Latest ArticlesSulfide oxidation under aerobic conditions can produce active oxygen for the transformation of organic pollutants in aquatic environments. However, the catalytic performance of transition metal-supported carbon material on this process is poor understood. This study found that Co-loaded carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was able to realize the efficient aerobic transformation of antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) by sulfide, with the pseudo-first order reaction rate constant improved from 0.013 h−1 without catalyst to 0.44–0.71 h−1 with 100 mg/L Co-loaded CNTs. Singlet oxygen (1O2) was the main active specie playing key roles in the process of CIP aerobic transformation with presence of Co-loaded CNTs. Mechanism studies indicated that the excellent electron transfer ability of Co-loaded CNTs might play an important role to promote the electron transfer and facilitate the formation of intermediate H2O2 and 1O2. Additionally, the Co-loaded CNTs/sulfide system effectively reduced the acute toxicity of organic pollutant, and Co-loaded CNTs showed remarkable cycling stability and negligible leaching. This study gives a better understanding for the Co-loaded CNTs mediated aerobic antibiotics transformation by sulfide, and provide a reference for the application of Co-loaded carbon materials on organics aerobic transformation by sulfide.
Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is one of the most critical contaminants in the air, and the control of NOx emission from diesel vehicles is very important. Cu-based small-pore zeolites have already been applied for NOx abatement on diesel vehicles. Among the small-pore zeolites, Cu-SSZ-50 catalysts with good NH3-SCR catalytic activity were believed to have potential for application. In this study, a one-pot synthesis method for Cu-SSZ-50 catalysts was developed for the first time, using the co-templates of Cu-TEPA and 2,6-dimethyl-N-methylpyridinium hydroxide. In this synthesis method, Cu-SSZ-50 with various Cu contents can be obtained by adjusting the amount of Cu-TEPA without the need for a further after-treatment process. The addition of Cu-TEPA affected the framework atoms and Cu species, and a lower Si/Al ratio and more SCR active Cu species were obtained. The synthesized catalyst with a Cu/Al ratio of 0.40 exhibited over 90% NOx conversion between 200 ℃ and 450 ℃ for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3 (NH3-SCR). Meanwhile, over 80% NOx conversion could be obtained from 250 ℃ to 450 ℃ after hydrothermal aging at 750 ℃ for 16 h. In addition, both L-H and E-R mechanisms were proven to exist for the one-pot-synthesized Cu-SSZ-50 by in situ DRIFTS experiments. The simple synthesis procedure, excellent catalytic activity and hydrothermal stability brighten the prospects for the application of Cu-SSZ-50.
The efficient production of high-quality scintillators with long radioluminescence afterglow is crucial for high-performance X-ray luminescence extension imaging. However, scaling-up the synthesis of ligand-free scintillators to fabricate large-area X-ray imaging screens for industrial applications remains a challenge. In this study, we report an efficient method to synthesize ligand-free, lanthanide-doped microscintillators by a one-pot reaction via the concentrated hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized microscintillators exhibit prolonged persistent radioluminescence for up to 30 days after X-ray exposure and remain high stability in air or water for more than 18 months without deterioration. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the size effect is responsible for the excellent afterglow performance of the microscintillators. We employ these high-quality lanthanide-doped microscintillators to fabricate a large-area X-ray imaging detector using a blade-coating method, a spatial resolution of 24.9 lp/mm for X-ray imaging. Our study offers a solution for scaling-up the synthesis of low-cost microscintillators for practical applications.
Introducing covalently crosslinked network to polymer matrix can merge the advantages in reprocessing and durability of polymers. In this contribution, a series of high-performance vitrimeric elastomers were achieved via polycondensation. The topological structures of polymers were tuned by varying the feeding ratios of bisacetoacetate, hex–substituted bisacetoacetate, bisamine and tris(2-aminoethyl)amine. With these structural manipulations, the vitrimeric elastomers presented great elastic recovery properties (strain recovery value up to 80%) benefiting from the introduction of long chain branch. Furthermore, the elastomers exhibited excellent reprocessing property, water vapor/oxygen barrier and adhesive properties. Specially, the elastomers could be degraded into monomer under acid conditions which enabled the elastomer synthesis again in closed loop recycling system. The ease of the polycondensation in this work to prepare highly elastic and recyclable vitrimeric elastomers demonstrated exciting opportunities for the synthesis of sustainable polymers.
Promethazine (PHZ) is used as a sedative in veterinary medicine, and its residue can threaten the health of human. The electrochemical detection of PHZ is suitable method for application in the field. However, the traditional electroanalysis is difficult to perform directly in meat samples due to matrix interference. This work integrates magnetic solid-phase extraction and differential pulse voltammetry for highly sensitive and selective determination of PHZ in beef and beef liver for the first time. CoFe2O4/graphene coated with C18-functionalized mesoporous silica (MG@mSiO2-C18) is synthesized as dispersed magnetic adsorbent to extract PHZ. Magnetic glassy carbon electrode modified with nitrogen-doped hollow carbon microspheres (HCM) attracts the MG@mSiO2-C18 with PHZ, and directly detects the PHZ without elution procedure. MG@mSiO2-C18 can separate PHZ to avoid the interference of impurities on following detection, and also concentrate PHZ on magnetic electrode. Additionally, the electrode modification with HCM can amplify the electrochemical signal of PHZ. Finally, the integrated PHZ determination method exhibits a wide linear range from 0.08 µmol/L to 300 µmol/L with a low limit of detection of 9.8 nmol/L. The beef sample analysis presents excellent recovery, demonstrating that this protocol is promising for the rapid and onsite detection of PHZ in real meat samples
Pretreatment of the carrier for supported catalysts can effectively improve the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) and increase the dispersion of precious metals, which are critical to many important catalytic reactions. In this work, we tuned SMSI on Pd/TiO2 catalysts through inducing surface defects of TiO2 by pretreated with different atmospheres (H2/N2, N2, O2/N2) at the high temperature (800 ℃). Multiple characterization results illustrated that surface defects anchored Pd species and thus enhanced their dispersion. During reduction, Ti3+ species formed and transferred onto the metallic Pd species and then induced SMSI, which effectively stabilize Pd species in the metallic state. The stronger MSI, the more stability of Pd species. As a case, Pd/TiO2–800H2, with strongest MSI, displayed the best HCHO oxidation performance at low temperature (10 ℃).
Fabrication of single atom catalysts (SACs) by a green and gentle method is important for their practical Fenton-like use. In this work, a high effective iron-based catalyst was prepared from the iron-rich Enteromorpha for NPX degradation via peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Both Fe-SACs and iron-clusters was fabricated from the intrinsic iron element in Enteromorpha after the urea saturation. The Fe-SACs/clusters can achieve 100% of NPX oxidation within 20 min with the kobs of 0.282 min−1. Quenching tests indicated that the radical pathways were not dominated in the catalytic systems, and strong electron transfer process can be induced in the Fe-SACs/clusters + PMS system by using the NPX as electron donor and Fe-SACs/clusters/PMS* complexes as electron acceptor. This result was consistent with the phenomenon observed in the galvanic oxidation system. In addition, the Fe-SACs/clusters was deposited onto the ceramic membrane (CM) by the spraying-crosslinking process to form a Fe-SACs/clusters@CM, which showed an effective and continuous NPX degradation in a heterogeneous PMS system.
The pharmaceutical industry is now paying increased attention to continuous manufacturing. While the revolution to continuous and automated manufacturing is deepening in most of the top pharma companies in the world, the advancement of automated pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing in China is relatively slow due to some key challenges including the lack of knowledge on the related technologies and shortage of qualified personnels. In this review, emphasis is given to two of the crucial technologies in automated pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing, i.e., process analytical technology (PAT) and self-optimizing algorithm. Research work published in recent 5 years employing advanced PAT tools and self-optimization algorithms is introduced, which represents the great progress that has been made in automated pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has drawn great attention around the world. SARS-CoV-2 is a highly infectious virus with occult transmission by many mutations and a long incubation period. In particular, the emergence of asymptomatic infections has made the epidemic even more severe. Therefore, early diagnosis and timely management of suspected cases are essential measures to control the spread of the virus. Developing simple, portable, and accurate diagnostic techniques for SARS-CoV-2 is the key to epidemic prevention. The advantages of point-of-care testing technology make it play an increasingly important role in viral detection and screening. This review summarizes the point-of-care testing platforms developed by nucleic acid detection, immunological detection, and nanomaterial-based biosensors detection. Furthermore, this paper provides a prospect for designing future highly accurate, cheap, and convenient SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic technology.