Sample preparation,instrumental analysis,and natural distribution of complex organic pollutants in the wastewater from unconventional gas production

Large amounts of flowback and produced water (FPW) have been generated from hydraulic fracturing process for the production of unconventional gas such as shale gas. Complex organic pollutants are abundantly present in FPW with revealed toxicity to aquatic organisms and these contaminants may transfer into surrounding aquatic environment. Characterization and determination of complicated organic pollutants in FPW remains a challenge due to its complex composition and high salinity matrix. This review article covers the progress of recent 5 years regarding the sample preparation and instrumental analysis methods and thus summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of these methods for critical analysis of organic contaminants in FPW samples. Furthermore, the natural distribution of detected organic compounds and their transformation were reviewed and discussed to enhance the understanding of spatial and temporal behaviors of these organic pollutants in natural environment, paving the way for future development of pollution control policies and strategies. Enlightened by the studies of FPW contamination in the US, the investigations of FPW contamination in China continued to grow due to rapidly growing production of shale gas in China and resulted pollution.     

Dark Energy with Phantom Crossing and the H0 Tension

We investigate the possibility of phantom crossing in the dark energy sector and the solution for the Hubble tension between early and late universe observations. We use robust combinations of different cosmological observations, namely the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), local measurement of Hubble constant (H0), Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) and SnIa for this purpose. For a combination of CMB+BAO data that is related to early universe physics, phantom crossing in the dark energy sector was confirmed at a 95% confidence level and we obtained the constraint H0=71.0−3.8+2.9 km/s/Mpc at a 68% confidence level, which is in perfect agreement with the local measurement by Riess et al. We show that constraints from different combinations of data are consistent with each other and all of them are consistent with phantom crossing in the dark energy sector. For the combination of all data considered, we obtained the constraint H0=70.25±0.78 km/s/Mpc at a 68% confidence level and the phantom crossing happening at the scale factor am=0.851−0.031+0.048 at a 68% confidence level.     

Ultrahigh Loading Copper Single Atom Catalyst for Palladium-free Wacker Oxidation

Wacker oxidation is an industry-adopted process to transform olefins into value-added epoxides and carbonyls. However, traditional Wacker oxidation involves the use of homogeneous palladium and copper catalysts for the olefin addition and reductive elimination. Here, we demonstrated an ultrahigh loading Cu single atom catalyst(14% Cu, mass fraction) for the palladium-free Wacker oxidation of 4-vinylanisole into the corresponding ketone with N-methylhydroxylamine hydrochloride as an additive under mild conditions. Mechanistic studies by ¹⁸O and deuterium isotope labelling revealed a hydrogen shift mechanism in this palladium-free process using N-methylhydroxylamine hydrochloride as the oxygen source. The reaction scope can be further extended to Kucherov oxidation. Our study paves the way to replace noble metal catalysts in the traditional homogeneous processes with single atom catalysts.     

Pressure controllable phase transition in MoTe2 by the interlayer band occupancy

High pressure can effectively control the phase transition of MoTe₂ in experiment, but the mechanism is still unclear. In this work, we show by first-principles calculations that the phase transition is suppressed and $1T^{\prime }$ phase becomes more stable under high pressure, which originates from the pressure-induced change of the interlayer band occupancies near the Fermi energy. Specifically, the interlayer states of $1T^{\prime }$ phase tend to be fully occupied under high pressure, while they keep partially occupied for the $T_d$ phase. The increase of the band occupancies makes the $1T^{\prime }$ phase more favorable in energy and prevents the structure changing from $1T^{\prime }$ to $T_d$ phase. Moreover, we also analyze the superconductivity under high pressure based on BCS theory by calculating the density of states and phonon spectra. Our results may shed some light on understanding the relationship between the interlayer band occupancy and crystal stability of MoTe₂ under high pressures.     

QbD approached comparison of reaction mechanism in microwave synthesized gold nanoparticles and their superior catalytic role against hazardous nirto‐dye

Microwave irradiation (MI) process characteristically enables extremely rapid “in‐core” heating of dipoles and ions, in comparison to conventional thermal (conductance) process of heat transfer. During the process of nanoparticles synthesis, MI both modulates functionality behaviors as well as dynamic of reaction in favorable direction. So, MI providing a facile, favorable and alternative approach during nanoparticles synthesis nanoparticles with enhanced catalytic performances. Although, conventionally used reducing and capping reagents of synthetic origin, are usually environmentally hazardous and toxic for living organism. But, in absence of suitable capping agent; stability, shelf life and catalytic activity of metallic nanoparticles adversely affected. However, polymeric templates which emerged as suitable choice of agent for both reducing and capping purposes; bearing additional advantages in terms of catalyst free one step green synthesis process with high degree of biosafety and efficiency. Another aspect of current works was to understand role of process variables in growth mechanism and catalytic performances of microwave processed metallic nanoparticles, as well as comparison of these parameters with conventional heating method. However, due to poor prediction ability with previously published architect OFAT (One factor at a time) design with these nanoparticles as well as random selection of process variables with their different levels, such comparison couldn't be possible. Hence, using gum Ghatti (Anogeissus latifolia) as a model bio‐template and under simulated reaction conditions; architect of QbD design systems were integrated in microwave processed nanoparticles to establish mechanistic role these variables. Furthermore, in comparison to conventional heating; we reported well validated mathematical modeling of process variables on characteristic of nanoparticles as well as synthesized gold nanoparticles of desired and identical dimensions, in both thermal and microwave‐based processes. Interestingly, despite of identical dimension, MI processed gold nanoparticles bearing higher efficiency (kinetic rate) against remediation of hazardous nitro dye (4‐nitrophenol), into safer amino (4‐aminophenol) analogues.     

无人机视角下的林木爆燃火特性研究

森林火灾“爆燃”现象的特征是突然发生的高强度、高蔓延速度的燃烧。目前为止，关于“爆燃火”的原因还没有达成共识。以无人机视角下对林木爆燃火特性研究，以四川木里特大森林火灾为研究对象，通过分析凉山州某森林扑火部队3月31日木里森林火灾当天KWT（科卫泰）无人机航拍火场画面，结合无人机实时影像及实地调研数据，分析了峡谷地形林火蔓延时空特征，探讨了峡谷中风向风速变化时空分布规律，研究了地形变化条件下，不同海拔高度风速特征，建立了无人机倾角测量风速模型（其中为风速m·s-1，为无人机倾角°）。结果表明，高山峻岭特殊地形环境下每天4:00—12:00时间段为静风期，为峡谷林火扑救最佳时期；午后15:00—17:00和晚上20:00—22:00为山谷地形风速活跃期；仿真软件数据显示山顶、谷底与山腰不同海拔位置的风速风向不统一，谷底会产生乱流现象，且风速与海拔不存在正相关关系，小气候在复杂地形中占主导影响地位；在谷口至山谷深处的中间位置会出现气流速度的波峰状态，并易形成乱流，为爆燃火发生提供了客观必要条件。该研究可为复杂地形环境下，森林草原火灾扑救安全提供数据和技术支撑。     

Crystal structures of silicon-rich lithium silicides at high pressure

Silicon (Si) is one of the most essential elements, as it is indispensable for modern electronic technology. The standard Si structure at ambient conditions is the cubic diamond structure, and it has an indirect band gap, which prevents it from being considered as a next-generation platform for semiconductor technologies. Therefore, the search for new allotropes of silicon has attracted great attention. Herein, first principles swarm-intelligence structure searches coupled with density-functional theory were performed to explore the stable high-pressure phases of silicon-rich lithium containing compounds, LiSi_x ($x=4\text{–}8$). The LiSi₄ stoichiometry was predicted to be stable, and it was found to assume one of the following space groups, P4/mnc, Cmmm, and C2/m within the pressure range of 0 to 50 GPa. By removing the Li atoms from these compounds, three silicon allotropes were obtained that were metastable at ambient pressures. Our work illustrates how novel silicon allotropes can be predicted using the CALYPSO method.     

Effective Application of Microwave Resonant Cavity System to Flow Chemistry

By applying advanced telecommunication solid state devices to microwave (MW) resonant cavity system for flow chemistry, it becomes possible to heat up low polarity solvents higher than 250 C, that are considered impossible to heat up by MW until now. The resonant cavity system is opening new process windows to production processes of specialty chemicals which require low cost, high yield and high productivity.