Rational design of F,N-rich artificial interphase via chemical prelithiation initiation strategy enabling high coulombic efficiency and stable micro-sized SiO anodes

Silicon monoxide(SiO)is regarded as a potential candidate for anode materials of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).Unfortunately,the application of SiO is limited by poor initial Coulombic efficiency(ICE)and unsteady solid electrolyte interface(SEI),which induce low energy,short cycling life,and poor rate properties.To address these drawbacks of SiO,we achieve in-situ construction of robust and fast-ion conducting F,N-rich SEI layer on prelithiated micro-sized SiO(P-μSiO)via the simple and continuous treatment ofμSiO in mild lithium 4,4′-dimethylbiphenyl solution and nonflammable hexafluorocyclotriphosphazene solution.Chemical prelithiation eliminates irreversible capacity through pre-forming inactive lithium silicates.Meanwhile,the symbiotic F,N-rich SEI with good mechanical stability and fast Li^(+)permeability is conductive to relieve volume expansion ofμSiO and boost the Li+diffusion kinetics.Consequently,the P-μSiO realizes an impressive electrochemical performance with an elevated ICE of 99.57%and a capacity retention of 90.67%after 350 cycles.Additionally,the full cell with P-μSiO anode and commercial LiFePO_(4) cathode displays an ICE of 92.03%and a high reversible capacity of 144.97 mA h g^(-1).This work offers a general construction strategy of robust and ionically conductive SEI for advanced LIBs.

CO_(2) conversion to solar fuels and chemicals:Opening the new paths

This future article discusses the new prospects and directions of CO_(2)conversion via the photo-electrocatalytic(PEC)route.The second(2nd)generation solar fuels and chemicals(SFs)are generated directly in PEC systems via electrons/protons reactions without forming molecular H_(2)as an intermediate,overcoming the thermodynamics limitations and practical issues encountered for electro-fuels produced by multistep thermocatalytic processes(i.e.CO_(2)conversion with H_(2)coming from water electrolysis).A distributed and decentralized production of SFs requires very compact,highly integrated,and intensified technologies.Among the existing reactors of advanced design(based on artificial leaves or photosynthesis),the integrated photovoltaic plus electrocatalytic(PV-EC)device is the only system(demonstrated at large scale)to produce SFs with high solar-to-fuel(STF)efficiency.However,while the literature indicates STF efficiency as the main(and only)measure of process performance,we remark here the need to refer to productivity(in terms of current density)and make tests with reliable flow PEC systems(with electrodes of at least 5–10 cm^(2))to accelerate the scaling-up process.Using approaches that minimize downstream separation costs is also mandatory.Many limitations exist in PEC systems,but most can be overcome by proper electrode and cell engineering,thus going beyond the properties of the electrocatalysts.As examples of current developments,we present the progress of(i)artificial leaf/tree devices for green H_(2)distributed production and(ii)a PEC device producing the same chemicals at both cathode and anode parts without downstream operations for green solvent distributed production.Based on these developments,future directions,such as producing fertilizers and food components from the air,are outlined.The aim is to provide new ideas and research directions from a personal perspective.

State of the art review on physiochemical and engineering characteristics of fly ash and its applications

The focus of this study is to critically review the physiochemical and engineering properties of the fly ash and its applications in various fields.The utilization of fly ash has become a widespread area,but the amount of utilization is still a serious issue.It has many beneficial qualities(such as pozzolanic property,fineness,spherical shape,lightweight,etc.),which enhance its properties and make it suitable for its utilization as a new construction material.For the bulk utilization of fly ash,it should be employed in the areas independent of any other parameters.So that,the disposal problem can be reduced significantly.The knowledge of its physiochemical characteristic helps in the judgment of appropriate fly ash for any particular type of work.Fly ash can be utilized in other areas such as asphalt concrete,geopolymer concrete,ground improvement,agricultural sector,roller compacted concrete,brick,etc.that will reduce the existing ashes,and also the disposal problem can be solved appreciably.The implementation of fly ash must be avoided below the natural ground water level and below 4°C temperature conditions.

Intensification of chemical separation engineering by nanostructured channels and nanofluidics: From theories to applications

With the development of manufacturing technology on the nanoscale, the precision of nano-devices is rapidly increasing with lower cost. Different from macroscale or microscale fluids, many specific phenomena and advantages are observed in nanofluidics. Devices and process involving and utilizing these phenomena play an important role in many fields in chemical engineering including separation, chemical analysis and transmission.In this article, we summarize the state-of-the-art progress in theoretical studies and manufacturing technologies on nanofluidics. Then we discuss practical applications of nanofluidics in many chemical engineering fields,especially in separation and encountering problems. Finally, we are looking forward to the future of nanofluidics and believe it will be more important in the separation process and the modern chemical industry.

First principles study of electronic structure, chemical bonding and elastic properties of BiOCuS

The electronic structures, chemical bonding and elastic properties of the tetragonal phase BiOCuS were investigated by using density-functional theory （DFT） within generalized gradient approximation （GGA）. The calculated energy band structures show that the tetragonal phase BiOCuS is an indirect semiconductor with the calculated band gap of about 0.503 eV. The density of states （DOS） and the partial density of states （PDOS） calculations show that the DOS near the Fermi level is mainly from the Cu-3d state. Population analysis suggests that the chemical bonding in BiOCuS has predominantly ionic character with mixed covalent-ionic character. Basic physical properties, such as lattice constant, bulk modulus, shear modulus, elastic constants, were calculated. The elastic modulus and Poisson ratio were also predicted. The results show that tetragonal phase BiOCuS is mechanically stable and behaves in a ductile manner.

Experimental and numerical interpretation on composite foundation consisting of soil-cement column within warm and ice-rich frozen soil

Affected by climate warming and anthropogenic disturbances, the thermo-mechanical stability of warm and ice-rich frozen ground along the Qinghai-Tibet engineering corridor(QTEC) is continuously decreased, which may delay the construction of major projects in the future. In this study, based on chemical stabilization of warm and icerich frozen ground, the soil-cement column(SCC) for ground improvement was recommended to reinforce the foundations in warm and ice-rich permafrost regions. To explore the validity of countermeasures mentioned above, both the original foundation and the composite foundation consisting of SCC with soil temperature of -1.0℃ were prepared in the laboratory, and then the plate loading tests were carried out. The laboratory investigations indicated that the bearing capacity of composite foundation consisting of SCC was higher than that of original foundation, and the total deformation of original foundation was greater than that of composite foundation, meaning that overall stability of foundation with warm and ice-rich frozen soil can be improved by SCC installation. Meanwhile, a numerical model considering the interface interaction between frozen soil and SCC was established for interpretating the bearing mechanism of composite foundation. The numerical investigations revealed that the SCC within composite foundation was responsible for the more applied load, and the applied load can be delivered to deeper zone in depth due to the SCC installation, which was favorable for improving the bearing characteristic of composite foundation. The investigations provide the valuable guideline for the choice of engineering supporting techniques to major projects within the QTEC.

First principles calculation of electronic structure, chemical bonding and elastic properties of ultra-incompressible Re_2P

The electronic structures, chemical bonding and elastic properties of the Co2P-type structure phase ultra-incompressible Re2P （orthorhombic phase） were investigated by density-functional theory （DFT） within generalized gradient approximation （GGA）. The calculated energy band structures show that the orthorhombic structure phase Re2P is metallic material. The density of state （DOS） and the partial density of state （PDOS） calculations show that the DOS near the Fermi level is mainly from the Re-5d state. Population analysis suggests that the chemical bonding in Re2P has predominantly covalent character with mixed covalent-ionic character. Basic physical properties, such as lattice constant, bulk modulus, shear modulus, and elastic constants Cij, were calculated. The elastic modulus and Poisson ratio were also predicted. The results show that the Co2P-type structure phase Re2P is mechanically stable and behaves in a brittle manner.

Green microfluidics in microchemical engineering for carbon neutrality

The concept of“carbon neutrality”poses a huge challenge for chemical engineering and brings great opportunities for boosting the development of novel technologies to realize carbon offsetting and reduce carbon emissions.Developing high-efficient,low-cost,energy-efficient and eco-friendly microfluidicbased microchemical engineering is of great significance.Such kind of“green microfluidics”can reduce carbon emissions from the source of raw materials and facilitate controllable and intensified microchemical engineering processes,which represents the new power for the transformation and upgrading of chemical engineering industry.Here,a brief review of green microfluidics for achieving carbon neutral microchemical engineering is presented,with specific discussions about the characteristics and feasibility of applying green microfluidics in realizing carbon neutrality.Development of green microfluidic systems are categorized and reviewed,including the construction of microfluidic devices by bio-based substrate materials and by low carbon fabrication methods,and the use of more biocompatible and nondestructive fluidic systems such as aqueous two-phase systems(ATPSs).Moreover,low carbon applications benefit from green microfluidics are summarized,ranging from separation and purification of biomolecules,high-throughput screening of chemicals and drugs,rapid and cost-effective detections,to synthesis of fine chemicals and novel materials.Finally,challenges and perspectives for further advancing green microfluidics in microchemical engineering for carbon neutrality are proposed and discussed.

Principle and engineering application of pressure relief gas drainage in low permeability outburst coal seam

With the increase in mining depth, the danger of coal and gas outbursts increases.In order to drain coal gas effectively and to eliminate the risk of coal and gas outbursts, we used a specific number of penetration boreholes for draining of pressure relief gas.Based on the principle of overlying strata movement, deformation and pressure relief, a good effect of gas drainage was obtained.The practice in the Panyi coal mine has shown that, after mining the C11coal seam as the protective layer, the relative expansion deformation value of the protected layer C13 reached 2.63%, The permeability coefficient increased 2880 times, the gas drainage rate of the C13 coal seam increased to more than 60%, the amount of gas was reduced from 13.0 to 5.2 m3/t and the gas pressure declined from 4.4 to 0.4 MPa, which caused the danger the outbursts in the coal seams to be eliminated.The result was that we achieved a safe and highly efficient mining operation of the C13 coal seam.

NUMERICAL MODELING FOR COUPLED THERMO-HYDRO-MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES (THMC) OF GEOLOGICAL MEDIA——INTERNATIONAL AND CHINESE EXPERIENCES

The coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical and chemical (THMC) processes of stress/deformation,fluid flow,temperature and geochemical reactions of the geological media,namely fractured rocks and soils,play an important role in design,construction,operation and environmental impact assessments of rock and soil engineering works such as underground nuclear waste repositories,oil/gas production and storage,geothermal energy extraction,landslides and slope stability,hydropower and water conservancy complexes,etc. This paper presents an overview of the international and Chinese experiences in numerical modeling of the coupled THMC processes for both the state-of-the-knowledge,remaining challenges and possible future prospects.

ON THE MINLP APPROACH FOR OPTIMAL DESIGN OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SYSTEMS (I)A GLOBAL OPTIMIZATION METHOD FOR NONCONVEX MINLP PROBLEMS

An algorithm for global optimization of a class of nonconvex MINLP problems is devel-oped and presented in this paper.By partitioning the variables,dual representation of the primal ofsubproblems and outer-approximation strategy are used to develop a representative relaxed iterativeproblem.Then the original MINLP problem is replaced by a series of subproblems and relaxediterative problems.By exploiting the particular form of the nonconvex MINLP problem,the feasibleregion of this problem is explicitly included in the representative problem,thus the inconvenienceencountered with the GBD method can be avoided.The proposed method is illustrated andinterpreted geometrically with an example problem.

Intercalation Assembly and Chemical Product Engineering of Layered Intercalated Functional Materials Based on Efficient Utilization of Magnesium Resources in Salt Lakes

1 Introduction Magnesium salts are very important by-product of salt lake industry in West China.Nearly 200 million cubic meters of waste brine are released to the environment

The Chemical Principle of Green Coal Power

Coal is still a major source of energy, also a major source of SO_2, NOx and CO_2 emission though. Removal of SO_2 and NOx doubled the cost of power generation, and capture of CO_2 is equivalent to double the market price of power coal. The GCP （green coal power） is the power generated in coal-combustion with zero emission. The author indicates that it is possible to make coal-fired power plants emission free based on thermodynamic analysis and purposely designed experiments using SFG （simulated flue gases）. It is concluded in the study that all SO_2 and NOx in the post-combustion flue gas are reduced to inoffensive substances at temperature lower than 750 ℃ when contacting carbon and elemental sulfur is separated in succeeded cooling of flue gas at temperatures 200-400 ℃, and the ultrafine dusts are trapped in condensed water at temperature blow 100 ℃. Based on chemical engineering expertise the author is sure that the cost for removing acid gases is much lower than any clean coal technologies known to today. Instead of capture, the remained CO_2 is converted to CO in the second time contact with carbon at 900-950 ℃. CO is the raw material of chemical synthesis and, thus, CO_2 is stored in chemical products such as methanol, fertilizer, plastics, etc. The simple and low-cost processing allows GCP utilized in practice easily.

A Preliminary Study on Systems Engineering-Based Method for the Evaluation of Allelopathic Potential in Crops and Its Application

The objective of this study was to develop a method to assess and analyze the total allelopathic potential of crop germplasm and to test this method on four winter wheat accessions commonly planted in the Loess Plateau. A systems engineering model was developed and used to evaluate the total allelopathic potential of crop cultivars. In addition, a method for quantifying the total allelopathic potential in crop accessions was presented. Total allelopathic potential of four winter wheat accessions from the Loess Plateau was estimated and compared using a systems theory approach. The model assessed allelopathic potential in different parts of the plants from the time wheat turned green in spring until maturity. Results from these models indicated that the four wheat accessions had very weak allelopathic potential. Allelopathic potential declined in the order Xiaoyan 22 〉 Ningdong 1 〉 Fengchan 3 〉 Bima 1. This system engineering evaluation method allows for the assessment of allelopathic potential among crop varieties. It will help plant breeders to select and develop allelopathic crop accessions that combine weed suppression properties with agronomic traits related to yield and quality.

First principles calculation on electronic structure,chemical bonding,elastic and optical properties of novel tungsten triboride

The electronic structures,chemical bonding,elastic and optical properties of the novel hP24 phase WB3 were investigated by using density-functional theory(DFT) within generalized gradient approximation(GGA).The calculated energy band structures show that the hP24 phase WB3 is metallic material.The density of state(DOS) and the partial density of state(PDOS) calculations show that the DOS near the Fermi level is mainly from the W 5d and B 2p states.Population analysis suggests that the chemical bonding in hP24-WB3 has predominantly covalent characteristics with mixed covalent-ionic characteristics.Basic physical properties,such as lattice constant,bulk modulus,shear modulus and elastic constants Cij were calculated.The elastic modulus E and Poisson ratio υ were also predicted.The results show that hP24-WB3 phase is mechanically stable and behaves in a brittle manner.Detailed analysis of all optical functions reveals that WB3 is a better dielectric material,and reflectivity spectra show that WB3 can be promised as good coating material in the energy regions of 8.5-11.4 eV and 14.5-15.5 eV.

Software Engineering Principles: Do They Meet Engineering Criteria?

As a discipline, software engineering is not as mature as other engineering disciplines, and it still lacks consensus on a well-recognized set of fundamental principles. A 2006 analysis surveyed and analyzed 308 separate proposals for principles of software engineering, of which only thirty-four met the criteria to be recognized as such. This paper reports on a further analysis of these thirty-four candidate principles using two sets of engineering criteria derived from: A) the engineering categories of knowledge defined by Vincenti in his analysis of engineering foundations;and B) the joint IEEE and ACM software engineering curriculum. The outcome of this analysis is a proposed set of nine software engineering principles that conform to engineering criteria.

Theory and Application of Numerical Simulation of Chemical Flooding in High Temperature and High Salt Reservoirs

Applications, theoretical analysis and numerical methods are introduced for the simulation of mechanical models and principles of the porous flow in high temperature, high salt, complicated geology and large-scale reservoirs in this paper. Considering petroleum geology, geochemistry, computational permeation fluid mechanics and computer technology, we state the models of permeation fluid mechanics and put forward a sequence of implicit upwind difference iteration schemes based on refined fractional steps of the upstream, which can compute the pressures, the saturation and the concentrations of different chemistry components. A type of software applicable in major industries has been completed and carried out in numerical analysis and simulations of oil extraction in Shengli Oil-field, which brings huge economic benefits and social benefits. This software gives many characters: spatial steps are taken as ten meters, the number of nodes is up to hundreds of thousands and simulation time period can be tens of years and the high-order accuracy can be promised in numerical data. Precise analysis is present for simplified models of this type and that provides a tool to solve the international famous problem.

Ethical Standards for Publication in Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering

TiC powder was synthesized by mechanical alloying of titanium and asphalt in this paper. Deoiled asphalt as a carbon source not only provided element C in the fabrication of TiC but also cracked itself by the mechanical alloying process. The results of X-ray diffraction demonstrated the synthesis of cubic TiC. Gas phase chromatography showed that the discharged gas was composed of low molecular weight hydrocarbons, including H2, CH4 and C2H6. The formation mechanism of titanium carbide by mechanical alloying, and the thermodynamic and kinetics were discussed. These results showed that mechanical alloying is a promising method to prepare TiC and to crack asphalt with some light fraction byproducts.

A PROPOSAL FOR DEVELOPING CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING OF CHINA'S SALT LAKES

The author puts forward a proposal for developing chemistry and chemical engineering of China’s salt lakes on the basis of an investigation into exploitation and utilization of salt lake resources all over the world. It contains the subjects of setting up an engineering research center, mainly developing leading products, giving priority to the development of a chemical industry by using Qinghai salt lake resources, actively popularizing results, stressing basic research and systematic management.

The Principle of Square Hole Machining and It＇s Tooling Structure Design

In order to meet the rapid needs of processing square hole in mechanical equipment, the paper expounds the square hole processing method： planetary wheel method, and analyze the principle of tooling structure and process with computer graphics parameters design. The results that, as long as the appropriate parameters, using the above method not only can punch the square hole, can also be processed triangle, the five angle and hexagonal regular polygon holes. The square hole processing method can provide theoretical basis and engineering reliable reference for related engineering and technical personnel.