Comprehensive utilization of complex rubidium ore resources:Mineral dissociation and selective leaching of rubidium and potassium

Currently,the process of extracting rubidium from ores has attracted a great deal of attention due to the increasing application of rubidium in high-technology field.A novel process for the comprehensive utilization of rubidium ore resources is proposed in this paper.The process consists mainly of mineral dissociation,selective leaching,and desilication.The results showed that the stable silicon–oxygen tetrahedral structure of the rubidium ore was completely disrupted by thermal activation and the mineral was completely dissociated,which was conducive to subsequent selective leaching.Under the optimal conditions,extractions of 98.67% Rb and 96.23%K were obtained by leaching the rubidium ore.Moreover,the addition of a certain amount of activated Al(OH)_(3) during leaching can effectively inhibit the leaching of silicon.In the meantime,the leach residue was sodalite,which was successfully synthesized to zeolite A by hydrothermal conversion.The proposed process provided a feasible strategy for the green extraction of rubidium and the sustainable utilization of various resources.

Activated dissociation of H_(2) on the Cu(001)surface:The role of quantum tunneling

The activation and dissociation of hydrogen molecules(H_(2))on the Cu(001)surface are studied theoretically.Using first-principles calculations,the activation barrier for the dissociation of H_(2) on Cu(001)is determined to be~0.59 eV in height.It is found that the electron transfer from the copper substrate to H_(2) plays a key role in the activation and breaking of the H–H bond,and the formation of the Cu–H bonds.Two stationary states are identified at around the critical height of bond breaking,corresponding to the molecular and the dissociative states,respectively.Using the transfer matrix method,we also investigate the role of quantum tunneling in the dissociation process along the minimum energy pathway(MEP),which is found to be significant at or below room temperature.At a given temperature,the tunneling contributions due to the translational and the vibrational motions of H_(2) are quantified for the dissociation process.Within a wide range of temperature,the effects of quantum tunneling on the effective barriers of dissociation and the rate constants are observed.The deduced energetic parameters associated with the thermal equilibrium and non-equilibrium(molecular beam)conditions are comparable to experimental data.In the low-temperature region,the crossover from classical to quantum regime is identified.

Investigation on small molecule-aptamer dissociation equilibria based on antisense displacement probe

Food safety is a major issue to public health and have attracted global attention.Fast,sensitive,and reliable detection methods for food hazardous substances is highly desirable.Aptamers which can bind to the target molecules with high affinity and specificity represent an attractive tool for the recognition of food hazardous substances,which play an important role in the development and application of new food safety detection technology.But current assays for characterizing small molecule-aptamer binding are limited by either the mass sensitivity or the size differentiation ability.Herein,we proposed a comprehensive method for assessing the dissociation equilibria of small molecule-aptamer,which is immobilized-free under ambient conditions.The design employs the Le Chatelier’s principle and could be used to effectively measure small molecule-aptamer interactions.ATP binding aptamer and anti-aflatoxin B1 aptamer were used as the model system to determine their affinity,in which their dissociation equilibria measurements are in excellent close to their previous work.Due to the simplicity and sensitivity of this new method,we believe that it could be recommended as an effective tool for characterizing small molecule-aptamer interactions and promote the further application of small molecular aptamer in food safety.

An Experimental Observation of the Thermal Effects and NO Emissions during Dissociation and Oxidation of Ammonia in the Presence of a Bundle of Thermocouples in a Vertical Flow Reactor

Ammonia (NH3) dissociation and oxidation in a cylindrical quartz reactor has been experimentally studied for various inlet NH3 concentrations (5%, 10%, and 15%) and reactor temperatures between 700 K and 1000 K. The thermal effects during both NH3 dissociation (endothermic) and oxidation (exothermic) were observed using a bundle of thermocouples positioned along the central axis of the quartz reactor, while the corresponding NH3 conversions and nitrogen oxides emissions were determined by analysing the gas composition of the reactor exit stream. A stronger endothermic effect, as indicated by a greater temperature drop during NH3 dissociation, was observed as the NH3 feed concentration and reactor temperature increased. During NH3 oxidation, a predominantly greater exothermic effect with increasing NH3 feed concentration and reactor temperature was also evident;however, it was apparent that NH3 dissociation occurred near the reactor inlet, preceding the downstream NH3 and H2 oxidation. For both NH3 dissociation and oxidation, NH3 conversion increased with increasing temperature and decreasing initial NH3 concentration. Significant levels of NOX emissions were observed during NH3 oxidation, which increased with increasing temperature. From the experimental results, it is speculated that the stainless-steel in the thermocouple bundle may have catalysed NH3 dissociation and thus changed the reaction chemistry during NH3 oxidation.

Photodissociation Dynamics of 2-1odotoluene Investigated by Femtosecond Time-Resolved Mass Spectrometry

The photodissociation dynamics of 2-iodotoluene following excitation at 266 nm have been investigated employing femtosecond time-resolved mass spectrometry. The photofragments are detected by multiphoton ionization using an intense laser field centered at 800 nm. A dissociation time of 3804-50 fs was measured from the rising time of the co-fragments of toluene radical （C7H7） and iodine atom （I）, which is attributed to the averaged time needed for the C-I bond breaking for the simultaneously excited nσ and ππ＊ states by 266 nm pump light. In addition, a probe light centered at 298.23 nm corresponding to resonance wavelength of ground-state iodine atom is used to selectively ionize ground-state iodine atoms generated from the dissociation of initially populated hσ＊ and ππ＊ states. And a rise time of 4004-50 fs is extracted from the fitting of time-dependent I＋ transient, which is in agreement with the dissociation time obtained by multiphoton ionization with 800 nm, suggesting that the main dissociative products are ground-state iodine atoms.

Field Measurement of NO2 and RNO2 by Two-Channel Thermal Dissociation Cavity Ring Down Spectrometer

A two-channel thermal dissociation cavity ring down spectroscopy （CRDS） instrument has been built for in situ, real-time measurement of NO2 and total RNO2 （peroxy nitrates and alkyl nitrates） in ambient air, with a NO2 detection limit of 0.10 ppbv at 1 s. A 6-day long measurement was conducted at urban site of Hefei by using the CRDS instrument with a time resolution of 3 s. A commercial molybdenum converted chemiluminescence （Mo-CL） instrument was also used for comparison. The average RNO2 concentration in the 6 days was measured to be 1.94 ppbv. The Mo-CL instrument overestimated the NO2 concentration by a bias of ＋1.69 ppbv in average, for the reason that it cannot distinguish RNO2 from NO2. The relative bias could be over 100% during the afternoon hours when NO2 was low but RNO2 was high.

Theoretical Study of the C-CI Bond Dissociation Enthalpy and Electronic Structure of Substituted Chlorobenzene Compounds

Quantum chemical calculations were used to estimate the bond dissociation energies （BDEs） for 13 substituted chlorobenzene compounds. These compounds were studied by the hybrid density functional theory （B3LYP, B3PW91, B3P86） methods together with 6-31G^＊＊ and 6-311G^＊＊ basis sets. The results show that B3P86/6-311G^＊＊ method is the best method to compute the reliable BDEs for substituted chlorobenzene compounds which contain the C-C1 bond. It is found that the C-C1 BDE depends strongly on the computational method and the basis sets used. Substituent effect on the C-C1 BDE of substituted chlorobenzene compounds is further discussed. It is noted that the effects of substitution on the C-C1 BDE of substituted chlorobenzene compounds are very insignificant. The energy gaps between the HOMO and LUMO of studied compounds estimate the relative thermal stability ordering are also investigated and from this data we of substituted chlorobenzene compounds.

Photodissociation of HOD via the C1B1 State： OD/OH Branching Ratio and OD Bond Dissociation Energy

Photodissociation of jet-cooled HOD via the C state around 124 nm has been studied using the H（D）-atom Rydberg tagging time-of-flight technique. Rotational state resolved action spectrum and the product translational energy distribution spectra have been recorded for both D＋OH and H＋OD dissociation channels. Product channel OH/OD branching ratios for the individual C-X rotational transition have been determined. A comparison is also given with the B-X and A-X transitions. In addition, the dissociation energy of the OD bond in HOD has been determined accurately to be 41751.3±5 cm-1.

Dissociation Pathway Analysis of Thymine under Low Energy VUV Photon Excitation

Photon-induced dissociation pathways of thymine are investigated with vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry and theoretical calculations. The photoionization mass spectra of thymine at different photon energy are measured and presented. By selecting suitable photon energy, exclusively molecular ion m/z=126 is obtained. At photon energy of 12.0 eV, the major ionic fragments at m/z=98, 97, 84, 83, 70, and 55 are obtained, which are assigned to C4H6N2O＋, C4H5N2O＋, C3H4N2O＋ （or C4H6NO＋）, C4H5NO＋, C2NO2＋, and C3H5N＋, respectively. With help of theoretical calculations, the detailed dissociation pathways of thymine at low energy are well established.

Neutral Dissociation of Superexcited Nitric Oxide Induced by Intense Laser Fields

Superexcited states of NO molecule and their neutral dissociation processes have been studied both experimentally and theoretically. Neutral excited N^＊ and O^＊ atoms are detected by fluorescence spectroscopy for the NO molecule upon interaction with 800 nm intense laser radiation of duration 60 fs and intensity 0.2 PW/cm^2. Intense laser pulse causes neutral dissociation of superexcited NO molecule by way of multiphoton excitation, which is equivalent to single photon excitation in the extreme-ultraviolet region by synchrotron radiation. Potential energy curves （PECs） are also built using the calculated superexcited state of NO^＋. In light of the PECs, direct dissociation and pre-dissociation mechanisms are proposed respectively for the neutral dissociation leading to excited fragments N^＊ and O^＊.

Ion-Pair Dissociations of Br CN by Electron Impacts

Ion-pair dissociation is an important molecular process and frequently happens when the target molecule is pumped to its electronically superexcited states. In contrast to the experimental studies of photoexcitation ion-pair dissociation, there are some experimental challenges in the electron-impact ion-pair dissociation study, in particular, on determination of the energetic threshold. Here we report an experimental development for the ion-pair dissociation study by using the monochromized electron impacts. As an example, the threshold of BrCN→Br^-+CN^+ is determined as 13.78 eV according to the appearance energy of CN^+ signals, meanwhile, the time-sliced ion velocity image of CN^+ is recorded at 16.09 eV and indicates an anisotropic distribution of the CN^+ momentum.

Assessment of Contemporary Theoretical Methods for Bond Dissociation Enthalpies

The density functional theory （DFT） is the most popular method for evaluating bond dis- sociation enthalpies （BDEs） of most molecules. Thus, we are committed to looking for alternative methods that can balance the computational cost and higher precision to the best for large systems. The performance of DFT, double-hybrid DFT, and high-level com- posite methods are examined. The tested sets contain monocyclic and polycyclic aromatic molecules, branched hydrocarbons, small inorganic molecules, etc. The results show that the mPW2PLYP and G4MP2 methods achieve reasonable agreement with the benchmark val- ues for most tested molecules, and the mean absolute deviations are 2.43 and 1.96 kcal/mol after excluding the BDEs of branched hydrocarbons. We recommend the G4MP2 is the most appropriate method for small systems （atoms number≤20）; the double-hybrid DFT methods are advised for large aromatic molecules in medium size （20≤atoms number≤50）, and the double-hybrid DFT methods with empirical dispersion correction are recommended for long-chain and branched hydrocarbons in the same size scope; the DFT methods are ad- vised to apply for large systems （atoms number〉50）, and the M06-2X and B3P86 methods are also favorable. Moreover, the differences of optimized geometry of different methods are discussed and the effects of basis sets for various methods are investigated.

Simulating the Effect of Hydrate Dissociation on Wellhead Stability During Oil and Gas Development in Deepwater

It is well known that methane hydrate has been identified as an alternative resource due to its massive reserves and clean property. However, hydrate dissociation during oil and gas development(OGD) process in deep water can affect the stability of subsea equipment and formation. Currently, there is a serious lack of studies over quantitative assessment on the effects of hydrate dissociation on wellhead stability. In order to solve this problem, ABAQUS finite element software was used to develop a model and to evaluate the behavior of wellhead caused by hydrate dissociation. The factors that affect the wellhead stability include dissociation range, depth of hydrate formation and mechanical properties of dissociated hydrate region. Based on these, series of simulations were carried out to determine the wellhead displacement. The results revealed that, continuous dissociation of hydrate in homogeneous and isotropic formations can causes the non-linear increment in vertical displacement of wellhead. The displacement of wellhead showed good agreement with the settlement of overlying formations under the same conditions. In addition, the shallower and thicker hydrate formation can aggravate the influence of hydrate dissociation on the wellhead stability. Further, it was observed that with the declining elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio, the wellhead displacement increases. Hence, these findings not only confirm the effect of hydrate dissociation on the wellhead stability, but also lend support to the actions, such as cooling the drilling fluid, which can reduce the hydrate dissociation range and further make deepwater operations safer and more efficient.

VUV Photoionization and Dissociation of Tyramine and Dopamine： the Joint Experimental and Theoretical Studies

Photon induced dissociation investigations of neutral tyramine and dopamine are carried out with synchrotron vacuum uRraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry and theoretical calculations. At low photon energy, only molecular ions are measured by virtue of nearthreshold photoionization. While increasing photon energy to 11.7 eV or more, four distinct fragment ions are obtained for tyramine and dopamine, respectively. Besides, the ionization energies of tyramine and dopamine are determined to be 7.984-0.05 and 7.674-0.05 eV by measuring the photoionization efficiency curves of corresponding molecular ions. With help of density function theory calculations, the detailed fragmentation pathways are established as well. These two molecular cations have similar aminoethyl group elimination pathways, CTHsO2＋ （m/z=124） and C7H8O＋ （m/z=108） are supposed to be generated by the McLafferty rearrangement via γ-hydrogen （7-H） shift inducing β-fission. And CH2NH2＋ is proposed to derive from the direct fission of C7-C8 bond. Besides, the McLafferty rearrangement and the C7-C8 bond fission are validated to be dominant dissociation pathways for tyramine and dopamine cations.

Ion-Pair Photodissociation of Trichloromonofluoromethane

fragments, F- and Cl- including two isotope species 35Cl- and 37Cl-, are observed in the photoexcitations of CFC13. The ion-pair anion efficiency spectra of 35Cl- and 37Cl- are recorded in the photon energy range of 7.75-22.00 eV. The threshold of ion-pair dissociation CFCl3-CFC12＋＋Cl- is experimentally determined to be 7.944-0.04 eV. With the references of the high-resolution photoabsorption spectra reported in the literatures, we make tentative assignments of the electron valence-to-Rydberg transitions. Furthermore, the multibody ion-pair fragmentation processes to Cl- are discussed by comparison between the calculated thermochemical thresholds and the experimental efficiency spectrum.

Theoretical Study on Dissociation Mechanisms of Di-ethyl Berylliums and Di-t-butyl Berylliums

The potential energy surfaces （PES） of unimolecular dissociation reactions for di-ethyl beryl- lium and di-t-butyl beryllium are investigated by B3LYP, CCSD（T）, and G3B3 approaches. Possible reaction pathways through either the radical or transition state （TS） of the molecules are considered. The geometries, vibrational frequencies and relative energies for various sta- tionary points are determined. From the study of energetics, the TS pathways arising from concerted molecular eliminations are indicated to be the main dissociation pathways for both molecules. The PES differences of the dissociation reactions are investigated. The activation energies and rate constants will be helpful for investigating the predictive ability of the reaction in further theoretical and experimental research.

Numerical Study on Dissociation of Gas Hydrate and Its Sensitivity to Physical Parameters

The natural gas hydrate resource is tremendous. How to utilize the gas from hydrates safely is researchers＇ concern. In this paper, a one-dimensional model is developed to simulate the hydrate dissociation by depressurization in hydratebearing porous medinm. This model can De used to explain the effects of the flow of multiphase fluids, the endothermie process of hydrate dissociation, the variation of permeability, the convection and conduction on the hydrate dissociation. Numerical results show that the hydrate dissociation can be divided into three stages： a rapid dissociation stage mainly governed by hydrate dissociation kinetics after an initially slow dissociation stage governed mainly by flow, and finally a slow dissociation stage. Moreover, a numerical approach of sensitivity analysis of physical parameters is proposed, with which the quantitative effect of all the parameters on hydrate dissociation can be evaluated conveniently.

Mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments during hydrate dissociation

The changes in the mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments(GHBS) induced by gas hydrate(GH) dissociation are essential to the evaluation of GH exploration and stratum instabilities. Previous studies present substantial mechanical data and constitutive models for GHBS at a given GH saturation under the non-dissociated condition. In this paper, GHBS was formed by the gas saturated method, GH was dissociated by depressurization until the GH saturation reached different dissociation degrees. The stress–strain curves were measured using triaxial tests at a same pore gas pressure and different confining pressures. The results show that the shear strength decreases progressively by 30%–90% of the initial value with GH dissociation, and the modulus decreases by 50% –75%. Simplified relationships for the modulus, cohesion, and internal friction angle with GH dissociated saturation were presented.

Density Functional Theory Calculations on Ni-Ligand Bond Dissociation Enthalpies

The formation and breaking of Ni-L （L=N-heterocyclic carbene, tertiary phosphine etc.） bond is involved in many Ni-catalyzed/mediated reactions. The accurate prediction of Ni-L bond dissociation enthalpies （BDEs） is potentially important to understand these Ni-complex involving reactions. We assess the accuracy of diffierent DFT functionals （such as B3LYP, M06, MPWB1K, etc.） and diffierent basis sets, including both effective core potentials for Ni and the all electron basis sets for all other atoms in predicting the Ni-L BDE values reported recently by Nolan et al. [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 10490 （2003） and Organometallics 27, 3181 （2008）]. It is found that the MPWB1K/LanL2DZ：6-31＋G（d,p）//MPWB1K/LanL2DZ：6-31G（d） method gives the best correlations with the experimental results. Meanwhile, the solvent effect calculations （with CPCM, PCM, and SMD models） indicate that both CPCM and PCM perform well.

The Dependence of the Dissociation Rate of Methane-SDS Hydrate below Ice Point on Its Manners of Forming and Processing

The dissociation rates of methane hydrates formed with and without the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate （methane-SDS hydrates）, were measured under atmospheric pressure and temperatures below ice point to investigate the influence of the hydrate production conditions and manners upon its dissociation kinetic behavior. The experimental results demonstrated that the dissociation rate of methane hydrate below ice point is strongly dependent on the manners of hydrate formation and processing. The dissociation rate of hydrate formed quiescently was lower than that of hydrate formed with stirring; the dissociation rate of hydrate formed at lower pressure was higher than that of hydrate formed at higher oressure; the comoaction of hydrate after its formation lowered its stability, i.e., increased＇its dissociation rate.The stability of hydrate could beincreased by prolonging the time period for which hydrate was held at formation temperature and pressure before it was cooled down, or by prolonging the time period for which hydrate was held at dissociation temperature and formation pressure before it was depressurized to atmospheric pressure. It was found that the dissociation rate of methane hydrate varied with the temperature （ranging from 245.2 to 272.2 K） anomalously as reported on the dissociation of methane hydrate without the presence of surfactant as kinetic promoter. The dissociation rate at 268 K was found to be the lowest when the manners and conditions at which hydrates were formed and processed were fixed.