Morphological analysis of mercury in solid wastes from natural gas processing plants: optimization of a temperature-programmed decomposition and desorption method.

Determination of mercury species over solid waste from natural gas processing plants is a prerequisite for solid waste decontamination and mercury recycling. The temperature-programmed decomposition and desorption method (TPDD) is a promising technique to determine the mercury species over solid waste. Mercury species over solid wastes with complex components and similar desorption temperature, however, cannot always be determined using only the TPDD method.

Construction of Pt/Ni/NiFeO/C nanocomposite with one dimensional hollow structure for portable glucose sensing application.

Designing portable electrochemical sensors combined with highly efficient glucose oxidation electrodes offers a significant opportunity for convenient glucose detection. In this report, we present the design and preparation of platinum deposited Ni/NiFeO/Carbon composite (Pt/Ni/NiFeO/C) derived from Ni/Fe metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) followed by Pt deposition. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electron microscopy (EM) were utilized to analyze the crystal structure, morphology, and chemical composition of the resulting materials.

Electrochemical sensors based on platinum-coated MOF-derived nickel-/N-doped carbon nanotubes (Pt/Ni/NCNTs) for sensitive nitrite detection.

As excess nitrite has a serious threat to the human health and environment, constructing novel electrochemical sensors for sensitive nitrite detection is of great importance. In this report, platinum nanoparticles were deposited on nickel-/N-doped carbon nanotubes, which were obtained through a self-catalytically grown process with Ni-MOF as precursors. The as-prepared Pt/Ni/NCNTs were applied as amperometric sensors and presented superior sensing properties for nitrite detection.

Particulate Projectiles Driven by Cavitation Bubbles.

The removal of surface-attached particles with cavitation bubbles is usually attributed to the jetting or shear stresses when bubbles collapse. In this Letter, we report an unexpected phenomenon that millimeter-sized spherical particles made of heavy metals (e.g.

PMS activation by magnetic cobalt-N-doped carbon composite for ultra-efficient degradation of refractory organic pollutant: Mechanisms and identification of intermediates.

Refractory organic pollutant effluent has led to severe water pollution. In this study, magnetic Co-N-doped carbon hybrid catalysts (Co-NC-x) were fabricated using a facile cation exchange combined pyrolysis and self-reduction technique to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for rehabilitation of the water environment. Factors affecting the catalytic activity of the Co-NC-850 were comprehensively examined.

ZnCl enabled synthesis of activated carbons from ion-exchange resin for efficient removal of Cu ions from water via capacitive deionization.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising method to remove metal contaminants in water. Herein, we report on the preparation of activated carbon from cation-exchange resin by introducing ZnCl via ion exchange followed by heat treatment and CO activation, which is evaluated for removal of Cu in water via CDI technology. The results have shown that both the heat treatment and the CO activation are helpful to tune the pore structure of the activated carbons in terms of ions adsorption and transportation.

Magnetic FeO-N-doped carbon sphere composite for tetracycline degradation by enhancing catalytic activity for peroxymonosulfate: A dominant non-radical mechanism.

The design of sustainable, effective and recyclable hybrid catalysts for advanced oxidation processes is highly significant for remediation of the water environment. In this study, we synthesized magnetic FeO-N-doped carbon sphere composite catalysts (FeO-NCS-x) for efficient removal of tetracycline by activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS). The FeO-NCS-x composite was obtained by facile hydrothermal treatment of chitosan-iron complexes followed by pyrolysis.

Study on the Influence of Calcined Underground Ant Nest Powder on the Durability of Concrete.

Ants have strict requirements on the building materials of the nest, such as the size, weight, luster and color of soil particles. The soil of underground ant nests is composed of clay particles cemented together to form a hard brick-like material. The ant nest powder shows pozzolanic activity after calcination, which can meet the requirements for active admixture of concrete.

Sustainable nitrogen-rich hierarchical porous carbon nest for supercapacitor application.

Chitosan has high synthetic flexibility, making it a promising nitrogenous bioresource for industrial applications. Nitrogen-rich hierarchically porous carbon (NHPC) was successfully synthesized by hydrothermal carbonization and self-activation of a chitosan-transition metal ion (Zn) complex. The N adsorption-desorption isotherm revealed that the as-made NHPC had large specific surface area (1067 m g) and a unique hierarchical pore structure (0.

Motion of a Free-Settling Spherical Particle Driven by a Laser-Induced Bubble.

We document experimentally four different interactions of a laser-induced bubble and a free-settling particle, with different combinations of the geometric and physical parameters of the system. Our force balance model shows that four nondimensional factors involving the particle radius a, the maximum bubble radius R_{max}, the initial separation distance l_{0} between the particle center and the bubble center, the fluid viscosity μ_{f}, and the particle and fluid densities ρ_{p} and ρ_{f}, respectively, in detail l_{0}/R_{max}, a/R_{max}, ρ_{p}/ρ_{f}, and μ^{*}=μ_{f}T_{c}/ρ_{f}R_{max}^{2}, where T_{c}=0.915R_{max}sqrt[ρ_{f}/(p_{∞}-p_{v})], influence the particle-bubble dynamics, and reasonably predict the maximum particle velocity and the limiting condition when the particle starts to "bounce off" the bubble during bubble growth.

Chitin based heteroatom-doped porous carbon as electrode materials for supercapacitors.

Chitin biomass has received much attention as an amino-functional polysaccharide precursor for synthesis of carbon materials. Rich nitrogen and oxygen dual-doped porous carbon derived from cicada slough (CS), a renewable biomass mainly composed of chitin, was synthesized and employed as electrode materials for electrochemical capacitors, for the first time ever. The cicada slough-derived carbon (CSC) was prepared by a facile process via pre-carbonization in air, followed by KOH activation.

Fuel properties and combustion kinetics of hydrochar prepared by hydrothermal carbonization of bamboo.

Hydrothermal carbonization, an environmental friendly treatment method was employed to pretreat bamboo for hydrochar preparation in the present study. Hydrothermal carbonization could elevate the fuel properties and combustion behavior of bamboo. The combustion kinetic parameters of raw bamboo and hydrochars were calculated by a simple Arrhenius equation based on the thermogravimetric curves.

Furfural-induced hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO@C gemel hexagonal microrods with enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability.

Here we report the synthesis of ZnO@C coaxial gemel hexagonal microrods with a thin hydrothermal carbon (HTC) layer on their surface by a facile one-step hydrothermal method with furfural as the carbon precursor. The furfural has a unique dual role, which not only induces the nucleation of ZnO in the initial stage of hydrothermal process, but also forms a thin HTC layer deposited on the ZnO surface. The thickness of the surface HTC layer increases with the hydrothermal time until 16 h under the conditions adopted in the present study.

Conditional macrophage ablation demonstrates that resident macrophages initiate acute peritoneal inflammation.

The role played by resident macrophages (Mphi) in the initiation of peritoneal inflammation is currently unclear. We have used a conditional Mphi ablation strategy to determine the role of resident peritoneal Mphi in the regulation of neutrophil (PMN) recruitment in experimental peritonitis. We developed a novel conditional Mphi ablation transgenic mouse (designated CD11bDTR) based upon CD11b promoter-mediated expression of the human diphtheria toxin (DT) receptor.

Selective depletion of macrophages reveals distinct, opposing roles during liver injury and repair.

Macrophages perform both injury-inducing and repair-promoting tasks in different models of inflammation, leading to a model of macrophage function in which distinct patterns of activation have been proposed. We investigated macrophage function mechanistically in a reversible model of liver injury in which the injury and recovery phases are distinct. Carbon tetrachloride---induced liver fibrosis revealed scar-associated macrophages that persisted throughout recovery.

In vivo depletion of CD11c+ dendritic cells abrogates priming of CD8+ T cells by exogenous cell-associated antigens.

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) respond to antigenic peptides presented on MHC class I molecules. On most cells, these peptides are exclusively of endogenous, cytosolic origin. Bone marrow-derived antigen-presenting cells, however, harbor a unique pathway for MHC I presentation of exogenous antigens.