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A rotating packed bed (RPB) is one of the typical process intensification equipment and its performance can be influenced by the surface wettability of packings. However, tuning the surface wettability of the packing by the surface-modification method is still a challenge due to the extreme physical and chemical environment in RPBs. This work presents a facile strategy for controlling the surface wettability on the stainless steel substrate with a series of highly stable coatings. The water contact angles on the surfaces can be tuned from 75° to 160°. Based on the systematical analysis from the micro-characteristics (surface microstructure and surface free energy) to the macro-wettabilities (water contact angle) of the prepared coatings, the structure-function relationship of these coatings was revealed with wetting models. Application performance testing indicates that the coatings displayed strong adhesion, long-time corrosion resistance, and liquid impinging resistance under high-gravity conditions. This work opens a new avenue to produce highly stable coatings on stainless steel substrates with controllable wettability, which is very helpful to the wettability control for the stainless steel wire mesh packing of RPBs for industrial applications.

Zirconia-based hybrid polymers has become one of the ideal encapsulation material for light emitting diodes (LEDs) with high extraction efficiency due to their proper refractive index to those of semiconductor chips. However, the controlling of the dispersion for zirconia nanoparticles in polymeric hosts to obtain optically transparent hybrid nanocomposites has been one of the major challenges. Herein, we reported the synthesis of zirconia nanodispersion via high-gravity-assisted homogeneous precipitation in an internal circulation rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor followed by two-step modification. An alternative to conventional precipitation in batch stirred tank reactors (STR), the process intensification by high-gravity RPB results in homogeneous micromixing during the nucleation and growth of zirconia particles, which are benefit for continuous and reproducible production of ultrasmall zirconia nanoparticles. The obtained zirconia nanoparticles are purely cubic phase with narrow size-distribution in the range of 3–5 nm according to the X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy characterization, which were similarity to that by the conventional methods. Nevertheless, the average hydrodynamic diameters of zirconia nanoparticles in aqueous solutions obtained by RPB methods were much smaller than those prepared in conventional STR, which enabled easy control and surface modification for highly dispersed nanodispersion in organic solvents and/or polymeric hosts. After two-step surface modification, zirconia nanoparticles with goal-directed structures were obtained, with highly dispersity in various organic solvents (e.g. toluene, trichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, etc.) and aliphatic epoxy resin, forming transparent hybrid films with tunable refractive indexes. The preliminary applications of these zirconia nanodispersions for LEDs encapsulation were demonstrated. The light extraction efficiency of the LEDs devices packaged with zirconia/epoxy hybrid material increased by 10 percent when the doping content of zirconia nanoparticles was 0.2, compared to the devices encapsulated by original epoxy.

Controllable synthesis of monodisperse nanocrystals is still a great challenge. In this study, the control strategy of alcohol medium was developed to conveniently synthesize monodisperse anatase-TiO2 nanocrystals with controllable size and shape by sol-gel method combined with solvothermal treatment. The effects of the amount of stearic acid and water, and molecular structure of alcohol on the size, the shape and the dispersity of TiO2 nanocrystals were explored. The optimum synthesis conditions were achieved. Monodisperse TiO2 nanoparticles and nanorods were obtained by using linear and branched alcohols, respectively. The size of nanoparticles decreased from 12 to 5 nm with increasing carbon number of linear alcohol. The aspect ratio of nanorods was adjusted from 1 to 5 by selecting alcohols with different locations of branched methyl group. The as-prepared monodisperse TiO2 nanocrystals could be readily dispersed in some commonly-used solvents to form transparent nanodispersions. Furthermore, a possible formation mechanism was also investigated.

Electrochemical oxidation is considered as a promising technology for wastewater treatment. In this work, a novel rotating multielectrodes reactor (RMER) has been developed to intensify the electro...

An efficient method of coating alumina (Al2O3) on stainless steel has been investigated by matching the rough surface of the substrate with different sizes of Al2O3 particles. An empirical correlation was established based upon the data of a controllable and measured pore size of the substrate surface by varying etching conditions. The correlation agreed fairly well with experimental results (deviations of ±20%). The Al2O3 coatings prepared by powders with average particle size of 324 nm had an optimal adhesion performance, and the minimum of coating weight loss on the inner surface of tubule after ultrasonic vibration was 1.7 wt %. The developed method of Al2O3 coating has potential prospects for the preparation of monolithic catalyst support.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy with lymphadenectomy is considered one of the most effective treatments for early non-small cell lung cancer. We developed a novel approach for lobectomy in patients with right upper lung cancer through simplified synchronous disconnection of pulmonary arteries and veins. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of this minimally invasive technique in managing right upper lobectomy. From March 2016 to September 2017, 62 patients with right upper lung cancer underwent lobectomy via simplified synchronous disconnection of pulmonary arteriovenous by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. All patients were followed up for 6–12 months after the procedure through clinic visits or telephone/e-mail interviews. Of the 62 patients (mean age, 57.2 ± 8.7 years), 28 were men (45.2%) and 34 (54.8%) were women. All procedures were successfully performed by thoracoscopy, with a mean operating time of 66.2 ± 9.0 min. The mean blood loss was 40.3 ± 19.5 mL. Only 1 (1.61%) patient required blood transfusion. The mean number of endoscopic linear stapling devices used was 2.6 ± 0.7. The mean number of lymph nodes harvested was 16.0 ± 1.6. Postoperative pneumonia was encountered in 4 (6.45%) patients. There was no postoperative mortality. The mean length of hospital stay was 5.3 ± 1.3 days. Six-month follow-up revealed an excellent clinical result and degree of satisfaction. Simplified synchronous disconnection of pulmonary arteries and veins is a feasible, economical, safe, and effective therapeutic procedure for right upper lung carcinoma. This novel procedure shows promise as a viable surgical approach for right upper lobectomy.

Sulfurized graphene (SG) was employed as a metal-free catalyst for the liquid-phase catalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BzOH) in the existence of hydrogen peroxide for the first time. The conversion efficiencies of BzOH at different reaction conditions were studied. SG was demonstrated to be among the best metal-free catalysts for this reaction in conversional stirred tank reactors with BzOH conversion of 18.2% (2 mg catalyst, 3 h, T = 80 °C). A high-gravity rotating packed bed reactor was used for process intensification during the metal-free catalytic oxidation, and BzOH conversion increased from 5.56% to 20.86%. Both experimental and computational fluid dynamics simulations indicate that a high-gravity level can provide more turbulent kinetic energy and faster surface renewal rate to improve the catalytic efficiency. This study opened up the possibility of combining metal-free catalysts and high-gravity technology for the green synthesis of chemicals.

Integrins are a large family of heterodimeric cell adhesion molecules composed of α and β subunits. Through interaction with their specific ligands, integrins mediate cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. Via outside-in signaling, integrins can recruit cytoplasmic proteins to their intracellular domains and then cluster into supramolecular structures and trigger downstream signaling. Integrin activation is associated with a global conformation rearrangement from bent to extended in ectodomains and the separation of α and β subunit cytoplasmic domains. During cell migration, integrins regulate the focal adhesion dynamics and transmit forces between the extracellular matrix and the cell cytoskeleton. In tumor microenvironment, integrins on multiple kinds of cells could be activated, which modulates cell migration into tumor and contributes to angiogenesis and tumor metastasis. Here, we review the mechanism of integrin activation, dynamics of focal adhesions during cell migration and tumor metastasis.

Water electrolysis is a clean and efficient route for producing high-purity hydrogen. Developing highly efficient, stable and inexpensive electrocatalysts to replace Pt is currently a major challenge for the widespread application of water splitting. Herein, we report a facile and novel strategy for the synthesis of mesoporous NiCo alloy nanoparticle/reduced graphene oxide (MNiCo/rGO) composites via electroless deposition technique. Owing to the synergistic interaction of Ni and Co, the mesoporous structure of NiCo alloy, and the optimized combination of the mesoporous NiCo with rGO, the obtained optimal MNi63Co37/rGO5 catalyst exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with a low overpotential of 115 mV to reach the current density of 10 mA cm−2, and a small Tafel slope of 45 mV dec–1, as well as a high durability in alkaline solution. These remarkable merits make it a favorable alternative to noble metal Pt-based catalysts for HER, thereby further promoting the development of non-noble metal electrocatalysts.

Geogrids with triangular apertures are increasingly being used as a reinforcement element in various geotechnical structures because of their characteristics to offer uniform resistance in...

First principles studies combined with the microkinetic analysis were performed to study the reliability and reaction mechanisms of single-atom doped graphene (SADGr) materials in catalyzing NOx reduction with CO. By screening the 3d transition metals (Sc-Zn) and group-IV elements (Si and Ge), it was found that the Ti and Co doped graphene sheets (TiGr and CoGr) respectively own excellent catalytic activities in the NO/NO2-to-N2O and the N2O-to-N2 processes at low temperatures. Therefore, the TiGr/CoGr composite can be a promising catalyst in NOx reduction with CO. It was further revealed the combination of adsorption energy and electronegativity was a good descriptor to predict the activation energies. The obtained results can provide useful information for rational design of carbon-based single-atom catalysts for NOx reduction by CO at low temperatures.

As an important personal protective item against the COVID-19 pandemic, masks have recently attracted much attention in both academic and industrial contexts We established a modified numerical model for investigating the dominant factors on the performance of masks, including the thickness and fill rate of melt-blown fibers for a filtering layer, as well as the diameters and surface charge density of the fibers It is found that increasing the surface charge of melt-blown fibers can improve the filtration efficiency of the melt-blown layer with a low respiratory pressure drop The relationship between the filtered particle diameter and filtration efficiency of respirators is also investigated, which demonstrated that particles with a diameter of 0 1-0 2 μm are the most difficult to filter out Combined with molecular dynamics simulations and experimental verifications, the effect of hydrophobicity on the droplet adhesion and the water blocking performance was revealed The knowledge obtained in this work provides reference for the design of high-performance masks ©

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on people worldwide, and there are currently no specific antivirus drugs or vaccines. Herein it is a therapeutic based on catalase, an antioxidant enzyme that can effectively breakdown hydrogen peroxide and minimize the downstream reactive oxygen species, which are excessively produced resulting from the infection and inflammatory process, is reported. Catalase assists to regulate production of cytokines, protect oxidative injury, and repress replication of SARS-CoV-2, as demonstrated in human leukocytes and alveolar epithelial cells, and rhesus macaques, without noticeable toxicity. Such a therapeutic can be readily manufactured at low cost as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on people worldwide, and there are currently no specific antivirus drugs or vaccines. We report herein a therapeutic based on catalase, an antioxidant enzyme that can effectively breakdown hydrogen peroxide and minimize the downstream reactive oxygen species, which are excessively produced resulting from the infection and inflammatory process. Catalase assists to regulate production of cytokines, protect oxidative injury, and repress replication of SARS-CoV-2, as demonstrated in human leukocytes and alveolar epithelial cells, and rhesus macaques, without noticeable toxicity. Such a therapeutic can be readily manufactured at low cost as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

Background: China has made significant progress towards malaria elimination by achieving zero reports of indigenous malaria cases over two consecutive years. The diagnosis of malaria, which is based on microscopic examination, still remains a challenge, due to a lack of sensitivity for detecting low-level parasitaemia. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of a novel immunochromatographic test strip for imported malaria. Methods: After obtaining informed consent, blood samples were collected from migrants returning home from Africa to Shanglin County in Guangxi, PR China, in 2018-2019, and were tested with the novel test strips. The test results were compared with those of microscopic examination, commercial malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Results: A total of 535 samples were tested. Both microscopy and PCR test results showed a total of 162 (30.28%) malaria-positive samples, of which 99 were positive for Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), three for P. vivax, five for P. malariae, and 50 for P. ovale, whereas five had mixed infections. The sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency of the novel RDT were 74.1%, 93.0%, and 87.3%, respectively, whereas its sensitivity of detecting P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, and P. ovale was 91.9%, 100%, 20.0%, and 44.0%, respectively. Furthermore, the sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency of the commercial RDT were 86.0%, 89.3%, and 88.2%, respectively, whereas its sensitivity of detecting P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, and P. ovale was 96.0%, 100%, 40.0%, and 70.0% respectively. The differential detection of Plasmodium species using the new RDT was significantly better compared to that of the commercial RDT (c2 = 14.73; P = 0.0001), which can detect only P. falciparum. This was consistent with Kappa analysis (Kappa = 0.881). A significant difference (c2 = 24.50; P < 0.0001) in the detection rate of other Plasmodium species was observed with an average consistency using Kappa analysis (Kappa = 0.716). Conclusion: The novel malaria RDT test strip had high sensitivity and specificity in detecting P. falciparum and P. vivax. Improvement in P. ovale and P. malariae detection efficiency may lead to the scale-up of this RDT in the future.

Masks have become one of the most indispensable pieces of personal protective equipment and are important strategic products during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Due to the huge mask demand–supply gap all over the world, the development of user-friendly technologies and methods is urgently needed to effectively extend the service time of masks. In this article, we report a very simple approach for the decontamination of masks for multiple reuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Used masks were soaked in hot water at a temperature greater than 56 °C for 30 min, based on a recommended method to kill COVID-19 virus by the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China. The masks were then dried using an ordinary household hair dryer to recharge the masks with electrostatic charge to recover their filtration function (the so-called “hot water decontamination + charge regeneration” method). Three kinds of typical masks (disposable medical masks, surgical masks, and KN95-grade masks) were treated and tested. The filtration efficiencies of the regenerated masks were almost maintained and met the requirements of the respective standards. These findings should have important implications for the reuse of polypropylene masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The performance evolution of masks during human wear was further studied, and a company (Zhejiang Runtu Co., Ltd.) applied this method to enable their workers to extend the use of masks. Mask use at the company was reduced from one mask per day per person to one mask every three days per person, and 122 500 masks were saved during the period from 20 February to 30 March 2020. Furthermore, a new method for detection of faulty masks based on the penetrant inspection of fluorescent nanoparticles was established, which may provide scientific guidance and technical methods for the future development of reusable masks, structural optimization, and the formulation of comprehensive performance evaluation standards.

The pathogenesis of primary focal hyperhidrosis (PFH) is still not clear. PFH is thought to be a genetic disease. Whether activin A receptor type 1 (ACVR1) is involved in the pathogenesis of PFH is unknown. In this study, the expression of ACVR1 in sweat glands of patients with PAH was detected by western blot and immunofluorescence. The primary sweat gland cells obtained from primary axillary hyperhidrosis (PAH) patients were transfected with acvr1 vector. Cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycling of gland cells were measured after transfection with acvr1 vector. The mRNA and protein expression of aquaporin 5 (AQP5) and Na:K:2Cl Cotransporter 1 (NKCC1/SLC12A2) were detected. Our data showed that ACVR1 expression in axillary sweat gland tissue of PAH patients was significantly higher than that of normal control group. The function of ACVR1 was further investigated in the gland cells obtained from PAH patients. Compared with NC group, ACVR1 overexpression significantly promoted the proliferation of sweat gland cells and inhibited the apoptosis of sweat gland cells. Meanwhile, ACVR1 overexpression significantly reduced the percentage of cells in G0/G1 and G2/M phases, and increased the percentage of cells in S phase. In addition, ACVR1 overexpression significantly promoted the expression of AQP5 and NKCC1 at both mRNA and protein levels. Together, ACVR1 expression is related to PFH and ACVR1 overexpression can promote the proliferation of sweat gland cells and inhibit apoptosis by promoting the expression of AQP5 and NKCC1.

In the present study, we numerically demonstrate an approach for separation of micro and sub-micro diamagnetic particles in dual ferrofluid streams based on negative magnetophoresis. The dual streams are constructed by an intermediate sheath flow, after which the negative magnetophoretic force induced by an array of permanent magnets dominates the separation of diamagnetic particles. A simple and efficient numerical model is developed to calculate the motions of particles under the action of magnetic field and flow field. Effects of the average flow velocity, the ratio of sheath fluid flow to sample fluid flow, the number of the magnet pair as well as the position of magnet pair are investigated. The optimal parametric condition for complete separation is obtained through the parametric analysis, and the separation principle is further elucidated by the force analysis. The separation of smaller micro and sub-micro diamagnetic particles is finally demonstrated. This study provides an insight into the negative magnetophoretic phenomenon and guides the fabrication of feasible, low-cost diagnostic devices for sub-micro particle separation.

Objectives: To describe the clinical manifestations, disease severity and treatment of COVID-19 in children, as compared to other viral pneumonia diagnosed duri

As ionic liquids alternative, the deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are expected to realize green and efficient SO2 recovery. In this work, the reaction kinetics of SO2 and sodium lactate (NaLa)/water DES was first studied. The reaction kinetic parameters, including order of reaction, rate constant, pre-exponential factor, and activation energy were determined. In view of the reaction characteristics, desulfurization intensification by high gravity technology was proposed. A mathematic model based on the reaction kinetics was developed to describe the SO2-DES mass transfer and reaction process in a rotating packed bed reactor. To validate this model, the desulfurization efficiency and mass transfer coefficient were measured under different operating conditions. It was demonstrated that SO2 removal efficiency was above 99% under optimized conditions, realizing efficient SO2 recovery. The validity of the proposed model was confirmed by the fact that most predicted mass transfer coefficients agreed well with the experimental results with deviations within ± 15%.

To address the aggregation problem of nanocatalysts in ammonium perchlorate (AP), AP/Fe3O4 core-shell composites (CSC) were synthesized by nanodispersion-assisted antisolvent recrystallization induced self-assembly method. DFT and FTIR test results reveal that covalent bonds between citrate and Fe3O4 along with hydrogen bonds between citrate and AP drive the formation of AP/Fe3O4 CSC. With coating 5.4 wt% Fe3O4, the high-temperature decomposition peak temperature of AP is decreased by 91.3 °C, the heat release is increased by 125% and the apparent activation energy is lowered by 47.9%. AP/Fe3O4 CSC exhibit excellent thermal decomposition performance because the highly dispersed nanocatalysts on AP surface provide more catalytic sites and accelerate the reaction heat transferring from burning surface to condensed AP. Guided by this strategy, AP/Co3O4 and AP/Fe2O3 CSC were also prepared with enhanced thermal decomposition performance, which indicates this strategy has good applicability to improve the catalytic performance of nano metal oxides for AP decomposition.

Micromixing performance of reactors has great influence on fast reactions such as polymerization, pharmaceutical and crystallization applications. In this work, based on Villermaux–Dushman iodide–iodate reaction system, an experimental investigation of micromixing with non-Newtonian fluid (CMC solution) in a rotation packed bed (RPB) was carried out. And a two-dimensional RPB Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model coupled with shear-thinning rheological property was developed. Both experimental and numerical results indicated that increasing rotational speed could dramatically improve the micromixing performance due to the shear-thinning behavior in the RPB. Especially, the CMC concentration was an important factor that should be carefully considered, which showed quite different impacts on micromixing efficiency with liquid flow rate. In addition, based on incorporation model and experimental results, the micromixing time of the RPB with non-Newtonian fluid was determined as 4.1 × 10−4 s–1.9 × 10−3 s. This fundamental research had guiding significance for practical operations of RPBs when processing non-Newtonian fluids.

Coal still has a vital role in power generation, and coal-fired power plants are considered to be a main source of CO2 emission. This work proposed a process intensification (PI) technology, combining the highly efficient diethylenetriamine (DETA) solvent for CO2 absorption and the PI device of rotating packed bed (RPB) for enhancing gas-liquid mass transfer, to improve CO2 capture performance. Experimental study was conducted in a lab-scale RPB, and the dependences of CO2 removal performance on various operation conditions were systematically investigated. It was founded that CO2 loading has a vital effect on removal efficiency, and increasing rotation speed and solvent flow rate is beneficial to CO2 removal. The comparison of mass transfer performance between RPB and packed column (PC) demonstrated that the gas retention time in RPB with a value of 1.5 s is far shorter than that in PC under the similar operation conditions, which means RPB possesses a great advantage of shrinking mass-transfer device’s size for the CO2 capture process. Additionally, a Back-Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) model was developed for predicting the value of overall volumetric mass-transfer coefficient (KGav), and the predicted values agree well with experimental data with a satisfactory average absolute relative derivation (AARD) of 7.85%. These results demonstrated that this PI technology is expected to be a competitive candidate for improving CO2 capture performance from flue gas.

Rare-earth doped NaYF4 upconversion nanomaterials have found many applications from biosensing through photoelectric conversion to luminescent anti-counterfeiting. However, the scalable synthesis methods of ultrasmall NaYF4 nanoparticles are still challenging. Herein, We demonstrated that the intensified mixing of the precursor by a high-gravity rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor before the hydrothermal synthesis process enabled the preparation of ultrasmall NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ upconversion nanoparticles, with much smaller size, more uniform distributions and higher Er3+-doping level than those obtained in the stirred tank reactor (STR) route. In stark contrast to conventional synthetic techniques that require stringent control over several experimental variables for controlling morphologies and sizes, the process intensification approach presented here requires modification of only a single variable while enabling tremendous improvements to control the formation of NaYF4 based UCNPs with small feature size. The UCNPs dispersed well in various organic solvents (e.g. ethanol, acetone, toluene, cyclohexane, etc.), forming transparent nanodispersions with upconversion luminescence under 980 nm NIR light irradiation. The preliminary applications of NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ nanodispersions for upconversion luminescent transparent hybrid films and anti-counterfeiting were also demonstrated.

Dental resin-based composites have been used for more than 50 years. The size and the structure of inorganic filler have a great effect on the mechanical properties of the composite resin. In this study, novel micro-sized clusters of hydroxyapatite nanorods (MCHN) were designed and conveniently fabricated by spray drying combined with heat treatment. The effects of the aspect ratio of primary hydroxyapatite nanorods (HN), suspension concentration for spray drying and heat treatment temperature were explored. The results indicated that HN with a lower aspect ratio of 2 (HN-2) and a heat treatment temperature of 500 °C were beneficial to the construction of high-performance MCHN (MCHN-2). As compared to HN-2, MCHN-2 had a further increased filling amount by 10%. More importantly, the flexural strength, flexural modulus and compressive strength of the composite resin were greatly improved by 36.3%, 11.4% and 56.6%, respectively. Therefore, it could be envisioned that MCHN could have a great potential in dental restorative application.

Objective Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a devastating neurologic injury and remains a major cause of death in the world. Secondary injury after TBI is associated with long-term disability in patients with TBI. This study evaluated adrenomedullin (AM) on secondary injury and neurologic functional outcome in rats after TBI. Methods Forty-eight Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into 3 groups: sham, TBI, and TBI with AM groups. TBI was induced by fluid percussion injury, and AM was intravenously injected. Neurologic function was examined at 2, 3, and 7 days after TBI. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to test tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-8 levels in the brain. Brain edema and blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability in brain tissue were tested. Western blot was used to examine the expression of aquaporin-4, phosphorylated myosin light-chain, and cleaved caspase-3. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling was used to test the apoptosis. Results Compared with the sham group, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels, brain edema, BBB permeability, neurologic examination scores, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling-positive cells, and expression of aquaporin-4, phosphorylated myosin light-chain, and cleaved caspase-3 significantly increased in the TBI group. AM treatment significantly inhibited TBI-induced effects. Conclusions AM can improve neurologic function and ameliorate brain injury in rats with TBI. AM exerts its neuroprotective effect via its anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effect.

A rotating packed bed (RPB) was employed as a highly effective reactor to intensify CO2 capture in a green and natural amino acid salt absorbent, potassium sarcosine (KSAR), from the flue gas containing a low CO2 concentration. Experimental results show that a good CO2 capture performance, presented in terms of CO2 capture efficiency and overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient (KGa), can be obtained at a low CO2 concentration of 2–6%. CO2 capture efficiency could reach higher than 80% at a relatively high gas–liquid ratio, with CO2 loading up to 0.17 mol of CO2/mol of KSAR. Comparison results with a packed column show that a RPB can obtain higher CO2 capture performance with a smaller device size. Moreover, a mathematical model was developed to describe the mass transfer process in a RPB. Calculated values of KGa agreed well with experimental data, with a deviation within ±25%, and the tendency of the CO2 concentration at the outlet of the RPB can be well-predicted under a high liquid flow rate and h...

Fluorescent carbon dots (FCDs) have received considerable attention because of the great potential for a wide range of applications, from bioimaging to optoelectronic devices. In this work, we reported the synthesis of nitrogen-doped FCDs with an average size of 2 nm in a subcritical water apparatus by using biomass waste (i.e., expired milk) as the precursor. The obtained FCDs were highly dispersed in aqueous solution because of the presence of O-containing functional groups on their surfaces. Under the excitation of ultraviolet and blue light, the FCDs exhibited excitation wavelength-dependent fluorescence in the emission range of 400–550 nm. The FCDs could be easily taken up by HeLa cells without additional surface functionalization, serving as fluorescent nanoprobes for bioimaging. The applications of FCDs as sensing agents for the detection of Fe3+, solid-state fluorescent patterning, and transparent hybrid films were also performed, demonstrating their potential for solid-state fluorescent sensing, security labeling, and wearable optoelectronics.

Rare-earth doped upconversion nanophosphors (UCNPs), which convert low energy near-infrared (NIR) photons into high energy photons such as ultraviolet, visible light and NIR light, have found various applications in optical bioimaging. In this review article, we summarize recent advances in the synthesis and applications of UCNPs achieved by us and other groups in the past few years. The approaches for the synthesis of UCNPs are presented, with an emphasis on the role of green chemistry in the advancement of this field, followed by a focused overview on their latest applications in optical bioimaging from subcellular structures through cells to living animals. Challenges and opportunities for the use of UCNPs in biomedical diagnosis and therapy are discussed.

A novel rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor is first adopted to intensify the reaction of isobutane alkylation with 2-butene catalyzed by H2SO4. This work investigated reaction performance, and reaction conditions were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the research octane number (RON) reached 98.85. Meanwhile, the yields of C8 and trimethylpentanes were 90.65% and 85.47%, respectively. The reaction efficiency was tremendously improved by using RPB due to its high efficiencies of mass transfer and micromixing. More importantly, the inner mole ratio of isobutane to 2-butene was dramatically decreased in RPB, which means the energy cost of material cycling in the alkylation process could be extremely reduced. Moreover, an empirical correlation model was proposed to predict the multiproduct yields and RON with a deviation within ±10%. In conclusion, RPB reactor is a highly promising industrial platform for the process of H2SO4 alkylation.

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-coated nanodiamonds (NDs@POSS) were prepared via the amide formation between amine-functionalized POSS and oxygen-containing groups of NDs. The POSS structures grafted on the surface of NDs enable the NDs@POSS nanocomposites to be well-dispersed in organic solvents and polymers for multifunctional applications. The surface coating of NDs with POSS also bring other incidental advantages such as enhanced thermal stability and superhydrophobic of the NDs. NDs@POSS nanocomposites-embedded hybrid films based on polycarbonate and polyvinyl butyral were fabricated by solution blending methods, showing tunable refractive indexes in the range of 1.49–1.61. Furthermore, the powders of NDs@POSS were superhydrophobic with contact angle of water/air of 154°. Liquid marbles formed by coating the water droplet with NDs@POSS were prepared, and the process intensification effects of the NDs@POSS-based miniature reactors for degradation of methylene and fabrication of Ag nanoparticles were also demonstrated, respectively.

Ni-CeO2 nanocatalyst was synthesized by the reaction of cerium nitrate and nickel nitrate microemulsion with ammonia gas in a rotor-stator reactor (RSR) in this work. The effect of the RSR rotation speed, ammonia gas flow rate and calcination temperature on the properties of the Ni-CeO2 nanocatalyst was investigated, and the catalytic activity of the as-prepared nanocatalyst in the reaction of CO2 reforming of methane was studied. Experimental results indicated that the catalytic activity of the Ni-CeO2 nanocatalyst prepared in the RSR increased with an increasing rotation speed and ammonia gas flow rate, but increased first and decreased then with the increase of the calcination temperature. Due to the excellent micromixing and mass transfer effects of the RSR, the Ni-CeO2 nanocatalyst prepared in the RSR had a smaller size, narrower size distribution and higher catalytic activity compared to that prepared in a stirred tank reactor (STR). Methane and CO2 conversions and CO selectivity in the reforming reaction with the Ni-CeO2 nanocatalyst prepared in the RSR were 15%–25% higher than those with the Ni-CeO2 nanocatalyst prepared in the STR.

Herein, we report a universal approach for fabricating mesoporous Pt nanowires with controlled mesostructures from a dual template using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane with silica nanospheres assembled in the channels. The mesoporous Pt nanowires with well-ordered mesopores are successfully prepared by chemical reduction deposition method. In addition, we show a variety of mesopore arrangements in the Pt nanowires (such as linear, zigzag, and meshy topologies) for different values of the D (the ratio of the AAO channel ( d 1 ) and silica sphere diameter ( d 2 )) factor ranging between 1 and 1+ 2 (≈2.414). The present approach is anticipated to work on the preparation of mesoporous nanowires of other metals (e.g., Au, Ni, and Pd) or alloys (e.g., Pt-Ni and Pt-Ru alloys) with various topologies that may be promising as potential candidates for the next generation nanodevices and other applications (e.g., fuel cells and catalysis).

In this work, we reported the preparation of 3D graphene/iron oxides aerogels (IO/GA) by in situ growth of iron oxide nanoparticles (IO) on the graphene oxides in high gravity rotating packed bed (RPB) followed by freeze drying treatments. The RPB was used to intensify the mass transfer and mixing during the adsorption and nucleation process of IO, guaranteeing highly homogeneous reaction conditions to the reactants. Thereafter, the IO nanoparticles obtained in the RPB route (IO/GA-RPB) exhibited an average size of 6 nm with uniform size distribution. By contrast, the IO nanoparticles prepared from traditional stirred tank reactor (IO/GA-STR) showed much larger particle size (33 nm). The 3D structured IO/GA-RPB nanocomposites were demonstrated to be efficient heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalysts for the degradation of methyl-blue. The kinetic studies of the catalytic reaction systems in the temperature range of 293 K–323 K and pH value of 1–7 were performed. The reaction rate constants and apparent activation energy were determined. The related catalytic mechanism of the photo-Fenton reaction was investigated. The excellent catalytic efficiency of the 3D-foam-structured heterogeneous IO/GA-RPB catalyst, along with the knowledge of the kinetics data, make them promising for in scale-up applications of photo-Fenton reaction.

With the development of carbon catalysts, graphene-based metal-free catalysts have drawn increasing attention in both scientific research and in industrial chemical production processes. In recent years, the catalytic activities of metal-free catalysts have significantly improved and they have become promising alternatives to traditional metal-based catalysts. The use of metal-free catalysts greatly improves the sustainability of chemical processes. In view of this, the recent progress in the preparation of graphene-based metal-free catalysts along with their applications in catalytic oxidation, reduction and coupling reactions are summarized in this review. The future trends and challenges for the design of graphenebased materials for industrial organic catalytic reactions with good stabilities and high catalytic performance are also discussed.

The controllable synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles is of fundamental and technological interest. In this article, highly transparent aqueous nanodispersion of ZrO2 with controllable crystalline phase, high concentration, and long-term stability was facilely prepared without any modification via the reaction of inexpensive inorganic zirconium salt and sodium hydroxide in water under an acid surrounding, combined with hydrothermal treatment. The as-prepared transparent nanodispersion had an average particle size of 7 nm, a high stability of 18 months, and a high solid content of 35 wt %. ZrO2 nanocrystals could be readily dispersed in many solvents with high polarity including ethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide, acetic acid, ethylene glycol, and N, N-dimethylformamide, forming stable transparent nanodispersions. Furthermore, highly transparent polyvinyl alcohol/ZrO2 nanocomposite films with high refractive index were successfully prepared with a simple solution mixing route. The refractive index could be tuned from 1.528 to 1.754 (@ 589 nm) by changing the mass fraction (0-80 wt %) of ZrO2 in transparent nanocomposite films.

The transformation of CO2 into fuels and chemicals by photocatalysis is a promising strategy to provide a long-term solution to mitigating global warming and energy-supply problems. Achievements in photocatalysis during the last decade have sparked increased interest in using sunlight to reduce CO2 . Traditional semiconductors used in photocatalysis (e.g. TiO2 ) are not suitable for use in natural sunlight and their performance is not sufficient even under UV irradiation. Some two-dimensional (2D) materials have recently been designed for the catalytic reduction of CO2 . These materials still require significant modification, which is a challenge when designing a photocatalytic process. An overarching aim of this Review is to summarize the literature on the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 by various 2D materials in the liquid phase, with special attention given to the development of novel 2D photocatalyst materials to provide a basis for improved materials.

A spinning disk reactor (SDR) is one of the important process intensification devices. Previous studies primarily focused on the dependence of the liquid flow in a SDR on the operational conditions and liquid properties. However, the effect of hydrophobicity of the disk’s surface on the liquid flow in a SDR is rarely reported. In this work, the disk with a hydrophobic surface was prepared, and the effects of surface hydrophobicity, liquid flow rate, rotational speed, and liquid viscosity on the liquid flow patterns as well as the average diameter of a liquid droplet (davg) were investigated by a visualization method. An empirical correlation of davg was suggested, and the deviations were within ±15% when the calculated values of davg were compared with the experimental data.

Hepatic carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in the world, with a high incidence. Emodin is an anthraquinone derived from Polygonum multiflorum Thunb, possessing anti-cancer activity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the anti-cancer effect of different dosages of emodin on HepG2 cells using a 1H NMR based metabolic approach complemented with qRT-PCR and flow cytometry to identify potential markers and discover the targets to explore the underlying mechanism. Emodin can dose-dependently inhibit the growth of HepG2 cells, perturb cell cycle progression, down-regulate the expression of genes and proteins related to glycolysis, and trigger intracellular ROS generation. Orthogonal signal correction partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OSC-PLS-DA) and correlation network analysis of the 1H NMR data showed significant changes in many endogenous metabolites after emodin exposure concerning oxidative stress and disturbances in amino acid and energy metabolism. These findings are helpful t...

To ensure steady operation of gas transmission lines and meet the utilization specification of downstream processes, gas dehydration is employed in offshore natural gas production, where urgent demands for space and size exist. In this work, a rotating packed bed (RPB) was used to intensify the triethylene glycol (TEG) dehydration process and the effects of operating variables on the overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient (Kya) and height of mass transfer unit (HTU) were investigated. The value of HTU in a RPB was measured to be 4.3–7.9 mm, which was at least an order of magnitude lower than that in conventional columns, indicating the significant reduction in the size of the dehydration apparatus. The predicted Kya matches well with the experimental data, and the mean relative error (MRE) is only 6.68%.

In this work, the gas-side mass transfer was investigated in a rotating packed bed (RPB) with structured nickel foam packings, with different surface properties, either a nonmodified nickel foam packing (NNP) or a hydrophobic surface-modified nickel foam packing (SNP). Effects on gas-side volumetric mass-transfer coefficient (kGae) of rotational speed, liquid flow rate, and gas flow rate were experimentally studied in the RPB with NNP and SNP. It can be found that the RPB loaded with SNP has a higher mass-transfer efficiency, compared with that loaded with NNP. Based on the experimental data, correlation of kGae in a RPB with structured nickel foam packing was proposed, which can hence provide a fast calculation of mass-transfer coefficients for the RPB design with structured nickel foam packing.