Room temperature gas sensor based on tube-like hydroxyapatite modified with gold nanoparticles

The main goal of this work is to explore the possibility of using Au-modified hydroxyapatite(HA) as a potential sensor material. Tube-like HA structure was fabricated with the aid of a Nafion N-117 cation exchange membrane and gold(Au) nanoparticles were added by a hydrothermal method. The morphology, structure and composition were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS). The gas sensing properties were also investigated. Results show that Au nanoparticles are dispersed into the HA powder, which is tube-like, with rough inner and outer surfaces. Compared with pure HA, Au-modified HA exhibits improved sensing properties for NH_3. 5%(mass fraction) Au-modified HA shows the highest response with relatively short response/recovery time. The response is up to 79.2% when the corresponding sensor is exposed to 200×10^(-6) NH_3 at room temperature, and the response time and recovery time are 20 s and 25 s, respectively. For lower concentration, like 50×10^(-6), the response is still up to 70.8%. Good selectivity and repeatability are also observed. The sensing mechanism of high response and selectivity for NH_3 gas was also discussed. These results suggest that Au-HA composite is a promising material for NH_3 sensors operating at room temperature.

Riemann problem for one-dimensional binary gas enhanced coalbed methane process

With an extended Langmuir isotherm, a Riemann problem for one-dimensional binary gas enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) process is investigated. A new analytical solution to the Riemann problem, based on the method of characteristics, is developed by introducing a gas selectivity ratio representing the gas relative sorption affinity. The influence of gas selectivity ratio on the enhanced coalbed methane processes is identified.

Stress sensitivity of formation during multi-cycle gas injection and production in an underground gas storage rebuilt from gas reservoirs

Permeability sensitivity to stress experiments were conducted on standard core samples taken from Wen 23 Gas Storage at multi-cycle injection and production conditions of the gas storage to study the change pattern of stress sensitivity of permeability.A method for calculating permeability under overburden pressure in the multi-cycle injection and production process was proposed,and the effect of stress sensitivity of reservoir permeability on gas well injectivity and productivity in UGS was analyzed.Retention rate of permeability decreased sharply first and then slowly with the increase of the UGS cycles.The stress sensitivity index of permeability decreased with the increase of cycle number of net stress variations in the increase process of net stress.The stress sensitivity index of permeability hardly changed with the increase of cycle number of net stress variations in the decrease process of net stress.With the increase of cycle number of net stress variation,the stress sensitivity index of permeability in the increase process of net stress approached that in the decrease process of net stress.The lower the reservoir permeability,the greater the irreversible permeability loss rate,the stronger the cyclic stress sensitivity,and the higher the stress sensitivity index of the reservoir,the stronger the reservoir stress sensitivity.The gas zones with permeability lower than 0.3’10-3 mm2 are not suitable as gas storage regions.Stress sensitivity of reservoir permeability has strong impact on gas well injectivity and productivity and mainly in the first few cycles.

SELECTIVE SULFUR DIOXIDE DETERMINATION BY GAS DIFFUSION FLOW INJECTION ANALYSIS WITH CHEMILUMINESCENT DETECTION

Sulfur dioxide has been found to decrease the chemiluminescence of luminol-iodine system.A new determination method for sulfur dioxide in atmosphere is developed by applying this reaction to a flow injection gas diffusion separation system.This permits the determination of sulfur dioxide selectively and rapidly.

Evaluation of the effect and profitability of gene-assisted selection in pig breeding system

Objective:To evaluate the effect and profitability of using the quantitative trait loci (QTL)-linked direct marker (DR marker) in gene-assisted selection (GAS). Methods: Three populations (100, 200, or 300 sows plus 10 boars within each group) with segregating QTL were simulated stochastically. Five economic traits were investigated, including number of born alive (NBA), average daily gain to 100 kg body weight (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), back fat at 100 kg body weight (BF) and intramuscular fat (IMF). Selection was based on the estimated breeding value (EBV) of each trait. The starting frequencies of the QTL's favorable allele were 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5, respectively. The economic return was calculated by gene flow method. Results: The selection efficiency was higher than 100% when DR markers were used in GAS for 5 traits. The selection efficiency for NBA was the highest, and the lowest was for ADG whose QTL had the lowest variance. The mixed model applied DR markers and obtained higher extra genetic gain and extra economic returns. We also found that the lower the frequency of the favorable allele of the QTL, the higher the extra return obtained. Conclusion: GAS is an effective selection scheme to increase the genetic gain and the eco- nomic returns in pig breeding.

Ceria in halogen chemistry

Halogen chemistry constitutes an essential part in the industrial production of polymers and gains increasing attention as an attractive strategy to activate light alkanes that constitute natural gas. CeO2-based catalysts offer an exciting potential for advances in hydrogen halide recovery that enables a high efficiency of halogen-based processes for activation of small molecules. This review provides an overview of recently developed ceria-based catalysts in the context of polymer industry(polyvinyl chloride, polyurethanes, and polycarbonates) and activation of light hydrocarbons for natural gas upgrading. In addition, mechanistic insight and the challenges of ceria catalysts are provided, aiding the design of future catalytic materials and applications.

A WO3 nanorod-Cr2O3 nanoparticle composite for selective gas sensing of 2-butanone

The hexagonal （h）-WO3-Cr2o3 nanocomposites with different W/Cr molar ratio of 4：1,10：1 and 40：1 were prepared by a facile two-step hydrothermal method, and its gas sensing properties were investigated under optimum working temperature. X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, high resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM） were used to characterize the morphology, microstructure and crystallinity of the as-synthesized samples. The hexagonal WO3 nanorods show a better crystallinity than Cr2O3 nanoparticles. When the molar ratio of W/Cr is 10：1, the hexagonal WO3-Cr2O3 nanocomposite shows obvious selectivity toward 2-butanone at 205℃ compared with other typical reducing gases, and the response value to 100 ppm 2- butanone can reach 5.6. However, there is no selectivity toward 2-butanone when the Cr/W molar ratio is 1：4 and 1：40. Furthermore, hexagonal WO3-Cr2O3 nanocomposites have a short response and recovery time to 5ppm 2-butanone, which is lOs and 80s, respectively. The measured results indicate that hexagonal WO3-Cr2O3 nanocomposite is a potential gas sensing material for monitoring volatile organic compounds （VOCs）.

A water-stable fcu-MOF material with exposed amino groups for the multi-functional separation of small molecules

The energy-efficient purification of methane from C2-hydrocarbons is of great significance for the upgrading of natural gas. So does the capture of carbon dioxide for remission of greenhouse effect. It is well established that some functional sites, such as open metals sites, Lewis basic nitrogen sites and fluorine groups, have shown significantly enhanced affinity toward more polarizable molecules. Thus, a water-stable Eu3+-based fcu-metal-organic framework(MOF)(compound 1) with amino functional groups has been successfully constructed through a reticular chemistry approach.As a result, the activated compound 1 exhibits moderately high uptakes of C2-hydrocarbons, but a less obvious adsorption of CH4 at the same conditions. Among them, the adsorption capacity of C2 H2 is up to 143.6 cm3 cm-3 and a relatively high selectivity of C2 H2/CH4(107.7) is obtained at near room temperature. Moreover, compound 1 is also validated as an exceptional adsorbent for CO2 capture, with the fairly high capacity of CO2(92.6 cm3 cm-3) and CO2/N2 selectivity(151.7) at ambient conditions. The excellent performance of compound 1 is mainly driven by the exposed amino functional groups within the contracted pores. Such effect thus leads to the achievement of dual-functional platform for methane purification and carbon dioxide capture. Furthermore, compound 1 features a satisfactory water stability,which is confirmed by the powder X-ray diffraction(PXRD)analysis and the retest of porosity after being soaked in water.

Efficient C_(2) Hydrocarbons and CO_(2) Adsorption and Separation in a Multi-site Functionalized MOF

A multi-site functionalized microporous metal-organic framework(MOF),H[Zn2(BDP)0.5(ATZ)3]·0.5 H_(2)O·0.5DMF(1),was synthesized through mixed ligands strategy.The pore surface of complex 1 was modified by uncoordinated carboxylate O atoms,phenyl and pyridyl rings as well as-NH_(2) groups,which strengthen interactions with C2H6,C_(2)H_(4) and CO_(2) molecules and lead to efficiently selective C2H6,C_(2)H_(4) and CO_(2) uptake over CH_(4).The selective adsorption mechanism was discussed deeply based on Grand Canonical Monte Carlo(GCMC)simulations.It is expected that this study will provide a new perspective for the rational design and synthesis of MOFs with efficient gas adsorption and separation performance.

Selective oxidation of methane and carbon deposition over Fe_2O_3/Ce_(1-x)Zr_xO_2 oxides

A series of Fe2O3/Al2O3, Fe2O3/CeO2, Ce0.7Zr0.3O2, and Fe2O3/Ce1-xZrxO2（x = 0.1–0.4） oxides was prepared and their physicochemical features were investigated by X-ray diffraction（XRD）, transmission electron microscope（TEM）, and H2-temperature-programmed reduction（H2-TPR） techniques. The gas–solid reactions between these oxides and methane for syngas generation as well as the catalytic performance for selective oxidation of carbon deposition in O2-enriched atmosphere were investigated in detail. The results show that the samples with the presence of Fe2O3show much higher activity for methane oxidation compared with the Ce0.7Zr0.3O2solid solution,while the CeO2-contained samples represent higher CO selectively in methane oxidation than the Fe2O3/Al2O3sample. This suggests that the iron species should be the active sites for methane activation, and the cerium oxides provide the oxygen source for the selective oxidation of the activated methane to syngas during the reaction between methane and Fe2O3/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2. For the oxidation process of the carbon deposition, the CeO2-containing samples show much higher CO selectivity than the Fe2O3/Al2O3sample, which indicates that the cerium species should play a very important role in catalyzing the carbon selective oxidation to CO. The presence of the Ce–Zr–O solid solution could induce the growth direction of the carbonfilament, resulting in a loose contact between the carbon filament and the catalyst. This results in abundant exposed active sites for catalyzing carbon oxidation, strongly improving the oxidation rate of the carbon deposition over this sample. In addition, the Fe2O3/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2also represents much higher selectivity（ca. 97 %） for the conversion of carbon to CO than the Fe2O3/CeO2sample, which can be attributed to the higher concentration of reduced cerium sites on this sample. The increase of the Zr content in the Fe2O3/Ce1-xZrxO2samples could improve the reactivity of the materials for methane oxidation, but it also reduces the selectivity for CO formation.