Synergistic activation of persulfate by a manganese cobalt oxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite with enhanced degradation of trichloroethylene.

Advanced oxidation technology based on persulfate is one of the most reliable and effective technologies for the degradation of wastewater, however the key lies in developing highly efficient catalysts to activate persulfate. Herein, manganese cobalt oxide/reduced graphene oxide (MnCo2O4/rGO) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized via a facile solvothermal method and employed as a highly efficient catalyst to active persulfate for the degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE). The rGO nanosheets have large surface areas, which can increase the contact area with reactants and make the degradation more efficient. Additionally, the MnCo2O4 nanoparticles are in situ grown on the surface of ultrathin rGO nanosheets, endowing the material with high structural porosity and fast transport channels, and are beneficial for the improvement of catalytic sites and the transport of catalysis-relevant species. More importantly, the close contact between MnCo2O4 nanoparticles and rGO nanosheets synergistically favors the electron transfer, thereby accelerating the electron transfer, improving the activation efficiency, and promoting the generation of sulfate radicals (·SO4-). rGO can also reduce the spillover of metal ions. The kinetics model and degradation mechanism of the nanocomposites are also proposed.

Electrolyte and Additive Engineering for Zn Anode Interfacial Regulation in Aqueous Zinc Batteries.

Aqueous Zn-metal batteries (AZMBs) have gained great interest due to their low cost, eco-friendliness, and inherent safety, which serve as a promising complement to the existing metal-based batteries, e.g., lithium-metal batteries and sodium-metal batteries. Although the utilization of aqueous electrolytes and Zn metal anode in AZMBs ensures their improved safety over other metal batteries meanwhile guaranteeing their decent energy density at the cell level, plenty of challenges involved with metallic Zn anode still await to be addressed, including dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution reaction, and zinc corrosion and passivation. In the past years, several attempts have been adopted to address these problems, among which engineering the aqueous electrolytes and additives is regarded as a facile and promising approach. In this review, a comprehensive summary of aqueous electrolytes and electrolyte additives will be given based on the recent literature, aiming at providing a fundamental understanding of the challenges associated with the metallic Zn anode in aqueous electrolytes, meanwhile offering a guideline for the electrolytes and additives engineering strategies toward stable AZMBs in the future.

A prediction model of thrust force for drilling of bidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced carbon matrix composites.

Carbon fiber-reinforced carbon matrix composites have been widely used for the manufacturing of thermostructural parts for several industries such as the aerospace and automotive. Drilling is an extremely common method used in the machining of carbon fiber-reinforced carbon matrix composites before assembly. However, their non-homogeneous, anisotropic, and brittle nature make difficult to guarantee the hole quality in drilling. Some severe drilling defects, such as burrs, delamination, and tear, usually occur. In this regard, it is necessary to accurately predict the thrust force in drilling of carbon fiber-reinforced carbon matrix composites. Therefore, in this article, based on the cutting theory of fiber-reinforced polymer composites, an alternative thrust force prediction model for drilling of bidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced carbon matrix composites is proposed. The cutting force of the cutting lips is established by dividing the cutting deformation zone into three regions according to the machined material structure based on the Zhang's model in cutting of fiber-reinforced polymer. The periodic variation of fiber orientation is considered in detail. The experimental results show that the relative deviations of the predicted and experimental values of the thrust force are less than 14.36%.