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Present review focuses on the most recent advances in a liquid‐phase nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of the coal‐derived products—coal tar pitches, asphaltenes, and humic and fulvic acids, covering exclusively the results in the liquid‐phase NMR studies leaving apart an overwhelming amount of publications dealing with the solid‐state NMR investigations in this field (which are comprehensively reviewed elsewhere). Owing to the complexity of the coal‐derived products, their 1H and 13C NMR spectra consist of a number of overlapping signals belonging to different hydrocarbon types. Comprehensive studies of coal tar pitches, asphaltenes, and humic and fulvic acids by means of NMR over the past several decades revealed characteristic functional groups of those fractions together with spectral regions in which they resonate. Quantitative 1H and 13C NMR spectra characterize aromatic and saturated carbons spread over many structural moieties, which provides a solid guideline into molecular structure of the coal‐derived products. Nowadays, quantitative 13C NMR measurements yield information about a variety of structural parameters such as functional group distribution, aromaticity, degree of condensation of aromatic rings, and medium chain lengths together with many other more specific parameters. The structural NMR studies of coal and coal‐derived products are developing on a backdrop of a marked progress in computational NMR. At present, we are witnessing an unprecedentedly fast development of theoretical and computational methods in the field of NMR spectroscopy. Discussed in the present review are the most recent advances in the NMR studies of the processing products of peat, lignite or brown coal, anthracite or hard coal, and graphite in solution, like coal tar pitches, asphaltenes, and humic and fulvic acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reaction kinetics model for analyzing the coal tar hydrodeoxygenation process from the perspectives of deoxygenation, hydrogenation, and cracking. The model is established based on the data from 24 sets of coal tar hydrotreatment experiments performed at different temperatures, pressures, and liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) in a fixed-bed reactor. In the established model, the reaction kinetics equations, mass transport equations, and property calculation equations are coupled and solved simultaneously. This model can predict the distribution of H2 partial pressure, H2O partial pressure, and the concentrations of oxygen-containing compounds, aromatics, and cycloalkanes along the reactor axis, under different conditions (temperature, pressure, and space velocity). The validation experiments show that the model's prediction error for hydrodeoxygenation reaction product concentration is no more than 1.1%, for hydrogenation reaction product concentration is within 6.5%, and for cracking reaction product concentration is within 8.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional separation of bicyclic and tricyclic aromatics from coal tar involves complicated multi-steps and consumes significantly more energy. Previous work accomplished the separation between anthracene-phenanthrene isomers using electrostatic interaction, but for the separation between bicyclic and tricyclic aromatics, electrostatic interactions are difficult to produce a recognizable effect. Naphthalene-based solvents, named as naphthaleneacetamide, naphthaleneethanol, naphthalenemethanol, naphthol, naphthylacetic acid, naphthylacetonitrile, and naphthylamine, respectively, were used for the efficient separation of naphthalene and phenanthrene via dispersion interaction. Results showed that the pre-studied structural parameters are the key factors in selecting an efficient solvent. And the substituents on the intermolecular interactions involved in the separation processes had an important impact, which were evaluated. Naphthalenemethanol exhibited a superior performance with a purity of 96.3 wt % naphthalene products because its electron-donating substituent enables the selective recognition of naphthalene via the dispersion interaction. The used naphthalene-based solvents can be regenerated and recycled via back extraction with a purity of over 90 wt % naphthalene products, suggesting solvent structural stability during the regeneration processes. Notably, the naphthalene-based solvents also demonstrated better separation performance for polycyclic aromatics from coal tar with a purity of over 80 wt % for bicyclic aromatics. This study would enhance the utilization of coal tar as a valuable source of polycyclic aromatics besides broadening the knowledge for applying non-bonded interaction in the separation of polycyclic aromatics technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of its high specific capacity and superior rate performance, porous carbon is regarded as a potential anode material for lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). However, porous carbon materials with wide pore diameter distributions suffer from low structural stability and low electrical conductivity during the application process. During this study, the calcium carbonate nanoparticle template method is used to prepare coal tar pitch‐derived porous carbon (CTP−X). The coal tar pitch‐derived porous carbon has a well‐developed macroporous‐mesoporous‐microporous hierarchical porous network structure, which provides abundant active sites for Li+ storage, significantly reduces polarization and charge transfer resistance, shortens the diffusion path and promotes the rapid transport of Li+. More specifically, the CTP‐2 anode shows high charge capacity (496.9 mAh g−1 at 50 mA g−1), excellent rate performance (413.6 mAh g−1 even at 500 mA g−1), and high cycling stability (capacity retention rate of about 100 % after 1,000 cycles at 2 A g−1). The clean and eco‐friendly large‐scale utilization of coal tar pitch will facilitate the development of high‐performance anodes in the field of LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite graphene being considered an ideal supercapacitor electrode material, its use in commercial devices is limited because few methods exist to produce high‐quality graphene at a large scale and low cost. A simple method is reported to synthesize 3D graphene by graphenization of coal tar pitch with a K2CO3 catalyst. This produces 3D graphenes with high specific surface areas up to 2113 m2 g−1 and exceptional crystallinity (Raman ID/IG as low as ≈0.15). The material has an outstanding specific capacitance of 182.6 F g−1 at a current density of 1.0 A g−1. This occurs at a mass loading of 30 mg cm−2 which is 3 times higher than commercial requirements, yielding an ultra‐high areal capacitance of 5.48 F cm−2. The K2CO3 is recycled and reused over 10 cycles with material quality and electrocapacitive performance of 3D graphene retained and verified after each cycle. The synthesis method and resulting electrocapacitive performance properties create new opportunities for using 3D graphene more broadly in practical supercapacitor devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal tar pitch (CTP) has become an ideal choice in the preparation of anode precursors for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) because of its abundant carbon content, competitive pricing and adjustable structure properties. In this paper, sulfurized pitch-based carbon (SPC-800) was obtained by allowing CTP to react with sulfur at 350 °C and subsequently achieve carbonization at 800 °C. SPC-800 was more disordered and had a larger layer spacing than carbonized CTP (PC-800). Upon utilization as an anode for LIBs, SPC-800 possessed a higher reversible specific capacity (478.1 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1), while utilization in SIBs displayed a capacity of 220.9 mAh g−1 at 20 mA g−1. This work is an important guide to the design of high-performance anodes suitable for use with both LIBs and SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction:  Goeckerman therapy, which combines ultraviolet B (UVB) light with crude coal tar (CCT), remains highly effective for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. While it is rarely still used in the USA as effective biotherapeutics have become more readily available, it offers an alternative therapy in developing countries with limited access to newer medications. Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, Kenya, in collaboration with UCSF, developed a modified Goeckerman regimen suitable for local healthcare needs, condensing the treatment into an intensive two-week program. Case Report:  A 55-year-old female with erythrodermic psoriasis traveled 350 kilometers to MTRH. After the diagnosis was confirmed, she underwent a nine-day inpatient treatment with narrow-band UVB phototherapy and topical medications under occlusion as a modified Goeckerman regimen. Response to Treatment:  Significant improvement was observed within three days, with full recovery in ten days. Follow-up one month later showed no active lesions, and her psoriasis remained controlled for four months with topical treatments. Conclusion:  The modified Goeckerman regimen at MTRH, in collaboration with UCSF, effectively treated severe psoriasis in a challenging healthcare context. This case highlights the potential for adapting established treatments to improve patient outcomes in developing countries with limited access to systemic therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MnO2@PCs (porous carbons) exhibiting high energy and power density are utilized as supercapacitor electrodes and prepared by impregnating porous carbons (PCs) derived from coal tar pitch (CTP) with KMnO4 as the manganese source. This study systematically investigates the impact of MnO2 loading on the microstructure and electrochemical performance in sample. It is found that the specific surface areas (SSA) of all MnO2@PCs significantly reduced compared to that of the PCs 2789 m2 g−1. The suggested mechanism might be a combination of the energy storage mechanism of dual layer capacitors with pseudo‐capacitance due to redox reactions of MnO2. Notably, MnO2@PCs‐0.0075 exhibits a maximum SSA of 1454.62 m2 g−1. Its specific capacitance reached 561 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, while the capacitance of the PCs increased by 81.5% to 309 F g−1. Remarkably, the Coulombic efficiency remained at 100%. The power density and energy density are determined in a two‐electrode test system to be 0.5 kW kg−1 and 58.01 Wh kg−1, respectively, at 0.5 A g−1. Concluding from these results and related literature, the MnO2 content significantly influences the electrochemical performance, suggesting that MnO2@PCs‐0.0075 could be a promising supercapacitor (SC) electrode material, provided its capacitance retention is enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) plays an important role in malignant transformation of cells. This study aimed to explore the role of Lnc-ENST00000535078 in the malignant transformation of immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) induced by coal tar pitch extract (CTPE). The malignant transformation model of BEAS-2B cells exposed to CTPE. Cell proliferation was examined by Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. Colony formation assay was used to assess the colony of cells. Cell migration and invasion were detected by Transwell analysis. Cell cycle progression and apoptotic status were assessed by flow cytometry. Differentially expressed genes were screened by RNA sequencing. The results showed that Lnc-ENST00000535078 expression was highest in malignantly transformed BEAS-2B cells passaged to the 30th generation. Knockdown of Lnc-ENST00000535078 inhibited the migration, invasion and anti-apoptotic abilities of malignantly transformed BEAS-2B cells. Transcriptome analysis found 608 differential genes. CCND1 and FOS genes were screened out because of their levels were positive correlation with the expression of Lnc-ENST00000535078, which were consistent with the RNA sequencing results. In conclusion, Low expression of Lnc-ENST00000535078 inhibits the migration and invasion of malignant transformed BEAS-2B cells and promotes apoptosis in these cells. Lnc-ENST00000556926 might affect the malignant transformation of cells through the regulation of CCND1 and FOS. This study may provide a potential target for intervention in CTPE-induced lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effect of experimental factors and conditions on the removal of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds (NCHCs) by performing equilibrium extraction using formamide or formamide aqueous solution as a solvent to remove NCHCs contained in crude methylnaphthalene oil (CMNO). The CMNO used as a raw material in this study contained three types of NCHCs (quinoline, isoquinoline, and indole) classified as group A, and six kinds of non-NCHCs (naphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, biphenyl, dibenzofuran, and fluorene) classified as group B. Increasing the volume fraction of water to the solvent before the extraction run increased the raffinate residual rate but conversely decreased the removal rate of group A. The increase in the volume fraction of solvent to feed before the extraction run and operating temperature decreased the residual rate of raffinate but conversely increased the removal rate of group A. Over the entire range of extraction conditions performed in this study, the removal rate of group A ranged from 10.8% to 70.7%. Considering that these experimental results were obtained using only a single stage of batch equilibrium extraction, the formamide extraction method applied in this study showed excellent performance in terms of the residual rate of raffinate and the removal rate of group A. Therefore, it was expected to be an alternative to the reaction extraction method using acids and bases applied so far to separate NCHCs in the distillation residue of coal tar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since viloxazine is used as an antidepressant and approximately 15% of it is excreted from the body unchanged, detecting viloxazine in both bodily fluids and environmental samples is important. There are a limited number of studies in the literature on the detection of viloxazine by electrochemical methods. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing utilization of natural carbonaceous materials as electrodes due to their low cost, easy accessibility, and high electrical conductivity. This study explores the applicability of carbonaceous electrodes, derived from the pyrolysis of pine (Pinus sylvestris) pollen powder, coal tar, and their mixture, for the determination of viloxazine. The obtained carbonaceous material was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical methods. The detection limit of the developed method was 0.02 µM with a detection range of 0.1–20 µM. The developed method was selective against various interferents, including dopamine, ascorbic acid, uric acid, and nitrite. Finally, the developed method was successfully applied to tap water and human serum samples for the detection of viloxazine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The task of the study was to test new demulsifying compositions for high pyrolysis coal tars originally intended for separating emulsions based on heavy petroleum oils. Coal tars with a specific gravity of 1.243–1.261 were investigated and light coal tar with a specific gravity of 1.185 was used for comparison. Demulsifying compositions for heavy media were prepared on the basis of Dissolvan (Clariant) reagents, "PM" demulsifier was used as a main indicative reagent for breaking of light coal tar emulsions. To determine the efficiency of dewatering a "bottle test" was applied, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of the distillate residues was performed to determine the functional group of potential stabilizers. The composition of the mineralized and dispersed solid stabilizers was determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry. The results showed that for the heavy coal tar emulsions, some compositions based on oxalkylated resin showed high activity and separated up to 17–19% of water, in contrast to the indicative demulsifier 0–3%. An attempt has been made to investigate the mineral composition of emulsion stabilizers transferred into the water part and remaining in the coal tar (sludge). The results of XRF spectrometry suggested that Zn-pyridine compounds are the most likely hydrophile stabilizers of heavy coal tar emulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capacitive properties of supercapacitors highly rely on the reasonable design of high‐performance electrode materials. Herein, a synergetic strategy of pre‐oxidation and pre‐carbonization is proposed to prepare coal tar pitch (CTP) based porous carbon. The formation mechanism of porous carbon is revealed. Pre‐oxidation increases the heteroatom content and promotes the decomposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into small molecules, which is more conducive to improving the subsequent activation and enhancing the microporous specific surface area. Also, the autoclave pre‐carbonization promotes the polymerization of the precursors and increases the carbon yield. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of pre‐oxidation and pre‐carbonation, the obtained carbon exhibits a superior specific capacitance of 365 F g−1. Meanwhile, ZnCl2 is used as a hydrogen‐bonding acceptor to synthesize ZnCl2‐EG/PVA deep eutectic solvent (DES) gel, and it is applicable to acidic, neutral, and alkaline electrolytes. The capacitor assembled with the prepared porous carbon and DES gel electrolyte achieves a high energy density of 41.3 Wh kg−1 and works well in unconventional temperatures (−40–75 °C). This work confirms the effect of pre‐oxidation and pre‐carbonization on the fabrication of CTP‐based carbon material and expects to prepare porous carbon using other pre‐oxidation/carbonization agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More as a decade before aniline and phenol were isolated from coal tar by Runge in 1834 and used for the fabrication of a number of important dyes, such as Aniline Black, Mauveine, and Fuchsine, the German naturalist von Reichenberg observed the formation of a red dye from beech tar, which he called pittakal. In this report, both the history of discovery and the laborious structure elucidation of this first tar dye were discussed and the subsequent efforts to obtain further usable dyes from phenol outlined. A decisive contribution for that came from Kolbe and Schmitt, who better known as the inventors of the first technical synthesis of salicylic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the therapeutic potential of an herbal-based topical cream for treating psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin condition that detrimentally affects patients' quality of life. The 8-week longitudinal cohort study evaluated the efficacy of a novel herbal topical cream, formulated with coconut oil, sesame oil, clove oil, mangosteen peel, turmeric rhizome, licorice root, and other plant extracts in 49 patients with psoriasis. Disease severity was quantified using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) at baseline, and at the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th weeks. Additional assessments, including the Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI) and Dermatology Life Quality Index 0DLQI) were performed before and after the treatment period. PASI scores were analyzed using the Friedman test for repeated measures and pairwise Wilcoxon signed-rank test at a significance level of 0.05. Results demonstrated significant psoriasis remission, with noticeable efficacy observed by week 4 and sustained improvements throughout the 8-week trial (p<0.05). Likewise, participants reported improved wellbeing, as indicated by reduced PDI and DLQI scores across all aspects. These findings suggest that the formulated herbal cream provides a novel topical therapeutic option for psoriasis, whether as an alternative or adjuvant treatment, enhancing both disease severity and patient quality of life. Therefore, this herbal topical cream represents a viable and safe option for psoriasis management, potentially providing an effective alternative or adjunct to conventional therapies such as steroid creams and coal tar ointments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Coal Geology & Exploration is the property of Xian Research Institute of China Coal Research Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Coal Geology & Exploration is the property of Xian Research Institute of China Coal Research Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Smouldering has recently been developed as a cost effective and energy efficient technology for challenging wastes. These systems are often used to eliminate environmental liabilities, and only minimal work has explored their use for generating useful by-products. This study addressed this research gap and demonstrated that applied smouldering systems can be tuned to favour hydrogen production. Calcium oxide and steam were added to the smouldering system, which completely treated woody biomass and coal tar, while producing hydrogen. The maximum hydrogen concentration achieved in the smouldering system was 33.7%, resulting in a net energy positive syngas. Results suggest that both heterogenous gasification and the water gas shift were key mechanisms behind hydrogen formation. These results indicate that smouldering systems can be used as a new method to sustainably produce hydrogen-rich syngas from challenging wastes. [Display omitted] • Experimental study produced up to 34% H 2 from smouldering combustion. • Experiments used different fuels, porous media, steam, and CaO amendments. • New methodology to drive net-energy-positive H 2 -rich syngas from smouldering. • Optimum steam/carbon ratio was found to be between 2 and 3 to maximize H 2 yield. • Heterogenous gasification and the water gas shift were key H 2 production mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low‐voltage charging capacity and rate performance are two crucial but mutually restricted properties of K‐ion batteries. Herein, a sulfonamide and amide linkages‐triggered N doping high‐temperature removal strategy is proposed to obtain porous carbon with rich carbon vacancies, high sp2 hybridized C content (65.3%), and large interlayer spacing using coal tar pitch as carbon precursor. Carbon vacancies and sp2 hybridized C are proved to be not only active sites for low‐voltage potassium storage but also conducive to the fast transfer of ions and electrons, endowing reversible and fast potassium storage at low voltage. Moreover, abundant carbon vacancies and large carbon interlayer spacing alleviate volume variation, improving the cycling stability for 8500 cycles (about 3700 h). This work sheds new light on the design of low‐voltage, durable, and fast potassium storage carbon anodes, and promotes the development of practical carbon anodes for high energy density K‐ion batteries in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses a preliminary study on the emission control of pollutants from an industrial furnace. The stack sampling technique was implemented in this study, and the quantity of pollutants released from the furnace smoke was monitored. The transverse points required to collect the data were selected based on the upstream and downstream disturbances. At first, the investigation was made with the furnace oil. A 15.28% and 5.1% of CO2 and O2 were observed in the flue gas from of regular furnace oil. Hence, by considering the emission level observed, the analysis was repeated with the low sulphur-low stack and the coal tar fuel. The emission of SO2 and N2 was reduced with coal-tar fuel compared with the regular furnace fuel. Thus, the proposed operational adjustment attenuates the pollutant emission, which also helps to reduce the unfavorable impact on the environment. In the future, the authors intend to include a design change in the furnace burner, which would help to increase fuel efficiency and reduce pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, a toxic tar-like material (TLM) was discovered in the riverbed of a popular Congaree River boat launch site near downtown Columbia, South Carolina. In this article, we examine the novel infrastructural form that emerged to deal with this waste, a temporary cofferdam that was built in 2022 as an integral element in the Congaree River Sediment Cleanup project. In doing so, we consider what we call the short and long histories of the cofferdam's construction. These histories provide a way of glimpsing into how post-industrial landscapes and infrastructures are shaped by an inexhaustible list of potentially impactful factors both within and beyond contaminated spaces. We argue that the short history of the cofferdam's size, shape, composition, and age have been shaped by its long history of factors that include potential unexploded Civil War ordnance, the presence of threatened and endangered species, and state and non-state actor relationships. This case study invites us to think more broadly about the presence of coal tar as an index, object, and constituent of different environment infrastructural forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prebaked carbon anode is the primary consumable material in the aluminum reduction cell, and its quality directly affects the energy consumption of aluminum production. An impregnation-baking process of the anode was proposed to reduce the anode porosity, improve the quality of the anodes, and reduce additional carbon consumption. The theoretical analysis and industrial testing on the impregnation-baking process were carried out. Firstly, the coal tar pitch was immersed into the anode carbon block through the impregnation process. An anode impregnation model was developed and used for theoretical calculations to analyze the effects of pressure and temperature on the impregnation process. The accuracy of the model was verified experimentally. Secondly, the impregnated anodes were placed in an electromagnetic induction heating furnace for baking to carbonize the immersed pitch. The thermogravimetric and pyrolysis kinetics methods were used to analyze the baking process of the impregnated anodes. Finally, the impregnated-baked anodes were compared with common anodes regarding their impact on the technical and economic indicators of the aluminum electrolysis process in industrial tests. The results showed that the physicochemical properties of the impregnated-baked anodes were significantly improved, with the bulk density increase of 0.1 g/cm3, air permeability reduction of 0.54 nPm, compressive strength enhancement of 9.43 MPa, and electrical resistivity decrease of 10 uΩ·m. The anode service life was increased from 31 to 35 days, the current efficiency was increased by 0.44 %, and the operating voltage was reduced by 17 mV, which improved economic benefit significantly. • An impregnation-baking process of the anode for aluminum electrolysis was proposed. • An anode impregnation model was developed. • Baking process was optimized by thermogravimetric and pyrolysis kinetics analysis. • A significant improvement in the economic benefits of using impregnated-baked anode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the adsorption and reusability of polypropylene (PP) fiber membranes, the organically modified saponite (Sap@P(St‐co‐MMA)) was prepared by solution polymerization. Furthermore, PP‐based nanocomposite fiber membranes with strong oil adsorption, thermal stability, and reusability were prepared via melt‐blown technology. The increased specific surface area of PP‐based nanocomposite fiber membranes (PP‐1.5%) provided more active sites for the oil adsorption. Simultaneous rheology and Fourier transform infrared measurements tests showed that Sap@P(St‐co‐MMA) enhanced the crystallinity of PP matrix, promoted the regular arrangement of molecules, and improved the intermolecular interaction force, which was beneficial for the oil adsorption. The adsorption of PP‐1.5% (1.5 wt% addition of Sap@P(St‐co‐MMA)) fiber membrane for xylene and kerosene reached a maximum of 15.84 and 22.84 g g−1, respectively. In the treatment of coal tar wastewater, the removal rate of oil can reach 62.9%, and the removal rate can still reach 51.17% after five cycles of experiments. In summary, PP‐1.5% fiber membrane does not produce secondary pollution to the environment, and is a kind of oil removal material with good application prospect. Highlights: PP‐based nanocomposites fiber membrane with strong oil adsorption was prepared.Organically modified saponite had strong heterogenous nucleation for PP matrix.Sap@P(St‐co‐MMA) increased the specific surface area of PP‐based fiber membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the synergistic effect during the co-hydrogenation process of coal tar and biomass oil through experiments. By conducting hydrogenation experiments on model compounds of coal tar (naphthalene, tetrahydronaphthalene, decalin, and 9,10-phenanthrene) and waste soybean oil, it was found that partially saturated and fully saturated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons release active hydrogen atoms due to dehydrogenation at high temperatures. These active hydrogen atoms can promote the hydrogenation conversion of fatty acids derived from triglycerides in waste soybean oil during the co-hydrogenation process with coal tar. Through co-hydrogenation experiments of coal tar and waste soybean oil, it was discovered that when coal tar was first hydrogenated under conditions of temperature of 360 °C, pressure of 8 MPa, and LHSV (liquid hourly space velocity) of 0.4 h−1, and then mixed with waste soybean oil (at a concentration of 30 g/100 mL) for hydrogenation under the conditions of temperature of 360 °C, pressure of 8 MPa, and LHSV of 0.4 h−1, the deoxygenation conversion rate of fatty acids in the soybean oil is 94.5%. The hydrogenation deoxygenation conversion rate of the product in this process was 87.5% higher than that of individual fatty acids. This study indicates that the co-hydrogenation of hydrogenated coal tar and bio-oil promotes the deoxygenation conversion of bio-oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents life and work of Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, an unusual chemist, ignored for a long time. There are discussed his researches in natural products and coal tar, the discovery of caffeine and priority claims on the discovery of quinine. Important industrial activities at the Oranienburg factory are described, including the ‘German guano’. Important issues are the discussion of alternative chemical theories by the anti-atomist Runge, as well as his occupation with the relation Chemistry-Art, expressed in his Musterbilder, also a forerunner of chromatography.

A comprehensive understanding of the composition and physicochemical properties of coal-based liquids, such as coal tar or coal direct liquefaction oil, is conducive to the rapid development of multi-purpose, high-performance and high-value-added products and the efficient use of oil properties. A full understanding of the composition of ideal components in the coal-based liquid mixtures and their physical and chemical properties is also the key to designing liquid fuels with some special properties. The authors use the RDKit toolkit in Python, a method based on the Simplified Molecular Input Specification for Molecules (SMILES) language, to construct the molecular descriptors suitable for substances in the coal-based liquids. The constructed molecular descriptors are able to extract the required structural fragments for the molecules in the coal-based liquids, which are mainly composed of the elements C, H, O, N, and S and contain a large number of substances with polycyclic aromatic structures, so the constructed structural fragment descriptors are mainly considered from the perspective of the elemental and ring numbers of the polycyclic aromatic compounds. At the same time, the number of atoms and the molecular weight descriptors are added to the structural fragment descriptors, which the number of molecular descriptors is 115 in total. Compared with the traditional manual information extraction methods, the constructed molecular descriptors can quickly extract the information contained in a large number of molecules in the coal-based liquids. The structural fragments, molecular weights and atomic numbers of the coal-based liquid molecules obtained by the constructed molecular descriptors are used as input features in Machine Learning (ML) to establish a method of predicting the quantitative molecular structure-property relationship (ML-QSPR) of the coal-based liquids, which achieves the fast and accurate prediction of four properties, namely, the lower heating value (LHV), the density of the liquid (ρ), the flash point (FP) and the cetane number (CN). The model validation analysis shows that the model R2 of LHV, ρ, and FP are 0.996, 0.988, and 0.987, respectively. The CN prediction is predicted by adding mixtures, and the R2=0.959. The ML-QSPR method has been improved in terms of prediction accuracy compared to the methods in the literatures and has a significant advantage over the traditional experimental methods in terms of the speed of obtaining properties. Using the information in the property database obtained from the ML-QSPR predictions, the evolution of four combustion performance parameters of different groups of substances is investigated when the number of carbon atoms is increased, and all four properties are significantly affected by the carbon number (n). Comparison of the individual properties of substances of different families shows that the difference in the LHV of substances of different families is small, and the size of LHV is mainly determined by n. For ρ, FP and CN, the difference in the properties of substances of different families is obvious. The trained model can be used to predict new molecules for new fuel design. The ML-QSPR method is expected to be used as a transfer learning model for the property analysis of different coal-based liquids when being applied in other application scenarios.

A method for producing a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) from coal tar is proposed. The carrier, a narrow fraction (T 10%/ T 90% = 199/224 °C) with a naphthenic content of ≈99.9 wt%, was obtained through deep hydrogenation of the corresponding fraction of coal tar recovered by vacuum distillation. As a result of hydrogenation, deep purification from sulfur compounds (<5 ppm) was achieved. The composition of the produced carrier was characterized in detail by GCxGC/MS to identify the main components. Further data processing allowed for the calculation of the theoretic hydrogen capacity (6.3 wt %) and hydrogen mass fraction (13.16 wt %). Dehydrogenation in a batch reactor produced a dehydrogenated form of the carrier with a dehydrogenation degree of about ≈82–85%. The main physical properties (density, boiling range, viscosity, and flash/freezing/pour points) were described. The resulting carrier was dehydrogenated in a flow reactor using a Pt/C catalyst, demonstrating stable operation for 108 h. Moreover, the LOHC derived from coal tar exhibited stability in its properties across three consecutive hydrogenation-dehydrogenation cycles conducted over a Pt/C catalyst at 360–370 °C. • A naphthene-rich fraction (CT-H 1) was obtained via hydrogenation of a coal tar cut and studied as a potential LOHC. • The hydrocarbon composition of CT-H 1 was studied in detail by GCxGC/MS. • The main properties of the H 2 -rich and H 2 -lean forms of the LOHC prototype were described. • Stable operation of a dehydrogenation flow reactor (Pt/C) was observed for 108 h. • The CT-H 1 LOHC prototype underwent 3 cycles of (de)hydrogenation with no significant loss of hydrogen yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesocarbon microbeads (MCMBs) were a kind of functional artificial carbon materials, which was widely used in varied areas with its excellent properties. MCMB was generally produced by thermal‐polymerization of high‐temperature coal tar pitch under oxygen‐free atmosphere. Generally, the content of primary quinoline insoluble (PQI) play a key role on the quality of the derived MCMB. In order to confirm the relationship between the content of PQI and the properties of MCMB, 15 kinds of high‐temperature coal tar pitch with varied content of PQI were used as the raw materials to produce MCMB. The particle size distribution, optical micro‐structure, surface morphology, and carbon micro‐crystalline of calcinated MCMB were determined in this work. The results shown that the content of PQI from 7% to 13% was a suitable content to generate high quality MCMB. What is more, the derived MCMB has a high yield of 33.09% with good sphericity, the uniformity index of particle size was 1.02, and the graphite carbon content of calcinated MCMB (calcinated temperature of 1100°C) was 79.92%. Thus, the high‐temperature coal tar pitch with the PQI content of 7%–13% was the preferably raw materials to produce high‐quality MCMB by thermal‐polymerization method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parts of China are abundant in tar-rich coal (pyrolysis yield of coal tar is more than 7%), if it can be converted into high-quality tar, it is a reliable means to deal with energy problems. This paper takes tar-rich coal in Shenmu area and uses modified granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) for catalytic pyrolysis, and the effects of different metal oxides and different amounts of modified GGBS on tar yield are explored. The fractions of pyrolysis tar are analyzed by gas chromatography, and the pyrolysis cokes (PC) are analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The thermodynamics of modified GGBS with pyrolysis gas and pyrolysis tar of the reaction process is calculated by HSC Chemistry software. The results show that the yield of coal tar increased after catalytic pyrolysis, and the fraction of coal tar is directional transformation to phenolic oil. The modification of GGBS with CaO, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 has a good effect on increasing tar production and improving oil quality. Especially for CaO@GGBS, it can increase the tar yield of tar-rich coal to 15.12% with 97.72% phenol oil, far exceeding the current limit of coal pyrolysis tar yield of around 5%. The crystal structure of pyrolysis coke indicates that different reactions occurred. The possible reaction and equilibrium concentration of the reaction of pyrolysis tar under catalytic pyrolysis are revealed by HSC Chemistry. This provides a foundation for the high-value utilization of tar-rich coal and the comprehensive utilization of GGBS in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synopsis: Nanostructure combined with porous carbon nanosheets (PCNs/GCNs-5) and amorphous element doped porous carbon nanosheets (PCNs/N) were prepared by changing the nitrogen source in the thermal polymerization process. Compared with the latter, PCNs/GCNs-5 has high active nitrogen ratio and mesopore ratio facilitating the pseudo-capacitance reaction and ion transport to ensure the better power and energy density, and the smaller erosion of the carbon skeleton by the nanostructure insures the cyclic stability of PCNs/GCNs-5. [Display omitted] • Nanostructure combined with porous carbon nanosheets (PCNs) were prepared by simple thermal polymerization and carbonization. • The microstructure and energy storage mechanism of amorphous N doped PCNs and nanostructure N combined with PCNs were compared. • The relationship between g-C 3 N 4 self-decomposition and pore structure, defects and surface morphology of carbon materials was investigated. • Through theoretical calculation, the different rules of N types variation in different structures are verified. Just how heteroatomic functionalization enhances electrochemical capacity of carbon materials is a recent and widely studied field in scientific research. However, there is no consensus on whether combining with heteroatom-bearing nanostructures directly or doping amorphous elements is more advantageous. Herein, two kinds of porous carbon nanosheets were prepared from coal tar pitch through anchoring graphitic carbon nitride (PCNs/GCNs-5) or doping amorphous nitrogen element (PCNs/N). The structural characteristics and electrochemical properties of the two PCNs were revealed and compared carefully. It can be found that the amorphous nitrogen of PCNs/N will have a grievous impact on its carbon skeleton network, resulting in reduced stability in charge and discharge process, while the structural collapse of carbon network could be avoided in PCNs/GCNs-5 by the heteroatoms in the form of nanostructure. Particularly, PCNs/GCNs-5 exhibits extremely high specific capacity of 388 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, and splendid the capacitance retention rate of 98% after 10,000 cycles of charge and discharge, which are overmatch than the amorphous nitrogen doped carbon materials reported recently and PCNs/N. The combining strategy with nanostructure will inspire the design of carbon materials towards high-performance supercapacitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abundant interlayer sulfur and hierarchical pores are formed in the coal tar pitch derived carbon by adjusting cross-linked macromolecules, facilitating rapid and stable sodium storage. [Display omitted] Sulfur (S) is an efficient dopant to enhance the sodium storage of carbon, yet the conventional in-situ/post treatments cause unstable S configuration or lower S content, and hence unsatisfied electrochemical performance. Herein, we investigate sulfurization at various cross-link state of coal tar pitch (CTP) (pristine, coke, and carbonized states), and the microstructure of the products (SCTP). Experimental and calculational results reveal that introducing S in the coke state of CTP is essential for achieving abundant and stable C-S x -C bonds between carbon layers. Moreover, this innovative strategy not only achieves a high S content, but also avoids the liquid carbonization, resulting in a hierarchically porous structure with a small particle size. As a result, the SCTP delivers a sodium storage capacity of 318 mA h g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 after 200th cycle, and the capacity maintains 207 mA h g−1 with capacity retention of 99 % after 1000th cycle at 2.0 A g−1, in half-cells. Moreover, the sample shows a considerable discharge capacity of 328 mA h g-1 anode at 0.05 A g−1 in full-cells. Consequently, this approach offers a novel pathway for large-scale production of thermoplastic-derived carbons in battery industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]