这些探测技术的优势和不足。     

The double deflating technique for irreducible singular M-matrix algebraic Riccati equations in the critical case

As is known, Alternating-Directional Doubling Algorithm (ADDA) is quadratically convergent for computing the minimal nonnegative solution of an irreducible singular M-matrix algebraic Riccati equation (MARE) in the noncritical case or a nonsingular MARE, but ADDA is only linearly convergent in the critical case. The drawback can be overcome by deflating techniques for an irreducible singular MARE so that the speed of quadratic convergence is still preserved in the critical case and accelerated in the noncritical case. In this paper, we proposed an improved deflating technique to accelerate further the convergence speed – the double deflating technique for an irreducible singular MARE in the critical case. We proved that ADDA is quadratically convergent instead of linearly when it is applied to the deflated algebraic Riccati equation (ARE) obtained by a double deflating technique. We also showed that the double deflating technique is better than the deflating technique from the perspective of dimension of the deflated ARE. Numerical experiments are provided to illustrate that our double deflating technique is effective.     

Synthesis and Characteristics of Organic Red‐Emissive Materials Based on Phenanthro[9,10‐d]imidazole

Red emission is one of the three primary colors that are essential for the realization of full‐color displays and solid‐state lightings. A high solid‐state efficiency is a crucial factor for the applications in organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). In this work, two new donor‐acceptor‐donor type phenanthro[9,10‐d]imidazole (PIM)‐based derivatives, (2Z,2′Z)‐2,2′‐(1,4‐phenylene)bis(3‐(4‐(1‐phenyl‐1H‐phenanthro[9,10‐d]imidazol‐2‐yl)phenyl)acrylonitrile) ( PIDSB ) and 2,3‐bis(4′‐(1‐phenyl‐1H‐phenanthro[9,10‐d]imidazol‐2‐yl)‐[1,1′‐biphenyl]‐4‐yl)fumaronitrile ( PIDPh ), are designed and synthesized. Both of them possess high thermal stabilities. PIDPh shows typical characteristics of aggregation‐induced emission enhancement, while PIDSB displays an aggregation‐caused quenching effect. They both exhibit significant red‐shifted emissions compared with PIM owing to intramolecular charge transfer. In the film state, the emission peaks of PIDSB and PIDPh are located at 538 nm and 605 nm with high photoluminescent quantum yields of 63.82 % and 41.26 %, respectively. The non‐doped OLED using PIDPh as the active layer shows the maximum external quantum efficiency of 2.06 % with a very low efficiency roll‐off, and exhibits the electroluminescent peak at 640 nm with a Commission Internationale de l′Éclairage coordinate of (0.617,0.396), meeting well the criteria of red OLEDs.     

A ratio-metric fluorescent sensor design platform with red emission of Europium(III) as built-in fluorescence correction

A Eu^III-containing single molecule BCR-Eu as design platform for ratio-metric fluorescent sensor which includes a blue-emitting coumarin dye, a green-emitting BODIPY fluorophore and a Eu^III moiety as the origin of red light has been designed and synthesized. The compound BCR shows only green emission with large stoke shift when excited in 400 nm due to good fluorescence resonance energy transfer from coumarin to BODIPY. After embedding Eu^III complexes in the molecule, BCR-Eu exhibits dual emission which is equal in magnitude and independent of each other, when excited at the range of 305–365 nm. An emission from Lanthanide complexes as the stable built-in standard fluorescence peak offers a promising opportunity to enhance the precision of bioimaging and also an ideal design platform for future ratio-metric fluorescent sensor.     

New lower bounds on 2-spontaneous emission error designs

The combinatorial object named $t$-spontaneous emission error design ($t$-SEED) was proposed by Beth et al. in 2003 in order to correct errors caused by quantum jumps. The newly rising category of $t$-SEEDs has been studied extensively in recent years. Especially, the maximal possible dimensions for 2-SEEDs with block size 3 were determined completely; lower bounds on 2-SEEDs were established by applying affine groups. In this paper we utilize the action of twisted affine groups on finite fields and obtain new lower bounds on the dimensions of 2-$(q^2,k;m)$ SEEDs, some of which outperform the known ones.     

Uptake,Translocation, and Bioaccumulation of Elements in Forest Nettle (Laportea alatipes)

Elements found in the edible parts of plants are considered to be the main source of nutrients for humans and animals. However, there is insufficient information on the relationship between heavy metal pollution in the growing soil of most edible plants. In this study, the distribution of elements in the edible forest nettle (Laportea alatipes) was evaluated as a function of geographical location. Forest land soils had higher concentrations of minor elements (Cu, Cr, Ni, and Zn) compared to soils from rural and suburban areas. Translocation factors for Cd and Pb showed effective translocation from the roots to the leaves; however, these heavy metals in leaves were still above South African maximum permissible levels for vegetables. Atmospheric depositions may play a significant role in higher Cd and Pb concentrations in the leaves. Bioaccumulation factors showed the plant to accumulate Cu, Mn, and Zn to meet physiological requirement levels. Geoaccumulation indices and enrichment factors showed no soil contamination or minimal enrichment by trace metals. Principal component analysis showed Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn in soil to originate from a common source which may be soil silicates and other minerals.