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Crude palm oil (CPO) is rich with phytonutrients such as carotenoids and tocols which possesses many health benefits. The aim of this research was to develop a methanol-free process to produce palm phytonutrients via enzymatic hydrolysis. In this work, triacylglycerol was hydrolyzed into free fatty acids (FFAs) using three different types of liquid lipases derived from Aspergillus oryzae (ET 2.0), Aspergillus niger (Habio) and Candida antartica (CALB).ET 2.0 was found to be the best enzyme for hydrolysis. Under the optimum condition, the FFA content achievable was 790 g kgThis work shows that enzymatic hydrolysis, which is inherently safer, cleaner and sustainable is feasible to replace the conventional methanolysis for the production of palm phytonutrients. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John WileySons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Sludge palm oil is a by-product produced as a result of oil loss into waste streams during the palm oil milling process. It is non-edible, inexpensive and abundantly available, thus making it an attractive feedstock for biodiesel production. However, it contains high contents of water and free fatty acids, rendering the conventional alkali-catalyzed process unsuitable. Therefore, this research aimed to improve the production of biodiesel from sludge palm oil using a low-cost liquid lipase (Eversa® Transform 2.0) produced from a genetically modified Aspergillus oryzae. The activity of the liquid lipase was determined to be 9600 IU mL−1. We performed the reaction using low-input process conditions with only 0.2 wt% enzyme concentration and 5:1 methanol-to-oil molar ratio at a low operating temperature of 45 °C. Under an optimum stirring speed of 750 rpm, a crude biodiesel with a high ester content of approximately 94 wt% could be produced. Additionally, the crude glycerol produced has a higher purity compared to that produced via a chemical-catalyzed process. Overall, an economical and sustainable enzymatic process for the conversion of sludge palm oil into high quality biodiesel and glycerol has been demonstrated in this study.

Reducing the lateral scale of two-dimensional (2D) materials to one-dimensional (1D) has attracted substantial research interest not only to achieve competitive electronic applications but also for the exploration of fundamental physical properties. Controllable synthesis of high-quality 1D nanoribbons (NRs) is thus highly desirable and essential for further study. Here, we report the implementation of supervised machine learning (ML) for the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis of high-quality quasi-1D few-layered WTe2 NRs. Feature importance analysis indicates that H2 gas flow rate has a profound influence on the formation of WTe2, and the source ratio governs the sample morphology. Notably, the growth mechanism of 1T' few-layered WTe2 NRs is further proposed, which provides new insights for the growth of intriguing 2D and 1D tellurides and may inspire the growth strategies for other 1D nanostructures. Our findings suggest the effectiveness and capability of ML in guiding the synthesis of 1D nanostructures, opening up new opportunities for intelligent materials development.

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Cocatalyst design is a key approach to acquire high solar-energy conversion efficiency for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Here a new in situ vapor-phase (ISVP) growth method is developed to construct the cocatalyst of 2D PtS nanorectangles (a length of ∼7 nm, a width of ∼5 nm) on the surface of g-C3N4 nanosheets. The 2D PtS nanorectangles/g-C3N4 nanosheets (PtS/CN) show an unusual metal sulfide–support interaction (MSSI), which is evidenced by atomic resolution HAADF-STEM, synchrotron-based GIXRD, XPS and DFT calculations. The effect of MSSI contributes to the optimization of geometrical structure and energy-band structure, acceleration of charge transfer, and reduction of hydrogen adsorption free energy of PtS/CN, thus yielding excellent stability and an ultrahigh photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 1072.6 μmol h−1 (an apparent quantum efficiency of 45.7% at 420 nm), up to 13.3 and 1532.3 times by contrast with that of Pt nanoparticles/g-C3N4 nanosheets and g-C3N4 nanosheets, respectively. This work will provide a new platform for designing high-efficiency photocatalysts for sunlight-driven hydrogen generation.

It is highly desired yet challenging to steer the CO

Light utilization largely governs the performance of CO

Increasing oily wastewater and frequent oil leakage accidents have become a serious global environmental problem. To improve the adsorption capacity and simplify the recovery process of crude oil, it is a great significance to develop various advanced oil adsorbents and oil-collecting devices. In this work, a lightweight and compressible three-dimensional (3D) g-C3N4/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanosheet-based aerogel was successfully fabricated. The resulting 3D g-C3N4/PVA nanosheet-based aerogel has the advantages of high porosity and good hydrophobicity, making it a suitable material for use as an adsorbent. The 3D g-C3N4/PVA nanosheet-based aerogel can absorb various oils and organic solvents as high as 228-695 times its weight. Moreover, aerogel regeneration and recovery of oil can be achieved by cyclic distillation, squeezing, or combustion. After 40 cycles, the structure of 3D g-C3N4/PVA nanosheet-based aerogels are well kept and the adsorption capacity still retained 95, 93, and 95% by distillation, squeezing, and combustion, respectively. 3D g-C3N4/PVA nanosheet-based aerogel as an adsorbent has great potential in the application of oil/water separation for the removal of pollutants. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51902222) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21606113).

The effect of surface tensile strain on the photocatalysis is an open question. In this work, strain engineering has been demonstrated to promote the performance of photocatalysis by curved 2D mate...

Two-dimensional (2D) magnets with intrinsic ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic (FM/AFM) ordering are highly desirable for future spintronics devices. However, the synthesis of 2D magnetic crystals, especially the direct growth on SiO2/Si substrate, is just in its infancy. Here, we report a chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-based rational growth approach for the synthesis of ultrathin FeTe crystals with controlled structural and magnetic phases. By precisely optimizing the growth temperature (Tgrowth), FeTe nanoplates with either layered tetragonal or non-layered hexagonal phase can be controlled with high-quality. The two controllable phases lead to square and triangular morphologies with a thickness down to 3.6 and 2.8 nm, respectively. More importantly, transport measurements reveal that tetragonal FeTe is antiferromagnetic with a Neel temperature (TN) about 71.8 K, while hexagonal FeTe is ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature (TC) around 220 K. Theoretical calculations indicate that the ferromagnetic order in hexagonal FeTe is originated from a concomitant lattice distortion and the spin-lattice coupling. This study represents a major step forward in the CVD growth of 2D magnetic materials on SiO2/Si substrates and highlights on their potential applications in the future spintronic devices., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures

Ultra-small MoS2 quantum dots (QDs) with an average size of 2.48 nm coated on Au nanoparticles with a core-satellite structure (Au/MoS2 QDs) are successfully prepared by a self-assembly strategy through the strong bonding between Au and S. Benefited from the unique structure, the Au/MoS2 QDs hybrid exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic performance toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The Au/MoS2 QDs hybrid needs overpotentials of 112, 146, and 206 mV to approach current densities of 10, 20, and 50 mA·cm−2 in 0.5 mol·L−1 H2SO4 (pH = 0.3), respectively. And a low Tafel slope (83 mV·dec−1) is obtained. The catalyst also displays satisfactory stability and durability, indicating a negligible current density loss after 20 h of electrolysis. The high hydrogen generation activities and stability are attributed to the great number of active sites, high conductivity and synergistic effects between gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and MoS2 QDs. Last but not least, this strategy opens up a favorable way to combine MoS2 QDs with other metals.

MoS2 nanomaterial with the micro-pompon structure was synthesized by a surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method. The morphologies and structures of as-prepared MoS2 micro-pompon were investigated by adding different types of surfactants such as cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecylbenzene sulphonate (SDBS), and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). The results indicated that the morphology of MoS2 could be controlled and changed effectively by the cationic surfactant of CTAB. A reasonable growth mechanism for hollow structured MoS2 micro-pompon by hydrothermal processes was proposed. Further, photocatalytic degradation properties of MoS2 micro-pompon under visible light were evaluated by degradation of common organic dyes, which include rhodamine B (RhB), congo red, methyl orange, and methylene blue. The results indicated that MoS2 micro-pompon owned the highly selective catalytic ability to RhB with degradation efficiency of 95% in 60 min and 68% in 30 min. With the additive of the surfactant, the MoS2-CTAB sample exhibited an enhanced ability of photocatalytic activity where degradation efficiency was improved to 92% in 30 min. The method employed in this work could be expanded to fabricate other sulfides with the controllable morphology and structure to further regulate the photocatalytic performance.

In recent years, two‐dimensional (2D) ternary materials have attracted wide attention due to their novel properties which can be achieved by regulating their chemical composition with a very great degree of freedom and adjustable space. However, as for the precise synthesis of 2D ternary materials, great challenges still lie ahead that hinder their further development. In this work, we demonstrated a simple and reliable approach to synthesize 2D ternary‐layered BiOCl crystals through a microwave‐assisted space‐confined process in a short time (

The geometrically multiplied development of 2D MXenes has already promoted the prosperity of various fields of scientific researches especially but not limited in energy storage and conversion. Notably, cation intercalation can improve the interlayer spacing of MXenes resulting in tunable physical and chemical properties. Moreover, the synchrotron radiation X-ray characterizations have also shown high potential on exploring the property and structure of cation intercalated MXenes. This review is mainly focused on the recent achievements of cation intercalated MXenes through different methods on energy storage systems. Synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopic characterizations are emphasized to probe the local coordination and electronic structure in intercalated MXenes. The outlook of cation intercalation on MXenes and their applications are also discussed.

As the continuation and advances in traditional BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I), bismuth-rich bismuth oxyhalides (BiaObXc) show distinct differences in the surface local atomic structure, electronic structure, optical properties, and electrical conductivity relative to BiOX. These features endow bismuth-rich BiaObXc with more tunable properties to achieve excellent photocatalytic performance. Here, the state-of-the-art progress in bismuth-rich bismuth oxyhalides is reviewed to clarify the key structure–activity relationship for enhanced photocatalytic performance. Various methods for the controllable synthesis and formation mechanism of bismuth-rich BiaObXc are presented. Different strategies to tailor the photocatalytic behaviors are summarized, namely thickness tuning, morphological control, heteroatom doping, surface defect engineering, single atom engineering, surface modification, preparation of a solid solution and engineering of semiconductor heterojunctions. Moreover, the recent advances in BiaObXc for diversified photocatalytic applications, such as H2 generation, O2 production, CO2 reduction, N2 reduction, organic synthesis and pollutant removal, are summarized. Finally, the existing challenges and perspectives are also presented to bring about new opportunities for future research.

Three-dimensional (3D) aerogels have attracted more and more attention in oil–water separation, due to their advantages of low density, high porosity, and large specific surface area. However, their application is greatly limited due to their hydrophilic and low adsorption properties. In this work, we report a 3D MoS2–polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) aerogel, prepared by a freeze-drying method, where PVP was used as a skeleton to support the aerogel. As a surfactant, PVP can easily attach to the surface of MoS2 nanosheets and facilitate the interconnection between nanosheets. The 3D MoS2–PVP aerogel exhibits low density, high porosity, good hydrophobicity, and excellent adsorption capacity (195–649 times). Moreover, after 30 cycles, the structure of the 3D MoS2–PVP aerogel is well kept and the adsorption capacity is still retained, at 93.5% and 92.9%, by squeezing and distillation, respectively. Therefore, the obtained 3D MoS2–PVP aerogel is a promising adsorption material and has great practical application potential in oil–water separation.

Metal nanostructures with high atom utilization, abundant active sites, and special electron structures should be beneficial to the electrochemical monitoring of hydroquinone (HQ), a highly toxic environmental pollutant. However, traditional nanostructures, especially non-noble metals generally suffer from severe aggregation, or consist of a mixture of nanoparticles and nanoclusters, resulting in low detection sensitivity. Herein, we precisely control the size of Mo-based nanostructures spanning four scales (viz. Mo

Cocatalyst design is a key approach to acquire high solar-energy conversion efficiency for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Here a new in situ vapor-phase (ISVP) growth method is developed to construct the cocatalyst of 2D PtS nanorectangles (a length of ∼7 nm, a width of ∼5 nm) on the surface of g-C

Reducing the lateral scale of two-dimensional (2D) materials to one-dimensional (1D) has attracted substantial research interest not only to achieve competitive electronic applications but also for the exploration of fundamental physical properties. Controllable synthesis of high-quality 1D nanoribbons (NRs) is thus highly desirable and essential for further study. Here, we report the implementation of supervised machine learning (ML) for the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis of high-quality quasi-1D few-layered WTe

A carbon microtube aerogel (CMA) with hydrophobicity, strong adsorption capacity, and superb recyclability was obtained by a feasible approach with economical raw material, such as kapok fiber. The CMA possesses a great adsorption capacity of 78-348 times its weight. Attributed to its outstanding thermal stability and excellent mechanical properties, the CMA can be used for many cycles of distillation, squeezing, and combustion without degradation, which suggests a potential practical application in oil-water separation. In addition, the adsorption capacity still retained 98% by distillation, 97% by squeezing, and 90% by combustion after 10 cycles. Therefore, the obtained CMA has a broad prospect as an economical, efficient, and environmentally friendly adsorbent. National Research Foundation (NRF) This work was financially supported by Singapore National Research Foundation under NRF RF Award No. MOE2016- T2-1-131, Tier 1 2017-T1-001-075.

Room temperature Na-ion batteries (SIBs) show great potential for use as renewable energy storage systems. However, the large-scale application of SIBs has been hindered by the lack of an ideal SIBs anode material. We synthesized MoS2 on carbonized graphene-chitosan (G-C) using the hydrothermal method. The strong interaction between the MoS2 and the G-C greatly improved the electron transport rate and maintained the structural stability of the electrode, which lead to both an excellent rate capability and long cycle stability. The G-C monolith was proven to enhance the electrical conductivity of the composites and served as a matrix for uniformly dispersing active MoS2 nanosheets (NSs), as well as being a buffer material to adapt to changes in volume during the cycle. Serving as an anode material for SIBs, the MoS2-G-C electrode showed good cycling stability (527.3 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1 after 200 cycles), excellent rate capability, and a long cycle life (439.1 mAh g−1 at 1A g−1 after 200 cycles). Keywords: Na-ion batteries, Carbon-based materials, MoS2, Long cycle life

Surface defects in semiconductors have a significant role to tune the photocatalytic reactions. However, the dominant studied defect type is oxygen vacancy, and metal cation vacancies are seldom ex...

The emerging ultrathin materials with a suitable energy band structure have been regarded as a new type of photocatalyst. Among them, bismuth-based ultrathin materials display intriguing photocatalytic performance due to the unique structural and electronic properties, strong light response and appealing energy band structure. This critical review summarizes recent progress in the design and tailoring of diversified Bi-based ultrathin materials for various photocatalytic applications. We start with the introduction from the crystal structure, materials design and synthesis of various Bi-based ultrathin photocatalysts, such as bismuth oxide, bismuth oxyhalides, Bi2WO6, Bi2MoO6, BiVO4 and so on. Then, strategies for local atomic arrangement, electronic structure, and carrier concentration tuning, so as to boost the performance, are summarized, such as crystal facet control, bismuth-enrichment strategy, surface adjustment, heteroatom doping, defect engineering, co-catalyst modification, and utilization of solid solutions, single atoms, and heterojunctions. Furthermore, advancements of versatile photocatalytic applications over Bi-based ultrathin materials are discussed, including oxygen evolution, hydrogen evolution, organic syntheses, CO2 reduction, N2 reduction, and pollutant removal, with an emphasis on the structure–activity relationship. Finally, the existing challenges and future research opportunities are also presented.

Metal oxide hierarchical heterostructures (HHSs) for gas sensors with controllable and novel nanostructures have attracted tremendous attention due to their multi-junction, multi-phase, interfacial and synergic effects. Based on various metal oxide materials, multifarious hierarchical nanostructures and heterostructures can be constructed to enhance the sensor performances of the primary structures. Herein, SnO2/ZnO HHSs are successfully prepared via a fast, simple, and low-cost microwave-assisted hydrothermal (MWAH) approach. The epitaxial growth of SnO2 nanorods on ZnO nanoflowers formed hierarchical structures that are conducive to promoting sensor performance. The detection limit is 2 ppb for NO2 based on the SnO2/ZnO HHSs. The sensor response toward 10 ppm NO2 is 52.3, which is 5 and 10 times higher than those of SnO2 and ZnO. The response and recovery times of SnO2/ZnO HHSs are 16 and 10 s, respectively. We believe that the strategy of synthesizing metal oxides with HHSs based on the MWAH method provides novel insight into the next generation of gas sensors.

Numerous epidemiological studies have shown a close relationship between outdoor air pollution and increased risks for cancer, infection, and cardiopulmonary diseases. However, very few studies have investigated the potential health effects of coexposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) and bioaerosols through the transmission of infectious agents, particularly under the current circumstances of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. In this study, we aimed to identify urinary metabolite biomarkers that might serve as clinically predictive or diagnostic standards for relevant diseases in a real-time manner. We performed an unbiased gas/liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC/LC-MS) approach to detect urinary metabolites in 92 samples from young healthy individuals collected at three different time points after exposure to clean air, polluted ambient, or purified air, as well as two additional time points after air repollution or repurification. Subsequently, we compared the metabolomic profiles between the two time points using an integrated analysis, along with Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes-enriched pathway and time-series analysis. We identified 33 and 155 differential metabolites (DMs) associated with PM and bioaerosol exposure using GC/LC-MS and follow-up analyses, respectively. Our findings suggest that 16-dehydroprogesterone and 4-hydroxyphenylethanol in urine samples may serve as potential biomarkers to predict or diagnose PM- or bioaerosol-related diseases, respectively. The results indicated apparent differences between PM- and bioaerosol-associated DMs at five different time points and revealed dynamic alterations in the urinary metabolic profiles of young healthy humans with cyclic exposure to clean and polluted air environments. Our findings will help in investigating the detrimental health effects of short-term coexposure to airborne PM and bioaerosols in a real-time manner and improve clinically predictive or diagnostic strategies for preventing air pollution-related diseases.

High-pressure homogenization (HPH) and high-pressure processing (HPP) are emerging technologies for the food industry. Both technologies employ high pressure to preserve foods. However, the principal mechanism of HPH is based on shear stress distribution in a material instead of a decrease in volume due to an increase in pressure as occurring in HPP. HPH can be used in extraction or preservation of bioactive compounds and phytochemicals. This review first describes the mechanism of HPH processing. Next, this review discusses the impact of HPH on extractability and stability of phytochemicals such as carotenoids, vitamin C, polyphenols, and anthocyanins in various food matrices. In general, the use of HPH slightly improved or maintained the extractability of the phytochemicals. Similarly, HPH slightly reduced or maintained the stability of the phytochemicals but this is dependent on the food matrix and type of phytochemical. HPH has a great potential to be used to improve the extractability and maintaining the stability of these phytochemicals or to be used together with milder thermal processing. Besides understanding the impact of HPH on the extractability and stability of phytochemicals, the impact of HPH on the nutritional quality of the food matrices needs to be thoroughly evaluated.

Ionization sources other than HII regions give rise to the right-hand branch in the standard ([NII]) BPT diagram, populated by Seyfert 2s and LINERs. However, because the majority of Seyfert/LINER hosts are star forming (SF), HII regions contaminate the observed lines to some extent, making it unclear if the position along the branch is merely due to various degrees of mixing between pure Seyfert/LINER and SF, or whether it reflects the intrinsic diversity of Seyfert/LINER ionizing sources. In this study, we empirically remove SF contributions in ~100,000 Seyfert/LINERs from SDSS using the doppelganger method. We find that mixing is not the principal cause of the extended morphology of the observed branch. Rather, Seyferts/LINERs intrinsically have a wide range of line ratios. Variations in ionization parameter and metallicity can account for much of the diversity of Seyfert/LINER line ratios, but the hardness of ionization field also varies significantly. Furthermore, our k-means classification on seven decontaminated emission lines reveals that LINERs are made up of two populations, which we call soft and hard LINERs. The Seyfert 2s differ from both types of LINERs primarily by higher ionization parameter, whereas the two LINER types mainly differ from each other (and from star-forming regions) in the hardness of the radiation field. We confirm that the [NII] BPT diagram more efficiently identifies LINERs than [SII] and [OI] diagnostics, because in the latter many LINERs, especially soft ones, occupy the same location as pure star-formers, even after the SF has been removed from LINER emission., Comment: Accepted to ApJ. Main results in Figures 6 and 7. Seyfert/LINER classification (Table 1) available at https://salims.pages.iu.edu/agn . Comments welcome

This study aimed to develop a novel electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber membrane with the enhanced antibacterial property. The PAN nanofiber membrane was first subjected to alkaline hydrolysis treatment, and the treated membrane was subsequently grafted with chitosan (CS) to obtain a CS-modified nanofiber membrane (P-COOH-CS). The modified membrane was then coupled with different dye molecules to form P-COOH-CS-Dye membranes. Lastly, poly(hexamethylene biguanide) hydrochloride (PHMB) was immobilized on the modified membrane to produce P-COOH-CS-Dye-PHMB. Physical characterization studies were conducted on all the synthesized nanofiber membranes. The antibacterial efficacies of nanofiber membranes prepared under different synthesis conditions were evaluated systematically. Under the optimum synthesis conditions, P-COOH-CS-Dye-PHMB was highly effective in disinfecting a high concentration of Escherichia coli, with an antibacterial efficacy of approximately 100%. Additionally, the P-COOH-CS-Dye-PHMB exhibited an outstanding wash durability as its antibacterial efficacy was only reduced in the range of 5%-7% even after 5 repeated cycles of treatment. Overall, the experimental results of this study suggested that the P-COOH-CS-Dye-PHMB is a promising antibacterial nanofiber membrane that can be adopted in the food, pharmaceutical, and textile industries.

Water electrolysis in neutral media has attracted concerted research efforts because of its practical applications including microbial electrolysis of wastewater and large-scale hydrogen generation by direct electrolysis of seawater. Because the corrosion of electrochemical devices is effectively reduced in neutral environments, the associated cost is consequently lowered. In this context, two-dimensional transition metal compounds have enjoyed extensive applications in the field of renewable energy because of their abundant storage capacity, easily regulated electronic structure, and unique physical and chemical features. As such, this review summarizes recent advances in the use of two-dimensional transition metal compounds as hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution, and bifunctional catalysts for neutral water splitting. Some engineering strategies to enhance electrocatalytic performances are also discussed. Finally, the current challenges and future opportunities in bifunctional electrocatalysts for full water splitting are presented.

Lysozyme from crude chicken egg white (CEW) feedstock was successfully purified using a stirred fluidized bed adsorption system ion exchange chromatography where STREAMLINE SP and SP-XL high density adsorbents were selected as the adsorption carrier. The thermodynamic and kinetic studies were carried out to understand the characteristics of lysozyme adsorption by adsorbents under various conditions, including adsorption pH, temperature, lysozyme concentration and salt concentrations. Results showed that SP and SP-XL adsorbents achieved optimum lysozyme adsorption at pH 9 with capacity of ~139.77 and ~251.26 mg/mL, respectively. The optimal conditions obtained from batch studies were directly employed to operate in SFBA process. For SP-XL adsorbent, the recovery yield and purification factor of lysozyme were 93.78% and ~40 folds, respectively. For SP adsorbent, lysozyme can be eluted ~100% with purification factor of ~26 folds. These two adsorbents are highly suitable for use in direct recovery of lysozyme from crude CEW.

A stirred fluidized bed (SFB) ion exchange chromatography was successfully applied in the direct recovery of recombinant enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) from the unclarified Escherichia coli homogenate. Optimal conditions for both adsorption and elution processes were determined from the packed-bed adsorption systems conducted at a small scale using the clarified cell homogenate. The maximal adsorption capacity and dissociation constant for EGFP-adsorbent complex were found to be 6.3 mg/mL and 1.3 × 10−3 mg/mL, respectively. In an optimal elution of EGFP with 0.2 M of NaCl solution (pH 9) and at 200 cm/h, the recovery percent of the EGFP was approximately 93%. The performances of SFB chromatography for direct recovery of EGFP was also evaluated under different loading volumes (50–200 mL) of crude cell homogenate. The single-step purification of EGFP by SFB recorded in a high yield (95–98%) and a satisfactory purification factor (~3 folds) of EGFP from the cell homogenate at 200 rpm of rotating speed.

The relatively high recombination rate of charges remains the most critical limiting factor for solar-driven water splitting for hydrogen generation. Herein, a tandem 0D/2D/2D NbS

In this study, we report an oxygen-doped MoS

Herein, size-controllable molybdenum carbide nanoparticles (Mo2C NPs) encapsulated by N, P-codoped carbon shells which simultaneously wrapping on the surface of carbon nanotube (Mo2C@NPC/CNT) is synthesized through a molecular-scale cage-confinement pyrolysis route. Such confinement achieves a good coating and protection of Mo2C and the effective control over the size of Mo2C NPs ranging from 2.5 to 10 nm facilitates a rational investigation into their electrochemical sensor behavior at nanometer scales. The optimized structure consisting of Mo2C nanoparticles with size of ~5 nm showed an outstanding electrochemical response toward dopamine (DA) and acetaminophen (AC) with detection limits (S/N = 3) of 0.008 μM for AC and 0.01 μM for DA.

Herein, a supermolecular-scale cage-confinement pyrolysis strategy is proposed to build two dielectric electromagnetic wave absorbents, in which MoO

Low-surface-brightness galaxies(LSBGs) are defined as galaxies that are fainter than dark night sky and are important for studying our universe. Particularly, edge-on galaxies are useful for the study of rotational velocity and dynamical properties of galaxies. Hence here we focus on searching for edge-on LSBGs. In order to find these edge-on dim galaxies, a series of effects caused by inclination, including the surface brightness profile, internal extinction, and scale length, have been corrected. In this work, we present a catalog of 281 edge-on LSBG candidates, which are selected from the cross-match between SDSS DR7 and the 40% ALFALFA catalog. We also present the properties of these edge-on LSBG candidates including absolute magnitude, central surface brightness, B-V color, scale length, and relative thickness. Our result suggests that the correction of inclination effects is very important for obtaining a complete sample of LSBGs., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables

To date, irregularity and lack of power supply remain a global problem in the rural areas of underdeveloped and developing countries. This paper proposes a new concept for rural electrification by using palm oil mills to co-produce biodiesel from sludge palm oil. We performed a case study based on a medium-sized palm oil mill in Central Kalimantan. Approximately 2.5 tonnes of biodiesel could be produced daily using an enzymatic batch process and potentially support around 1375 households of 4 people each in the surrounding areas. Subsequently, we performed a techno-economic assessment to study the commercial feasibility of the concept for rural electrification using the enzymatic biodiesel as opposed to commercial diesel. A 10% price deduction was applied to incentivize the local community to use the co-produced biodiesel. From our analysis, the rural electrification concept was found to be commercially viable with a return on investment of 29% and a breakeven period of less than 4 years of operation. Barring the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the price fluctuations of diesel and crude palm oil, the long-term commercial prospect of this rural electrification concept is attractive as it financially benefits both the rural community and the mill operators.

Ionic liquid-based aqueous two-phase systems (IL-ATPSs) have been studied comprehensively as a potential alternative method for protein purification. One of the distinct features of IL-ATPS is that the polarity of the IL can be adjusted by different combinations of cation and anion, providing flexibility in governing the partition of proteins between phases. However, the conventional IL-ATPS usually has poor environmental footprint and low recyclability, thereby hampering the systems for practical use in protein separation. To address these shortcomings, here we explored the distillable CO2-based alkyl carbamate ILs as phase-forming components. N,N-dimethylammonium N′,N′-dimethylcarbamate (DIMCARB) was able to form ATPS with polypropylene glycol (PPG). The liquid–liquid equilibrium data of ATPSs composed of PPG with different molecular mass and DIMCARB were determined. As both phase-forming components are thermosensitive, the effect of temperature on the phase diagram of the PPG 400 + DIMCARB system was a...

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs) composed of ionic liquids (ILs) have been widely explored over the past decade for application in protein purification. The interaction between the phase components of ATPSs and the target protein is one of the factors governing the partition behaviour of the protein. The addition of adjuvants like inorganic salts at a low concentration in an ATPS could manipulate the partitioning of the protein between phases. In this study, the partitioning behaviour of model proteins in ATPSs composed of cholinium glycinate, poly(propylene) glycol 400 and a salt-based adjuvant (i.e., sodium chloride, magnesium chloride and sodium sulfate) was investigated systematically. The dissociated ions with a greater hydration capacity preferentially partitioned to the phase having a higher water content. Also, the partition coefficient of the dissociated ions was independent of the concentration of salt adjuvant. The affinity of adjuvant ions for the IL-rich bottom phase was in the decreasing order of: sulfate ion > chloride ion > magnesium ion > sodium ion. This non-uniform distribution of cations and anions of ionic adjuvants in the ATPS had an influence of the partitioning of proteins in ATPS. Bovine serum albumin and lysozyme, which differ in isoelectric point and surface charge density, were used as the model proteins. The partitioning behaviour of the proteins was affected by the distribution of the dissociated ions of the ionic adjuvant in both phases of the ATPS. The electrostatic interaction between proteins and the dissociated ions of the ionic adjuvant was governed by factors such as types and charge density of the dissociated ions of the salt-based adjuvants, isoelectric point of the protein, and pH of the ATPS. The results proved the feasibility of manipulating the partitioning of target proteins in ATPSs by using inorganic salts as the adjuvant, which provides a means to improve the protein separation in IL-based ATPSs.