Morphology of single inhalable particle inside public transit biodiesel fueled bus

In an urban-transit bus, fueled by biodiesel in Toledo, Ohio, single inhalable particle samples in October 2008 were collected and detected by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry （SEM/EDS）. Particle size analysis found bimodal distribution at 0.2 and 0.5 μm. The particle morphology was characterized by 14 different shape clusters： square, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, decagon, agglomerate, sphere, triangle, oblong, strip, line or stick, and unknown, by quantitative order. The square particles were common in the samples. Round and triangle particles are more, and pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, decagon, strip, line or sticks are less. Agglomerate particles were found in abundance. The surface of most particles was coarse with a fractal edge that can provide a suitable chemical reaction bed in the polluted atmospheric environment. The three sorts of surface patterns of squares were smooth, semi-smooth, and coarse. The three sorts of square surface patterns represented the morphological characteristics of single inhalable particles in the air inside the bus in Toledo. The size and shape distribution results were compared to those obtained for a bus using ultra low sulfur diesel.

In-situ observation of structural evolution of single-atom catalysts:From synthesis to catalysis

Atomically dispersed single-atom catalysts(SACs)have been extensively studied over the past decade because of their high atom utilization efficiencies and specific selectivities.Although numerous strategies have been proposed to obtain SACs with high densities and stabilities,the transformation mechanism that occurs during the reaction is still unclear.This review summarizes the structural evolution of SACs in the preparation process and reaction with various electron microscopy techniques at atomic scale under environmental conditions.Current state-of-the-art environmental electron microscopy studies on SACs mainly focus on porous carbons,metals or metal oxides,and some specific composite materials.The dynamic evolution of SACs under various reaction conditions is also investigated in this study.Finally,we highlight the challenges and drawbacks of the current studies and the prospects for the future exploration of SACs with environmental strategies.

Role of trichome of Pteris vittata L.in arsenic hyperaccu-mulation

Environmental scanning electron microscope(ESEM)fitted with an energy disper-sive X-ray microanalyzer(EDX)was used to investigate the surface micromorphology and arse-nic(As)micro-distribution in Chinese brake(Pteris vittata L.).It was found that amounts of trichome,which possessed multicellular structure with the average length of 160μm and with an average diameter of 28μm,existed in the frond of P.vittata,and the density of trichome on the pinnate axial surface was higher than that on the petiole.Visible X-ray peak of As was recorded in the epidermal cell and trichome.The relative weight of As in the pinnate trichome,which con-tained the highest concentration of As among all tissues of the plant,was 2.4 and 3.9 times as much as that in the epidermal and mesophyllous cells,respectively.The As concentrations in the basal and stalk cells of the same trichome were higher than that in its cap cell.This is the first time to report that the trichome of P.vittata plays an important role in arsenic hyperaccumulation.The finding from the present study implies that much attention should be paid to the role of the trichome in understanding the hyperaccumulation and detoxicity of As in the hyperaccumulator and improving the ability of As accumulation.

Microstructure and Element Composition of Shell Plates of Liolophura japonica

The microstructure characteristics of shell plates of chiton Liolophura japonica Lischke were analyzed using environmental scanning electron microscopy （ESEM）. The results show that the internal structure of the shell plate of chiton Liolophurajaponica is composed of seven calcium layers which were crossed lamellar crystallites, homoge- neous structure, granular crystallites, and trabecular type crystallites. The element compositions of shell plates were analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）. The results determined by XPS show that the surface chemical states of various layers are different. There are 13 elements （Na, O, N, C, S, P, Ca, C1, Si, A1, K, Fe, Mg） on the shell plate of chiton L. japonica. Among the 13 elements, 11 are on the outside pigment layer except K and S. Among seven layers of shell plate, there is the largest quantity of elements on the outside pigment layer, and the least quantity of elements is on layer C （Articulamentum auctorum）. There are 7 elements on the layer C （Articulamentum auctorum）. Be- sides calcium carbonate, there are some inorganic compounds on the shell plate, such as NaC1, MgO, A1203, silicate, sulfate and phosphate. There are some organic chemical components, such as carbohydrate, organic sulfide, and organic nitride on the shell plates.