Inorganic scintillators: today and tomorrow

The past half-century has witnessed the discovery of many new scintillator materials and numerous advances in our understanding of the basic physical processes governing the operation of inorganic scintillators. These developments are reviewed briefly, but then the question arises—what about today and tomorrow? Have we exhausted luminescence phenomena and the periodic table in our search for improved scintillator materials? Properties of both intrinsic and activated scintillator materials, crystalline and amphorous, are considered. Several fundamental limits of scintillator performance are examined together with the prospects for discovering better scintillators guided by first-principles theoretical calculations of the processes active in scintillation.     

Efficient synthesis of highly substituted thiophenes from acetylenic esters,ethyl bromopyruvate,and tetramethylthiourea

The reaction of acetylenic esters with ethyl bromopyruvate in the presence of tetramethylthiourea led to highly functionalized thiophenes in excellent yields. Correspondence: Issa Yavari, Chemistry Department, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14115-175, Tehran, Iran.     

活性炭富集示波极谱法测定水中痕量钒

本文研究了钒在活性炭上的吸附行为和解吸附条件，建立了ｐＨ３－４条件下吸附，氢氧化钠溶液洗脱，示波极谱法测定水中痕量钒的方法，本法富集倍数为１００，对水样的最小检出浓度为０．０５μｇ／Ｌ加标回收率为８７．４％－１００．３％，７份平行样品测定的相对标准偏差为３。５％－１２．８％。     

非局域密度泛函理论表征活性炭孔径分布的改进算法

为提高由NLDFT计算值确定活性炭孔径分布(PSD)的精度,根据测得的77K氮在非石墨化碳黑BP460和椰壳活性炭K05上的吸附数据,比较了吸附空间及壁面结构采取不同假设对计算结果的影响。结果表明,常规将活性炭吸附空间近似为无限尺寸的石墨化碳黑表面构成的狭缝孔,并由Lorenz-Berthelot混合法则确定相互作用参数,计算值在较低压力区域和试验值之间的偏差明显;而将吸附壁面结构近似为非石墨化碳黑,并由表面粗糙度和石墨晶格分布的误差函数修正相互作用参数后,计算结果和试验值吻合良好。分析结果时发现,归一化方法和考虑周边吸附质分子作用的加权函数是影响NLDFT计算结果准确性的关键因素。     

应用活性炭在燃烧后捕获二氧化碳的研究

从燃烧后大型固定二氧化碳点源捕获分离二氧化碳,如燃烧化石燃料的发电厂,水泥和钢铁厂,能减少操作成本并提高效率。利用活性炭分离吸附二氧化碳操作简单和成本低廉。而且,许多副产品及废物都可以作为活性炭的来源。因此,活性炭分离吸附二氧化碳的技术有远大前途。     

基于室温离子液体的活化石墨烯粉末超级电容储能性能

室温离子液体(RTILs)具有电压窗口高等优点,被认为是实现超级电容高性能储能的绿色电解液。但是,离子液体的电导率低、粘度高,使得其储能性能不佳。本文探究了溶剂效应对离子液体超级电容储能性能的影响。以石墨烯粉末为活性材料,选取1-丁基-3-甲基咪唑四氟硼酸盐为离子液体,通过添加乙腈溶剂配置了具有不同摩尔分数ρIL的电解液(从0.25到1.0)。结果表明,溶剂效应对超级电容性能的影响与电压扫描速率或电流密度密切相关。低扫描速率下,溶剂对储能基本没有影响,而高扫描速率下,添加溶剂可显著提升比电容(在ρIL=0.25时,增加~2倍)。这是由于溶剂削弱了离子-离子间交互作用,从而降低了电解液粘度(~29倍),内阻(~5.5倍)和介电弛豫时间(~6.3倍)。在ρIL=0.25时,超级电容最大能量和功率密度分别为65.2 Wh·kg~(-1)和18066.6 W·kg~(-1),显著优于近期文献报道结果。特别地,当工作温度提升到50°C时,其能量密度将达到85.5 Wh·kg~(-1),显著高于传统水系、有机电解液超级电容和铅酸电池,与镍金属氢化物和锂离子电池性能相当。     

Voltammetric Electronic Tongue Based on Carbon Paste Electrodes Modified with Biochar for Phenolic Compounds Stripping Detection

Biochar is a charcoal produced from the biomass pyrolysis process that presents a highly porous and functionalized surface. In the present work an array of carbon paste electrodes (CPE) made of different forms of carbon (graphite, carbon nanotubes and activated biochar) was evaluated in the development of an electronic tongue for discrimination and stripping voltammetric determination of catechol (CAT), 4‐ethylcatechol (4‐EC) and 4‐ethylguaiacol (4‐EG) phenolic compounds. Morphological characterization of carbon materials and electrodes surfaces was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and semi‐quantitative elemental composition by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were used for electrochemical characterization of electrodes. Cyclic voltammetry measurements were performed for the phenolic compounds evaluated using different concentrations. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to evaluate the qualitative analysis. Quantitative data modeling was done using artificial neural networks (ANN). The proposed sensor array presented analytical potentiality allowing the distinction and determination of CAT, 4‐EC and 4‐EG by using chemometric processing. The method showed sensibility, reproducibility and a good linearity (R²>0.9940) for three compounds evaluated. Spontaneous preconcentration of three compounds was possible using all three sensors, which can allow the application of these as passive samplers for remote determinations of phenolic compounds in wine and food samples.     

Wettability modification of pitch-based spherical activated carbon by air oxidation and its effects on phenol adsorption

The surface chemistry of pitch-based spherical activated carbon (PSAC) was modified by air oxidation to enhance its wettability as well as adsorption properties. Changes of PSAC after modification in texture, surface chemistry and wettability were studied by different techniques including N₂ adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and dynamic contact angle analyzer (DCA). Phenol adsorption characteristics in different solvents on PSAC were also investigated. When PSAC was modified under an atmosphere with 20 vol.% oxygen at 400 and 450 °C for 5 h, surface acidic groups increased from 0.11 to 1.22 and 1.60 meq/g, while basic groups decreased from 0.52 to 0.03 and 0.02 meq/g, respectively. After PSAC was modified, the increase of the oxygen-containing groups, especially carboxylic and phenolic ones, is responsible for the increasing of the surface acidity and the significant improvement of the wettability of PSAC. PSAC with a relatively high oxygen content provided a low adsorption capacity to phenol in aqueous solution, and the adsorption isotherms change from Langmuir class (L) to the S-shaped curve; while the solvent is changed into cyclohexane, all adsorption isotherms are type L, and the adsorption capacity to phenol increases with increasing oxygen-containing groups. Possible reasons, including the solvent effect, π-π dispersion and donor-acceptor interactions are discussed.     

Water vapor adsorption onto activated carbons prepared from cattle manure compost (CMC)

Activated carbons were prepared from cattle manure compost (CMC) using zinc chloride activation. The structural and surface chemical characteristics of CMC-based activated carbons were determined by N₂ adsorption-desorption and Boehm titration, respectively. The water vapor adsorption properties of the prepared activated carbons with various pore structure and surface nature were examined, and the mechanism of water adsorbed onto activated carbon was also discussed. The results show that the adsorption of water vapor on carbons begins at specific active sites at low relative humidity (RH), followed by micropore filling at medium RH through the formation of pentamer cluster of water molecules in the narrow micropores. The water vapor adsorption capacity of activated carbon is predominantly dependent on its pore volume and surface area. Although capillary condensation is not the mechanism for water adsorption onto activated carbon, water can adsorb on narrow mesopore to some extent.