Experimental studies on the effect of ultrasonic treatment and hydrogen donors on residual oil characteristics

Residual oil, the residue after the distillation of crude oil, imposes deleterious effects on refinery due to its high viscosity and asphaltene content. In this context, ultrasonic technology has been widely applied in refining processes given its high efficiency and minimal environmental impacts. To guide the selection of operation parameters, in this work, we probed the effect of treatment duration, power, and hydrogen donor on the characteristics of residual oil under ultrasonic treatments. Underlying mechanisms of ultrasonic treatments, in the absence and presence of hydrogen donors, were verified through systematically analyzing viscosity, component conversion, molecular weight, hydrogen distribution, and functional groups of residual oil. While viscosity reductions under low-power density treatment are caused by colloidal system disaggregation, high-power density treatment can bring in both chemical bond cleavage and colloidal system disaggregation. In addition, adding hydrogen donor can effectively prevent radical recombination, and thus increases the yield of saturate. These results provide fundamental understandings on the effects of ultrasonic treatments.     

Ultrasound pre-fractured casein and in-situ formation of high internal phase emulsions

Traditional preparation of protein particles is usually complex and tedious, which is a major issue in the development of Pickering high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). In this study, a facile and in-situ method for the preparation of food-grade Pickering HIPEs was developed using ultrasound pre-fractured casein flocs. The ultrasonic-treated casein protein and resulting Pickering HIPEs were characterised using particle size distribution, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), cryo-SEM, and rheological measurement. The results indicated that pH values of casein and ultrasonic power level were key parameters for casein protein dispersion into nanoparticles to form o/w Pickering HIPEs. In optimal conditions, the hexagons of emulsion droplets were close together, and the emulsions formed with ultrasonic caseins exhibited gel-like behaviour. Additionally, ultrasonic microscale-sized caseins (about 25 μm) disappeared upon the use of high speed homogenisation during the formation of HIPEs, while the chemical distribution revealed by confocal laser scanning microscopy indicated that the dispersive nanoparticles from casein proteins were evidently absorbed on the interface of HIPEs (cryo-SEM). These findings prove that ultrasound is an effective tool to loosen casein flocs to induce the in-situ formation of stabilised Pickering HIPEs. Overall, this work provides a green and facile route to convert edible oil into a soft solid, which has great potential for applications in biomedical materials, 3D printing technology, and various cosmetics.     

Template‐Free Hydrothermal Synthesis of Mesoporous MgO Nanostructures and Their Applications in Water Treatment

The controlled synthesis of Mg(OH)₂ nanowires and microflowers composed of nanoplates was successfully achieved by a template‐free hydrothermal synthetic method. It was found that the reaction medium played a crucial role in the morphological control of the precursor nanostructures. The high polarity of water molecules favored the polar growth of the precursor, resulting in the formation of nanowires with a diameter of 80 nm, whereas a mixed water/ethanol medium with a lower degree of polarity led to the formation of microflowers. Moreover, mesoporous MgO nanostructures could be obtained by further annealing these as‐prepared precursors in air at 500 °C for 2 h. During thermal treatment, the wire‐ and flower‐like morphologies were retained. Porosity formation was due to thermal decomposition of Mg(OH)₂ and release of H₂O. Both the mesoporous MgO nanowires and microflowers showed superior ability of adsorbing the organic dye methyl orange, and thus they are promising candidates for polluted water treatment.     

Recycling of Primary Lithium Batteries Production Residues

Production waste of primary lithium batteries constitutes a considerable secondary lithium feedstock. Although the recycling of lithium batteries is a widely studied field of research, the metallic residues of non-rechargeable lithium battery production are disposed of as waste without further recycling. The risks of handling metallic Li on a large scale typically prevent the metal from being recycled. A way out of this situation is to handle Li in an aqueous solution, from where it can be isolated as Li₂CO₃. However, the challenge in hydrometallurgical treatment lies in the high energy release during dissolution and generation of H₂. To reduce these process-related risks, the Li sheet metal punching residues underwent oxidative thermal treatment from 300 to 400 °C prior to dissolution in water. Converting Li metal to Li₂O in this initial process step results in an energy release reduction of ∼70 %. The optimal oxidation conditions have been determined by experimental design varying three factors: temperature, Li metal sheet thickness, and residence time. With 96.9±2.6 % almost the entire Li amount is converted to Li₂O, after 2.5 h treatment at 400 °C for a Li sheet thickness of 1.99 mm. Final precipitation with CO₂ yields 85.5±3.0 % Li₂CO₃. Using pure Li sheets, the product Li₂CO₃ is obtained in battery-grade quality (>99.5 %). Non-precipitated Li is recirculated into the process on the stage of dissolving Li₂O, thus avoiding loss of material.     

微弧氧化陶瓷膜封孔后处理及抗高温氧化性能的研究

在铝酸盐体系中,利用微等离体氧化脉冲电源在Ti-6Al-4V合金表面制备了以Al2TiO5为主晶相的陶瓷膜层,然后采用钛酸四丁酯/乙醇和硅酸钠溶液的封孔方法对微弧氧化陶瓷膜进行封孔后处理。通过SEM及高温氧化测试,分析比较了陶瓷膜层在封孔前后的表面形貌以及抗高温氧化性能的变化情况。结果表明:封孔后膜层孔洞明显变小。经700℃高温氧化测试,采用钛酸四丁酯/乙醇溶液封孔方法不仅没有带来抗高温氧化性能的提高反而下降,而硅酸钠溶液的封孔方法提高了抗高温氧化性能。     

The Multifunctional Role of Herbal Products in the Management of Diabetes and Obesity: A Comprehensive Review

Obesity and diabetes are the most demanding health problems today, and their prevalence, as well as comorbidities, is on the rise all over the world. As time goes on, both are becoming big issues that have a big impact on people’s lives. Diabetes is a metabolic and endocrine illness set apart by hyperglycemia and glucose narrow-mindedness because of insulin opposition. Heftiness is a typical, complex, and developing overall wellbeing worry that has for quite some time been connected to significant medical issues in individuals, all things considered. Because of the wide variety and low adverse effects, herbal products are an important hotspot for drug development. Synthetic compounds are not structurally diverse and lack drug-likeness properties. Thus, it is basic to keep on exploring herbal products as possible wellsprings of novel drugs. We conducted this review of the literature by searching Scopus, Science Direct, Elsevier, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. From 1990 until October 2021, research reports, review articles, and original research articles in English are presented. It provides top to bottom data and an examination of plant-inferred compounds that might be utilized against heftiness or potentially hostile to diabetes treatments. Our expanded comprehension of the systems of activity of phytogenic compounds, as an extra examination, could prompt the advancement of remedial methodologies for metabolic diseases. In clinical trials, a huge number of these food kinds or restorative plants, as well as their bioactive compounds, have been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of obesity.     

黄铁矿处理重金属废水的光谱表征

将反射光谱和吸收光谱用于黄铁矿处理酸性重金属废水的研究,探讨了黄铁矿的表面反应以及黄铁矿与重金属的相互作用。漫反射红外光谱分析证实,在处理废水过程中,黄铁矿中表面羟基与重金属离子发生反应;并通过考察黄铁矿中碳酸盐,合理解释了黄铁矿处理酸性重金属废水后的溶液自然均趋于中性(pH 7)的现象。可见区的反射光谱用于表征处理过程中的黄铁矿的颗粒及比表面变化,解释了黄铁矿在重复使用时其活性反而增强的原因。吸收光谱及XPS表征表明,黄铁矿处理含Cr(Ⅵ)废水,是一个由Cr(Ⅵ)到Cr3+再到Cr(OH)₃的吸附沉淀过程。     

Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline MgAl2O4 spinel by polymerized complex method

Ultrafine MgAl₂O₄ powder has been synthesized by a polymerized complex method. Heating of a precursor solution containing citric acid (CA), ethylene glycol (EG) and Mg and Al salts with a molar ratio of Mg/Al/CA/EG=1/2/8/32 at 180°C produced a transparent polymeric gel, which have been characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and TG/DTA. The organic fraction was removed by controlled thermal treatments (350–1200°C) whereby the bimetallic oxide was formed. XRD analysis showed the presence of MgAl₂O₄ at 600°C. TEM observation showed that the spherical nanosized powders with good uniformity was obtained. Furthermore, these powders showed excellent sinterability, relative density up to 99.8% was achieved when sintered at 1550°C for 3 h in air without any sintering additive.     

Chemically prepared well-ordered InP(0 0 1) surfaces

In the present work HCl-isopropanol treated and vacuum annealed InP(0 0 1) surfaces were studied by means of low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), soft X-ray photoemission (SXPS), and reflectance anisotropy (RAS) spectroscopies. The treatment removes the natural oxide and leaves on the surface a physisorbed overlayer containing InCl_x and phosphorus. Annealing at 230 °C induces desorption of InCl_x overlayer and reveals a P-rich (2 × 1) surface. Subsequent annealing at higher temperature induces In-rich (2 × 4) surface. The structural properties of chemically prepared InP(0 0 1) surfaces were found to be similar to those obtained by decapping of As/P-capped epitaxial layers.     

最小成本生成树对策上Shapley值的新刻画及其应用

2002年,Kar利用有效性、无交叉补贴性、群独立性和等处理性四个公理对最小成本生成树对策上的Shapley值进行了刻画。本文提出了“群有效性”这一公理,利用这一公理和“等处理性”两个公理,给出了最小成本生成树对策上Shapley值的一种新的公理化刻画。最后,运用最小成本生成树对策的Shapley值,对网络服务的费用分摊问题进行了分析。