Effects of Operating Modes on the Rejection Behavior using Ceramic Membranes

Abstract

Fouling generally occurs above the so-called “critical flux,” below which steady-state membrane permeability is assumed to be attainable. Operation at sub-critical fluxes can thus be used to minimize membrane fouling. However, rejection behavior may be affected as a consequence of operating within this sub-critical mode that sustains the desirable permeate flux. In this study, the effluent from a synthetic activated sludge production process was used in the assessment of the performance of membrane microfiltration, as a pretreatment in desalination for wastewater reuse. The critical flux was identified using the step-by-step technique. Different operating regimes i.e. above and below the critical flux were used to assess the relationship between solute rejection and membrane fouling. When operating at sub critical mode, rejection was constant even under increasing transmembrane pressure (TMP). This arises mainly from the back transport of particles in the absence of cake formation. Beyond the critical regime, cake formation occurred and rejection increased with increasing TMP. At the critical regime, a decline in rejection was obtained. This rejection behavior was consistent over the three pore sizes that were investigated. Increasing the pore size appears to decrease the rejection at both regimes. This is because larger pore size allows the transmission of smaller particles and a less compact cake formation under and above the critical flux regime respectively. It appears from this study that one may be able to use rejection behavior to confirm and determine the critical flux and adds to the confidence of using the step-by-step method to determine the critical flux.     

Recent advances in solid‐state organic lasers

Organic solid‐state lasers are reviewed, with a special emphasis on works published during the last decade. Referring originally to dyes in solid‐state polymeric matrices, organic lasers also include the rich family of organic semiconductors, paced by the rapid development of organic light‐emitting diodes. Organic lasers are broadly tunable coherent sources, potentially compact, convenient and manufactured at low cost. In this review, we describe the basic photophysics of the materials used as gain media in organic lasers with a specific look at the distinctive features of dyes and semiconductors. We also outline the laser architectures used in state‐of‐the‐art organic lasers and the performances of these devices with regard to output power, lifetime and beam quality. A survey of the recent trends in the field is given, highlighting the latest developments in terms of wavelength coverage, wavelength agility, efficiency and compactness, and towards integrated low‐cost sources, with a special focus on the great challenges remaining for achieving direct electrical pumping. Finally, we discuss the very recent demonstration of new kinds of organic lasers based on polaritons or surface plasmons, which open new and very promising routes in the field of organic nanophotonics. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Water-gated phthalocyanine transistors: Operation and transduction of the peptide–enzyme interaction

The use of aqueous solutions as the gate medium is an attractive strategy to obtain high charge carrier density (10¹² cm⁻²) and low operational voltages (<1 V) in organic transistors. Additionally, it provides a simple and favorable architecture to couple both ionic and electronic domains in a single device, which is crucial for the development of novel technologies in bioelectronics. Here, we demonstrate the operation of transistors containing copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) thin-films gated with water and discuss the charge dynamics at the CuPc/water interface. Without the need for complex multilayer patterning, or the use of surface treatments, water-gated CuPc transistors exhibited low threshold (100 ± 20 mV) and working voltages (<1 V) compared to conventional CuPc transistors, along with similar charge carrier mobilities (1.2 ± 0.2) x 10⁻³ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. Several device characteristics such as moderate switching speeds and hysteresis, associated with high capacitances at low frequencies upon bias application (3.4–12 μF cm⁻²), indicate the occurrence of interfacial ion doping. Finally, water-gated CuPc OTFTs were employed in the transduction of the biospecific interaction between tripeptide reduced glutathione (GSH) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) enzyme, taking advantage of the device sensitivity and multiparametricity.     

A trapezoidal cycle with theoretical model based on organic Rankine cycle

Based on organic Rankine cycle (ORC), a trapezoidal cycle with theoretical model is proposed and built according to the trapezoidal configuration and the thermodynamic relation in T–s diagram. Simulations show that the relative deviation between trapezoidal cycle and ORC is lower than 5% within evaporation temperature of 5 °C lower than the critical temperature of the working fluids. Empirical equations to calculate the optimal evaporation temperature, the maximum net power output and the corresponding thermal efficiency are built, which relative deviations from ORC are lower than 4%. Trapezoidal cycle can break through the restrictions of the actual working fluids and the configuration of the ORC to extend the study of the ORC and investigate the general principle of the ORC (or the trapezoidal cycle). Trapezoidal cycle can develop to trilateral cycle or Carnot cycle, which are the boundary cycles of the trapezoidal cycle. Trapezoidal cycle can be used as a general cycle to investigate the relations and principles among the trilateral cycle, Carnot cycle and trapezoidal cycle (or ORC). The performance of these three cycles at maximum power and their relations are investigated in the same conditions of finite heat source. Results show that the maximum power and the corresponding thermal efficiency of the trapezoidal cycle are bounded between Carnot cycle and trilateral cycle. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of the copper concentration on photocurrent collection of CuInSe2 solar cells

In this study, CuInSe₂ (CISe) thin films were prepared from thermally evaporated Cu/In precursors, having various Cu/In atomic ratio, under the same selenization conditions. The precursors were converted into CISe absorber by annealing in a quartz tube furnace in the selenium vapours at substrate temperature of 500 °C. We developed four CISe films with Cu/In atomic ratio of 0.81–1.19, denoted as Cu‐very rich, Cu‐rich, Cu‐poor, and Cu‐very poor CISe thin films respectively. The effects of Cu/In atomic ratio on grain size, surface morphology, micro‐structure and defect formation of the resulting CISe films were examined. It has been found that the photovoltaic properties were strongly related to Cu concentration, as well as carrier transport mechanism. Defects at the surface and in the bulk of CISe thin films were observed using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Moreover, XRD revealed that the CISe film surface had a preferred orientation along the (112) plane. The XRD intensity and full width at half maximum of the (112) plane of CISe varied according to the Cu/In atomic ratio. Our experimental results show that the Cu‐rich solar cell achieves conversion efficiency of 4.55% and exhibits an exceptional high short‐circuit current density. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MicroRNA-155 Mediates Augmented CD40 Expression in Bone Marrow Derived Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells in Symptomatic Lupus-Prone NZB/W F1 Mice

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multi-organ autoimmune disease characterized by hyperactivated immune responses to self-antigens and persistent systemic inflammation. Previously, we reported abnormalities in circulating and bone marrow (BM)-derived plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) from SLE patients. Here, we aim to seek for potential regulators that mediate functional aberrations of pDCs in SLE. BM-derived pDCs from NZB/W F1 mice before and after the disease onset were compared for toll-like receptor (TLR) induced responses and microRNA profile changes. While pDCs derived from symptomatic mice were phenotypically comparable to pre-symptomatic ones, functionally they exhibited hypersensitivity to TLR7 but not TLR9 stimulation, as represented by the elevated upregulation of CD40, CD86 and MHC class II molecules upon R837 stimulation. Upregulated induction of miR-155 in symptomatic pDCs following TLR7 stimulation was observed. Transfection of miR-155 mimics in pre-symptomatic pDCs induced an augmented expression of Cd40, which is consistent with the increased CD40 expression in symptomatic pDCs. Overall, our results provide evidence for miR-155-mediated regulation in pDC functional abnormalities in SLE. Findings from this study contribute to a better understanding of SLE pathogenesis and ignite future interests in evaluating the molecular regulation in autoimmunity.     

The Significance of Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition for Circulating Tumor Cells

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process involved in embryonic development, but it also plays a role in remote metastasis formation in tumor diseases. During this process cells lose their epithelial features and adopt characteristics of mesenchymal cells. Thereby single tumor cells, which dissolve from the primary tumor, are enabled to invade the blood vessels and travel throughout the body as so called “circulating tumor cells” (CTCs). After leaving the blood stream the reverse process of EMT, the mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) helps the cells to seed in different tissues, thereby generating the bud of metastasis formation. As metastasis is the main reason for tumor-associated death, CTCs and the EMT process are in the focus of research in recent years. This review summarizes what was already found out about the molecular mechanisms driving EMT, the consequences of EMT for tumor cell detection, and suitable markers for the detection of CTCs which underwent EMT. The research work done in this field could open new roads towards combating cancer.     

煤气化有机热载体炉设计与开发

混合煤气发生炉与有机热载体炉配套使用符合混合煤气生产流程(即不洗涤降温,不贮存,随产随用),有利于提高可燃物质的燃尽率,提高有机热载体炉的热效率,既节能又环保。     

Pore-network modeling of liquid water flow in gas diffusion layers of proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Fluid flow through the gas diffusion layer (GDL) of fuel cells is numerically studied using a pore network modeling approach. The model is developed based on an experimental visualization technique (fluorescence microscopy). The images obtained from this technique are analyzed to find patterns of flow inside the GDL samples with different hydrophobicity. Three different flow patterns are observed: initial invasion, progression, and pore-filling. The observation shows that liquid water flows into the majority of available pores on the boundary of the untreated GDL and several branches are segregated from the initial pathways. For the treated GDL, however, a handful of boundary pores are invaded and the original pathways extend toward the other side of the medium with minimum branching. The numerical model, developed based on an invasion percolation algorithm, is used to study the effects of GDL hydrophobicity and thickness on the flow configuration and breakthrough time as well as to determine the flow rate and saturation in different GDL samples. During the injection of water into the samples, it is numerically shown that the flow rates are monotonically decreasing for both treated and untreated samples. For the treated sample, however, the injection flow rate is constantly lower than that of the untreated sample, resulting in a lower overall water saturation at breakthrough. The numerical results also suggest that hydrophobic treatment of thick samples has minor effects on water management and overall performance. The developed model can be used to optimize the GDL properties for designing porous medium with effective transport characteristics.