Surface Area Volume Research Articles

NRN1 epistasis with BDNF and CACNA1C: mediation effects on symptom severity through neuroanatomical changes in schizophrenia.

The expression of Neuritin-1 (NRN1), a neurotrophic factor crucial for neurodevelopment and synaptic plasticity, is enhanced by the Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). Although the receptor of NRN1 remains unclear, it is suggested that NRN1's activation of the insulin receptor (IR) pathway promotes the transcription of the calcium voltage-gated channel subunit alpha1 C (CACNA1C). These three genes have been independently associated with schizophrenia (SZ)risk, symptomatology, and brain differences. However, research on how they synergistically modulate these phenotypes is scarce. We aimed to study whether the genetic epistasis between these genes affects the risk and clinical presentation of the disorder via its effect on brain structure. First, we tested the epistatic effect of NRN1 and BDNF or CACNA1C on (i) the risk for SZ, (ii) clinical symptoms severity and functionality (onset, PANSS, CGI and GAF), and (iii) brain cortical structure (thickness, surface area and volume measures estimated using FreeSurfer) in a sample of 86 SZ patients and 89 healthy subjects. Second, we explored whether those brain clusters influenced by epistatic effects mediate the clinical profiles. Although we did not find a direct epistatic impact on the risk, our data unveiled significant effects on the disorder's clinical presentation. Specifically, the NRN1-rs10484320 x BDNF-rs6265 interplay influenced PANSS general psychopathology, and the NRN1-rs4960155 x CACNA1C-rs1006737 interaction affected GAF scores. Moreover, several interactions between NRN1 SNPs and BDNF-rs6265 significantly influenced the surface area and cortical volume of the frontal, parietal, and temporal brain regions within patients. The NRN1-rs10484320 x BDNF-rs6265 epistasis in the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex fully mediated the effect on PANSS general psychopathology. Our study not only adds clinical significance to the well-described molecular relationship between NRN1 and BDNF but also underscores the utility of deconstructing SZ into biologically validated brain-imaging markers to explore their mediation role in the path from genetics to complex clinical manifestation.

Effect of a novel metal-free green synthesis catalyst on the positive role of microwave irradiation in hydrogen production from the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride

This study demonstrates the synthesis of hydrochar, a high-value material, from watermelon seed husk, a low-value waste material, using the hydrothermal synthesis method. The microwave power effect plays an important role in the use of metal-free and environmentally friendly catalysts for the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride. The XRD, BET, SEM, and FTIR analyses characterized the catalyst. X-ray diffraction revealed the catalyst structure to be cellulosic. The surface area and total pore volume were 1.063 m2/g and 0.0195 cm3/g, respectively, in BET analysis. According to the IUPAC classification, the catalyst conformed to the type III isotherm. This study investigated how good the catalyst for the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride was when it was exposed to microwave irradiation at different microwave powers, solution temperatures, and catalyst amounts. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood and nth-order kinetic models calculated the activation energies to be 82.192 and 83.35 kJ/mol, respectively. The use of bio-waste hydrochar as a catalyst in the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride in the microwave environment shows promising results in the search for metal-free catalysts.

Role of extracted nanosilica from rice husk on the structure, property and biodegradability of low density polyethylene/starch biodegradable film

AbstractStarch blended low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) has been extensively used to produce packaging film, but it has very low mechanical properties. This work emphasises the extraction of nanosilica from rice husk as a property‐enhancing filler for producing high‐quality packaging material. Nanosilica (200 nm) was obtained by chemical treatment followed by further size reduction through cryomill. The obtained nanomaterial was found to have a high surface area (189.64 m2/g) and pore volume (.462 cc/g) with high compatibility with the other materials in the matrix. The SEM and TEM analysis indicates the uniformity in particle size of the nanomaterial with an agglomerating tendency. The X‐ray diffractometer (XRD) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis reveals that the obtained material is amorphous in nature. The nanomaterial is dispersed in various proportions in LDPE/starch matrix, and it is observed that the highest tensile strength (9.62 MPa) can be obtained at 1.5% nanosilica content in the matrix. A continuous increase in Young's modulus and stiffness from 372.3 to 440.12 MPa and 20 243.2 to 28 559.42 N/m, respectively, when 1.5% of nanosilica is dispersed in the biodegradable matrix. Garden soil was a better degrading medium for the sample containing 20% of starch with weight loss of 10.32% and reduction of tensile strength and tear strength values to 5.987 MPa and 99.165 N/mm respectively, in 1 year.

Biochar with enhanced performance prepared based on “graphite-structure regulation” conjecture designed to effectively control water pollution

In this work, corn straw was used as raw material, Hummers method and activation were used to adjust the graphite structure in biochar, and preparing straw based biochar (H-BCS) with ultra-high specific surface area (3441.80 m2/g), highly total pore volume (1.9859 cm3/g), and further enhanced physicochemical properties. Compared with untreated straw biochar (BCS), the specific surface area and total pore volume of H-BCS were increased by 47.24 % and 55.85 %, respectively. H-BCS showed good removal ability in subsequent experiments by using chloramphenicol (CP), hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), and crystal violet (CV) as adsorption models. In addition, the adsorption capacities of H-BCS (CP: 1396.30 mg/g, Cr6+: 218.40 mg/g, and CV: 1246.24 mg/g) are not only higher than most adsorbents, even after undergoing 5 cycles of regeneration, its adsorption capacity remains above 80 %, indicating significant potential for practical applications. In addition, we also speculated and analyzed the conjecture about the “graphite-structure regulation” during the preparation process, and finally discussed the possible mechanism during the adsorption processes. We hope this work could provide a new strategy to solve the restriction of biochar performance by further exploring the regulation of graphite structure in carbon materials.

Shifting from sustained to delayed drug delivery systems: Encapsulated mesoporous silica-chitosan grafted polylactic acid-based composite approach

The current study demonstrates a desired drug delivery-controlled system with a wide range of release parameters. It illustrates the feasibility of carriers in the systems for extended and short drug release. Herein, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) coated with chitosan (Cs) grafted polylactic acid (PLA) composite were fabricated by a sol-gel method in the form of micrometric porous particles (∼270 nm) with ζ-potential of -17.7±1.7 mV and a specific surface area and total pore volume of 122700 cm2/g and 0.057 cm3/g, respectively. The prepared template of polymer-silica composite pores proved to be essential in the incorporation of Doxorubicin (Dox) drug molecules with adsorption capacity of 83.33 mg/g and encapsulation efficiency of 88%. Dox was incorporated via the solvent diffusion method into the polymer-silica composites at suitable pH and concentration, resulting in solid drug dispersions. The silica-Cs-g-PLA composites showed greater effectiveness in the delayed release of the Dox with complete release after 10 days as compared to pristine MSNs and silica-Cs, which were completed after 12 h and 24 h, respectively. The drug release profiles were studied at different pH (2, 7, and 8), with maximum results obtained at pH 2. Both pristine MSNs and silica-Cs suffered from the burst effect, which was overcome by the grafting of PLA. The functionalized silica-Cs with PLA shows a significant change in the drug release properties from a sustained release process for pristine MSNs and silica-Cs to an enhanced delayed process for the silica-Cs-g-PLA composite, which makes this composite attractive for oral multi-particulate formulations of modified release.

Exploring the role of surface and porosity in CO2 capture by CaO-based adsorbents through response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural networks (ANN)

In this study, synthetic CaCO3 materials were utilized as precursors for CaO-based CO2 sorbents. The investigation examined how various operating parameters—such as synthesis temperature (ST), stirring rate (SR), and surfactant percentage (SP)—impact the properties of the adsorbents. Samples were firstly characterized by X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), which revealed that the prevalence of calcite or aragonite crystal phases in the synthetic CaCO3 precursors can be tuned by adequately choosing the dose of surfactant (Triton-X100®), so that it can be used as a crystal habit and growth modifier. The calcination process applied to the CaCO3 precursors leads to the formation of partially sinterized cubic crystals of CaO, accompanied by minor quantities (< 5 %) of additional compounds like Ca(OH)2 or CaSO4. Specific surface area (SBET) and porosity were determined by measuring the N2 adsorption isotherms. A CaCO3 sample with an unprecedented value of SBET as large as 116 m2/g was prepared operating under optimal conditions. SBET and pore volumes were successfully correlated with the CO2 uptake capacity of the samples. SBET is more influential for experiments carried out under diluted CO2 atmosphere. When pure CO2 is used, the influence of meso- and micropore volumes (Vme and Vmi) is clearly predominant, which suggests that in this latter case diffusion through the porous texture of the samples plays a more remarkable role. A double-way approach through Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) has been used to analyze the CO2 uptake capacity of the samples. Within the operational interval, excellent results were obtained for pure and diluted CO2 flow, and RSM and ANNs have demonstrated to be a very efficient tool to correlate the behavior of the CaO-based materials as CO2 sorbents with the surface area and pore volumes of the samples. Valuable information on (i) the importance of the different factors under study; (ii) their influence on the surface and porosity of the CaO-derived sorbents; and (iii) the subsequent CO2 capture performance of the sorbents has been obtained. The results suggest that four parameters have a statistically significant influence on CO2 uptake. These parameters are SR, the square of SR, its interaction with SP, and the square of SP. Additionally, the study assessed the stability of the CaO-based sorbents over 11 consecutive calcination-carbonation cycles. By adequately choosing the synthesis strategy and conditions, an almost negligible shrinkage effect can be achieved, resulting in a more sustained uptake capacity throughout the cycles.

Characteristics of advanced anaerobic digestion sludge-based biochar and its application for sewage sludge conditioning

The utilization of sludge-based biochar, characterized by abundant pore structures, proves advantageous in enhancing sludge dewatering performance. In this study, advanced anaerobic digestion sludge underwent pyrolysis to produce biochar, subsequently employed for sludge conditioning. Results revealed that biochar, obtained at 800 °C, exhibited the highest specific surface area (105.3 m2/g) and pore volume (0.17 cm3/g). As the pyrolysis temperature increased, the sludge's functional groups tended to aromatize. When used to condition sludge, particularly at a 20 % (dry solid) dosage, biochar significantly reduced sludge capillary suction time and floc size. The addition of biochar enhanced the conditioning effect of cationic polyacrylamide by absorbing extracellular polymeric substances, creating water molecule channels, and forming skeletons for sludge flocs. These findings introduce a novel approach to sludge reuse and provide valuable data supporting the use of biochar as a sludge conditioner.

Revealing the contribution of Cu(II) and Cu(I) inherent in MOF-199 for efficient thiophene removal at room temperature

Thiophene (C4H4S) removal from coke oven gas is critical to its subsequent high valuable utilization but remains a challenge. MOF-199 was considered as a promising candidate for C4H4S adsorption removal owing to its nature of enriched opened Cu sites. However, the presence of mixed valence of Cu(II) and Cu(I) in MOF-199 makes it puzzling to their respective contribution to the removal of C4H4S. Herein, a series of MOF-199 with different Cu(I) contents were synthesized using different methods, including hydrothermal, solution diffusion, and ultrasonic, and their C4H4S adsorption performance were investigated. The respective contributions of Cu(II) and Cu(I) to the C4H4S removal was systematically discussed. The collected results indicated that although the samples prepared with different methods present a remarkable difference in textural characters, the latter was found to have a negligible influence on the C4H4S removal owing to MOF-199(H) affording an inferior surface area and pore volumes but performing the best C4H4S removal capacity of 53.7 mg S/g. The co-adsorption results of CH3SCH3 and C4H4S indicated that the excellent performance of MOF-199(H) mainly attributed to the presence of Cu(I), which provides active sites for C4H4S adsorption through π complex coordination. Cu(II) species was also found to the C4H4S adsorption via soft-acid-base coordinated interaction, but its contribution is 8.3 mg S/g, only accounting for 15.5 %. Additionally, the adsorption of thiophene on MOF-199(H) was found to follow the intra-particle diffusion model and the Langmuir models. Moreover, MOF-199(H) also exhibited an excellent regeneration performance due to the weak interaction between C4H4S and their opened Cu sites, the C4H4S adsorption capacity still reaches 50.6 mg S/g after three regeneration cycles, about 94 % of its initial value. The results collected in this study will provide new insights for the manipulation of performance of C4H4S adsorption on the MOF-199.

Miscanthus x giganteus biochar: Effective adsorption of pharmaceuticals from model solution and hospital wastewater

This study investigated the adsorption of pharmaceuticals, including atenolol (AT), 17-α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), and sulfamethoxazole (SMX), in model solutions and in the effluent from a hospital wastewater treatment plant. The pharmaceuticals were adsorbed on biochar prepared from Miscanthus x giganteus biomass obtained from the phytoremediation of contaminated or marginal soil. The feedstock was pyrolyzed at 360 °C (M-3) and 500 °C (M-5). The representation of functional groups, specific surface area, porosity, and pore volume were lower for M-5. Pore diameters were comparable, but their depth decreased for M-5. The specific surface area and porosity surface area of M-5 were 30 times higher after 4 h of shaking compared to properties without shaking. The biochar leachate pH was 9.8 ± 1.0 (M-3), and 11.1 ± 1.1 (M-5). No desorption of potentially risk organic compounds was detected. M-3 was generally a better adsorption material. The removal of EE2, AT and SMX was greater than 90%, 70% and 30 % respectively after 4 h in model waters. There was no evidence of a linear relationship between the sorption efficiency of pharmaceuticals and the biochar dose. Sorption experiments with real wastewater from a hospital wastewater treatment plant demonstrated high removal rates of monitored pharmaceuticals, including e.g. SMX (80%), trimethoprim (91%), venlafaxine (100%), clarithromycin (96%), tramadol (93%), diclofenac (86%). It was proven that the efficiency of the adsorption process is influenced not only by the dose or physico-chemical properties of the biochar, but also by the initial concentration of the pharmaceutical and its properties. The presence of other components of real wastewater, which can cause competitive sorption and overlapping of active centers on the surface of the biochar, also decreased the efficiency. The results demonstrate that both biochars are suitable for tertiary or quaternary water treatment for pharmaceutical removal. Due to the lower energetic, and therefore economic, costs of pyrolysis, a lower pyrolysis temperature can be preferred.

Construction of CuFe2O4/Bi2MoO6 heterogeneous catalyst for high-efficiency photocatalytic degradation of levofloxacin under visible light: Mechanism, pathways and DFT calculation

The utilization of solar energy to stimulate semiconductor photocatalytic degradation is a sustainable method for environmental remediation. CuFe2O4/Bi2MoO6 was synthesized for the degradation of levofloxacin by successfully loading CuFe2O4 nanoparticles on the surface of Bi2MoO6 microflower by a simple sol-gel and hydrothermal method. Comprehensive characterizations confirmed the formation of a heterojunction structure between CuFe2O4 and Bi2MoO6. Owning to the strong synergistic effect between CuFe2O4 and Bi2MoO6, involving higher surface area and pore volume, multiple metal ion reaction centers enriched the charge transfer pathways, heterojunction structure facilitated charge migration and reduced electron-hole complexation, the optimal CBM-10 composite catalysts showed high degradation efficiency of LVF with 95.1% in 60min, and robust structural stability after five cycle experiments. The free radical scavenging test and DFT calculations revealed that three possible reaction pathways for photocatalytic degradation of LVF by combining the analysis of intermediates by HPLC-MS and h+, •O2- and •OH free radical were the main active species.

A hierarchical porous structure and nitrogen-doping jointly enhance the lithium-ion storage capacity of biomass-derived carbon materials

Biomass-derived carbon materials are considered potential lithium-ion anode materials because they are sustainable, renewable, economical, and environmentally friendly and have tunable microstructures. However, biomass-derived carbon materials have low specific capacity and show capacity degradation during long-term electrochemical cycling, which prevents their application in high-performance lithium-ion batteries. Hence, in this paper, nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC) is synthesized from a biomass waste material, corncob, through one-step activation and carbonization procedures. N-doping in the NHPC modifies the electron distribution on the surface of carbon, resulting in the generation of additional lithium-ion storage sites and enhancing electrode wettability to increase the conductivity. Additionally, the doping procedure results in a hierarchical porous structure with an increased specific surface area and pore volume, which facilitates ion transport and provides remarkable cycling stability. The electrochemical performance of NHPC is improved by the jointly beneficial combination of N-doping and the hierarchical porous structure. The optimized NHPC electrode provides a reversible specific capacity of 700 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1. This study provides a simple and efficient method for improving the electrochemical properties of biomass-derived carbon materials through elemental doping and modulation of microscopic morphology and structure.

PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BENTONITE CLAY CATALYSTS FOR TRANSESTERIFICATION OF WASTE COOKING OIL INTO BIODIESEL

The development of low-cost green catalytic materials is crucial for the conversion of non-edible vegetable oils or waste materials into biodiesel. The research focuses on the preparation and characterization of aluminium pillared clay and NaOH-doped bentonite clay catalysts for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil using XRF, XRD, FTIR and N2 adsorption-desorption techniques. The molecular profile and functional group assessment of the biodiesel were done using GC-MS and FTIR respectively. XRF analysis revealed the presence of oxides in all samples. The amount of SiO2 in all samples was within the range of 35.303–39.199 wt%. Al2O3 increased from 15.560 to 19.11 wt%, while the interlayer cations decreased after pillaring. FTIR revealed the appearance of peaks which are characteristic of bentonite. The pillaring and impregnation of NaOH with bentonite led to a distortion of certain peaks' intensity, as evidenced by FTIR results. The pillaring caused an increase in BET surface area and pore volume compared to bentonite from 302.1 to 366.4 m2/g, and 0.186 to 0.189 cc/g respectively, while a decrease in surface area and pore volume was observed in NaOH/bentonite due to impregnation. The XRD data have shown the increase of basal d-spacing of pillared clay from 12.65 to 16.49 Å relative to bentonite with a decrease to 12.45 in the case of NaOH/bentonite. The catalysts prepared outperformed neat bentonite with NaOH/bentonite, resulting in the highest yield of (83 ± 1.80). GC-MS, FTIR, and physicochemical analyses confirmed the production of fatty acid methyl esters.

Synthesis of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) Cr-PTC-HIna for Heavy Metal Ion Adsorption

As an adsorbent material, Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) provides several advantages, such as large surface area and pore volume, as well as stability in aqueous systems both in acidic, basic, and neutral conditions. The research successfully made a metal organic framework (MOF) from chromium and perylene that was modulated by isonicotinic acid. This was done using three different methods: hydrothermal (Cr-PTC-HIna-HT), solvothermal (Cr-PTC-HIna-ST), and sonochemical (Cr-PTC-HIna-SC). The Cr-PTC-HIna-SC showed the greatest Pb2+ ion adsorption capacity. The optimum adsorption of Pb2+ ions occurred at 150 ppm Pb2+ ion concentration, pH 5, 90 minutes of contact time, and an adsorption capacity of 149.95 mg/g at 35 °C. The dominant adsorption isotherm model is the Langmuir isotherm model with R2 = 0.9867 and follows the pseudo-second-order. The selectivity test showed that Cr-PTC-HIna-SC MOF could adsorb more Cd2+ ions than Pb2+ ions, with 250 mg/g being the best amount.

Application of Digital Holographic Imaging to Monitor Real-Time Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy Dynamics in Response to Norepinephrine Stimulation

Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, characterized by an increase in cell size, is associated with various cardiovascular diseases driven by factors including hypertension, myocardial infarction, and valve dysfunction. In vitro primary cardiomyocyte culture models have yielded numerous insights into the intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms driving hypertrophic growth. However, due to limitations in current approaches, the dynamics of cardiomyocyte hypertrophic responses remain poorly characterized. In this study, we evaluate the application of the Holomonitor M4 digital holographic imaging microscope to track dynamic changes in cardiomyocyte surface area and volume in response to norepinephrine treatment, a model hypertrophic stimulus. The Holomonitor M4 permits non-invasive, label-free imaging of three-dimensional changes in cell morphology with minimal phototoxicity, thus enabling long-term imaging studies. Untreated and norepinephrine-stimulated primary neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were live-imaged on the Holomonitor M4, which was followed by image segmentation and single-cell tracking using the HOLOMONITOR App Suite software version 4.0.1.546. The 24 h treatment of cultured cardiomyocytes with norepinephrine increased cardiomyocyte spreading and optical volume as expected, validating the reliability of the approach. Single-cell tracking of both cardiomyocyte surface area and three-dimensional optical volume revealed dynamic increases in these parameters throughout the 24 h imaging period, demonstrating the potential of this technology to explore cardiomyocyte hypertrophic responses with greater temporal resolution; however, technological limitations were also observed and should be considered in the experimental design and interpretation of results. Overall, leveraging the unique advantages of the Holomonitor M4 digital holographic imaging system has the potential to empower future work towards understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying cardiomyocyte hypertrophy with enhanced temporal clarity.

Highly Porous Carbon Materials Prepared Through KOH‐Assisted CO2‐Activation of Carbonized Waste Tires for Removal of Cr(VI) and Cd(II) from Water

AbstractIn this study, waste tires (WTs) were carbonized under an N2 atmosphere. Subsequently, KOH/WTs‐char with KOH‐assisted CO2 activation was used to prepare activated carbon (AC) as a highly porous carbon material for the removal of Cr(VI) and Cd(II) from water. Various techniques such as elemental analysis, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption/desorption were employed to investigate the physical and chemical characteristics of the prepared carbons. The WTs‐char activated with KOH under CO2 exhibited a microstructure with a high BET surface area and pore volume of 1841 m2/g and 0.869 cm3/g, respectively, demonstrating excellent adsorbent performance. The maximum removal efficiencies of 99.91 % for Cd(II) and 99.81 % for Cr(VI) were achieved using AC2 carbon under the following conditions: pH 2 for Cr(VI) and pH 5 for Cd(II), contact time of 120 min, adsorbent dose of 0.4 g/100 mL, and temperature of 298 K. The adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo‐second‐order equation, and the equilibrium data fit well with the Redlich–Peterson isotherm equation. The positive values of ▵G indicated that the uptake process for both ions was nonspontaneous and nonfeasible over the temperature studied. Both ions showed negative values of ΔH and ΔS on carbon, suggesting exothermic adsorption and a decrease in disorder. Regeneration studies showed that NaOH was a better desorbing agent than HCl. Cr(VI) desorption resulted in over 90 % removal recovery by AC2 using 1.0 M NaOH even after the fifth cycle. However, the low activation energy indicated that the adsorption was favorable kinetically. Overall, this study demonstrated the effective preparation of highly porous carbon and its successful performance in removing Cr(VI) and Cd(II) ions.

Polypyrrole-encapsulated metal oxide nanocomposite for adsorptive abatement of anionic dye from dye laden wastewater: Cost analysis and scale up design

The present work demonstrates the fabrication of an organometallic material i.e. polypyrrole-encapsulated zinc oxide (PPy@ZnO) nanocomposite for adsorptive elimination of Eriochrome black-T (EBT) dye from water. The specific surface area and pore volume of the PPy@ZnO nanocomposite were observed to be 28.726 m2/g and 0.086 cc/g, respectively. At optimum experimental conditions of solution pH; 4.0, PPy@ZnO nanocomposite dose: 1.0 g/L, contact time: 30 min and initial EBT dye concentration: 50 mg/L, maximum EBT dye removal efficiency of ∼94±1.86% was obtained. The pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm model provides the best fit for the adsorption experiments, with maximum EBT dye adsorption capacity of 277.78 mg/g. The prominent adsorption mechanisms include the hydrogen bonding, π–π interactions, and electrostatic attraction. The adsorption study is spontaneous (ΔG° < 0) and endothermic (ΔH° > 0, ΔS° > 0) in nature as indicated by the thermodynamics study. The reduction in EBT dye removal efficiency was insignificant (∼10±0.94%) in surface water as compared to other real water samples. Monovalent anions (i.e., NO3–and Cl–) have minimal impact on EBT removal efficiency with reduction in removal efficiencies in the range of 4.0±1.54% to ∼11.0±1.93%. Regeneration study suggests an overall ∼20±1.45% decrease in the EBT dye removal efficiency after 5th cycle of regeneration. Response surface methodology suggests the maximum adsorption efficacy of 95±1.68% at initial EBT dye concentration of 35 mg/L, PPy@ZnO dose of 0.85 g/L and contact time of 40 min. The estimated synthesis cost of PPy@ZnO nanocomposite was determined to be ∼117 USD/kg. Batch mode scale-up design suggests a minimum of 87.48 g of PPy@ZnO nanocomposite needs to be applied to treat 50 mg/L of EBT dye loaded wastewater (50 L volume) with 95% dye removal efficiency.

Influence of mudstone on coal spontaneous combustion characteristics and oxidation kinetics analysis

To explore the spontaneous combustion characteristics and hazards of the low-temperature oxidation (LTO) stage in the process of spontaneous combustion of coal and mudstone, the pore structure, spontaneous combustion characteristic parameters, and exothermic characteristics of coal and mudstone were tested and studied, and the oxidation kinetic parameters were calculated. The results show that mudstone has a larger specific surface area and pore volume than coal. From the fractal characteristics, the pore structure of mudstone is more complex than that of coal. According to the comparison of theoretical and actual gas generation and oxygen consumption rate curves, it is found that there is an interaction between coal and mudstone in the LTO process. With the increase of mudstone mass ratio, gas production, and its oxygen consumption rate increase. Among them, CM-4 (Coal:Mudstone = 1:1) has the highest exothermic intensity and the exothermic factor (A) and fire coefficient (K) increase with the increase of mudstone content. The apparent activation energy of the mudstone sample is lower than that of the raw coal, indicating that the sample after adding mudstone is more likely to have spontaneous combustion in the LTO stage.

Nanoarchitectonics of bimodal porous carbon nanosheet with NiO/Ni nanoparticles derived from nitrile-functionalized benzoxazine for a supercapacitor electrode material

Nitrile-functionalized benzoxazine was successfully synthesized as a precursor for porous carbon. NH4Cl was used as a template to generate the nanosheet morphology and mesopore structure, while nickel(II) chloride in the hydrate form was used as a nickel source. The results showed that carbon samples based on pristine nitrile-functionalized benzoxazine revealed the standard isotherm of type I, representing a microporous nature. This isotherm was altered to type IV, indicating a mesoporous nature after adding the NH4Cl template, and the morphology of the carbon sample was also transformed into a more nanosheet-like structure with increasing NH4Cl loading. The specific surface area, mesoporosity and pore volume of the as-prepared samples tended to increase when increasing NH4Cl template loading, with Ni-PCN5 (5 g of NH4Cl template) having the maximum mesoporosity of 88.7%. The maximum specific surface area and pore volume are 556 m2 g−1 for Ni-PCN5–350 and 0.71 cm3 g−1 for Ni-PCN5, respectively. In addition, the metallic nickel nanoparticles were successfully embedded in the carbon structure, which were further transformed into nickel oxide nanoparticles after an annealing process. This annealing process also resulted in carbon samples with the standard isotherm of type I. For electrochemical performance, Ni-PCN-300 also showed the highest value of the specific capacitance, as high as 181 F g−1 measured at a current density of 0.1 A g−1 in a 1 mol L−1 KOH aqueous electrolyte solution, with an excellent cycling stability of 96.5% over 2000 testing cycles. In short, this work demonstrates a facile, inexpensive and eco-friendly approach to rationally design and synthesize nickel/nickel oxide nanoparticles-embedded porous carbon nanosheets with a micro- and mesoporous structure, as a promising candidate for a supercapacitor electrode material.

Copper/cobalt metal-organic framework composites for advanced anode material of lithium-ion battery

In this paper, two new types of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) materials, namely Cu-IM and Co-MOF, have been successfully applied to the anode of lithium-ion batteries with LiPF6 (EC: DMC = 1:1, volume) electrolyte additive. Cu-IM and Co-MOF employed imidazole (IM) and 2-methylimidazole (2-MeIM) as organic ligands, respectively. The results revealed the synthesized MOFs exhibited high initial discharge specific capacities (Cu-IM: 1964.5 mAh g−1, Co-MOF: 1423.3 mAh g−1) as well as low internal resistances (Cu-IM: 146 Ω; Co-MOF: 236 Ω). To alleviate the issue of capacity decay in single MOFs, we attempted the dual-MOFs materials through the rational design of interfacial/surface properties and microstructure. Compared to Cu-IM, the prepared Cu-IM/Co-MOF composites have a higher specific surface area and pore volume. Furthermore, the charge transfer resistance of Cu-IM/Co-MOF composites (141 Ω) was lower than that of Cu-IM and Co-MOF respectively. After a heat treatment to Cu-IM/Co-MOF composites, the electrochemical performance of obtained Cu-IM/Co-MOF 250 dual-MOFs composites have been significantly improved. The Cu-IM/Co-MOF 250 dual-MOFs composites demonstrated excellent cycling stability and high discharge specific capacities at various current densities. The composites displayed stable discharge specific capacity retention of 834 mAh g−1 (50 mA g−1, 75 cycles), 710.5 mAh g−1 (200 mA g−1, 50 cycles), and 392.5 mAh g−1 (500 mA g−1, 50 cycles), highlighting their promising performance for energy storage applications. The synthesized Cu-IM/Co-MOF 250 dual-MOFs composites demonstrates exceptional cycling performance and rate capability, implying that it has the promising prospects as anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

Preparation and electrochemical performance of cellulose-based biomass-derived carbon materials

Biomass-derived carbon materials are regarded as an ideal precursor for activated carbon owing to their unique structure, widely used in energy storage applications. Porous biomass carbon materials were prepared by high-temperature carbonization and activation methods using corn stalk stem pith as the carbon source. The structures and morphology of biomass-derived carbon materials were also characterized and analyzed, and it was employed as the electrode material to study the electrochemical properties. The results showed that the specific surface area and pore volume increased with the increase of temperature under the action of the same activator. The activation degree of carbon materials by different activators showed obvious differences under the same temperature conditions, and the structure and properties of the carbon materials obtained by sodium hydroxide activation were better than those obtained by sodium bicarbonate activation. When the temperature was fixed at 900 ℃, the carbon materials obtained by sodium hydroxide activation showed the best structural characteristics and electrochemical properties, with the specific surface area up to 532.881 m2·g−1 and the microporous volume accounting for 76.266 % of the total pore volume. By cyclic voltammetry test, the specific capacity was 139 F·g−1 at a scan rate of 10 mV·s−1, and the electrochemical impedance was much smaller than the impedance of the product obtained by sodium bicarbonate activation. Meanwhile, the specific capacity remained basically unchanged after 1000 cycles of charging and discharging, with excellent cycling stability and electrochemical performance. The relevant results provide a new way for the efficient utilization and functionalization of biomass resources.