Absorption of Sulphur Dioxide with Sodium Citrate Buffer Solution in a Rotating Packed Bed

Absorption of SO2 from a SO2/air mixture with sodium citrate buffer solution was investigated using a rotating packed bed(RPB) in laboratory scale.The effects of operating parameters,such as the rotation speed of RPB,liquid-gas ratio,inlet gas flow rate,inlet concentration of SO2 in flue gas,sodium citrate buffer concentration and initial pH of absorption solution,on the SO2 concentration in the absorption solution or removal efficiency of SO2 were examined.Incremental rate of sulfate radical ions in the absorption solution was also examined.Experimental results indicate that the efficiency of this regenerative process will be improved by using RPB under appropriate operating conditions,and the generation of SO2-4 will be restrained in the process in RPB.

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.

Hemicellulose in corn straw:Extracted from alkali solution and produced5-hydroxymethyl furfural in HCOOH/HCOONa buffer solution

Hemicellulose in corn straw is a group of complex heteropolysaccharides which are composed of different sugar units, including mannans, xylans, arabinans and galactans. This study developed a simple and practical process for production of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural(HMF) using hemicellulose that was extracted from corn straw. In the hemicellulose degradation process HCOOH/HCOONa was used as buffer solution, and the optimum conditions for maximum HMF yield were explored. Various extraction conditions including NaOH concentration, reaction time,temperature, solid-to-liquid ratio and precipitant were tested for hemicellulose obtaining, giving the optimum condition of 55 °C, 4 h, solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:10, 1.5 mol·L^(-1) NaOH solution and ethanol as precipitant with the yield of 34.16%. Dehydration of hemicellulose under HCOOH/HCOONa buffer solution process, using solution medium of pH = 0.8 hydrolyzed hemicellulose in corn straw at 190 °C after 190 min and 82% of HMF yield was achieved.

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.

Electrodeposition of nickel from alkaline NH_4OH/NH_4Cl buffer solutions

The electrodeposition of nickel on steel and copper from alkaline NH4OH/NH4Cl buffer solutions was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronopotentiometry (CP), chronoamperometry (CA) as well as an opto-digital microscope, glow-discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GD-OES), XRF, and SEM-EDS techniques. The aim was to obtain Ni coatings from weak alkaline solutions and to optimize the process. The electrolyte composition, pH, temperature as well as current and potential parameters of the process were optimized using the quality of Ni deposit as a criterion. The role of hydrogen evolution in the process was discussed. An influence of Co as an additive was also investigated. It was found that a small amount of Co catalyzes Ni deposition process and improves the quality and color of the deposit. Therefore, in the possible application, the Ni/Co codeposition should be seriously considered. It was also shown that for constant current deposition mode, the width of self-established potential range, revealed at the very beginning of the process by the chronopotentiometric E=f(t) curves, is related to the quality of the coating.

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.

Leaching Phenomena of Antifouling Agents from Ships＇ Hull Paints

The effects ofpH, dissolved ion content and relative water velocity on the release rate of an antifouling agent, cuprous oxide, from ships＇ hull paint have been investigated by rotating cylinder tests. Additionally, test paint panels were attached to a vessel and recovered after a certain period of voyage for the validation of the laboratory tests. In the initial period, the release rates are influenced by pH, dissolved ion content and water velocity, but once after a certain period of test, those effects become less significant. These phenomena can be explained when the paint film is fresh, the rate is controlled by chemical reaction, the surface and/or diffusion layer in the water phase governs the rate. After the antifouling substance in the paint film leached out from the near-surface region, a diffused layer （leached layer）, that has little antifouling agent remained, is formed at the surface of the coating, and the diffusion in that layer can be a rate-determining process. The development of the leached layer is affected by a balance between the leaching rate of the antifouling ingredient and paint resin determined by the chemical properties and speed of the water. Thus, the leaching rates of antifouling agents are affected by the history of the paint in the water.

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.

Integration of Chemical Methods and Biomarkers for Assessment of Chlorimuron-Ethyl Bioavailability in Soil

Bioavailability is a critical factor for assessing the environmental risk of organic pollutants in soil. In this study, extractions with 3 different solvents, including 2 aqueous solutions, calcium chloride(CaCl_2) and a phosphate buffer solution(PBS), and a mixture of aqueous solution and organic solvent, a PBS-methanol(8:2,volume/volume) mixture(PBS-M), were performed to assess the bioavailability of chlorimuron-ethyl in soil in comparison to a battery of toxicity tests in wheat seedlings. The results indicated that the peroxidase(POD) activity in wheat leaves after 7 d of exposure was one of the sensitive biomarkers of chlorimuron-ethyl in soil.The extractability of chlorimuron-ethyl by all the 3 solvents decreased with exposure time, and the rate of decrease of the PBS-M extraction between 1 and 7 d of exposure was substantially higher than those of the aqueous solution extractions. Chlorimuron-ethyl gradually changed from a water-soluble form into a soil organic matter(SOM)-bound form in the soil. The PBS extraction correlated best with the POD activity in the leaves after 7 d of exposure.