NaWuReT-Workshop: Forschung in der Reaktionstechnik für und mit der Gesellschaft

In this article, the results of the NaWuReT (Early Career Reaction Engineers) workshop on the topic “Are we doing relevant science?” are presented. The topics “(In)surmountable hurdles for Citizen Scientists in reaction engineering?” and “Circular Economy in reaction engineering with/for society?” were discussed. Therefrom, a variety of ideas and suggestions were extracted.     

A computational approach to nutrition science reveals the dynamics of the protein content of human milk

To study the computational aspects of collecting available data in a systematically organized database is becoming a matter of urgency in Nutrition & Food Science. Indeed, major projects on developing big datasets have attempted to fill this gap, but so far with limitations on important facets of food composition such as its temporal variation and uncertainty quantification. The need for methodological data processing, from data acquisition, digital storage, statistics and visualization, via pattern recognition and modelling to prediction and optimization is key to make objective and knowledge-based decisions on scientific and technological issues for food industry, academy and regulation. This study aims to demonstrate the use of a recently developed database on the composition of human milk, the first and easily the most complex food in one's life. We show that the purpose-built ontology of the database, with novelties like considering the food composition as a temporal and stochastic response, can help to recognize patterns in the variation of its protein content.Industrial relevance textThis study highlights the need (i) for introducing ISO-like standards how to digitize food composition data; (ii) for computational methods to explore and utilize such databases to their full potentials.     

直角坐标在软件开发中的应用研究

为简化不同软件开发技术处理界面中组件关系的算法,增强使用数学模型解决软件开发中算法设计的能力,全面分析和总结直角坐标系在界面设计中的应用十分必要。通过对不同开发技术处理界面设计的分析,界面中组件位置关系实质上都可以转化为坐标关系的计算。本文列举了直角坐标系在Python编程、Android编程、Java编程和Unity编程中的应用,以期给相应的算法设计提供借鉴思路。     

Recent insights in synthesis and energy storage applications of porous carbon derived from biomass waste: A review

In the last few decades, global warming, environmental pollution, and an energy shortage of fossil fuel may cause a severe economic crisis and health threats. Storage, conversion, and application of regenerable and dispersive energy would be a promising solution to release this crisis. The development of porous carbon materials from regenerated biomass are competent methods to store energy with high performance and limited environmental damages. In this regard, bio-carbon with abundant surface functional groups and an easily tunable three-dimensional porous structure may be a potential candidate as a sustainable and green carbon material. Up to now, although some literature has screened the biomass source, reaction temperature, and activator dosage during thermochemical synthesis, a comprehensive evaluation and a detailed discussion of the relationship between raw materials, preparation methods, and the structural and chemical properties of carbon materials are still lacking. Hence, in this review, we first assess the recent advancements in carbonization and activation process of biomass with different compositions and the activity performance in various energy storage applications including supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries, and hydrogen storage, highlighting the mechanisms and open questions in current energy society. After that, the connections between preparation methods and porous carbon properties including specific surface area, pore volume, and surface chemistry are reviewed in detail. Importantly, we discuss the relationship between the pore structure of prepared porous carbon with surface functional groups, and the energy storage performance in various energy storage fields for different biomass sources and thermal conversion methods. Finally, the conclusion and prospective are concluded to give an outlook for the development of biomass carbon materials, and energy storage applications technologies. This review demonstrates significant potentials for energy applications of biomass materials, and it is expected to inspire new discoveries to promote practical applications of biomass materials in more energy storage and conversion fields.     

Green Bear - A LoRaWAN-based Human-in-the-Loop case-study for sustainable cities

Citizens are a crucial factor in the sustainability of the cities because they are one of the pillars for balancing their environment. Smart city projects can offer citizens an opportunity to understand how they contribute to their city’s sustainability. Furthermore, an interactive smart city system can create synergies that benefit both the citizens and the city itself. This paper presents the Green Bear smart city platform, an IoT Human-in-the-Loop system that uses LoRaWAN nodes to gather information on city green spaces, bike lanes, and recycling depots. A user-centered mobile application that allows for active user participation, feedback, and incentivization is used to close the loop with humans. This system allows citizens to evaluate their participation in aspects that improve the city’s sustainability through a gamification scheme, obtaining points for different activities in the city’s public spaces and personal activities to improve their quality of life. This solution is being implemented in the city of Coimbra, Portugal. After an overview of the system, the paper describes each main system module. The Green Bear prototype was subject to functional and technological assessment, and the results are presented and discussed.     

Sustainable value-added C_3 chemicals from glycerol transformations:A mini review for heterogeneous catalytic processes

It is of importance to convert glycerol, the primary by-product from biodiesel manufacturing, to various valuable C_3 chemicals, such as acrolein via dehydration, lactic acid, 1,3-dihydroxyacetone via oxidation,and 1,3-propanediol, allyl alcohol via hydrogenolysis. As compared to petroleum-based resources, C_3 chemicals from glycerol provide a benign, sustainable and atomically economic feature. Extensive heterogeneous catalysts have been designed, prepared and tested for these transformations. In recent five years,great progress, including high yields to target products over appropriate catalysts, insight into reaction mechanism and network, has been achieved. The present review systematically covers recent research progress on sustainable C_3 chemical production from catalytic glycerol transformations. We hope that it will benefit future research on transformations of glycerol as well as other polyols.     

Understanding consumer resistance to the consumption of organic food. A study of ethical consumption,purchasing, and choice behaviour

Although the demand for organic food is growing globally, the mainstream consumption of organic food is far less. The present study attempts to understand the underlying reasons for consumer resistance toward consuming organic food using the theoretical framework of innovation resistance theory (IRT). The study further examines the association between different consumer barriers and purchase decisions (purchase intentions, ethical consumption intentions, and choice behaviour) at different levels of buying involvement and environmental concerns. The collected data, consisting of 452 consumers, were analyzed by structural equation modeling approach. The results showed that value barrier shared a negative association with purchase intentions and ethical consumption intentions. Ethical consumption and purchase intention were found to have a direct influence on choice behaviour. Additionally, the relationship between ethical consumption intention and choice behaviour is mediated by purchase intention. However, no significant differences have emerged based on the level of buying involvement and environment concerns. The findings of the study provide insight into public policymakers, marketers, suppliers, and consumer associations by enhancing their current understanding of buying behaviour of the growing organic food community.     

塑料成型加工技术发展现状及研究进展

塑料在目前的经济社会生活中呈现出高速发展的趋势,,对塑料进行成型加工是完成塑料制品一个最终的过程。对塑料成型加工的不同方法进行了研究,分析不同技术存在的特点,了解塑料成型加工不同的发展趋势,促进塑料制品发展。     

真空玻璃国内专利申请技术浅析

通过国家知识产权局专利数据库CNABS和SIPOABS,利用国际专利分类号IPC分类号和关键词来对真空玻璃技术的专利申请情况进行了全面检索,并对检索到的数据进行全面分析,包括对真空玻璃技术的申请量现状、发展趋势、国内外主要申请人、以及未来的研究趋势进行分析,从而指出当前国内在真空玻璃研究中存在的一些问题,并提出一些建议及对发展前景进行展望。     

Ceramics composites from iron ore tailings and blast furnace slag

The search for materials and methods capable of reducing human impacts on the environment is of utmost importance nowadays. This study's primary purpose was to analyze the technical feasibility of ceramic composites production utilizing Fundão Dam's Iron Ore Tailings (IOT), Blast Furnace Slag (BFS) from charcoal, and Foundry Sand (FS) as partial substitutes for the traditional raw materials – sand and clay – for application in building industry materials. The composites were molded in rectangular specimens and fired at temperatures of 900, 950, 1000, 1050, and 1200 °C. The developed materials were analyzed and characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Thermogravimetry (TGA), and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA). The obtained materials had flexural strength modulus of up to 12.19 MPa, water absorption ranging from 2 to 22%, linear shrinkage ranging from 0.02 to 6.50%, and apparent density ranging from 2.03 to 1.63 g/cm³. The study of the internal structure formation process revealed the formation of amorphous structures in the composites. The results demonstrated that these waste materials may be jointly used in construction materials, contributing to the reduction of natural resource extraction, besides enabling their correct disposal, minimizing environmental impacts, and improving the life quality of the surrounding communities.