Nitrate Additives Coordinated with Crown Ether Stabilize Lithium Metal Anodes in Carbonate Electrolyte

Lithium metal anodes (LMAs) are promising for next-generation batteries but have poor compatibility with the widely used carbonate-based electrolytes, which is a major reason for their severe dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency (CE). A nitrate additive to the electrolyte is an effective solution, but its low solubility in carbonates is a problem that can be solved using a crown ether, as reported. A rubidium nitrate additive coordinated with 18-crown-6 crown ether stabilizes the LMA in a carbonate electrolyte. The coordination promotes the dissolution of NO₃⁻ ions and helps form a dense solid electrolyte interface that is Li₃N-rich which guides uniform Li deposition. In addition, the Rb (18-crown-6)⁺ complexes are adsorbed on the dendrite tips, shielding them from Li deposition on the dendrite tips. A high CE of 97.1% is achieved with a capacity of 1 mAh cm⁻² in a half cell, much higher than when using the additive-free electrolyte (92.2%). Such an additive is very compatible with a nickel-rich ternary cathode at a high voltage, and the assembled full battery with a cathode material loading up to 10 mg cm⁻² shows an average CE of 99.8% over 200 cycles, indicating a potential for practical use.     

烯丙基聚烷氧基环氧醚的制备及其性能

针对烯丙基聚烷氧基环氧醚中存在催化剂和钾钠离子含量高,导致制备的三元共聚嵌段硅油反应活性差的问题,研究了在无相转移催化剂的条件下制备烯丙基聚烷氧基环氧醚的方法,表征了产物的结构,分析了制备条件对产物pH值与环氧指数的影响;以其为原料制备了三元共聚嵌段硅油,并对棉织物进行柔软整理,分析了整理后织物的亲水性、手感及物理力学性能。结果表明:当原料烯丙基聚氧乙烯醚、环氧氯丙烷和氢氧化钠的量比为1∶2.5∶1.5,冰醋酸的添加量是过量氢氧化钠的1.1倍时,产物烯丙基聚烷氧基环氧醚的环氧指数为1.77 mol/kg,pH值小于7,精制后钾钠离子含量可降低到5 μg/g以下;织物经过硅油整理后具有较好的亲水性,当整理液质量浓度为30 g/L时,毛效达到7.3 cm,手感评级达到4.7级以上,织物整体性能有所提高。     

Investigation on sulphonated zinc oxide nanorod incorporated sulphonated poly (1,4-phenylene ether ether sulfone) nanocomposite membranes for improved performance of microbial fuel cell

Hydrothermally prepared zinc oxide nanorods are sulphonated (S–ZnO NR) and incorporated into 15% Sulphonated Poly (1,4-Phenylene Ether Ether Sulfone) (SPEES) to improve the hydrophilicity, water uptake and ion transfer capacity. Water uptake and ion transfer capacity increased to 34.6 ± 0.6% and 2.0 ± 0.05 meq g^?1 from 29.8 ± 0.3% and 1.4 ± 0.04 meq g^?1 by adding 7.5 wt% S–ZnO NR to SPEES. Morphological studies show the prepared S–ZnO NR is well dispersed in the polymer matrix. SPEES +7.5 wt% S–ZnO NR membrane exhibits optimum performance after three-weeks of continual operation in a fabricated microbial fuel cell (MFC) to produce a maximum power density of 142 ± 1.2 mW m^?2 with a reduced biofilm compared to plain SPEES (59 ± 0.8 mW m^?2), unsulphonated filler incorporated SPEES (SPEES + 7.5 wt% ZnO, 68 ± 1.1 mW m^?2) and Nafion (130 ± 1.5 mW m^?2) thereby suggesting its suitability as a sustainable and improved cation exchange membrane (CEM) for MFCs.     

The emission characteristics of a petrol–ethanol–diethyl-ether blend as a carbon monoxide reduction additive in spark ignition engine

The emission characteristics of a petrol–ethanol–diethyl-ether blend as a carbon monoxide reduction additive in a spark ignition (SI) engine is presented. The experimental set-up is consisting of a Villiers G200, 6.5?hp, 4-stroke; single cylinder SI engine. The blend used was synthesised using petrol, ethanol and diethyl ether in the following percentage proportion by volume as 75:15:10, 60:25:15, 80:15:5, 85:10:5, respectively. These blends were tested at full engine load and at an operational speed of 2500?rpm. Exhaust emission probe was inserted at the exhaust pipe in order to determine the emission characteristics of these blends under different operating conditions. The results obtained during the emission test carried out show that CO emission level of petrol is higher than that of any of the blends with the 60:25:15 blends having the least emission level. The lowest CO emission of the blend is due to the high oxygen content of fuel blend. The above result shows a great promise in the fight against carbon oxide emission.     

盖子环替换及定点突变提高菜豆环氧化物水解酶对邻甲基苯基缩水甘油醚的催化性能

菜豆环氧化物水解酶1和2（PvEH1、PvEH2）能够动力学拆分外消旋邻甲基苯基缩水甘油醚（rac-oMGE），从而保留(R)-oMGE。基于对PvEH1和PvEH2结构的同源模拟和分析，发现二者分子中的盖子环差异较大，故本文选择盖子环作为研究目标。经融合聚合酶链式反应（FPCR），获得了PvEH2的盖子环区域被PvEH1对应区域替换的杂合酶Pv2Pv1。用全细胞酶E. coli/pv2pv1催化rac-oMGE，当(S)-oMGE刚好水解完全时，产物(S)-3-邻甲苯基-1,2-丙二醇（(S)-oTPD）的ee_p由PvEH2的58.3%提高至75.5%。为进一步提高酶的性质，在Pv2Pv1中选取11个氨基酸位点进行丙氨酸(A)突变，获得最优突变子E. coli/pv2pv1^K176A，活性为E. coli/pv2pv1（4.2U/g）的2.1倍，且当S构型的底物刚好完全水解时，(S)-oTPD的ee_p进一步提高为80.3%。分子对接分析发现，盖子环替换和K176位点突变为A，均使(R)-oMGE环氧环中的C_α更易受到酶中D101位点的攻击。利用E. coli/pv2pv1^K176A催化150mmol/L rac-oMGE水解制备(R)-oMGE（ee_s＞99%）和(S)-oTPD（ee_p=80.4%），二者的产率Y_S和Y_P分别为32.7%和60.1%，时空产率STY_S和STY_P为1.6g/(L·h)和3.3g/(L·h)。本实验为改善EH的催化性质提供了一种有效策略。     

水煤浆管道输送摩阻损失研究

以十二醇醚为分散剂,进行了水煤浆管道输送实验研究,分析了分散剂浓度和煤浆浓度变化对煤浆摩阻损失的影响。煤浆管道输送数据分析及理论计算结果表明: 分散剂浓度越大,煤浆摩阻损失值越小; 水煤浆浓度越大,摩阻损失值越大。实验数据拟合结果表明有效黏度与平均切变率成线性关系,从理论上给出了煤浆摩阻损失的计算公式,计算值与实测值偏差不大于18%。     

Robust proton exchange membrane for vanadium redox flow batteries reinforced by silica-encapsulated nanocellulose

High ion selectivity and mechanical strength are critical properties for proton exchange membranes in vanadium redox flow batteries. In this work, a novel sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) hybrid membrane reinforced by core-shell structured nanocellulose (CNC-SPES) is prepared to obtain a robust and high-performance proton exchange membrane for vanadium redox flow batteries. Membrane morphology, proton conductivity, vanadium permeability and tensile strength are investigated. Single cell tests at a range of 40–140 mA cm⁻² are carried out. The performance of the sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) membrane reinforced by pristine nanocellulose (NC-SPES) and Nafion® 212 membranes are also studied for comparison. The results show that, with the incorporation of silica-encapsulated nanocellulose, the membrane exhibits outstanding mechanical strength of 54.5 MPa and high energy efficiency above 82% at 100 mA cm⁻², which is stable during 200 charge-discharge cycles.     

香兰素基非离子表面活性剂的动态表面张力与气/液界面吸附行为

通过最大气泡压力法测定香兰素基聚氧乙烯醚(VAEO)的动态表面张力,利用Word-Tordai方程研究其在气/液界面的吸附行为。结果表明,质量浓度低于临界胶束浓度(cmc)时,VAEO在吸附前期为扩散控制吸附,在吸附后期为混合动力控制吸附;质量浓度大于cmc时,为混合动力控制吸附,胶束不影响吸附行为。VAEO_(10)和VAEO_(20)的扩散系数D的数量级为10~(-11)m~2/s,比文献报道的壬基酚聚氧乙烯醚(NPEO_9)低一个数量级。     

Novel poly(aryl ether nitrile ketone) foams and the influence of copolymer structure on the foaming result

Novel poly(aryl ether nitrile ketone) foams were prepared through the batch foaming method with supercritical CO₂ as the blowing agent. Both temperature‐induced and pressure‐induced foaming methods were conducted to examine the influence of nitrile groups on the foaming result. The results indicated that nitrile groups influenced the foaming result by affecting both the viscoelasticity and CO₂ absorption of the polymers. In addition, the CO₂ solubility of the polymers increased with increasing CN content presumably because of the Lewis acid–base nature of the interaction between the CO₂ molecules and the nitrile groups. The cell growth process was assessed by analyzing the influence of foaming temperature and foaming time on the cell morphology. Nanocellular foams with a minimum size of 30–50 nm were achieved by the temperature‐induced foaming method. Moreover, highly expanded foams with a maximum expansion ratio of 23.6 were obtained by the pressure‐induced foaming method. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

Modeling and simulation of hydrogen production from dimethyl ether steam reforming using exhaust gas

In this paper, hydrogen production from steam reforming of DME (dimethyl ether) has been modeled and simulated using a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) method. The reformation chemistry occurs in a porous catalytic bed where exhaust gas is supplied through the EGR (exhaust gas recycling) valve of the engine to drive the endothermic reaction system. The tightly coupled system of mass, energy, and momentum equations are used to describe the complex physical and chemical process of DME steam reforming. The global reaction kinetics for the reforming is adopted in the CFD model. The mathematical models are introduced into the commercial software Comsol, and then numerical simulations are also performed based on this model. The model predictions are quantitatively validated by experiment data. The simulation results indicate the temperature distribution, mass distribution, DME conversion, and hydrogen production from steam reforming of DME. In addition, the fuel to steam ratio and velocity of exhaust gas are manipulated as operating parameters. These simulation results will provide helpful data to design and operate a bench scale catalytic fluidized bed reactor. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.