Investigation into the Simulation and Mechanisms of Metal-Organic Framework Membrane for Natural Gas Dehydration.

Natural gas dehydration is a critical process in natural gas extraction and transportation, and the membrane separation method is the most suitable technology for gas dehydration. In this paper, based on molecular dynamics theory, we investigate the performance of a metal-organic composite membrane (ZIF-90 membrane) in natural gas dehydration. The paper elucidates the adsorption, diffusion, permeation, and separation mechanisms of water and methane with the ZIF-90 membrane, and clarifies the influence of temperature on gas separation.

Thermally Annealed High-Aspect-Ratio ZIF-8 Nanoplates-Incorporated Mixed Matrix Membranes for Improved H/CO Selectivity.

The main challenge in the preparation of MOF-based mixed matrix membranes is to construct a good interface morphology to improve the gas separation performance and stability of the membranes. Herein, high-aspect-ratio ZIF-8 nanoplates for H/CO separation membranes were synthesized by direct template conversion. The ZIF-8 nanoplates were prepared with the commercial Matrimid polymer to form MMMs by the flat scraping method.

High performance of membrane capacitive deionization with ZnS/g-CN composite electrodes.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is considered a promising technology for desalination of sea or brackish water. In this study, a ZnS/g-CN composite was synthesized through a one-step high-temperature method and used as the main material to fabricate CDI electrodes. The results of SEM and TEM showed that spherical-like nanoparticles of ZnS were uniformly distributed on the g-CN sheet.

Study on the potential of sludge-derived humic acid as energy storage material.

As one of the main methods for sludge treatment, recovery of renewable biogas energy by anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising strategy to deal with the conflict between carbon neutralization and sharply increase of sewage sludge. Humic acid (HA) in sludge is a major inhibitor of biogas yields and needs to be removed or pretreated. However, as the graphene oxide-like material, HA is an ideal precursor for the preparation of energy storage materials with high performance.

Development of an efficient method for separation and purification of cordycepin from liquid fermentation of and analysis of cordycepin antitumor activity.

Cordycepin (3 '-deoxyadenosine) is the main active component of , which is a chemical marker for quality detection of and has important medicinal development value. Existing methods for obtaining cordycepin are complex and costly. In this study, an economical and simple method for separation and purification of cordycepin from fermentation liquid through physical crystallization was explored.

Efficient catalysts of surface hydrophobic Cu-BTC with coordinatively unsaturated Cu(I) sites for the direct oxidation of methane.

Selective oxidation of methane to organic oxygenates over metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) catalysts at low temperature is a challenging topic in the field of C1 chemistry because of the inferior stability of MOFs. Modifying the surface of Cu-BTC via hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) at 235 °C under vacuum not only can dramatically improve its catalytic cycle stability in a liquid phase but also generate coordinatively unsaturated Cu(I) sites, which significantly enhances the catalytic activity of Cu-BTC catalyst. The results of spectroscopy characterizations and theoretical calculation proved that the coordinatively unsaturated Cu(I) sites made HO dissociative into •OH, which formed Cu(II)-O active species by combining with coordinatively unsaturated Cu(I) sites for activating the C-H bond of methane.

Roseococcus pinisoli sp. nov., lacking pufL and pufM bacteriochlorophyll a: synthesizing genes.

A Gram-stain-negative, cocci-to-oval-shaped bacterial strain, designated XZZS9, was isolated from the rhizosphere soil of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica and characterized taxonomically using a polyphasic approach. Growth occurred at 20-35 °C (optimum, 28 °C), pH 6.

Sphingomonas quercus sp. nov., Isolated from Rhizosphere Soil of Quercus mongolica.

Strain XMGL2, isolated from rhizosphere soil of Quercus mongolica in China, was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells were Gram-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming, and rod-shaped. Growth occurred at 20-37 °C (optimum, 28 °C), pH 5.

Investigation and evaluation of membrane fouling in a microbial fuel cell-membrane bioreactor systems (MFC-MBR).

Two membrane bioreactors with and without adding an electric circuit (named as MFC-MBR and C-MBR, respectively) were established to investigate the effects of micro-electric field on membrane fouling. With the aeration rate of 1.5 L/min, the synergistic effect of aeration and micro-electric field was the best in reducing membrane fouling and COD in treatment of a simulated phenol wastewater.

A non-symbiotic novel species, Rhizobium populisoli sp. nov., isolated from rhizosphere soil of Populus popularis.

Strain XQZ8, isolated from the rhizosphere soil of a Populus popularis plant in China, was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells were Gram-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming, and rod-shaped. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain XQZ8 was related to members of the genus Rhizobium and had the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Rhizobium smilacinae PTYR-5 (96.

Ammonia-nitrogen removal from water with gCN-rGO-TiO Z-scheme system via photocatalytic nitrification-denitrification process.

Photocatalytic removal of NH-N is expected to be an alternative to the biological method that accompanied with high energy consumption and secondary pollution. However, NH-N is always oxidized into nitrate and nitrite during the photocatalytic processes, which also need to be removed from the water. Herein, the g-CN/rGO/TiO Z-scheme photocatalytic system was prepared and used for the NH-N removal.

Study of membrane fouling mechanism during the phenol degradation in microbial fuel cell and membrane bioreactor coupling system.

This study evaluated the feasibility of phenol degradation in microbial fuel cell (MFC) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) coupling system, and explored the mechanism of MBR membrane fouling. Four aspects were researched in open and closed circuit conditions: the degradation capacity of the coupling system, the increase of trans-membrane pressure (TMP), and the adhesion of phenol degradation products and microorganisms on the membrane. The results showed that the degradation of phenol and COD in the closed circuit coupling system was higher than that in the open circuit.

Isolation and Identification of a High-Yield Ethyl Caproate-Producing Yeast From and Optimization of Its Fermentation.

is an important fermented product in China. A yeast named YX3307 that is capable of producing a large amount of ethyl caproate (EC) was isolated from , a crude fermentation starter for . This yeast was identified as on the basis of its morphological properties, physiological and biochemical characteristics, and 26S rDNA sequence.

Removal of antipyrine through two-dimensional and three-dimensional electrolysis: comparison, modification, and improvement.

In this work, removal of antipyrine was studied through two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) electrolysis. 2D electrolysis was firstly studied with the Ti/SnO-TaO-IrO anode as working electrode. Operating parameters affecting antipyrine removal, such as current density, electrode distance, and initial concentration of antipyrine, were investigated and optimized.

Effects of aging on the quality of roasted sesame-like flavor Daqu.

Background: Daqu, the saccharification, fermentation, and aroma-producing agents for Baijiu brewing, is prepared using a complex process. Aging is important for improving the quality of Daqu, but its impact has rarely been studied. This study investigated changes in the physicochemical properties, flavor compounds, and microbial communities during aging of Daqu with a roasted sesame-like flavor.

An SSVEP-BCI in Augmented Reality.

Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEP) based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) has achieved very high information transmission rate (ITR), but its portability and fundamental interactions with the surrounding environment were limited. The combination of Augmented Reality (AR) and BCI is expected to solve these problems. In this paper, we combined AR with the SSVEP-BCI to build a more portable and natural BCI system in Microsoft HoloLens.

A two-step idle-state detection method for SSVEP BCI.

The role of detecting work/idle state in asynchronous Steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) Brain-computer interface (BCI) or a self-paced SSVEP BCI has received increased attention in recent years. This study proposed a tree structure method which identifies the work/idle state based on the frequency recognition to detect work/idle state. Firstly, a frequency recognition estimated with task-related component analysis (TRCA).

A Cross-Subject SSVEP-BCI Based on Task Related Component Analysis.

SSVEP-BCIs have attracted extensive attention because of high information transfer rate. High-speed BCIs need to collect sufficient user's own data to train optimal subject-specific parameters. However, one of the challenges which limits the real-life application of BCIs is the time-consuming and tiring calibration process.

Iron-montmorillonite treated corn straw biochar: Interfacial chemical behavior and stability.

In this study, corn straw biomass was co-pyrolyzed with a clay mineral (montmorillonite) in the presence of iron-bearing materials (FeCl, magnetite and iron acetylacetone) and the prepared iron-montmorillonite biochars were characterized for their interfacial behavior. The results showed that, by adding iron to the pyrolysis process, organometallic complexes such as Fe-O-C were generated on the surface of biochars. All the iron-montmorillonite biochars were also shown to enhance the oxidation resistance likely by the increased relative contents of CO and COOH from 0% and 3.

An online SSVEP-BCI system in an optical see-through augmented reality environment.

Objective: This study aimed to design and evaluate a high-speed online steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) in an optical see-through (OST) augmented reality (AR) environment.

Approach: An eight-class BCI was designed in an OST-AR headset which is wearable and allows users to see the user interface of the BCI and the device to be controlled in the same view field via the OST head-mounted display. The accuracies, information transfer rates (ITRs), and SSVEP signal characteristics of the AR-BCI were evaluated and compared with a computer screen-based BCI implemented with a laptop in offline and online cue-guided tasks.

Enhanced production of ethyl acetate using co-culture of Wickerhamomyces anomalus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The style and quality of Baijiu is greatly influenced by ethyl acetate. Therefore, improving and controlling the ethyl acetate levels in Baijiu is important. This study investigated ethyl acetate production using a co-culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y3401 and Wickerhamomyces anomalus Y3604.

Performance of microbial fuel cells based on the operational parameters of biocathode during simultaneous Congo red decolorization and electricity generation.

A biocathode microbial fuel cell was constructed to investigate Congo red decolorization and power generation under different cathode operational parameters. The results showed that the suspended sludge in the cathode could improve the performance of the microbial fuel cell for electricity generation but had a negligible effect on the Congo red decolorization. The maximum voltage increased as the aeration rate was increased up to 100 mL/min.

Improving Ethyl Acetate Production in Manufacture by and Mixed Culture Fermentations.

Ethyl acetate content has strong influence on the style and quality of . Therefore, this study investigated the effect of Y3401 on the production of ethyl acetate by Y3604. Analysis of cell growth showed that Y3401 influences Y3604 by nutrient competition and inhibition by metabolites, while the effect of Y3604 on Y3401 was mainly competition for nutrients.

Adjustable Tribological Behavior of Glucose-Sensitive Hydrogels.

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels have been considered to have various applications in numerous fields. In the present work, a double-network (DN) hydrogel has been synthesized. The copolymers of 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) and acrylamide (AM) [P(AMPS- co-AM)] are prepared as the 1st network and poly(acrylic acid) as the 2nd network.

Integrating electrochemical oxidation into forward osmosis process for removal of trace antibiotics in wastewater.

During the rejection of trace pharmaceutical contaminants from wastewater by forward osmosis (FO), disposal of the FO concentrate was still an unsolved issue. In this study, by integrating the advantages of forward osmosis and electrochemical oxidation, a forward osmosis process with the function of electrochemical oxidation (FOwEO) was established for the first time to achieve the aim of rejection of trace antibiotics from wastewater and treatment of the concentrate at the same time. Results demonstrated that FOwEO (current density J=1 mA cm(-2)) exhibited excellent rejections of antibiotics (>98%) regardless of different operation conditions, and above all, antibiotics in the concentrate were well degraded (>99%) at the end of experiment (after 3h).