Effect of hydrothermal pH values on the morphology of special microspheres of lignin-based porous carbon and the mechanism of carbon dioxide adsorption.

The study reports the economic and sustainable syntheses of a lignin-based porous carbon (LPC) for CO2 capture application. The pH values of hydrothermal solution affected the polymerization and aromatization of spheroidization, with morphological changes from blocky to microsphere. In addition, the reliable mechanisms of CO2 adsorption were proposed by combining experiments with Gaussian16 simulations based on DFT. The electrostatic attraction of oxygen-containing functional groups and the diffusivity resistance of CO2 in the pores are the key factors for the CO2 adsorption. ​The carboxyl groups have the strongest electrostatic attraction to CO2. LPC-pH 1 has the highest carboxyl group content, possessing a CO2 adsorption capacity of up to 5.10 mmol/g at 0℃, 1 bar. Furthermore, CO2 diffusion resistance became a main factor as the adsorption temperature increases. The innovative combination of quantum chemical calculations and microscopic properties provides a viable pathway for an insight into the future control of lignin-based carbon formation.

Biomass-based controllable morphology of carbon microspheres with multi-layer hollow structure for superior performance in supercapacitors.

The electrochemical properties of corn starch (CS)-based hydrothermal carbon microsphere (CMS) electrode materials for supercapacitor are closely related to their structures. Herein, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was used as a soft template to form the corn starch (CS)-based carbon microspheres with radial hollow structure in the inner and middle layers by hydrothermal and sol-gel method. Due to the introduction of multi-layer hollow structure of carbon microsphere, more micropores were produced during CO2 activation, which increased the specific surface area and improved the capacitance performance. Compared to commercial activated carbon, the four different morphologies of corn starch CMS had better electrochemical performances. Consequently, the proposed CO2-(CTAB)-CS-CS exhibits a high discharge specific capacitance of 242.5F/g at 1 A/g in three-electrode system with 6 M KOH electrolyte, better than commercial activated carbon with 208.5F/g. Moreover, excellent stability is achieved for CO2-(CTAB)-CS-CS with approximately 97.14 % retention of the initial specific capacitance value after 10,000 cycles at a current density of 2 A/g, while the commercial activated carbon has 86.96 % retention. This implies that the corn starch-based multilayer hollow CMS could be a promising electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.

Vaporization characteristics and aerosol optical properties of electronic cigarettes.

The aerosols generated from electronic cigarettes have a significant impact on the human respiratory system. Understanding the vaporization characteristics and aerosol optical properties of electronic cigarettes is important for assessing human exposure to aerosols. An experimental platform was designed and built to simulate the atomization process of electronic cigarette and detect the laser transmissivity of aerosols. The optical properties of single particles and polydispersed particle system for aerosols in the visible wavelength ranges of 400-780 nm were analyzed based on Mie theory. The results show that a higher heating power supplied by coil results in a larger average vaporization rate of e-liquid. Meanwhile, the steady-state transmissivity of the laser beam for aerosols reduces as the heating power increases. Under the same heating power and puffing topography, the total particulate mass (TPM) of aerosols generated by the e-liquid composed of higher vegetable glycerin (VG) content decreases. The scattering efficiency factor of aerosol particle of electronic cigarette increases with an increase in particle size. The volume scattering coefficients of a polydispersed particle system of aerosols decrease as the incident visible wavelengths increase. A higher VG content in e-liquid results in decreased TPM and particle number concentration of aerosols and increased the volume scattering coefficient in the visible wavelength range. It can explain an interesting phenomenon that a lower TPM and a better visual effect brought by the aerosols generated by the e-liquid with a higher VG content could be observed concurrently. The mass indexes (e.g., TPM, average vaporization rate, average mass concentration) and optical indexes (e.g., volume scattering coefficient, laser transmissivity) are suggested to be used for the comprehensive evaluation of relative amounts of aerosols. The results have potential significances for the objective and quantitative assessments of aerosols generated from electronic cigarettes.

The leaching mechanism of heavy metals (Ni, Cd, As) in a gasification slag during acidification.

The gasification slag by acidification can leach abundant heavy metals. In this paper, the fate of heavy metals (Ni, Cd, and As) in the raw slag and the acidified slag that treated by HAc and HCl was systematically investigated combined with Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The results show that the content of Ni and Cd is reduced with an increasing acid concentration and meets the regulatory standards by 7 M HAc and 3 M HCl, respectively. Most of Ni combined with gehlenite is released as gehlenite dissolves during acid treatment, whereas Cd in combination with gehlenite and iron compounds is hard to release at lower HAc concentrations. Unexpectedly, the content of As tends to elevate at a higher concentration of HAc, which is due to the increase in the content of Ca by new Ca-compound formation and the higher binding capacity of Ca to As according to DFT results. Additionally, if the acid-base ratio reaches about 2.0 by acid treatment, there would be a maximum leaching rate. It is recommended that acid concentration should be controlled to avoid a secondary risk of heavy metals.

The Effects of Diamond-Like Carbon Films on Fretting Wear Behavior of Orthodontic Archwire-Bracket Contacts.

This study aims to assess the effects of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films on fretting wear behavior of orthodontic archwire-bracket contacts. 'Mirror-confinement-type electron cyclotron resonance (MCECR) plasma sputtering' was utilized to deposit carbon films on stainless steel archwires and brackets. Nanostructure of carbon films such as the bonding structure, cross-sectional thickness and surface roughness were studied. The fretting wear behavior of various archwire-bracket contacts were investigated by using a self-developed tester in ambient air and artificial saliva. The results indicated that DLC-coated wires showed significantly low friction coefficient than the uncoated wires independently of the applied environments. Nevertheless, the DLC-coated and uncoated brackets showed no significant differences in the friction coefficient. Microscopic analysis showed that low wear took place for the DLC-coated surfaces. It is proposed that the application of DLC coating on archwires can decrease the orthodontic fretting wear and coefficient of friction. Unfortunately it does not affect the frictional properties for brackets at present.

Interaction and its induced inhibiting or synergistic effects during co-gasification of coal char and biomass char.

Co-gasification of coal char and biomass char was conducted to investigate the interactions between them. And random pore model (RPM) and modified random pore model (MRPM) were applied to describe the gasification behaviors of the samples. The results show that inhibiting effect was observed during co-gasification of corn stalk char with Hulunbeier lignite coal char, while synergistic effects were observed during co-gasification of corn stalk char with Shenmu bituminous coal char and Jincheng anthracite coal char. The inhibiting effect was attributed to the intimate contact and comparable gasification rate between biomass char and coal char, and the loss of the active form of potassium caused by the formation of KAlSiO4, which was proved to be inactive during gasification. While the synergistic effect was caused by the high potassium content of biomass char and the significant difference of reaction rate between coal char and biomass char during gasification.

[Transformation of sulfur forms during coal pyrolysis and partial gasification in a fixed bed reactor].

The development of various process to the pre-desulfurization of coal was drawn more attention. In present study, the transformation of sulfur forms of three different ranks high sulfur coals during coal pyrolysis and partial gasification were investigated in a fixed bed reactor. The sulfur and carbon content analysis of original coal and coal char produced were determined by LECO SC-444 and wet chemical analysis according to Sugawara's method. The results showed that half of inorganic sulfur and partial of organic sulfur were removed during coal pyrolysis. And the sulfur removal was much more than carbon during pyrolysis process; and the sulfur in the coal char, especially the sulfide sulfur was removed completely during partial gasification process for both Datong coal and Xishan coal, the degree of sulfide sulfur removal could be increased with increasing temperature. At the same time, the results of Yima coal showed that the effect of fixed-sulfur by alkaline metals increased when the temperature was higher than 700 degrees C, which attribute to the increase of the fixed sulfur reaction rate and the decrease of mass-transfer limitation.