Search

Nanomaterials have excellent adsorption performance due to nano-effect and have been widely used in many fields. The adsorption performance of nanomaterials depends on their adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics. Here, the thermodynamic and kinetic equations of adsorption for spherical nanoparticles are first derived in theory. The mechanisms and regularities of influences of nano-effect on thermodynamics and kinetics, using nano-CdS adsorption of methylene blue as a probe, were investigated. The results show that there are significant influences of nano-effect (i.e., interface area effect and interface tension effect) on the thermodynamics and kinetics of nanoparticle adsorption. When the particle radius is larger and beyond the nanometer scale (∼100 nm), the nano-effect can be neglected. When the radius of the nanoparticle is within 10–50 nm, the nano-effect of adsorption is mainly the interface area effect. When the radius is less than 10 nm, the influences of both the interface area effect and the interface tension effect on adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics become more significant. The theoretic equations and experimental insights in the present work could provide a significant basis and reference for improving and perfecting the adsorption theory involving nanomaterials and provide guidelines for the explanations of adsorption mechanisms as well as the selection of adsorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A three-dimensional tilted silo submitted to vibration was established. • Discharge rate did not depend on depth but decreased with the increase of tilt angle. • That the discharge was promoted or suppressed was affected by vibration parameters. • Effect of angle on discharge rate was higher than that of frequency and amplitude. Introducing vibrations is a common way to improve the granular flow in silos to avoid clogging. In this study, a three-dimensional silo submitted to vertical vibration was built. The effect of vibration on the discharge of tilted silo was studied. The results showed that, the discharge rate did not depend on the particle depth but decreased with the increase of the outlet tilt angle, regardless if the silo was vibrated or not. Discharge rate showed non-monotonic relationship with vibration frequency at high amplitude, while increased with increasing frequency at low amplitude. The contour plots of the influence of vibration and tilt angle on the discharge were given. Based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the effect of the tilt angle on the discharge was higher than the vibration amplitude and frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discharge of granular materials from a silo subject to vertical vibration was studied in cylindrical silos. A hemispherical bottom silo with five different angles of outlets was proposed. The effects of the stirring shaft angular velocity, the dimensionless depth of granular materials, and the discharge exit angle on the discharge in the silo were compared. An enhancement factor was proposed to evaluate the effect of vertical vibration on improving the discharge of the granular materials. A positive correlation was found between the discharge rate and dimensionless depth in the low range of dimensionless depth. The vibration had an inhibitory effect on the discharge when the vibration frequency of the silo was lower than 30 Hz or the amplitude was higher than 0.11. The granular material had the highest discharge rate when the outlet was at 54° from the vertical direction under both non-vibration and vibration conditions. Unlabelled Image • A hemispherical bottom silo with five different angles of outlets is proposed. • A discharge angle with the maximum discharge rate is found on the bottom. • Large dimensionless depth promotes the discharge of granular materials. • The critical vibration frequency exists during the discharge of the silo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Size-controllable SnO 2 nanospheres (SONS) were synthesized by self-assembly of nanoparticles in a hydrothermal synthetic system. The morphology and structure were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning/transmission electron microscopy. The as-synthesized SONS nanospheres are comprised of SnO 2 nanoparticles and their sizes are easily adjusted by adding hydrofluoric acid. The SONS-based sensors exhibit high sensitivities and selectivities to 50 ppm volatile triethylamine (TEA). The response time is 1 s and the recovery time is 46 s upon exposure to 1 ppm TEA. The results suggest that spherical SnO 2 self-assembled by nanoparticles are suitably served as sensor material for detection of low-concentration hazardous volatile amines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CeO microspheres and nanotubes were synthesized via the hydrothermal route. Catalytic properties of the Pd/CeO catalysts were investigated using the low-concentration methane oxidation as probe reaction. The structures and morphologies were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Nitrogen ad/desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman techniques. The results show that the catalytic activity is strongly dependent on the morphology of CeO. The property of Pd/CeO-microspheres catalyst is superior to that of Pd/CeO-nanotubes, which is attributed to its short porous channel, the exposed active planes, and existence of CeO. The Pd/CeO-microspheres catalyst will be a promising candidate for low-concentration methane oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lamellar octahedral ceria (LOC) was synthesized by a facile hydrothermal route. The catalyst properties of Pd-supported on the as-synthesized LOC material for low-concentration methane oxidation and reaction kinetics were also investigated. The structure and morphology of samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen ad/desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction techniques. As-synthesized ceria has octahedral morphology and surface-stepped microstructures, and this unique structural CeO 2 exposes (1 1 0) crystal planes superior to general (1 1 1) facet in catalyst. The results show that LOC-supported Pd catalyst exhibits excellent low-temperature activity and stability by optimizing Pd loadings. The properties are further enhanced by introducing guest metal into the LOC material and the advantage of the Zr-modified LOC-supported Pd catalyst was confirmed by kinetic study. The optimum catalyst maintains high low-temperature activity and stability under various gas hourly space velocities, suggesting it has promising application in complete oxidation of low-concentration methane for different flow rates of ventilation air. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Octahedral CeO 2 microparticles possessing a stair-like microstructure comprising self-assembled nano-sized rectangular blocks were synthesized by a hydrothermal synthetic route. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning/transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption techniques. The structural functions of the as-synthesized CeO 2 as support for the Pd catalyst were investigated by the catalytic oxidation of low-concentration methane. The results showed that the unique stair-like structure of CeO 2 improved the stability of the Pd catalyst for continuous conversion of low-concentration methane, which suggests that the as-synthesized CeO 2 has potential application in the removal of low-concentration methane from ventilation air and other oxidations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel, hierarchically nanostructured, star-shaped ZnO (SSZ) microparticles are synthesized by a hydrothermal synthetic route. The SSZ microparticles serve as effective platforms for electrochemical detection of amines in solution. The morphology and structure of the materials are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and UV/Vis spectroscopy. The as-synthesized SSZ microparticles comprise self-assembled hexagonal prisms that possess nanometer and micrometer pores in their structure and on their surfaces-structural features that are conducive to sensing applications. An electrode fabricated by using the hierarchically nanostructured SSZ materials serve as a sensitive electrochemical sensor for detection of low concentrations of ethylenediamine, with a sensitivity of 2.98×10−2 mA cm−2 m m−1, a detection limit of 2.36×10−2 m m, and a short response time of 8 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the realm of aviation, trajectory data play a crucial role in determining the target's flight intentions and guaranteeing flight safety. However, the data collection process can be hindered by noise or signal interruptions, thus diminishing the precision of the data. This paper uses the bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) model to solve the problem by masking the high-precision automatic dependent survey broadcast (ADS-B) trajectory data and estimating the mask position value based on the front and rear trajectory points during BERT model training. Through this process, the model acquires knowledge of intricate motion patterns within the trajectory data and acquires the BERT pre-training Model. Afterwards, a refined particle filter algorithm is utilized to generate alternative trajectory sets for observation trajectory data that is prone to noise. Ultimately, the BERT trajectory pre-training model is supplied with the alternative trajectory set, and the optimal trajectory is determined by computing the maximum posterior probability. The results of the experiment show that the model has good performance and is stronger than traditional algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tin dioxide quantum dots (TQDs) with controllable size were synthesized by changing the amount of alkaline reagent in the hydrothermal process. The gas-sensing properties were investigated by operating chemoresistor type sensor. The morphology and structure were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning/transmission electron microscopy, UV–vis and Raman spectrometry. The as-synthesized SnO 2 shows the characteristics of quantum dots and the narrowest size distribution is about 2–3 nm. The gas-sensing results indicate that the responses are strongly dependent on the size of quantum dots. TQDs with different sizes exhibit different sensitivities and selectivities to volatile toxic chemicals such as aldehyde, acetone, methanol, ethanol and amine. Especially, when the sensors are exposed to 100 ppm triethylamine (TEA), the sensing response value of TQDs with small size is two times higher than that of the large-size TQDs. The maximum response values of TQDs to 1 ppm and 100 ppm TEA are 15 and 153, respectively. The response time is 1 s and the recovery time is 47 s upon exposure to 1 ppm TEA. The results suggest that it is an effective method by regulating the size of SnO 2 quantum dots to detect low-concentration hazardous volatile compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prism-like ZnO (PLZ) and lamella-like ZnO (LLZ) were synthesized by a hydrothermal route and the gas-sensing properties were also investigated. The morphology and structure of samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The as-synthesized PLZ is hexagonal prism in shape and LLZ consists of irregular fragment. The PLZ-based sensor exhibits high response and high selectivity to 1 ppm triethylamine at 100 °C, while LLZ-based sensor has high response to 1 ppm acetaldehyde gas. The shape-controlled ZnO is proved to be an effective material for detecting selectively the low-concentration of different volatile gases at low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The reconstructed image may be distorted by geometry artifacts due to the presence of mechanical misalignments in circular cone-beam computed tomography (CT) system. To avoid geometry artifacts intervention, a novel geometric calibration method belonging to the iterative-type methods, which uses a dedicated calibration phantom to determine all geometry parameters, is presented in this paper. The phantom consists of two steel balls, and the trajectories of two ball centers are two circles in circular scan. Minimization of the errors between the predicted trajectories of ball center and the ideal circles is the principle in the proposed method. In summary, the proposed method consists of three parts. Firstly, an efficient description of geometry which reduces the number of geometry parameters from 7 to 4 is stated. Then, a nonlinear least square model depending on the 4 parameters is derived. At last, the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm (LMA) is applied to solve the optimization problem. We implemented the proposed method and the classical analytic method presented by Noo et al. on real data in our laboratory cone-beam CT. The results indicated that our method could provide satisfactory reconstructed images as good as Noo's method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Thermodynamic property of nano-ZnO reacted with acetic acid is related to its size. [•] Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, entropy and equilibrium constant depend on size of ZnO. [•] There is a linear relationship between them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The structure function of hollow carbon nanoparticles (HCNP) as support of Pt particles in the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane was studied. The catalysts and supports were characterized by the XRD, TEM, TG-MS and N2 adsorption/desorption technologies. The results indicated that the short-channel of HCNP can improve the activity and stability of Pt/HCNP, which was confirmed and explained by the temperature programmed desorption (TPD) experiments. The extent of coke deposited on HCNP was much less than that on MCNT, which can be attributed to fast diffusion and quick removal of benzene from active sites through the short path of HCNP. The HCNP with short channel is very important for improving catalyst performance in the storage system of liquid organic hydrides. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The theoretical relations of thermodynamic properties, the equilibrium constant and reactant size in nanosystem are described. The effects of size on thermodynamic properties and the equilibrium constant were studied using nanosize zinc oxide and sodium bisulfate solution as a reaction system. The experimental results indicated that the molar Gibbs free energy, the molar enthalpy and the molar entropy of the reaction decrease, but the equilibrium constant increases with decreasing reactant size. Linear trends were observed between the reciprocal of size for nano-reactant and thermodynamic variable, which are consistent with the theoretical relations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Thermodynamic properties and equilibrium constant of reaction in nanosystems were analyzed theoretically. The effects of sizes of nano-CuO on thermodynamic properties and equilibrium constant were studied using the reaction of nano-copper oxide and sodium bisulfate as a system. The experimental results indicate that with the sizes of reactant decreasing, the molar Gibbs free energy (Δr Gm ), the molar enthalpy (Δr Hm ) and the molar entropy (Δr Sm ) decrease, but the equilibrium constant (K) increases and there are linear trends between the reciprocal of sizes for nano-CuO and the values of Δr Gm , Δr Hm , Δr Sm and Ln K, which are in agreement with the theoretical analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effect of oxidation treatments to the support on the properties of HCNP-supported platinum catalysts had been investigated. The hollow carbon nanoparticles (HCNP) were modified by oxidative treatments with concentrated nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide, respectively. The activities of catalysts were tested using cyclohexane dehydrogenation as probe reaction. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD), IR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the supports and the catalysts. The results show that the HNO3 oxidized sample has the high concentration of oxygen-containing groups on the surface of HCNP, and these surface groups promote anchoring and increase in dispersion of Pt particles on the surface of HCNP with concentrated nitric acid treatment (HCNP–N). The reaction results indicate that the Pt catalyst supported on HCNP–N exhibits excellent activities which can be explained by metal dispersion and the effective active sites for the reaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A sensitive and selective HPLC method for the determination of the disaccharides of chondroitin sulfate in horse and dog plasma was validated. Chondroitin sulfate is degraded by chondroitinase ABC to three primary unsaturated disaccharides, (1) 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-(β-d-gluco-4-enepyranosyluronic acid)-d-galactose, (2) 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-(β-d-gluco-4-enepyranosyluronic acid)-4-O-sulfo-d-galactose, and (3) 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-(β-d-gluco-4-enepyranosyluronic acid)-6-O-sulfo-d-galactose, when treated with chondroitinase. Plasma samples (0.5 ml) were treated with 50 mU of chondroitinase ABC in 50 μl of 1 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) at 37°C for 6 h. The samples were extracted with 25% trifluoroacetic acid in ethanol. The resultant samples were derivatized with 1% dansylhydrazine in ethanol at 40°C for 3 h. The chromatographic conditions consisted of fluorescence detection (excitation at 350 nm and emission at 530 nm), μ-Bondapack NH2 (300 × 3.9 mm), and mobile phase of acetonitrile:100 mM acetate buffer, pH 5.6 (76:24), pumped at 1.0 ml/min. The standard curves for each chondroitin disaccharide showed linearity over the selected concentration range (r ≥ 0.99). The intraday percentage relative standard deviation was ≤9.5% and the interday precision was ≤6.9% or less. The relative intraday and interday error ranged from −7.3 to 6.6% for each chondroitin disaccharide in the plasma. The extraction recovery was found to be in the range of 90–96%. The validated method accurately quantitated the disaccharides of chondroitin sulfate after administration to dogs and horses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Previous studies have uncovered the function of receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) to mediate both cell survival and death. Moreover, RIPK1 modulates apoptosis and necroptosis depending on its activity, phosphorylation or ubiquitylation status. Many studies have explained the role or mechanism of RIPK1 in necroptosis. However, the role of RIPK1 has not been elucidated fully in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells. The protein and mRNA expression levels of RIPK1 in a panel of ESCC cell lines by Western blot and real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) were analyzed. MTS assay was used to examine cellular proliferation, flow cytometric analysis to detect apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane potential and reactive oxygen species production. ESCC cells with either inhibitor or overexpressed RIPK1were analyzed to determine cell proliferation, colony formation and apoptosis. Flow cytometry and western blotting assays were used to explore the underlying mechanism. In our study, RIPK1 expression was found to contribute significantly to cisplatin-induced apoptosis in the human ESCC cells. The reduced RIPK1 expression promoted cells proliferation and overexpressed RIPK1 facilitated cell apoptosis. Mechanistic investigations have revealed that the inhibition of proliferation for RIPK1 in ESCC cells was regulated via activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase signaling. Additionally, damages were observed in the mitochondrial membrane, depletion of ATP and increased generation in reactive oxygen species. Our findings verified the evidence that RIPK1 can promote cell death in ESCC cells, with potential implications for activating c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase pathway as a novel approach to the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remarkable success of deep learning technologies has provided new ideas for solving complex tracking problems. It is difficult for traditional algorithms to directly estimate the trajectory vector and target class from the received signal due to the limitation of modelling ability, which causes inevitable information loss. Moreover, existing algorithms suffer severe performance degradation when dealing with problems that are difficult to mathematically model in advance, such as highly nonlinear observations and manoeuvring scenarios. To address these issues, we propose a deep learning algorithm for joint direct tracking and classification (DeepDTC), which is a novel direct tracking framework. Specifically, we construct a convolutional neural network (CNN)‐based signal processing component to capture observation features, and a Transformer‐based trajectory tracking component to capture the features of target state and identity. Meanwhile, in signal processing component, we design an attribute network to learn auxiliary knowledge features. Finally, we construct a multi‐task learning network to connect these components and estimate trajectory vectors and target classes simultaneously. Our algorithm takes the transformer with attention mechanism as the core network, which is highly scalable and suitable for introducing various auxiliary knowledge. The comparison experiments with traditional methods demonstrate the effectiveness and advancement of the proposed algorithm. The comparative experiments with the single‐task model show that DeepDTC can further improve the tracking accuracy by utilising the learnt classification information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The pencil-like ZnO (PLZ) with long pen tips was synthesized by surfactant-assisted method. The growth mechanism and the gas sensing properties were also investigated. The results show that PLZ exhibits a good response and reversibility to dimethylamine, and the response and recovery time are 1s and 20s, respectively, which suggest that PLZ with long pen tips is very efficient for detecting toxic gas with low concentration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: MnO2 electrode material is successfully synthesized by electrodeposition under supergravity field from manganese acetate solution. The structure of the samples is characterized by X-ray diffraction. The results show that the product is γ-MnO2. Galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements are applied to investigate electrochemical performances of the MnO2 electrodes material prepared under different supergravity fields. MnO2 synthesized under rotational speed 3000rpm exhibits the highest specific surface area and discharge capacitance, the values of which are 68.6% and 19.3% higher than that under normal gravity fields, respectively. It is found that supergravity field can improve the electrochemical performance of MnO2 material. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Deep learning technology provides novel solutions for increasingly complex target tracking requirements. For traditional target tracking models, the movement of the target need to be simulated by a predefined mathematical model. However, it is extremely difficult to obtain sufficient information in advance, which makes it challenging to track changeable and noisy trajectories in a timely and precise manner. A deep learning framework is constructed for automatic trajectory tracking based on learning the dynamic laws of motion, called DeepGTT. Specifically, a trajectory generator and a trajectory mapper were designed to standardise trajectory data and construct trajectory mapping, which enable the long short‐term memory–based tracking network to learn general dynamic laws. Then, to discuss the interpretability of the model, the mechanism of the deep learning framework is considered and a memory factor matrix is defined. Finally, extensive experiments are conducted on various weak manoeuvring and manoeuvring scenarios to evaluate the algorithm. Experimental results demonstrate that the DeepGTT algorithm remarkably improves accuracy and efficiency compared with most conventional algorithms and state‐of‐the‐art methods. In addition, interpretability experiments qualitatively prove that the tracking network can perceive dynamic laws when estimating the target state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Stagnant air is a main factor that affected the heat and mass transfer uniformity of vapor. • Nusselt number reduced with an increasing of stagnant air. • Condensate occurs a transition from the laminar to turbulent states in round angle of 0°–180°. • Reynolds number of liquid film has highest value within the circumferential angles of 45°–90°. • An increment in stagnant air delays the transition of liquid film from a laminar to turbulent states. The effects of stagnant air on the condensation heat transfer of vapor over a horizontal tube were investigated by experiments. The condensation wall temperatures along the circumference and the cooling water temperature were measured at various cooling water and vapor mass fluxes as well as vapor pressures. The heat transfer coefficients and Nusselt number were calculated, and the effects of stagnant air on several parameters, including the wall temperature of the condensation tube, Nusselt number, heat transfer coefficient, and flow pattern transition point of liquid film, were analyzed. Results showed that stagnant air was a main factor that affected the heat and mass transfer uniformity of vapor. Unlike in pure vapor condensation, the temperature difference between the top and bottom parts of the condensation tube increased when the mole fraction of stagnant air was less than 0.17, whereas it decreased when the mole fraction of stagnant air was larger than 0.47. The increment in the mole fraction of stagnant air reduced the temperature difference along the circumference of the condensation tube wall. As the mole fraction of stagnant air increased, the heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number decreased. However, Nusselt number was insensitive to the effect of air when the mole fraction of stagnant air was larger than 0.25. As the circumferential angle of horizontal condensation tube increased from 0° to 180°, the Reynolds number of liquid film transformed from the laminar state to the turbulence state and then changed into the laminar state. Reynolds number reached a maximum value within the circumferential angles of 45°–90°. As the circumferential angle changed from 90° to 180°, a large amount of condensate fell, and the liquid film attached to the condensation tube wall became thinner, which resulted in an intensive reduction in the Reynolds number of the liquid film. As the mole fraction of stagnant air increased, a transition point of liquid film moved to a larger circumferential angle, which delayed the transition of liquid film from laminar flow to turbulence. The present experimental results were compared with the data from Sherkriladze and Gomelauri (1966), Rose (1984), Fujii et al. (1972), and Nusselt (1916). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • 2D feather-like lamella γ-Al 2 O 3 (FLAO) was prepared via a facile hydrothermal method. • The Pd/FLAO catalyst exhibited superior catalytic activity for LCM oxidation. • The Pd/FLAO catalyst showed excellent thermal stability even though in the high GHSV. • New catalyst material has promising application in catalysis. Abstract Methane oxidation is a strong exothermal reaction, the heat released from which can be utilized and the greenhouse effect caused by emitted methane, particularly low-concentration methane (LCM), can be further relieved. Presently, one of the key problems is to develop an efficient catalyst material for promoting LCM oxidation. Here, we synthesized an alumina with 2D feather-like lamella structure (FLAO), which is suitable for industrial applications. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning/transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption/desorption techniques. The results show that as-synthesized alumina has feather-shaped morphology and 2D slices structures, which form loose framework. Pd nanoparticles were easy to be anchored and well-dispersed on the surface of alumina. The FLAO-supported Pd catalysts exhibited high activity and stability. For 360000 mL g−1 h−1 space velocity, the LCM conversion research above 90% at 400 °C, and only decrease 8.6% after 50 h reaction at 450 °C, suggesting that as-synthesized 2D alumina slice has potential application for highly efficient removal of low-concentration methane from ventilation air. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2D tin sulfide with adjustable dual crystal plane and band gap was synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method and applied for effective photodegradation of organic pollutants. The as-synthesized SnS2 showed a peony flower-like structure composed of 2D nanosheets. UV-vis spectra showed that the introduction of N can extend the light absorption range to the visible region. Compared with pristine SnS2, the as-prepared SnS2 exhibited better photodegradation performance for rhodamine B removal under simulated sunlight irradiation; after 120 min, the removal rate could reach 94.5%. Transient photocurrent, photoluminescence, and UV-vis spectra show that this superior photocatalytic performance is due to the effective separation of photo induced carriers and the enhancement of light absorption. According to the active free radical capture experiments, a possible mechanism was proposed, which explained the reason for the enhancement of photocatalytic ability. The results show that SnS2 is a highly effective and metal-free photocatalyst for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. Our research provides a novel idea for the synthesis of SnS2 materials with effective removal of environmental pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mushroom poisoning is a major public health issue in China. The integration of medical resources from different institutes of different levels is crucial in reducing the harm of mushroom poisoning. However, few studies have provided comprehensive implementation procedures and postimplementation effectiveness evaluations. To reduce the harm caused by mushroom poisoning, a network system for the prevention and treatment of mushroom poisoning (NSPTMP) was established in Chuxiong, Yunnan Province, a high-risk area for mushroom poisoning. Methods: The NSPTMP consists of three types of institutions, namely, centers for disease prevention, hospitals, and health administration departments, with each kind of institution comprising prefecture, county/city, town, and village levels. After three years of implementation, the network was evaluated by comparing the indices before and after network implementation using data from the "Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System" and 17 hospitals in Chuxiong. The indices included the fatalities caused by mushroom poisoning, the composition ratios of different types of mushrooms for both outpatients and inpatients and the hospitalization rates. Results: Compared to the average fatality rate of mushroom poisoning from 2015 to 2017, the average fatality rate from 2018 to 2020 significantly decreased from 0.57 to 0.06% (P < 0.001). Regarding the poisonous genus containing lethal mushrooms, the outpatient and inpatient composition ratios significantly decreased for Amanita (9.36–2.91% and 57.23–17.68%, respectively) and Russula (15.27–8.41%) (P < 0.05). Regarding poisonous mushrooms that caused mild symptoms, the outpatient and inpatient composition ratios significantly increased for Scleroderma (5.13–13.90% and 2.89–18.90%, respectively) and Boletaceae (19.08–31.71%) (P < 0.05), and the hospitalization rates significantly increased for Scleroderma (6.33–18.02%) and Boletaceae (5.65–12.71%) (P < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings suggest that the NSPTMP effectively reduced the harm caused by mushroom poisoning. In addition to the integration of medical resources, the development of poisonous mushroom identification, hierarchical treatment systems in hospitals, public education, and professional training also played important roles in improving the system's effectiveness. The establishment and evaluation of the NSPTMP in Chuxiong Prefecture can provide valuable insights and serve as a model for other regions facing similar challenges in managing mushroom poisoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molybdenum carbide is one of non‐precious metal materials and it is a promising electrocatalyst for hydrogen production. Synthesis and improvement of molybdenum carbide's catalytic performance is of great significance. Herein, carbon‐based Mo2C with hybrid phase of MoO2 was fabricated by matching the composition of Mo and C derived from pomelo peel and optimizing raw carbon amount and prolysis temperature. The resulting MoO2/Mo2C@C is composed of loose microspheres with mesoporous microstructure and is self‐assembled from nanoparticles. The results show that MoO2/Mo2C@C2 material exhibits excellent HER performance and only a low overpotentials of 143 mV is needed to drive the current density of 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline solution, and Tafel slopes are only 63.4 mV dec−1, respectively. Notably, it has potential application at low overpotentials to drive large current density and this strategy also provides a universal route to prepare non‐noble metal catalyst with hybrid phase of oxide/carbide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design and development of high-effective photocatalysts to remove multiple organic pollutants are a great challenge. Herein, the band structure of CuO is regulated by constructing the heterostructures between AgBr and CuO, which is realized by controlling hybrid morphologies. The as-prepared AgBr/CuO material consists of CuO nanoflakes and AgBr nanoparticles. Notably, AgBr nanoparticles are adhering on the surface of CuO nanosheets, which favors the formation of heterojunction with point to plane contact and fasten electron transfer. The photocatalytic results show that the AgBr/CuO photocatalyst, prepared by using the 0.1 mol AgNO3 and KBr as raw materials, presents superior photodegradation activity toward degradation of multi-pollutants with dye concentration of 15 mg L−1 and pH = 7. The methyl violet removal rate reaches 98% within 60 min in the present of 0.1 g catalyst under visible light, and rhodamine B and methyl blue are degraded to 98 and 78% within 90 min. The radical trapping tests prove that photogenerated superoxide radicals (∙O2−) and holes (h+) act as the main active species in photodegradation of MV. The result indicates that point to plane-contacted heterostructure of AgBr/CuO material plays a key role and it has potential application in the environment remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polydopamine‐coated tungsten oxide (PDA@WO3) nanomaterial is synthesized by the polymerization of dopamine around the surface of WO3 to form the perfect yolk‐shell structures, and the optoelectronic properties and photocatalytic performance in the wide pH range are studied. After coating of PDA around the WO3 surface, as‐obtained PDA@WO3 possesses better light absorption, lower band gap, stronger photocurrent response, and lower resistance than pristine WO3. As a result, the improved photocatalytic ability of PDA@WO3 nanocomposites, by optimizing the amount of dopamine, is achieved. Compared with pristine WO3, PDA@WO3 exhibits better photocatalytic activity, and the degradation rate of methyl blue reaches 80.2 % (pH=5.4) and 94.5 % (pH=7.2) after 150 min. Combined band energy with trapping experiments of the active substance, photocatalytic activity and degradation mechanism are discussed. Originated from the π electron conjugation system of PDA and yolk‐shell structure of PDA@WO3, the mobility of photogenerated electrons increase and the recombination of electrons‐holes reduce that result in improvement of the photocatalytic performance of pristine WO3, implying surface‐modified metal oxide with yolk‐shell is a potential photocatalytic material for degradation in wide pH range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to high value‐added chemicals is one of the effective technologies to achieve the goal of carbon neutralization. However, highly selective production of hydrocarbon via electrochemical conversion of CO2 still has great challenges. Herein, a unique CuO phase composition is constructed that consists of rectangular nanoflakes possessing crystalline/amorphous structures by the facile strategy. Crystalline CuO square nanoblocks are confined in amorphous nanoflakes and form crystalline/amorphous hybrid phase. The results of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction demonstrate that this crystalline/amorphous CuO material exhibits superior CO2 conversion ability with ethylene Faradaic efficiency of 58.3 % at −1.08 V vs. RHE, which is ascribed to nanoflake structures and fast electron transfer on the crystalline/amorphous interfaces because of superior conductivity of amorphous CuO. The present research provides an effective route to reconstruct novel crystalline/amorphous interfaces of CuO for catalysis applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a non-noble metal material, molybdenum carbide is considered to be an electrocatalyst with the most potential for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) due to its similar electron structure to platinum. However, its high preparation temperature easily leads to aggregations of nanoparticles (NPs) that affect the properties of Mo2C. For this purpose, we synthesized ultrafine molybdenum carbide anchored on nanocarbon (MCC) by designing an Mo-precursor to engineer micro/nanostructures. The results show that as-prepared MCC materials consist of 3D laminated 2D lamellar structures that are self-assembled from Mo2C NPs anchored on nanocarbon. Electrocatalytic tests indicate that the 3D/2D MCC materials exhibit excellent activity and stability in alkaline solution. Notably, a low overpotential of 123 mV is achieved to drive a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for HER, which implies the 3D/2D structures are conducive to molecules accessing active sites, transport and diffusion, and this structural MCC has promising application as an alternative non-noble metal electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution and other catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical sensing is a potential method for detection of trace toxic substance. Herein, the heterojunction of netlike ZnO/BiOCl nanosheets was constructed for the enhanced electrochemical detection of ammonia. Cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry were used to investigate the electrochemical performance. The results show that the ZnO/BiOCl‐modified electrode exhibits higher sensitivity towards ammonia compared with the ZnO and BiOCl‐based electrodes, which is ascribed to band structure and fast electron transfer. The high response of 11.8 μA mM−1 and a low detection limit (LOD) of 0.25 μM are achieved. In addition, the ZnO/BiOCl material exhibits high selectivity, repeatability and stability. The better linear relationship between concentration and current (R2=0.99) is significant for quantitative detection of ammonia, implying that netlike ZnO/BiOCl nanosheets can serve as electrochemical sensing platform for detecting toxic substance. This research provides a strategy for fabricating two‐dimensional netlike materials and regulating heterojunctions used for electrochemical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mo2C is one of the promising alternatives to the precious metal catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, it is still challenging to prepare highly dispersed Mo2C and prevent nanoparticles (NPs) from sintering during high‐temperature carbonization. Herein, a strategy is proposed to realize dual purposes that confine the coalescence of Mo2C NPs and redistribute charge density by regulating N‐doped contents. As‐synthesized molybdenum carbide nanodots are well dispersed on the N‐doped carbon nanolayers, and the size of Mo2C is uniform and less than 5 nm. The HER tests reveal that as‐prepared Mo2C nanodots exhibit excellent electrocatalytic activity for HER and long‐term stability. Theory calculation proves that optimizing N doping amount can tune hydrogen adsorption free energies and redistribute charge density. The present study provides insight into the impact of nitrogen doped in C/Mo2C and also a synthetic route to achieve heteroatom doping and size control for the synthesis of nanocatalysts beyond Mo2C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal dichalcogenides have potential application in photocatalysis. Here, we synthesized Mn‐(un) doped tin disulfide materials for photocatalytic degradation by hydrothermal method. The XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, XPS, BET, UV‐Vis and PL were employed to analyze their structures, morphologies, surface chemical state and photoelectronic properties. The results show that as‐prepared tin disulfide displays hexagonal morphology of nanotablets, and Mn‐doped tin disulfide consists of quasi‐hexagonal thin nanotablets that are stacked to form wrinkle layers. The doped tin disulfide has low bandgap energy, fast electron transport, larger photocurrent response and separation efficiency of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs. The results of photocatalysis indicate that the Mn‐doped tin disulfide exhibits high photocatalytic activity and fast degradation capacity with more than 99 % degradation rate for methyl violet within 90 min under visible light irradiation. Notably, Mn‐doped tin disulfide has also high degradation rate for rhodamine B. This strategy for introducing Mn in tin disulfide provides guides for morphology control and designing multifunctional photocatalyst for wide application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal carbide such as molybdenum carbide has been widely used in electrolytic water for hydrogen production due to its potential catalytic property. The synthesis of molybdenum carbide-based high-efficient catalysts by simple process remains great challenges. Herein, Mo oxide/carbide material with hybrid morphology was synthesized by carbonizing mixture of lotus roots and Mo salt. The as-obtained material consists of MoO 2 /Mo 2 C (MOMC) anchored on biomass-derived nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) matrix. The results show that as-prepared material displays leaf-like and belt-like nanosheets, and the MOMC/NC catalyst with optimal Mo contents exhibits an excellent activity with a low overpotential of 138 mV to drive 10 mA cm−2 and Tafel slope is 56.7 mV dec−1 in alkaline medium, indicating that as-prepared catalyst will have promising application in the field of catalysis. [Display omitted] • Ultrasmall MoO 2 /Mo 2 C NPs were synthesized by carbonizing lotus roots and Mo salt. • Biomass-derived carbon consists of leaf-like and belt-like nanosheets. • The as-obtained MoO 2 /Mo 2 C/C exhibited superior electrocatalytic activity and stability for HER. • As-synthesized material is a promising noble metal-free electrocatalyst served as HER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Birnessite-type MnO2 nanoparticles are synthesized by mixing KMnO4 solution directly with ethylene glycol under ambient conditions. When cobalt exists in the solution, the micro-morphology of the products transforms from conglomeration to dispersive state. The result of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) shows that the product is constructed with nanosphere in sizes of ca. 40 nm. These nanospheres are twisted by nanorods clusters. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows that the products are birnessite-type. The electrochemical properties of the prepared materials are studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge–discharge test in aqueous electrolyte. The product shows a very high specific capacity of 326.4 F g−1. These results indicate that cobalt has great effects on the micro-morphology and electrochemical properties of manganese dioxide. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two‐dimensional (2D) materials possess special physical and chemical properties. They have been proved to have potential application advantage in the microwave absorption (MA) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. Particularly, they exhibit positive shielding and absorbing response to EMI. Here, the research progress of preparation, electromagnetic performance and microwave shielding/absorbing mechanisms of 2D composite materials are introduced. Effective preparation routes including introducing heteroatoms, constructing unique structures and 2D composite materials are described. Furthermore, the application prospects and challenges for the development of novel EMI materials are expatiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of hydrogen via electrochemical water splitting has the potential to enable the utilization of hydrogen‐powered fuel cells on a large scale. However, to realize this technology, inexpensive, noble metal‐free electrocatalysts possessing high performances for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are needed. Mo2C nanoparticles recently receive much attention as alternative noble metal‐free electrocatalysts because their electronic structures are akin to that of Pt. However, the synthesis of Mo2C at nanoscale with high catalytic activity for HER remains a great challenge. Moreover, although efforts have been made to prevent their aggregation, the particles coalesce during high temperature carbonization, which is typically used to produce such transition metal carbides. Here, the synthesis of Mo2C nanodots that are well‐dispersed within 3D cage‐like carbon microparticles using rationally designed Mo‐based xerogels, which are prepared via the sol–gel process as precursors, is reported. During their pyrolysis, the xerogels maintain their structures while the Mo species in them transform into well‐dispersed Mo2C nanodots in situ. The as‐synthesized Mo2C nanodots exhibit excellent electrocatalytic activity for HER, in both alkaline and acidic media, while remaining largely stable. The work also demonstrates a promising synthetic route and procedure to other well‐dispersed yet stable nanocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production of hydrogen from electrochemical water splitting has been regarded as one of the most economic and sustainable techniques for green fuel production. It is significant and challengeable to develop highly efficient and low cost noble metal-free electrocatalysts. Presently, molybdenum-based electrocatalysts were regarded as potential alternatives for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, the well-dispersed and ultrasmall Mo 2 C nanoparticles (NPs) anchored on 2D carbon nanosheets were synthesized by designing chelate precursor and following pyrolysis, which was proved to be an effective approach for preparing carbon-loaded Mo 2 C NPs. The as-obtained Mo 2 C/C material exhibits an outstanding activity and stability in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). It needs an overpotential of 147 mV to drive 10 mA cm−2 and Tafel slope is 64.2 mV dec−1 in alkaline medium, implying that Mo 2 C/C material will be a potential noble metal-free electrocatalyst for HER. The design of Mo-chelate precursor is a feasible route to synthesize ultrafine Mo 2 C and it can provide a reference for synthesizing other nanoparticles and hindering particle coalescence at high preparation temperature. • Ultrasmall Mo 2 C nanoparticles coupled with nanocarbon matrix material (MC/C) was synthesized by a facile sol-gel approach. • The size distribution of Mo 2 C is in the range of 2.8–6.2 nm and the mean particle sizes is about 4.3 nm. • The MC/C-6 electrocatalyst exhibited superior electrocatalytic activity and stability for the HER. • New catalyst material has promising application in electrocatalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molybdenum carbide possessing a Pt‐like d‐band electronic structure is considered as one of potential candidates of electrocatalysts and it shows intrinsic catalytic property. However, a high carbonizing temperature easily leads to the coalescence of nanoparticles (NPs). Here, we propose a simple sol‐gel route to achieve high dispersity of carbide NPs by designing a Mo‐involved xerogel. The results show that molybdenum carbide NPs are dispersed and anchored on the nitrogen‐doped carbon nanosheets (Mo2C@NC). Ultrathin carbon layers resemble graphene and the network structures act as a support of carbide NPs, which can hinder NPs' coalescence effectively. Nanpoparticles cross‐coupled on network‐structure nanosheets display the grid shapes. Electrochemical studies indicate that Mo2C@NC material exhibits outstanding hydrogen evolution performance in alkaline electrolyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous Graphitic carbon nitride(pg‐C3N4) possessing hierarchical pores and lamellar nanostrucutres was synthesized in the absent of templates by pyrolysis of the solution‐assisted mixing dual‐precursors. The samples were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, N2 porosimeter, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV‐Vis andphotoluminescence spectroscopy.The photocatalytic activities of as‐prepared materials for degradation of methyl violet were studied. The results show that the as‐prepared g‐C3N4consists of well‐dispersed layers with uniform sizeand hierarchical (Meso/Macro) pores in the nanosheets, which favor photogenerated electron‐hole pairs'separation, and the degradation of methyl violet conforms to the quasi‐first‐order kinetic model. The porous g‐C3N4 synthesized by optimizing precursors' ratios exhibited faster degradation rate than g‐CN material in the process of photocatalyzing methyl violet andthe degradation rate was over 93 % after irradiation of 180 min, implying that the as‐prepared hierarchically porous g‐C3N4 is a high‐effective and metal‐free photocatalytic material for degradation of pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning technology provides novel solutions for localization in complex scenarios. Conventional methods generally suffer from performance loss in the long-distance over-the-horizon (OTH) scenario due to uncertain ionospheric conditions. To overcome the adverse effects of the unknown and complex ionosphere on positioning, we propose a deep learning positioning method based on multistation received signals and bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) network framework (SL-BiLSTM), which refines position information from signal data. Specifically, we first obtain the form of the network input by constructing the received signal model. Second, the proposed method is developed to predict target positions using an SL-BiLSTM network, consisting of three BiLSTM layers, a maxout layer, a fully connected layer, and a regression layer. Then, we discuss two regularization techniques of dropout and randomization which are mainly adopted to prevent network overfitting. Simulations of OTH localization are conducted to examine the performance. The parameters of the network have been trained properly according to the scenario. Finally, the experimental results show that the proposed method can significantly improve the accuracy of OTH positioning at low SNR. When the number of training locations increases to 200, the positioning result of SL-BiLSTM is closest to CRLB at high SNR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rational design of structure and regulation of composition in micro/nano-scale is of great significance for broadband absorbing properties of lightweight aerogels. Herein, the controllable dual phase Mo 2 C/MoO 2 -decorated rGO aerogels are prepared by designing the Mo-rGO precursor, which possesses heterostructure interfaces and three-dimensional structures. The dual-phase of Mo 2 C/MoO 2 was controlled and nanoparticles were dispersed on the surface of graphene. The interconnected rGO sheets construct continuous network for electron transport, which facilitates conduction loss and multiple reflections inside the aerogel. The Mo 2 C/MoO 2 nanoparticles decorated on rGO sheets contribute sufficient interfacial and dipole polarization, and improve the impedance matching and strengthen the loss capacity of electromagnetic waves. The as-prepared Mo 2 C/MoO 2 /rGO aerogel exhibits considerable electromagnetic wave absorption performance with a minimum reflection loss of −42.1 dB at 12.5 GHz and an effective absorption bandwidth of 5.6 GHz (10.6–16.2 GHz) at a thin thickness of 2.2 mm with a low density of 9.8 mg·cm−3. This Mo 2 C/MoO 2 /rGO aerogel would be a promising material for electromagnetic wave absorption in wide application fields, and it also provides a universal idea for constructing low-density broadband microwave absorption material by structural and composition engineering. [Display omitted] • Dual-phase Mo 2 C/MoO 2 decorated rGO aerogels are prepared by precursor design. • As-prepared aerogel consists of rGO-loaded Mo 2 C/MoO 2 possessing 2D/3D structure • Mo 2 C/MoO 2 rGO aerogels promote the impedance matching and strengthening the loss capacity to electromagnetic waves. • Mo 2 C/MoO 2 rGO material exhibits effective absorption bandwidth of 5.6 GHz. • A proposed strategy is efficient for constructing broadband microwave absorption material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eleven cases of pleural mesothelioma and two cases of pleural normal tissue were detected using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The differences between pleural mesothelioma and normal pleural tissues identified by comparison of their respective Fourier transform infrared spectra were as follows: (1) a higher relative intensity of the protein amide I band at 1641 cm–1 for pleural mesothelioma compared to normal pleural tissues, a pointed peak of amide II band at l550 cm–1 for pleural mesothelioma, and a higher relative intensity compared to normal pleural tissues, all relating to increased protein content in pleural mesothelioma; (2) a symmetric stretch of the vibration band of phosphodiester bonds in the nucleic acid molecules of pleural mesothelioma towards the long 1240 cm–1 wave, and a higher relative intensity compared to normal pleural tissues, indicating increased nucleic acid content of the pleural mesothelioma; (3) a lower relative intensity of the absorption peak near 2854–2922 cm–1 in the pleural mesothelioma compared to normal pleural tissue, indicating reduced lipid content of the pleural mesothelioma; (4) a lower relative intensity of the absorption peak near 1047 cm–1 associated with soluble sugar content of the pleural mesothelioma compared to normal pleural tissues. Our results show that Fourier transforms infrared spectra exists differences between pleural mesothelioma and normal pleural tissues. It is expected to become a new method for rapid identification of pleural mesothelioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemical water splitting has been considered as a promising method for large‐scale hydrogen production. However, the development of high‐performance and low‐cost noble metal‐free electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remains a great challenge. Transition metal carbides (such as molybdenum carbide) are one of the most potential substitutes for noble metal as electrocatalysts for HER. One of the effective measures for further enhancing their performances is to hinder the coalescence of nanoparticles. Here we demonstrate a two‐dimensional ultrafine molybdenum carbide‐coupled mesoporous structured meshlike carbon nanolayers synthesized vis facile route based on holes in the carbon nanolayer structures blocking nanoparticle agglomeration. Molybdenum carbide clusters dispersed on the carbon nanolayers are successfully prepared by carbonization of molybdate‐polyvinylpyrrolidone precursor as a proof of concept, which exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity for the HER and high stability in basic medium. The present study provides some references for the design and synthesis of nanostructured electrocatalysts utilizing 2D meshlike materials to prevent nanoparticles from agglomerating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal carbide such as molybdenum carbide is most potential alternative to Pt catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). A high effective non‐noble metal electrocatalyst synthesized by the facile route isurgently needed. Herein, we designed a facile approach to synthesize molybdenum carbide nanocrystal dispersed on hexagonal carbon nanotablets possessing mesoporous structures. The electrocatalytic activities for HER were studied. The results show that as‐synthesized molybdenum carbide nanocomposites exhibit a superior HER activity and stability, with an overpotential of 176 mV to drive j=10 mA cm−2 in basic solution and a smaller Tafel slope of 52 mV dec−1in acidic medium, implying molybdenum carbide hexagonal nanotablets have a promising application as Pt‐free electrocatalysts for HER. This strategy also opens a new way to fast synthesize other non‐noble metal electrocatalysts for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distinct three-dimensional hierarchically stacking SnO2-Sb/TiO2-NTs electrode with a good-adhesion TiO2-NTs@SnO2-Sb interlayer, a compact plate SnO2-Sb middle layer, and an apparent uniform microsphere layer was successfully prepared through the hydrothermal method. The evolution of micro-morphology and structure of electrode catalyst layer was realized so as to improve the catalytic performance of electrode through tuning the hydrochloric acid concentration. Experimental results show that SnO2-Sb/TiO2-NTs electrode prepared in 0.5 mol L−1 HCl condition possesses the optimal performance containing a low phenol oxidation potential of 1.2 V (vs. SCE), and a maximum current density of 3.8 mA cm−2 towards phenol degradation in phosphate buffered solution. The electrochemical phenol removal results show that the phenol degradation process coincides with the first-order kinetics and the corresponding optimal constant reaches 14.2 × 10−3 min−1. The TOC removal efficiency of optimal electrode reaches 62%. Graphical abstract The evolution of micro-morphology and structure of electrode was realized through tuning the hydrochloric acid concentration so as to improve the catalytic performance of electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This study has developed a predictive model for the cross‐contamination of pork by Listeria monocytogenes during bowl chopping. The transfer rates of L. monocytogenes were measured in sixteen chopping scenarios based on practical work. Meanwhile, contaminated bowl chopper was cleaned with either a dry rag (DR), warm water (WW) or 70% ethanol + water (EW), respectively. It was showed that significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed among the three cleaning methods on the reduction of L. monocytogenes, the greatest log reduction being achieved by EW. Moreover, the model introduced by a previous study, predicting cross‐contamination of L. monocytogenes during meat slicing, was improved and validated in this study. Verification results showed that the improved model was acceptable for predicting L. monocytogenes cross‐contamination during pork chopping with coefficients of determination (R2 > 0.82), accuracy factors (Af < 1.44), bias factors (Bf < 1.42), and root mean square error (RMSE < 0.99). Furthermore, the modified model might provide an effective tool for assessing the risk of the cross‐contamination of meat products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BiOCl nanosheets with adjustable shape were fabricated by a facile solvothermal method and the photodegradation property towards RhB was further studied. Batch experiments suggest that the BiOCl synthesized using CTAB (BOC-CTAB) as an additive presents the top-flight photoactivity with ca. 99% of removal rate within 20 min under visible light and shows outstanding recyclability and photostability after 3 cycles. The enormous improvement of degradation rate can be ascribed to enhanced visible-light response, narrow band gap and rapid separation rate of charge carriers. Moreover, the trapping tests suggest that the superoxide radical anions (·O 2 -) are critical reactive oxidation species to boost the photoactivity. This study indicates that the BOC-CTAB can be considered as an exceptional visible-light-driven photocatalyst used in relative environment remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]