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BackgroundIn uranium mining and smelting, a significant amount of uranium-containing wastewater is generated, which can easily cause groundwater pollution. In polluted groundwater, uranium often combines with carbonates to form more diffusive and migratory uranyl carbonate complexes, making uranium removal more difficult.PurposeThis study aims to consider the performance of a three-dimensional electrochemical system of rGO/BB hydrogel particle electrodes on uranyl carbonate, and implement an efficient method for removing uranium-containing solutions.MethodsFirstly, graphene oxide (go) samples were prepared by modified Hummers method, then, the effects of electrolyte (sodium nitrate) concentration, applied voltage, electrode spacing, pH value, particle electrode dosage, and initial uranium concentration on the adsorption performance of uranyl carbonate ions by a three-dimensional electrochemical system were investigated, and the recycling performance of the system was studied. Finally, the adsorption mechanism of uranium was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).ResultsExperimental results show that under the conditions of pH value of 4~8, electrode spacing of 4 cm, voltage of 5 V, and rGO/BB hydrogel dosage of 90 mg, 200 mL of uranyl carbonate with a concentration of 1~1 000 mg∙L-1 exhibits good adsorption efficiency. Even when the uranyl carbonate concentration is 1 000 mg∙L-1, the adsorption rate can reach 87.56% in 14 h. After five cycles of adsorption and desorption, the adsorption rate remains above 87%, thus showing good recycling performance. The addition and use of rGO/BB hydrogel particle electrodes significantly improves the adsorption capacity of the electrochemical system for uranium, in which carboxyl and hydroxyl groups play a major role in uranium adsorption.ConclusionsThe results of this study show that the three-dimensional electrochemical system based on rGO/BB hydrogel particle electrodes has great application potential for removing uranyl carbonate ions.

Near-field 3-D imaging based on a scanning array is an important application of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) 3-D imaging technology for civil use. Compared with Single-Input-Single-Output (SISO) arrays, a Multi-Input-Multi-Output (MIMO) scanning system is a special imaging method characterized by high imaging quality, high array efficiency, loose requirements for antenna spacing and low cost. In this paper, two imaging regimes, namely, MIMO-planar scanning and MIMO cylindrical scanning, are described in terms of signal models, imaging algorithms, experimental systems, and imaging results. The results show the great application potential of the imaging technology in various scenarios.

Echo simulation is a precondition for developing radar imaging systems, algorithms, and subsequent applications. Electromagnetic scattering modeling of the target is key to echo simulation. At terahertz (THz) frequencies, targets are usually of ultra-large electrical size that makes applying classical electromagnetic calculation methods unpractical. In contrast, the short wavelength makes the surface roughness of targets a factor that cannot be ignored, and this makes the traditional echo simulation methods based on point scattering hypothesis in applicable. Modeling the scattering characteristics of targets and efficiently generating its radar echoes in THz bands has become a problem that must be solved. In this paper, a hierarchical semi-deterministic modeling method is proposed. A full-wave algorithm of rough surfaces is used to calculate the scattered field of facets. Then, the scattered fields of all facets are transformed into the target coordinate system and coherently summed. Finally, the radar echo containing phase information can be obtained. Using small-scale rough models, our method is compared with the standard high-frequency numerical method, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method. Imaging results of a full-scale cone-shape target is presented, and the scattering model and echo generation problem of the full-scale convex targets with rough surfaces in THz bands are preliminary solved; this lays the foundation for future research on imaging regimes and algorithms.

With years of development and accumulation, a considerable amount of research has focused on micro-motion, an important auxiliary feature in radar target detection and recognition. With the recent rise of terahertz, micro-motion feature extraction in the terahertz region has increasingly highlighted its advantages. Herein, we systematically surveyed the recent research on terahertz radar micro-motion feature extraction and discussed micro-motion feature analysis, micro-motion feature extraction, and micro-motion target imaging. And then we emphatically introduced the work of our research team, including the theoretical and experimental research on micro-motion feature analysis, micro-motion feature extraction and high-resolution/high-frame micro-motion target imaging. Furthermore, we analyzed the growing trend of micro-motion feature extraction in the terahertz region, and pointed out the new technology directions worth to be studied further and the technical challenges to be solved.

Terahertz coded-aperture imaging follows the basic principles of optical coded-aperture imaging and microwave coincidence imaging and is a novel imaging technique. Herein, the wave spatial distribution or illumination pattern is usually obtained by a sub-reflector antenna. Terahertz coded-aperture imaging has some significant advantages such as a high frame rate, high resolution, and ability of forward-looking and staring imaging. To achieve simultaneous functions of aperture coding and beam scanning, we designed a terahertz coded-aperture imaging system that utilizes digital sub-reflector antenna and quasi-optical techniques. Based on this system, we deduce and simulate the influencing factors on its resolution. Then, different algorithms are applied to the imaging model in order to verify the superiority of sparse reconstruction for coded-aperture imaging. Finally, we compare the imaging results of our imaging system and that of a traditional real aperture imaging structure for the same simulation parameters. The results prove that our imaging system performs better with high resolution, small volume, and low cost. This new imaging technique can be applied to areas such as battlefield reconnaissance, security checks, anti-terrorism, and terminal guidance.

Terahertz radar has unique advantages, including large bandwidth, high resolution, Doppler sensitivity, and anti-interference; it is a significant development in the field of target detection. Herein, the history of electronic and optical terahertz radar systems is introduced, and the current situation and latest progress pertaining to these systems are reviewed. The target characteristics of terahertz radar are summarized based on its mechanism, calculation, and measurement. Moreover, the current research status of terahertz SAR, ISAR, array, and aperture encoding imaging are discussed, and the applications of terahertz radar, such as early warning detection and security anti-terrorism systems, are briefly introduced. Finally, the development direction of terahertz radar technology is forecast.

To improve the imaging accuracy of Interferometry Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (InISAR), in this paper, we propose a novel method based on the joint processing of dual-frequency data. First, we divide the radar echo into two parts in the fast-time domain, then we apply the conventional InISAR method to each dataset. By comparing and analyzing the imaging results of the two parts, we can identify and remove redundant and bad pixels. Using the proposed joint processing method, we obtained the InISAR imaging results of a scatter model of an airplane and calculated the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively improve imaging accuracy with different Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR).

An optimal waveform design method that fully employs the knowledge of the target and the environment can further improve target detection performance, thus is of vital importance to research. In this paper, methods of radar waveform optimization for target detection are reviewed and summarized and provide the basis for the research.

Abstract In this paper, a general low-cost and substrate-independent chemical etching strategy is demonstrated for the synthesis of ZnO nanotubes array. During the chemical etching, the nanotubes array inherits many features from the preformed nanorods array, such as the diameter, size distribution, and alignment. The preferential etching along c axis and the surfactant protection to the lateral surfaces are considered responsible for the formation of ZnO nanotubes. This surfactant-assisted chemical etching strategy is highly expected to advance the research in the ZnO nanotube-based technology.