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It is still a significant challenge to replace noble metal based catalysts by non-noble metal-based, highly efficient and earth-abundant catalysts in the H2 generation upon hydrolysis of sodium borohydride. Herein, we first design and synthesize the highly selective and heterogeneous CoxWy nanocomposites from ZIF-67 as robust catalysts for H2 production upon the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride. Among them, the Co0.45W0.55 nanocatalyst exhibits the highest TOF of 1770 mLH2 gcat−1 min−1 (the TOF related to only cobalt nanoparticles 8401 mLH2 gCo−1 min−1) over pure ZIF-67 or W nanoparticles and other ones. In addition, the Co0.45W0.55 catalyst has been successfully recycled at least 5 times without any significant activity loss, although the W (VI) has been partly reduced to W (V), W (IV) and W (0) in the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride. This stability is taken into account by the highly active Co species rather than the activity of W itself. Based on the results obtained, we have shown that Co0.45W0.55 nanocomposite can be a potential candidate for the replacement of a noble metal catalyst for H2 generation.

Lithium metal (Li) is regarded as the “holy grail” in the anode material of next-generation high-energy-density batteries. However, the Li dendrites and “dead Li” produced during cycling limit its commercialization process. A properly designed three-dimensional (3D) skeleton plays an important role in determining the performance of Li metal anodes (LMA). Herein, we develop a super-assembled surface-modified lipophilic thin ZnO layer by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and multi-level Cu nanofibers (MCN) on a Cu foam (ZnO-MCNCF) as an advanced Li metal anode host. During the Li plating process, lipophilic ZnO layer can induce uniform nucleation of Li. Meanwhile, the unique hierarchical structure provides a larger specific surface area to distribute the surface charge uniformly, adjust the current density, and ensure more uniform Li deposition. Consequently, the as-designed ZnO-MCNCF host enables dendrite-free deposition of Li, high coulombic efficiency, and remarkable cycling stability at various current densities. Compared with CF and MCNCF host, ZnO-MCNCF has significantly improved Li plating/stripping behavior, with high coulombic efficiency (CE) and excellent Li dendrite growth inhibition ability. The Li@ZnO-MCNCF electrode can be operated for 1400 h at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and large area specific capacity of 10 mAh cm−2 with an ultra-low overpotential (57.1 mV) without significant fluctuations. The LiFePO4-Li (LFP-Li) and LiCoO2-Li (LCO-Li) full cells also exhibit superior cycling and rate performance.

Transient supercapacitors (TSCs), a new type of advanced supercapacitor (SC) that can completely dissolve with environmentally and biologically benign byproducts in vivo after performing their specified function, have broad application prospects in the fields of green electronics, implantable devices, personalized medicine, military security, and other fields. However, research on TSCs is still in its infancy, and there are still many challenges to be solved, such as the complex preparation process and low energy density. Herein, we report a facile superassembly manufacturing method for an implantable and fully biodegradable three-dimensional network Zn@PPy hybrid electrode by screen printing and electrochemical deposition. The produced superassembled interdigital pseudocapacitor exhibits superior electrochemical performances due to the high capacitances and excellent rate performances of the pattern Zn@PPy electrode and NaCl/agarose electrolyte. An optimized biodegradable SC exhibits a maximum energy density of 0.394 mW h cm-2 and can be fully degraded in vivo in 30 days without any adverse effects in the host organism. This work provides a new platform for transient electronic technology for diverse implantable electronic applications.

The production of H2 from non-fossil sources is a key research challenge to contributing solving the forthcoming energy problem. Aqueous solutions of tetrahydroxydiboron have very recently appeared as a H2 source, from which both hydrogen atoms are provided by water, in the presence of highly sophisticated nanocatalysts. Herein, commercial and cheap Pd/C is shown to be an efficient and recyclable catalyst for H2 evolution upon tetrahydroxydiboron hydrolysis.

Molecular dynamics simulation method was used to investigate distribution properties of methyl ester sulfonates (MES) with different carbon numbers at the chloroform/water interface. We consider a series of surfactant isomers in the family of methyl ester sulfonates, denoted by CnMES, where n is the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain. According to the simulation results, a well-stable interface between the chloroform and water phases could form in the presence of MES surfactants. The simulation results show that stability of interface with C18MES is relatively high comparing to C14MES and C16MES. From the comparison of the interfacial thickness obtained by the density profiles, we could realize that the surfactant C16MES cause the lowest interfacial thickness. Furthermore, we found that the system containing C14MES has the largest interfacial thickness as it shows the best miscibility with chloroform among the other surfactants.

Flexible optical sensors are widely studied and applied in many fields. However, developing highly stable and washable wearable sensors in optics is still facing significant challenges. Here, we demonstrate an AIEgen-organosilica framework (TPEPMO) hybrid nanostructure-based flexible optical sensor, which is prepared by a two-step co-condensation and electrospinning superassembly process. Organosilica precursors with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) features are covalently linked into periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) frameworks with high fluorescent efficiency due to the restriction of intramolecular motion. The three-dimensional space of ordered porous materials provides abundant reaction sites, allowing rapid and sensitive monitoring of analytes. TPEPMOs exhibit good properties as acidic pH fluorescent sensors with a pKa of 4.3. A flexible film is obtained by dispersing TPEPMO nanospheres in a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hybrid fibrous matrix (TPEPMO-CFs) using the electrospinning superassembly technique and is successfully served as an efficient fluorescent probe for the naked eye detection of ammonia gas and HCl vapor by emission changes. The fluorescence of TPEPMO-CFs can be reversed in the presence of volatile acidic/alkaline gas for more than five cycles, exhibiting excellent recyclability. In addition, TPEPMO-CF sensors show excellent washability and long-term photostability (fluorescence was maintained above 94% after washing 10 times). These stimuli-responsive AIEgen-organosilica frameworks featuring diversified forms and superstability for wearable and washable solid-state fluorescence exhibit great potential for smart gas sensors, wearable devices, and solid-state lighting applications.

A novel direct proportional pressure-regulating valve is presented in this paper, and its working principle is introduced. The pressure of feedback chamber is controlled by two orifices. The lumped parameter double-mass dynamic model considering both the spool mass and the plunger mass is established. The model consists of the subsystem models with hydraulic fluid dynamic, valve mechanic and electromagnetic. The numerical model is validated through experiments. With the model, the spool and pressure dynamics are analysed by comparing the changes of the simulation parameters. The effects of orifice diameters, lap, spring stiffness, viscous damping coefficient on the stability of spool and pressure are investigated. The results show that a fixed relationship between the orifice diameters of the valve can be achieved. A larger overlap is beneficial to improve the stability of the spool. It is aimed to propose a parametric design method for the valve optimization.

Vanadium bearing stone coal is an important vanadium resource in China, and roasting is the foundation for extracting vanadium from stone coa1. In this paper, the blank roasting kinetics of illite type vanadium bearing stone coal is studied using the derived kinetics equations of disc-shaped particles. Stone coal samples were roasted at the set temperature and time, the roasted clinker was leached with sulfuric acid. The roasting effect was judged by the leaching rate of vanadium, and the kinetics and mechanism of the roasting reaction were discussed. The results show that the blank roasting process of stone coal is divided into two stages. The first stage activation energy is 159.50 kJ/mol, which follows the control of chemical reaction kinetics; the second stage activation energy is 256.45 kJ/mol, which belongs to diffusion control. In addition, As the roasting reaction proceeds, it can be noted that chemical reaction control can be quickly transformed into diffusion control. The apparent activation energy of the diffusion control is greater than that of the chemical reaction control, which indicates that diffusion is the controlling factor that affects the conversion efficiency of vanadium during the blank roasting process of stone coal. The results of blank roasting kinetics model of disc-shaped particles established in this study are in good agreement with the experimental analysis results, which also verifies the accuracy of this model.

Extreme heat stress events are becoming more frequent under anticipated climate change, which can have devastating impacts on rice growth and yield. To quantify the effects of short-term heat stress at booting stage on nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) remobilization in rice, two varieties (Nanjing 41 and Wuyunjing 24) were subjected to 32/22/27 °C (maximum/minimum/mean), 36/26/31 °C, 40/30/35 °C, and 44/34/39 °C for 2, 4 and 6 days in phytotrons at booting stage during 2014 and 2015. Yield and yield components, dry matter partitioning index (DMPI), NSC accumulation and translocation were measured and calculated. The results showed that the increase of high-temperature level and duration significantly reduced grain yield by suppressing spikelet number per panicle, seed-setting rate, and grain weight. Heat stress at booting decreased DMPI in panicles, increased DMPI in stems, but had no significant effect on photosynthetic rate. Stem NSC concentration increased whereas panicles NSC concentration, stem NSC translocation efficiency, and contribution of stem NSC to grain yield decreased. Severe heat stress even transformed the stem into a carbohydrate sink during grain filling. The heat-tolerant Wuyunjing 24 showed a higher NSC transport capacity under heat stress than the heat-sensitive Nanjing 41. Heat degree-days (HDD), which combines the effects of the intensity and duration of heat stress, used for quantifying the impacts of heat stress indicates the threshold HDD for the termination of NSC translocation is 9.82 °C day. Grain yield was negatively correlated with stem NSC concentration and accumulation at maturity, and yield reduction was tightly related to NSC translocation reduction. The results suggest that heat stress at booting inhibits NSC translocation due to sink size reduction. Therefore, genotypes with higher NSC transport capacity under heat stress could be beneficial for rice yield formation. Keywords: Rice (Oryza sativa L.), Heat stress, Yield components, Nonstructural carbohydrates, Translocation

Despite the excellent electrochemical performance of MnO-based electrodes, a large capacity increase cannot be avoided during long-life cycling, which makes it difficult to seek out appropriate cathode materials to match for commercial applications. In this work, a grape-like MnO-Ni@C framework from interfacial superassembly with remarkable electrochemical properties was fabricated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Electrochemical analysis indicates that the introduction of Ni not only contributes to the excellent rate capability and high specific capacity but also prevents further oxidation of MnO to the higher valence states for ultrastable long-life cycling performance. Furthermore, thermodynamic calculation proves that the ultrastable long cycling life of the Ni-Mn-O system originated from a buffer composition region to stabilize the MnO structure. Because of the unique grape-like structure and performance of the Ni-Mn-O system, the MnO-Ni@C electrode displayed an invertible specific capacity of 706 mA h g-1 after 200 cycles at a current density of 0.1 A g-1 and excellent cycling stability maintained a capacity of 476.8 mA h g-1 after 2100 cycles at 1.0 A g-1 without obvious capacity change. This new nanocomposite material could offer a novel fabrication strategy and insight for MnO-based materials and other metal oxides as anodes for improved electrochemical performance.

Terahertz emission by ultrafast excitation of semiconductor/metal interfaces was found strongly enhanced by plasmon resonance. Here, a three-dimensional nanoporous gold (NPG) was used to form semiconductor/metal compound with cadmium telluride (CdTe). We investigated the specific impact of surface plasmon from randomly nanoporous structure in the ultrafast optoelectronic response for THz generation, and observed a THz amplitude enhancement around an order of magnitude from CdTe on NPG compared to that from CdTe on silicon. Moreover, the plasmon enhancement for THz emission from NPG is stronger than that from gold film, indicating that randomly nanoporous structure is also effective for plasmonic enhancement in THz band.

The 0.9SrTiO3–0.1NiFe2O4 (STO/NFO) composite ceramics sintered at O2/N2 atmospheres were investigated. The N2-sintered STO/NFO (STO/NFON) had a larger microstrain (0.092(47)%) than the O2-sintered STO/NFO (STO/NFOO) revealed by the Rietveld refinement and the Williamson-Hall analysis. The maximum polarization of STO/NFON increased to ~7.1 μC/cm2, but the larger leakage current in STO/NFOO resulted in a 20% larger false remanent polarization value. Moreover, STO/NFON presented a lower activation energy (Ea, 1.22 eV), which implied more oxygen vacancies ( V O ⋅ ⋅ ). The amount of Ti3+ ions (60%) in STO/NFON increased as well, which formed defect dipoles [Ti4+·e− V O ⋅ ⋅ −Ti4+·e] and fixed V O ⋅ ⋅ . The composite of STO/NFON also showed decreased V O ⋅ ⋅ content (~53%) owing to the fixing effect and presented low leakage current, increased impedances, and the improved ferroelectric hysteresis loop. The anomaly dielectric constants peaks indicated different conductivity mechanisms related to V O ⋅ ⋅ , and the STO/NFON ceramic possessed a low rate of dielectric loss.

Biogas slurry (BS) is used for soil productivity amendment, but its effect on soil phosphorus (P) form distribution has not been thoroughly examined. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of BS on soil nutrients, phosphomonoesterase activities, and P species distribution. A 91-day incubation study was carried out for a silt soil which was amended with BS at a rate equivalent to 120 kg N ha−1 and 38 kg P ha−1 and 240 kg N ha−1 and 76 kg P ha−1. The soil with no BS addition was used as control. Solution P-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (31P-NMR) spectroscopy was used to characterize soil P species. Acid phosphomonoesterase (ACP) and alkaline phosphomonoesterase (ALP) activities, pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), NH4+–N, NO3−–N, and Olsen P were also evaluated. The results indicated that the application of BS increased pH, CEC, NH4+–N, NO3−–N, and Olsen P contents. Moreover, the addition of BS inhibited ACP activity, but it increased ALP activity. A significant positive correlation was found between ALP and orthophosphates, suggesting ALP activity may play important roles in the release of orthophosphates. The P composition was dominated by inorganic orthophosphate (59.9–76.2% extracted P) and orthophosphate monoesters (23.8–38% extracted P), with smaller concentration of pyrophosphates (1.2–3.6% extracted P), and orthophosphate diesters (less than 1.5% of the extracted P). The P was mainly in the form of inorganic orthophosphates and organic monoesters. The present study shows that BS can be a substitute solution for the supply of essentials nutrients for plants. However, care would be entirely taken with long-term application of BS, since extreme nutrients addition may cause eutrophication of water bodies.

Various x NiFe 2 O 4 –(1- x )SrTiO 3 ( x = 0.04, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) composite ceramics were prepared using sol–gel method and two-step calcination. The composite ceramics possessed no impurities and exhibited obvious magnetic properties (22.8 emu/g at x = 0.2). The magnetic second phase imposed strain effects on the SrTiO 3 matrix to induce ferroelectricity. Strain values of (001) and (110) crystal planes were ~2.9% and ~1.3%. The tetragonal phase transition was evident in the Raman spectra. The remanent and maximum polarizations were 1.4 and 15.8 μC/cm 2 , respectively, in ceramic with 10 mol% NiFe 2 O 4 . The dielectric permittivity was tuned with 1.6% change rate at 50 kHz and 10,000 Oe.

The reuse of water in agriculture has become more common in water management worldwide. However, there is very limited information about nutrient retention in water reclamation management. In this study, an improved low impact development (LID) practice was constructed to investigate the synergistic effects of three substrates amendment on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) retention under two irrigation modules: spray and drip irrigation. The orthogonal combination of the three substrates was controlled during four leaching events, with polyacrylamide (PAM), peat soil, and straw biochar application rates of 1, 2, and 4 g kg−1; 5, 10, and 20 g kg−1; and 10, 20, and 40 g kg−1, respectively. Results showed that the optimum treatments for N and P were 2 g kg−1 of PAM; 2 g kg−1 of PAM, 10 g kg−1 of peat soil, and 40 g kg−1 of straw biochar, respectively. The highest amounts of N and P retention under spray and drip irrigation were 83.12 mg N kg−1 and 50.09 mg N·kg−1, and 11.88 mg P·kg−1 and 7.47 mg P·kg−1, respectively. The analysis of variance indicated that PAM, biochar, and peat soil affected the retention of leachate, N, and P differently. PAM application could not only improve the water, N, P retention capacity of soil, but also significantly increase the content of ＞2 mm water-stable soil aggregate (WSA) (p＜0.05), and there is an advisable linear relation between N, P retention and the content of ＞2 mm WSA (R2 = 0.79, 0.67, respectively). Overall, this study concludes that a combined application of PAM and biochar could reduce P loss and increase the ＞2 mm WSA under leaching condition.

Invar alloys are widely used in the aerospace, but their manufacturability and mechanical properties are not well understood when they are employed in additive manufacturing. The laser melting deposition (LMD) technology is utilized to the surface repair of Invar alloys. In this work, the microstructure evolution, quantitive subgrain size, as well as the subgrain orientation are investigated using optical microscopy. Moreover, the effect of partially remelting of successive layers is exhibited. It is explicit that the cellular crystal orientation is strongly influenced by the heat flow which is subject to the scanning direction. Considering to the basic laws of Invar alloy microstructure evolution during LMD process, the relations between heat input and produced subgrain characteristics are further elucidated. The results show that a slight increase of λ from 4.4 μm to 5.2 μm at the function of heat input varied from 98.6 J/mm2 to 114 J/mm2. Moreover, it was notable that a reverse change in the dimension discrepancy of remelted and non-remelted subgrains occurred with two kinds of heat input.

A magnetically separable 2D Rh/Fe3O4/g-C3N4-N catalyst has been synthesized for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes to afford corresponding anilines. The highly dispersed Rh nanoparticles are the dominant active species. The reaction is second order for rhodium according to the kinetic study, and this means the activity of different Rh-containing catalyst can be precisely predicted and the active site contains two adjoining rhodium atoms. The strong interaction between Rh and Fe3O4 contributes to the catalytic performance, therefore the obtained Rh/Fe3O4/g-C3N4-N catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity and chemoselectivity for the reduction of various nitroaromatics, and the turnover frequencies (TOF) can reach as high as 12,666 h−1 for 4-nitrophenol. Moreover, this catalytic system is environmentally friendly because of its green solvent water and harmless byproducts (H2O and N2), and the catalyst shows outstanding stability and recyclability with at least 12 cycles.

Achieving uniform lithium (Li) deposition is the key to tackle uncontrollable dendrite growth, which hinders the application of Li metal anodes. In this study, molten Li is thermally injected into a 3D framework by growing lithiophilic CoO nanosheets on Cu foam (CF). The CoO layer grown on the CF surface physically adsorbs molten Li, which makes it possible to spontaneously wet the framework. The morphology of CoO nanosheets does not change during the Li injection process and formed a multi-level structure with the CF, which is difficult to be achieved previously, as most lithiophilic oxides undergo serious chemical changes due to chemical reaction with Li and cannot provide a stable submicron structure for the subsequent Li stripping/plating process. The super-assembled multi-level structure provides abundant Li nucleation sites and electrolyte/electrode contact areas for rapid charge transfer in the composite anode. Therefore, the prolonged lifespan of symmetrical cells for 300 cycles at 10 and 10 mAh cm-2 with lower polarization is achieved, which further renders the LiFePO4 and Li4 Ti5 O12 based full cells with improved capacity retention up to 87.3% and 80.1% after 500 cycles at 1 C. These results suggest that the composite anode has a great application prospect.

Tool wear is usually the most relevant parameter of tool performance detection, which directly affects the product quality and tool life. Online tool condition monitoring can effectively avoid workpiece scrap and machine failure. To solve the problems of using electron microscopes to measure tool wear in real production, a machine vision system for tool wear detection is developed in this paper to reduce testing costs. Through rough positioning by morphology-based Canny operator edge detection and image registration, the tool wear area can be extracted effectively. Sub-pixel edge detection based on Zernike moment is used to improve the measurement accuracy and the principal curve method is used to fit sub-pixel edge points to obtain smooth edge curve. Finally, the tool wear can be detected and measured effectively based on these methods. In the real machining process, the test results show that this system features high response speed, high inspecting accuracy and high automation. This system can be effectively applied to the real-time monitoring of tool wear in industry.

Plants have evolved many metabolites to meet the demands of growth and adaptation. Although strigolactones (SLs) play vital roles in controlling plant architecture, their function in regulating plant metabolism remains elusive. Here we report the integrative metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses of two rice SL mutants, d10 (a biosynthesis mutant) and d14 (a perception mutant). Both mutants displayed a series of metabolic and transcriptional alterations, especially in the lipid, flavonoid, and terpenoid pathways. Levels of several diterpenoid phytoalexins were substantially increased in d10 and d14, together with the induction of terpenoid gene cluster and the corresponding upstream transcription factor WRKY45, an established determinant of plant immunity. The fact that WRKY45 is a target of IPA1, which acted as a downstream transcription factor of SL signaling, suggests that SLs contribute to plant defense through WRKY45 and phytoalexins. Moreover, our data indicated that SLs may modulate rice metabolism through a vast number of clustered or tandemly duplicated genes. Our work revealed a central role of SLs in rice metabolism. Meanwhile, integrative analysis of the metabolome and transcriptome also suggested that SLs may contribute to metabolite-associated growth and defense.

The nature of high flexibility and adaptability brings soft robot more potential applications on industry, therapy and many other fields. The terminal locomotion of a soft actuator can be flexible and random to some extent. At the same time, the model construction and locomotion control have some difficulties. Different from most soft actuators with single channel unit, a self-developed three-paralleled-channel pneumatic soft actuator has been already fabricated before. This paper aims to do a coupling control of three paralleled channels’ pressures and establish a pneumatic drive model of extruding and bending, and then present the terminal trajectory control system.

Laser cladding repair is an advanced technology for repairing Invar alloy moulds; however, the influences of various processing parameters on the quality of the Invar alloy moulds have yet to be determined. To explore the optimisation of laser cladding repair parameters, analyses of the geometric features and microstructure of the cladding layer were conducted. First, the influences of different powder feeding rates and scanning speeds on the dilution rate of the substrate were investigated by establishing a mathematical model of the laser power attenuation. Next, the influences of the parameters on the geometric features of the cladding layer were analysed. Finally, the influences of the parameters on the microstructure of the cladding layer were evaluated. At a laser power of 2300 W, a scanning speed of 3 m/min, and a powder feeding rate of 9 g/min, the best results of the width, height, dilution rate, roughness, and contact angle of the cladding layer were obtained. The results of this study indicated that excellent metallurgical bonding occurred between the cladding layer and the interface layer, and that the intended geometric features and desired microstructure of the cladding layer were obtained.

Summary A multicomponent nanocatalyst system was fabricated for the transfer hydrogenation of nitrile compounds. This catalyst system contains palladium, copper, and iron, which are supported on the magnetite nanospheres, and the loading of palladium could be at the parts per million level. Palladium and copper contribute to the transformation of nitrile, and the product distribution highly depends on the alloying of Fe to Cu. The nitriles could be converted to primary amine by the Pd-Cu catalyst in the absence of Fe, whereas in the presence of Fe the products are secondary amines with high selectivity. This could be attributed to the electronic modulation of iron to copper. A variety of nitriles have been transformed to the corresponding primary or secondary amines with high selectivity, and the TOF reaches 2,929 hr−1 for Pd. Furthermore, the catalyst could be recycled by an external magnetic field and reused five times without severe activity loss., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • The novel transfer hydrogenation of nitriles to primary or secondary amine • The dosage of Pd can be reduced to 139 ppm with a TOF of 3,597 hr−1 • The selectivity of products can be easily adjusted by electronic modulation, Chemistry; Catalysis; Organic Chemistry

A novel core-shell structured nanocatalyst (Fe3 O4 @SiO2 -NH2 -FeCu nanoparticles) with ultrafine FeCu alloy NPs magnetically immobilized in porous silica has been fabricated. The obtained catalyst revealed excellent activity and chemoselectivity for catalyzing the hydrogenation of nitroarenes to corresponding anilines using hydrazine hydrate as the hydrogen source, and the reaction could be carried out smoothly in water, which is an environmentally friendly solvent. The FeCu alloy effectively prevented the dehalogenation of halonitroarenes, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study showed that it resulted from the electron-enrichment of Fe from Cu. A kinetics study indicated that the reaction order was about 1.5 towards 4-CNB and the apparent active energy (Ea ) was 48.1 kJ mol-1 , which is a relatively low value. Furthermore, the FeCu NPs are magnetically immobilized in the silica spheres (Fe3 O4 @SiO2 ), therefore the catalyst can be easily recovered by use of an external magnet and also possesses a long life time.

Colloidal phosphorus (Pcoll) in soil solutions and subsurface drainage has attracted increasing attention as an additional mobile form of P. A column study was conducted to investigate the effect of biogas slurry (BS) on Pcoll leaching in paddy topsoil (0–20 cm) at rate of 0; 225 m3 ha−1 (55 kg N ha−1, 17 kg P ha−1); 673 m3 ha−1 (165 kg N ha−1, 52 kg P ha−1); 1350 m3 ha−1 (330 kg N ha−1, 104 kg P ha−1) of BS. The colloids particles were separated by microfiltration and ultra-centrifugation processes. Dissolved phosphorus (DP) in leachate ranged from 0.04 to 0.09 mg P L−1 and contributed between 56 and 76% to the total P leaching. Pcoll in leachate ranged from 0.002 to 0.03 mg P L−1 in leachate and contributed between 3 and 26% to TP leaching. Results clearly showed that BS increased Pcoll leaching at medium (673 m3 ha−1: 165 kg N ha−1, 52 kg P ha−1) and high application rate of BS (1350 m3 ha−1: 330 kg N ha−1, 104 kg P ha−1). In contrast, the smallest tested BS application of 225 m3 ha−1 (55 kg N ha−1, 17 kg P ha−1) did not affect Pcoll concentrations in leachates. Significant positive correlations was found between Pcoll and colloidal aluminum (Alcoll), colloidal calcium (Cacoll), total organic carbon (TOCcoll), and with pH, indicating that Al/Ca minerals - organic matter may play a major role as carriers for Pcoll leaching and these processes were pH-dependent. This study confirms that high level of BS application could result in the mobilization of Pcoll from paddy topsoil by leaching.

The effects of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) number average molecular weight ( $$ \overline{{\boldsymbol{M\fancyscript{n}}}} $$ ) and preparation temperature on montmorillonite (MMT) intercalation/exfoliation behavior were investigated. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results indicated that 40 to 80°C were the preferred temperatures to obtain nanostructured HTPB/MMT. The higher $$ \overline{{\boldsymbol{M\fancyscript{n}}}} $$ (> 2800) of HTPB led to a more exfoliated nanostructure than lower $$ \overline{{\boldsymbol{M\fancyscript{n}}}} $$ as proven by transmission electron microscopy. The tensile strength, tensile modulus, and elongation at break of nanostructured HTPB/MMT/EP ternary composites were higher than those of the HTPB/EP binary blend, which was due to the HTPB/MMT hybrid structure. The effect of increasing molecular weight on impact strength in the ternary system was less than that in the binary system. The HTPB/MMT/epoxy hybrid composites with low concentration could improve the impact strength, which was due to the superposition effect of organic/inorganic nanostructures. In hybrid HTPB/MMT/epoxy composite system, the toughening was attributed to the slow crack growth and fast crack growth, and the dissipated energy of pulling or debonding nanoclay out from the matrix also contributed.

The morphology of microstructure affects the quality of Invar alloy mould when it is repaired with laser melting deposition (LMD). However, it is quite hard to observe the evolution of microstructure in real time. The current study adopted a CA-FE model, i.e, cellular automaton coupled with finite element, to simulate the microstructure evolution of Invar alloy in the LMD process. The mechanism of columnar-to-equiaxed transition in the molten pool was investigated based on the simulation results. In addition, an analysis was completed by comparing the simulation with the experimental results, which verified the feasibility of simulating the microstructure evolution with the CA-FE model in the LMD process. The results indicated that the bottom of the molten pool is filled by the epitaxial growth of columnar grains and the orientation of the columnar grains is consistent with the direction of the maximum temperature gradient in the molten pool. The top of the molten pool is occupied by equiaxed grains. This study provides a referenced value on the quality improvement of the mould repaired by LMD.

Vibration energy harvesting systems via an X-structure coupled with piezoelectric patches of special arrangements are investigated in this study. Two piezoelectric harvesters are specially installed on the X-shaped structure to explore potential benefits that the X-shaped structure could provide, and each piezoelectric pad has two layers composed of a polyvinyl chloride base patch and a micro-fibre composite patch. The theoretical analysis and experiment results indicate that the energy harvesting performance of the proposed novel arrangements of the piezoelectric harvesters can be enhanced especially in low-frequency range (below 10 Hz), compared with conventional cantilevered piezoelectric harvesters. More and higher energy harvesting peaks can be created and the effective harvesting frequency band can be obviously enlarged by expanding it to low-frequency range with the proposed methods. The X-structure-based generators can enable piezoelectric materials to harvest power from low-frequency vibration sources due to its advantages in designable equivalent nonlinear stiffness, which can be easily tuned by adjusting the key structural parameters. The design and results would provide an innovative solution and insight for smart piezoelectric materials to improve the energy harvesting efficiency in the low-frequency range including small-scale ocean wave power harvesting, human motion power and animal kinetic power harvesting, etc.

Seed-setting rate of rice (Oryza sativa L.) significantly decreases under high temperatures during the reproductive period largely due to heat-induced spikelet sterility. The effects depend largely on the timing and severity of heat stress, but the variation in the sensitivity of seed-setting rate in response to heat stress at different growth stages is not yet well simulated by most of the present crop models. To investigate the quantitative relationships between seed-setting rates of rice and various exposures of heat stress, we conducted four-year phytotron experiments with four different temperature regimes (the target maximum/minimum temperatures, 32 °C/22 °C, 35 °C/25 °C, 38 °C/28 °C and 41 °C/31 °C in 2011 and 2012; 32 °C/22 °C, 36 °C/26 °C, 40 °C/30 °C and 44 °C/34 °C in 2014 and 2015) with factorial combinations of durations (2, 4 and 6 days in 2014 and 2015; 3, 5 and 7 days in 2011; 3, 6 and 9 days in 2012) and the timings (0, 6 or 12 days after flowering), using three japonica cultivars. The duration and intensity of heat stress were quantified by the heat degree-days (HDD), defined as the temperature sum above a critical temperature value, which varied from 35 to 36 °C, depending on the cultivars. The observed seed-setting rates were well expressed as a logistic function of HDD, but the temperature sensitivity parameter varied with the timing of heat stress and the spikelet positions on the panicle. The variation in timing of flowering was apparent among upper, middle and lower parts of the panicles: 1 and 3-day delay of flowering for the spikelets on the middle and lower parts of the panicles, respectively, compared with upper ones. We therefore developed a simulation model that reflects the changes in the sensitivity of seed-setting rate to HDD to estimate the effects of heat stress with different intensities or durations at any time from flowering onward. The model with the stage-dependent parameters improved substantially the root mean square error (RMSE) and mean bias error (MBE) of seed-setting % from 20.1 and 6.0 to 7.6 and 0.2, respectively, compared to that with the stage-independent parameters. The proposed model needs to be tested under field conditions, but will be an important basis for accurate prediction of seed-setting rates in rice, which is critical for reliable estimates of crop production under climate change.

A high-performance humidity sensor based on a side-polished single-mode fibre (SPF) coated with graphene oxide film was fabricated with a wheel side-polishing technique and spontaneous evaporation. The wavelength-selective coupling gave rise to a loss dip in the transmitted spectrum when a phase match condition was satisfied at a given resonant wavelength. The swelling effect of GO under high RH, which was confirmed by XRD and a spectroscopic ellipsometer, could increase the GO film thickness and led to a redshift at resonant wavelength. Experimental results show that the GO-film-coated SPF (GFC-SPF) is capable of working in two modes: tracing-wavelength mode and intensity variation mode. For the two working modes, the GFC-SPF has high sensitivity, good reversibility, good repeatability and excellent linearity. For the tracing-wavelength mode, a very high sensitivity of 0.145 nm/RH% and a high linear correlation of 99.6% were achieved in a low RH range of 32%–85%, while an ultrahigh sensitivity of 0.915 nm/RH% and a linear correlation of 98.7% were achieved in a high RH range of 85%–97.6%. For the intensity variation mode, a high sensitivity of 0.427 dB/RH% and an excellent linearity correlation of 99.8% were achieved in a wide RH range of 58.2%–92.5%. Such a high performance allows GFC-SPF to have widespread potential applications, such as in the fields of biology, chemical processing and food processing.

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is first applied to both simulate and analyze the heat transfer and fluid flow with phase change in a workpiece of stationary plasma arc welding (PAW). The heating and key-holing effects are considered with a modified heat source model. The total enthalpy lattice Boltzmann model is employed to investigate the phase change process in the weld pool. The predicted weld pool geometry agrees well with the experimental results and average relative errors remain below 12%. It seems that LBM is more intuitive to display the fluid flow in the weld pool, e.g. circulations, than the finite volume method. However, the effect of fluid flow on the PAW process is indicated to be non-negligible, and particularly responsible for the upper shape of the weld pool. Mechanisms of the formation of the hump in the fusion line are further analyzed from the perspective of fluid motion. Finally, the sulfur activity of workpiece and welding current is discussed, showing that sulfur activity only affects pool geometry. High welding current accelerates the penetration with low time consumption and high energy efficiency; however, the optimum current is a better choice to ensure high weld quality.

Currently, environmental pollution by heavy metals is a global problem. Therefore, it is crucial to develop effective detection techniques to determine the levels of heavy metal contamination in various mediums. Voltammetry is a highly sensitive electrochemical method used for the in situ detection of heavy metal ions. This study investigates the current trends related to electrode modification, developments in materials, and optimization of the experimental parameters. We discuss the sensing performance of four kinds of nanomaterials capable of inorganic modification (metal nanoparticles, metal oxides, carbonaceous nanomaterials, and their nanocomposites). The impact of several important factors, such as the deposition potential and time, buffer solution types, and pH on the sensitivity, reproducibility, stability, and anti-interference ability of the detection process, especially with regard to the co-detection of several heavy metal ions, was reviewed. We noted that in addition to the application of voltammetry to water-related issues, it is suitable for rapid and simple identification and analyses of heavy metals in polluted soil and other mediums. Thus, it is important to conduct additional research on the application of voltammetry to this area.

The research and development of transient energy devices used to power implanted electronic is an emerging engineering field that has attracted increasing attention. This device not only requires the material and system design with excellent performance in routine operations but also can be degraded at a controlled rate once a specific task is completed. Herein, we report a transient, high-performance and formable yarn-like zinc-ion battery (ZIB) composed of a smart humidity-sensitive plasticized gelatin-silk fibroin electrolyte film and a dual-yarn electrode structure. This transient energy battery device exhibits a high specific capacity (311.7 mA h g−1 ) and excellent cycle stability (94.6% capacity retention after 100 cycles) due to the high ionic conductivity . More importantly, the yarn ZIB device also demonstrates superior shape plasticity (high capacity retention of 82.5% after 80 bends) and good biodegradability (fully degraded in 45 days under enzyme digestion). The successful design and fabrication of the ZIB battery system provide new research ideas for the development of transient energy devices in the future and bring new opportunities for multifunctional and green sustainable transient electronic products in the fields of medicine, national defense, flexible wearable, and consumer electronic products.

Fertilization is an effective measure to decrease soil erosion by promoting vegetation restoration, while it affects soil respiration (Rs) greatly through influencing soil properties and plant root growth. A factorial combination of N addition (0, 50 and 100 kg N ha-1 yr-1 defined as N0, N50, and N100) and P addition (0, 40 and 80 kg P2O5 ha-1 yr-1 defined as P0, P40, and P80) experiment was conducted in a farming-withdrawn grassland to investigate the Rs and its components (heterotrophic respiration, Rh; autotrophic respiration, Ra) in responses to different nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) addition levels from May 2018 to October 2019 on the semiarid Loess Plateau. Results showed that Rs, Rh and Ra presented single-peak curves both in diurnal and seasonal variations across all N and P addition treatments. The highest Rs, Rh and Ra values during the day occurred at 12:00–14:00 and the highest values during the year appeared in July, which were consistent with soil temperature changes. Rs, Rh and Ra increased significantly under N and/or P addition from May to September. Compared with no fertilization, Rh and Ra significantly increased by 4.2–5.1% and 43.9–46.4%, and by 13.2–15.8% and 23.0–34.2% under N or P addition alone, respectively. N and P combined addition increased Rh and Ra by 25.4–30.7% and 62.0–111.4% than N or P addition alone. Rs and Ra reached the highest values under N100 combined with P80 addition, but Rh reached the highest values under N50 combined with P80 addition treatment. Annual cumulative CO2 emission increased by 24.4%−26.5% under N addition alone, 17.0–27.4% under P addition alone and 42.2–68.7% under N and P combined addition. Compared with no fertilization, root biomass and soil microbial biomass carbon significantly increased by 15.8–122% and 5.2–92.5% after N and P additions, respectively. However, the positive effect of N and P addition on Rh was weaker than that of Ra, which decreased the contribution of Rh to Rs. Our findings point to the need of rational N and P combination to tradeoff biomass production improvement and soil carbon emission when applying fertilization to promote grassland restoration in semiarid Loess Plateau.

Since dimethylamine-borane ($ 463/kg) is much cheaper than ammonia borane ($ 13,921/kg), the hydrolysis of dimethylamine-borane catalyzed by transition metal nanocatalysts has long been proposed as a viable opportunity for hydrogen evolution, but it often required noble metals nanocomposites, such as Pt, Rh and Ru. Herein, we first report the ultrafine non-noble metal nanoparticles supported on MoS2 nanosheet (including Fe/MoS2, Co/MoS2, Ni/MoS2 and Cu/MoS2) for the H2 evolution from hydrolysis of dimethyl amine-borane (DMAB). Among them, Co/MoS2 is found to be more efficient than others for the H2 evolution, with the TOF of 374 mol(H2)•molcat−1•h−1. Kinetic isotopic experiment and the tandem reaction have confirmed that H2 evolution by using H atoms in water.

Both porous structure and dispersed active sites play key roles in improving non-precious-metal electrocatalysts performance, because of the enhanced mass transport and electron transfer as well as more effective electrocatalysis , respectively. However, the agglomeration of active sites and the weak interaction between active sites and carrier severely weakens the bifunctional catalytic activity of non-precious-metal catalysts. Herein, bifunctional electrocatalysts with the full exposure of nanoparticles of controllable sizes are successfully designed and prepared through super-assembling of electrospun carbon nanofibers with zeolitic imidazole frameworks (ZIFs) and subsequent calcination . Owing to the high surface area, large pore volume , and abundant exposed active sites, the resulting catalysts exhibit a large half-wave potential (0.89 V) for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and a low potential (1.62 V) at the current density of 10 mA/cm 2 for oxygen evolution reaction. In addition, when assembled into a home-made Zn-air battery with alkaline electrolyte , this catalyst displays a more superior charge–discharge cycle durability (1256 cycles in 10 mA/cm 2) and a higher peak power density of 115 mW/cm2 than commercial Pt/C + IrO2 catalysts. This simple and efficient super-assembly strategy will open up the new process for fabricating diverse electrocatalysts for various performance.

A novel egg-like nanosphere was designed as a long-lived catalyst and is described as Fe3O4@nSiO2-NH2-Fe2O3•xBi2O3@mSiO2. The catalyst was prepared using a modified Stober method with template-free surface-protected etching. The catalyst particle consists of a magnetic Fe3O4 core as the “yolk”, an inner silica shell bearing active Fe2O3•xBi2O3 species as the “egg white”, and outer mesoporous silica as the “egg shell”. It exhibits an excellent performance in the catalytic reduction of nitro aromatics to corresponding anilines in a fixed-bed continuous-flow reactor. The reaction could be performed at 80 °C and could reach complete conversion in less than 1 min with only a 7% excess of hydrazine hydrate. The catalyst bed could be easily shifted between different substrates without cross-contamination because of the uniformity of the catalyst particles. This catalyst exhibited very good stability in the continuous-flow protocol. In the long-term reduction of p-nitrophenol with 0.5 mmol·min−1 productivity, it worked for more than 1,500 cycles without any catalytic activity loss.

The carbon wrapped magnetic nanosphere Fe3O4@C (∼300 nm) was prepared under simple hydrothermal conditions, and it served as the carrier of Rh nanoparticles (2-3 nm), which acted as the highly efficient catalyst for reduction of nitro compounds, and reutilization of catalyst is convenient to achieve because the catalyst particles are magnetic. A scope of nitroarene derivatives were reduced to corresponding anilines in water, and the reactions completed in 10 min with nearly quantitative conversions and 100% selectivity. In addition, the abundant oxygen-containing functionality on the carbon shell which can strongly binds the Rh-NPs to offer extraordinary stability is investigated by using various techniques, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR).

A novel oCNT-Chitosan-xFe2O3⋅yBi2O3 nanocomposite has been synthesized as a catalyst for the reduction of nitroarenes to afford corresponding anilines. This catalyst exhibits excellent efficiency and high chemoselectivity towards varieties of nitro-compounds by using hydrazine hydrate as the reductant, and this magnetically separable nanocatalyst can be used for more than ten cycles. The synergy between iron and bismuth gives the catalyst competitive activity towards precious metallic catalyst, and the active sites are immobilized on the chitosan noncovalently functionalized oxidized carbon nanotubes gives the catalyst long life time. Furthermore, this heterogeneous catalyst was used in a continuous-flow processing by filling up it into a packed bed reactor. It was used for more than 1000 min without any loss of catalytic activity in a scaled-up reduction of p-nitrophenol with a productivity of 0.5mmol min−1.

A core–shell structured nanocatalyst (Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2-RhNPs@mSiO2) that is encapsulated with porous silica has been designed and prepared for catalyzing the transfer hydrogenation of nitro compounds into corresponding amines. Rh nanoparticles serve as the activity center, and the porous silica shell plays an important role in the “slow-release” of the hydrogen source hydrazine. This reaction can be carried out smoothly in the green solvent water, and the atom economy can be improved by decreasing the amount of hydrazine hydrate used to a stoichiometric 1.5 equivalent of the substrate. Significantly, high catalytic efficiency is obtained and the turnover frequency (TOF) can be up to 4373 h−1 in the reduction of p-nitrophenol (4-NP). A kinetics study shows that the order of reaction is ∼0.5 towards 4-NP, and the apparent active energy Ea is 58.18 kJ mol−1, which also gives evidence of the high catalytic efficiency. Additionally, the excellent stability of the catalyst has been verified after 15 cycles without any loss of catalytic activity, and it is easily recovered by a magnet after reaction due to the Fe3O4 nucleus.

To reduce energy consumption in buildings, researchers have in the recent decade explored the potential of changing occupants’ energy consumption behaviors using eco-feedback technologies. Energy consumption behavior is a type of consumer behavior, which has been proven culture-specific in prior research. This paper aims to assess the impact of culture on the effectiveness of eco-feedback technologies in reshaping building occupants’ energy consumption behaviors, and to examine the mechanism of such impact. A total of 39 students from 10 different countries who shared four university dormitories were recruited in an experiment. A web-based eco-feedback system was developed in this study, and implemented in these dormitories. The eco-feedback system was responsible for sending weekly email reminders to students participating in the study and, upon their login, providing them with their detailed energy consumption data as well as those of their peers on a daily basis. Subsequent changes in the students’ energy consumption behaviors were analyzed, and correlated with their cultural background, which was assessed using a survey instrument designed based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions model. The experiment results showed that the mean and variance of changes in energy consumption, in response to the provision of eco-feedback information, differed significantly between participants from different countries. The results also showed that all cultural dimensions were statistically correlated to the effectiveness of the eco-feedback system, which explained how different aspects of culture could influence the energy consumption behaviors of building occupants. The results suggested that eco-feedback technologies should be tailored to specific cultural context to improve their effectiveness in building energy conservation.

The Zhaxikang Pb-Zn-Sb deposit is one of the most important deposits in the Southern Tibet metallogenic belt. Based on field geology, petrography, melt- and fluid inclusions and C-H-O isotopes, we describe and discuss the mineralization, alteration, and their possible link with magmatic fluids. Our results show that the Zhaxikang deposit shares many geological and geochemical similarities with typical intermediate-sulfidation (IS) epithermal deposits. The Pb-Zn-Sb mineralization is closely related to Fe-Mn carbonate- and silicic alterations, which formed the outer rim around the greisen in the Cuonadong Dome. Orebodies occur mainly as structurally-controlled veins and breccia dikes, with major minerals include sphalerite, galena, pyrite, arsenopyrite, and Fe-Mn carbonates. Main stage ore-forming fluids were of medium temperature (214–292 °C), low salinity (2.6–5.3 wt.% NaCl eqv.) and CO 2 -bearing. Melt/fluid inclusions in beryl and quartz from the pegmatite indicate that the primary magmatic fluids were derived from the melt-fluid immiscibility. The magmatic fluids were of low salinity (0.2–7.9 wt.% NaCl eqv.), high temperature (298–457 °C) and CO 2 -rich, and contained minor CH 4 , N 2 , C 2 H 6 , C 3 H 8 and C 6 H 6 . The presence of Mn-Fe carbonates and daughter gahnite minerals in the beryl-hosted inclusions indicates high Mn, Fe and Zn contents in the parental magma and related magmatic fluids. This implies a genetic link between magmatic fluids and the Pb-Zn-Sb mineralization, as also supported by Ar-Ar dating and H-O-C isotopic evidence. We suggest that the Zhaxikang is best classified as an IS epithermal deposit, and the ore-forming fluids are likely to be magma-derived. Boiling of the magmatic fluids led to high-salinity fluids and metal enrichment. High regional geothermal gradient caused by the thermal doming event may have facilitated long distance transportation of magmatic fluids, and led to the formation of a wide alteration zone and distal Pb-Zn-Sb mineralization. The temperature drop and meteoric water involvement may have precipitated the Pb-Zn-Sn minerals in the distal fault systems.

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is widely used in forest inventory surveys. Diameter at breast height (DBH) is one of the most important parameters in the forest inventory survey. There are many methods to estimate DBH. In this study, cylinder fitting algorithm, circle fitting algorithm and Hough transform algorithm are used to estimate DBH of two larches of different ages to find a better DBH extraction algorithm. Compared with the circle fitting algorithm and Hough transform algorithm, the cylinder fitting algorithm achieves the highest accuracy. In addition, it is worth noting that different structure of the trees may affect the accuracy of these methods greatly.

The separation of leaf and wood points is an essential preprocessing step for extracting many of the parameters of a tree from terrestrial laser scanning data. The multi-scale method and the optimal scale method are two of the most widely used separation methods. In this study, we extend the optimal scale method to the multi-optimal-scale method, adaptively selecting multiple optimal scales for each point in the tree point cloud to increase the distinctiveness of extracted geometric features. Compared with the optimal scale method, our method achieves higher separation accuracy. Compared with the multi-scale method, our method achieves more stable separation accuracy with a limited number of optimal scales. The running time of our method is greatly reduced when the optimization strategy is applied.

The effect of Na2O and CaO on the solubility and crystallization of Mo in the conventional borosilicate glasses belonging to SiO2-B2O3-Na2O-CaO system was investigated. The results show that the solubility of Mo in the glasses reaches up to 2.98 mol%. The substitutions of cationic oxides ([Na2O]+[CaO]) for SiO2 and CaO for Na2O in the glass composition improve the solubility of Mo. The solubility and crystallization of Mo are related to the depolymerized regions of the glass structure. Generally, the improved solubility of Mo can be ascribed to the high depolymerization degree of glass structure and the loose distribution of ions in the depolymerized regions. Product consistency test (PCT) results show the crystalline CaMoO4 has insignificant influence on the normalized elemental leaching rate of Mo. The normalized leaching rates of the obtained samples are ~10−3 g·m−2·d−1 after 28 days, which are comparable to widely used borosilicate waste glasses.

Gas bubbles in liquid can change the properties of liquid, such as density, viscosity and compressibility. Therefore, to predict the liquid properties, it is essential to evaluate the gas content, which depends on the bubble radius and its size distribution. This paper presents an analytical model of gas content with consideration of the distribution of bubble radius. A steady state formula of bubble radius is presented based on force equilibrium of bubble interface. From the experimental data, the distribution of bubble radius is found to agree with the logarithmic normal distribution, so a corresponding distribution function is proposed. Then, both the gas content and the average bubble radius are derived from the distribution function. Specific tests are performed to validate the developed model particularly as concerns the change of bubble radius with respect to the fluid pressure. Combined with the steady state model of bubble radius, the presented analytical model allows an accurate prediction of gas content at different pressures, implying its potentials to describe the fluid properties in two-phase flows. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this study, dense and phase-pure zeolite FAU membrane has been prepared on α-Al 2 O 3 tube using a seeding-free synthesis strategy. 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) acts as a molecular linker for anchoring the FAU precursors onto the support surface to promote the nucleation and the formation of a thin, well intergrown zeolite FAU membrane. The obtained membranes are employed for desalination of seawater by pervaporation. With the increase of the synthesis time from 12 h to 24 h at 75 °C, the water fluxes of the zeolite FAU membranes reduce from 4.22 kg m −2 h −1 to 3.42 kg m −2 h −1 at 75 °C due to the increase of the thickness of the zeolite FAU membranes, while the ions rejections increase from 99% to 99.9%. For the zeolite FAU membrane which was prepared at 75 °C for 20 h, with increasing the feed temperature from 30 °C to 90 °C, the water fluxes increase from 0.96 kg m −2 h −1 to 5.64 kg m −2 h −1 , and all the ions rejections of the zeolite FAU membrane are above 99.8%. Note that the zeolite FAU membranes show high separation performances for seawater desalination, even for desalination of 10 wt% seawater, the developed zeolite FAU membranes are very promising in seawater desalination.