Separation of a C_(3)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4) mixture using Pebax^(■) 2533/PEG600 blend membranes

In industry, ethylene(C_(2)H_(4))/propylene(C_(3)H_(6)) separations are usually performed by a cryogenic process,which is energy intensive. Membrane separation technology is an alternative separation process that saves energy and is efficient. In this study, blend membranes were prepared by doping polyethylene glycol(PEG600) into a poly(ether-block-amide)(Pebax^(■) 2533) matrix and were used to separate the C_(2)H_(4)/C_(3)H_(6) mixture. The PEG 600 and Pebax^(■) 2533 polymers have good compatibility because they share hydrogen bonds. The addition of PEG600 is conducive to the hydrophilicity and the free volume of blend membranes, and it is also conducive to the solubility of C_(2)H_(4) and C_(3)H_(6) in the membranes, which improves the ability of the membranes to separate this gas pair. The Pebax^(■) 2533/PEG600 blend membrane with 15%(mass) PEG600 showed the highest separation performance in our investigated membranes, with a C_(3)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4) selectivity of 8.9 and a C_(3)H_(6) permeability of 196 barrer(1 barrer = 1.33×10^(14)m^(3)(STP)·m·m^(-2)·s^(-1)·kPa^(-1)) at 238 K and 0.2 MPa, which is higher than that of the Pebax^(■) 2533/NaY-6%(mass) membrane(α_(C_(3)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4)) =6.5, P_(C_(3)H_(6))=211 barrer) reported in our previous work. It is confirmed that incorporating PEG600 into the Pebax^(■) 2533 matrix to fabricate blend membranes is an efficient strategy for separating light olefins.

Tungsten incorporated mobil-type eleven zeolite membranes: Facile synthesis and tuneable wettability for highly efficient separation of oil/water mixtures

Tungsten (W) incorporated mobil-type eleven (MEL) zeolite membrane (referred to as W-MEL membrane) with high separation performance was firstly explored for the separation of oil/water mixtures under the influence of gravity.W-MEL membranes were grown on stainless steel (SS) meshes through in-situ hydrothermal growth method facilitated with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) modification of stainless steel meshes,which promote the heterogeneous nucleation and crystal growth of W-MEL zeolites onto the mesh surface.W-MEL membranes were grown on different mesh size supports to investigate the effect of mesh size on the separation performance of the membrane.The assynthesized W-MEL membrane supported on 500 mesh (25μm)(W-MEL-500) exhibit the hydrophilic nature with a water contact angle of 11.8°and delivers the best hexane/water mixture separation with a water flux and separation efficiency of 46247 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1)and 99.5%,respectively.The wettability of W-MEL membranes was manipulated from hydrophilic to hydrophobic nature by chemically modifying with the fluorine-free compounds (hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS) and dodecyltrimethoxysilane(DDTMS)) to achieve efficient oil-permselective separation of heavy oils from water.Among the hydrophobically modified W-MEL membranes,W-MEL-500-HDTMS having a water contact angle of146.4°delivers the best separation performance for dichloromethane/water mixtures with a constant oil flux and separation efficiency of 61490 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1)and 99.2%,respectively along with the stability tested up to 20 cycles.Both W-MEL-500-HDTMS and W-MEL-500-DDTMS membranes also exhibit similar separation performances for the separation of heavy oil from sea water along with a 20-fold lower corrosion rate in comparison with the bare stainless-steel mesh,indicating their excellent stability in seawater.Compared to the reported zeolite membranes for oil/water separation,the as-synthesized and hydrophobically modified W-MEL membranes shows competitive separation performances in terms of flux and separation efficiency,demonstrating the good potentiality for oil/water separation.

Direct capture and separation of CO_(2) from air

Direct air capture(DAC)has attracted increasing interest and investment over the past few years.There are a fast-growing number of companies that entered the field and demonstrated DAC carbon removal setups and potential.However,current DAC methods are still based on solid absorbents or alkali solutions approaches which have low capture efficiency and low energy efficiency.This highlight proposed a promising CO_(2) capture technology,an electric energy driven closed-loop system for the direct removal of CO_(2) from ambient air which are based on two individual technologies:Polyam-N-Cu hybrid system promoted CO_(2) capture with ocean as anthropogenic CO_(2) sink and a chloride-mediated electrochemical pH swing system to remove CO_(2) from oceanwater.

Influence of water vapor on the separation of volatile organic compound/nitrogen mixture by polydimethylsiloxane membrane

In the industrial treatment of waste volatile organic compound(VOC)streams by membrane technology,a third impurity,generally,water vapor,coexists in the mixture of VOC and nitrogen or air,and can affect membrane performance and the design of the industrial process.This study focused on the investigation of the effect of water vapor on the separation performance of the separation of VOC/water/nitrogen mixtures by a polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)membrane.Three types of VOCs:water-miscible ethanol,water-semi-miscible butanol,and water-immiscible cyclohexane,were selected for the study.Different operating parameters including,concentration of the feed VOC,feed temperature,and concentration of the feed water were compared for the separation of binary and ternary VOC/nitrogen mixtures.The interaction between the VOC and water was analyzed to explain the transportation mechanism after analyzing the difference in the membrane performance for the separation of binary and ternary mixtures.The results indicated that the interaction between the VOC(or nitrogen)and water is the key factor affecting membrane performance.Water can promote the permeation of hydrophilic VOC but prevent hydrophobic VOC through the membrane for the separation of ternary VOC/water/nitrogen mixtures.These results will provide fundamental insights for the design of the recovery application process for industrial membrane-based VOCs,and also guidance for the investigation of the separation mechanism in vapor permeation.

Phase separation and transcriptional regulation in cancer development

Liquid-liquid phase separation,a novel biochemical phenomenon,has been increasingly studied for its medical applications.It underlies the formation of membrane-less organelles and is involved in many cellular and biological processes.During transcriptional regulation,dynamic condensates are formed through interactions between transcriptional elements,such as transcription factors,coactivators,and mediators.Cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell proliferation,but the precise mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis often remain to be elucidated.Emerging evidence has linked abnormal transcriptional condensates to several diseases,especially cancer,implying that phase separation plays an important role in tumorigenesis.Condensates formed by phase separation may have an effect on gene transcription in tumors.In the present review,we focus on the correlation between phase separation and transcriptional regulation,as well as how this phenomenon contributes to cancer development.

One-step ethylene separation from ternary C_(2) hydrocarbon mixture with a robust zirconium metal-organic framework

One-step separation of high-purity ethylene(C_(2)H_(4))from C_(2) hydrocarbon mixture is critical but challenging because of the very similar molecular sizes and physical properties of C_(2)H_(4),ethane(C_(2)H_(6)),and acetylene(C_(2)H_(2)).Herein,we report a robust zirconium metal-organic framework(MOF)Zr-TCA(H3TCA=4,4',4"-tricarboxytriphenylamine)with suitable pore size(0.6 nm×0.7 nm)and pore environment for direct C_(2)H_(4) purification from C_(2)H_(4)/C_(2)H_(2)/C_(2)H_(6) gas-mixture.Computational studies indicate that the abundant oxygen atoms and non-polar phenyl rings created favorable pore environments for the preferential binding of C_(2)H_(2) and C_(2)H_(6) over C_(2)H_(4).As a result,Zr-TCA exhibits not only high C_(2)H_(6)(2.28 mmol·g^(-1))and C_(2)H_(2)(2.78 mmol·g^(-1))adsorption capacity but also excellent C_(2)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4)(2.72)and C_(2)H_(2)/C_(2)H_(4)(5.64)selectivity,surpassing most of one-step C_(2)H_(4) purification MOF materials.Dynamic breakthrough experiments confirm that Zr-TCA can produce high-purity C_(2)H_(4)(>99.9%)from a ternary gas mixture(1/9/90 C_(2)H_(2)/C_(2)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4))in a single step with a high C_(2)H_(4) productivity of 5.61 L·kg^(-1).

Environmental,economic and exergy analysis of separation of ternary azeotrope by variable pressure extractive distillation based on multi-objective optimization

In this work,the ternary azeotrope of tert-butyl alcohol/ethyl acetate/water is separated by extractive distillation(ED)to recover the available constituents and protect the environment.Based on the conductor like shielding model and relative volatility method,ethylene glycol was selected as the extractant in the separation process.In addition,in view of the characteristic that the relative volatility between components changes with pressure,the multi-objective optimization method based on nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II optimizes the pressure and the amount of solvent cooperatively to avoid falling into the optimal local solution.Based on the optimal process parameters,the proposed heat-integrated process can reduce the gas emissions by 29.30%.The heat-integrated ED,further coupled with the pervaporation process,can reduce gas emission by 42.36%and has the highest exergy efficiency of 47.56%.In addition,based on the heat-integrated process,the proposed two heat pump assisted heat-integrated ED processes show good economic and environmental performance.The double heat pump assisted heat-integrated ED can reduce the total annual cost by 28.78%and the gas emissions by 55.83%compared with the basis process,which has a good application prospect.This work provides a feasible approach for the separation of ternary azeotropes.

Boosting kinetic separation of ethylene and ethane on microporous materials via crystal size control

The adsorptive separation of C_(2)H_(4)and C_(2)H_(6),as an alternative to distillation units consuming high energy,is a promising yet challenging research.The great similarity in the molecular size of C_(2)H_(4)and C_(2)H_(6)brings challenges to the regulation of adsorbents to realize efficient dynamic separation.Herein,we reported the enhancement of the kinetic separation of C_(2)H_(4)/C_(2)H_(6)by controlling the crystal size of ZnAtzPO_(4)(Atz=3-amino-1,2,4-triazole)to amplify the diffusion difference of C_(2)H_(4)and C_(2)H_(6).Through adjusting the synthesis temperature,reactant concentration,and ligands/metal ions molar ratio,ZnAtzPO4 crystals with different sizes were obtained.Both single-component kinetic adsorption tests and binary-component dynamic breakthrough experiments confirmed the enhancement of the dynamic separation of C_(2)H_(4)/C_(2)H_(6)with the increase in the crystal size of ZnAtzPO_(4).The separation selectivity of C_(2)H_(4)/C_(2)H_(6)increased from 1.3 to 98.5 with the increase in the crystal size of ZnAtzPO_(4).This work demonstrated the role of morphology and size control of adsorbent crystals in the improvement of the C_(2)H_(4)/C_(2)H_(6)kinetic separation performance.

Bioinformatic approaches of liquid-liquid phase separation in human disease

Biomolecular aggregation within cellular environments via liquid-liquid phase separation(LLPS)spontaneously forms droplet-like structures,which play pivotal roles in diverse biological processes.These structures are closely associated with a range of diseases,including neurodegenerative disorders,cancer and infectious diseases,highlighting the significance of understanding LLPS mechanisms for elucidating disease pathogenesis,and exploring potential therapeutic interventions.In this review,we delineate recent advancements in LLPS research,emphasizing its pathological relevance,therapeutic considerations,and the pivotal role of bioinformatic tools and databases in facilitating LLPS investigations.Additionally,we undertook a comprehensive analysis of bioinformatic resources dedicated to LLPS research in order to elucidate their functionality and applicability.By providing comprehensive insights into current LLPS-related bioinformatics resources,this review highlights its implications for human health and disease.

Joint Effects of Multipollutant Mixtures on Mortality in Chengdu,China

Significant epidemiological research has revealed that exposure to air pollution is substantially associated with numerous detrimental health consequences^([1-3]).The negative health effects of individual air pollutants(e.g.,fine particulate matter:PM_(2.5);nitrogen dioxide:NO_(2);carbon monoxide,CO;or ozone:O_(3))have been widely explored^([4]).However,humans are constantly exposed to multipollutant mixtures in real life,and biological responses to inhaled pollutants are likely to depend on the interplay of pollutant mixtures.Therefore,it is critical and imperative to explore the joint effects of multipollutant mixtures on human beings.

Hydrogen release of NaBH_(4) below 60 ℃ with binary eutectic mixture of xylitol and erythritol additive

NaBH_(4) was widely regarded as a low-cost hydrogen storage material due to its high-mass hydrogen capacity of approximately 10.8%(mass)and high volumetric hydrogen capacity of around 115 g·L^(–1).However,it exhibits strong stability and requires temperatures above 500℃ for hydrogen release in practical applications.In this study,two polyhydric alcohols,xylitol and erythritol(XE),were prepared as a binary eutectic sugar alcohol through a grinding-melting method.This binary eutectic sugar alcohol was used as a proton-hydrogen carrier to destabilize NaBH_(4).The 19NaBH_(4)-16XE composite material prepared by ball milling could start releasing hydrogen at 57.5℃,and the total hydrogen release can reach over 88.8%(4.45%(mass))of the theoretical capacity.When the 19NaBH_(4)-16XE composite was pressed into solid blocks,the volumetric hydrogen capacity of the block-shaped composite could reach 67.2 g·L^(–1).By controlling the temperature,the hydrogen desorption capacity of the NaBH_(4)-XE composite material was controllable,which has great potential for achieving solid-state hydrogen production from NaBH_(4).

The flow behavior of droplet adsorption on a liquid-liquid interface accompanied by cross-linking reaction and phase separation in a microchannel

The adsorption process of droplets on the liquid-liquid interface and phase separation process can regulate the spatial distribution of the fluid system,which are crucial for chemical engineering.However,the cross-linking reaction,which is widely used in the field of polymers,can change the physical properties of the fluids and affect the flow behavior accordingly.A configuration of microchannels is designed to conveniently generate uniform droplets in one phase of the parallel flow.The flow behavior of the adsorption process of sodium alginate droplets on the liquid-liquid interface is investigated,and the subsequent process of phase separation is studied.In the process of droplet adsorption,the crosslinking reaction occurs synchronously,which makes the droplet viscosity and the elasticity modules of the droplet surface increase,thus affecting the dynamics of the adsorption process and the equilibrium shape of the droplet.The variation of the adsorption length with time is divided into three stages,which all conform to power law relationship.The exponents of the second and third stages deviate from the results of the Tanner's law.The flow pattern maps of droplet adsorption and phase separation are drawn,and the operating ranges of complete adsorption and complete separation are provided.This study provides a theoretical basis for further studying the flow behavior of droplets with cross-linking reaction in a microchannel.

Flotation separation of scheelite from calcite using luteolin as a novel depressant

This paper proposes luteolin(LUT)as a novel depressant for the flotation-based separation of scheelite and calcite in a sodium oleate(NaOL)system.The suitability of LUT as a calcite depressant is confirmed through micro-flotation testing.At pH=9,with LUT concentration of 50 mg·L^(-1) and NaOL concentration of 50 mg·L^(-1),scheelite recovery reaches 80.3%.Calcite,on the other hand,exhibits a recovery rate of 17.6%,indicating a significant difference in floatability between the two minerals.Subsequently,the surface modifica-tions of scheelite and calcite following LUT treatment are characterized using adsorption capacity testing,Zeta potential analysis,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),and atomic force microscopy(AFM).The study in-vestigates the selective depressant mechanism of LUT on calcite.Adsorption capacity testing and Zeta potential analysis demonstrate sub-stantial absorption of LUT on the surface of calcite,impeding the further adsorption of sodium oleate,while its impact on scheelite is min-imal.FT-IR and XPS analyses reveal the selective adsorption of LUT onto the surface of calcite,forming strong chemisorption bonds between the hydroxyl group and calcium ions present.AFM directly illustrates the distinct adsorption densities of LUT on the two miner-al types.Consequently,LUT can effectively serve as a depressant for calcite,enabling the successful separation of scheelite and calcite.

Comment on:Recurrence after spontaneous separation of epiretinal membrane in a young woman:a case report

Dear Editor,Herein,we provide a commentary on the recently published article by Zeng QZ and Yu WZ[1].This case report provides interesting novel insights into the recurrence of epiretinal membrane(ERM)following self-separation in a young patient.In addition to the study,we have been investigating spontaneous ERM release for many years and have recently published a related paper[2].

Flotation separation of brucite and calcite in dodecylamine system enhanced by regulator potassium dihydrogen phosphate

To achieve efficient flotation separation of brucite and calcite,flotation separation experiments were conducted on two minerals using dodecylamine(DDA)as the collector and potassium dihydrogen phosphate(PDP)as the regulator.The action mechanism of DDA and PDP was explored through contact angle measurement,zeta potential detection,solution chemistry calculation,FTIR analysis,and XPS detection.The flotation results showed that when DDA dosage was 35 mg/L and PDP dosage was 40 mg/L,the maximum floating difference between brucite and calcite was 79.81%,and the selectivity separation index was 6.46.The detection analysis showed that the main dissolved component HPO_(4)^(2−)of PDP is selectively strongly adsorbed on the Ca site on the surface of calcite,promoting the adsorption of the main dissolved component RNH_(3)^(+)of DDA on calcite surface,while brucite is basically not affected by PDP.Therefore,PDP is an effective regulator for the reverse flotation separation of brucite and calcite in DDA system.

Optimization of Biofuel Formulation by Mixture Design

With the full growth of energy needs in the world, several studies are now focused on finding renewable sources. The aim of this work is to optimise biofuel formulation from a mixture design by studying physical properties, such as specific gravity and kinematic viscosity of various formulated mixtures. Optimization from the mixture plan revealed that in the chosen experimental domain, the optimal conditions are: 40% for used frying oil (UFO), 50% for bioethanol and 10% for diesel. These experimental conditions lead to a biofuel with a density of 0.84 and a kinematic viscosity of 2.97 cSt. These parameters are compliant with the diesel quality certificate in tropical areas. These density and viscosity values were determined according to respective desirability values of 0.68 and 0.75.

Probabilistic seismic inversion based on physics-guided deep mixture density network

Deterministic inversion based on deep learning has been widely utilized in model parameters estimation.Constrained by logging data,seismic data,wavelet and modeling operator,deterministic inversion based on deep learning can establish nonlinear relationships between seismic data and model parameters.However,seismic data lacks low-frequency and contains noise,which increases the non-uniqueness of the solutions.The conventional inversion method based on deep learning can only establish the deterministic relationship between seismic data and parameters,and cannot quantify the uncertainty of inversion.In order to quickly quantify the uncertainty,a physics-guided deep mixture density network(PG-DMDN)is established by combining the mixture density network(MDN)with the deep neural network(DNN).Compared with Bayesian neural network(BNN)and network dropout,PG-DMDN has lower computing cost and shorter training time.A low-frequency model is introduced in the training process of the network to help the network learn the nonlinear relationship between narrowband seismic data and low-frequency impedance.In addition,the block constraints are added to the PG-DMDN framework to improve the horizontal continuity of the inversion results.To illustrate the benefits of proposed method,the PG-DMDN is compared with existing semi-supervised inversion method.Four synthetic data examples of Marmousi II model are utilized to quantify the influence of forward modeling part,low-frequency model,noise and the pseudo-wells number on inversion results,and prove the feasibility and stability of the proposed method.In addition,the robustness and generality of the proposed method are verified by the field seismic data.

Preparation of a zeolite-palladium composite membrane for hydrogen separation:Influence of zeolite film on membrane stability

With the development of hydrogen energy,palladium-based membranes have been widely used in hydrogen separation and purification.However,the poor chemical stability of palladium composite membranes limits their commercial applications.In this study,a zeolite-palladium composite membrane with a sandwich-like structure was obtained by using a TS-1 zeolite film grown on the surface of palladium membrane.The membrane microstructure was characterized by SEM and EDX.The effects of the TS-1 film on the hydrogen permeability and stability of palladium composite membrane were investigated in details.Benefited from the protection of the TS-1 zeolite film,the stability of palladium composite membrane was enhanced.The results indicate that the TS-1-Pd composite membrane was stable after eight cycles of the temperature exchange cycles between 773 K and 623 K.Especially,the loss of hydrogen permeance for TS-1-Pd composite membrane was much smaller than that of the pure palladium membrane when the membrane was tested in the presence of C3H6atmosphere.It indicated that the TS-1-Pd composite membrane had better chemical stability in comparison with pure palladium membrane,owing to its sandwich-like structure.This work provides an efficient way for the deposition of zeolite film on palladium membrane to enhance the membrane stability.

Role of tannin pretreatment in flotation separation of magnesite and dolomite

Flotation separation of magnesite and its calcium-containing carbonate minerals is a difficult problem.Recently,new regulat-ors have been proposed for magnesite flotation decalcification,although traditional regulators such as tannin,water glass,sodium carbon-ate,and sodium hexametaphosphate are more widely used in industry.However,they are rarely used as the main regulators in research because they perform poorly in magnesite and dolomite single-mineral flotation tests.Inspired by the limonite presedimentation method and the addition of a regulator to magnesite slurry mixing,we used a tannin pretreatment method for separating magnesite and dolomite.Microflotation experiments confirmed that the tannin pretreatment method selectively and largely reduces the flotation recovery rate of dolomite without affecting the flotation recovery rate of magnesite.Moreover,the contact angles of the tannin-pretreated magnesite and dolomite increased and decreased,respectively,in the presence of NaOl.Zeta potential and Fourier transform infrared analyses showed that the tannin pretreatment method efficiently hinders NaOl adsorption on the dolomite surface but does not affect NaOl adsorption on the magnesite surface.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations confirmed that tannin interacts more strongly with dolomite than with magnesite.

Ferric ion-triggered surface oxidation of galena for efficient chalcopyrite-galena separation

The efficient separation of chalcopyrite(CuFeS2)and galena(PbS)is essential for optimal resource utilization.However,find-ing a selective depressant that is environmentally friendly and cost effective remains a challenge.Through various techniques,such as mi-croflotation tests,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,scanning electron microscopy(SEM)observation,X-ray photoelectron spec-troscopy(XPS),and Raman spectroscopy measurements,this study explored the use of ferric ions(Fe^(3+))as a selective depressant for ga-lena.The results of flotation tests revealed the impressive selective inhibition capabilities of Fe^(3+)when used alone.Surface analysis showed that Fe^(3+)significantly reduced the adsorption of isopropyl ethyl thionocarbamate(IPETC)on the galena surface while having a minimal impact on chalcopyrite.Further analysis using SEM,XPS,and Raman spectra revealed that Fe^(3+)can oxidize lead sulfide to form compact lead sulfate nanoparticles on the galena surface,effectively depressing IPETC adsorption and increasing surface hydrophilicity.These findings provide a promising solution for the efficient and environmentally responsible separation of chalcopyrite and galena.