Effect of grain size on gas bubble evolution in nuclear fuel:Phase-field investigations

Numerous irradiation-induced gas bubbles are created in the nuclear fuel during irradiation, leading to the change of microstructure and the degradation of mechanical and thermal properties. The grain size of fuel is one of the important factors affecting bubble evolution. In current study, we first predict the thermodynamic behaviors of point defects as well as the interplay between vacancy and gas atom in both UO_(2) and U_(3)Si_(2) according to ab initio approach. Then, we establish the irradiation-induced bubble phase-field model to investigate the formation and evolution of intra-and inter-granular gas bubbles. The effects of fission rate and temperature on the evolutions of bubble morphologies in UO_(2) and U_(3)Si_(2) have been revealed. Especially, a comparison of porosities under different grain sizes is examined and analyzed. To understand the thermal conductivity as functions of grain size and porosity, the heat transfer capability of U_(3)Si_(2) is evaluated.

Reactive ball-milling synthesis of Co-Fe bimetallic catalyst for efficient hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to value-added hydrocarbons

Catalytic hydrogenation of CO_(2) using renewable hydrogen not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions,but also provides industrial chemicals.Herein,a Co-Fe bimetallic catalyst was developed by a facile reactive ball-milling method for highly active and selective hydrogenation of CO_(2) to value-added hydrocarbons.When reacted at 320℃,1.0 MPa and 9600 mL h^(-1) g_(cat)^(-1),the selectivity to light olefin(C_(2)^(=)-C_(4)^(=)) and C_(5)+ species achieves 57.3% and 22.3%,respectively,at a CO_(2) co nversion of 31.4%,which is superior to previous Fe-based catalysts.The CO_(2) activation can be promoted by the CoFe phase formed by reactive ball milling of the Fe-Co_(3)O_(4) mixture,and the in-situ Co_(2)C and Fe_(5)C_(2) formed during hydrogenation are beneficial for the C-C coupling reaction.The initial C-C coupling is related to the combination of CO species with the surface carbon of Fe/Co carbides,and the sustained C-C coupling is maintained by self-recovery of defective carbides.This new strategy contributes to the development of efficient catalysts for the hydrogenation of CO_(2) to value-added hydrocarbons.

Review on the development of genotyping methods for assessing farm animal diversity

Advances in molecular biotechnology have introduced new generations of molecular markers for use in the genetic improvement of farm animals. Consequently, more accurate genetic information can be obtained to better understand existing animal genetic resources. This review gives a brief summary on the development of genetic markers including both the classical genetic markers and more advanced DNA-based molecular markers. This review will help us better understand the characteristics of different genetic markers and the genetic diversity of animal genetic resources.

Nanobubbles produced by hydraulic air compression technique

The anoxia of coastal water has already been a serious problem all over the word.Nanobubbles are proved to have great applications in water remediation because they could effectively increase the oxygen content and degrade organic matters in water.But the existing methods to produce nanobubbles are complicated and high cost to operate,especially in deep sea.In this paper,we presented a low-cost method,hydraulic air compression(HAC),to produce a large number of nanobubbles and proved that nanoscale gas bubbles could be produced by HAC for the first time.Nanoparticle tracking analysis was used to measure the size and concentration of produced nanobubbles.It indicated that the concentration of nanobubbles would increase as the downpipe height increases.Degassed measurements proved that produced“nanoparticles”are gas nanobubbles indeed.More dissolved oxygen in water would provide the source for larger number of nanobubble formation.Those results are expected to be very helpful for water remediation in ocean in the future.

Ordered mesoporous NiFe_2O_4 with ultrathin framework for low-ppb toluene sensing

Highly sensitive and selective detection against specific target gases,especially at low-ppb(part per billion)level,remain a great number of challenges in gas sensor applications.In this paper,we first present an ordered mesoporous NiFe_2O_4 for highly sensitive and selective detection against low-ppb toluene.A series of mesoporous NiFe_2O_4 materials were synthesized by templating from mesoporous silica KIT-6 and its framework thickness was reduced from 8.5 to 5 nm by varying the pore size of KIT-6 from 9.4 to 5.6 nm,accompanied with the increase of the specific surface area from 134 to 216 m^2g^(-1).The ordered mesoporous NiFe_2O_4 with both ultrathin framework of 5 nm and large specific surface area of up to 216 m^2g^(-1)exhibits a highest response(R_(gas)/R_(air)-1=77.3)toward 1,000 ppb toluene at 230℃ and is nearly 7.3 and 76.7 times higher than those for the NiFe_2O_4 replica with thick framework and its bulk counterpart respectively,which also possesses a quite low limit of detection(<2 ppb),and good selectivity.