Solvent-Free Plasticity and Programmable Mechanical Behaviors of Engineered Proteins

Biopolymeric networks with plasticity show great competences in diverse fields owing to the combined biocompatible and mechanical characteristics. However, to realize such plasticity external complicated treatments, e.g., UV or organic solvent have to be applied, which in turn impair the biological nature and even mechanical properties of those systems. To address this challenge, one new type of anhydrous protein liquid crystalline (LC) gels, which exhibit flexible morphological plasticity and mechanical programmability is demonstrated. Supramolecular interactions in the smectic biogels play an important role for their high plasticity. Remarkably, the samples exhibit outstanding mechanical behaviors. The tensile strength and Young's modulus at MPa levels are comparable or even higher than chemically cross-linked hydrogels and LC elastomers. More importantly, mechanical programmability of the LC gels is achieved by genetically tuning the charge density of protein backbones. Consequently, the mechanical performance is manipulated in the range of one order of magnitude. Thus, this type of anhydrous protein LC gels offers great opportunities for load-bearing high-tech applications.     

The control of paracetamol particle size and surface morphology through crystallisation in a spray dryer

The parameters governing the crystallisation of paracetamol using various conventional techniques has been extensively studied, however the factors influencing the drug crystallisation using spray drying is not as well understood. The aim of this work was to investigate the crystallisation of an active pharmaceutical ingredient through evaporative crystallisation using a spray dryer to study the physicochemical properties of the drug and to use semi-empirical equations to gain insight into the morphology and particle size of the dried powder. Paracetamol solutions were spray dried at various inlet temperatures ranging from 60 °C to 120 °C and also from a series of inlet feed solvent compositions ranging from 50/50% v/v ethanol/water to 100% ethanol and solid-state characterisation was done. The size and morphology of the dried materials were altered with a change in spray drying parameters, with an increase in inlet temperature leading to an increase in particle Sauter mean diameter (from 3.0 to 4.4 µm) and a decrease in the particle size with an increase in ethanol concentration in the feed (from 4.6 to 4.4 µm) as a result of changes in particle density and atomised droplet size. The morphology of the dried particles consisted of agglomerates of individual crystallites bound together into larger semi-spherical agglomerates with a higher tendency for particles having crystalline ridges to form at higher ethanol concentrations of the feed.     

三液相酶催化体系水解橄榄油的研究

采用三液相酶催化体系水解橄榄油,考察构成三液相体系的物质对酶的影响;考察了硫酸铵的含量和PEG400的含量对酶的分配分数、回收率及催化效率的影响,研究了中下相与油的体积比对水解橄榄油的影响,并初步探究了三液相体系水解橄榄油的微观液滴结构。结果表明:在酶添加量142.5 U/g、硫酸铵含量15%、PEG400含量28%、中下相与油的体积比3∶1、转速200 r/min条件下,酶的分配系数达到28.28,酶的回收率达99.65%,水解24 h后,脂肪酸含量达98.17%,在对照(油水体系)中,相同条件下产生的脂肪酸含量仅为42.06%。显微镜下液滴观察结果表明,三液相体系中独特的液滴结构可能是该体系优于油水两相体系的原因。     

Optimal carbon reduction level and ordering quantity under financial constraints

Carbon tax policy is widely adopted by many countries to curb carbon emissions. In the context of carbon tax policy, firms have more incentive to improve carbon reduction levels by reducing their carbon tax costs. However, firms need to bear carbon reduction costs that may cause shortage of capital. Thus, firms may face problems of financial constraints, which may demotivate firms to produce greener products. To address the decision‐making challenges of firms in the contexts of carbon tax policy and financial constraints, we consider a supply chain with a manufacturer who produces green products and a retailer who sells these products. Our study develops five models to investigate the two firms’ optimal wholesale price, carbon reduction level and ordering quantity, according to the manufacturer and retailer with or without financial constraints. Our goal in this study is to explore how carbon tax policy and banks’ interest rates affect the profits of the two firms, supply chain and consumer surplus. Certain managerial insights are obtained as follows. We demonstrate that carbon tax policy and banks’ interest rates demotivate the manufacturer to produce greener products and demotivate the retailer to order more products. If the interest rate to the manufacturer (retailer) is relatively low, then the manufacturer with financial constraint benefits (harms) the consumers compared with the retailer with financial constraint. Importantly, our analysis suggests that carbon tax policy harms the firms but benefits consumers, and the government in some conditions should reduce unit carbon tax.     

煤系地层致密砂岩气甜点区地震逐级预测——以鄂尔多斯盆地东南缘下二叠统山西组2~3亚段为例

鄂尔多斯盆地东南部下二叠统山西组2~3亚段(以下简称山2~3亚段)为该盆地重要的天然气勘探目的层,但该亚段储层薄、厚度变化快、非均质性强,储层预测和勘探目标优选难度大。为了准确预测该亚段煤系地层致密砂岩气甜点区、提高天然气勘探成功率,针对该套储层的特征和预测难点,提出了90°相移技术识别河道外形、模型约束波阻抗反演刻画砂体厚度和子波衰减梯度属性识别含气砂体的地震逐级预测技术。研究结果表明:①山2~3亚段上覆5号煤地震强反射层,下伏储层地震反射能量弱,加之为稀疏二维地震测网、井控程度低,致使致密砂岩气甜点区预测难度大;②所提出的技术方法通过地震逐级预测约束,可以有效地刻画河道砂体分布并识别有效含气储层,提高了对勘探开发目标预测的精度;③基于该技术方法指导部署的勘探开发目标实钻效果好,地震预测结果横向分辨率高,真实地反映了河道及河道砂体的变化特征。结论认为,采用该方法可以有效地解决二维地震勘探区煤系地层强非均质性、薄储层致密砂岩气甜点区预测的地质难题。     

气藏采收率影响因素研究与启示——以靖边气田A井区为例

以鄂尔多斯盆地靖边气田A井区为例，采用单因素相关分析和数值模拟方法，对比研究了井网控制程度、储层物性及地层废弃压力对气藏采收率影响及其主次关系。结果表明，井网控制程度是影响采收率的首要因素，井网控制程度每增加10%，采收率提高8.5%；渗透率是影响采收率的重要因素，渗透率每增加10%，采收率平均增加6%；废弃压力对采收率亦有较大影响，废弃压力每降低10%，采收率可提高1.6%。三者对采收率影响综合排序为：井网控制程度>储层物性>废弃压力。分析认为，渗透率是储层固有属性，很难从根本改变；而废弃压力受井口外输压力和增压开采成本制约，降低幅度有限。因此，优化井网及增加井网控制程度是提高气藏采收率的有效途径。研究成果具有实践意义，可为改进气田开发方式和提高气藏采收率提供参考。     

3D Microstructures of Liquid Crystal Networks with Programmed Voxelated Director Fields

The shape-shifting behavior of liquid crystal networks (LCNs) and elastomers (LCEs) is a result of an interplay between their initial geometrical shape and their molecular alignment. For years, reliance on either one-step in situ or two-step film processing techniques has limited the shape-change transformations from 2D to 3D geometries. The combination of various fabrication techniques, alignment methods, and chemical formulations developed in recent years has introduced new opportunities to achieve 3D-to-3D shape-transformations in large scales, albeit the precise control of local molecular alignment in microscale 3D constructs remains a challenge. Here, the voxel-by-voxel encoding of nematic alignment in 3D microstructures of LCNs produced by two-photon polymerization using high-resolution topographical features is demonstrated. 3D LCN microstructures (suspended films, coils, and rings) with designable 2D and 3D director fields with a resolution of 5 µm are achieved. Different shape transformations of LCN microstructures with the same geometry but dissimilar molecular alignments upon actuation are elicited. This strategy offers higher freedom in the shape-change programming of 3D LCN microstructures and expands their applicability in emerging technologies, such as small-scale soft robots and devices and responsive surfaces.     

融合前沿研究的液体电介质击穿教学研究

针对《高电压与绝缘技术》课程中液体电介质的教学难点，提出了融合前沿研究的液体电介质击穿教学方法。基于前沿的液体放电应用背景与先进的液体放电研究平台，形象地展示液体电介质的动态击穿过程，在教学内容、教学方法、考核方式等方面进行科教融合改进，实施“以学生为中心”理念的课程教学设计。该教学方式取得了较好的教学效果，能够为其它知识点的教学质量提升提供参考。