Machine learning-based predictive analysis of total polar compounds (TPC) content in frying oils: A comprehensive electrochemical study of 6 types of frying oils with various frying timepoints.

Standard approaches to determining the total polar compounds (TPC) content in frying oils such as the chromatographic techniques are slow, bulky, and expensive. This paper presents the electrochemical analysis of 6 types of frying oils inclusive of 52 frying timepoints, without sample preparation. This is achieved via impedance spectroscopy to capture sample-specific electrical polarization states. To the best of our knowledge, this is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive study of various types of frying oils, with progressively increasing frying timepoints for each type. The principal component analysis distinguishes the frying timepoints well for all oil types. TPC prediction follows, involving supervised machine learning with sample-wise leave-one-out implementation. The R2 values and mean absolute errors across the test samples measure 0.93-0.97 and 0.43-1.19 respectively. This work serves as a reference for electrochemical analysis of frying oils, with the potential for portable TPC predictors for rapid accurate screening of frying oils.

[Effects of Long-term Fertilization on Soil Microbial Diversity and Community Structure in the Agro-pastoral Ecotone].

To explore the effects of different long-term fertilization treatments on soil microbial diversity and community structure in the drylands of an agro-pastoral ecotone, a long-term fertilization experiment at the Inner Mongolia cultivated land conservation science observation and experiment station, Ministry of Agriculture, and rural areas was taken as the research object. Four treatments, including no fertilizer (CK), single nitrogen fertilizer (NF), single chemical fertilizer (CF), and the combined application of organic manure and chemical fertilizer (CFM), were selected for the collection of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm soil at potato maturity 16 years after the experiment (2019). High-throughput sequencing technology was used to assess the soil bacterial and fungal communities to explore the effects of different fertilization measures on soil quality from the perspective of microorganisms, and the partial least squares path model (PLS-PM) was used to reveal the key environmental driving factors of soil microbial community alternation and crop yield improvement in dryland during fertilization mode transformation. The results showed that:① the CF and CFM treatments significantly improved soil fertility, but the effect of the latter was significantly better than that of the former. Soil available nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium in the CFM treatment increased by 131.9%-174.7%, 216.9%-283.3%, and 103.3%-109.3%, respectively, and organic matter and total nitrogen content also increased significantly. The CF treatment still maintained a high soil pH, whereas the NF treatment significantly decreased soil pH and had little effect in improving soil fertility. ② Compared with that under CK, the NF treatment significantly reduced the soil bacterial Chao1 and Shannon index, and the CFM treatment significantly increased the soil bacterial species richness, Chao1 index, and soil fungal Shannon index, whereas soil bacterial and fungal diversity in the CF treatment did not reach a significant difference level with CK. ③ The soil microbial community composition at 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm was similar. The CFM treatment increased the relative abundance of soil beneficial bacteria and decreased the relative abundance of pathogenic bacteria. The relative abundance of dominant bacteria such as Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Gemmatimonadetes increased. The relative abundances of Actinobacteria, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota were decreased, whereas the NF and CF treatments showed the opposite trend. ④ PLS-PM analysis showed that with the gradual change in fertilization mode from CK→NF→CF→CFM, the driving factors affecting microbial community succession and yield increase were also changed from soil pH→soil NPK content→soil pH, SOM, and NPK content. In general, long-term fertilization had significant effects on soil chemical properties and microbial communities in drylands in the agro-pastoral ecotone. As the optimal fertilization choice, CFM was significantly better than NF and CF in improving soil fertility and inhibiting the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. The number of pathogens in long-term non-fertilization and unbalanced fertilization soil was significantly increased, and the risk of crop infection to indigenous diseases was increased. The research results can provide scientific reference for farmland nutrient balance management and soil microenvironment improvement of the agricultural ecosystem in the agro-pastoral ecotone in North China.

Rapid microwave-assisted synthesis of Ni2P nanosheets from black phosphorus.

The high dielectric loss tangent value of black phosphorus nanosheets enables them to be selectively heated under microwave radiation to realize the in situ surface reaction of BP with Ni2+ to prepare thermodynamically unstable two-dimensional Ni2P.

Interface Engineering to Improve the Rate Performance and Stability of the Mn-Cathode Electrode for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), especially the aqueous zinc-manganese batteries, have received considerable attention due to their low cost, safety, and environmental benignity. However, manganese oxide cathode materials usually suffer from unsatisfactory cycling stability. In this study, we report an interface engineering strategy to improve the performance of the Mn-based cathode electrode for ZIBs. Both the results of experiments and density functional theory confirmed that SnO2 can act as a "glue" to strengthen the interfacial interaction between the conductive graphene substrate and MnOOH, which plays a vital role during the charging/discharging process of manganese oxide. By this interface engineering strategy, the cycling stability of the in situ deposited Mn-based electrode was significantly improved, and a specific capacity of 271 mA h g-1 can be retained even after 1500 cycles. This study may provide a thought or establish a framework for the rational design of high-performance cathode materials for ZIBs via interface engineering.

Preparation of Hollow Cobalt-Iron Phosphides Nanospheres by Controllable Atom Migration for Enhanced Water Oxidation and Splitting.

Transition metal phosphides (TMPs), especially the dual-metal TMPs, are highly active non-precious metal oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts. Herein, an interesting atom migration phenomenon induced by Kirkendall effect is reported for the preparation of cobalt-iron (Co-Fe) phosphides by the direct phosphorization of Co-Fe alloys. The compositions and distributions of the Co and Fe phosphides phases on the surfaces of the electrocatalysts can be readily controlled by Cox Fey alloys precursors and the phosphorization process with interesting atom migration phenomenon. The optimized Co7 Fe3 phosphides exhibit a low overpotential of 225 mV at 10 mA cm-2 in 1 m KOH alkaline media, with a small Tafel slope of 37.88 mV dec-1 and excellent durability. It only requires a voltage of 1.56 V to drive the current density of 10 mA cm-2 when used as both anode and cathode for overall water splitting. This work opens a new strategy to controllable preparation of dual-metal TMPs with designed phosphides active sites for enhanced OER and overall water splitting.

Surfactant-Free Synthesis of Ultrafine Pt Nanoparticles on MoS2 Nanosheets as Bifunctional Catalysts for the Hydrodeoxygenation of Bio-Oil.

Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of bio-oil is a crucial step for improving the bio-fuel quality, but developing highly dispersed Pt-based catalysts with high selectivity for target alkanes remains a great challenge. This study presents a fast surfactant-free method to prepare the MoS2-supported Pt catalyst for HDO. Ultrafine Pt nanoparticles with sizes of <5 nm can be readily grown on chemically exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets (NSs) via the direct microwave-assisted thermal reduction. The obtained Pt NPs/MoS2 composites show excellent catalytic performance in the conversion of palmitic acid, and the best selectivity (also the yield) of hexadecane and pentadecane is 80.56 and 19.43%, respectively.

Heterostructure engineering of Co-doped MoS2 coupled with Mo2CTx MXene for enhanced hydrogen evolution in alkaline media.

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media is key for the cathodic reaction of electrochemical water splitting, but it suffers sluggish kinetics due to the slow water dissociation process. Here, we present a simple strategy to enhance the HER activity in alkaline media by engineering Co-doped MoS2 coupled with Mo2CTx MXene. The improved HER activity might be ascribed to the synergistic regulation of water dissociation sites and electronic conductivity. Co doping could effectively regulate the electronic structure of MoS2 and further improve the intrinsic activity of the catalyst. Mo2CTx MXene served as both the active and conductive substrate to facilitate electron transfer. As a result, the Co-MoS2/Mo2CTx nanohybrids showed dramatically enhanced HER performance with a low overpotential of 112 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and exhibited excellent long-term stability in alkaline media.

ZrMn Oxides for Aqueous-Phase Ketonization of Acetic Acid: Effect of Crystal and Porosity.

Aqueous-phase ketonization of bio-based acetic acid is important to improve the conversion efficiency of biomass resources. In this study, ZrMn mixed oxides (ZrMnOx ) with high aqueous-phase ketonization activity are synthetized through a carbonization/oxidation method (COM) and solvothermal method (STM). The results show that ZrMnOx prepared by COM possesses tetragonal ZrO2 , and hausmannite Mn3 O4 is observed only at a high oxidation temperature of 750 °C. Low-temperature and long oxidation results in decreased crystallinity and crystallite size, which is related to highly dispersed Mnn+ species. The catalysts with improved acid sites possess high ketonization activity. Surface areas and pore size of ZrMnOx synthetized by STM are controlled by the solvents for thermal treatment. Compared with water as solvent, ethanol increases the surface area and pore size, resulting in high ketonization activity.

Phosphonate monoesters as carboxylate-like linkers for metal organic frameworks.

Bidentate phosphonate monoesters are analogues of popular dicarboxylate linkers in MOFs, but with an alkoxy tether close to the coordinating site. Herein, we report 3-D MOF materials based upon phosphonate monoester linkers. Cu(1,4-benzenediphosphonate bis(monoalkyl ester), CuBDPR, with an ethyl tether is nonporous; however, the methyl tether generates an isomorphous framework that is porous and captures CO(2) with a high isosteric heat of adsorption of 45 kJ mol(-1). Computational modeling reveals that the CO(2) uptake is extremely sensitive both to the flexing of the structure and to the orientation of the alkyl tether.

A permanently porous van der Waals solid by using phosphonate monoester linkers in a metal organic framework.

A bis(phosphonatemonoester) is employed as a linker in a Zn(II) metal organic framework. The complex is a layered structure pillared only by vdW interactions between alkyl groups. Nonetheless, permanent pores are formed as confirmed by PXRD and gas sorption analysis.

Crystalline zinc diphosphonate metal-organic framework with three-dimensional microporosity.

While typically structures from linear diphosphonate ligands form dense phases, we report that with the functionalized ligand 1,4-dihydroxy-2,5-benzenediphosphonate (DHBP) and Zn2+ a microporous network is formed. {[Zn(DHBP)](DMF)2} (1; DMF = dimethylformamide) possesses three-dimensional microporosity as shown by X-ray diffraction and confirmed by CO2 and N2 sorption studies. Compound 1 is composed of one-dimensional columns of tetrahedral Zn ions with homoleptic phosphonate coordination. This infinite building unit enables a robust and porous yet still crystalline material.