Magnetic recyclable ZnO/SrFe12O19 photocatalyst for effective photodegradation of rhodamine B under simulated sunlight

This work develops a novel magnetic photocatalysts ZnO/SrFe₁₂O₁₉ (ZS) synthesized with hydrothermal process. The introduction of SrFe₁₂O₁₉ not only enhances the photocatalytic behavior of ZnO towards Rhodamine B (RhB) decomposition, but also reinforces the recycling stability. Especially, ZS-5 composite exhibits the optimal photocatalytic performance, and the RhB decomposition reaches 99.5% after being exposed to simulative sunlight for 70 min, which is obviously superior to that of bare ZnO. Furthermore, the ZS-5 can be recovered from RhB solution by an extra magnet space and reused. After five recycles, the RhB removal efficiency can still be maintained over 90%. Such prominent photocatalytic property and stability of ZS-5 are associated with the greatly improved detachment efficiency of photoexcited carriers in a magnetic field. This study could provide a new-type recyclable photocatalyst that can effectively purify dye wastewater for convenient recovery.     

Pristine and cobalt doped copper sulfide microsphere particles for seawater splitting

In this work, copper sulfide particles are synthesized with different Co doping concentrations such as 0, 1 and 5% at 80 °C by optimizing synthesis times from 1 to 3 h. Copper sulfide particles possess two structural phases of covellite CuS and digenite Cu₉S₅. The increase in synthesis time from 1 to 3 h increases the Cu₉S₅ phase growth and changes the morphology from flower to microsphere. The CuS synthesized with 0, 1 and 5% Co dopant concentrations demonstrate flower consisting of agglomerated nanosheets, microsphere and flower like microsphere. The elemental investigation substantiates Co ions presence in CuS microspheres. The A_1g (LO) mode intensity is decreased with increase in Co dopant concentration confirming Co incorporation into CuS microsphere. The CuS synthesized with 0, 1, 5% Co dopants exhibit 322 mV, 305 mV and 289 mV to attain 100 mA/cm² in 1 M KOH seawater. The CuS synthesized with 5% Co dopant demonstrates higher double layer capacitance (C_dl) of 173.9 mFcm^?2 and lower charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of 6.07 Ω with 78.84% retention after 10 h continuous stability than that of the other pristine (118.3 mFcm^?2, 13.72 Ω) and 1% Co doped CuS microsphere (165.7 mFcm^?2, 8.55 Ω) indicating more surface active site and rapid charge carrier transport, respectively.     

A dotted nanowire arrayed by 5 nm sized palladium and nickel composite nanopaticles showing significant electrocatalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR)

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to report the preparation of a dotted nanowire arrayed by 5 nm sized palladium and nickel composite nanoparticles (denoted as Pd_xNi_y NPs) via a hydrothermal method using NU and PdO·H₂O as the starting materials. The samples prepared at the mass ratio of NU to PdO·H₂O 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1 were, respectively, nominated as catalyst c₁, c₂ and c₃. The chemical compositions of all synthesized catalysts were mainly studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), revealing that metallic Ni was one main component of all prepared catalysts. Surprisingly, the main diffraction peaks appearing in the XRD patterns of all prepared catalysts were assigned to the metallic Ni rather than the metallic Pd. Very interestingly, as indicated by the TEM images, a large number of dotted nanowires arrayed by numerous equidistant 5 nm sized nanoparticles were distinctly exhibited in catalyst c₁. More importantly, when being used as electrocatalysts for EOR, all prepared catalysts exhibited an evident electrocatalytic activity towards EOR. In the cyclic voltammetry (CV) test, the peak current density of the forward peak of EOR on catalyst c₁ measured at 50 mV s^?1 was as high as 56.1 mA cm^?2, being almost 9 times higher than that of EOR on catalyst c₃ (6.3 mA cm^?2). Particularly, the polarized current density of EOR on catalyst c₁ at 3600 s, as indicated by the chronoamperometry (CA) experiment, was still maintained to be around 1.47 mA cm^?2, a value higher than the latest reported data of 1.3 mA cm^?2 (measured on the pure Pd/C electrode). Presenting a novel method to prepare dotted nanowires arranged by 5 nm sized nanoparticles and showing the significant eletrocatalytic activities of the newly prepared dotted nanowires towards EOR were the major contributions of this preliminary work.     

High performance asymmetric supercapacitor based on 3D microsphere-like 1T-MoS2 with high 1T phase content

1T phase molybdenum disulfide (1T-MoS₂) has aroused extensive concern in energy storage devices such as supercapacitors due to its large interlayer spacing, high conductivity and good hydrophilicity. However, it is struggle to synthesize 1T-MoS₂ with stable 1T phase with high content. Herein, Ammonium ion intercalation molybdenum disulfide (A-MoS₂) with high 1T content and stable 3D microsphere structure was successfully synthesized using a facile hydrothermal method. We explained the feasibility of ammonium ion (NH₄⁺) intercalation through density functional theory (DFT) calculations and proved the successful intercalation of NH₄⁺ by XRD and XPS. Through XPS fitting, the 1T phase content is calculated as high as 83.1%. The as-prepared A-MoS₂ presents a stable 3D microsphere structure with the interlayer spacing expanded to 0.93 nm, which provides a wide ion diffusion channel that allows ions to pass through quickly. Moreover, the high 1T content increases the hydrophilicity of MoS₂, thereby improving the wettability of the electrode, which contributes to the interaction between the electrolyte and electrode. In 1 M Na₂SO₄, A-MoS₂ electrode material displays high specific capacitance of 228 F g^?1 at 5 mV s^?1 and retains 127 F g^?1 at 80 mV s^?1, which proves the good rate capability. Furthermore, the assembled α-MnO₂//A-MoS₂ asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) displayed a wide operating voltage of 2.1 V. The assembled ASC displays a high energy density of 35.8 Wh?kg^?1 at a power density of 525.0 W kg^?1, which indicates excellent energy storage performance.     

Nitrogen-doped cobalt sulfide as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline and acidic media

The enhancement in intrinsic catalytic activity and material conductivity of an electrocatalyst can leads to promoting HER activity. Herein, a successful nitrogenation of CoS₂ (N–CoS₂) catalyst has been investigated through the facile hydrothermal process followed by N₂ annealing treatment. An optimized N–CoS₂ catalyst reveals an outstanding hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance in alkaline as well as acidic electrolyte media, exhibiting an infinitesimal overpotential of ?0.137 and ?0.097 V at a current density of ?10 mA/cm² (?0.309 and ?0.275 V at ?300 mA/cm²), corresponding respectively, with a modest Tafel slope of 117 and 101 mV/dec. Moreover, a static voltage response was observed at low and high current rates (?10 to ?100 mA/cm²) along with an excellent endurance up to 50 h even at ?100 mA/cm². The excellent catalytic HER performance is ascribed to improved electronic conductivity and enhanced electrochemically active sites, which is aroused from the synergy and mutual interaction between heteroatoms that might have varied the surface chemistry of an active catalyst.     

Design and experimental investigation of the high efficiency 1.5 W/4.2 K pneumatic-drive G-M cryocooler

The development of a high cooling power and high efficiency 4.2 K two stage G-M cryocooler is critically important given its broad applications in low temperature superconductors, MRI, infrared detector and cryogenic electronics. A high efficiency 1.5 W/4.2 K pneumatic-drive G-M cryocooler has recently been designed and developed by ARS. The effect of expansion volume rate and operation conditions on the cooling performance has been experimentally investigated. A typical cooling performance of 1.5 W/4.2 K has been achieved, and the minimum temperature of the second stage is 2.46 K. The steady input power of the compressor at 60 Hz is 6.8 kW, while the operation speed of the rotary valve is 30 rpm. A maximum cooling power of 1.75 W/4.2 K has been obtained in test runs.     

Event-triggered distributed receding horizon control for tracking and formation of homogeneous multi-agent systems

This paper proposes an event-triggered distributed receding horizon control (DRHC) approach for the formation and tracking problems of homogeneous multi-agent systems. For each agent, an event-triggering condition, based on assumed predictive information of the neighbours, is derived from stability analysis. Considering the uncertain deviation between the assumed and true predictive information, we design a time-varying compatibility constraint for the individual optimization problem. In the event-triggered DRHC algorithm, each agent solves the optimization problem and communicates with its neighbours only when the event-triggering condition is satisfied, so the communication and computation burden are reduced. Moreover, guarantees for the recursive feasibility and asymptotic stability of the overall system are proved. A simulation example is provided to illustrate effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Different hydrothermal corrosion results between two sides of sodalime float glass and the possible corrosion mechanism

Sodalime float (SF) glass is widely used in our societies and industries. Hydrothermal corrosion method is one of the effective ways to prepare a superhydrophobic glass, but there is still lack of knowledge about hydrothermal corrosion behavior and mechanism of SF glass. We have hydrothermally treated SF glass at 180 °C for different time, and tried to reveal the aqueous corrosion process of SF glass. We have characterized the morphologies and chemical compositions of samples, and found that (1) the two sides of SF glass have different corrosion resistances, and (2) a multilayer structural coating with a nanoflake layer (Mg-rich gel layer), a nanowire layer (Ca-rich gel layer), and a porous layer (etched layer) is formed on the air-side of SF glass. Based on the experimental results, we have proposed an aqueous corrosion mechanism of SF glass. The insights of the hydrothermal corrosion behaviors and mechanism provide helpful guidelines to glass surface structural control and functionalization.     

Study on wax precipitation characteristics of wax deposit in pipes

Wax deposit properties are a significant concern in pipeline pigging during waxy crude oil transportation. In the present work, the impacts of flow conditions and oil properties on the wax precipitation characteristics of wax deposits are investigated. A flow loop apparatus was developed to conduct wax deposition experiments using four crude oils collected from different field pipes. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique was employed to observe the wax precipitation characteristics of crude oil and wax deposit. The results show that the wax content and the wax appearance temperature (WAT) of the deposits increase with shear stress and radial temperature gradient, and decrease with radial wax molecule concentration gradient near the pipe wall. The DSC tests on the wax deposits revealed that the deposit wax content is strongly correlated to the oil wax content. Furthermore, an empirical correlation was developed to predict the wax content and the WAT of the wax deposit. Verification of the empirical correlation using the different oils indicated that the average relative error of the wax content prediction and average absolute error of WAT prediction were 13.2% and 3.6°C, respectively.     

低剂量抑制剂Inhibex501存在下的甲烷水合物相平衡研究

含动力学抑制剂的天然气水合物相平衡研究对新型低剂量抑制剂的开发具有指导作用。在283.6 ~ 290.9 K和7.51 MPa ~ 15.97 MPa的温压范围内研究了抑制剂Inhibex501及其溶剂2-乙二醇单丁醚对甲烷水合物相平衡条件的影响。实验结果显示，0.5wt%和2.0wt%浓度的Inhibex501对甲烷水合物形成的热力学条件具有促进作用，能使甲烷水合物形成移向更高的温度或者更低的压力，而2-乙二醇单丁醚在浓度0.2wt% ~ 1.0wt%范围几乎不改变甲烷水合物形成的热力学条件，N-乙烯基己内酰胺与N-乙烯基吡咯烷酮的共聚物对水合物形成热力学条件的改变起主要作用。