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Derived from lignocellulosic biomass, sustainable hard carbon has emerged as a promising low-cost anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, the intricate formation process of the hard carbon microstructure remains unclear. This study investigates the structural differences and pyrolysis behaviors of pine lignin and its graded variants obtained through a lignin molecular sieving engineering strategy. Moreover, it delves into the relationship between the microstructure of lignin-derived hard carbon and its sodium-ion storage characteristics. Pristine pine lignin, along with ethanol-isolated lignin, acetone-isolated lignin, and residual lignin, serves as a precursor for synthesizing hard carbon materials. Quantitative analysis via31P NMR spectroscopy reveals the highest content of polar functional groups in ethanol-isolated lignin. Interestingly, hard carbon derived from ethanol-isolated lignin exhibits the smallest closed pore volume, leading to the lowest plateau capacity of sodium-ion storage. Conversely, hard carbon derived from acetone-dissolved lignin displays the highest plateau capacity owing to its largest closed pore volume formed in the carbonization process. The origin of open and closed pore structures of hard carbons is thoroughly analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microalgae-based materials have gained significant attention considering their rich resources, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. Herein, iron-rich microalgae (Chlorella pyrenoidosa, CP) were treated by hydrothermal reaction under alkaline conditions to remove the protoplast and obtain a hollow shell with an FexOy core inside. Then, the iron-rich microalgae-based aerogel (Fe-CP aerogel) was fabricated through a freeze-drying process. The as-prepared Fe-CP aerogel exhibited superior adsorption performance, and the maximum adsorption quantity for Cu2+ could reach 208.3 mg/g due to the synergistic adsorption of the hollow shell of CP cells and FexOy core. The Fe-CP aerogel also possessed super-hydrophilicity and displayed high separation efficiency (over 99%) when used for separating different oil/water emulsions. Moreover, the existence of FexOy endowed the Fe-CP aerogel with photo-Fenton activity, thus exhibiting excellent antifouling performance. The prepared Fe-CP aerogel could be considered an ideal adsorbent, with green, efficient, low-cost, and regenerative properties, and has the potential for the practical treatment of wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through regulating the reaction solvent and temperature, two Tb-based metal–organic frameworks, ((CH3)2NH2)2[Tb9(μ3-OH)8(μ2-OH)3(PTB)6]·(DMF)14·(H2O)19 (1) and ((CH3)2NH2)3{[Tb9(μ3-O)2(μ3-OH)12(H2O)6][Tb3(μ3-O)(HCO2)3 (PTB)6]}·(DMF)12·(H2O)7 (2) (H3PTB = pyridine-2,4,6-tribenzoic acid), have been synthesized. Structural analysis showed that the cluster node of 1 is a Tb9 cluster, while 2 contains two different nodes of a Tb3 cluster and a Tb9 cluster, which leads to their different pore structures and may potentially separate C2H2/CO2. Gas adsorption demonstrates that both MOFs can separate C2H2 and CO2, but 2 has a more optimized pore environment than 1 and can exhibit better selective separation of C2H2/CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine the effect of tourniquet use in arthroscopic ACL reconstruction in terms of: (1) intraoperative visualization with operative time and consumption of sterile saline, and (2) intra- and postoperative blood loss, postoperative pain, opioid consumption, swelling, serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) hemoglobin concentration (Hb), clinical outcomes, and graft healing.Methods: In this prospective randomized clinical trial, patients were assigned to tourniquet inflation (tourniquet-up) or tourniquet deflation (tourniquet-down) groups. Primary outcomes were intraoperative visualization with operative time and sterile saline consumption. Secondary outcomes were intra- and postoperative blood loss, postoperative pain, opioid consumption, swelling, serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) ,hemoglobin concentration (Hb), subjective and objective functional scores, and graft healing.Results: Intraoperative visualization was satisfactory in 100 of 100 cases in the tourniquet-up group and 64 of 100 cases in the tourniquet-down group (P < .05). The mean operative time was 58.4 ± 5.7 min in the tourniquet-up group and 72.5 ± 8.6 min in the tourniquet-down group (P < .05). The mean sterile saline consumption was 6.4 ± 2.5 L in the tourniquet-up group, and 8.7 ± 4.6 L in the tourniquet-down group (P < .05). The respective amounts of estimated intraoperative and postoperative blood loss were 95.3 ± 25.1 and 240.3 ± 44.5 mL in the tourniquet-up group and 230.2 ± 22.3 and 75.6 ± 15.3 mL in the tourniquet-down group (P < .05). Our results showed no significant difference in postoperative pain, opioid consumption, percentage of patients using opioids, swelling, mean serum CPK level, Hb level, subjective and objective functional scores, or graft healing (P > .05) between the two groups.Conclusions: Tourniquet utilization during ACL reconstruction significantly improves intraoperative visualization, shortens operative time, and decreases intraoperative sterile saline consumption and blood loss without serious adverse events or higher complication rates based on early postoperative outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article surveyed the fabrication of polystyrene (PS)/nano-CaCO3 foams with unimodal or bimodal cellular morphology from extrusion foaming using supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2). In order to discover the factors influenced the cell structure of PS/nano-CaCO3 foams, the effects of die temperature, die pressure, and nano-CaCO3 content on cell size, density, and morphology were investigated detailed. The results showed that the nano-CaCO3 content affected the cell size and morphology of PS/nano-CaCO3 foams significantly. When the die temperature and pressure was 150°C and 18 MPa, respectively, the foams with 5 wt% nano-CaCO3 exhibited the unimodal cellular morphology. As the nano-CaCO3 content increased to 20 wt%, a bimodal cell structure of the foams could be obtained. Moreover, it was found that the bimodal structure correlated more strongly with the pressure drop than the foaming temperature. The article revealed that unimodal or bimodal cellular morphology of PS/nano-CaCO3 foams could be achieved by changing the extrusion foaming parameters and nano-CaCO3 content. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:1864-1873, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a foaming system that was developed to generate shear stress as well as oscillatory mechanical vibration in an orthogonal direction. The microcellular processes of PMMA specimens blown with ScCO2have been conducted to find the optimal processing parameters under the static conditions as well as dynamic conditions. It is evident that the cells are drawn into elliptical geometries sheared circumferential by the rotor rotation in isolation. However, the orthogonal pulsatile axial vibration superimposed on the polymer melt synchronously drives the oriented and elongated cells to isotropy as well as a more homogenous cells distribution and planar structure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]