Enhancing CO_(2) transport with plasma-functionalized ionic liquid membranes

The ionic liquid(IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate treated with radiofrequency plasma is proposed for functionalization and immobilization on polyethersulfone supports to form supported ionic liquid membranes for CO_(2) separation.The effects of treatment time and transmembrane pressure difference on CO_(2) permeance were evaluated.The best gas permeation performance was obtained with a treatment time of 10 min and the transmembrane pressure difference was 0.25 MPa.Characterization of the materials by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy demonstrates that the IL is grafted with carboxyl groups and deprotonated through plasma treatment.A preliminary mechanism for the plasma treatment and facilitated transport of CO_(2)has been proposed on this basis.

Effect of liquid surface depression size on discharge characteristics and chemical distribution in the plasma-liquid anode system

Atmospheric pressure plasma-liquid interactions exist in a variety of applications,including wastewater treatment,wound sterilization,and disinfection.In practice,the phenomenon of liquid surface depression will inevitably appear.The applied gas will cause a depression on the liquid surface,which will undoubtedly affect the plasma generation and further affect the application performance.However,the effect of liquid surface deformation on the plasma is still unclear.In this work,numerical models are developed to reveal the mechanism of liquid surface depressions affecting plasma discharge characteristics and the consequential distribution of plasma species,and further study the influence of liquid surface depressions of different sizes generated by different helium flow rates on the plasma.Results show that the liquid surface deformation changes the initial spatial electric field,resulting in the rearrangement of electrons on the liquid surface.The charges deposited on the liquid surface further increase the degree of distortion of the electric field.Moreover,the electric field and electron distribution affected by the liquid surface depression significantly influence the generation and distribution of active species,which determines the practical effectiveness of the relevant applications.This work explores the phenomenon of liquid surface depression,which has been neglected in previous related work,and contributes to further understanding of plasma-liquid interactions,providing better theoretical guidance for related applications and technologies.

Design of a 3D-printed liquid lithium divertor target plate and its interaction with high-density plasma

A liquid Li divertor is a promising alternative for future fusion devices.In this work a new divertor model is proposed,which is processed by 3D-printing technology to accurately control the size of the internal capillary structure.At a steady-state heat load of 10 MW m^(-2),the thermal stress of the tungsten target is within the bearing range of tungsten by finite-element simulation.In order to evaluate the wicking ability of the capillary structure,the wicking process at 600℃ was simulated by FLUENT.The result was identical to that of the corresponding experiments.Within 1 s,liquid lithium was wicked to the target surface by the capillary structure of the target and quickly spread on the target surface.During the wicking process,the average wicking mass rate of lithium should reach 0.062 g s^(-1),which could even supplement the evaporation requirement of liquid lithium under an environment>950℃.Irradiation experiments under different plasma discharge currents were carried out in a linear plasma device(SCU-PSI),and the evolution of the vapor cloud during plasma irradiation was analyzed.It was found that the target temperature tends to plateau despite the gradually increased input current,indicating that the vapor shielding effect is gradually enhanced.The irradiation experiment also confirmed that the 3D-printed tungsten structure has better heat consumption performance than a tungsten mesh structure or multichannel structure.These results reveal the application potential and feasibility of a 3D-printed porous capillary structure in plasma-facing components and provide a reference for further liquid-solid combined target designs.

An ionic liquid-assisted strategy for enhanced anticorrosion of low-energy PEO coatings on magnesium–lithium alloy

A low-energy plasma electrolytic oxidation(LePEO)technique is developed to simultaneously improve energy efficiency and anti-corrosion.Ionic liquids(1-butyl-3-methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate(BmimBF_(4)))as sustainable corrosion inhibitors are chosen to investigate the corrosion inhibition behavior of ionic liquid(ILs)during the LePEO process for LA91 magnesium-lithium(Mg-Li)alloy.Results show that the ionic liquid BmimBF_(4)participates in the LePEO coating formation process,causing an increment in coating thickness and surface roughness.The low conductivity of the ionic liquid is responsible for the voltage and breakdown voltage increases during the LePEO with IL process(LePEO-IL).After adding BmimBF_(4),corrosion current density decreases from 1.159×10^(−4)A·cm^(−2)to 8.143×10^(−6)A·cm^(−2).The impedance modulus increases to 1.048×10^(4)Ω·cm^(−2)and neutral salt spray remains intact for 24 h.The superior corrosion resistance of the LePEO coating assisted by ionic liquid could be mainly attributed to its compact and thick barrier layer and physical absorption of ionic liquid.The ionic liquid-assisted LePEO technique provides a promising approach to reducing energy consumption and improving film performance.

Determination of Voriconazole in Human Plasma by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry: Application in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

A sensitive, accurate and robust Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry method has been developed and validated to measure voriconazole trough levels in human plasma. The plasma samples were mixed with fluconazole as an Internal Standard and directed to protein precipitation and drug extraction. An aliquot of 1 μl was injected into the chromatographic system and separated by the Acquity BEH C18 column at a flow rate of 0.30 ml/min in a gradient mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile, Ultrapure water (UPW), methanol and formic acid. Voriconazole was detected by a Triple Quadrupole Detector (TQD) operating on Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) and a positive ion mode Electrospray ionization (ESI) Q1 mass: 350.1 m/z, Q3 mass: 281.1 m/z. Method linearity of the calibration curve (0.10 - 8.00 μg/ml) indicated a correlation coefficient r ≥ 0.99. The intra and inter-assay accuracy was within 85% - 115% and the intra and inter-assay precision was ≤5.76%. Voriconazole recovery percentage was between 97.69 - 119.62%. The method was successively applied in routine voriconazole TDM.

Degradation of antibiotic contaminants from water by gas–liquid underwater discharge plasma

Antibiotic contamination adversely affects human health and ecological balance.In this study,gasliquid underwater discharge plasma was employed to simultaneously degrade three antibiotics,sulfadiazine(SDZ),tetracycline(TC),and norfloxacin(NOR),to address the growing problem of antibiotic contaminants in water.The effects of various parameters on the antibiotic degradation efficiency were evaluated,including the discharge gas type and flow rate,the initial concentration and pH of the solution,and the discharge voltage.Under the optimum parameter configuration,the average removal rate of the three antibiotics was 54.0% and the energy yield was 8.9 g(kW·h)-1after 5 min treatment;the removal efficiency was 96.5% and the corresponding energy yield was4.0 g(kW·h)-1 after 20 min treatment.Reactive substance capture and determination experiments indicated that ·OH and O3 played a vital role in the decomposition of SDZ and NOR,but the role of reactive substances in TC degradation was relatively less significant.

Study on the formation of arc plasma on the resistive wall liquid metal current limiter

Due to its significant attributes,the liquid metal current limiter(LMCL)is considered a new strategy for limiting short-circuit current in the power grid.A resistive wall liquid metal current limiter(RWLMCL)is designed to advance the starting current-limiting time.Experiments are performed to investigate the dynamic behaviors of liquid metal,and the influence of different currents on the liquid metal self-shrinkage effect is compared and analyzed.Furthermore,the liquid metal self-shrinkage effect is mathematically modeled,and the reason for the formation of arc plasma is obtained by simulation.The laws of arc plasma formation and the current transfer in the cavity are revealed,and the motion mechanisms are explained by physical principles.The simulations are in accordance with the test data.It is demonstrated that the sudden change of the current density at both ends of the wall causes the liquid metal to shrink and depress under the electromagnetic force,and the current starts to transfer from the liquid metal path to the wall resistance path.The RWLMCL can effectively advance the starting current-limiting time.

Multi-dimensional multiplexing optical secret sharing framework with cascaded liquid crystal holograms

Secret sharing is a promising technology for information encryption by splitting the secret information into different shares.However,the traditional scheme suffers from information leakage in decryption process since the amount of available information channels is limited.Herein,we propose and demonstrate an optical secret sharing framework based on the multi-dimensional multiplexing liquid crystal(LC)holograms.The LC holograms are used as spatially separated shares to carry secret images.The polarization of the incident light and the distance between different shares are served as secret keys,which can significantly improve the information security and capacity.Besides,the decryption condition is also restricted by the applied external voltage due to the variant diffraction efficiency,which further increases the information security.In implementation,an artificial neural network(ANN)model is developed to carefully design the phase distribution of each LC hologram.With the advantage of high security,high capacity and simple configuration,our optical secret sharing framework has great potentials in optical encryption and dynamic holographic display.

Liquid crystal-integrated metasurfaces for an active photonic platform

Metasurfaces have opened the door to next-generation optical devices due to their ability to dramatically modulate electromagnetic waves at will using periodically arranged nanostructures.However,metasurfaces typically have static optical responses with fixed geometries of nanostructures,which poses challenges for implementing transition to technology by replacing conventional optical components.To solve this problem,liquid crystals(LCs)have been actively employed for designing tunable metasurfaces using their adjustable birefringent in real time.Here,we review recent studies on LCpowered tunable metasurfaces,which are categorized as wavefront tuning and spectral tuning.Compared to numerous reviews on tunable metasurfaces,this review intensively explores recent development of LC-integrated metasurfaces.At the end of this review,we briefly introduce the latest research trends on LC-powered metasurfaces and suggest further directions for improving LCs.We hope that this review will accelerate the development of new and innovative LC-powered devices.

Phosphotungstic acid ionic liquid for efficient photocatalytic desulfurization:Synthesis,application and mechanism

An efficient mass transfer process is a critical factor for regulating catalytic activity in a photocatalytic desulfurization system.Herein,a phosphotungstic acid(HPW)active center is successfully composited with a quaternary ammonium phosphotungstate-based hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride ionic liquid(CTAC-HPW)by the ion exchange method for the photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene sulfide.The keggin structure of HPW and highly mass transfer performance of organic cations synergistically enhanced the photocatalytic activity towards the effective convertion of dibenzothiophene(DBT)with the excitation of visible light.The deep desulfurization(<10 mg·kg^(-1))is attained within 30 min,and well stability is demonstrated within 25 cycles.Moreover,the CTAC-HPW photocatalyst projects well selectivity to interference from coexisting compounds such as olefins and aromatic hydrocarbons and universality of dibenzothiophenes,for example,4-methyldibenzothiophene(4-MDBT)and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene(4,6-DMDBT).Ultimately,a possible photocatalytic desulfurization mechanism is proposed according to the Gaschromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS),proving that the final product is the corresponding sulfone.The trapping experiment and electron spin resonance(ESR)analysis confirmed that h^(+)and,COOH played critical roles in the oxidation process.The work offers a practicable strategy for efficiently converting DBT to DBTO_(2) with added value.

Plasma‐oxidized 2D MXenes subnanochannel membrane for high‐performance osmotic energy conversion

Nanofluidic channels inspired by electric eels open a new era of efficient harvesting of clean blue osmotic energy from salinity gradients.Limited by less charge and weak ion selectivity of the raw material itself,energy conversion through nanofluidic channels is still facing considerable challenges.Here,a facile and efficient strategy to enhance osmotic energy harvesting based on drastically increasing surface charge density of MXenes subnanochannels via oxygen plasma is proposed.This plasma could break Ti–C bonds in the MXenes subnanochannels and effectively facilitate the formation of more Ti–O,C═O,O–OH,and rutile with a stronger negative charge and work function,which leads the surface potential of MXenes membrane to increase from 205 to 430 mV.This significant rise of surface charge endows the MXenes membrane with high cation selectivity,which could make the output power density of the MXenes membrane increase by 248.2%,reaching a high value of 5.92Wm^(−2) in the artificial sea‐river water system.Furthermore,with the assistance of low‐quality heat at 50℃,the osmotic power is enhanced to an ultrahigh value of 9.68Wm^(−2),which outperforms those of the state‐of‐the‐art two‐dimensional(2D)nanochannel membranes.This exciting breakthrough demonstrates the enormous potential of the facile plasma‐treated 2D membranes for osmotic energy harvesting.

Ionic Liquid-Enhanced Assembly of Nanomaterials for Highly Stable Flexible Transparent Electrodes

The controlled assembly of nanomaterials has demon-strated significant potential in advancing technological devices.However,achieving highly efficient and low-loss assembly technique for nanomate-rials,enabling the creation of hierarchical structures with distinctive func-tionalities,remains a formidable challenge.Here,we present a method for nanomaterial assembly enhanced by ionic liquids,which enables the fabrication of highly stable,flexible,and transparent electrodes featuring an organized layered structure.The utilization of hydrophobic and non-volatile ionic liquids facilitates the production of stable interfaces with water,effectively preventing the sedimentation of 1D/2D nanomaterials assembled at the interface.Furthermore,the interfacially assembled nanomaterial monolayer exhibits an alternate self-climbing behavior,enabling layer-by-layer transfer and the formation of a well-ordered MXene-wrapped silver nanowire network film.The resulting composite film not only demonstrates exceptional photoelectric performance with a sheet resistance of 9.4Ωsq^(-1) and 93%transmittance,but also showcases remarkable environmental stability and mechanical flexibility.Particularly noteworthy is its application in transparent electromagnetic interference shielding materials and triboelectric nanogenerator devices.This research introduces an innovative approach to manufacture and tailor functional devices based on ordered nanomaterials.

Circulating tumor DNA in liquid biopsy: Current diagnostic limitation

With the rapid development of science and technology,cell-free DNA(cfDNA)is rapidly becoming an important biomarker for tumor diagnosis,monitoring and prognosis,and this cfDNA-based liquid biopsy technology has great potential to become an important part of precision medicine.cfDNA is the total amount of free DNA in the systemic circulation,including DNA fragments derived from tumor cells and all other somatic cells.Tumor cells release fragments of DNA into the bloodstream,and this source of cfDNA is called circulating tumor DNA(ctDNA).cfDNA detection has become a major focus in the field of tumor research in recent years,which provides a new opportunity for non-invasive diagnosis and prognosis of cancer.In this paper,we discuss the limitations of the study on the origin and dynamics analysis of ctDNA,and how to solve these problems in the future.Although the future faces major challenges,it also con-tains great potential.

Corrosion behavior of pure metals(Ni and Ti)and alloys(316H SS and GH3535)in liquid GaInSn

In this study,the interactions between a Ga-based liquid metal,GaInSn,and several metal materials,including pure metals(Ni and Ti)and alloys(316H stainless steel(SS)and GH3535),at 650℃were investigated.The aim was to evaluate the corrosion performance and select a suitable candidate material for use as a molten salt manometer diaphragm in thermal energy storage systems.The results indicated that the alloys(316H SS and GH3535)exhibited less corrosion than pure metals(Ni and Ti)in liquid GaInSn.Ga-rich binary intermetallic compounds were found to form on the surfaces of all the tested metal materials exposed to liquid GaInSn,as a result of the decomposition of liquid GaInSn and its reaction with the constituent elements of the metal materials.The corrosion mechanism for all the tested materials exposed to liquid GaInSn was also investigated and proposed,which may aid in selecting the optimal candidate material when liquid GaInSn is used as the pressure-sensing medium.

Selective synthesis of nitrate from air using a plasma-driven gas-liquid relay reaction system

The direct oxidation of nitrogen is a potential pathway to achieving the zero-carbon-emission synthesis of nitric acid or nitrate, because it does not involve ammonia synthesis and additional ammonia oxidation processes. However, the slow kinetics of nitrogen oxidation and the difficult selective control of oxidation products hinder the development of this process. In this study, a plasma-driven gas-liquid relay reaction system was developed to overcome these limitations. A typical feature of this reaction system is that it can efficiently generate NO_x under plasma exposure;moreover, the specific anions in the absorption solution can be oxidized to strong oxidants capable of relay oxidation of low-valence nitrogen oxides. This feature allows for the deep oxidation of nitrogen, thus enabling the oxidation products of nitrogen to exist in high-valence states in the absorption solution. For experimental verification, we achieved the 100% selective synthesis of nitrate under plasma exposure, with air as the supply gas and a sodium sulfate solution as the absorption solution.

Ionic liquid derived electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting

Hydrogen production from electrochemical water splitting is a promising strategy to generate green energy,which requires the development of efficient and stable electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction(HER and OER).Ionic liquids(ILs)or poly(ionic liquids)(PILs),containing heteroatoms,metal-based anions,and various structures,have been frequently involved as precursors to prepare electrocatalysts for water splitting.Moreover,ILs/PILs possess high conductivity,wide electrochemical windows,and high thermal and chemical stability,which can be directly applied in the electrocatalysis process with high durability.In this review,we focus on the studies of ILs/PILs-derived electrocatalysts for HER and OER,where ILs/PILs are applied as heteroatom dopants and metal precursors to prepare catalysts or are directly utilized as the electrocatalysts.Due to those attractive properties,IL/PIL-derived electrocatalysts exhibit excellent performance for electrochemical water splitting.All these accomplishments and developments are systematically summarized and thoughtfully discussed.Then,the overall perspectives for the current challenges and future developments of ILs/PILs-derived electrocatalysts are provided.

Multistate transition and coupled solid-liquid modeling of motion process of long-runout landslide

The recognition,repetition and prediction of the post-failure motion process of long-runout landslides are key scientific problems in the prevention and mitigation of geological disasters.In this study,a new numerical method involving LPF3D based on a multialgorithm and multiconstitutive model was proposed to simulate long-runout landslides with high precision and efficiency.The following results were obtained:(a)The motion process of landslides showed a steric effect with mobility,including gradual disintegration and spreading.The sliding mass can be divided into three states(dense,dilute and ultradilute)in the motion process,which can be solved by three dynamic regimes(friction,collision,and inertial);(b)Coupling simulation between the solid grain and liquid phases was achieved,focusing on drag force influences;(c)Different algorithms and constitutive models were employed in phase-state simulations.The volume fraction is an important indicator to distinguish different state types and solid‒liquid ratios.The flume experimental results were favorably validated against long-runout landslide case data;and(d)In this method,matched dynamic numerical modeling was developed to better capture the realistic motion process of long-runout landslides,and the advantages of continuum media and discrete media were combined to improve the computational accuracy and efficiency.This new method can reflect the realistic physical and mechanical processes in long-runout landslide motion and provide a suitable method for risk assessment and pre-failure prediction.

Transient liquid phase bonding of DD5 superalloy using a designed interlayer: microstructure and mechanical properties

Nickel based single crystal superalloy is currently widely used as the material for turbine blades in aerospace engines.However,metallurgical defects during the manufacturing process and damage during harsh environmental service are inevitable challenges for turbine blades.Therefore,bonding techniques play a very important role in the manufacturing and repair of turbine blades.The transient liquid phase(TLP)bonding of DD5 Ni-based single crystal superalloy was performed using the designed H1 interlayer.A new third-generation Ni-based superalloy T1 powder was mixed with H1 powder as another interlayer to improve the mechanical properties of the bonded joints.The res-ults show that,such a designed H1 interlayer is beneficial to the improvement of shear strength of DD5 alloy bonded joints by adjusting the bonding temperature and the prolongation of holding time.The maximum shear strength at room temperature of the joint with H1 interlayer reached 681 MPa when bonded at 1260℃for 3 h.The addition of T1 powder can effectively reduce holding time or relatively lower bond-ing temperature,while maintaining relatively high shear strength.When 1 wt.%T1 powder was mixed into H1 interlayer,the maximum room temperature shear strength of the joint bonded at 1260℃reached 641 MPa,which could be obtained for only 1 h.Considering the bonding temperature and the efficiency,the acceptable process parameter of H1+5 wt.%T1 interlayer was 1240℃/2 h,and the room tem-perature shear strength reached 613 MPa.

Study of plasma parameters of coaxial plasma source using triple Langmuir probe and Faraday cup diagnostics

Coaxial plasma guns are a type of plasma source that produces plasma which propagates radially and axially controlled by the shape of the ground electrode, which has attracted much interest in several applications. In this work, a 120° opening angle of CPG nozzle is used as a plasma gun configuration that operates at the energy of 150 J. The ionization of polyethylene insulator between the electrodes of the gun produces a cloud of hydrogen and carbon plasma.The triple Langmuir probe and Faraday cup are used to measure plasma density and plasma temperature. These methods are used to measure the on-axis and off-axis plasma divergence of the coaxial plasma gun. The peak values of ion densities measured at a distance of 25 mm on-axis from the plasma gun are(1.6±0.5)×10^(19)m^(-3)and(2.8±0.6)×10^(19)m^(-3)for hydrogen and carbon plasma respectively and the peak temperature is 3.02±0.5 eV. The mean propagation velocity of plasma is calculated using the transit times of plasma at different distances from the plasma gun and is found to be 4.54±0.25 cm/μs and 1.81±0.18 cm/μs for hydrogen and carbon plasma respectively. The Debye radius is obtained from the measured experimental data that satisfies the thin sheath approximation. The shot-to-shot stability of plasma parameters facilitates the use of plasma guns in laboratory experiments. These types of plasma sources can be used in many applications like plasma opening switches, plasma devices, and as plasma sources.

Influence of the position relationship between gas–liquid interface and laser focus on plasma evolution characteristics in jet LIBS technology

In order to understand the characteristics of breakdown process,plasma evolution and spectral emission in liquid jets laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy methods under the influence of the position variation between laser focus and gas–liquid interface,this work takes the plasma generated by laser-induced liquid jets as the object of study and discusses the changes in the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics and spectral radiation of the plasma when the position parameters between the laser focal point and the gas–liquid interface are different.The initial breakdown position is always between the front interface and the focus when the laser focus moves along the vertical direction of the interface,forming a phenomenon like’interface effect’.The relationship between laser pulse energy and breakdown probability exhibits a law similar to a‘hysteresis curve’in the study of breakdown threshold.In this work,plasma with smaller size,rounder shape,stronger radiation,higher temperature,and higher density can be produced when the focus position is in the liquid column 0.2 mm away from the front interface.Simultaneously,the spectral signal intensity and signal-to-back ratio of the characteristic peaks of target elements in water reach maximum values,and the spectral signal becomes more stable(relative standard deviation value reaches 2%).The Ca element’s ion radiation at 393.366 nm and atomic radiation at 422.673 nm are studied using narrow-band filtering imaging and time-space resolution spectroscopy.The findings demonstrate that the laws of ion and atomic radiation are not perfectly consistent in space and time.