Biosorption of hexavalent chromium from aqueous solution by polyethyleneimine-modified ultrasonic-assisted acid hydrochar from Sargassum horneri.

In this study, an efficient route to synthesizing polyethyleneimine-modified ultrasonic-assisted acid hydrochar (PEI-USAH) is developed and reported. Ultrasonic irradiation technique was used as surface modification method to shorten the crosslinking reaction for hydrochar and polyethyleneimine (PEI). The PEI-USAH showed an excellent adsorption capacity for Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. The physicochemical properties of this PEI-modified adsorbent were comparatively characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis and CNHS analysis. The effects of contact time, initial pH, and biosorbent dose on adsorption capacities were investigated. The batch adsorption experiments showed that PEI-USAH possessed the maximum adsorption capacities of 94.38 mg/g and 330.84 mg/g for initial Cr(VI) concentration of 100 mg/L and 500 mg/L, respectively. Furthermore, this adsorption process could be fitted to Langmuir adsorption and described by the pseudo second order kinetic model. Based on the above findings, PEI-USAH could be used as a potential adsorbent for removal of Cr(VI) from wastewater.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Citrus sinensis.

Citrus sinensis is an important agricultural product with huge economic value. In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequence of Citrus sinensis for the first time. Our assembly of the Citrus sinensis mt genome resulted in a final sequence of 640,906 bp in length which contains 63 genes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Citrus sinensis was closely related to Brassica napus and Arabidopsis thaliana, which also belong to malvids. The complete mt genome will facilitate further genetic studies of Citrus sinensis.

Microwave-assisted pyrolysis of methyl ricinoleate for continuous production of undecylenic acid methyl ester (UAME).

Undecylenic acid methyl ester (UAME) was continuously produced from methyl ricinoleate using a microwave-assisted pyrolysis system with atomization feeding. The UAME yield of 77 wt.% was obtained at 500°C using SiC as the microwave absorbent and heating medium. The methyl ricinoleate conversion and UAME yield from microwave-assisted pyrolysis process were higher than those from conventional pyrolysis. The effect of temperature on the pyrolysis process was also investigated. The methyl ricinoleate conversion increased but the cracking liquid yield decreased when the temperature increased from 460°C to 560°C. The maximum UAME yield was obtained at the temperature of 500°C.

Quantification of glucose, xylose, arabinose, furfural, and HMF in corncob hydrolysate by HPLC-PDA-ELSD.

Lignocellulose and other carbohydrates are being studied extensively as potential renewable carbon sources for liquid biofuels and other valuable chemicals. In the present study, a simple, sensitive, selective, and reliable HPLC method using a photodiode array (PDA) detector and an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) was developed for the simultaneous determination of important sugars (D(+)-cellobiose, glucose, xylose, and arabinose), furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) in lignocellulose hydrolysate. The analysis was carried out on an Aminex HPX-87H column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm particle size). Ultra-pure water with 0.00035 M H(2)SO(4) was used as the mobile phase with a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min. The temperature of the ELSD drift tube was kept at 50 °C, the carrier gas pressure was 350 kPa, and the gain was set at 7. Furfural and 5-HMF were quantified on a PDA detector at 275 nm and 284 nm, respectively. The sugar concentrations were determined by ELSD. This method was validated for accuracy and precision. The regression equation revealed a good linear relationship (r(2) = 0.9986 ± 0.0012) within the test ranges. The method showed good reproducibility for the quantification of six analytes in corncob hydrolysate, with intra- and inter-day variations less than 1.12%. This method is also convenient because it allows the rapid analysis of the primary products of biomass hydrolysis and carbohydrate degradation.

Study on the pyrolysis of cellulose for bio-oil with mesoporous molecular sieve catalysts.

Mesoporous materials possess a hexagonal array of uniform mesopores, high surface areas, and moderate acidity. They are one of the important catalysts in the field of catalytic pyrolysis. In this paper, mesoporous materials of Al-MCM-41, La-Al-MCM-41, and Ce-Al-MCM-41 were synthesized, characterized, and tested as catalysts in the cellulose catalytic pyrolysis process using a fixed bed pyrolysis reactor. The results showed that mesoporous materials exhibited a strong influence on the pyrolytic behavior of cellulose. The presence of these mesoporous molecular sieve catalysts could vary the yield of products, which was that they could decrease the yield of liquid and char and increase the yield of gas product, and could promote high-carbon chain compounds to break into low-carbon chain compounds. Mesoporous molecular sieve catalysts were benefit to the reaction of dehydrogenation and deoxidation and the breakdown of carbon chain. Further, La-Al-MCM-41 and Ce-Al-MCM-41 catalysts can produce more toluene and 2-methoxy-phenol, as compared to the non-catalytic runs.

[Influence of ZSM-5(38)/Al-MCM-41 composite molecular sieve catalysts on pyrolysis of cellulose].

Pyrolysis of cellulose with different catalysts has been conducted in a fixed-bed reactor. Micro-mesoporous composite molecular sieves of ZSM-5(38)/A1-MCM-41 with different Si/A1 ratios were prepared under hydrothermal conditions. With powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), the catalyst samples were characterized. GC-MS was used to analyze the bio-oil composition. The effects of catalysts on the pyrolysis product yields were investigated and the results were compared with the results of experiments performed without catalyst under the same pyrolitic conditions. The presence of the catalysts decreased the liquid yield, while increased the moisture content. The major improvement in the quality of bio-oil with the use of catalysts was the increase of DL-2,3-Butanediol. ZSM-5(38)/A1-MCM-41(20) favored the formation of phenol and 2-methoxy-phenol. In addition, these catalysts were all benefit for the generation of small molecular compounds. Also, it was found that ZSM-5(38) was better for the production of C4-C5 compounds. And micro-mesoporous composite molecular sieves mainly promoted the production of C6-C8 compounds.

[Bio-oil production from biomass pyrolysis in molten salt].

In order to investigate the effects of pyrolysis conditions on bio-oil production from biomass in molten salt, experiments of biomass pyrolysis were carried out in a self-designed reactor in which the molten salt ZnCl2-KCl (with mole ratio 7/6) was selected as heat carrier, catalyst and dispersion agent. The effects of metal salt added into ZnCl2-KCl and biomass material on biomass pyrolysis were discussed, and the main compositions of bio-oil were determined by GC-MS. Metal salt added into molten salt could affect pyrolysis production yields remarkably. Lanthanon salt could enhance bio-oil yield and decrease water content in bio-oil, when mole fraction of 5.0% LaCl3 was added, bio-oil yield could reach up to 32.0%, and water content of bio-oil could reduce to 61.5%. The bio-oil and char yields were higher when rice straw was pyrolysed, while gas yield was higher when rice husk was used. Metal salts showed great selectivity on compositions of bio-oil. LiCl and FeCl2 promoted biomass to pyrolyse into smaller molecular weight compounds. CrCl3, CaCl2 and LaCl3 could restrain second pyrolysis of bio-oil. The research provided a scientific reference for production of bio-oil from biomass pyrolysis in molten salt.

Effect of ultrasonic power on the structure of activated carbon and the activities of Ru/AC catalyst.

Ruthenium-based materials are the second-generation catalysts for ammonia synthesis. Ruthenium is less inhibited by ammonia, less sensitive to poisons, and more active than the traditional iron-based catalyst. The relatively high cost of Ru compared to that of iron requires a high dispersion of the metal on a suitable support. Carbon-supported Ru catalysts with promoters have been reported to be active for ammonia synthesis. The ultrasonic technique has been proven to be beneficial to the preparation of supported catalysts. In this paper, the effects of ultrasonic treatment on the surface texture, oxygen groups of activated carbon (AC) as well as ruthenium dispersion were investigated by the employments of N(2) physisorption, TPD-MS and CO chemisorption respectively. It have been shown that ash content in AC can be effectively eliminated by ultrasonic pretreatment, at the same time, the BET surface area and total pore volume are reduced, and the amount of the decomposable surface oxygen groups are decreased. Furthermore the ash content decrease and the mesopore surface area increase with the ultrasonic power increasing. The activities of a series of barium-potassium-promoted Ru/AC catalysts for ammonia synthesis were tested at 10,000 h(-1), 10.0 MPa and 400 degrees C. The results show that the activities of Ru/AC catalysts which were prepared by ultrasonic treatment are greatly increased, and the optimum pretreatment power is 100 W. The ash content of this carbon support is decreased from 1.39% to 1.15%. As a result, the catalytic activity is improved from 65.3 to 83.8 mmol g(-1) h(-1).

[Diagnostic value of dual-head 18F-FDG imaging in metastatic lesion with unknown primary tumour].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the diagnostic value of dual-head (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) imaging in metastatic lesion with unknown primary tumour (UPT). METHODS: Seventy patients with UPT underwent dual-head (18)F-FDG imaging after iv (18)F-FDG 1.85 MBq/kg. The primary tumour was diagnosed according to the FDG uptake and T/N value. RESULTS: Of the 70 patients, the primary tumour was identified by positive FDG imaging and finally confirmed pathologically in 58 patients (82.9%), and 12 patients had a negative FDG imaging (17.1%). Forty-two of the 58 positive patients were found to have lung cancer (72.4%). Among the 12 negative patients, their primary tumour was then identified by other diagnostic procedures in 5 patients (41.7%), in 1 patient, the primary site was detected during follow-up, however, the primary tumour was never detected in the rest 6 patients. CONCLUSION: Dual-probe (18)F-FDG imaging is a simple, quick, non-invasive and sensitive technique with an accuracy over 80% in the diagnosis of unknown primary tumour. The lung is found to be the most frequent primary site. Dual-probe (18)F-FDG imaging can be recommended as the first diagnostic choice for UPT.

[18F-FDG PET in the diagnosis of head and neck tumor].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the value of 18F-FDG PET in the diagnosis of patients suspected of having head and neck malignant tumor. METHOD: Seventy-five cases patients suspected of having head and neck cancer or recurrence were analyzed retrospectively. 18F-FDG PET was performed in all cases. The results of some cases were compared with CT and MRI. RESULT: 18F-FDG PET yielded a sensitivity 91.30% and specificity 76.92% and accuracy 86.11% in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma; sensitivity 100.00% and specificity 83.33% and accuracy 94.44% in esophageal carcinoma; sensitivity and specificity and accuracy 100% in thyroid carcinoma, laryngeal carcinoma and hypopharyngeal carcinoma. CONCLUSION: Preliminary clinical application of 18F-FDG PET has demonstrated its significant advantages in evaluating head and neck malignant diseases.