High performance few-mode fiber-based light field direction sensing system using deep convolutional neural network: fiber speckle demodulation network (FSDNET).

Precisely sensing the light field direction information plays the essential role in the fields of three-dimensional (3D) imaging, light field sensing, target positioning and tracking, remote sensing, etc. It is thrilling to find that the optical fiber can be used as a sensing component due to its high sensitivity, compact size, and strong resistance to electromagnetic interference. According to the core principle that the few-mode fiber output speckle pattern is sensitive to the change of incident light field direction, the variation characteristics is further investigated in this research study. Based on the simulation and analysis of the fiber transmission characteristics, the output speckle corresponding to the incident light field with the direction in the range of ±6° horizontally and vertically are calculated. Furthermore, a deep convolutional neural network (CNN): fiber speckle demodulation network (FSDNET) is proposed and constructed to establish what we believe to be a novel way to reveal and identify the mapping relationship between the light field direction and the output speckle. The theoretical simulation shows that the mean absolute error (MAE) between the perceived light field directions and the true directions is 0.01°. Then, a light field direction sensing system based on the few-mode fiber is developed. Regarding to the performance of the sensing system, the MAE of the FSDNET for the light field directions that have appeared in the training set is 0.0389°, and for testing set of the unknown directions that have not appeared in the training set, the MAE is 0.0570°. Therefore, the simulation and experimental results prove that high performance sensing of light field direction can be achieved by the proposed few-mode fiber sensing system and the FSDNET.

Achievements, challenges, and perspectives in the design of polymer binders for advanced lithium-ion batteries.

Energy storage devices with high power and energy density are in demand owing to the rapidly growing population, and lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are promising rechargeable energy storage devices. However, there are many issues associated with the development of electrode materials with a high theoretical capacity, which need to be addressed before their commercialization. Extensive research has focused on the modification and structural design of electrode materials, which are usually expensive and sophisticated. Besides, polymer binders are pivotal components for maintaining the structural integrity and stability of electrodes in LIBs. Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) is a commercial binder with superior electrochemical stability, but its poor adhesion, insufficient mechanical properties, and low electronic and ionic conductivity hinder its wide application as a high-capacity electrode material. In this review, we highlight the recent progress in developing different polymeric materials (based on natural polymers and synthetic non-conductive and electronically conductive polymers) as binders for the anodes and cathodes in LIBs. The influence of the mechanical, adhesion, and self-healing properties as well as electronic and ionic conductivity of polymers on the capacity, capacity retention, rate performance and cycling life of batteries is discussed. Firstly, we analyze the failure mechanisms of binders based on the operation principle of lithium-ion batteries, introducing two models of "interface failure" and "degradation failure". More importantly, we propose several binder parameters applicable to most lithium-ion batteries and systematically consider and summarize the relationships between the chemical structure and properties of the binder at the molecular level. Subsequently, we select silicon and sulfur active electrode materials as examples to discuss the design principles of the binder from a molecular structure point of view. Finally, we present our perspectives on the development directions of binders for next-generation high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries. We hope that this review will guide researchers in the further design of novel efficient binders for lithium-ion batteries at the molecular level, especially for high energy density electrode materials.

Optical fiber bundle differential compressive imaging.

We present a differential compressive imaging method for an optical fiber bundle (OFB), which provides a solution for an ultrathin bend-resistant endoscope with high resolution. This method uses an OFB and a diffuser to generate speckle illumination patterns. Differential operation is additionally applied to the speckle patterns to produce sensing matrices, by which the correlation between the matrices is greatly reduced from 0.875 to 0.0275, which ensures the high quality of image reconstruction. Pixilation artifacts from the fiber core arrangement are also effectively eliminated with this configuration. We demonstrate high-resolution reconstruction of images of 132 × 132 pixels with a compression rate of 12% using 77 fiber cores, the total diameter of which is only about 91 µm. An experimental verification proves that this method is tolerant to a limited degree of fiber bending, which provides a potential approach for robust high-resolution fiber endoscopy.

La2O3 Nanoparticles Can Cause Cracking of Tomato Fruit through Genetic Reconstruction.

La2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) have shown great potential in agriculture, but cracking of plant sensitive tissue could occur during application, resulting in a poor appearance, facilitating entry for insects and fungi, and increasing economic losses. Herein, exocarp cracking mechanisms of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit in response to La2O3 NPs were investigated. Tomato plants were exposed to La2O3 NPs (0-40 mg/L, 90 days) by a split-root system under greenhouse condition. La2O3 NPs with high concentrations (25 and 40 mg/L) increased the obvious cracking of the fruit exocarp by 20.0 and 22.7%, respectively. After exposure to 25 mg/L La2O3 NPs, decreased thickness of the cuticle and cell wall and lower wax crystallization patterns of tomato fruit exocarp were observed. Biomechanical properties (e.g., firmness and stiffness) of fruit exocarp were decreased by 34.7 and 25.9%, respectively. RNA-sequencing revealed that the thinner cuticle was caused by the downregulation of cuticle biosynthesis related genes; pectin remodeling, including the reduction in homogalacturonan (e.g., LOC101264880) and rhamnose (e.g., LOC101248505), was responsible for the thinner cell wall. Additionally, genes related to water and abscisic acid homeostasis were significantly upregulated, causing the increases of water and soluble solid content of fruit and elevated fruit inner pressure. Therefore, the thinner fruit cuticle and cell wall combined with the higher inner pressure caused fruit cracking. This study improves our understanding of nanomaterials on important agricultural crops, including the structural reconstruction of fruit exocarp contributing to NPs-induced cracking at the molecular level.

Nonvolatile Memory Organic Light-Emitting Transistors.

In the field of active-matrix organic light emitting display (AMOLED), large-size and ultra-high-definition AMOLED applications have escalated the demand for the integration density of driver chips. However, as Moore's Law approaches the limit, the traditional technology of improving integration density that relies on scaling down device dimension is facing a huge challenge. Thus, developing a multifunctional and highly integrated device is a promising route for improving the integration density of pixel circuits. Here, a novel nonvolatile memory ferroelectric organic light-emitting transistor (Fe-OLET) device which integrates the switching capability, light-emitting capability and nonvolatile memory function into a single device is reported. The nonvolatile memory function of Fe-OLET is achieved through the remnant polarization property of ferroelectric polymer, enabling the device to maintain light emission at zero gate bias. The reliable nonvolatile memory operations are also demonstrated. The proof-of-concept device optimized through interfacial modification approach exhibits 20 times improved field-effect mobility and five times increased luminance. The integration of nonvolatile memory, switching and light-emitting capabilities within Fe-OLET provides a promising internal-storage-driving paradigm, thus creating a new pathway for deploying storage capacitor-free circuitry to improve the pixel aperture ratio and the integration density of circuits toward the on-chip advanced display applications.

[Effects of Different Biochar and Effective Microorganism Agent Improvement Approaches on the Nutrient Release Characteristics and Potential of Compost].

The nutrient release characteristics of four types of composts, pure municipal sewage sludge compost, corn straw biochar (CSB) improved compost, effective microorganism agent (EM) improved compost, and CSB+EM improved compost, in coastal wetland soil were examined through a soil incubation experiment. The effects of different composts on the spectral characteristics of soil dissolved organic matter (DOM) and microbial community were also investigated. The results demonstrated that the compost additions could significantly reduce soil pH, while increasing soil electrical conductivity and contents of plant available nutrients (e.g., dissolved organic carbon, NH4+-N, NO3--N, available phosphorus, and available potassium). By comparing the nutrient release potential among the improved composts, the CSB+EM-improved compost (CSB+EM-C) evidently had the highest nutrient release potential. Furthermore, the DOM in CSB+EM-C amended soil exhibited a higher humification degree than that of the other composts. The high-throughput sequencing results indicated that the compost additions increased the relative abundances of dominant bacteria at the phylum level, such as the Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria. CSB+EM-C exhibited a greater potential to improve the relative abundance of these dominant bacteria phyla than other improved composts. Overall, among all the improvement approaches, the combined use of CSB and EM agent was the optimal composting strategy owing to its highest potentials of nutrient supply and soil quality improvement. The present findings can provide a solid scientific theoretical basis for establishing an effective technology strategy involving the combination of municipal sewage sludge utilization and degraded coastal wetland soil remediation.

Long-term aged fibrous polypropylene microplastics promotes nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane emissions from a coastal wetland soil.

Microplastics (MPs) has been suggested that it can greatly affect soil greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions via altering soil physical, chemical, and biological properties. However, the difference in GHGs emissions, especially for those from coastal wetland soils, between varied aged MPs was rarely explored and the underlying mechanisms of GHGs emissions affected by the aged MPs were poorly understood. Therefore, the implications of fibrous polypropylene MPs (FPP-MPs) exposure on N2O, CO2, and CH4 emissions were examined by a 60-day soil incubation experiment. Compared with the control, the additions of un-aged FPP-MPs with both two rates (0.2 and 2 %) and aged FPP-MPs with a low rate (0.2 %) showed an insignificant effect on N2O emission, while the aged FPP-MPs added with a high rate (2 %) resulted in a remarkably increase in N2O emission, especially for those of the 30-day-aged FPP-MPs. A significant increase in CO2 emission was only observed in the 30-day-aged FPP-MPs treatments, compared with the control, and a higher addition rate produced a higher increase of CO2 emission. Regarding CH4 emission, it was significantly increased by adding aged FPP-MPs, and a longer aging period or/and a higher addition rate generated a higher degree of promotion of CH4 emission. However, compared with the CO2 emission, the quantity of CH4 emission was extremely low. These increased GHGs emissions can be ascribed to the improvements in soil physical structure and other chemical properties (e.g., pH and contents of soil organic matter and dissolved organic carbon) and enhancements in the abundances of denitrification- and carbon mineralization-related microorganisms. Overall, our results highlight the risk of elevated GHGs emissions from the soil polluted with 30-day-aged FPP-MPs, which should not be ignored as long-term aged FPP-MPs continue to increase in coastal wetland soils.

Block-based compressed sensing for fast optic fiber bundle imaging with high spatial resolution.

The resolution of traditional fiber bundle imaging is usually limited by the density and the diameter of the fiber cores. To improve the resolution, compression sensing was introduced to resolve multiple pixels from a single fiber core, but current methods have the drawbacks of excessive sampling and long reconstruction time. In this paper, we present, what we believe to be, a novel block-based compressed sensing scheme for fast realization of high-resolution optic fiber bundle imaging. In this method, the target image is segmented into multiple small blocks, each of which covers the projection area of one fiber core. All block images are independently and simultaneously sampled and the intensities are recorded by a two-dimensional detector after they are collected and transmitted through corresponding fiber cores. Because the size of sampling patterns and the sampling numbers are greatly reduced, the reconstruction complexity and reconstruction time are also decreased. According to the simulation analysis, our method is 23 times faster than the current compressed sensing optical fiber imaging for reconstructing a fiber image of 128 × 128 pixels, while the sampling number is only 0.39%. Experiment results demonstrate that the method is also effective for reconstructing large target images and the number of sampling does not increase with the size of the image. Our finding may provide a new idea for high-resolution real-time imaging of fiber bundle endoscope.

Biochar-amended compost as a promising soil amendment for enhancing plant productivity: A meta-analysis study.

A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of biochar-amended compost (BAC) on plant productivity (PP) and soil quality. The analysis was based on observations from 47 peer-reviewed publications. The results showed that BAC application significantly increased PP by 74.9 %, the total nitrogen content of soil by 37.6 %, and the organic matter content of soil by 98.6 %. Additionally, BAC application significantly decreased the bioavailability of cadmium (-58.3 %), lead (-50.1 %), and zinc (-87.3 %). However, the bioavailability of copper increased by 30.1 %. The study explored the key factors regulating the response of PP to BAC through subgroup analysis. It was found that the increase in the organic matter content of the soil was the key mechanism for PP improvement. The recommended rate of BAC application for improving PP was found to be between 10 and 20 t ha-1. Overall, the findings of this study are significant in providing data support and technical guidance for the application of BAC in agricultural production. However, the high heterogeneity of BAC application conditions, soil properties, and plant types suggests that site-specific factors should be considered when applying BAC to soils.

Combined use of biochar and microbial agent can promote lignocellulose degradation and humic acid formation during sewage sludge-reed straw composting.

This study investigated the effects of corn straw biochar (CSB) and effective microorganisms (EM) added individually or combinedly on lignocellulose degradation, compost humification, and microbial communities during sewage sludge-reed straw composting process. All the additive practices were found to significantly elevate the humification degree of compost products. The degradation rates of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in different additive treatments were 20.8-31.2 %, 36.2-44.8 %, and 19.9-25.7 %, respectively, which were greatly higher than those of the control. Compared with the single uses of CSB or EM, the combined use of CSB and EM generated greater promotions in lignin and hemicellulose degradations and increase in humic acid content. By comparing the differences in microbial communities among different treatments, the CSB-EM demonstrated greater increases in activity and diversity of lignocellulose degradation-related microbes, especially for fungus. Lastly, the combined use of CSB and EM was highly recommended as a high-efficient improvement strategy for organic compost production.

[Influence of Biochar Application on Soil Nitrate Leaching and Phosphate Retention: A Synthetic Meta-analysis].

How to control non-point source pollution caused by leaching of soil nitrate and phosphate from agricultural land is currently an extremely important global environmental problem facing human society. Biochar, a carbon-rich material produced from various organic feedstocks using thermochemical technologies, has attracted much attention because of its great potential in soil improvement. Many studies have been carried out to investigate the effects of biochar application on the retention, utilization, and use efficiency of soil nutrients. Unfortunately, the results from individual experimental studies regarding the effects of biochar on soil nitrate leaching and phosphate retention differed greatly. Consequently, the underlying mechanisms related to reduction in nitrate and phosphate leaching/retention by biochar application, as well as the appropriate preparation conditions (or biochar type), remain unclear. In this study, the effects of biochar application on soil nitrate leaching and phosphate retention were systematically examined using the method of Meta-analysis (MA); based on these results, the inhibition mechanisms for nitrate leaching and enhancement mechanisms for phosphate retention were also explored. In total, 149 paired datasets from 41 articles and 180 paired datasets from 36 articles were collected for nitrate and phosphate, respectively. The MA results demonstrated that, regardless biochar and soil properties, biochar application could significantly reduce soil nitrate leaching by 37.1% and increase soil phosphate retention by 20.8%. Furthermore, the C/N ratio of biochar, heating treatment temperature, and biochar application amount indicated a significant effect on the response of soil nitrate leaching to biochar application. The specific surface area of biochar, heating treatment temperature, and soil organic carbon content had a significant effect on the response of soil phosphate retention to biochar application. Based on the results from MA, the potential mechanisms of soil nitrite leaching reduction and phosphate retention enhancement were further explored from different perspectives. Lastly, the biochars prepared from straw or wood materials and pyrolyzed at a medium temperature (400-600℃) or high temperature (>600℃) were recommended for reducing soil nitrate leaching and improving soil phosphate retention, respectively. In sum, the results presented in this study can provide a scientifically theoretical basis for the practical application of biochar in the control of soil non-point source pollution of nitrate and phosphate.

Co-applying biochar and manganese ore can improve the formation and stability of humic acid during co-composting of sewage sludge and corn straw.

This study examined the effects of corn straw biochar (CSB) and manganese ore (MO) on the abiotic formation and stability of humic acid (HA) during sewage sludge composting. Co-applying CSB and MO (106%) induced a higher increase in HA content of final compost product than those of no or single applications (32.6-85.1%). This positive change was achieved by promoting the conversion of humus precursors and fulvic acid to HA through abiotic pathway, respectively, in the early and later stages of composting. The co-application of CSB and MO also exhibited a higher capacity to improve HA stability than those of single applications. In sum, this study confirmed a clear synergistic effect of CSB and MO on improving the formation and stability of HA in compost product, which could further enhance the multi-benefits (e.g., carbon sequestration and soil quality improvement) of compost soil application.

Soil inorganic carbon dynamic change mediated by anthropogenic activities: An integrated study using meta-analysis and random forest model.

Soil inorganic carbon (SIC) is an important component of the soil C reservoir, and its dynamic change is associated with global climate change. However, few studies have been conducted to quantitatively explore the response of SIC content to different anthropogenic activities and their interactions with edaphic and climatic factors as well as the relative importance of each influencing factor. Here, we addressed these knowledge gaps by combining meta-analysis and the random forest (RF) model, based on data compiled from 101 studies. The quantitative effects of anthropogenic, edaphic, and climatic factors and their interactions on SIC content were first examined using the meta-analysis method, and then the relative importance of each examined factor was further determined using the RF model. The results demonstrated that SIC content significantly increased by 6.55% and 9.25% for cultivation and land use change, respectively, compared with that of the control, regardless of any influencing factors. Moreover, the grand mean changes in SIC content due to anthropogenic activities were found to be greatly affected by varied climatic, edaphic, and practical factors. In addition, the relative importance of each factor examined was ordered as follows: pH (18.2%) > soil type (16.4%) > mean annual precipitation (16.3%) > bulk density (15.2%) > soil depth (13.4%) > mean annual temperature (13.0%) > land use type (7.52%). Our study suggests that a combination of meta-analysis and RF model is a powerful method for systematically exploring dynamic changes in SIC content.

Potential methane emission reduction strategies from rice cultivation systems in Bangladesh: A critical synthesis with global meta-data.

Methane (CH4) is one of the dominant greenhouse gases (GHG) that is largely emitted from rice fields and thus, significantly contributes to global warming. Significant efforts have been made to find out suitable strategies to mitigate CH4 emission from rice culture. However, the effectiveness of these management practices is often diverse with negative, no, or positive impacts making it difficult to adopt under a particular condition. The diversity of rice cultivation in terms of agro-climatic conditions and cultivation practices makes it difficult for providing specific recommendations. Here, we collected data from a total of 198 studies reporting 1052 observations. The management practices are categorized into five different management practices i.e., water, organic and inorganic fertilizer management, crop establishment method, and agronomic practices while major categories were subdivided into different classes. To test statistically significant differences in the effectiveness between major management practices, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied. The Gaussian and bootstrapping model were applied to find out the best estimate of the effectiveness of each practice. In addition, mechanisms controlling the CH4 emission reductions were synthesized. Next, the adoption potentials of these practices were assessed based on the existing rice cultivation systems in Bangladesh. Our results showed that water and organic matter management were the most effective methods irrespective of the growing conditions. When these technologies are customized to Bangladesh, water management and crop establishment methods seem most feasible. Among the rice-growing seasons in Bangladesh, there is a larger scope to adopt these management practices in the Boro season (December to May), while these scopes are minimal in the other two seasons due to their rain-fed nature of cultivation. Altogether, our study provides fundamental insights on CH4 reductions strategies from rice fields in Bangladesh.

Biochar - An effective additive for improving quality and reducing ecological risk of compost: A global meta-analysis.

Biochar is considered as a promising additive with multi-benefits to compost production. However, how the biochar properties and composting conditions affect the composting process and quality and ecological risk of compost is still unclear. In the present study, we conducted a global meta-analysis based on 876 observations from 84 studies. Overall, regardless of biochar properties and composting conditions, biochar addition could significantly increase the pH (5.90%), germination index (26.6%), contents of nitrate nitrogen (56.6%), total nitrogen (9.50%), and total potassium (10.1%), and degree of polymerization (29.4%) while decrease the electrical conductivity (-5.70%), contents of ammonium nitrogen (-33.7%), bioavailable zinc (-22.9%), and bioavailable copper (-38.6%), and emissions of ammonia (-44.2%), nitrous oxide (-68.4%), and methane (-61.7%). Other compost indicators, including the carbon to nitrogen ratio and total phosphorus content, were found to be insignificantly affected by biochar addition. The responses of tested compost indicators affected by the biochar properties and composting conditions were further explored, based on which the addition of straw biochars at a rate of 10-15% was recommended due to its greater potential to improve quality of compost and reduce its ecological risk. Combining the results of linear regression analysis and structural equation model, the increase in compost pH caused by biochar addition was identified as the key mechanism for the increased nutrient content and decreased heavy metal bioavailability. These results could guide us to choose suitable kinds of biochar or develop engineered biochars with specific functionality to realize an optimal compost production mode.

Improvements in physicochemical and nutrient properties of sewage sludge biochar by the co-pyrolysis with organic additives.

Sewage sludge (SS) has been suggested as a priming feedstock for biochar production that could simultaneously benefit the solid waste reuse and agricultural production. However, effects of organic additive (OA) addition on nutrient characteristic of SS biochar (SSB) are still unclear. Herein, a series of SSBs were produced from the co-pyrolysis of SS and OA with different types [reed straw (RS), brewers' spent grain (BSG), and sawdust (SD)] and addition rates (10%, 30%, and 50%) at 350 and 700 °C, respectively, and their basic physicochemical and nutrient properties were also analyzed. The results indicated that OA addition greatly increased the carbon (C) content, while significantly decreased the yield, ash content, pH, electrical conductivity, and elemental ratios of H/C, N/C, and O/C of SSB. These changes in SSB physicochemical properties would be more beneficial to its potentials of soil improvement and C sequestration. Furthermore, OA co-pyrolytic SSBs generally demonstrated similar nutrient retention rate and higher available nutrient content (e.g., Olsen P, K, and NH4+ - N) in relative to the SSBs from SS alone, indicating their excellent nutrient recovery capacity and higher nutrient utilization efficiency. Lastly, the SSBs produced from co-pyrolysis of SS and SD, BSG, and RS, respectively, with 50% addition rate and at 700 °C were suggested as the best SSB kinds used for soil application due to their highest comprehensive quality scores. In sum, co-pyrolysis of SS and OA is recommended as a promising strategy to increase the benefits of SSB in both agricultural production and environment.

Effect of mineral loaded biochar on the leaching performances of nitrate and phosphate in two contrasting soils from the coastal estuary area.

Coastal estuary area is an important sink for the land-based or/and atmosphere-based nutrients, and is suffering a serious destruction derived from the intensifying human activities, which subsequently threatens the marine environment. Therefore, increasing soil retention capacities of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) and reducing their leaching amount to sea water become a critical issue needed to be urgently addressed. In this study, a 38-day incubation and leaching experiment was conducted with two contrasting soils taken from the coastal estuary area, including the wetland and agricultural soils. Four kinds of biochars (BC), including one pure reed straw BC (BC0), and three mineral loaded BCs produced through the co-pyrolysis of reed straw with CaO (BCCa), MgO (BCMg), and shell powder (BCSP), respectively, were used to explore their effects on the leaching performances of nitrate-N and phosphate-P. The results demonstrated that the application of mineral loaded BCs could generally decrease the leaching amount of phosphate-P, while showed little effect on the nitrate-N leaching, compared to the controls. The positive improvement in soil nutrient retention capacity, mostly contributed by the increased adsorption on BC surface and into aperture, was suggested as the main mechanism for the decrease in nitrate-N and phosphate-P leaching. Compared to the agricultural soil, high clay content in the wetland soil could weaken the reduction potential in leaching losses of nitrate-N and phosphate-P derived from the newly introduced minerals with BC application. Furthermore, our results also indicated that the mineral loaded BCs may slow down the conversion rate of nutrients from organic forms to inorganic forms supported by the decreased enzymatic activity, which would be beneficial to the long term retention of nutrients in soil. Overall, based on the findings in the present study, the BCMg and Ca loaded BCs were respectively recommended for the wetland and agricultural soils.

Environmental life cycle assessment of wheat production using chemical fertilizer, manure compost, and biochar-amended manure compost strategies.

Using manure compost (MC) as a substitute for chemical fertilizer (CF) has been regarded as an effective strategy to promote sustainable crop production. The application of biochar in compost production could significantly mitigate the emission of gaseous pollutants and improve compost quality. However, comprehensive investigations of the environmental performance of crop production using CF, MC, and biochar-amended MC strategies are scarce. Therefore, in this study, wheat production using four fertilizer strategies, including CF, MC, and biochar-amended MC with biochar addition rates of 5% (MCB5) and 10% (MCB10), was comparatively assessed in terms of their environmental performance using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. Compared to the CF strategy, the majority of midpoint impact categories and all assessed damage categories (except for human health and resources in MCB10) were mitigated using the compost strategies. Furthermore, as the biochar application rate increased, the biochar-amended MC strategies remarkably decreased the impacts on the global warming potential, stratospheric ozone depletion, and land use, and greatly increased the impacts on ozone formation (human health), fine particulate matter formation, and terrestrial acidification. Overall, biochar-amended MC with a biochar addition rate of 5% (MCB5) is recommended as the optimal strategy due to its relatively low environmental impact. Moreover, combined with the results of the sensitivity analysis, biogenic air pollutant emissions derived from the compost and biochar production stages were identified as the most important hotspots contributing to the undesirable environmental impacts. These findings advance our understanding of the environmental performance of wheat production using biochar-amended MC.

Fusiform-Shaped g-C3 N4 Capsules with Superior Photocatalytic Activity.

Carbon nitride (g-C3 N4 ) nanostructure rebuilding is an effective means to modify its photocatalytic properties, especially the hollow micron-nanostructure. The increased scattering in the body effectively improves the light utilization efficiency and improves catalytic properties. In this work, fusiform-shaped g-C3 N4 capsules are created by controlling the nucleation kinetics of supramolecular assemblies. The fusiform-shaped capsule micron-nanostructure is synthesized with ultrathin wall thickness and adjusted carbon/nitride ratios which decrease the recombination rate of photo-generated carriers. The hollow nanostructure and relatively higher specific surface area of the fusiform-shaped capsule effectively enhance light scattering inside body and lead to an enhanced carrier utilization efficiency. Moreover, the decrease of bandgap and relatively negative conduction band position affect the response of hollow fusiform-shaped g-C3 N4 capsules (Hf-g-C3 N4 ) in visible light region and improve the photo-reducing performance. In term of H2 evolution property, Hf-g-C3 N4 has been improved to 7052 µmol g-1 h-1 , which is 10.9 times higher compared with bulk structure. More importantly, Hf-g-C3 N4 can produce CH4 at the rate of 1.63 µmol g-1 h-1 without help of co-catalyst and hole sacrificial agent in the photocatalytic reduction reaction of CO2 to CH4 . At same time, the selective photocatalytic reduction of CO2 is another advantage of Hf-g-C3 N4 .

Comparison of the energetic, environmental, and economic performances of three household-based modern bioenergy utilization systems in China.

The methods of life cycle assessment and cost-effectiveness analysis were employed to compare the energetic, environmental, and economic performances of three household-based modern bioenergy (MBE) utilization systems: biogas utilization (BGs), biomass briquette utilization for energy only (BBs), and biomass briquette utilization for energy and biochar (BCs). The results showed that all the three MBEs performed positive results in net energy output, which ranged from 0.86 to 3.75 MJ (kg crop residues)-1. The positive greenhouse gas reductions also can be acquired when using these three MBEs to substitute for traditional energy, respectively. The cost-effectiveness values of three MBE systems ranged from 343 RMB (tCO2e)-1 for BGs to 598 RMB (tCO2e)-1 for BCs (the CO2e indicates the CO2 equivalent). Considering the supply index analysis results furtherly, the BGs is regarded as the best strategy for the development of MBE in rural households. However, BG leakage during BG digester operations should be received much greater attention to avoid adverse impacts on GHG mitigation.