Hydrothermal processing of waste pine wood into industrially useful products

An ongoing major outbreak of mountain pine beetle in Western Canada has provided a clear opportunity to utilize waste pinewood as a source of renewable energy. Therefore hydrothermal processing of waste pinewood as a feedstock for bio-oil and biochar production using subcritical and supercritical water technology was carried out in semi-batch mode to investigate the effect of pressure (200–400 bar) and temperature (300–400 °C) on the yield and composition of bio-oil. The pinewood samples have very high cellulose and hemicellulose content but low ash content and are thus a formidable feedstock for bioenergy production. The optimum conditions for the hydrothermal processing of the pinewood in a tubular reactor were found to be 400 °C and 250 bars with respect to biochar and bio-oil yield based on the highest calorific value analysis. Detailed characterization of bio-oil and biochar was performed using GCMS, NMR, SEM, calorific value, and elemental analysis, respectively. The critical components of bio-oil were found to be phenols, methoxyphenols, hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF), and vanillin, whereas as compared to the raw pine wood, the biochar was considerably lower H:C and O:C ratios than those of the unprocessed pinewood. The analyses of bio-oil by means of GCMS and ¹H NMR showed that it was mainly composed of heterocyclic compounds, phenols, aldehydes and acids.     

酸性电解水过程中氧析出反应的机理及铱基催化剂的研究进展北大核心CSCD

可持续能源的迅速发展,使绿色清洁的氢能源成为热点。质子交换膜(PEM)水电解是一项很有前途的技术,可高效生产高纯度氢气。IrO_(2)作为质子交换膜(PEM)水电解槽阳极氧析出反应(OER)的商用电催化剂,既能在强酸性、高强度腐蚀条件下保持稳定,又表现出优异的催化性能。然而,由于Ir的稀缺性和昂贵的价格,提高Ir基催化剂的OER活性,开发低Ir催化剂就显得至关重要。对其反应机理的认知是当前的研究热点之一,也是设计优异的OER催化剂的关键所在。因此,首先从OER机理出发,对目前被广泛认可的吸附物逸出机理(AEM)和晶格氧逸出机理(LOER)两种反应机理进行了研究。随后,根据所提出的这两种机理,介绍了OER催化剂设计的基本准则,即调控Ir基催化剂的电子结构,改善反应中间物种在催化活性位点上的吸附能,从而提高OER催化活性。并从催化剂的结构设计、形貌控制、载体材料3个方面简单概述了最近OER催化剂的研究进展。最后,在已有研究的基础上,提出了目前OER催化剂面临的困难与挑战,这为以后相关的研究指明了方向。     

三元镍基硫属化物纳米棒阵列的简单合成及其高效的电催化析氧性能北大核心CSCD

通过一步溶剂热法成功合成了泡沫镍(NF)支撑的三元镍基硫属化物(Ni_(3)(Se_(x)S_(1−x))_(2))纳米棒阵列。结构表征结果表明,所得三元Ni_(3)(Se_(x)S_(1−x))_(2)纳米棒属于三方物相,在泡沫镍基底上形成了有序的阵列结构。由于其快速的载流子传输效率、丰富的活性位点和多阴离子的协同效应,Ni_(3)(Se_(0.3)S_(0.7))_(2)/NF纳米棒阵列具有最佳的电催化性能。在1.0 mol/L的KOH溶液中,电流密度为50 mA/cm2时,过电势仅为344 mV,塔菲尔斜率为40.17 mV/dec,同时具有优异的电化学稳定性。更重要的是,以商用Pt/C为阴极,Ni_(3)(Se_(0.3)S_(0.7))_(2)/NF纳米棒阵列为阳极进行全分解水实验,仅需要1.49 V的电池电位即可提供10 mA/cm2的电解电流,表现出良好的电解水效果。该研究为电解水技术领域提供了一种高效的电催化剂,也为电化学能源技术中非贵重电催化剂的合理构建提供了有价值的见解。     

Ni2P-NiS双助剂促进g-C3N4光催化产氢动力学

本文通过简单的一步水热法得到Ni₂P-NiS双助催化剂,之后采用溶剂蒸发法将Ni₂P-NiS与g-C₃N₄纳米片结合构建获得无贵金属的Ni₂P-NiS/g-C₃N₄异质结。研究结果表明,优化后的复合材料具有良好的光催化产氢活性,其产氢速率最高可到6892.7 μmol·g^-1·h^-1,分别为g-C₃N₄ (150 μmol·g^-1·h^-1)、15%NiS/g-C₃N₄ (914.5 μmol·g^-1·h^-1)和15%Ni₂P/g-C₃N₄ (1565.9 μmol·g^-1·h^-1)的46.1、7.5和4.4倍。这主要归因于Ni₂P-NiS相比Ni₂P和NiS单体具有更好的载流子转移能力,其与g-C₃N₄形成的肖特基势垒能有效促进光生载流子在二者界面上的分离,同时Ni₂P-NiS能进一步降低析氢过电势,进而显著增强了表面析氢反应动力学。本研究为开发稳定、高效的非贵金属产氢助剂提供了实验基础。     

Agro-industrial waste enzymes: Perspectives in circular economy

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, approximately 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted each year, equivalent to approximately one-third of world production. Agri-food wastes are the source of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and other essential minerals that have been exploited for value-added products by the development of biorefineries and sustainable business as important elements of circular economies. The innovation and materialization of these types of processes, including the use of disruptive technologies on microbial bioconversion and enzyme technology, such as nanotechnology, metabolic engineering, and multi-omics platforms, increase the perspectives on the waste valorization process. Lignocellulolytic enzymes, pectinases, and proteases are mainly used as catalyzers on agri-food waste treatment, and their production in house might be the trend in near future for agro-industrial countries. Another way to transform the agri-food wastes is via aerobic or anaerobic microbial process from fungal or bacterial cultures; these processes are the key to produce waste enzymes.     

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.     

单原子催化剂在电化学中的研究进展

目前单原子催化剂的研究呈现爆发式增长, 已然成为材料科学和催化领域的明星材料和研究热点. 前期报道的单原子催化剂研究主要针对某一个应用方向进行探讨, 较少研究催化剂的双功能或多功能应用. 近年来, 为了拓展单原子催化剂在更多领域和方向的应用, 具有双功能甚至多功能的单原子催化剂的设计开发备受关注. 本文综合评述了近年来具有双功能活性的单原子催化剂的研究进展, 重点介绍了其在电化学领域中的最新应用研究. 最后, 对具有双功能活性的单原子催化剂发展研究中存在的问题进行了简要分析, 并对未来发展前景进行了展望.     

聚乙烯醇载银海绵的制备及界面光热驱动水蒸发性能

利用光热材料的太阳能水蒸发技术是一种绿色、 环保地解决淡水资源短缺的重要技术, 但光热材料的制备成本、 蒸发效率和热损失等因素限制了其推广应用. 本文采用一锅法制备了聚乙烯醇载银海绵(AgNPs/PVA)太阳能界面蒸发器, 并研究了AgNPs含量对AgNPs/PVA在太阳能驱动水蒸发过程中光热性能的影响. 研究结果表明, 当AgNPs的质量为PVA的10%时, 制备的AgNPs/PVA在1 kW/m ²的太阳光强度下具有最优的蒸发速率, 水蒸发速率可达1.62 kg?m ^?2?h ^?1, 为纯水(0.42 kg?m ^?2?h ^?1)的3.9倍. 本文制备的AgNPs/PVA具有制备工艺简单、 亲水性能优良和蒸发性能良好的特点, 在太阳能驱动水蒸发领域具有较大的应用前景.     

Mobility of water molecules in Li+, Na+ and Cs+ ionic forms of Nafion membrane studied by NMR

Correlation times and diffusion coefficients of water molecules were measured for the first time by ¹H spin relaxation and pulsed field gradient NMR in Li⁺, Na⁺ and Cs⁺ ionic forms of Nafion 117 membrane. Hydration numbers of Li⁺, Na⁺ and Cs⁺ cations were calculated. It was shown that at high humidity macroscopic transfer is controlled by the local translational motion of water molecules.     

Selective Detection of Mg2+ for Sensing Applications in Drinking Water

A new series of ligands containing the 2-(2-hydroxy-3- naphthyl)-4-methylbenzoxazole (HNBO) fluorophore showed selectivity for Mg²⁺ ions, without the interference of Ca²⁺. The most promising representative L3 resulted the best performing sensor for Mg²⁺ both in solution and embedded in an all-solid-state optode, especially towards real samples of drinkable water.