Copper-doped flower-like molybdenum disulfide/bismuth sulfide photocatalysts for enhanced solar water splitting

A facile synthesis approach to fabricate Cu-doped MoS₂/Bi₂S₃ (Cu-MoS₂/Bi₂S₃) photocatalysts is reported. The photocatalyst samples with varying amounts of Cu are applied in the photocatalytic splitting of water to produce H₂ under the irradiation of simulated solar light. The Cu-MoS₂/Bi₂S₃ photocatalysts with an optimum Cu loading of 20 mol% exhibited high photocatalytic performance, achieving a total H₂ yield of 32.4 μmol/h after 6 h of reaction. The photoactivity of the Cu-doped sample was shown to have risen more than 40% than that of pure MoS₂/Bi₂S₃. The improved performance is attributed to the impurity states generated within Cu-doped MoS₂, which serve as trapping sites for photogenerated electrons. The effective charge transfer mechanism achieved was evidenced by photoelectrochemical measurements. Based on the experimental results obtained, a plausible mechanism for the photocatalytic process associated with Cu-MoS₂/Bi₂S₃ was proposed.     

深部元素地气迁移的分量化探证据：以郴州金狮岭铀多金属矿床为例

以地气理论为基础的分量化探技术被广泛应用于深部隐伏矿床勘查。深部矿体信息随地气迁移到地表形成叠加异常，分量化探技术可用于采集分析这部分信息来推测深部矿体的赋存状态。以位于湖南省郴州市的金狮岭铀多金属矿床为研究对象，在早期钻探工作、伽马能谱和氡浓度测量成果的基础上，利用分量化探技术探求深部元素地气迁移的证据，为进一步寻找深部隐伏矿床提供理论基础。在该矿区选定了氡浓度异常明显的3条采样线，对采自深度为40~60 cm的浅层土壤147件样品中的U、Pb、Zn等20个元素进行了分量提取和ICP-MS分析，并对分析数据进行了U分量异常特征分析、相关分析、聚类分析，U分量异常地质综合剖面分析以及土壤U分量与伽马能谱U含量的对比分析解译。结果表明：①区内3#、8#测线U分量异常明显，最大值分别为2 194 ng/g和2 167 ng/g，异常衬度值分别为1.298和1.403，区内具有良好的铀矿找矿潜力；②与U分量密切相关的元素为Nd、Sm、Ta，相关系数分别达到0.465，0.492和0.491，远高于99%置信度的临界值0.217，显示其随着地气迁移过程中与U密切相关；③U分量异常主要与深部隐伏矿体、断裂破碎带有关，U分量曲线与Nd、Sm、Ta分量曲线高度吻合，U、Nd、Sm、Ta分量异常组合可作为该区指示深部铀矿体的地球化学标志。     

冻融作用下水灰比对类岩石材料物理力学特性影响研究

高寒地区矿山边坡岩体会经历冻融循环作用，引起岩体结构损伤和强度弱化，对矿山边坡的稳定性构成危害。水泥砂浆作为模拟裂隙边坡岩体常用的类岩石材料，其配合比对该类岩石材料抗冻性影响较大。为探究冻融作用下水灰比对类岩石材料物理力学特性的影响机制，制作了7种不同水灰比的类岩石——水泥砂浆标准试样，进行了不同次数的冻融循环试验及0~50次冻融后的单轴压缩试验。结果表明：①冻融前，随着水灰比的增大，试样初始孔隙率增大、密度降低，进而导致其波速下降；冻融过程中，波速随着冻融次数的增加而减小，且水灰比越大，波速损失率越高。②随着水灰比增大，类岩石材料的单轴抗压强度、弹性模量均出现了先增大后减小的现象；当水灰比为0.325~0.35时，类岩石试样的单轴抗压强度最高且抗冻性能最好。③随着冻融循环次数增加，应力应变曲线趋于扁平化，试样由脆性逐渐向延性转化，且水灰比越大，试样孔隙压密阶段变形越大。研究成果可为寒区矿山边坡及相关岩体工程类裂隙岩体冻融试验中的配比设计提供借鉴。     

Understanding the correlation between calcination temperature and performance in low-temperature methanation over Ni-Zr/Al2O3 catalysts

Low-temperature methanation of CO in the continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) over Zr doped Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst calcined at different temperatures (673, 723, and 823 K) was investigated. XRD, TPR, XPS, ICP, SEM, and S-TPR techniques were employed to characterize the fresh and spent catalysts. Based on the characterization results, it was found that low-temperature (673 K) calcination could effectively prohibit the formation of NiAl₂O₄ spinel, thereby resulting in more reducible NiO particles, which were the essential precursor of methanation active sites over the catalyst surface. Thus, the highest CO conversion of 93.6% was achieved over the 25N3ZA-673 catalyst. In addition, the deactivation rate of 25N3ZA-673 was relatively slow in comparison to 25N3ZA-823 due to the presence of more reducible NiO. The formed nickel carbonyl species (Ni[CO]_x), which quickly decomposed at a higher reaction temperature, was closely related to the catalyst deactivation. Therefore, 25N3ZA-673 possessed much better stability at 593 K than that at 553 K.     

A triple-shape memory material fabricated by in situ crosslinking of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)/ε-polycaprolactone via electron-beam irradiation and its triple-shape memory effects

In this work, we fabricated a triple-shape memory polymeric material though in situ crosslinking of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)/ε-polycaprolactone blends induced by electron beam irradiation. The intrinsic property of irradiation crosslinking, crosslinking rule in this heterogeneous system, formation of interfacial bridge molecular, and the resulted interfacial strength were investigated. No obvious interfacial slips were observed in tensile test, and the elongation at break was above 900%. The high-temperature relaxation and recovery experiments at nonlinear region confirmed the excellent hyperelasticity and recovery ratios (R_r ) can be as high as 95% for samples irradiated above 96 kGy. The mismatch between heating rate and relaxation kinetics resulted in both instable temporary shapes and heating-mode dependent recovery behavior during the recovery process. Self-stability of the temporary shape at middle temperature was also emphasized in view of the phenomenon that the second R_r was above 100% in our experiments. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48588.     

Core–Sheath Wet Electrospinning of Nanoporous Polycaprolactone Microtubes to Mimic Fenestrated Capillaries

Formation of capillary vessel structures in scaffolds is critical for engineering various tissues and organs. Various biofabrication techniques are developed in recent years to create scaffolds integrated with perfusion channels. However, rapid fabrication of artificial capillary vessels (<10 µm) still remains challenging. In this study, a novel electrospinning approach is developed to fabricate nanoporous polycaprolactone microtubes as potential functional capillaries. The results show that ambient environment parameters and solution properties affect the pore formation and tube morphology. Porous microbeads, helical fibers, and microtubes were fabricated under different processing conditions. The optimal tubular structure is obtained with consistent viscosities between the core and the sheath solutions. The biomimetic nanoporous microtubes hold great potential for vascularization in tissue engineering.