Supply of terrigenous organic matter from tidal flat to the marine environment:An example of neritic source rocks in the Eocene Pinghu Formation,Xihu Depression,East China Sea Shelf Basin

The terrigenously-dominated marine shales which were deposited in the lower Eocene Pinghu Formation were thought to be a potential source rock in the Xihu Depression of the East China Sea Shelf Basin.However,the exceptionally high total organic carbon content(TOC,>6%on average)of the tidal sand ridge samples was not compatible with their sedimentary environment,indicating coal-bearing sedimentary debris may have been transferred from the coast to the ocean.In this study,new sights into the origins and supply of organic materials in the coastal environment were proposed in the neritic organic matter of the Eocene Pinghu Formation.A discriminant model was developed using plynofacies analysis data to pinpoint the source of organic materials in marine source rocks.The discrimination results suggested that marine mudstones were associated with tidal flat mudstones rather than deltaic ones.The biomarker characteristics of mudstones deposited in various environments support this assertion,indicating that the supply of plant materials in tidal flats is the primary organic matter source for the marine environment.The organic matter abundance was elevated in tidal flats due to their superior preservation conditions.Additionally,the lithological assemblage of tidal flats suggests that tidal currents can scour marshes and then transport dispersed terrigenous organic materials to neritic areas.These findings indicate that coal-bearing sedimentary debris was likely transferred from the coast to the ocean,and tidal currents are thought to be the dominant mechanism driving organic matter from the tidal to the marine environment.

Long-term operation optimization of circulating cooling water systems under fouling conditions

Fouling caused by excess metal ions in hard water can negatively impact the performance of the circulating cooling water system(CCWS)by depositing ions on the heat exchanger's surface.Currently,the operation optimization of CCWS often prioritizes short-term flow velocity optimization for minimizing power consumption,without considering fouling.However,low flow velocity promotes fouling.Therefore,it's crucial to balance fouling and energy/water conservation for optimal CCWS long-term operation.This study proposes a mixed-integer nonlinear programming(MINLP)model to achieve this goal.The model considers fouling in the pipeline,dynamic concentration cycle,and variable frequency drive to optimize the synergy between heat transfer,pressure drop,and fouling.By optimizing the concentration cycle of the CCWS,water conservation and fouling control can be achieved.The model can obtain the optimal operating parameters for different operation intervals,including the number of pumps,frequency,and valve local resistance coefficient.Sensitivity experiments on cycle and environmental temperature reveal that as the cycle increases,the marginal benefits of energy/water conservation decrease.In periods with minimal impact on fouling rate,energy/water conservation can be achieved by increasing the cycle while maintaining a low fouling rate.Overall,the proposed model has significant energy/water saving effects and can comprehensively optimize the CCWS through its incorporation of fouling and cycle optimization.

Electrochemical Performance and EIS Analysis of Commercial Lithium-Ion Battery

Degradation behavior is the main technical problem in the field of commercial application of lithiumion batteries. According to the characteristics of voltage, discharge capacity and inner resistance during the charge/discharge process of commercial lithium-ion batteries of mobile telephone, degradation analysis and related mechanisms are put forward and discussed in the paper. The impedance spectra of prismatic commercial lithium-ion batteries are measured at various state of charge after different charge/discharge cycles. The incastared impedance spectra are discussed with a proposed equivalent circuit. Results indicated that the structure change of electrode materials or swell and shrink of crystal lattice, decompose of electrolyte, dissolution of active materials and solid electrolyte interphase film formation are the main reasons leading to the capacity degradation.

Microstructure and electrochemical performances of LiF-coated spinel LiMn_2O_4

LiF-coated LiMn2O4 samples were prepared via a chemical method. X-ray diffraction(XRD) patterns show that the bare LiMn2O4 and the LiF-coated LiMn2O4 samples are all spinel structure in Fd 3mspace group. The apparent morphologies,the spectroscopic properties and the LiF distributions of the as-prepared samples were studied by scanning electronic microscopy(SEM),Fourier infrared spectroscopy(FTIR),transmission electronic microscopy(TEM),selected area electron diffractometry(SAED) respectively. The LiF-coated LiMn2O4 gets a more stable surface than bare LiMn2O4,and changes the interaction between the cathode material and the electrolyte. Therefore,it can endure overcharge in the secondary lithium batteries,and achieve better electrochemical performances even when charged to 4.7 V and 4.9 V.

Preparation and characterization of a mixing soft-segment waterborne polyurethane polymer electrolyte

The mixing soft-segment WPU （waterborne polyurethane） polymer electrolytes were synthesized by using PEO （poly（ethylene oxide）） and PDMS （polydimethylsiloxane） as the soft segments. These polymer electrolytes exhibit good thermal and electrochemical stabilit）＇. The conductivity of the gel polymer electrolyte is 2.52 × 10^-3 S/cm at 25 ℃ with the LiTFSI/（DMC ＋ EC） content of 130%.

Experimental determination of solubilities and＇supersolubilities of 2,2＇,4,4＇,6,6＇-hexanitrostilbene in different organic solvents

The laser monitor technique was used to determine solubilities and supersolubilities of HNS in N,N-dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, acetonitrile, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and 1,4-butyrolactone. The experimental solubility values were correlated with λh equation, modified Apelblat equation and NRTL model. Furthermore, the dissolution enthalpy, dissolution entropy and the Gibbs energy of HNS were calculated by the experimental data. The results show that the solubilities of HNS in the above solvents increase with the increasing temperature. Besides, at the same temperature, the order of solubility is N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone > dimethyl sulfoxide > N,N-dimethylformamide > 1,4-butyrolactone > acetonitrile. The temperature dependence of predicted solubility is in agreement with the experimental data.

Electrochemical performance of sulfur composite cathode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries

The structure and characteristic of carbon materials have a direct influence on the electrochemical performance of sulfur-carbon composite electrode materials for lithium-sulfur battery. In this paper, sulfur composite has been synthesized by heating a mixture of elemental sulfur and activated carbon, which is characterized as high specific surface area and microporous structure. The composite, contained 70% sulfur, as cathode in a lithium cell based on organic liquid electrolyte was tested at room temperature. It showed two reduction peaks at 2.05 V and 2.35 V, one oxidation peak at 2.4 V during cyclic voltammogram test. The initial discharge specific capacity was 1180.8 mAh g-1 and the utilization of electrochemically active sulfur was about 70.6% assuming a complete reaction to the product of Li2S. The specific capacity still kept as high as 720.4 mAh g^-1 after 60 cycles retaining 61% of the initial discharge capacity.

Synthesis and characterization of mixing soft-segmented waterborne polyurethane polymer electrolyte with room temperature ionic liquid

Composite polymer electrolytes based on mixing soft-segment waterborne polyurethane （WPU） and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[（trifluoromethyl）sulfonyl]imide （BMImTFSI） have been prepared and characterized. The addition of BMImTFSI results in an increase of the ionic conductivity. At high BMImTFSI concentration （BMImTFSI/WPU = 3 in weight ratio）, the ionic conductivity reaches 4.27 × 10^-3 S/cm at 30 ℃. These composite polymer electrolytes exhibit good thermal and electrochemical stability, which are high enough to be applied in lithium batteries.

Degradation analysis of nickel/metal hydride battery and its electrodes materials

The results indicate that during charge and discharge, the expansion of Ni（OH）2 crystal, pulverization of MH alloy particles and falling off from current collector are identified as the main causes for deterioration of Ni/MH batteries. Meanwhile, the contact resistance of inner battery increases due to the deterioration of the negative and positive electrode, and these changes lead to increasing battery body temperature and damaging its electrode and separator. The fibre’s expansion and hole’s diminishment of battery’s separator after degradation will affect the electrochemical performance and cycle life of Ni/MH batteries.

Cyclic voltammetry studies on 4 V and 5 V plateaus of non-stoichiometric spinel Li_(1+x)Mn_(2-y)O_4

Li1+xMn2?yO4 spinels with various Li/Mn ratios were synthesized by a solid-state reaction. By X-ray diffraction analysis, Li2MnO3 was detected as a second phase with increasing the Li/Mn ratio; and the role of Li2MnO3 in Li1+xMn2-yO4 spinel was discussed. A slow scanning cyclic voltammetry(CV) at the rate of 0.1 mV/s was adopted to characterize the evolutions of 4 V and 5 V plateaus of Li1+xMn2-yO4 spinels. An additional Li+ insertion in 4 V region was observed in both Li-lack and Li-rich spinels at 3.95 V, which is different from the general Li+ insertion with weak Li-Li interaction and strong Li-Li interaction; and this plateau disappeared in the subsequent cycles. The 4.4 V/3.8 V plateaus correspondent to Li+ insertion and extraction of Li2MnO3 were discussed, and these plateaus have a high reversibility with cycling. The 5 V plateau was found only in the Li-rich samples, and this plateau has a tendency to emerge at higher voltage region with increasing Li/Mn ratio.

Numerical Study on the Mixing Performance of Screw Mixing Elements and Conventional Screw Elements

The flows of rigid polyvinyl chloride （R-PVC） in co-rotating twin screw extruders with screw mixing elements and regular screw elements were simulated by using the finite element method. The three-dimensional, non-isothermal flow fields of R-PVC in the two kinds of screw elements were calculated. The mixing performance of each type of element was studied by the particle tracking analysis method. The results show that the temperature distribution and shear-rate distribution are more uniform in the flow channel with screw mixing elements than in the flow channel with regular screw elements. Screw mixing elements provide better distributive and dispersive mixing performance but worse conveying capacity than regular screw elements.

Online prediction for contamination of chlortetracycline fermentation based on Dezert–Smarandache theory

Fermentative production of chlortetracycline is a complex fed-batch bioprocess. It generally takes over 90 h for cultivation and is often contaminated by undesired microorganisms. Once the fermentation system is contaminated to certain extent, the product quality and yield will be seriously affected, leading to a substantial economic loss. Using information fusion based on the Dezer–Smarandache theory, self-recursive wavelet neural network and unscented kalman filter, a novel method for online prediction of contamination is developed. All state variables of culture process involving easy-to-measure and difficult-to-measure variables commonly obtained with soft-sensors present their contamination symptoms. By extracting and fusing latent information from the changing trend of each variable, integral and accurate prediction results for contamination can be achieved. This makes preventive and corrective measures be taken promptly. The field experimental results show that the method can be used to detect the contamination in time, reducing production loss and enhancing economic efficiency.

Numerical study on mixing performance of screw elements in intermeshing counter-rotating and co-rotating twin-screw extrudes

The flow process of unplasticized polyvinyl chloride （U PVC） through the mixing zone of intermeshing counter rotating and co rotating twin screw extruders （TSEs） were numerically simula ted by the finite element method. Three dimensional isothermal flow field of U-PVC in two kinds of TSE was calculated. The mixing performance of the screw elements of the extruders was statistically analyzed by particle tracking method. The dispersive mixing performance was characterized by the mixing index, the logarithm of stretching, and the segregation scale. The distributive mixing per forulance was characterized by the resident time distribution. The results indicate that the counter rotating TSE can build higher pressure and generate higher axial velocity and shear rate, whereas the co rotating TSE has better performance in dispersive and distributive mixing.

Preparation and characterization of Pt-WO_3/C catalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells

Three co-impregnation/chemical reduction methods in acidic solutions of pH 〈 1,including ethylene glycol （EG）,NaBH4,and HCOOH,were compared for Pt-WO3/C catalysts.Pt-WO3/C catalysts containing 10 wt.% and 20 wt.% platinum per carbon were prepared by the three methods; their morphology and electrocatalytic activities were characterized.The 20 wt.% Pt-WO3/C catalyst prepared by the co-impregnation/EG method presented the optimal dispersion with an average particle size of 4.6 nm and subsequently the best electrocatalytic activity,and so,it was further characterized.Its anodic peak current density for ethanol oxidation from linear sweep voltammetry （LSV） is 7.9 mA·cm^-2,which is 1.4 and 5.2 times as high as those of the catalysts prepared by co-impregnation/NaBH4 and co-impregnation/ HCOOH reduction methods,2.1 times as high as that of the 10 wt.% Pt-WO3/C catalyst prepared by co-impregnation/EG method,respectively.

Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic TiO_2/SiO_2/NiFe_2O_4 Composite Photocatalysts

Magnetic TiO2/SiO2/NiFe204 composite photocatalytic particles with high crystalline TiO2 shell were synthesized via a mild solution route. The prepared composite particles were characterized with X-ray diffraction（XRD）, transmission electron microscopy（TEM）, high resolution transmission electron microscopy（HRTEM）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, ultraviolet-visible（UV-Vis） spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer（VSM）. The results show that the obtained TiO2/SiO2/NiFe2O4 composite particles were composed of spherical nanoparticles, about 30 nm in diameter, with several NiFe/O4 fine particles about 20 nm in diameter as cores and silica as coatings and barrier layers between the magnetic cores and titania shells. The photocatalytic activity of the composite photocatalytic particles was also investigated for the degradation of Basic Violet 5BN（BV5） under UV irradiation. About 97% of original BV5 decomposed in 360 min in the presence of magnetic composite nanoparticles under UV light. The synthesized magnetic composite nanoparticles exhibited high photocatalytic efficiency that would find potential application to cleaning polluted water with the help of magnetic separation.

Hollow calcium carbonate microspheres prepared in the presence of polyoxyethylene(20) sorbitan monolaurate and sodium dodecyl sulfate

Hollow calcium carbonate （ CaCO3 ） microspheres were prepared in aqueous solution with the presence of polyoxyethylene （20） sorbitan monolaurate （ Tween20 ） and sodium dodecyl sulfate （SDS）. The microspheres were characterized with X-ray diffraction （XRD） , scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and transmission electron microscope （TEM）. The X-ray diffraction data showed that the hollow CaCO3 microsphere consisted of calcite crystals. The influence of Tween20 and SDS concentrations on the morphology of CaCO3 crystals was investigated. The results suggested that the ＂core-shell model＂ of Tween20/SDS micelle aggregated as templates, which could control the growth of hollow CaCO3 microspheres. The interaction between mixed surfactants and calcium ions played a critical role in organizing calcium carbonate in microscopic level.

Application of multi-stage bio-filtration system for sewage treatment and analysis of the microbial community

The conventional fixed-bed biofilm process has disadvantages of easily blocked,high headloss and short operation cycle.For overcoming these disadvantages,a multi-stage biofilm reactor(MSBFR),in which the lightweight floating filter was dominant,was set up and operated.For detail investigation of the system when treating municipal wastewater,the succession characteristic of microbial community was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction(PCR)-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis(DGGE)method.The results showed that the process had high efficiency to removal COD,SS and NH4+-N.The concentration of COD,SS and NH4-N in effluent were maintained lower than 40 mg/L,5 mg/L and 2 mg/L even though the concentration of COD,SS and NH4+-N in influent were 232-663 mg/L,105-245 mg/L and 23.7-62.7 mg/L,respectively,and the empty bed retention time was 3 h.Furthermore,biofilm samples taken from the column 2nd in height were analyzed by PCR-DGGE.The result of PCR-DGGE analysis showed that the microbial community had a little change in height and the dominant groups were Paracoccus sp.,Lactobacillus delbrueckii,Pseudomonas sp.and Bacteroidetes bacterium.

Surface Modification Mechanism of Fine Coal by Electrochemical Methods

In order to reveal the surface modification mechanism of fine coal by electrochemical methods, the structural changes of the coal surface before and after electrochemical modification were investigated by Fourier Transform In- frared Spectra (FTIR) and Raman Spectra. The results show that under certain electrochemical conditions, the oxy- gen-containing functional group in the coal structure and the oxygen content of absorption could be reduced and the floatability of coal improved. At the same time, the sulfur in the coal was reduced to the hydrophilic S2– which could be separated easily from coal. Thus electrochemical modification methods could be used to change the structure and func- tional group on the coal surface and to enhance the floatability of coal.

Solvent extraction of lanthanum and cerium ions from hydrochloric acidic aqueous solutions using partly saponified 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester

In order to clarify the extraction process with saponified extractant, the solvent extraction experiments of rare earth elements(REEs), lanthanum and cerium, by using partly saponified 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester(EHEHPA, HL) from hydrochloric acidic solutions have been performed. The concentration of initial aqueous rare earth ion was in a range of 0.0010–0.1000 mol·L^(-1); EHEHPA in a range of 0.2877–0.8631 mol·L^(-1) with saponification rate of 0.3(mole fraction), and the initial aqueous p H in a range of 1.00–4.00. Firstly, the extracted species were determined by the saturation extraction capacity method. Secondly, according to the equilibrium aqueous pH values, the extraction processes were divided into three different categories: extraction with saponified EHEHPA, extraction with un-saponified EHEHPA, and hydrolysis process. Finally, for the first two processes, in order to predict the distribution ratio, two semi-empirical calculation models were developed with.The calculation results are in good agreement well with the experimental data.

Syntheses of Ferrocenyl Schiff Bases Using Molecular Sieves and AlCl_3 as Catalysts

In order to study the donor ability of ferrocenylimines as directing ortho metalation group（DMG） to lithium alkylide to prepare planar chiral ferrocene, a series of ferrocenyl schiff bases were synthesized by new methods using molecular sieves（0.4nm） and AlCl3 as catalysts. The reaction periods were reduced using these two catalysts in contrast with Al2O3, which was a traditional method used in the literature. In addition, as an important feature of these schiff bases, we found that they were unstable as oils in air or when filtrated through silica gel, but were stable as solids. The structures of the new compounds were confirmed by IR, ^1H NMR and HRMS.