All-optical RF spectrum analyzer with a 5 THz bandwidth based on CMOS-compatible high-index doped silica waveguides.

We report an all-optical radio-frequency (RF) spectrum analyzer with a bandwidth greater than 5 THz, based on a 50 cm long spiral waveguide in a CMOS-compatible high-index doped silica platform. By carefully mapping out the dispersion profile of the waveguides for different thicknesses, we identify the optimal design to achieve near-zero dispersion in the C-band. To demonstrate the capability of the RF spectrum analyzer, we measure the optical output of a femtosecond fiber laser with an ultrafast optical RF spectrum in the terahertz regime.

[Microbial degradation of lignocellulose].

Lignocellulose is widely found in the nature. The highly efficient degradation of lignocellulose requires synergistic interactions of varieties of microorganisms. The mechanism of synergistic interaction relationship is not entirely clear because it needs multitudinous microorganisms to participate in the process of lignocellulose degradation. With the development of microbial molecular biology and omics technology, some new methods will be provided for the research on the mechanism of microbial synergistic degradation of lignocellulose. Our previous research found that the bacterial composite microbial system shows strong degradation ability of lignocellulose at 50 °C. The consortium is composed of cultured and uncultured bacteria, but the former has no degradation ability. Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics show that the expression levels of some genes related to lignocellulosic degradation change significantly. It is possible to explain the microbiological and enzymatic mechanisms of lignocellulosic degradation by microorganisms through omics in the future. The research progress of lignocellulose microbial degradation is reviewed from the aspects of enzyme, pure culture strain, and microbial consortium. The current situation and application prospect of omics technology in analyzing the function mechanism of microbial consortium are also introduced, to provide reference for exploring synergistic interactions of lignocellulose microbial degradation.

Biological pretreatment enhances the activity of functional microorganisms and the ability of methanogenesis during anaerobic digestion.

Biological pretreatment can increase the methane production of anaerobic digestion. In this study, stover was pretreated via microbial consortium prior to anaerobic digestion; through 16S rRNA gene and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and metatranscriptomic analysis, and the effects of the pretreatment on the microbial community and critical factors of the increased methane production were studied. Microbial community structure was less affected by the pretreatment, which ensures the stable performance of anaerobic digestion. The methane production increased by 62.85% at the peak phase compared to the untreated stover. The activity of Methanosaeta increased from 2.0% to 10.1%, significantly enhancing the ability of the community to capture acetic acid and reduce CO2 to methane. The main contribution to the increase in methane production was a unique acetyl-CoA synthetase, which showed significant up-regulation (121.8%). This research demonstrated the importance of Methanosaeta and its unique metabolic pathways in anaerobic digestion utilizing a biological pretreatment.

[Change of bacterial community structure during cellulose degradation by the microbial consortium].

In order to clarify dynamic change of microbial community composition and to identify key functional bacteria in the cellulose degradation consortium, we studied several aspects of the biodegradation of filter papers and rice straws by the microbial consortium, the change of substrate degradation, microbial biomass and pH of fermentation broth. We extracted total DNA of the microbial consortium in different degradation stages for high-throughput sequencing of amplicons of bacterial 16 S rRNA genes. Based on the decomposition characteristics test, we defined the 12th, 72nd and 168th hours after inoculation as the initial stage, peak stage and end stage of degradation, respectively. The microbial consortium was mainly composed of 1 phylum, 2 classes, 2 orders, 7 families and 11 genera. With cellulose degradation, bacteria in the consortium showed different growth trends. The relative abundance of Brevibacillus and Caloramator decreased gradually. The relative abundance of Clostridium, Bacillus, Geobacillus and Cohnella increased gradually. The relative abundance of Ureibacillus, Tissierella, Epulopiscium was the highest in peak stage. The relative abundance of Paenibacillus and Ruminococcus did not change obviously in each stage. Above-mentioned 11 main genera all belonged to Firmicutes, which are thermophilic, broad pH adaptable and cellulose or hemicellulose degradable. During cellulose degradation by the microbial consortium, aerobic bacteria were dominant functional bacteria in the initial stage. However, the relative abundance of anaerobic bacteria increased gradually in middle and end stage, and replaced aerobic bacteria to become main bacteria to degrade cellulose.

Abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea under different ventilation strategies during cattle manure composting.

Composting of cattle manure was conducted under four ventilation strategies, i.e., no-aeration (A-00), continuous aeration (B-44), non-aeration for 14 d and then aeration for 42 d (C-04), aeration for 14 d and then no-aeration for 42 d (D-40). Physicochemical parameters and potential ammonia oxidation (PAO) indicated that continuous and intermittent ventilation provide favourable conditions for ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) to oxidize ammonia. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis showed AOB amoA gene abundance of all treatments on every sampling day ranged from 2.25 × 105 to 2.76 × 109copies/g, was significantly lower than that of archaeal amoA gene from 2.71 × 108 to 9.05 × 1011copies/g. There was also a significantly positive relationship between PAO rates and AOB (r2 ≥ 0.066, p < 0.05) and AOA (r2 ≥ 0.300, p < 0.05) abundance. These data suggested that ammonia oxidation is driven by both AOA and AOB in cattle manure composting.

In-Situ Generation of Oxide Nanowire Arrays from AgCuZn Alloy Sulfide with Enhanced Electrochemical Oxygen-Evolving Performance.

In this study, AgCuZn sulfide is fabricated on the surface of AgCuZn alloys by hydrothermal sulfuration. This ternary metal sulfide is equipped with enhanced activity toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in an alkaline electrolyte. Through comparison of the alloys with diverse compositions, we find out the best electrochemical property of a particular alloy sulfide forming on a AgCuZn substrate (Ag:Cu:Zn=43:49:8). The alloy sulfide exhibits an onset overpotential (η) of 0.27 V with a Tafel slope of 95±2 mV dec(-1) and a current density of 130 mA cm(-2) at η of 0.57 V. Moreover, the obtained AgCuZn sulfide displays excellent stability, where the current density can increase to 130% of the initial value after a water electrolysis test for 100,000 s (27.7 h). Through investigating the electrode before and after the electrocatalysis, we find a remarkable activated process during which self-supported copper-silver oxide nanowire (CuO-Ag2O NW) arrays in situ form on the surface of the electrode. This work provides a feasible strategy for synthesis of high performance nonprecious metal electrocatalysts for water splitting.