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Soybean meal-based adhesives (SMAs) commercially applied in wood-based composites require stable bonding properties. However, the structure and properties of SMAs are not as stable as synthetic res...

Acid recycling and arsenic recovery from strongly acidic wastewater are goals of the metallurgical industry to reduce carbon emissions. In this study, arsenic was recovered using a hydroxyl-enriched CeO

Supported-adsorbents growing on the substrate in situ are equipped with the advantages of high adsorption capacity, excellent regeneration performance, and adaptability to complex wastewater. However, the effects of substrate on the adsorption properties of supported-adsorbent are rarely considered, which will hinder its development and scale-up applications. In this study, the influences of different substrates (Ti, Mo, W, CC) on the Ag

© 2019 American Chemical Society. Zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted extensive attention in recent years, benefiting from their high safety, eco-friendliness, low cost, and high energy density. Although many cathode materials for ZIBs have been developed, the poor stability of zinc anodes caused by uneven deposition/stripping of zinc has inevitably limited the practical application of ZIBs. Herein, we report a highly stable 3D Zn anode prepared by electrodepositing Zn on a chemically etched porous copper skeleton. The inherent excellent electrical conductivity and open structure of the 3D porous copper skeleton ensure the uniform deposition/stripping of Zn. The 3D Zn anode exhibits reduced polarization, stable cycling performance, and almost 100% Coulombic efficiency as well as fast electrochemical kinetics during repeated Zn deposition/stripping processes for 350 h. Furthermore, full cells with a 3D Zn anode, ultrathin MnO2 nanosheet cathode, and Zn2+-containing aqueous electrolyte delivered a record-high capacity of 364 mAh g-1 at a current density of 0.1 A g-1 and good cycling stability with a retained capacity of 173 mAh g-1 after 300 charge/discharge cycles at 0.4 A g-1. This work provides a pathway for developing high-performance ZIBs.

Aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries have attracted much attention due to high safety, fast charge/discharge rate, low cost and direct utilization of zinc metal anodes. However, zinc anodes suffer from fundamental issues and elusiveness of critical information such as its nucleation and plating/stripping behaviors. Herein, we explore nucleation pattern of zinc on various metal substrates (Cu, Ag, Ti or Sn) and discover a substrate-dependent plating/stripping behavior. With use of binary diagrams (Ag|Cu, Ti|Cu and Cu|Sn), we found that zinc has a selective deposition on Cu substrates with no nucleation barriers. Theoretical calculation also indicates a relatively low bonding energy between Zn and Cu. Besides, it is also found that Sn inhibits growth of by-product of basic zinc sulfates. Thereafter, we report a layer-by-layer construction of zinc metal (Sn/Cu/Zn) anode for long-life zinc-ion batteries. Our work paves a way to understand plating/stripping behavior of metal anodes and to design layer-by-layer metal anodes for metal batteries.

Ambient aging is a common phenomenon that occurs under ambient conditions during the storage and use of polymeric substances, which may significantly affect the product performance. The aging of soybean meal (SM) during storage and its effects on the structures and properties of both SM and SM-based adhesive were investigated. It is confirmed that the SM powder underwent significant aging in the 4 months after grinding, resulted from the oxidation, decomposition, repolymerization and rearrangement of the SM chains. The carbonyl concentrations on the surface and in the bulk of SM after aged for 6 months increased 31.6% and 20.5, respectively. The physicochemical changes of ambient-aged SM powder affected the SM-based adhesive by increasing wettability but lowering crosslink density. Three-layer plywood, bonded with ambient-aged SM adhesives, exhibited decreased shear strength and water resistance, mainly resulting from the decreased crosslink density of the cured adhesive upon the aging time of the SM powder. The 6-month ambient aging of SM caused dry strength reduced by 52.6% and aged wet strength decreased by 53.8%. As a result, ambient aging and its negative effects should be carefully taken into account by manufacturers and customers to avoid the ineffectiveness and instability of SM and SM-based adhesive.

The development of an environmentally safe soybean-based adhesive with desired adhesion properties and technological applicabilities, but low cost, still remains a challenge. In this study, a facile and clean strategy was developed to improve the adhesion properties and technological applicabilities and to reduce the cost of a soybean meal flour (SMF)-based adhesive through organic-inorganic hybridization with kaolin powder. The effects of kaolin hybridization and kaolin content on the structure and properties of the SMF-based adhesive were revealed. The improved water resistance of the adhesion was attributed to the effective organic-inorganic hybridization of the SMF adhesive with a uniform distribution of kaolin, the hydrogen bonding interactions between the intercalated SMF with the partial kaolin interlayers, and the chemical reaction between the crosslinker and kaolin. In addition, kaolin significantly decreased the viscosity and alleviated the shear thinning characteristics of the SMF adhesive because the kaolin-kaolin intermolecular interactions were weaker than the interactions between the SMF chains. Hydrogen bonding interactions between the SMF chains and the kaolin particles were observed, and the water absorption and bonded water by kaolin were greatly reduced. The most preferable kaolin content in the SMF adhesive was 30%, which decreased the adhesive cost by 11.4%. Thus, this novel strategy could effectively expand the applications of SMF-based adhesives in environmentally friendly wood composites by replacing formaldehyde-based synthetic resins that release free formaldehyde.