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We have developed a novel approach for preparing low-density graphitic films using iodine-doped enzymatically synthesized amyloses (ESAs) with strictly controlled molecular weights as carbonization precursors. All of the iodine-doped ESA films retained their film structures and morphologies, even after the heat-treatment at 800 °C and 2600 °C. Therefore, iodine doping plays an indispensable role in retaining film structure and morphology during the carbonization of ESA polysaccharides. It was also elucidated that the carbonization yields of the ESA films can be controlled by changing the conditions of iodine doping process. The bulk densities of the graphitic films are varied from 0.08 to 0.42 g/cm 3 dependent on the doping level. In addition, the capacitance performances of the graphite films prepared from the ESAs are investigated using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge procedures. The potential utility of the carbonized and graphitized ESA films for supercapacitors was revealed. This approach may broaden the application and even the swill processing of polysaccharides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a one-pot, four-component Suzuki–Miyaura coupling for the synthesis of thiophene-based donor–π-bridge–acceptor (D–π–A) dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Two D–π–A dyes, 19 and 20 , retaining 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) beside a cyanoacrylic acid moiety, and one D–π–A dye 21 without EDOT (reference compound) were rapidly synthesized in accordance with the developed procedure. The measurement of the absorption spectra and the electrochemical properties of synthesized dyes, and the photovoltaic properties of solar cells that were prepared using the synthesized dyes 19 – 21 , revealed that the dyes retaining only one EDOT beside a cyanoacrylic acid moiety would exert a high J sc . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Underground brine waste containing high concentrations of ammonium and with a salinity of 3% is usually generated during the production of methane gas and iodine in the gas field of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. In this study, one swim-bed reactor, packed with a novel acrylic fiber biomass carrier (Biofringe), was applied to the partial nitritation treatment of this kind of underground brine waste. A stable nitrite production rate of 1.6 kg NO2-N m−3 d−1 was obtained under a nitrogen loading rate of 3.0 kg-N m−3 d−1, at a pH of 7.5 and a temperature of 25 °C. Nitrate production was negligible and the effluent NO2-N/NO x -N ratio was above 98% due to the successful inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacterial activity. Free ammonia was considered to be the main factor for inhibiting the activity of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. A microbial community shift was demonstrated by 16S rRNA analysis, and it was shown that the ammonium-oxidizing bacteria became the predominant species after successful nitrite accumulation was observed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]