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Abstract Auscultation is the most effective method for diagnosing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. However, stethoscopes typically capture mixed signals of heart and lung sounds, which can affect the auscultation effect of doctors. Therefore, the efficient separation of mixed heart and lung sound signals plays a crucial role in improving the diagnosis of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. In this paper, we propose a blind source separation method for heart and lung sounds based on deep autoencoder (DAE), nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) and variational mode decomposition (VMD). Firstly, DAE is employed to extract highly informative features from the heart and lung sound signals. Subsequently, NMF clustering is applied to group the heart and lung sounds based on their distinct periodicities, achieving the separation of the mixed heart and lung sounds. Finally, variational mode decomposition is used for denoising the separated signals. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively separates heart and lung sound signals and exhibits significant advantages in terms of standardized evaluation metrics when compared to contrast methods.

An energy-efficient and environmentally conscious bamboo-constructed residential structure was created, comprising bamboo composite panels, steel framework, and mineral wool insulation. To ascertain the efficacy of this particular type of wall in enhancing thermal capabilities, the finite element method was employed to analyze the factors influencing the thermal performance of the exterior wall panels, insulation layer, framework, and interior wall panels. A more judicious design and implementation strategy, known as the 3# and 8# combination scheme, was evaluated in practical applications to assess the thermal efficiency of the wall system. The findings indicated that augmenting the thickness of the inner and outer wall panels and insulation layer, reducing the framework thickness, and incorporating wooden framework as a substitute for steel framework within a certain range enhanced the thermal capabilities of bamboo-constructed walls and mitigated the adverse effects of thermal bridges. The thermal performance of the residences employing the newly developed bamboo-constructed walls surpassed that of conventional iron container houses, thereby warranting broader adoption and application in practical projects. These outcomes offer valuable insights for the optimized design of thermal performance in bamboo-constructed walls.

Bamboo scrimber is a new type of biomass fiber-based composite material with broad application. In this study, self-developed bio-oil phenolic resin (BPF) was used to prepare bamboo scrimber. The effects of hot-pressing temperature, hot-pressing time, and BPF resin solid content on the modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) were systematically investigated through single-factor experiments and response surface methodology (RSM). According to the Box-Behnken design (BBD) experiment of the RSM, the effects of all three factors on MOR and MOE are significant. The effects of the main factors affecting the MOR and MOE decreased in the order of resin solid content, hot-pressing temperature, and hot-pressing time. Based on BBD, the optimal conditions for the preparation of bamboo scrimber were determined as follows: a hot-pressing temperature of 150 °C, a hot-pressing time of 27.5 min, and a resin solid content of 29%. Under these conditions, the MOR is 150.05 MPa and the MOE is 12,802 MPa, which are close to the theoretical values, indicating that the optimization results are credible. This study helps to promote the full utilization of bamboo components and provides a reference for the development of high-quality bamboo scrimber.

Abstract Tumor extracellular matrix (ECM) not only forms a physical barrier for T cells infiltration, but also regulates multiple immunosuppressive pathways, which is an important reason for immunotherapy failure. The cyclic guanosine monophosphate‐adenosine monophosphate synthase‐stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS‐STING) pathway plays a key role in activating CD8+ T cells, maintaining CD8+ T cells stemness and enhancing the antitumor effect. Herein, a zinc‐organometallic framework vaccine (ZPM@OVA‐CpG) prepared by self‐assembly, which achieves site‐directed release of Zn2+ in dendritic cell (DC) lysosomes and tumor microenvironment under acidic conditions, is reported. The vaccine actively targets DC, significantly enhances cGAS‐STING signal, promotes DC maturation and antigen cross‐presentation, and induces strong activation of CD8+ T cells. Meanwhile, the vaccine reaches the tumor site, releasing Zn2+, significantly up‐regulates the activity of matrix metalloproteinase‐2, degrades various collagen components of tumor ECM, effectively alleviates immune suppression, and significantly enhances the tumor infiltration and killing of CD8+ T cells. ZPM@OVA‐CpG vaccine not only solves the problem of low antigen delivery efficiency and weak CD8+ T cells activation ability, but also achieves the degradation of tumor ECM via the vaccine for the first time, providing a promising therapeutic platform for the development of efficient novel tumor vaccines.

Bamboo is a fast-growing plant with properties such as low cost, abundant resources, and good carbon sequestration effect. However, the swift growth of bamboo resources generates an immense quantity of processing waste, which is necessary to effectively utilize bamboo processing waste. The leftovers from bamboo processing can be reutilized by fast pyrolysis to prepare renewable bio-oil. In this study, bamboo bio-oil was partially substituted for phenol to synthesize phenolic resin with different substitution rates under the action of an alkaline catalyst, and then to serve as the adhesive to produce bamboo scrimber. Bamboo bundles were impregnated with synthetic bio-oil phenolic resin to create bamboo scrimber, which was subsequently hot-pressed. The research shows that modified phenolic resins with a bio-oil substitution rate of under 30% have good physical and chemical properties, while the free aldehyde content of phenolic resin with 40% bio-oil substitution exceeds the limit value (0.3%) specified in the Chinese National Standard. The thermal stability of phenolic resins was also increased after bio-oil modification, indicated by the movement of the TG curve to higher temperature ranges. It was found that the bamboo scrimber prepared with 20% BPF resin adhesive had the best comprehensive properties of a good mechanical strength, hydrophobicity, and mildew resistance, particularly with an elastic modulus of 9269 MPa and a static bending strength of 143 MPa. The microscopic morphology showed that the BPF resin was well impregnated into the interior of the bamboo bundle and had a compact bonding structure within the bamboo scrimber. The anti-mold performance experiment found that the bio-oil-modified resin increased the anti-mold level of the bamboo scrimber from slightly corrosion-resistant to strong corrosion-resistant. The conclusions obtained from this study have a good reference value for achieving the comprehensive utilization of bamboo, helping to promote the use of all components, reduce the production cost of bamboo scrimber, and improve its mildew resistance performance. This provides new ideas for the development of low-cost mildew resistant bamboo scrimber novel materials.

Abstract Aluminum–metal batteries show great potential as next‐generation energy storage due to their abundant resources and intrinsic safety. However, the crucial limitations of metallic Al anodes, such as dendrite and corrosion problems in conventional aluminum–metal batteries, remain challenging and elusive. Here, we report a novel electrodeposition strategy to prepare an optimized 3D Al anode on carbon cloth with an uniform deposition morphology, low local current density, and mitigatory volume change. The symmetrical cells with the 3D Al anode show superior stable cycling (>450 h) and low‐voltage hysteresis (~170 mV) at 0.5 mA cm−2. High reversibility (~99.7%) is achieved for the Al plating/stripping. The graphite | | Al‐4/CC full batteries show a long lifespan of 800 cycles with 54 mAh g−1 capacity at a high current density of 1000 mA g−1, benefiting from the high capacitive‐controlled distribution. This study proposes a novel strategy to design 3D Al anodes for metallic‐Al‐based batteries by eliminating the problems of planar Al anodes and realizing the potential applications of aluminum–graphite batteries.

The cyclic loading performance of bamboo double-jointed components of different column base connection types was investigated through reversed cyclic loading tests and finite element analysis. Test results indicated that the types of column base connections played an important role in the failure modes of the engineered bamboo double-jointed columns: for an encased steel plate column base connection, the main failure mode was tensile fracture failure of the bamboo scrimber section at the bottom of the cladding plate; for a slotted-in steel plate column base connection, the main failure mode was splitting failure of the bamboo scrimber cross-grain at the bolt connection line at the bottom of the sheathing plate. The initial stiffness of the encased steel plate column base connection specimen was 41.8% higher than that of the slotted-in steel plate column base connection specimen, with the two specimens having similar average bearing capacities. The ductility ratio of the two specimens was below 3.0 due to the brittle failure nature of the engineered bamboo connections. The finite element model accurately predicted the ultimate bearing capacity of the double-jointed bamboo column members. The modeling error was within 12%, which was sufficient to satisfy the accuracy requirements for engineering purposes.

To further improve the detection distance and sensitivity of bio-radar, a 94 GHz asymmetric antenna radar sensor is employed to detect speech signal. However, the radar speech is often mixed with various noise, which will seriously affect the quality and intelligibility of the speech signal. Therefore, a novel method based on variational mode decomposition (VMD) and improved threshold strategy (ITS) is proposed in this paper for improving the quality and intelligibility of the radar speech. VMD is a novel adaptive decomposition method, which overcomes the problem of mode aliasing and end effect in empirical mode decomposition (EMD). ITS can overcome the limitation of traditional wavelet threshold and achieve the best compromise between speech intelligibility and noise reduction. Firstly, EMD is applied to determine the number of decomposition level, and then radar speech is decomposed into several limited bandwidth intrinsic mode functions by VMD. Secondly, ITS is employed to remove noise from useful modes which are determined by Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC). The performance of the proposed method is evaluated by perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ), short-time objective intelligibility (STOI) and composite measures (CMs). The experimental results show that the radar sensor can detect long distance speech signal and the proposed method can effectively improve the quality and intelligibility of the radar speech signal. Due to the good performance, the proposed method will provide a promising alternative for various applications related to radar speech and traditional microphone speech signal enhancement.

Bamboo engineering materials are green, high-strength, tough, durable, and structurally safe, and have promising application prospects in various modern green and low-carbon buildings. To investigate the vibration behavior of bamboo-bundle laminated veneer lumber (BLVL) for use in floor slabs, this study designed two kinds of full-scale vibration tests under a pedestrian load: an extraction hammer impact test and a static concentrated load test. The results are expected to provide a theoretical foundation and data to support the application of bamboo bundle veneer laminated composite materials in the construction field. The results showed that the self-oscillation frequency and mid-span deflection of the BLVL composite met the requirements of multiple relevant regulations when used as the structural material of floor slabs. The BLVL floor slab had greater flexural stiffness and better vibration-damping performance than the OSB floor slab. The first-order self-oscillation frequency of the BLVL composite floor slab was 13.769 Hz, the damping ratio of the first three orders of modalities was 1.262–2.728%, and the maximum static deflection in the span of the joist was 0.932 mm under a 1 kN concentrated load. The 1 kN static deflection of the BLVL was reduced by 22.33%, and the root mean square (RMS) acceleration of the walking load response was significantly lower than that of the OSB floor slab. The preparation of BLVL composite materials through homogeneous lamination of bamboo bundle veneer and wood veneer may help to improve the vibration behavior of bamboo–wood structures such as floor slabs and walls.

Abstract MgSO4 is chosen as an additive to address the capacity fading issue in the rechargeable zinc-ion battery system of MgxV2O5·nH2O//ZnSO4//zinc. Electrolytes with different concentration ratios of ZnSO4 and MgSO4 are investigated. The batteries measured in the 1 M ZnSO4 −1 M MgSO4 electrolyte outplay other competitors, which deliver a high specific capacity of 374 mAh g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1 and exhibit a competitive rate performance with the reversible capacity of 175 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1. This study provides a promising route to improve the performance of vanadium-based cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries with electrolyte optimization in cost-effective electrolytes.

Inorganic indium‐based halide double perovskites (DPs) are environmentally friendly alternatives to lead‐based halide perovskites in light‐emitting diodes, but commonly suffer from low quantum efficiency and harsh synthesis conditions. Herein, a large‐scale green method using water as solvent is developed for the synthesis of 3D Cs2NaInCl6 and 0D Cs2InCl5·H2O with/without Sb3+ dopant at room temperature. The transformation between Cs2InCl5·H2O and Cs2NaInCl6 products is controlled by the concentration of eco‐friendly NaCl, where excess Cl− and Na+ ions play important roles in inhibiting In3+ hydrolysis and promoting Cs2NaInCl6 crystallization, respectively. The obtained Cs2NaInCl6:Sb and Cs2InCl5·H2O:Sb exhibit highly luminescent self‐trapped exciton‐related blue (450 nm; photoluminescence quantum yield [PLQY] ≈85%) and yellow (610 nm; PLQY ≈88%) emissions, which are comparable to those obtained by previous methods. Tunable cold/warm white light with a PLQY of up to ≈73% is achieved by the rational assembly of two components with highly overlapped excitation wavelength ranges. Each component demonstrates remarkable stability against humidity and heat. This composite shows great potential in solid‐state lighting for general illumination.

Inspired by the natural gradient structure of the moso bamboo wall, a hybrid moso bamboo（B)Wood(W) veneer Composite (BWC) was developed with a specific structure of [B0°/ W90°/ B0°]. The dynamic fracture behaviors and damage mechanism of the BWC were characterized using in situ scanning electron microscopy. X-ray micro- computed tomography imaging was employed to verify the off-axis tensile mechanical properties. The results showed that the maximum tensile strength and modulus of the BWC under off-axis loadings were 232.25 MPa and 17.47 GPa, respectively. Meanwhile, the maximum specific strength and specific modulus of the BWC were 290.31 MPa·cm3·g−1 and 23.84 GPa·cm3·g−1, respectively, which are higher than both natural wood (95.26 MPa·cm3·g−1, 10.82 GPa·cm3·g−1), bamboo (208.56 MPa·cm3·g−1, 15.74 GPa·cm3·g−1) and even steel alloy (237.86 MPa·cm3·g−1, 21.98 GPa·cm3·g−1). Compared to reorganized bamboo (RB), the porosity of the BWC was 61.1% lower. The BWC was strengthened via internal toughening mechanisms (i.e. fiber bridging) and external toughening mechanisms (i.e. multiregional distribution of micro-cracks). This work highlights methods to design high-performance bio composite from commonly used biomaterials through synergistic strengthening and toughening mechanisms, which has significant advantages in the ever-growing construction industry.

This study aimed to investigate the mechanical property decay that might occur during actual use and soil burial degradation of bamboo fiber lunch boxes. For this, the effects of three accelerated aging methods, namely damp–heat treatment, freeze–thaw cycle, and artificial weathering cycle, on the tensile strength, dynamic viscoelasticity, and chemical composition of bamboo fiber lunch boxes were compared, and a correlation of their mechanical property decay with soil burial degradation was established to obtain an acceleration factor (SAF) with aging time as a reference. The results showed that the mechanical properties of the bamboo fiber lunch box decreased to different degrees under the three accelerated methods, and the tensile strength decreased to less than 50% after 36 h of damp–heat treatment, 5 freeze–thaw cycles, and 11 artificial weathering cycles. However, after 10 days, the mechanical property of lunch box in soil degradation decreased by more than 50%. Infrared spectroscopy demonstrated rapid hemicellulose degradation during damp–heat treatment and freeze–thaw cycle, as well as a minor quantity of lignin, and a significant amount of lignin under artificial weathering cycle. With the freeze–thaw cycle and the artificial weathering cycle, the relative crystallinity dropped quickly, by 32.3% and 21.5%, respectively, but under damp–heat treatment, the crystallinity dropped barely, by 43.5%. The damage caused by the freeze–thaw cycle to the mechanical properties of bamboo fiber lunch boxes was greater than that by the damp–heat treatment and artificial weathering cycle. The fluctuation of SAF under freeze–thaw cycle was also more drastic. Compared to the artificial weathering cycle, the damp–heat treatment was more stable and reliable in predicting the decay law of soil burial degradation tensile strength of bamboo fiber lunch boxes.

The research on the development of lunch boxes made of clean, environment-friendly, and naturally degradable plant fibers has attracted enormous attention. A bamboo fiber lunch box prepared by the clean and efficient steam explosion method has the advantages of good stiffness, water and oil resistance, and easy degradation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degradation behavior of the environment-friendly bamboo fiber lunch box under indoor soil burial, as represented by the changes in physical properties, mechanical strength, chemical components, morphological structure, and so on. The results showed that: with the extension of the burial time, the weight loss increased rapidly from slowly to quickly; the boxes were completely degraded in the soil on the 70th day; the microorganisms in the soil first decomposed the tapioca starch, hemicellulose, and cellulose in the lunch box, and finally decomposed the lignin; the residual debris in the soil was further decomposed into CO2, H2O, and inorganic salts. In short, the degradation process of the lunch box mainly included the following stages: stage I: the increase in apparent roughness, the generation of microcracks, the rapid increase in weight loss, and the breakdown of starch and hemicellulose; stage II: the slow increase in the weight loss rate of the box fragmentation, the rapid decay of the mechanical strength, and the cellulose decomposition; stage III: the decomposition of lignin, the complete degradation of the debris, and the integration with the soil.

A study on selective chelating precipitation of palladium metal from real electroplating wastewater using chitosan and its water-soluble derivative was conducted. The pH parameter, the concentrations of chitosan and its water-soluble derivative and the chelating precipitation time were experimentally investigated, and the optimum conditions were determined. The results revealed that both chitosan and its water-soluble derivative acted as chelating precipitation agents. Rapid chelating precipitation occurred when chitosan was added to real electroplating wastewater containing the chitosan derivative, thereby improving removal efficiency of palladium in different forms up to 95% under the optimum condition of 0.2 g/L chitosan and 0.16 mg/L derivative at pH 2.5. Then, dissolution experiments showed that chelating precipitation products could be dissolved in aqua regia. Additionally, selective chelating precipitation of palladium by chitosan and its derivative was characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thus, it can be concluded that the combined utilization of chitosan and its water-soluble derivative is a promising approach method for the removal of different forms of palladium from real electroplating wastewater.

Bamboo musical instruments, such as bamboo flute and Ching-hu (Beijing opera fiddle), can generate a crisp and melodious sound closely related to the delicate multiscale pore structure of bamboo. Bamboo is a natural hydrophilic material, and its acoustic vibration characteristics are highly sensitive to changeable environmental humidity levels. Herein, we investigated the acoustic vibration characteristics of bamboo under three conditions: constant relative humidity (status I), changeable relative humidity (status II), and subjected to water extraction (status III). Three typical parameters were selected as evaluation indicators of bamboo acoustic vibration characteristics, namely, specific dynamic elastic modulus (E′/ρ), loss tangent (tanδ), and acoustical converting efficiency (ACE). The outer bamboos (OB) had higher E′/ρ and ACE but lower equilibrium moisture content (EMC) and tanδ than the inner bamboos (IB). Under status I, bamboo showed the maximum E′/ρ and ACE and the minimum tanδ at 35% RH (relative humidity) and about 6% MC. Compared with the bamboo under status II, the bamboo under status I retained higher E′/ρ and ACE and lower tanδ. However, the bamboo under status (III) reached the maximum E′/ρ and ACE and the minimum tanδ. The bamboo musical instrument is made of bamboo with proper removal of water-soluble extractives and high fiber volume fraction and stored in a stable relative humidity environment of 35%, which has suitable acoustic vibration characteristics.

Bamboo has natural damping properties, but, due to the obvious gradient differences in bamboo walls, the damping properties of different layers may vary. Using bamboo slivers as the research object, this study investigated the underlying mechanism of the effect of microstructural and chemical components on the damping properties (η, damping ratio) of bamboo using the resonance and nonresonance methods. The damping ratio decreased on L3 (inner layer), L2 (middle layer), and L1 (outer layer) due to lower microfibril angles, increased crystallinity of cellulose, and decreased hemicellulose content. All of these limited the motion of the bamboo’s molecular chains. The damping ratio successively increased in the oven-dried, air-dried, and water saturated states because water acted as a plasticizer. The damping ratio of L1, in the oven-dried state, was slightly higher than that of the air-dried state because L1 had the lowest water content. This allowed less water to escape during drying, which intensified the molecular distortion. The initial tan δ (tangent of the loss angle) decreased successively on the L3, L2, and L1 layers of the bamboo, and the tan δ of L3 was lower than that of L2 due to changes in the temperature sensitivity of hemicellulose.

An energy-efficient and environmentally conscious bamboo-constructed residential structure was created, comprising bamboo composite panels, steel framework, and mineral wool insulation. To ascertain the efficacy of this particular type of wall in enhancing thermal capabilities, the finite element method was employed to analyze the factors influencing the thermal performance of the exterior wall panels, insulation layer, framework, and interior wall panels. A more judicious design and implementation strategy, known as the 3# and 8# combination scheme, was evaluated in practical applications to assess the thermal efficiency of the wall system. The findings indicated that augmenting the thickness of the inner and outer wall panels and insulation layer, reducing the framework thickness, and incorporating wooden framework as a substitute for steel framework within a certain range enhanced the thermal capabilities of bamboo-constructed walls and mitigated the adverse effects of thermal bridges. The thermal performance of the residences employing the newly developed bamboo-constructed walls surpassed that of conventional iron container houses, thereby warranting broader adoption and application in practical projects. These outcomes offer valuable insights for the optimized design of thermal performance in bamboo-constructed walls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Due to specific immune recognition receptors on the surface of T cells, their membranes are promising mimic nanocarriers for delivering drugs to tumor lesions. However, this single targeting strategy potentially compromises therapy efficacy for tumor targeting due to inter‐ and intra‐heterogeneity of tumors. Azide (N3) or bicyclo [6.1.0] nonyne (BCN) modified unnatural sugars can be successfully incorporated into surface glycans of various tumor cells as artificial receptors, which is expected to overcome the insufficiency of single targeting. Based on this artificial tumor targeting strategy, indocyanine green nanoparticles (INPs) coated with N3‐labeled T cell membrane (N3‐TINPs) are constructed, which can specifically target the natural antigen and BCN artificial receptors on tumors through immune recognition and bioorthogonal chemistry, respectively. The results show that the fluorescence intensity in the tumors of mice treated with N3‐TINPs is 1.5 fold compared with that of the mice treated with unlabeled TINPs. The accumulated N3‐TINPs in the tumor significantly increase the photothermal therapeutic effect without adverse effect. Therefore, this T cell membrane mimicking nanoparticles based bioorthogonal chemistry may provide an alternative artificial targeting strategy for further tumor targeting photothermal therapy.

To overcome warping in thin bamboo bundle veneer laminated composites (TBLC), their hydrothermal deformation characteristics were systematically investigated in this study. It was found that TBLCs accelerated the release of internal stress in the thickness direction in a hydrothermal environment, which increased their warpage. TBLCs showed increased warpage in the width and diagonal directions upon increasing the temperature. The warpage of Type E increased by 155.88% and 66.67% in the width and diagonal directions, respectively, when the temperature increased from 25°C to 100°C. The symmetrical TBLC with cross-lay-up and odd layers displayed better hydrothermal stability. We revealed that the deformation of the TBLCs could be regulated under the synergistic effect of water and temperature. These results provide a scientific basis for improving the uniformity of bamboo bundle composite materials and for developing thin bamboo bundle fiber composite materials with designable structures and controllable performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an abundant natural resource in Asia, bamboo is receiving increased attention as an engineering material due to its renewability and excellent strength. The parallel-to-grain compression and shearing properties of moso bamboo culm were examined. The growth characteristics (bamboo age, nodes, and location along the culm), as well as treatments for practical applications (hole punching and hoop reinforcing by hose clamp) were investigated for their influence. Mechanical tests were conducted in accordance with the ISO22157-1:2004 (2004), ISO/TR 22157-2:2004(E) (2004), and CNS GB/T 15780-1995 (1996) standards. Acceptable loading rates for the parallel-to-grain compression and shearing tests were 0.1 and 0.05 mm/s, respectively. The compressive and shearing strengths increased from the bottom to the top of the bamboo. Bamboo age and nodes exerted little influence on parallel-to-grain compressive and shearing strength. In addition, hole punches diminished the mechanical strength of the bamboo culm, while hose clamps enhanced it slightly.

To investigate the possibility of using bamboo-bundle laminated veneer lumber (BLVL) as a cooling tower packing material, the water absorption rates, thickness swelling rates, and flexural properties of three different composite materials were studied. The BLVL was combined with either 12% or 24% phenol formaldehyde resin (PF), and the moso bamboo strips were exposed to water baths at three different temperatures (45, 65, and 85 °C) for 30 d. After the aging treatments, the 24%-BLVL samples showed lower water absorption rates and better bending properties than the other two composites. The temperature was found to have a significant effect on the modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), and the thickness swelling rate. As the temperature increased, the swelling rate and the rate of weight gain increased and the MOE and MOR decreased. According to the activation energies for swelling calculated from the Arrhenius-type plots, compared with the 24%-BLVL (22.95 kJ·mol-1) and the moso bamboo strips (12.69 kJ·mol-1), the effect of temperature on the swelling rate was greatest for the 12%-BLVL (24.15 kJ·mol-1). Results showed that the BLVL material is a promising candidate for a novel cooling tower packing material.

Arrays of titania nanotubes (TiO2NTs) were developed by electrochemical anodization and doped with silver on their surface by photodeposition to achieve TiO2NTs/Ag. It is found that only anatase TiO2NTs were formed, with the preferential growth direction perpendicular to the titanium substrate, and with the length and diameter of ~2 µm and 90–120 nm, respectively. The presence of Ag on the surface of TiO2NTs was also confirmed. The TiO2NTs and TiO2NTs/Ag were used as photocatalysts to decolorize the methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution. The photodegradation efficiency (PDE) is as high as 83% for TiO2NTs and 98% for TiO2NTs/Ag photocatalysts. This work focused on the investigation of the stability and recyclability of these photocatalysts in terms of efficiency and its physical origin by surface analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It is found that PDE diminishes from 83% to 76% in TiO2NTs upon eight recycling runs and from 98% to 80% in TiO2NTs/Ag upon six recycling runs. The XPS analysis revealed that the physical origin of diminishing efficiency is the carbon contamination on the surface of recycled TiO2NTs and a combination of carbon contamination and Ag leaching in recycled TiO2NTs/Ag.