MODELING AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF ONBOARD MOLECULAR SIEVE OXYGEN GENERATION SYSTEM

A mathematical model for simulating concentric-bed and other components of molecular sieve oxygen concentrator is established. In the model, the binary Langmuir equilibrium adsorption equation is adopted to describe the adsorption performance of the adsorbent, the linear driving force (LDF) model is used to describe the mass transfer rate, and the thermal effect during adsorption is considered. The finite difference method is used in simulation and comparison. Numerical results have a reasonable agreement with the experimental research.

Emerging Strategies in Enhancing Singlet Oxygen Generation of Nano-Photosensitizers Toward Advanced Phototherapy

The great promise of photodynamic therapy(PDT) has thrusted the rapid progress of developing highly effective photosensitizers(PS) in killing cancerous cells and bacteria. To mitigate the intrinsic limitations of the classical molecular photosensitizers, researchers have been looking into designing new generation of nanomaterial-based photosensitizers(nano-photosensitizers) with better photostability and higher singlet oxygen generation(SOG) efficiency, and ways of enhancing the performance of existing photosensitizers. In this paper, we review the recent development of nano-photosensitizers and nanoplasmonic strategies to enhance the SOG efficiency for better PDT performance. Firstly, we explain the mechanism of reactive oxygen species generation by classical photosensitizers, followed by a brief discussion on the commercially available photosensitizers and their limitations in PDT. We then introduce three types of new generation nanophotosensitizers that can effectively produce singlet oxygen molecules under visible light illumination, i.e., aggregation-induced emission nanodots, metal nanoclusters (< 2 nm), and carbon dots. Different design approaches to synthesize these nano-photosensitizers were also discussed. To further enhance the SOG rate of nano-photosensitizers, plasmonic strategies on using different types of metal nanoparticles in both colloidal and planar metal-PS systems are reviewed. The key parameters that determine the metal-enhanced SOG(ME-SOG) efficiency and their underlined enhancement mechanism are discussed. Lastly, we highlight the future prospects of these nanoengineering strategies, and discuss how the future development in nanobiotechnology and theoretical simulation could accelerate the design of new photosensitizers and ME-SOG systems for highly effective image-guided photodynamic therapy.

Performance of Ni-based, Fe-based and Co-based Oxygen Carriers in Chemical-Looping Hydrogen Generation

Ni-based, Fe-based and Co-based oxygen carriers with perovskite oxides used as the supports were prepared by citric acid complexation method, The oxygen carriers were characterized by thermal analysis, H2-temperature-programmed reduction and X-ray diffraction methods. Performance tests were evaluated through Chemical-Looping Hydrogen Genera- tion in a fixed-bed reactor operating at atmospheric pressure. The characterization results showed that all samples were composed of metal oxides and perovskite oxides. Performance results indicated that CH4 conversion over the oxygen car- riers decreased in the lbllowing order： NiO/LaNiO3〉Co203/LaCoO3〉Fe203/LaFeO3. The ability of NiO/LaNiO3 and F%O3/ LaFeO3 to decompose water was stronger than that of Co203/LaCoO3 as evidenced by our experiments. H2 amounting to 80 mL upon reacting on methane in every cycle could be completely oxidized by NiO/LaNiO3 at 900℃ in the period from the third cycle to the eighth cycle.

Oxygen Radical Generation as an Index of Neurotoxic Damage

Biochemical, anatomical, and physiological characteristics of the brain make it especially vulnerable to insult. Specifically, some of these characteristics such as myelin and a high energy requirement provide for the introduction of free radical-induced insult. Recently, the biochemistry of free radicals has received considerable attention. It also has become increasingly suggestive that many drug and chemical-induced toxicities may be evoked via free radicals and oxidative stress. Major points addressed in this work are the regulation of neural-free radical generation by antioxidants and protective enzymes, xenobiotic-induced disruption of cerebral redox status, and specific examples of neurotoxic agent-induced alterations in free radicals as measured by the fluorescent probe dichlorofluorescein. This article considers that free radical mechanisms may contribute significantly to the properties of several diverse neurotoxic agents and proposes that free radicals may be common phenomena of neurotoxicity.

Synthesis,Characterization,and Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Phenylene-vinylene Based Chromophores for Singlet Oxygen Generation

A series of symmetrical and unsymmetrical phenylene-vinylene （PV） based chro- mophores with the molecular configuration of donor-π-donor （D-g-D） were prepared and characterized. Iodine was first introduced into the Jr-conjugation backbone of the PV based chromophores in order to study the heavy atom effect on their linear absorption, two-photon absorption （TPA） properties, as well as singlet oxygen generation properties. TPA cross-sections of these chromophores were investigated by using the two-photon excited fluorescence method. The unsymmetrical chromophores were found to have larger TPA cross-section values compared to their symmetrical counterparts. For one of the unsymmetrical chromophores with the iodine incorporation, a large TPA cross section value with quenched emission was found. The decreased fluorescence quantum yield of a molecule can be ascribed to the increased intersystem crossing, which is favorable for enhancing the singlet oxygen generation. Therefore, the unsymmetrical PV based chromophores with heavy atom incorporation are promising singlet oxygen sensitizers for the photodynamic therapy application.

Effect of Antioxidants on Endothelial Cell Reactive Oxygen Species (ROD Generation and Adhesion of Leukocytes to Endothelial Cells

Objective To investigatewhether antioxidants inhibit adhesion of leukocytes to endothelium and furthermore, whether all antioxidants regulate NF-KB activation through a redox sensitive mechanism. Methods The effect of the antioxidative substances pyrrolidin dithiocarbamat (PDTC), dichloroisocumarin (DCI), chrysin and probucol on the endothelial leukocyte adhesion were examined under near physiological flow conditions. The antioxidative activity of antioxidants was measured in a DCF fluorescence assay with flow cytometry. The activation of NF-kB in endothelial cells was investigated in a gel shift assay. Results PDTC and probucol did not show an inhibitory effect to the formation of intracellular H2O2 in TNFa activated human vascular endothelial cells (HUVEC) . Chrysin showed a moderate effect. DCI showed a strong antioxidative effect. In contrast, PDTC and chrysin inhibited the adhesion of HL 60 cells to TNFa-stimulated HUVEC. DCI and probucol did not have influence on the adhesion within the area of the examined shear stresses. Only PDTC inhibited the TNFa-induced activation of NF-KB in endothelial cells. Conclusion The inhibition of the endothelial leukocyte adhesion by antioxidative substances is not to be explained by its antioxidative characteristics only. The inhibitory effect of PDTC on NF-KB activation was probably not related to its antioxidative properties. Endothelial cell Antioxidants NF-kappa-B

Highly efficient Z-scheme WO_(3-x) quantum dots/TiO_2 for photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Z-scheme semiconductors are a promising class of photocatalysts for hydrogen generation.In this work,Z-scheme semiconductors composed of WO3-x quantum dots supported on TiO2（WO3-xQDS/TiO2） were fabricated by solvothermal and hydrogen-reduction methods.Characterization by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction indicated that the amount and size of the WO3-x QDs could be tuned by modulating the addition of the W precursor.Evidence from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy suggested that the hydrogen reduction of the composite induced the formation of oxygen vacancy（W^5＋/Vo） defects in WO3.These defects led to ohmic contact between WO3-x and TiO2,which altered the charge-transfer pathway from type Ⅱ heterojunction to Z-scheme,and maintained the highly reductive and oxidative ability of TiO2 and WO3-x,respectively.Therefore,the Z-scheme sample showed 1.3-fold higher photoactivity than pure TiO2 in hydrogen generation.These results suggest that the formation of W^5＋/Vo defects at the interface is highly beneficial for the fabrication of Z-scheme photocatalysts.

Investigation into Syngas Generation from Solid Fuel Using CaSO4-based Chemical Looping Gasification Process

Chemical-looping gasification （CLG） is a novel process for syngas generation from solid fuels, sharing the same basic principles as chemical-looping combustion （CLC）. It also uses oxygen carriers （mainly metal oxide and calcium sulfate） to transfer heat and oxygen to the fuel. In this paper, the primary investigation into the CLG process with CaSO4 as oxygen carrier was carried out by thermodynamic analysis and experiments in the tube reactor. Sulfur-contained gas emission was mainly H2S rather than SO2 in the CLG process, showing some different features from the CLC. The mass and heat balance of CLG processes were calculated thermodynamically to determinate the auto-thermal operating conditions with different CaSO4/C and steam/C molar ratios. It was found that the CaSO4/C molar ratio should be higher than 0.2 to reach auto-thermal balance. The effect of temperature on the reactions between oxygen carrier and coal was investigated based on Gibbs free energy minimum method and ex- perimental results. It indicated that high temperature favored the CLG process in the fuel reactor and part of syngas was consumed to compensate for auto-thermal system.

Glucose initially inhibits and later stimulates blood ROS generation

Background: Glucose is the main substrate for the generation of NADPH, the cofactor of the oxidative burst enzyme NADPH-oxidase of blood neutrophils. Changes in blood glucose are thus expected to modify the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The new blood ROS generation assay (BRGA) quantifies ROS changes induced by blood glucose concentrations as they are found in diabetes mellitus. Material and Methods: Citrated or EDTA blood of 6 healthy donors were analyzed in the BRGA: 10 μl sample in black polystyrene F-microwells (Brand 781608) were incubated in triplicate with 125 μl Hanks’ balanced salt solution, 40 μl 0 - 200 mM glucose in 0.9% NaCl (final added conc.: 0 - 41 mM;final basal glucose conc.: about4 mM), 10 μl5 mMluminol, and 10 μl zymosan A (final conc.: 1.9 μg/ml) in 0.9% NaCl. The plates were measured within 0 - 250 min (37℃) in a photons-multiplyer microtiter plate luminometer (LUmo) with an integration time of 1 s. Results: Up to about 30 min reaction time the mean ROS generation was 50% inhibited by about1 mMadded glucose (= approx. IC50). At ≥80 min reaction time (possibly necessary for full phosphorylation of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), the substrate metabolized by G6P-dehydrogenase to generate NADPH, the cofactor of the NADPH-oxidase) the mean ROS generation approximately doubled at about1 mMadded glucose (= approx. SC200) in citrated blood. Discussion: Elevated glucose concentrations not only increase systemic thrombin generation, they can also diminish cellular fibrinolysis and increase systemic inflammation, resulting in a chronic pro-thrombotic state. The fascinating importance of NADPH-oxidases not only in phagocytes but also in the beta cells of pancreas points towards a new pathogenesis explication of diabetes mellitus type 1: whatever stimulus (e.g. a pancreas-tropic virus) could activate the beta cell’s autodestructive NADPH-oxidase.

Oxidation of Dibenzothiophene in Model Diesel Using Hydroperoxide Generated via In-Situ Reaction of Octane with Oxygen

The potential of carrying out oxidative desulfurization(ODS) using oxygen as an oxidant was explored in this work. n-Octane firstly reacted with oxygen to produce hydroperoxides in-situ, which were then used as oxidants to oxidize the dibenzothiophene(DBT) in the absence of catalysts. The hydroperoxides generated in-situ were effective in oxidizing DBT to its corresponding dibenzothiophene sulfone(DBTO_2) which was characterized by FT-IR and ~1H-NMR. The removal rate of DBT could reached 98.4% under conditions covering a temperaure of 140℃, a rection duration of 4 h, and an oxygen partial pressure of 0.4 MPa. The influences of different hydrocarbon components in diesel on DBT removal were investigated. The results showed that cyclohexane and n-dodecane had no effect on the removal of DBT, but xylene had a slight negative effect on DBT removal. A possible oxidation mechanism was proposed and the concentration of hydroperoxides in both O_2-oxidized octane and model diesel were detected.

Synergistic chemotherapy/PTT/oxygen enrichment by multifunctional liposomal polydopamine nanoparticles for rheumatoid arthritis treatment

Amultifunctional liposomal polydopamine nanoparticle(MPM@Lipo)was designed in this study,to combine chemotherapy,photothermal therapy(PTT)and oxygen enrichment to clear hyperproliferating inflammatory cells and improve the hypoxic microenvironment for rheumatoid arthritis(RA)treatment.MPM@Lipo significantly scavenged intracellular reactive oxygen species and relieved joint hypoxia,thus contributing to the repolarization of M1 macrophages into M2 phenotype.Furthermore,MPM@Lipo could accumulate at inflammatory joints,inhibit the production of inflammatory factors,and protect cartilage in vivo,effectively alleviating RA progression in a rat adjuvant-induced arthritis model.Moreover,upon laser irradiation,MPM@Lipo can elevate the temperature to not only significantly obliterate excessively proliferating inflammatory cells but also accelerate the production of methotrexate and oxygen,resulting in excellent RA treatment effects.Overall,the use of synergistic chemotherapy/PTT/oxygen enrichment therapy to treat RA is a powerful potential strategy.

The role of strain in oxygen evolution reaction

The oxygen evolution reaction(OER)is a crucial step in metal-air batteries and water splitting technologies,playing a significant role in the efficiency and achievable heights of these two technologies.However,the OER is a four-step,four-electron reaction,and its slow kinetics result in high overpotentials,posing a challenge.To address this issue,numerous strategies involving modified catalysts have been proposed and proven to be highly efficient.In these strategies,the introduction of strain has been widely reported because it is generally believed to effectively regulate the electronic structure of metal sites and alter the adsorption energy of catalyst surfaces with reaction intermediates.However,strain has many other effects that are not well known,making it an important yet unexplored area.Based on this,this review provides a detailed introduction to the various roles of strain in OER.To better explain these roles,the review also presents the definition of strain and elucidates the potential mechanisms of strain in OER based on the d-band center theory and adsorption volcano plot.Additionally,the review showcases various ways of introducing strain in OER through examples reported in the latest literature,aiming to provide a comprehensive perspective for the development of strain engineering.Finally,the review analyzes the appropriate proportion of strain introduction,compares compressive and tensile strain,and examines the impact of strain on stability.And the review offers prospects for future research directions in this emerging field.

Effect of Gasifying Medium on the Coal Chemical Looping Gasification with CaSO_4 as Oxygen Carrier

The chemical looping gasification uses an oxygen carrier for solid fuel gasification by supplying insufficient lattice oxygen. The effect of gasifying medium on the coal chemical looping gasification with Ca SO4 as oxygen carrier is investigated in this paper. The thermodynamical analysis indicates that the addition of steam and CO2 into the system can reduce the reaction temperature, at which the concentration of syngas reaches its maximum value.Experimental result in thermogravimetric analyzer and a fixed-bed reactor shows that the mixture sample goes through three stages, drying stage, pyrolysis stage and chemical looping gasification stage, with the temperature for three different gaseous media. The peak fitting and isoconversional methods are used to determine the reaction mechanism of the complex reactions in the chemical looping gasification process. It demonstrates that the gasifying medium(steam or CO2) boosts the chemical looping process by reducing the activation energy in the overall reaction and gasification reactions of coal char. However, the mechanism using steam as the gasifying medium differs from that using CO2. With steam as the gasifying medium, parallel reactions occur in the beginning stage, followed by a limiting stage shifting from a kinetic to a diffusion regime. It is opposite to the reaction mechanism with CO2 as the gasifying medium.

Bimetallic catalysts as electrocatalytic cathode materials for the oxygen reduction reaction in microbial fuel cell:A review

Microbial fuel cell(MFC) is one synchronous power generation device for wastewater treatment that takes into account environmental and energy issues, exhibiting promising potential. Sluggish oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) kinetics on the cathode remains by far the most critical bottleneck hindering the practical application of MFC. An ideal cathode catalyst should possess excellent ORR activity, stability, and costeffectiveness, experiments have demonstrated that bimetallic catalysts are one of the most promising ORR catalysts currently. Based on this, this review mainly analyzes the reaction mechanism(ORR mechanisms, synergistic effects), advantages(combined with characterization technologies), and typical synthesis methods of bimetallic catalysts, focusing on the application effects of early Pt-M(M = Fe, Co, and Ni) alloys to bifunctional catalysts in MFC, pointing out that the main existing challenges remain economic analysis, long-term durability and large-scale application, and looking forward to this. At last, the research trend of bimetallic catalysts suitable for MFC is evaluated, and it is considered that the development and research of metal-organic framework(MOF)-based bimetallic catalysts are still worth focusing on in the future, intending to provide a reference for MFC to achieve energy-efficient wastewater treatment.

Efficient singlet oxygen generation by excitonic energy transfer on ultrathin g-C_(3)N_(4) for selective photocatalytic oxidation of methyl-phenyl-sulfide with O_(2)

Efficient generation of singlet oxygen(1 O_(2)) by an excitonic ene rgy transfer process is highly desired on a semiconductor photocatalyst for selective oxidation of methyl phenyl sulfide(MPS).Herein,it is demonstrated that a large amount of 1 O_(2) is produced on pristine graphitic carbon nitride(CN) nanosheet compared with bismuth oxybromide(BiOBr) and comme rcial P25 titanium dioxide(TiO_(2)).This leads to a certain photoactivity of CN for MPS oxidation.The observed ~77% selectivity for CN depends on the competitive results of excitonic energy transfer for 1 O_(2) formation and charge carrier separation for superoxide radical(O_(2)·) production,which are based on the phosphorescence spectra and electron paramagnetic resonance signals,respectively.Moreover,ultrathin CN nanosheets are synthesized by thermal treatment with the cyanuric acid-melamine hydrogen bonded aggregates as precursors.It is confirmed that the amount of produced 1 O_(2) could be increased by decreasing the thickness of resultant CN nanosheets.The optimized ultrathin CN nanosheet(~4 nm) exhibits excellent photoactivity with high selectivity(~99%).It is suggested that the excitonic energy transfer for 1 O_(2) formation is close related to the intrinsic exciton binding energy and the two-dimensional quantum confinement effect.This work establishes a basic mechanistic understanding on the excitonic processes in CN,and develops a feasible route to design CN-based photocatalysts for efficient 1 O_(2) generation.

Experimental study on ceramic membrane technology for onboard oxygen generation

The ceramic membrane oxygen generation technology has advantages of high concentration of produced oxygen and potential nuclear and biochemical protection capability. The present paper studies the ceramic membrane technology for onboard oxygen generation. Comparisons are made to have knowledge of the effects of two kinds of ceramic membrane separation technologies on oxygen generation, namely electricity driven ceramic membrane separation oxygen generation technology (EDCMSOGT) and pressure driven ceramic membrane separation oxygen generation technology (PDCMSOGT). Experiments were conducted under different temperatures, pressures of feed air and produced oxygen flow rates. On the basis of these experiments, the flow rate of feed air, electric power provided, oxygen recovery rate and concentration of produced oxygen are compared under each working condition. It is concluded that the EDCMSOGT is the oxygen generation means more suitable for onboard conditions. (C) 2016 Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd.

Bone microenvironment regulative hydrogels with ROS scavenging and prolonged oxygen-generating for enhancing bone repair

Large bone defects resulting from fractures and disease are a major clinical challenge,being often unable to heal spontaneously by the body’s repair mechanisms.Lines of evidence have shown that hypoxia-induced overproduction of ROS in bone defect region has a major impact on delaying bone regeneration.However,replenishing excess oxygen in a short time cause high oxygen tension that affect the activity of osteoblast precursor cells.Therefore,reasonably restoring the hypoxic condition of bone microenvironment is essential for facilitating bone repair.Herein,we designed ROS scavenging and responsive prolonged oxygen-generating hydrogels(CPP-L/GelMA)as a“bone microenvironment regulative hydrogel”to reverse the hypoxic microenvironment in bone defects region.CPP-L/GelMA hydrogels comprises an antioxidant enzyme catalase(CAT)and ROS-responsive oxygen-releasing nanoparticles(PFC@PLGA/PPS)co-loaded liposome(CCP-L)and GelMA hydrogels.Under hypoxic condition,CPP-L/GelMA can release CAT for degrading hydrogen peroxide to generate oxygen and be triggered by superfluous ROS to continuously release the oxygen for more than 2 weeks.The prolonged oxygen enriched microenvironment generated by CPP-L/GelMA hydrogel significantly enhanced angiogenesis and osteogenesis while inhibited osteoclastogenesis.Finally,CPP-L/GelMA showed excellent bone regeneration effect in a mice skull defect model through the Nrf2-BMAL1-autophagy pathway.Hence,CPP-L/GelMA,as a bone microenvironment regulative hydrogel for bone tissue respiration,can effectively scavenge ROS and provide prolonged oxygen supply according to the demand in bone defect region,possessing of great clinical therapeutic potential.

Layered double hydroxide(LDH)-based materials:A mini-review on strategies to improve the performance for photocatalytic water splitting

The high energy demand we currently face in society and the subsequent large consumption of fossil fuels cause its depletion and increase the pollution levels.The quest for the production of clean energy from renewable and sustainable sources remains open.The conversion of solar energy into hydrogen via the water-splitting process,assisted by pho tores pons ive semiconductor catalysts,is one of the most promising technologies.Significant progress has been made on water splitting in the past few years and a variety of photocatalysts active not only under ultra-violet(UV) light but especially with the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum have been developed.Layered double hydroxides(LDH)-based materials have emerged as a promising class of nanomaterials for solar energy applications owing to their unique layered structure,compositional flexibility,tunable bandgaps,ease of synthesis and low manufacturing costs.This review covers the most recent research dedicated to LDH materials for photocatalytic water-splitting applications and encompasses a range of synthetic strategies and post-modifications used to enhance their performance.Moreover,we provide a thorough discussion of the experimental conditions crucial to obtaining improved photoactivity and highlight the impact of some specific parameters,namely,catalysts loading,cocatalysts,sacrificial agents,and irradiation sources.This review provides the necessary tools to select the election technique for adequately enhancing the photoactivity of LDH and modified LDH-based materials and concludes with a critical summary that outlines further research directions.

Anthraquinone Covalently Modified Carbon Nanotubes for Efficient and Steady Electrocatalytic H2O2 Generation

Anthraquinone(AQ)modified carbon materials could be endowed with significantly improved oxygen re-duction reaction(ORR)activity.However,the application of these materials in the generation of hydrogen peroxide(H2O2)has been rarely investigated.For this motivation,AQ covalently modified carbon nanotube(AQ-CNT)was pur-posely synthesized for H2O2 generation.It was found that the cumulative H2O2 concentration reached up to 187.18 mg(Lh)over AQ(40)-CNT catalyst,nearly 2.0 times higher than that over CNT,and being superior to those over most carbon materials reported.The enhanced activity stemmed from the improved mass transfer fficiency of oxygen and the enhanced electrocatalytic activity.Noteworthily,the AQ(40)-CNT material exhibited satisfactory stability for H2O2 generation,which was ascribed to the strong interaction force of C-N covalent bond.The present work could provide a vital idea for designing electrode material with simultancously improved activity and stability for H2O2 gencration.

Air plasma for medical applications

The design and the electric and emission characteristics of two handheld air plasma spray generators are presented. The plasma is generated by 60 Hz periodic discharges between two concentrically cylindrical electrodes. A ring magnet is used to rotate arc discharges, which sprays outward by an air flow. The rotation of arc discharges keeps the generated plasma in non-equilibrium state and at relatively low temperature (<55°C). The plasma effluent yet contains high energy electrons which dissociate molecular oxygen into atomic oxygen. The emission spectroscopy of the plasma plume reveals that the plasma effluent, which carries abundant atomic oxygen, extends from the cap of the plasma spray by about 25 to 30 mm. Tests on blood droplets and smeared blood samples revealed the effectiveness and mechanism of low temperature air plasma on clotting blood. Tests on oral pathogens show that air plasma creates a zone of microbial growth inhibition in each of six treated samples, including those of grampositive bacteria and fungi, and on a cultivating biofilm sample of Streptococcus mutans UA159. The medical applications of the air plasma sprays for 1) bleeding control, 2) wound healing, and 3) dental disinfection, are then illustrated and discussed. As animal models, pigs were used in the tests of stopping wound bleeding and post-operative observation of wound healing by this air plasma spray. The results show that the bleeding from a cut to an ear artery is stopped swiftly;this air plasma spray also shortens wound healing time to about half (from 14 days to 8 days) after stopping the bleeding of a cross cut wound in the ham area. In-vitro tests demonstrate that the plasma effluent of the spray can prevent the formation of dental biofilms and further eliminate the mature biofilms.