Simple synthesis of novel phosphate electrode materials with unique microstructure and enhanced supercapacitive properties

Flower-like Ni3P2O8 and flower-like Fe3P2O8 center dot 8H(2)O have been successfully synthesized by a simple chemical precipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns reveal an amorphous phase formation of nickel phosphate (Ni3P2O8) and pure monoclinic phase of Fe3P2O8 center dot 8H(2)O. The novel flower-like Ni3P2O8 and flower-like Fe3P2O8 center dot 8H(2)O when used for supercapacitor electrode materials exhibit a high specific capacitance (C-m) of 1464 F/g and 200 F/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g, respectively. Eventually, an asymmetric supercapacitor is fabricated using Ni3P2O8 as positive electrode and Fe3P2O8 center dot 8H(2)O as negative electrode. A high specific capacitance of 94 F/g is achieved in the high-voltage region of 0 similar to 1.6V, and a large energy density of 32.6 Wh/kg is delivered at power density of 420 W/kg. The findings demonstrate the important and great potential of developing metal phosphate based materials for supercapacitors. (C) 2016 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Optimization of the iron-enriched extruded snack containing jackfruit seed flour, mung bean flour and ferrous ammonium phosphate by using response surface methodology

The Food and Agriculture Organization (State of food and agriculture. Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction, 2019) stated that approximately 1.3 billion tons of food wasted every year caused the emission of around 4.4 gigatons of greenhouse gas. World Health Organization highlights that iron deficiency affects billions of people worldwide and remains the leading cause of anemia. With the growth of healthy and sustainable diets and consumers’ better understanding of the relationship between diet, health, and the environment, there is an opportunity to develop novel healthy extruded snacks. The present study was carried out using response surface methodology to investigate the effects of varying proportions of jackfruit seed flour, mung bean flour, and ferrous ammonium phosphate on physical and functional properties of extruded snacks. Experiments were carried out using a central composite rotatable design with three independent parameters such as jackfruit seed flour(%), mung bean flour(%), and ferrous ammonium phosphate (%), and five responses such as bulk density (BD), expansion ratio (ER), hardness, color difference (ΔE), and iron content. It was found that ferrous ammonium phosphate significantly increased the iron content. Bulk density, expansion ratio, and hardness were significantly affected by jackfruit seed flour and mung bean flour. All independent variables significantly influenced colour value. The optimized iron-enrich extruded snacks were obtained at 24.87% jackfruit seed flour, 20.95% mung bean flour, and 0.021% ferrous ammonium phosphate. The optimized extruded snack contained 15.32 g/100 g protein and 22.03 mg/100 g iron content. Results of the study indicate that the optimized extruded snack could be used as a protein and iron source to mitigate malnutrition and anemia.

Wind-wave affected phosphate loading variations and their relationship to redox condition in Lake Taihu

Variation of wind speed and the physico-chemical parameters, such as dissolved phosphate, ferrous and manganese in lake water were observed on site. Together with the chemistry analysis and simulated experiment in lab, the change of phosphate concentration in lake water was analyzed. The variation of ferrous/phosphate ratio explained that along with the enhancement of wind-wave effect and the oxidation ability of lake water, the effects of co-precipitation and removal of dissolved phosphate and iron in the lake water were reinforced. The ferrous/phosphate ratio in pore water was less than 2.0, demonstrating that the dissolved phosphate can be released into the overlying water. But, in the lake water, the stability of phosphate was controlled by the water dynamics.The phosphate release experiment showed that molecular release was only part of the whole and the direct discharge of phosphate in the pore water was also a part. The mineralization and biological process of suspended particulates in the water may be another important reason for the whole phosphate loadings.