High performance of zinc-ferrum redox flow battery with Ac^-/HAc buffer solution

A green low-cost redox flow battery using Zn/Znredox couple in HAc/NaAc medium and Fe/Feredox couple in HSOmedium was first proposed and investigated for potential stationary energy storage applications. The presence of HAc/NaAc in the negative electrolyte can keep the pH between 2.0 and 6.0even when a large amount of Hions move into negative electrolyte from positive electrolyte through ion exchange membrane. In the pH range of 2.0–6.0, the chemical reaction of Zn species with Hspecies is very insignificant; furthermore, the electroreduction of Hion on the negative electrode is significantly suppressed at this pH range. The zinc-ferrum redox flow battery（Zn/Fe RFB） operated within a voltage window of 0.5–2.0 V with a nearly 90% utilization ratio, and its energy efficiency is around 71.1% at room temperature. These results show that Zn/Fe RFB is a promising option as a stationary energy storage equipment.

Oxygen permeability of soft contact lenses in different pH, osmolality and buffering solution

AIMTo determine the effect of pH, osmolality, and buffering system on the oxygen permeability (Dk) of soft contact lenses.METHODSTwo hydrogel lenses (nelfilcon A and etafilcon A) and 2 silicone hydrogel lenses (lotrafilcon A and balafilcon A) were used in the study. These lenses were incubated in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and borate-buffered saline (BBS) solutions adjusted by 0.8 pH increments to a pH in the range of 5.8-9.0 or in hypotonic (280 mOsmol/kg), isotonic (310 mOsmol/kg) and hypertonic (380 mOsmol/kg) PBS solutions. Polarographic method was used for measuring the Dk and lenses were stacked as 4 layers to correct the boundary effect.RESULTSDk values of all contact lenses measured in BBS solutions were more stable than those in PBS solutions. Especially the etafilcon A lens showed a relative big change compared with other types of contact lenses at the same conditions. When the osmolality of PBS solution increased from hypotonic to hypertonic, Dk of all contact lenses decreased. Variations in Dk existed depending on lens materials, etafilcon A lens was the most affected and nelfilcon A was the least affected by osmolality.CONCLUSIONFrom the result obtained, it is revealed that Dk of contact lenses is changed by the pH, osmolality, and buffering condition of tear. Thus, Dk of contact lens can be varied by the lens wearers' physiological and/or pathological conditions.

Effects of Complexes and pH Buffer Solution in Electrokinetic Oxidation Treatment on Sediments Chromium Removal

Three electrokinetic（EK） experiments were designed to study the remediation efficiency of Cr（Ⅲ） by EK-oxidation method and to investigate the influence of complexes and p H buffer solution in EK-oxidation process. Sediments Cr（Ⅲ） can be oxidized into Cr（Ⅵ） effectively by KMn O4, but the oxidation efficiency is not proportional to the dose of oxidant, and chemical oxidation process leads to a bit lower buffering capacity of the sediment. Compared with the simple EK remediation, the removal efficiency of total Cr in the sediments increased 32.6% by EK-oxidation method, and the concentrations of total chromium in the sediment showed increasing trend from the cathode to the anode after EK-oxidation treatment. The p H control and KMn O4 improved the removal of Cr（Ⅵ） and total Cr from the sediments. Due to stronger complexation action of citric acid with Cr（Ⅲ） in sediments, citric acid in the catholyte obviously increased the removal rate of total Cr in sediments. Finally, the removal rate of total Cr from sediments reached 60.9% by adding complex and controlling the p H of cathode and anode pond solution on EK-oxidation processes.

Improving anammox activity and reactor start-up speed by using CO_(2)/NaHCO_(3) buffer

Anammox bacteria grow slowly and can be affected by large pH fluctuations.Using suitable buffers could make the start-up of anammox reactors easy and rapid.In this study,the effects of three kinds of buffers on the nitrogen removal and growth characteristics of anammox sludge were investigated.Reactors with CO_(2)/NaHCO_(3)buffer solution(CCBS)performed the best in nitrogen removal,while 4-(2-hydroxyerhyl)piperazine-1-ethanesulfonic acid(HEPES)and phosphate buffer solution(PBS)inhibited the anammox activity.Reactors with 50 mmol/L CCBS could start up in 20 days,showing the specific anammox activity and anammox activity of 1.01±0.10 gN/(gVSS·day)and 0.83±0.06 kgN/(m^(3)·day),respectively.Candidatus Kuenenia was the dominant anammox bacteria,with a relative abundance of 71.8%.Notably,anammox reactors could also start quickly by using 50 mmol/L CCBS under nonstrict anaerobic conditions.These findings are meaningful for the quick start-up of engineered anammox reactors and prompt enrichment of anammox bacteria.

Study on Extended Gate Field Effect Transistor with Nano-TiO-2 Sensing Membrane by Sol-Gel Method

The nano-titanium dioxide (nano-TiO_2) sensing membrane,fabricated by sol-gel technology,was used as the pH-sensing layer of the extended gate field effect transistor (EGFET) device.The objective of this research is the preparation of titanium dioxide materials by sol-gel method using Ti(OBu)_4 as the precursor.In this study,we fabricated a nano-titanium dioxide sensing layer on the ITO glass by dip coating.In order to examine the sensitivity of the nano-TiO_2 films applied to the EGFET devices,we adopted the ITO glass as substrate,and measured theⅠ_(DS)-Ⅴ_G curves of the nano-titanium dioxide separative structure EGFET device in the pH buffer solutions that have different pH values by the Keithley 236 Instrument.By the experimental results,we can obtain the pH sensitivities of the EGFET with nano-TiO_2 sensing membrane prepared by sol-gel method,which is 59.86mV/pH from pH 1 to pH 9.

Study on the Carbon Nanotube Separative Structure for the Extended Gate H^+-Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistor

We use the carbon nanotube (CNT) as the material of the pH sensing layer of the separative structure for the extended gate H^+-ion sensitive field effect transistor (EGFET) device.The CNT paste was prepared with CNT powder,Ag powder,silicagel,the di-n-butyl phthalate and the toluene solvents by appropriate ratio,then immobilized on the silicon substrate to form the carbon nanotube sensing layer.We measured theⅠ_(DS)-Ⅴ_G curves of the carbon nanotube separative structure EGFET device in the different pH buffer solutions by the Keithley 236Ⅰ-Ⅴmeasurement system.According to the experimental results,we can obtain the pH sensitivities of the carbon nanotube separative structure EGFET device,which is 62.54mV/pH from pH1 to pH13.