Tuning the sorption ability of hydroxyapatite/carbon composites for the simultaneous remediation of wastewaters containing organic-inorganic pollutants.

In this paper, we report on the rational design, synthesis, characterization, and application of eco-friendly hydroxyapatite/carbon (HAP/C) composites as effective sorbents for the simultaneous remediation of organic-inorganic pollution in wastewaters. Carbon content in composites ranged from ca. 4 to ca. 20 wt%. Structural and morphological features of the composites were studied by N2 adsorption/desorption analyses, electron microscopy (TEM and HAADF-STEM/EDX) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). These features were correlated with the composition and the exposure of surface functional groups. Surface acid-base groups were assessed by liquid-solid acid/base titrations and results depended on the composition ratio of the two components. Batch adsorption tests, performed with various initial concentrations of pollutant species and dosages, proved that composites merged the sorption properties of the two moieties, being able to simultaneously adsorb organic (methylene blue) and inorganic (Cu(II) and Ni(II)) pollutants. On the optimal carbonaceous scaffold content (ca. 8 wt% carbon), kinetic tests revealed that this composite could almost completely remove high concentrations of co-present pollutants, namely, Cu(II), Ni(II), (300 ppm) and methylene blue (250 ppm) in ca. 1 h, with sorbent dosage of 10 g L-1. In addition, leaching tests proved the permanent retention of the hazardous species on the composites.

RLIM: a recursive and latent infection model for the prediction of US COVID-19 infections and turning points.

Initially found in Hubei, Wuhan, and identified as a novel virus of the coronavirus family by the WHO, COVID-19 has spread worldwide at exponential speed, causing millions of deaths and public fear. Currently, the USA, India, Brazil, and other parts of the world are experiencing a secondary wave of COVID-19. However, the medical, mathematical, and pharmaceutical aspects of its transmission, incubation, and recovery processes are still unclear. The classical susceptible-infected-recovered model has limitations in describing the dynamic behavior of COVID-19. Hence, it is necessary to introduce a recursive, latent model to predict the number of future COVID-19 infection cases in the USA. In this article, a dynamic recursive and latent infection model (RLIM) based on the classical SEIR model is proposed to predict the number of COVID-19 infections. Given COVID-19 infection and recovery data for a certain period, the RLIM is able to fit current values and produce an optimal set of parameters with a minimum error rate according to actual reported numbers. With these optimal parameters assigned, the RLIM model then becomes able to produce predictions of infection numbers within a certain period. To locate the turning point of COVID-19 transmission, an initial value for the secondary infection rate is given to the RLIM algorithm for calculation. RLIM will then calculate the secondary infection rates of a continuous time series with an iterative search strategy to speed up the convergence of the prediction outcomes and minimize the maximum square errors. Compared with other forecast algorithms, RLIM is able to adapt the COVID-19 infection curve faster and more accurately and, more importantly, provides a way to identify the turning point in virus transmission by searching for the equilibrium between recoveries and new infections. Simulations of four US states show that with the secondary infection rate ω initially set to 0.5 within the selected latent period of 14 days, RLIM is able to minimize this value at 0.07 and reach an equilibrium condition. A successful forecast is generated using New York state's COVID-19 transmission, in which a turning point is predicted to emerge on January 31, 2021. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11071-021-06520-1.

Preparation of highly active and hydrothermally stable nickel catalysts.

The 60%Ni/AlSiO catalysts were prepared by the co-precipitation method, in which AlSiO were the composite supports with different mass ratios of Al2O3 and SiO2. It was found that the catalyst 60%Ni/AlSiO-4 with the Al2O3/SiO2 mass ratio of 4 in the support exhibited the high hydrothermal stability. The addition of proper amount of SiO2 inhibited the hydration of Al2O3 and prevented the growth of supported nickel particles during the hydrothermal treatment. The structure of the composite support in the 60%Ni/AlSiO-4 was stable and the supported nickel particles were highly dispersed. Accordingly, the hydrothermally treated catalyst maintained the high heats and uptakes for the adsorption of H2 and CO, and thus the high activity and stability for the hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol in aqueous solution.

Highly Efficient Photocatalysts for Surface Hybridization of TiO2 Nanofibers with Carbon Films.

Titania (TiO2 ) modification with carbon nanolayers to increase substrate adsorption in the vicinity of the photocatalytic sites and high migration efficiency of photoinduced electrons at the carbon/TiO2 interface lead to a photocatalyst with enhanced efficiency. Herein, surface hybridization with carbon nanolayers of continuous TiO2 nanofibers based on the electrospinning technique were fabricated. Compared with TiO2 nanofibers, the photocatalyst of carbon-layer-covered TiO2 nanofibers presented a higher photocatalytic activity under UV irradiation for the degradation of organic compounds (methylene blue). The photostability was retained after five cycles under UV irradiation.

The effects of promoters of K and Zr on the mesoporous carbon supported cobalt catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.

The mesoporous carbon supported cobalt catalyst (15%Co/MC) was found to be more active and selective to C(5)(+) than the traditionally activated carbon supported one (15%Co/AC) for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). The addition of small amount of K(2)O and ZrO(2) significantly affected the FTS behavior of 15%Co/MC. The addition of 1% K inhibited the FTS activity dramatically, while the addition of 3% Zr increased the FTS activity significantly. The addition of K(2)O decreased the surface acidity while increased the surface basicity of 15%Co/MC, resulting in the increased heat of adsorption of CO and substantially decreased heat of adsorption of H(2) on Co. In contrast, the addition of ZrO(2) increased the surface acidity and heat of adsorption of H(2) on Co. The FTS activity was found to be related to the ratio of heats for the adsorption of CO and H(2) on the catalysts 15%Co/MC, 15%Co-1%K/MC and 15%Co-3%Zr/MC. The highest FTS activity was obtained on the catalyst with the heat ratio of 1.2.

Nitrogen-containing mesoporous carbons prepared from melamine formaldehyde resins with CaCl2 as a template.

Melamine formaldehyde resins were synthesized with encapsulated CaCl(2) as a template. Carbonization at high temperatures led to the formation of carbon materials containing N atoms. Washing with de-ionized water removed encapsulated CaCl(2), resulting in the formation of mesopores (3-30 nm) with the high surface areas (770-1300 m(2)/g). The template can be recycled and the method is simple and cost effective as compared to the hard template techniques. The mesoporous carbons containing nitrogen (NMC) thus prepared exhibited the amphipathic surfaces (both hydrophilic and lipophilic) and adsorbed great amount of water and benzene. In addition, the incorporated N atoms exhibited quite strong basicity for the adsorption of great amount of SO(2).

Fabrication of Microropes via Bi-electrospinning with a Rotating Needle Collector.

Double helical microropes of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with diameters of less than 10 µm and lengths of up to 5 cm were fabricated using a new electrospinning technique. In contrast to the typical electrospinning set-up, a negatively charged rotating collector tip was used in this work, so that the two jets from two positively charged spinnerets were induced to two bundles that met at the rotating collector tip, leading to the formation of microropes. The pitch of microropes could be monitored by simply adjusting the distance between the two spinnerets.

Preparation and characterization of mesoporous VO(x)-TiO2 complex oxides for the selective oxidation of methanol to dimethoxymethane.

Mesoporous VO(x)-TiO(2) with high surface areas were prepared using the procedure of evaporation-induced self-assembly combined with ammonia posttreatment. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N(2) adsorption, temperature-programmed reduction (H(2)-TPR), microcalorimetry for the adsorption of NH(3), and isopropanol probe reaction. Their catalytic activities were evaluated for the reaction of selective oxidation of methanol to dimethoxymethane (DMM). It was found that the VO(x)-TiO(2) materials exhibited high surface areas with pore diameters of 4 nm. The vanadia species were highly dispersed in the VO(x)-TiO(2) within 30 wt% VO(x) content, evidenced by the results of XRD and LRS. The VO(x)-TiO(2) samples exhibited both surface acidic and redox properties. The surface acidity was further enhanced on the addition of SO(4)2-. The catalyst SO(4)2-/30VO(x)-TiO(2) exhibited good performance for the selective oxidation of methanol (57% conversion) to DMM (83% selectivity) at 423 K.

Photocatalytic degradation of dodecyl-benzenesulfonate over TiO2-Cu2O under visible irradiation.

A series of TiO(2)-Cu(2)O mixed oxides were prepared by the hydrolysis of titanium butoxide and reduction of copper acetate with hydrazine. These composite oxides were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), N(2) adsorption and UV-vis techniques. Photocatalytic degradation of dodecyl-benzenesulfonate (DBS) under visible irradiation was performed, and effects of composition of catalysts and reaction conditions were studied. It was observed that TiO(2)-Cu(2)O composite oxides exhibited better photocatalytic activity than Cu(2)O or TiO(2) alone. Among these composite oxides, the 5%TiO(2)-Cu(2)O displayed the highest activity, and the degradation percentage of DBS and COD reached 97.3% and 65%, respectively. In addition, it was found that the decomposition of DBS followed the first-order kinetics and the adsorption of DBS followed the Langmuir model. Oxygen in solution played a vital role in the elimination of COD.

Selective oxidation of methanol to dimethoxymethane under mild conditions over V2O5/TiO2 with enhanced surface acidity.

Dimethoxymethane was synthesized from the direct oxidation of methanol with high conversion and selectivity over specially designed bifunctional V(2)O(5)/TiO2 catalysts with redox and enhanced acidic character, in which the surface acidity played an essential role for inhibiting the formation of formaldehyde through the enhanced condensation reaction of formaldehyde with methanol to produce dimethoxymethane.