Rational modulation of electronic structure in PtAuCuNi alloys boosts efficient electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation assisted with energy-saving hydrogen evolution

Compared to conventional electrocatalytic water splitting,electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation reaction(EOR)along with hydrogen production is considered a more energy-efficient strategy.Herein,we prepared a type of novel quaternary alloy catalyst(PtAuCuNi@NF)that exhibits excellent activity for EOR(0.215 V at 10 mA cm^(-2))and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)(7 mV at 10 mA cm^(-2)).Experimental results demonstrated that both Cu and Ni modulated the electronic environment around Pt and Au.The electron-rich active center facilitates the rapid adsorption and dissociation of reactants and intermediates for both EOR and HER.Impressively,in the ethanol-assisted overall water splitting(E-OWS),a current density of 10 mA cm^(-2)was achieved at 0.28 V.Moreover,an advanced acid-base self-powered system(A-Bsps)that can achieve a self-powered voltage of 0.59 V was assembled.Accordingly,the self-driven hydrogen production with zero external power supply was realized by integrating A-Bsps with the E-OWS equipment.The interesting results can provide a feasible strategy for designing and developing advanced nanoalloy-based materials for clean energy integration and use in various fields.

Yields,growth and water use under chemical topping in relations to row configuration and plant density in drip-irrigated cotton

Background Water deficit is an important problem in agricultural production in arid regions.With the advent of wholly mechanized technology for cotton planting in Xinjiang,it is important to determine which planting mode could achieve high yield,fiber quality and water use efficiency(WUE).This study aimed to explore if chemical topping affected cotton yield,quality and water use in relation to row configuration and plant densities.Results Experiments were carried out in Xinjiang China,in 2020 and 2021 with two topping method,manual topping and chemical topping,two plant densities,low and high,and two row configurations,i.e.,76 cm equal rows and 10+66 cm narrow-wide rows,which were commonly applied in matching harvest machine.Chemical topping increased seed cotton yield,but did not affect cotton fiber quality comparing to traditional manual topping.Under equal row spacing,the WUE in higher density was 62.4%higher than in the lower one.However,under narrow-wide row spacing,the WUE in lower density was 53.3%higher than in higher one(farmers’practice).For machine-harvest cotton in Xinjiang,the optimal row configuration and plant density for chemical topping was narrow-wide rows with 15 plants m-2 or equal rows with 18 plants m-2.Conclusion The plant density recommended in narrow-wide rows was less than farmers’practice and the density in equal rows was moderate with local practice.Our results provide new knowledge on optimizing agronomic managements of machine-harvested cotton for both high yield and water efficient.

Molecular simulation of penetration separation for ethanol/water mixtures using two-dimensional nanoweb graphynes

Graphyne is expected to be a new-class of highly-efficient sieving membranes due to its controllable uniform pore structure and ultrathin single-atom thickness. Herein, we computationally investigate the permeation performance of liquid ethanol–water mixtures across polyporous two-dimensional γ-graphyne sheets. It was found that, in the mixture, ethanol with larger molecular diameter permeates faster through the graphyne pores than water. The simulations demonstrate that pristine graphynes could act as highly-efficient ethanol-permselective membranes for separation of ethanol–water mixtures, with ethanol permeability remarkably higher than conventional membranes. This separation mechanism is distinctly different from the molecular-size dependent sieving process. The stronger hydrophobic interfacial affinity between graphyne and ethanol makes ethanol molecules preferentially adsorb on graphyne surface and selectively penetrate through graphyne pores. This penetration mechanism provides new understanding of molecular transport through atomically thick two-dimensional nanoporous membranes and this work is expected to be valuable in the potential development of highly-efficient membranes for liquid-phase mixture separation.

Effects of Groundwater with Various Salinities on Evaporation and Redistribution of Water and Salt in Saline-sodic Soils in Songnen Plain,Northeast China

Groundwater mineralization is one of the main factors affecting the transport of soil water and salt in saline-sodic areas.To investigate the effects of groundwater with different levels of salinity on evaporation and distributions of soil water and salt in Songnen Plain,Northeast China,five levels of groundwater sodium adsorption ration of water(SARw)and total salt content(TSC mmol/L)were conducted in an oil column lysimeters.The five treated groundwater labeled as ST0:0,ST0:10,ST5:40,ST10:70 and ST20:100,were prepared with NaCl and CaCl2 in proportion,respectively.The results showed the groundwater evaporation(GWE)and soil evaporation(SE)increased firstly and then decreased with the increase of groundwater salinity.The values of GWE and SE in ST10:70 treatment were the highest,which were 2.09 and 1.84 times the values in the ST0:0 treatment with the lowest GWE and SE.There was a positive linear correlation between GWE and the Ca^(2+)content in groundwater,with R^(2)=0.998.The soil water content(SWC)of ST0:0 treatment was significantly(P<0.05)less than those of other treatments during the test.The SWC of the ST0:0 and ST0:10 treatments increased with the increase of soil depth,while the other treatments showed the opposite trend.Statistical analysis indicated the SWC in the 0–60 cm soil layer was positively correlated with the groundwater TSC and its ion contents during the test.Salt accumulation occurred in the topsoil and the salt accumulation in the 0–20 cm soil layer was significantly(P<0.05)greater than that in the subsoil.This study revealed the effects of the salinity level of groundwater,especially the Ca^(2+)content and TSC of groundwater,on the GWE and distributions of soil water and salt,which provided important support for the prevention and reclamation of soil salinization and sodificaton in shallow groundwater regions.

Ethanol-Water Near-Azeotropic Mixture Dehydration by Compound Starch-Based Adsorbent

Ethanol-water near-azeotropic mixture dehydration was investigated by formulated compound starchbased adsorbent(CSA), which consists of corn, sweet potato and foaming agent. The net retention time and separation factor of water over ethanol were measured by inverse gas chromatography(IGC). Results indicated that water has a longer net retention time than ethanol and that low temperature is beneficial to this dehydration process. Orthogonal test was conducted under different vapor feed flow rates, bed temperatures and bed heights, to obtain optimal fixed-bed dehydration condition. Dynamic saturated adsorbance was also studied. It was found that CSA has the same water adsorption capacity(0.15 g/g)as some commercial molecular sieves. Besides, this biosorptive dehydration process was found to be the most energy-efficient compared with other ethanol purification processes.

SELECTIVE SEPARATION OF WATER-ETHANOL MIXTURES THROUGH COPOLYMERIC MEMBRANES: Ⅰ. ACRYLIC ACID AND ACRYLONITRILE COPOLYMER AND ITS IONIZED MEMBRANES

The copolymer of acrylic acid and acrylonitrile has been synthesized and pervaporation properties of the copolymeric membranes have been investigated. In order to elucidate the influence of membrane-permeate interaction on the pervaporation of water-ethanol mixtures and to prepare much improved membranes, the membranes have been treated with alkali metal, alkali earth metal and transition metal salt aqueous solutions. The treated membranes (ionized membranes) exhibited higher separation factors than the untreated membranes. The separation factors of various alkali metal cation membranes decreased in the following order : Li^+>Na^+>K^+, and the permeation rates showed an opposite tendency. The dependence of pervaporation behavior on the copolymer composition ,feed concentration and operating temperature have been studied with both ionized and non-ionized membranes. The apparent activation energies of water and ethanol permeation were calculated.

Design of Pilot Plant Packed Column for the Dehydration of Water from Ethanol-Water Mixtures

This use of biomass-based adsorbent has been explored for the column study of the adsorptive dehydration of water in ethanol-water mixtures. The column study was carried out using enzyme modified corn starch and the breakthrough curve parameters were used to design the packed bed column. The effect of flow rate on the breakthrough curves revealed that adsorption efficiency decreased with increased inflow rate. The empty bed contact time (τ) of the pilot plant packed column was 35.35 min while the breakthrough time is 40.78 min. 66.7% was the fraction of capacity left unused for the pilot plant from the design.

PERVAPORATION PROPERTIES OF PDMS MEMBRANES CURED WITH DIFFERENT CROSS-LINKING REAGENTS FOR ETHANOL CONCENTRATION FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

Ethanol perm-selective PDMS/PVDF composite membranes were prepared by curing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with various cross-linking reagents,such as tetraethoxylsilane(TEOS),γ-aminopropyltriethoxylsilane(APTEOS), phenyltrimethoxylsilane(PTMOS) and octyltrimethoxylsilane(OTMOS) as well.The cross-linking density and surface properties of the PDMS active layer were adjusted by varying cross-linking reagents.The pervaporation performance of PDMS membranes cured with different cross-linking reagents was investig...

Effects of elevated CO_2 concentration on growth and water usage of tomato seedlings under different ammonium/nitrate ratios

Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration is generally expected to enhance photosynthesis and growth of agricultural C3 vegetable crops, and therefore results in an increase in crop yield. However, little is known about the combined effect of elevated CO2 and N species on plant growth and development. Two growth-chamber experiments were conducted to determine the effects of NH4^＋/NO3^- ratio and elevated CO2 concentration on the physiological development and water use of tomato seedlings. Tomato was grown for 45 d in containers with nutrient solutions varying in NH4^＋/NO3^- ratios and CO2 concentrations in growth chambers. Results showed that plant height, stem thickness, total dry weight, dry weight of the leaves, stems and roots, G value （total plant dry weight/seedling days）, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, leaf-level and whole plant-level water use efficiency and cumulative water consumption of tomato seedlings were increased with increasing proportion of NO3- in nutrient solutions in the elevated CO2 treatment. Plant biomass, plant height, stem thickness and photosynthetic rate were 67%, 22%, 24% and 55% higher at elevated CO2 concentration than at ambient CO2 concentration, depending on the values of NH4^＋/NO3^- ratio. These results indicated that elevating CO2 concentration did not mitigate the adverse effects of 100% NH4^＋-N （in nutrient solution） on the tomato seedlings. At both CO2 levels, NH4^＋/NO3^- ratios of nutrient solutions strongly influenced almost every measure of plant performance, and nitrate-fed plants attained a greater biomass production, as compared to ammonium-fed plants. These phenomena seem to be related to the coordinated regulation of photosynthetic rate and cumulative water consumption of tomato seedlings.

Effect of carbon and nitrogen ratio control on Artemia growth, water quality, biofloc microbial diversity under high salinity and zero-water exchange culture condition

Biofloc technology has been applied successfully in the intensive aquaculture of several fish and shrimp species. The growth of heterotrophic microorganisms can be stimulated through adding extra carbon, which reduces the nitrogen level in the water and provides microbial protein to the animals. However, most of the studies and practical applications have been conducted in freshwater and marine environment. This paper focused on brine shrimp Artemia that lives in high salinity environment together with other halophilic or halotolerant microorganisms. The effect of carbon supplementation on Artemia growth, water quality, and microbial diversity of biofl ocs was studied in the closed culture condition without any water exchange. The salinity of the culture medium was 100. A 24-d culture trial was conducted through supplementing sucrose at carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio of 5, 15, and 30 (Su5, Su15, and Su30), respectively. The culture without adding sucrose was used as a control. Artemia was fed formulated feed at a feeding ration of 60% recommended feeding level. The results showed that sucrose supplementation at higher C/N ratio (15 and 30) signifi cantly improved the Artemia survival, growth and water quality ( P <0.05). Addition of sucrose at C/N ratio of 15 and 30 significantly increased biofloc volume (BFV)( P <0.05). The Illumina MiSeq sequencing analysis showed that supplementing carbon at C/N ratio of 15 had a better total bacterial diversity and richness, and shaped the microbial composition at genera level. This study should provide information for studying the mechanism of biofloc technology and its application in high salinity culture conditions.

Water Deficit Stress Effects on Corn (<i>Zea mays</i>, L.) Root:Shoot Ratio

A study was conducted at Akron, CO, USA, on a Weld silt loam in 2004 to quantify the effects of water deficit stress on corn (Zea mays, L.) root and shoot biomass. Corn plants were grown under a range of soil bulk density and water conditions caused by previous tillage, crop rotation, and irrigation management. Water deficit stress (Dstress) was quantified by the number of days when the water content in the surface 0.3 m deviated from the water content range determined by the Least Limiting Water Range (LLWR). Root and shoot samples were collected at the V6, V12, and R1 growth stages. There was no significant correlation between Dstress and shoot or root biomass at the V6 growth stage. At the V12 and R1 growth stages, there were negative, linear correlations among Dstress and both root biomass and shoot biomass. The proportional decrease of shoot biomass was greater than the proportional decrease in root biomass, leading to an increase in the root:shoot ratio as water deficit stress increased at all growth stages. Determining restrictive soil conditions using the LLWR may be useful for evaluating improvement or degradation of the soil physical environment caused by soil management.

Effect of Hydration Aging and Water Binder Ratio on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Sprayed Concrete

In order to study the durability of sprayed concrete （shotcrete）, effects of different hydration aging and water-binder ratio （w/b） on the microstructure of cement paste and basic mechanical properties of test specimens were investigated. The phase composition, mass percentage of ettringite and portland in hydration production and microstructure were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, thermo gravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry （TG-DSC） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, respectively. The experimental results showed that changes in phase composition was more significant than those of water-binder ratio. With hydration aging and water-binder ratio increased, the mass percentage of ettringite and portland was decreased from 4.42%, 1.49% to 3.31%, 1.35%, respectively and the microstructure of paste was significantly compacted. Likewise, the mechanical properties including cubic compressive strength and splitting tensile strength were rised obviously.

Effects of Volume Ratios of Water Phase to Oily Phase on Morphology and Releasing Performance of Emulsion Electrospun Fibers

Emulsion electrospinning as a novel process in spinning core-sheath fibers shows a promising potential in drug release control. The volume ratio of water phase to oily phase is one of the critical parameters in forming core-sheath fibers. In this study, water phase was presented by hydrophilic tetracycline hydrochloride and oily phase by hydrophobic poly （E-caprolactone） （PCL）. The effects of volume ratios of water phase to oily phase on fiber morphology and in vitro drug release were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy （ SEM ）, transmission electron microscopy （ TEM）, and eonfoeal laser scanning microscopy（CLSM） were used to observe the morphology, core.sheath structure of the fibers and drug loading in the fibers, respectively. Samples of three different volume ratios of water phase to oily phase, 1： 25, 1：15, and 1：10, were prepared with the same concentration of drug solution. Experiment results showed that, with an increase in the volume ratios of water phase to oily phase, the fiber diameter increased and diameter distribution scattered. The drug entrapment efficiency of the fibers reduces with the increase in volume ratios, L e. , from 73.48 % in the ratio of 1 ： 25, 62.23 % in 1 ： 15, down to 45.63 % in 1：10. In vitro release tests showed that a higher volume ratio of water phase to oily phase would lead to a lower release rate resulted from thicker fiber sheath.

Effects of Water/Binder Ratio on the Properties of Engineered Cementitious Composites

The effects of water/binder ratio （w/b） on the toughness behavior, compressive strength and flexural strength of engineered cementitious composites （ECC） were investigated. The w/b ratios of 0.25, 0.31, 0.33 and 0.37 were selected and the specimens were tested at the ages of 7 d and 28 d. The experimental results showed that there was a corresponding increase in first cracking strength, modulus of rupture, compressive strength and flexural strength with the decrease of w/b. Within the w/b range of 0.25-0.37, higher w/b was found to have improved effects on deflection, strain hardening index and toughness index of ECC. In the permission of meeting the requirement of compressive strength grade, selecting higher w/b in mix design will help to obtain robust ECC.

Determination of water equivalent ratio for some dosimetric materials in proton therapy using MNCPX simulation tool

The water equivalent ratio(WER) was calculated for polypropylene(PP), paraffin, polyethylene(PE), polystyrene(PS), polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA), and polycarbonate materials with potential applications in dosimetry and medical physics. This was performed using the Monte Carlo simulation code, MCNPX, at different proton energies. The calculated WER values were compared with National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST) data, available experimental and analytical results,as well as the FLUKA, SRIM, and SEICS codes. PP and PMMA were associated with the minimum and maximum WER values, respectively. Good agreement was observed between the MCNPX and NIST data. The biggest difference was 0.71% for PS at 150 MeV proton energy. In addition, a relatively large positive correlation between the WER values and the electron density of the dosimetric materials was observed. Finally, it was noted that PE presented the most analogous Depth Dose Characteristics to liquid water.

Effect of water absorption ratio on tensile strength of red sandstone and morphological analysis of fracture surfaces

Brazilian disc tests were undertaken on a number of red sandstone samples with different water absorption ratios.The tensile strength of the red sandstone decreases as the water absorption ratio increases.The fracture surfaces of failed red sandstone discs were scanned by Talysurf CLI 2000.With the aid of Talymap Gold software,based on ISO25178,a set of statistical parameters was obtained for the fracture surfaces.The maximum peak height(S_p),maximum pit height(S_v) and maximum height(S_z) of the fracture surfaces exhibited the same decreasing trend with increasing water absorption.Sa and Sku values for the fracture surfaces showed a downward trend as the water absorption ratio increased.The fractal dimensions of fracture surfaces were calculated and found to decrease as the water absorption ratio increased.Through analysis of PSD curves,the smallest dominant wavelength was observed to reflect the roughness of the fracture surfaces.Additionally,the results suggest that the roughness of fracture surfaces becomes small as the water absorption ratio increases.

Influence of Pt/Ru anodic ratio on the valorization of ethanol by PEM electrocatalytic reforming towards value-added products

The ethanol electro-reforming process was studied over PtRu/C catalysts synthesized by the modified polyol method with different compositions.In particular,this work reports the influence of anodic Pt:Ru ratio(5:1,2:1 and 1:2)on the organic product distribution(acetaldehyde,acetic acid and ethyl acetate)and pure hydrogen generation at different current densities operation levels.Physicochemical characterization of the catalysts was made by X-ray diffraction(XRD),temperature-programmed reduction(TPR)and N_(2) adsorption-desorption measurements.XRD patterns showed that Ru is introduced into the Pt structure,forming an alloy between both metals.Also,the degree of alloy was higher by increasing the Ru amounts.From TPR profiles Pt was found to be properly reduced while Ru was both in metallic state and forming RuO2.The electrochemical behaviour of each catalyst towards ethanol electroreforming process was investigated through electrochemical techniques in a half cell and a single proton exchange membrane(PEM)cell systems.An intermediate Pt:Ru ratio was found to result in high current density and electrochemical surface area(ECSA)values along with lower amounts of adsorbed species.Also,Ru addition seems to diminish the degree of degradation of the catalyst.Based on characterization and in agreement with essays carried out in a PEM cell at mild conditions(80℃ and 1 atm),PtRu/C 2:1 anode provided the best electrocatalytic results in terms of current density(740 mA cm^(-2)),hydrogen production and selectivity toward acetic acid(up to 15%apart from acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate)while requiring the lowest energy consumption.

Optimal Mixture Ratios of Biodiesel Ethanol Diesel for Diesel Engines

In this paper, we study the best-mixture ratio of biodiesel-ethanol-diesel for diesel engines. The simulation results show that the integrated indexes including engine power, cost-effectiveness and emission properties are rather better with different optimizing index when the ratio of bio-diesel, ethanol and diesel are 71.58:2.72:25.70 and 50:2.4127:47.5873.

Fall cone tests considering water content, cone penetration index, and plasticity angle of fine-grained soils

This paper analyzed the consistency of some parameters of soils in the literature and experimental results from fall cone test and its application to soil plasticity classification.Over 500 data from both literatures and experiments using fall cone and Casagrande methods were compiled to assess the relationships among specified water content,cone penetration index ebT,and plasticity angle eaT of finegrained soils.The results indicate that no unique correlation exists among b,liquid limit of the fall cone test(LLc)and a.The water content at 1 mm cone penetration eC0T correlates well with b,plasticity ratio eRpT(i.e.the ratio of plastic limit to liquid limit),and a.Finally,the potential of using the btan a diagram to classify soil plasticity was also discussed.