Customization of ZrO2 loose/tight bilayer ultrafiltration membranes by reverse micelles-mediated aqueous sol-gel process for wastewater treatment

Two types of spherical zirconyl oxalate aqueous sols were successfully customized by a reverse micelles-mediated aqueous sol-gel process, and the sols were sequentially spin-coated on porous supports to prepare ZrO₂ loose/tight bilayer ultrafiltration membranes. After three times of spin-coating process, a defect-free ZrO₂ loose ultrafiltration membrane with pure water permeability of 110.5 ± 2.25 L m^?2 h^-1 bar^-1, molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of 16.5 kDa and excellent rejection of up to 97.5 % for bovine serum albumin was fabricated. Then, the loose ultrafiltration membrane was used as a substrate to prepare ZrO₂ tight ultrafiltration membrane. Performances of tight ultrafiltration membrane regarding to permeability, retention of polyethylene glycol and treatment of dyes wastewater were evaluated. The tight ultrafiltration membrane with a thickness of 200 nm exhibited a pure water permeability of 22.5 ± 0.3 L m^-2 h^-1 bar^-1 and MWCO of 1150 Da. Additionally, the rejections of methyl red and methyl orange by the tight ultrafiltration membrane were both <65 %, while of alizarin red, direct red, bromocresol green and methyl blue achieved maximum values of 98.5 %, 99.2 %, 99.5 % and 99.6 %, respectively. The fouled membranes could restore the virgin performance for reuse by cleaning and low-temperature calcination.     

Characteristics of Preferential Flow Paths in Reservoirs After Polymer Flooding and an Adaptive Compound Flooding Method

Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils - When a reservoir is subjected to long-term water and polymer flooding, the formed preferential flow paths are widely distributed in the formation, and...     

Microstructure and electric properties of Pr-doped Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 ceramics

Improving the piezoelectric activity of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics is of great importance for practical applications. In this study, the influence of Pr³⁺ doping on the ferroelectric phase composition, microstructure, and electric properties on the A-site of (Pb_1-1.5xPr_x)(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ is extensively investigated. A dense and fine microstructural sample is obtained with the introduction of Pr³⁺. The results show that the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) moves to the rhombohedral phase region. The rhombohedral and tetragonal phases exhibit an ideal coexistence in the 4 mol.% Pr³⁺ doped (PPZT4) samples. Lead vacancy and the reduction of the potential energy barrier are considered to be the key mechanisms for donor doping, which is upheld by the Pr³⁺ doping. Combining the I-E hysteresis loops with the P-E hysteresis loops, it becomes apparent that both contribution maximums of the domain switching and residual polarisation are in PPZT4. Moreover, the thermal aging resistance of PZT is improved by doping, and the temperature stability is optimised from 83% in PZT to 96% in PPZT4. Hence, an appropriate amount of Pr³⁺ doping can effectively improve the piezoelectric activity of PZT ceramics in the MPB area and optimise the performance stability of the material under application temperatures.     

Freeze-drying and mechanical redispersion of aqueous PEDOT:PSS

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) films are attracting famous applications in antistatic coating, energy storage and conversion, printed electronics, and biomedical fields due to their conductivity, optical transparency and flexibility. However, PEDOT:PSS has poor dispersion stability during long-term storage and transport. Moreover, the dried PEDOT:PSS films are insoluble in any solvent and cannot be redispersed again. In comparison to bake drying, here, a feasible strategy to achieve mechanically redispersed PEDOT:PSS with the help of freeze-drying process was reported. The redispersed PEDOT:PSS can recover not only the initial characters such as pH, chemical composition, viscosity, and particle size under similar solid contents, but also conductivity and surface morphology of treated films. In addition, the treated film exhibits self-healing properties similar to pristine film in terms of mechanical and electrical properties. This technology enables reuse and overcomes the technical problems of PEDOT:PSS dispersion, realizing real-time processing to meet variable applications.     

A Highly Sensitive,Reversible, and Bidirectional Humidity Actuator by Calcium Carbonate Ionic Oligomers Incorporated Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride)

Sensitivity and multi-directional motivation are major two factors for developing optimized humidity-response materials, which are promising for sensing, energy production, etc. Organic functional groups are commonly used as the water sensitive units through hydrogen bond interactions with water molecules in actuators. The multi-coordination ability of inorganic ions implies that the inorganic ionic compounds are potentially superior water sensitive units. However, the particle forms of inorganic ionic compounds produced by classical nucleation limit the number of exposed ions to interact with water. Recent progress on the inorganic ionic oligomers has broken through the limitation of classical nucleation, and realized the molecular-scaled incorporation of inorganic ionic compounds into an organic matrix. Here, the incorporation of hydrophilic calcium carbonate ionic oligomers into hydrophobic poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is demonstrated. The ultra-small calcium carbonate oligomers within a PVDF film endow it with an ultra-sensitive, reversible, and bidirectional response. The motivation ability is superior to other bidirectional humidity-actuators at present, which realizes self-motivation on an ice surface, converting the chemical potential energy of the humidity gradient from ice to kinetic energy.     

Enhanced the photocatalytic activity of B–C–N–TiO2 under visible light:Synergistic effect of element doping and Z-scheme interface heterojunction constructed with Ag nanoparticles

In order to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ under visible light, Ag nanoparticles were introduced into tridoped B–C–N–TiO₂ (TT) catalyst by photoreduction deposition. Ag/B–C–N–TiO₂ (ATT) catalysts with the functions of reducing band gap and carrier recombination were prepared. At the same time, the effect of the amount of Ag on the photocatalytic performance of ATT catalyst was investigated. Through XRD, XPS, PL and other characterization methods, the (211)/(101)/Ag interface heterojunction mechanism similar to the traditional Z-scheme heterojunction was proposed. The intervention of Ag nanoparticles changed the P–N interface heterojunction between (211)/(101) to the (211)/(101)/Ag Z-scheme interface heterojunction. The results show that ATT catalyst exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity when the molar amount of Ag is 0.005% with the MB degradation rate of the ATT catalyst (0.01707 min^?1), which is 14.59 times of TiO₂ (0.00117 min^?1) and 2.02 times of TT (0.00847 min^?1). In addition, the four cycles efficiencies of ATT for MB degradation were all above 94.00%.This study reveals the possibility of construction of Z-scheme heterojunctions between precious metal nanoparticles and different interfaces of TiO₂, and provides a reference for the construction of Z-scheme interface heterojunctions.     

CaDHN3, a Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Dehydrin Gene Enhances the Tolerance against Salt and Drought Stresses by Reducing ROS Accumulation

Dehydrins (DHNs) play an important role in abiotic stress tolerance in a large number of plants, but very little is known about the function of DHNs in pepper plants. Here, we isolated a Y₁SK₂-type DHN gene “CaDHN3” from pepper. To authenticate the function of CaDHN3 in salt and drought stresses, it was overexpressed in Arabidopsis and silenced in pepper through virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). Sub-cellular localization showed that CaDHN3 was located in the nucleus and cell membrane. It was found that CaDHN3-overexpressed (OE) in Arabidopsis plants showed salt and drought tolerance phenotypic characteristics, i.e., increased the initial rooting length and germination rate, enhanced chlorophyll content, lowered the relative electrolyte leakage (REL) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content than the wild-type (WT) plants. Moreover, a substantial increase in the activities of antioxidant enzymes; including the superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and lower hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) contents and higher O₂^•− contents in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Silencing of CaDHN3 in pepper decreased the salt- and drought-stress tolerance, through a higher REL and MDA content, and there was more accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the CaDHN3-silenced pepper plants than the control plants. Based on the yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screening and Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC) results, we found that CaDHN3 interacts with CaHIRD11 protein in the plasma membrane. Correspondingly, the expressions of four osmotic-related genes were significantly up-regulated in the CaDHN3-overexpressed lines. In brief, our results manifested that CaDHN3 may play an important role in regulating the relative osmotic stress responses in plants through the ROS signaling pathway. The results of this study will provide a basis for further analyses of the function of DHN genes in pepper.     

洗煤厂振动筛故障诊断系统的设计及应用

针对振动筛工作负荷大、工况环境差、故障率较高且识别诊断难度较大的问题,基于洗煤厂大型直线振动筛的工作原理及故障类型的分析,设计了振动筛故障诊断系统整体方案.应用结果表明,该系统实现了信号采集、故障诊断、数据管理、故障预警等功能,实现了较好的技术及经济效益.     

Microstructure and mechanical behavior of laser aided additive manufactured low carbon interstitial Fe49.5Mn30Co10Cr10C0.5 multicomponent alloy

Laser aided additive manufacturing(LAAM)was used to fabricate bulk Fe49.5Mn30Co10Cr10C0.5 interstitial multicomponent alloy using pre-alloyed powder.The room temperature yield strength(σy),ultimate tensile strength(σUTS)and elongation(εUST)were 645 MPa,917 MPa and 27.0％respectively.The as-built sample consisted of equiaxed and dendritic cellular structures formed by elemental segregation.These cellular structures together with oxide particle inclusions were deemed to strengthen the material.The other contributing components include dislocation strengthening,friction stress and grain bound-ary strengthening.The high εUTS was attributed to dislocation motion and activation of both twinning and transformation-induced plasticity(TWIP and TRIP).Tensile tests performed at-40℃and-130℃demonstrated superior tensile strength of 1041 MPa and 1267 MPa respectively.However,almost no twinning was observed in the fractured sample tested at-40℃and-130℃.Instead,higher fraction of strain-induced hexagonal close-packed(HCP)ε phase transformation of 21.2％were observed for fractured sample tested at-40℃,compared with 6.3％in fractured room temperature sample.     

Dealloying corrosion of anodic and nanometric Mg41Nd5 in solid solution-treated Mg-3Nd-1Li-0.2Zn alloy

The microstructure and chemical compositions of the solid solution-treated Mg-3Nd-1Li-0.2Zn alloy were characterized using optical microscope,scanning electron microscope(SEM),transmission electron microscope(TEM),electron probe micro-analyzer(EPMA)and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS).The corrosion behaviour of the alloy was investigated via electrochemical polarization,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS),hydrogen evolution test and scanning Kelvin probe(SKP).The results showed that the microstructure of the as-extruded Mg-3Nd-1Li-0.2Zn alloy contained α-Mg matrix and nanometric second phase Mg41 Nd5.The grain size of the alloy increased significantly with the increase in the heat-treatment duration,whereas the volume fraction of the second phase decreased after the solid solution treatment.The surface film was composed of oxides(Nd2O3,MgO,Li2O and ZnO)and carbonates(MgCO3 and Li2CO3),in addition to Nd.The as-extruded alloy exhibited the best corrosion resistance after an initial soaking of 10 min,whereas the alloy with 4h-solution-treatment possessed the lowest corrosion rate after a longer immersion(1 h).This can be attributed to the formation of Nd-containing oxide film on the alloys and a dense corrosion product layer.The dealloying corrosion of the second phase was related to the anodic Mg41Nd5 with a more negative Volta potential relative to α-Mg phase.The preferential corrosion of Mg41Nd5 is proven by in-situ observation and SEM.The solid solution treatment of Mg-3Nd-1Li-0.2Zn alloy led to a shift in corrosion type from pitting corrosion to uniform corrosion under long-term exposure.