Black Carbon Particles in the Urban Atmosphere in Beijing

A study of the concentration of black carbon particles and its variation in the urban atmosphere has been carried out since 1996 in the Beijing area. The measurements were done in the late autumn and early winter each year, the period before and after domestic heating activities begin. The results show the presence of black carbon particles at the high level that vary over a large range in the urban atmosphere in Beijing. The mean value of daily average concentration for the whole observation period of 1996-2004 is 20.0 μgm^-3. An evident decrease of black carbon particle concentration in the Beijing area is observed after 2000, and the daily average concentration of black carbon particles is estimated to be 16.0 μgm^-3 with a variation range of 2.10-50.50 μgm^-3 for the period of 2000-2004. The observation method and main variation behavior characteristics of black carbon particles in the urban atmosphere in the Beijing area are given and discussed.

The Enhancement of CO2 Chemical Absorption by K2CO3 Aqueous Solution in the Presence of Activated Carbon Particles

The enhancement of chemical absorption of CO2 by K2CO3/H2O absorbents in the presence of activated carbon （AC） particles was investigated. The results show that the gas absorption rates can be enhanced significantly in the presence of AC particles, and the maximum enhancement factor 3.7 was observed at low stirring intensities. The enhancement factor increased rapidly with the solid loading during the initial period of absorption and then be- came mild gradually to a maximum value. Both the liquid-solid contact area and the probability of solid particles residing at the gas-liquid interface decreased with the increase of the particle size, leading to a negative effect on the enhancement of mass transfer. The influence of the particles on gas absorption decreased with the reaction rate. The stirring speed changed the interfacial coverage and mass transfer rate on the liquid side and consequently affected the mass transfer between the gas and liquid phases; the enhancement factor decreased with the stirring intensity. A heterogeneous two-zone model was proposed for predicting the enhancement factor and the calculated results agreed well with the experimental data.

Microwave absorption performance of porous carbon particles modified by nickel with different morphologies

In this work,porous carbon particles were prepared from wheat flour by pyrolysis and activation.Through the subsequent coprecipitation and electroless plating,the surface and pores of carbon particles were modified by nickel-rich particles with different morphologies.Several loss mechanisms,including dielectric loss,magnetic loss,multiple reflection and scattering loss,were used to assess the attenuation ability to incident electromagnetic waves of these composite particles.The result shows that the chain-shaped morphology of nickel can provide the highest dielectric loss.Under the filler loading of 20 wt.%,the minimum reflection loss(RL min)reached-38.42 dB at 13.2 GHz,and the_(max)imum effective absorption bandwidth(EAB_(max))was 5.2 GHz with a matching thickness of 2 mm.The excellent performance of the composite particles is attributed to the synergistic effect of outstanding impedance matching and supe-rior electromagnetic loss ability caused by the chain structure.The result shows that the morphology of modifiers in carbon-based composites is important to improve microwave absorption performance,and this work provides inspiration for the design of high-performance porous carbon-based composites.

A human embryonic stem cell-based in vitro model revealed that ultrafine carbon particles may cause skin inflammation and psoriasis

Air pollution has been linked to many health issues,including skin conditions,especially in children.Among all the atmospheric pollutants,ultrafine particles have been deemed very dangerous since they can readily penetrate the lungs and skin,and be absorbed into the bloodstream.Here,we employed a human embryonic stem cell(h ESC)-based differentiation system towards keratinocytes,to test the effects of ultrafine carbon particles,which mimic ambient ultrafine particles,at environment related concentrations.We found that10 ng/mL to 10μg/mL ultrafine carbon particles down-regulated the expression of the pluripotency marker SOX2 in h ESCs.Moreover,1μg/mL to 10μg/mL carbon particle treatments disrupted the keratinocyte differentiation,and up-regulated inflammationand psoriasis-related genes,such as IL-1β,IL-6,CXCL1,CXCL2,CXCL3,CCL20,CXCL8,and S100 A7 and S100 A9,respectively.Overall,our results provide a new insight into the potential developmental toxicity of atmospheric ultrafine particles.

Injectable composite hydrogel based on carbon particles for photothermal therapy of bone tumor and bone regeneration

Surgical resection,as the most efficient treatment for bone tumor,still faces a dilemma between the complete removal of tumor tissue and the maximum reservation of healthy bone tissue.In response to this,an injectable composite hydrogel with chitosan/hyaluronic acid/β-sodium glycerophosphate as the matrix and carbon particles as the photothermal agent is developed.Owing to the temperature sensitivity,the composite hydrogel can be injected into the irregular bone defect and exhibit the sol-gel phase transition upon body temperature,facilitating the conformal therapy.The composite hydrogel can ablate the human osteosarcoma on Balb/c nude mice model with the tumor inhibition rate of 98.4%after near-infrared laser irradiation(808 nm).The assessment of bone regeneration on calvarial-defect model of Sprague-Dawley rats reveals that the composite hydrogel can promote new bone formation with the bone volume/total volume ratio of 76.2%after 8 weeks,in sharp contrast to the control group of 23.9%.)

Multi-3D hierarchical biomass-based carbon particles absorber for solar desalination and thermoelectric power generator

To meet challenges of the global energy crisis and the freshwater resources shortage,the interfacial solarto-steam conversion(ISSC)system was developed quickly in recent years.The photothermal materials play an important role in the ISSC system.We are devoted to developing a unique photothermal material integrating multiple 3 D design philosophy both at macroscopic and microscopic levels by employing the cost-effective and widespread resources like straw,rose and coffee grounds,for carbonization as solar absorbers.The biomass-based carbonized particles(CPs)possess three major advantages:(1)wide sizedistribution is accessible to form 3 D porous rough surface of absorber layer to enhance ability of light absorption;(2)the pristine hierarchical microstructure could absorb nearly all the incident light;(3)the intrinsic vascular bundles with pores on their lumen walls provide a rapid and omnidirectional transport for water and steam escape.A high-efficient solar steam device was fabricated based on the absorber material with its internal 3 D micro textures and external 3 D architectures.Under the illumination of 1 sun,the photothermal conversion efficiency of straw,rose and coffee CPs can reach 93.4%,92.8% and 76%,respectively.Simultaneously,a high-efficient solar thermoelectric generator(STEG)is made by coating CPs on a commercial thermoelectric generator and the maximum power of STEG can reach 538.0μW.Such scalable biomass-based photothermal materials and high-grade thermoelectric conversion capability could be applied to the water purification and the electricity production.

An investigation on dissolution kinetics of single sodium carbonate particle with image analysis method

Dissolution kinetics of sodium carbonate is investigated with the image analysis method at the approach of single particle.The dissolution experiments are carried out in an aqueous solution under a series of controlled temperature and p H.The selected sodium carbonate particles are all spherical with the same mass and diameter.The dissolution process is quantified with the measurement of particle diameter from dissolution images.The concentration of dissolved sodium carbonate in solvent is calculated with the measured diameter of particle.Both surface reaction model and mass transport model are implemented to determine the dissolution mechanism and quantify the dissolution rate constant at each experimental condition.According to the fitting results with both two models,it is clarified that the dissolution process at the increasing temperature is controlled by the mass transport of dissolved sodium carbonate travelling from particle surface into solvent.The dissolution process at the increasing pH is controlled by the chemical reaction on particle surface.Furthermore,the dissolution rate constant for each single spherical sodium carbonate particle is quantified and the results show that the dissolution rate constant of single spherical sodium carbonate increases significantly with the rising of temperature,but decreases with the increasing of pH conversely.

Superfast and solvent-free core-shell assembly of sulfur/carbon active particles by hail-inspired nanostorm technology for high-energy-density Li-S batteries

The demand on low-carbon emission fabrication technologies for energy storage materials is increasing dramatically with the global interest on carbon neutrality.As a promising active material for metal-sulfur batteries,sulfur is of great interest due to its high-energy-density and abundance.However,there is a lack of industry-friendly and low-carbon fabrication strategies for high-performance sulfur-based active particles,which,however,is in critical need by their practical success.Herein,based on a hail-inspired sulfur nano-storm(HSN)technology developed in our lab,we report an energy-saving,solvent-free strategy for producing core-shell sulfur/carbon electrode particles(CNT@AC-S)in minutes.The fabrication of the CNT@AC-S electrode particles only involves low-cost sulfur blocks,commercial carbon nanotubes(CNT)and activated carbon(AC)micro-particles with high specific surface area.Based on the above core-shell CNT@AC-S particles,sulfur cathode with a high sulfur-loading of 9.2 mg cm^(-2) delivers a stable area capacity of 6.6 mAh cm^(-2) over 100 cycles.Furthermore,even for sulfur cathode with a super-high sulfur content(72 wt%over the whole electrode),it still delivers a high area capacity of 9 mAh cm^(-2) over50 cycles in a quasi-lean electrolyte condition.In a nutshell,this study brings a green and industryfriendly fabrication strategy for cost-effective production of rationally designed S-rich electrode particles.

Comments on“Adsorption behavior of heavy metal ions by carbon nanotubes grown on microsized Al_2O_3 particles”

Recently, Hsieh and Horng [1] published the paper entitled as above. In section 3 results and discussion, the authors mentioned the first and the second order kinetic models without any quotations. In fact these two kinetic models have been published [2-5]. In order to distinguish a kinetics model based on the ad- sorption capacity of a solid from the one based on the concentration of a solution, Lagergren＇s first-order rate equation has been called pseudo-first-order [6-7]. The Lagergren＇s equation has been widely cited, but there are far more mistakes made in the quotation and in the reference section of papers, including the title, the author＇s name, journal title, year of publishing, volume, and page number [3]. In addition, the second order kinetic expression for the adsorption systems of divalent metal ions using sphagnum moss peat has been reported by Ho [8].

Synthesis of nano-CaCO_3 composite particles and their application

Nano-calcium carbonate composite particles were synthesized by the soapless emulsion polymerization technique of double monomers. The composite particles formation mechanism was investigated. The effects of composite particles on the mechanical properties of nano-CaCO3-ABS （acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer） composite material were studied. It was validated that the composite particles are made up of the nano-calcium carbonate cores and the shells of alternating copolymers of butyl acrylate （BA） and styrene （St）. The shells are chemically grafted and physically wrapped on the surface of nano-calcium carbonate particles. When the composite particles were filled in ABS matrix, the CaCO3 particles are homogeneously dispersed in the composite material as nanoscales. The impact strength of the composite material is obviously enhanced after filling appropriate amounts of composite particles. It can be concluded that the soapless emulsion polymerization of double monomers is an effective method for nano-CaCO3 surface treatment. 2008 University of Science and Technology Beijing. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of an eco-friendly nanocomposite fertilizer for common bean based on carbon nanoparticles from agricultural waste biochar

The burning of agricultural waste is a major cause of environmental pollution.In this study,we sought to prepare biochar from agricultural waste as a source material for the preparation of carbon nanoparticles(CNPs).Surface morphology,hydrodynamic particle size,and purity and crystallinity of CNPs were extensively investigated using transmission electron microscopy(TEM),zeta sizing,and X-ray diffraction(XRD)spectroscopy,respectively.The CNPs were subsequently immersed in a solution of potassium nitrate(KNO_(3))to prepare a CNPs/NK nanocomposite(CNPs loaded with nitrogen(N)and potassium(K))as a nanocomposite fertilizer for common bean(Phaseolus vulgaris L.).The CNPs/NK nanocomposite was sprayed as a foliar fertilizer at 0,10,20,30,and 40 mg L^(-1) on common bean plants 25 d after sowing on a farm in Shebin El-Kom,El-Monifia,Egypt.The growth,yield,and quality of common bean were investigated during two successive growing seasons(2017 and 2018).The highest seed yields of 2.04 and 2.01 t ha^(-1) and the highest values of growth parameters including plant height of 61.5 and 59.2 cm,number of leaves per plant of 35 and 35,number of flowers per plant of 83.3 and 82.7,and plant fresh weight of 148.7 and 152.8 g plant^(-1) were obtained when using the CNPs/NK nanocomposite at a concentration of 20 mg L^(-1) during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons,respectively.

Fabrication of highly water-repelling paper by surface coating with stearic acid modified calcium carbonate particles and reactive biopolymers

Cellulose paper is the most attractive green packaging material due to its recyclability, renewability, sustainability and biodegradability. In some applications, paper with a high level of water resistance is desirable to meet specific requirements in modern packaging fields. This research aimed to develop a water-repelling paper with cost-effective and nontoxic materials. Commercial precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) particles were modified by stearic acid (SA) and incorporated with soybean oil-based binder as a water repelling coating agent. The water-repelling efficiency of the coated paper was highly dependent on the ratio of SA / PCC as well as the binder content in the coating formula. PCC particles modified with 12wt% SA were efficient in increasing the water contact angle (WCA) of the coated paper to 146° at a coating weight of 5 g/m2. The binder for the coating was synthesized with acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) through Michael addition reaction. The triglyceride structure in the polymer chain imparted good bio-degradability to the binder polymer. It was found that surface modification of PCC with stearic acid played an important role in improving the WCA of paper. A super hydrophobic paper with a WCA of 162° was fabricated with a coating formula of 60% SA-modified PCC and 40 wt% AESO-binder.

A comparison study on polymeric nanocomposite foams with various carbon nanoparticles:adjusting radiation time and effect on electrical behavior and microcellular structure

The effect of carbon black(CB),carbon nanotube(CNT),and graphene(G)on foaming,electrical conductivity(EC),and electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding of polystyrene(PS)foam that has been produced via microwave heating operation and supercritical carbon dioxide(CO_(2))was studied.Foams containing 1 wt%,CNT,and G reached over 90%porosity after 30 s and 3 min radiation time,respectively;however,PS/CB foam did not expand properly even after 3.5 min.In addition,the expansion ratio of PS/CB and PS/G was one-sixth and one-half of PS/CNT,respectively-due to the great CNT’s ability to convert microwave radiation to heat.EC of solid and porous nanocomposites has been increased via raising filler content;however,PS/CNT displayed the highest value at the same volume fractions.This ascending trend could not endure during foaming,so a remarkable optimum-point has been observed for nanocomposite foams.Eventually,EMI-shielding properties of solid and foam nanocomposites were discussed.

Growth of Ag nanocrystals on multiwalled carbon nanotubes and Ag-carbon nanotube interaction

The experimental investigations on the interaction between Ag-nanocrystal particles (Ag-NCPs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in Ag-nanocrystal particles/carbon nanotubes (Ag-NCPs/CNTs) hybrid structures were reported. The growth of Ag-NCPs on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was carried out by thermal evaporation deposition. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that Ag-NCPs had the crystal lattice feature of face-centered cube (fcc). The growth of Ag-NCPs on MWCNTs induced the cross-section deformation of MWCNT. The experimental results also showed that the synthesized Ag-NCPs/CNTs hybrid structure appeared as quasi-one dimensional nanowires containing the Ag-NCP/CNT hetero-junction. There was local cross-section deformation on MWCNTs at the interface of hetero-junction. These results involve the important topic about fundamental and practical studies for structure of MNCPs on CNTs and also find clues to further research of Ag nanocrystal growing on MWCNTs and related Ag-CNT interaction.

Investigation on sampling artifacts of particle associated PAHs using ozone denuder systems

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） are complex organic compounds which are identified as significant carcinogenic to human health. PAHs （mainly in particle phase） are susceptible to atmospheric oxidant gases, especially ozone, nitrogen oxides （NOx）, hydroxyl radical （OH）, and could be degraded on filters during sampling process, leading to an underestimation of ambient PAH concentrations. The goal of this work was to investigate particle associated PAHs sampling artifacts caused by ozone in summer of Beijing. Comparative sampling systems were operated simultaneously during the whole campaign, one with activated carbon ozone denuder, the other being set as conventional sampling system. Activated carbon denuder was testified to be highly efficient to eliminate ozone from air stream. In general, nine particle-bound PAHs observed from conventional sampler were all lower than those from ozone denuder system. The total PAHs （particle phase） concentration was averagely underestimated by 35.9% in conventional sampling procedure. Benzo[a]pyrene （BaP） had the highest percentage of mass loss. founded to have influences Ambient temperature was on PAHs sampling artifacts. High temperature can increase loss of particle associated PAHs during sampling.

Effect of precursor thermal history on the formation of amorphous and crystalline calcium carbonate

The role of the thermal history of the precursor was studied for amorphous and crystalline calcium carbon- ate phases synthesized from calcium nitrate. The X-ray diffraction patterns of these phases are influenced by their annealing temperature of 0, 300, 400, and 500 ℃. However, the effect of the precursor thermal history on the X-ray diffraction pattern of the resulting calcium carbonate phase is negligible. Transmis- sion electron microscopy indicates that materials annealed at 400 ℃ consist of amorphous aggregates, irrespective of the precursor thermal history. The crystallite size of crystalline calcium carbonate is influ- enced by the precursor thermal history, and ranges from 23 to 26 rim. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure measurements indicate that the annealing temperature plays an important role in determining the local electronic structure. The role of the thermal history of the precursor is also important for the resultinu electronic structure.

Chemical characteristics of PM_(2.5) during haze episodes in the urban of Fuzhou,China

Atmospheric fine particles （PM2.5） were collected in this study with middle volume samplers in Fuzhou, China, during both normal days and haze days in summer （September 2007） and winter （january 2008）. The concentrations, distributions, and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）, organic carbon （OC）, elemental carbon （EC）, and water soluble inorganic ions （WSIls） were determinated. The results showed that the concentrations of PM2.s, PAHs, OC, EC, and WSIIs were in the orders of haze 〉 normal and winter〉 summer. The dominant PAHs of PM2.s in Fuzhou were Fluo, Pyr, Chr, BbF, BkF, BaP, BghiP, and IcdP, which represented about 80.0% of the total PAHs during different sampling periods. The BaPeq concentrations of ^-~PAHs were 0.78, 0.99, 1.22, and 2.43 ng/m3 in summer normal, summer haze, winter normal, and winter haze, respectively. Secondary pollutants （SO42 , NO3 , NH4＊, and OC） were the major chemical compositions of PM2.5, accounting for 69.0%, 55.1%, 63.4%, and 64.9% of PM2.s mass in summer normal, summer haze, winter normal, and winter haze, respectively. Correspondingly, secondary organic carbon （SOC） in Fuzhou accounted for 20.1%, 48.6%, 24.5%, and 50.5% of OC. The average values of nitrogen oxidation ratio （NOR） and sulfur oxidation ratio （SOR） were higher in haze days （0.08 and 0.27） than in normal days （0.05 and 0.22）. Higher OC/EC ratios were also found in haze days （5.0） than in normal days （3.3）. Correlation analysis demonstrated that visibility had positive correlations with wind speed, and neg- ative correlations with relative humidity and major air pollutants. Overall, the enrichments of PM2.5, OC, EC, SO42 ,andNO3 promoted haze formation. Furthermore, the diagnostic ratios of IcdP/（IcdP ＋ BghiP）, lcdP/BghiP, OC/EC, and NO3 /SO42 indicated that vehicle exhaust and coal consumption were the main sources of pollutants in Fuzhou.