Production of COx-Free Hydrogen and Few-Layer Graphene Nanoplatelets by Catalytic Decomposition of Methane over Ni-Lignin-Derived Nanoparticles

Nickel (Ni)-lignin nanocomposites were synthesized from nickel nitrate and kraft lignin then catalytically graphitized to few-layer graphene-encapsulated nickel nanoparticles (Ni@G). Ni@G nanoparticles were used for catalytic decomposition of methane (CDM) to produce COx-free hydrogen and graphene nanoplatelets. Ni@G showed high catalytic activity for methane decomposition at temperatures of 800 to 900 °C and exhibited long-term stability of 600 min time-on-stream (TOS) without apparent deactivation. The catalytic stability may be attributed to the nickel dispersion in the Ni@G sample. During the CDM reaction process, graphene shells over Ni@G nanoparticles were cracked and peeled off the nickel cores at high temperature. Both the exposed nickel nanoparticles and the cracked graphene shells may participate the CDM reaction, making Ni@G samples highly active for CDM reaction. The vacancy defects and edges in the cracked graphene shells serve as the active sites for methane decomposition. The edges are continuously regenerated by methane molecules through CDM reaction.     

A Feature-Based Stochastic Permeability of Shale: Part 2–Predicting Field-Scale Permeability

Transport in Porous Media - In a recent numerical study, it was demonstrated that characterizing reservoir permeability in terms of rock’s quality, as observed in lab and field, is the most...     

An Efficient Deacidification Process for Safflower Seed Oil with High Nutritional Property through Optimized Ultrasonic-Assisted Technology

Safflower seed oil (SSO) is considered to be an excellent edible oil since it contains abundant essential unsaturated fatty acids and lipid concomitants. However, the traditional alkali-refined deacidification process of SSO results in a serious loss of bioactive components of the oil and also yields massive amounts of wastewater. In this study, SSO was first extracted by ultrasonic-assisted ethanol extraction (UAEE), and the extraction process was optimized using random centroid optimization. By exploring the effects of ethanol concentration, solid–liquid ratio, ultrasonic time, and the number of deacidification times, the optimum conditions for the deacidification of safflower seed oil were obtained as follows: ethanol concentration 100%, solid–liquid ratio 1:4, ultrasonic time 29 min, and number of deacidification cycles (×2). The deacidification rate was 97.13% ± 0.70%, better than alkali-refining (72.16% ± 0.13%). The values of acid, peroxide, anisidine and total oxidation of UAEE-deacidified SSO were significantly lower than those of alkali-deacidified SSO (p < 0.05). The contents of the main lipid concomitants such as tocopherols, polyphenols, and phytosterols in UAEE-decidified SSO were significantly higher than those of the latter (p < 0.05). For instance, the DPPH radical scavenging capacity of UAEE-processed SSO was significantly higher than that of alkali refining (p < 0.05). The Pearson bivariate correlation analysis before and after the deacidification process demonstrated that the three main lipid concomitants in SSO were negatively correlated with the index of peroxide, anisidine, and total oxidation values. The purpose of this study was to provide an alternative method for the deacidification of SSO that can effectively remove free fatty acids while maintaining the nutritional characteristics, physicochemical properties, and antioxidant capacity of SSO.     

用DSC研究1,2-丙二醇及其水溶液的协同松弛行为

为了验证基于位形熵的非线性Adam-Gibbs协同松弛模型(AGV)能否用于描述小分子氢键液体的协同松弛行为, 利用差示扫描量热法(DSC)测量了连续升降温条件下1,2-丙二醇及其四种水溶液在115～230 K之间的比热容, 利用曲线拟合技术获得AGV模型参数. 结果表明, AGV模型可以重现体系的实验比热容数据. 1,2-丙二醇表现出与其水溶液明显不同的松弛行为, 但水含量的变化对松弛行为的影响并不明显. 利用AGV方法和Johari方法分别对协同重排活化能(Δμ')和协同重排域(CRR)尺寸(z*)作了分析. 只有选择比聚合物大得多的某一协同重排位形数, 以AGV方法得到的z*才不至于没有物理意义. Johari方法的分析结果表明, T_g温度下1,2-丙二醇的CRR内有约3个分子, 但对应的协同重排位形数(W*)却较聚合物高出很多. Donth的基于热力学温度波动理论的分析表明, 1,2-丙二醇及其水溶液的CRR尺寸随组分的变化趋势可与Δμ'和非指数参数的分析结果相吻合, 但得到的1,2-丙二醇的CRR内有约350个分子, 从而和Johari的分析结果产生巨大差别.     

Energy Storage by Poly(<Emphasis Type="Italic">o</Emphasis>-anisidine) Matrix During Oxidative Hydrolysis

The chromaticity of poly(o-anisidine) (POAN) doped with different acids (HA), HA-doped POAN, has been studied by the spectrophotometric technique and the results were substantiated by molecular mechanics (MM+) calculations. The observed absorbance decrease (λ around 720 nm, dark green coloration) with increasing concentration of the inorganic oxidizing agent (KMnO₄) can be attributed to the oxidative hydrolysis mechanism. The oxidative hydrolysis constant (K _h) is highly dependent on the strength of the acid used. The HClO₄-doped POAN matrix has the ability to store about 128.878 kJ⋅g⁻¹ chromogenic energy (CE) at the wavelength 720 nm in a condensed lightweight form. MM+ calculations suggest that the potential energy (PE) in kJ⋅mol⁻¹ of the optimum molecular geometric (OMG) structure of the HClO₄-doped POAN matrix is at least two (2.052) times more stable than the OMG of the base form (POAN-EB) of the POAN matrix. Kinetic parameters of the oxidative hydrolysis reaction of the HA-doped POAN matrix were deduced from absorbance variations with time. The results of computer-oriented kinetic analysis indicate that the rate-controlling step for HA-doped POAN oxidative hydrolysis is governed by the Ginstling-Bronshein equation that represents three-dimensional diffusion (D4). Activation parameters for the oxidative hydrolysis of the HClO₄-doped POAN matrix were computed and discussed.     

Silica-metalloporphyrins hybrid materials: preparation and catalysis to hydroxylate cyclohexane with molecular oxygen

Three types of novel silica-metalloporphyrins hybrid materials, Si-S-APTCPPFe, Si-S-APTCPPMn and Si-S-APTCPPCo, were prepared at room temperature by sol–gel method involving a thiol-ene polymerization reaction of 5-(4-allyloxy)phenyl-10,15,20-tri(4-chlorophenyl)porphyrin (APTCPP) with 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS). The hybrid materials were characterized by XRD, SEM, FT–IR, UV–Vis and TG, and were investigated as catalysts for the aerobic oxidation of cyclohexane. It is found that these hybrid materials are more efficient catalysts than the analogous non-supported metalloporphyrins for cyclohexane hydroxylation in metalloporphyrin–O₂–ascrobate system and the metal ion in the porphyrins significantly affected the catalytic efficiencies of these hybrid materials.     

M@B<Subscript>9</Subscript> and M@B<Subscript>10</Subscript> molecular wheels containing planar nona- and deca-coordinate heavy group 11, 12, and 13 metals (M=Ag,Au, Cd,Hg, In,Tl)

A density functional and ab initio theory investigation on M@B₉ and M@B₁₀ molecular wheels containing planar nona- and deca-coordinate heavy group 11, 12 and 13 metals (M=Ag, Au, Cd, Hg, In, Ti) has been performed. These unusual clusters all prove to be true minima on the potential energy surfaces of the systems and σ+π double aromatic in nature. The first two vertical one-electron detachment energies of M@B₁₀⁻ (M=Ag, Au) anions and first two ionization potentials of M@B₉ (M=Ag, Au) and M@B₁₀ (M=Cd, Hg) neutrals were calculated to aid future experiments. The cluster complexes designed in this work may expend the domain of planar hyper-coordinate elements to include heavy group 11, 12, and 13 metals and serve as interesting candidates to be targeted in experiments. Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20873117)     

Analysis of viscosity abnormalities of polyelectrolytes in dilute solutions

It was found that the interface effects in viscous capillary flow influenced the process of viscosity measurement greatly,and the abnormal viscosity behaviors of polyelectrolytes as well as neutral polymers in dilute solution region were ascribed to interface effect.According to this theory,we have reviewed the previous viscosity data of derivatives of poly-2- vinylpyridine reported by Maclay and Fuoss first.Then,the abnormal viscosity behaviors of a series of sodium polystyrene sulfonate samples with various molecular weights in dilute aqueous solutions were studied further.The solute adsorption behaviors and structural information of polymers have been discussed carefully.