Growth, Structure, and Optical Properties of a Nonlinear Optical Niobium Borate Crystal CsNbOB2O5 with Distorted NbO5 Square Pyramids.

In this paper, a revised structure determination of an already known compound CsNbOB2O5 with new structural insights was performed and the detailed characterization of its optical properties was reported for the first time. CsNbOB2O5 was synthesized by spontaneous crystallization. It crystallizes in the Pmn21 space group, and the unit lattice parameters are a = 7.5220(7) Å, b = 3.9881(4) Å, c = 9.7167(9) Å, and Z = 2. In the structure of CsNbOB2O5, a [NbO5] square pyramid and [B2O5] unit are linked to constitute an infinitely extended two-dimensional ∞2[NbOB2O5] layer via sharing oxygen atoms. Between these two-dimensional layers, there are no covalent bonds perpendicular to their planes based on Mulliken bond order analysis. CsNbOB2O5 has a wide band gap (4.52 eV) and a large second-harmonic-generation (SHG) response (1.2 × KDP) and demonstrates type-I phase-matchable behavior. First-principles simulations reveal that the birefringence is approximately 0.10. Moreover, SHG-weighted charge density analysis shows that the primary source of the nonlinearity of the title compound is the distorted NbO5 square pyramids.

Cd7SiAs6, a Nonchalcopyrite Arsenide with a Strong Nonlinear-Optical Response.

A new arsenide, Cd7SiAs6, has been successfully synthesized and characterized. It is the first arsenide that adopts a nonchalcopyrite structure and possesses a strong nonlinear-optical (NLO) response. In the structure, the CdAs3 trigonal planar unit, a kind of π-conjugated planar NLO-active group, was identified for the first time. Furthermore, theoretical calculations reveal that the CdAs3 planar unit contributes more to the NLO effect than the CdAs4 tetrahedron does. The result may provide valuable insights for the future exploration of IR NLO materials, especially for application above 10 µm.

Synthesis and characterization of a new rare earth borate nonlinear optical crystal K7PbLu2B15O30.

A new complex rare earth borate K7PbLu2B15O30 was prepared by the spontaneous crystallization method. K7PbLu2B15O30 is crystallized in the chiral trigonal space group R32 with cell parameters a = b = 13.0893(3) Å, c = 15.2379(6) Å, α = ß = 90°, γ = 120°, and Z = 3. The basic structure of the crystal can be seen as composed of B5O10 groups and LuO6 polyhedra sharing oxygen atoms, while K+ and Pb2+ fill the space to balance the charge. The UV transmission cut-off edge of K7PbLu2B15O30 was less than 300 nm, and the powder SHG response was roughly 1.1 times that of KDP. Furthermore, a first-principles analysis was performed to see more about the relationship between the crystal structure and optical characteristics.

Investigation of Fats, Oils, and Grease Co-digestion With Food Waste in Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors and the Associated Microbial Community Using MinION Sequencing.

Co-digestion of fats, oils, and grease (FOG) with food waste (FW) can improve the energy recovery in anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs). Here, we investigated the effect of co-digestion of FW and FOG in AnMBRs at fat mass loading of 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 kg m-3 day-1 with a constant organic loading rate of 5.0 gCOD L-1 day-1 in both a single-phase (SP) and two-phase (TP) configuration. A separate mono-digestion of FW at an identical organic loading rate was used as the benchmark. During co-digestion, higher daily biogas production, ranging from 4.0 to 12.0%, was observed in the two-phase methane phase (TP-MP) reactor compared to the SP reactor, but the difference was statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) due to the high variability in daily biogas production. However, the co-digestion of FW with FOG at 1.0 kg m-3 day-1 fat loading rate significantly (p < 0.05) improved daily biogas production in both the SP (11.0%) and TP (13.0%) reactors compared to the mono-digestion of FW. Microbial community analyses using cDNA-based MinION sequencing of weekly biomass samples from the AnMBRs revealed the prevalence of Lactobacillus (92.2-95.7% relative activity) and Anaerolineaceae (13.3-57.5% relative activity), which are known as fermenters and fatty acid degraders. Syntrophic fatty acid oxidizers were mostly present in the SP and TP-MP reactors, possibly because of the low pH and short solid retention time (SRT) in the acid phase digesters. A greater abundance of the mcrA gene copies (and methanogens) was observed in the SP and MP reactors compared to the acid-phase (AP) reactors. This study demonstrates that FW and FOG can be effectively co-digested in AnMBRs and is expected to inform full-scale decisions on the optimum fat loading rate.