Effects of water phase concentration on the emulsion polymerization of polyaniline

The emulsion polymerization of aniline in three phase system of xylene functionalized protonic acid water was carried out using (NH 4) 2S 2O 4 as oxidant. The influences of water phase concentration on the viscosity, conductivity, transmittance of polyaniline(PAN) latex and its powders were studied. The results show that the properties of PAN prepared through the emulsion polymerization are influenced by the amount of water used in the polymerization. The morphology of PAN varies with the water phase concentration used in the polymerization, which may result in the change of properties of PAN latex and its powders. When the volume fraction of water (φ) is about 20% 30%, the prepared PAN powder has higher conductivity, and the PAN latex has appropriate viscosity and particle size. The consumption of xylene was reduced at high φ value.

Autonomous Changes in the Concentration of Water Vapor Drive Climate Change

When compared to the average annual global temperature record from 1880, no published climate model posited on the assumption that the increasing concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is the driver of climate change can accurately replicate the significant variability in the annual temperature record. Therefore, new principles of atmospheric physics are developed for determining changes in the average annual global temperature based on changes in the average atmospheric concentration of water vapor. These new principles prove that: 1) Changes in average global temperature are not driven by changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide;2) Instead, autonomous changes in the concentration of water vapor, ΔTPW, drive changes in water vapor heating, thus, the average global temperature, ΔTAvg, in accordance with this principle, ΔTAvg=0.4ΔTPW the average accuracy of which is ±0.14%, when compared to the variable annual, 1880-2019, temperature record;3) Changes in the concentration of water vapor and changes in water vapor heating are not a feedback response to changes in the concentration of CO2;4) Rather, increases in water vapor heating and increases in the concentration of water vapor drive each other in an autonomous positive feedback loop;5) This feedback loop can be brought to a halt if the average global rate of precipitation can be brought into balance with the average global rate of evaporation and maintained there;and, 6) The recent increases in average global temperature can be reversed, if average global precipitation can be increased sufficiently to slightly exceed the average rate of evaporation.

Erratum to “Autonomous Changes in the Concentration of Water Vapor Drive Climate Change” [Atmospheric and Climate Sciences 10 (2020) 443-508]

A. Changes in average global temperature are not driven by changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide; B. Instead, autonomous changes in the concentration of water vapor, ΔTPW, drive changes in water vapor heating, thus, changes in the average global temperature, ΔTAvg, in deg. Celsius are calculated in accordance with this principle, measured in kg·m-2, the average accuracy of which is ±0.14%, when compared to the variable annual, 1880 - 2019, average global temperature record;

Investigation of SPPO Membranes by Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy （PALS） is a powerful technique to study the free volume in polymers. The lifetime of ortho-positronium （o-Ps）, a bound state of an electron and a positron, can be used to assess the pore size while the intensity can be used to characterize the number of pores. On the basis of the values of the long-lived o-Ps components in the lifetime spectra, the radii and fractional free volumes in the sulfonated poly （2,6-dimethyl-1,4- phenyleneoxide） （SPPO） membranes with different amounts of LiCl were calculated. It was found that, with the increasing amount of LiCl, the free volume radius and the fractional free volume firstly increased and then decreased. After immersing the membranes in distilled water, the free volume radius and the fractional free volume changed with different water concentrations in the membrane.

Nitrification performance of nitrifying bacteria immobilized in waterborne polyurethane at low ammonia nitrogen concentrations

Suspended and waterborne polyurethane immobilized nitrifying bacteria have been adopted for evaluating the effects of environmental changes, such as temperature, dissolved oxygen （DO） concentration and pH, on nitrification characteristics under conditions of low ammonia concentrations. The results showed that nitrification was prone to complete with increasing pH, DO and temperature. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the effects of temperature and pH on nitrification feature of suspended bacteria were slightly greater than those of immobilized nitrifying bacteria. Immobilized cells could achieve complete nitrification at low ammonia concentrations when DO was sufficient. Continuous experiments were carried out to discuss the removal of ammonia nitrogen from synthetic micropollute source water with the ammonia concentration of about 1mg/L using immobilized nitrifying bacteria pellets in an up-flow inner circulation reactor under different hydraulic retention times （HRT）. The continuous removal rate remains above 80% even under HRT 30 min. The results verified that the waterborne polyurethane immobilized nitrifying bacteria pellets had great potential applications for micro-pollution source water treatment.

Fabrication and performance of PET mesh enhanced cellulose acetate membranes for forward osmosis

Polyethylene terephthalate mesh（PET） enhanced cellulose acetate membranes were fabricated via a phase inversion process. The membrane fabrication parameters that may affect the membrane performance were systematically evaluated including the concentration and temperature of the casting polymer solution and the temperature and time of the evaporation, coagulation and annealing processes. The water permeability and reverse salt flux were measured in forward osmosis（FO） mode for determination of the optimal membrane fabrication conditions. The optimal FO membrane shows a typical asymmetric sandwich structure with a mean thickness of about 148.2 μm. The performance of the optimal FO membrane was tested using 0.2 mol/L Na Cl as the feed solution and 1.5 mol/L glucose as the draw solution. The membrane displayed a water flux of 3.47 L/（m2·hr） and salt rejection of95.48% in FO mode. While in pressure retarded osmosis（PRO） mode, the water flux was4.74 L/（m2·hr） and salt rejection 96.03%. The high ratio of water flux in FO mode to that in PRO mode indicates that the fabricated membrane has a lower degree of internal concentration polarization than comparable membranes.