Optimization of syngas production from co-gasification of palm oil decanter cake and alum sludge: An RSM approach with char characterization.

The study explores co-gasification of palm oil decanter cake and alum sludge, investigating the correlation between input variables and syngas production. Operating variables, including temperature (700-900 °C), air flow rate (10-30 mL/min), and particle size (0.25-2 mm), were optimized to maximize syngas production using air as the gasification agent in a fixed bed horizontal tube furnace reactor. Response Surface Methodology with the Box-Behnken design was used employed for optimization. Fourier Transformed Infra-Red (FTIR) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopic (FESEM) analyses were used to analyze the char residue. The results showed that temperature and particle size have positive effects, while air flow rate has a negative effect on the syngas yield. The optimal CO + H2 composition of 39.48 vol% was achieved at 900 °C, 10 mL/min air flow rate, and 2 mm particle size. FTIR analysis confirmed the absence of C─Cl bonds and the emergence of Si─O bonds in the optimized char residue, distinguishing it from the raw sample. FESEM analysis revealed a rich porous structure in the optimized char residue, with the presence of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and aluminosilicates. These findings provide valuable insights for sustainable energy production from biomass wastes.

Study on the Synthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles Using Azadirachta indica Extracts for the Fabrication of a Gas Sensor.

This paper compared the effects of A. indica plant proteins over chemical methods in the morphology of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) prepared by a co-precipitation method, and ethanol sensing performance of prepared thin films deposited over a fluorene-doped tin oxide (FTO) bind glass substrate using spray pyrolysis technique. The average crystallite sizes and diameters of the grain-sized cluster ZnO NPs were 25 and (701.79 ± 176.21) nm for an undoped sample and 20 and (489.99 ± 112.96) nm for A. india dye-doped sample. The fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis confirmed the formation of the Zn-O bond at 450 cm-1, and also showed the presence of plant proteins due to A. indica dye extracts. ZnO NPs films exhibited good response (up to 51 and 72% for without and with A. indica dye-doped extracts, respectively) toward ethanol vapors with quick response-recovery characteristics at a temperature of 250 °C for undoped and 225 °C for A. indica dye-doped ZnO thin films. The interaction of A. indica dye extracts helps to decrease the operating temperature and increased the response and recovery rates of the sensor, which may be due to an increase in the specific surface area, resulting in adsorption of more oxygen and hence high response results.

Probing the Effects of Heterogeneous Oxidative Modifications on the Stability of Cytochrome c in Solution and in the Gas Phase.

Covalent modifications by reactive oxygen species can modulate the function and stability of proteins. Thermal unfolding experiments in solution are a standard tool for probing oxidation-induced stability changes. Complementary to such solution investigations, the stability of electrosprayed protein ions can be assessed in the gas phase by collision-induced unfolding (CIU) and ion-mobility spectrometry. A question that remains to be explored is whether oxidation-induced stability alterations in solution are mirrored by the CIU behavior of gaseous protein ions. Here, we address this question using chloramine-T-oxidized cytochrome c (CT-cyt c) as a model system. CT-cyt c comprises various proteoforms that have undergone MetO formation (+16 Da) and Lys carbonylation (LysCH2-NH2 → LysCHO, -1 Da). We found that CT-cyt c in solution was destabilized, with a ∼5 °C reduced melting temperature compared to unmodified controls. Surprisingly, CIU experiments revealed the opposite trend, i.e., a stabilization of CT-cyt c in the gas phase. To pinpoint the source of this effect, we performed proteoform-resolved CIU on CT-cyt c fractions that had been separated by cation exchange chromatography. In this way, it was possible to identify MetO formation at residue 80 as the key modification responsible for stabilization in the gas phase. Possibly, this effect is caused by newly formed contacts of the sulfoxide with aromatic residues in the protein core. Overall, our results demonstrate that oxidative modifications can affect protein stability in solution and in the gas phase very differently.

Highly efficient electrochemical gas reduction on a three-dimensional foam electrode: mechanism and application for the determination of hazardous mercury in complex matrix.

For the first time a nickel foam electrode (NFE) is applied in the field of electrochemical vapor generation (EVG) to carry out the electrochemical vapor phase conversion of mercury. Systematical electrochemical and morphological research has demonstrated that the specific surface area of the NFE was several times larger than that of the metal/non-metal electrode with the same geometric size. At the same time, the 3D porous channel composed of multi-layer nickel wire ensures the full contact between reactant and interface. The evident enhancement of spectral signals on a Ni electrode (283%), compared with Pt (27%) and graphite (109%), confirmed that the NFE effectively enhances the yield of mercury reduction. The NFE exhibits low limit of detection (0.017 µg L-1) and a wide linear range (0.2-20 µg L-1) with recoveries of actual samples in the range 87.8-117% towards Hg2+. Although the NFE has no advantage in electronic transmission and catalytic performance, its excellent stability, especially anti-interference and other characteristics, is sufficient for the analysis of hazardous mercury in complex matrix including certified reference materials and real samples.

Effect of Surface Treatment by O3 and Chemical Activation by Alkali Metal on the Performance of ACFs on Adsorption and Desorption of BTX Gases.

In order to investigate the adsorption characteristics of activated carbon fibers (ACFs) with improved surface morphologies towards volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a commercial low-grade ACF was surface modified by successive surface treatment (ST) and chemical activation (CA) process. O3 was used as an ST agent for the formation of oxygen-containing functional groups on the carbon matrix of ACFs. CA was carried out after ST, using a KOH solution. After the successive ST-CA process, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and average pore diameter of ACFs were increased from 1483 m2/g to 2743 m2/g and enlarged from 1.931 nm to 2.512 nm, respectively. The successive ST-CA process also resulted in the adsorption capacities of benzene, toluene, and xylene of the ACFs to increase from 0.22 g-Ben./g-ACFs, 0.18 g-Tol./g-ACFs, and 0.19 g-Xyl/g-ACFs up to 0.37 g-Ben./g-ACFs, 0.35 g-Tol./g-ACFs, and 0.38 g-Xyl/g-ACFs, respectively.

Graphene-Assisted Quasi-van der Waals Epitaxy of AlN Film on Nano-Patterned Sapphire Substrate for Ultraviolet Light Emitting Diodes.

This protocol demonstrates a method for graphene-assisted quick growth and coalescence of AlN on nano-pattened sapphire substrate (NPSS). Graphene layers are directly grown on NPSS using catalyst-free atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD). By applying nitrogen reactive ion etching (RIE) plasma treatment, defects are introduced into the graphene film to enhance chemical reactivity. During metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth of AlN, this N-plasma treated graphene buffer enables AlN quick growth, and coalescence on NPSS is confirmed by cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The high quality of AlN on graphene-NPSS is then evaluated by X-ray rocking curves (XRCs) with narrow (0002) and (10-12) full width at half-maximum (FWHM) as 267.2 arcsec and 503.4 arcsec, respectively. Compared to bare NPSS, AlN growth on graphene-NPSS shows significant reduction of residual stress from 0.87 GPa to 0.25 Gpa, based on Raman measurements. Followed by AlGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWS) growth on graphene-NPSS, AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet light-emitting-diodes (DUV LEDs) are fabricated. The fabricated DUV-LEDs also demonstrate obvious, enhanced luminescence performance. This work provides a new solution for the growth of high quality AlN and fabrication of high performance DUV-LEDs using a shorter process and less costs.

MEMS-Based Ionization Gas Sensors for VOCs with Array of Nanostructured Silicon Needles.

Although volatile organic compound samples can be detected by gas nanosensors in adsorption principles, extreme concentrations of target gases imply the excessive adsorption, which would lead to a long recovery time and even a shortened lifetime. Herein, we report the observations of the ionization current sensing behavior on the volatile organic compounds in an ionization gas sensor with silicon-based nanostructures. The micro ionization gas sensor consists of a pair of silicon microneedle array electrodes covered by nanolayer structures and a microdischarge gas gap. The dynamic response behaviors of the sensors to the exposure of ethanol, acetone, and 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide have been carefully scrutinized. The sensor exhibits sound performances to the high-concentration volatile organic compounds with a fast-recovery property and could generate effective responses well at 36 V, namely, the safety operation voltages. It could be well understood by the Jesse effect where small proportion of impurities in gases could lead to an intensive increase in the overall ionization probability. Besides, the reproducibility, recovery time, sensitivity, and selectivity properties have been systematically characterized.

Extraction induced by emulsion breaking for As, Se and Hg determination in crude palm oil by vapor generation-AFS.

In this work is presented the development of a method for As and Se determination in crude palm oil samples by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry and Hg by cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry after ultrasound-assisted emulsification and extraction induced by emulsion breaking (EIEB). The optimization of the method was carried out by multivariate designs. The developed method has presented limits of quantification (LOQ) of 0.72, 0.12, and 1.5 µg L-1 for As, Hg, and Se, respectively. The precisions of the proposed method expressed as repeatability were 0.92, 2.2, and 3.7% RSD for 2 µg L-1 (n = 10) of As, Hg and Se, respectively. The developed methodology was applied in palm oil samples collected in the Bahia State. Concentrations (µg L-1) found in the samples were between

Gas-Phase Synthesis for Label-Free Biosensors: Zinc-Oxide Nanowires Functionalized with Gold Nanoparticles.

Metal oxide semiconductor nanowires have important applications in label-free biosensing due to their ease of fabrication and ultralow detection limits. Typically, chemical functionalization of the oxide surface is necessary for specific biological analyte detection. We instead demonstrate the use of gas-phase synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) to decorate zinc oxide nanowire (ZnO NW) devices for biosensing applications. Uniform ZnO NW devices were fabricated using a vapor-solid-liquid method in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) furnace. Magnetron-sputtering of a Au target combined with a quadrupole mass filter for cluster size selection was used to deposit Au NPs on the ZnO NWs. Without additional functionalization, we electrically detect DNA binding on the nanowire at sub-nanomolar concentrations and visualize individual DNA strands using atomic force microscopy (AFM). By attaching a DNA aptamer for streptavidin to the biosensor, we detect both streptavidin and the complementary DNA strand at sub-nanomolar concentrations. Au NP decoration also enables sub-nanomolar DNA detection in passivated ZnO NWs that are resilient to dissolution in aqueous solutions. This novel method of biosensor functionalization can be applied to many semiconductor materials for highly sensitive and label-free detection of a wide range of biomolecules.

Bioinspired in Vitro Lung Airway Model for Inflammatory Analysis via Hydrophobic Nanochannel Membrane with Joint Three-Phase Interface.

Because of the extremely low solubility of gas pollution, elucidating the pathogenetic mechanism between air pollution and the lung inflammatory response has remained a significant challenge. Here, we develop a bioinspired nanoporous membrane (BNM) with a three-phase interface as a gas exposure model that mimicks the airway mechanism, gas molecules contacting with alveolar cells directly, enabling high cell viability and sensitive inflammatory response analysis. Specifically, the top side of the porous anodic alumina (PAA) membrane was in contact with the medium for cell culture, and the bottom side contacted the gas phase directly for gas exposure. Compared with the two-phase interface, the viability of cells on the BNM was enhanced up to 3-fold. Additionally, results demonstrated that the inflammatory responses of cells stimulated by gas pollution (formaldehyde and benzene as models) from the gas phase were more obvious than those induced by gas pollution from solution, especially the increment of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), which was almost 2 times greater than that induced by gas pollution from solution. Furthermore, an enzyme inhibitor was introduced to evaluate potential applications of the BNM.

Hydrogen gas therapy improves survival rate and neurological deficits in subarachnoid hemorrhage rats: a pilot study.

The high morbidity, high mortality, and significant shortage of effective therapies for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) have created an urgency to discover novel therapies. Human studies in Asia have established the safety of hydrogen gas in the treatment of hepatic, renal, pulmonary, and cardiac diseases. Mechanistically, hydrogen gas has been shown to affect oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. We hypothesized that hydrogen therapy would improve neurological function and increase survival rate in SAH. High dose hydrogen gas (66% at 3 L/min) was administered for 2 hours at 0.5, 8, and 18 hours after SAH. This treatment increased 72-hour survival rate and provided 24-hour neuroprotection after SAH in rats. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that high dose hydrogen gas therapy reduces mortality and improves outcome after SAH. Our results correlate well with the proposed mechanisms of hydrogen gas therapy within the literature. We outline four pathways and downstream targets of hydrogen gas potentially responsible for our results. A potentially complex network of pathways responsible for the efficacy of hydrogen gas therapy, along with a limited mechanistic understanding of these pathways, justifies further investigation to provide a basis for clinical trials and the advancement of hydrogen gas therapy in humans. This study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Loma Linda University, USA (Approval No. 8160016) in May 2016.

Recent advances in the neuroprotective effects of medical gases.

Central nervous system injuries are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Although the exact pathophysiological mechanisms of various brain injuries vary, central nervous system injuries often result in an inflammatory response, and subsequently lead to brain damage. This suggests that neuroprotection may be necessany in the treatment of multiple disease models. The use of medical gases as neuroprotective agents has gained great attention in the medical field. Medical gases include common gases, such as oxygen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide; hydrogen sulphide and nitric oxide that have been considered toxic; volatile anesthetic gases, such as isoflurane and sevoflurane; and inert gases like helium, argon, and xenon. The neuroprotection from these medical gases has been investigated in experimental animal models of various types of brain injuries, such as traumatic brain injury, stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral ischemic/reperfusion injury, and neurodegenerative diseases. Nevertheless, the transition into the clinical practice is still lagging. This delay could be attributed to the contradictory paradigms and the conflicting results that have been obtained from experimental models, as well as the presence of inconsistent reports regarding their safety. In this review, we summarize the potential mechanisms underlying the neuroprotective effects of medical gases and discuss possible candidates that could improve the outcomes of brain injury.

Extraction of Green Tea Phenolics Using Water Bubbled with Gases.

Water was bubbled with gases including nitrogen (N2 ), oxygen (O2 ), hydrogen (H2 ), carbon dioxide (CO2 ), and air for 10 min and phenolics from green tea leaves were extracted using the prepared gas-bubbled water. To retain the gases in water, the extraction conditions were maintained in an air-tight container at room temperature under magnetic stirring. Radical scavenging ability, total phenolic content, and phenolic profiles of the extracts were analyzed, and gas-bubbled water was examined to explain the differences in phenolic contents. Overall, green tea infusion prepared from H2 -bubbled water contained significantly high levels of total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity compared to other gas-bubbled waters including N2 , O2 , CO2 , and air (P < 0.05).Control samples and those bubbled with CO2 showed the lowest antioxidant activities in green tea infusion. However, green tea extracts with O2 bubbling showed the lowest catechin content. Green tea leaves treated with hydrogen gas-bubbled water had much greater damage to their surface morphological properties compared to the other groups, which may explain the higher yield of phenolic compounds. Overall, hydrogen gas-bubbled water showed better extraction yield of phenolics from green tea leaves than other gas-bubbled water. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Green tea or green tea infusion has diverse health beneficial functionality due to the presence of phenolic compounds. In this study, different gases including nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide were treated in water and these gas-bubbled water were used to extract phenolics from green tea leaves. Among them, hydrogen-bubbled water extracted the highest phenolic contents from tea leaves and showed the highest in vitro antioxidant ability in green tea infusion compared to other gas-bubbled water. This new knowledge could help to produce green teas with higher antioxidant activity in beverage industry.

Evaluation of Steady-State Gaseous Chlorine Dioxide Treatment for the Inactivation of Tulane virus on Berry Fruits.

The effectiveness of steady-state levels of gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO2) against Tulane virus (TV), a human norovirus surrogate, on berries was determined. The generated ClO2 was maintained at 1 mg/L inside a 269 L glove box to treat two 50 g batches of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, and two 100 g batches of strawberries that were immersion coated with TV. The standardized/normalized treatment concentrations of ClO2 ranging from 0.63 to 4.40 ppm-h/g berry were evaluated. When compared to untreated TV contaminated berries, log reductions of TV were in excess of 2.9 log PFU/g for all berry types and conditions tested, indicating that ClO2 was highly effective. In general, the efficacy of all ClO2 treatments on log reductions of TV on all berries was not significantly different (p < 0.05). The average log reduction with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, treated with the lowest ClO2 concentration, 0.63 ppm-h/g, were 2.98, 3.40, 3.82, and 4.17 log PFU/g, respectively. Overall results suggest that constant levels of ClO2 could be quite effective against foodborne viruses.

Plug-and-Play Continuous Gas Flow Assembly of Cysteine-Inserted AuCu Nanobimetals for Folate-Receptor-Targeted Chemo-Phototherapy.

Conjugatable nanobimetals exhibiting broadband light absorption for use as phototherapeutic platforms were assembled via a plug-and-play continuous gas flow route. Electrically produced AuCu nanobunches (NBs) under nitrogen gas flow were directly injected into cysteine (cys) solution through gas pressurization to mechanically spray the solution (AuCu into cys droplets). The sprayed droplets were then exposed to 185 nm UV light (higher photon energy [6.2 eV] than the work functions of Au [5.1 eV] and Cu [4.7 eV]) to initiate photoionization of AuCu NBs for subsequent electrostatic reaction with the SH- group of cys to form cys-inserted AuCu (AuCu-cys) platforms in a single-pass gas stream. These platforms exhibited broadband light absorption spectra because of hybridized interparticle plasmonic coupling and could be conjugated to folic acid (FA) when dispersed in FA solution to form highly dispersible, biocompatible, and cancer-targetable AuCu-cys-FA. This material was suitable for use in targeted phototherapy of folate-receptor (FR)-rich cancers via FR-mediated endocytosis, and loading doxorubicin (DOX) into AuCu-cys-FA (i.e., AuCu-cys-DOXFA) facilitated chemo-phototherapy because of photoresponsive anticancer drug release upon induction of hyperthermia.

Mineralogy, Structure, and Habitability of Carbon-Enriched Rocky Exoplanets: A Laboratory Approach.

Carbon-enriched rocky exoplanets have been proposed to occur around dwarf stars as well as binary stars, white dwarfs, and pulsars. However, the mineralogical make up of such planets is poorly constrained. We performed high-pressure high-temperature laboratory experiments (P = 1-2 GPa, T = 1523-1823 K) on chemical mixtures representative of C-enriched rocky exoplanets based on calculations of protoplanetary disk compositions. These P-T conditions correspond to the deep interiors of Pluto- to Mars-sized planets and the upper mantles of larger planets. Our results show that these exoplanets, when fully differentiated, comprise a metallic core, a silicate mantle, and a graphite layer on top of the silicate mantle. Graphite is the dominant carbon-bearing phase at the conditions of our experiments with no traces of silicon carbide or carbonates. The silicate mineralogy comprises olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and spinel, which is similar to the mineralogy of the mantles of carbon-poor planets such as the Earth and largely unaffected by the amount of carbon. Metals are either two immiscible iron-rich alloys (S-rich and S-poor) or a single iron-rich alloy in the Fe-C-S system with immiscibility depending on the S/Fe ratio and core pressure. We show that, for our C-enriched compositions, the minimum carbon abundance needed for C-saturation is 0.05-0.7 wt% (molar C/O ∼0.002-0.03). Fully differentiated rocky exoplanets with C/O ratios more than that needed for C-saturation would contain graphite as an additional layer on top of the silicate mantle. For a thick enough graphite layer, diamonds would form at the bottom of this layer due to high pressures. We model the interior structure of Kepler-37b and show that a mere 10 wt% graphite layer would decrease its derived mass by 7%, which suggests that future space missions that determine both radius and mass of rocky exoplanets with insignificant gaseous envelopes could provide quantitative limits on their carbon content. Future observations of rocky exoplanets with graphite-rich surfaces would show low albedos due to the low reflectance of graphite. The absence of life-bearing elements other than carbon on the surface likely makes them uninhabitable.

Inhibiting effects of flue gas desulfurization gypsum on soil phosphorus loss in Chongming Dongtan, southeastern China.

To explore the possibility of using flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG) for inhibiting phosphorus (P) loss due to agricultural runoff, a 3-year study was performed in the farmlands of Chongming Dongtan between 2012 and 2015. Five different quantities of FGDG were used to treat the soil, and the effects of different treatments on the characteristics of soil P and crop growth were investigated. The results showed that 2 years after application of FGDG, the soil density at a depth of 0-10 cm decreased by 4.35-7.97%, the porosity increased by 1.77-11.0%, and the topsoil permeability increased by 0.87-3.81 times. Although the use of FGDG did not change the total P concentration in the soil, it decreased the concentration of sodium bicarbonate extractable P in the soil. Compared to the control, the average extractable P concentration at depths of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm decreased by 22.0-46.1%, 26.9-40.5%, and 22.8-34.8%, respectively. The inorganic P in the soil increased as the amount of FGDG increased, and the increase was mainly as Ca-P in the forms Ca2-P and Ca10-P. The decrease in bicarbonate extractable P and increase in inorganic P in the soil did not affect the growth of the crops, and the biomass and output of the crops increased compared to the control. Therefore, FGDG can enhance soil P immobilization, thus reducing soluble P runoff from farm fields, and improving water quality in receiving lakes and rivers while maintaining P nutrition to the crops.

Long-term effects of grass roots on gas permeability in unsaturated simulated landfill covers.

Landfill cover is a barrier that can reduce landfill gas emission. Vegetation could affect soil hydraulic properties of landfill cover, while its effects on gas permeability is not well understood. This paper investigated the effects of plant roots on the evolution of gas permeability (kg) in unsaturated landfill cover over a two-year period. One grass species (Cynodon dactylon) was selected for testing in the laboratory and there were six replications. Bare soil was used as a reference. kg was determined after 6, 15 and 24 months of grass growth. The test results show that with the increase of suction, kg increased linearly in log scale for both bare and grass-covered soils. kg of grass-covered can be lower or higher than that of bare soil, depending on the plant age. After 6 months, kg of grass-covered soil was smaller than that of bare soil by 85%, due to the root occupancy of soil pore space. However, after 15 and 24 months, kg of grass-covered soil increased by 2-3 orders of magnitude within the root zone over the suction range considered (2-86 kPa). After 2 years, kg of grass-covered soil was up to one order of magnitude higher than that in bare soil. It implies that mature vegetation is not beneficial for reducing gas emission in final landfill covers.

Numerical simulation and experiment on catalytic upgrading of biomass pyrolysis vapors in V-shaped downer reactors.

Catalytic upgrading of biomass pyrolysis vapors is an effective utilization technology of biomass energy. Based on the disadvantages of commonly used reactors, the V-shaped downer reactors were designed to increase gas-solid two-phase turbulent intensity, contact frequency and then increase the catalytic efficiency in short residence time. The catalytic upgrading of pyrolysis vapors in V-shaped downer reactors in terms of hydrodynamics, chemical reaction and residence time distribution were analyzed by CFD simulation and experiment. The results indicate that the solid concentration gradient decreases while flowing down. The overall mass fraction of the bio-oil vapors is around 50%. The mean residence time of catalysts in the V-shaped reactor is 2.0 s-3.0 s. The effects on product yield and residence time distribution were investigated for optimizing product selectivity and the performance of catalysts. In this paper the optimal flow rates of gas and catalysts are vg = 1.2 m s-1, vs = 0.4 m s-1.

Red Phosphorus: An Elementary Semiconductor for Room-Temperature NO2 Gas Sensing.

Black and blue phosphorus (both allotropes of elementary phosphorus) have recently been widely explored as an active material for electronic devices, and their potential in gas sensing applications has been demonstrated. On the other hand, amorphous red phosphorus (a-RP), a much cheaper and readily available phosphorus allotrope, has seldom been investigated as an electronic material, and its gas sensing properties have never been studied. In this work we have investigated these properties of a-RP by combining experimental characterizations with theoretical calculations. We found that a-RP exhibited an amphoteric character for detecting both commonly regarded reducing and oxidizing gas molecules, featuring a negative correlation between the electrical resistance of a-RP and the gas concentration. Interestingly, the a-RP based sensors appear to be particularly suitable for room-temperature NO2 detection, exhibiting excellent sensitivity and selectivity, as well as fast temporal response and recovery. A unique sensing feature of a-RP toward NO2 was identified, which is associated with the expansion of P-P bonds upon NO2 chemisorption. Based on density functional theory calculations we proposed a physiochemical model to elaborate the synergistic effects of the P-P bond expansion and Langmuir isotherm adsorption on the electronic properties and gas sensing processes of a-RP.