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 strategic roadmap for large-scale green hydrogen demonstration and commercialisation in China: A review and survey analysis

Hydrogen is gaining increased attention from industries and policymakers in China. However, most of the current demonstration projects in the country have relied on conventional energy sources, including industrial byproduct hydrogen and grey hydrogen produced from fossil fuels. Moreover, strategies and policy frameworks leading to a shift to green or low-carbon hydrogen have neither been explored in-depth nor been identified clearly in the context of China. This study aims at bridging such gaps. Roadmapping techniques enhanced by the Delphi method and SWOT analysis are used to survey hydrogen energy experts from government bodies, industries, and academia to achieve basic agreement on strategically enabling large-scale green hydrogen demonstrations followed by commercialisation in China. The outcome of two rounds of surveys showed that experts' opinions converged on a strategic roadmap with three stages of development. The corresponding policies needed in each stage are evaluated and selected to form a systemic framework.     

Characterization and exposure assessment of household fine particulate matter pollution in China

Household fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) pollution greatly impacts residents' health. To explore the current national situation of household PM_2.5 pollution in China, a study was conducted based on literature published from 1998 to 2018. After extracting data from the literature in conformity with the requirements, the nationwide household-weighted mean concentration of household PM_2.5 (HPL) was calculated. Subgroup analyses of spatial, geographic, and temporal differences were also done. The estimated overall HPL in China was 132.2 ± 117.7 μg/m³. HPL in the rural area (164.3 ± 104.5 μg/m³) was higher than that in the urban area (123.9 ± 122.3 μg/m³). For HPLs of indoor sampling sites, the kitchen was the highest, followed by the bedroom and living room. There were significant differences of geographic distributions. The HPLs in the South were higher than the North in four seasons. The inhaled dose of household PM_2.5 among school-age children differed from provinces with the highest dose up to 5.9 μg/(kg·d). Countermeasures should be carried out to reduce indoor pollution and safeguard health urgently.     

土木工程施工课程线上平台教学实践

土木工程施工课程作为土木工程及工程管理专业的学科基础课和核心专业课程,在疫情防控期间"停课不停教""停课不停学"的要求下,通过线上平台进行授课。由于土木工程施工课程内容庞杂、综合性强、实践性强,且章节之间关联性较弱,探究既能使学生快速适应,又能保证教学质量的在线教学方法至关重要。以华南某高校土木工程施工课程为例,基于中国大学MOOC、建筑云课、腾讯课堂、QQ群等线上平台讲授教学内容,并运用问卷调查对课程线上教学效果进行评价。结果表明,线上教学为学生提供了丰富灵活的学习方式,显著提高了学生的自主学习能力,扩大了学生的知识面,达到了较好的学习效果。     

Evaluation of adult and offspring thiamine deficiency in salmonine species from Lake Ontario

Thiamine Deficiency Complex (TDC) is an ongoing problem impacting salmonine health in various waterbodies, including Lake Ontario. The prevalence of TDC has been variable and explanations for differences are limited. In the current study, thiamine concentrations were measured in eggs, liver tissue, and muscle tissue sampled from brown trout (Salmo trutta), Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), and steelhead trout (O. mykiss) that were collected from Lake Ontario and its surrounding tributaries. The occurrence of TDC was measured for each species based on TDC-induced offspring mortality rates under laboratory conditions. TDC-induced offspring mortality was observed for all species except brown trout. For affected species, egg free thiamine (Th) was consistently low compared to lake trout collected from Lake Superior that are considered thiamine replete. In addition, species with the lowest percentages of Th in their eggs were the most susceptible to TDC, suggesting that limited thiamine reserves in the form of Th may cause TDC-induced offspring mortality. Lastly, our results show that egg thiamine concentrations have yearly variation and increased for all species throughout the study. Reasons for such variation are undetermined; but, if egg thiamine concentrations continue to increase, the impacts of TDC on these salmonine species may lessen. Future monitoring is needed for determining if thiamine concentrations are increasing and the potential impacts that may have on the entire Lake Ontario fishery.     

Effect of preparation method on physicochemical properties and catalytic performances of LaCoO_3 perovskite for CO oxidation

Perovskite oxides LaCoO_3 prepared by templating, co-precipitation and sol-gel method with different complexants were systematically characterized and its catalytic performances for CO oxidation were investigated. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry analysis and differential scanning calorimetry, N_2 physisorption, transmission electron microscopy, temperature program reduction of hydrogen, temperature program desorption of oxygen and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement, results of which show that the properties of LaCoO_3, such as surface morphology, surface area, surface compositions, redox capability, oxygen vacancy, as well as the calcination temperature and formation mechanism, depend intimately on the preparation method. Catalytic tests indicate that the sample prepared by carbon templating method shows the best activity for CO oxidation, with full CO conversion obtained at 135 ℃. In particular, the catalyst can be activated and significant increase of activity can be obtained with the increase of reaction time. The cyclic and longterm stability of catalysts were discussed and compared.     

Prediction methods and applications in the science of science: A survey

Science of science has become a popular topic that attracts great attentions from the research community. The development of data analytics technologies and the readily available scholarly data enable the exploration of data-driven prediction, which plays a pivotal role in finding the trend of scientific impact. In this paper, we analyse methods and applications in data-driven prediction in the science of science, and discuss their significance. First, we introduce the background and review the current state of the science of science. Second, we review data-driven prediction based on paper citation count, and investigate research issues in this area. Then, we discuss methods to predict scholar impact, and we analyse different approaches to promote the scholarly collaboration in the collaboration network. This paper also discusses open issues and existing challenges, and suggests potential research directions.     

Has China's coal consumption actually reached its peak? National and regional analysis considering cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity

To investigate whether China's coal consumption has actually peaked, this study tests the national and regional coal Kuznets curve (CKC) hypothesis by using a panel dataset of 30 provinces covering 2000 to 2016. To fully capture the trends of coal consumption at the national, regional, and provincial levels, this study proposes a novel regional division method based on coal dependence and economic level. Considering the potential cross-sectional dependence and slope homogeneity, the newly developed methods allowing for heterogeneous slope coefficients are employed. The whole panel and subpanel results validate the CKC hypothesis for China, and province-specific results are mixed. The subpanel results reveal that only in the coal-dependent developing region has the peak of coal consumption not been reached, and for other regions, coal consumption displays a downward trend along with gross domestic product (GDP) increases. Furthermore, the province-specific results suggest that coal consumption will continue to increase slightly in certain provinces. This study implies that to reduce coal consumption, the coal-dependent developing region and provinces with a future turning point should act with great urgency to achieve a balance of economic growth and environmental responsibility. In addition, policymakers formulating coal consumption reduction policy in China must consider the remarkable differences across regions and provinces.     

Investigating the driving factors of regional CO2 emissions in China using the IDA-PDA-MMI method

In this paper, we systematically summarized existing research on the driving factors of CO₂ emissions and found that changes in technology gap may be one of the key driving factors of CO₂ emissions. Technology efficiency, technology progress, and technology gap were decomposed by using the Meta-frontier Malmquist index (MMI), which was then combined it with the Index Decomposition Analysis (IDA) and the Production-theoretical Decomposition Analysis (PDA). Our framework was applied to Chinese provincial data from 2000 to 2016. We identified nine factors to explain changes of regional CO₂ emissions. Results demonstrate that economic scale, energy technology efficiency, and output technology efficiency increased CO₂ emissions in Eastern, Central, and Western regions of China, with the economic scale being the largest contributor. Energy structure, energy intensity, energy technology progress, and output technology progress decreased regional CO₂ emissions, with the energy technology progress playing the strongest role. Energy technology gap and output technology gap led to an increase in CO₂ emissions in Central China and, to a lesser extent, in Western China. The effects of each driving factor on CO₂ emissions varied across provinces. Finally, policy implications are suggested to reduce CO₂ emissions in China.     

Influence of lanthanum on enhancement of mechanical and electrical properties of Cu-Al_2O_3 composites

Two kinds of Cu-Al_2O_3 composites(with and without La) were prepared via mechanical alloying-spark plasma sintering(MA-SPS) method. Microstructure, mechanical properties and electrical resistivity were investigated systematically using metallography, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, mechanical and electrical properties testing. The results indicate that an appropriate amount of La can homogenize the distribution of Al_2O_3. As such, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation of Cu-Al_2O_3-La are greatly increased. Some semi-coherent interface between Cu and Al_2O_3 is found, which means a low interface energy. The grain shape of Cu changes to irregular band with the addition of La. This change results in a density decrease of grain boundary and reduces electrical resistance. Lanthanum may exist in the form of La_2O_3.