Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering最新文献

Lithium metal anode represents the ultimate solution for next-generation high-energy-density batteries but is plagued from commercialization by side reactions, substantial volume fluctuation, and the notorious growth of lithium dendrites. These hazardous issues are further aggravated under real-world conditions. In this study, a stable Al-Li/LiF artificial interphase with rapid ion transport pathways is created through a one-step chemical pretreatment process, effectively addressing these challenges simultaneously. As a consequence, the composite interfacial layer exhibits exceptional ionic conductivity, mechanical strength, and electrolyte wettability, ensuring swift Li⁺ transfer diffusion while suppressing lithium dendrite growth. Remarkably, the Al-Li/LiF symmetric cell provides a cycle life exceeding 2300 h with a low polarization at 0.5 mA·cm⁻². Furthermore, its enhanced cycling stability and capacity retention as well as capacity utilization stability pairing with LiFePO₄ and LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂ cathodes, highlighting the proposed approach as a promising solution for practical Li metal batteries.

Supercapacitors have attracted significant attention as a promising energy storage technology due to their high power density and rapid charge-discharge capabilities. In this study, we synthesized bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) with varying molar ratios using the sol-gel combustion method and evaluated their effectiveness as supercapacitor electrodes. Crystallographic and morphological analyses confirmed the formation of nanoparticles with different phases. The vanadium-rich BiVO₄ compound electrode exhibited a maximum specific capacitance of 893 F·g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.5 A·g⁻¹ and demonstrated superior rate capability. Additionally, an all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor, fabricated using vanadium-rich BiVO₄ and activated carbon along with a gel electrolyte, achieved an energy density of 6.66 Wh·kg⁻¹ at a power density of 600 W·kg⁻¹ and sustained 86% capacitance retention after 10000 cycles. These results highlight the potential of Bi-V compounds in energy storage applications.

The sodium persulfate (Na₂S₂O₈)-urea system has been proven to be an excellent scrubbing solution for the wet removal of NO. Commonly, seawater is used as a wet carrier in marine applications. To further explore the feasibility of marine denitrification using Na₂S₂O₈-urea system, this study proposed the Na₂S₂O₈-urea-seawater composite redox system for NO removal from the marine exhaust gas. The effects of seawater carrier, reaction temperature, Na₂S₂O₈ concentration, urea concentration, pH value, and NO concentration on NO removal were investigated. Additionally, the NO₃⁻ concentration in the solution was measured. Results showed that the lowest normalized NO concentration was 0.099, with the corresponding mass of NO absorbed per unit volume of solution reaching 0.108 g·L⁻¹. The addition of seawater carrier and incremental reaction temperature, Na₂S₂O₈, and urea concentration promoted the NO removal performance. When the pH value increased within the range of 4–7, the NO removal performance decreased. The NO removal performance increased as the pH value further increased to 8, but decreased again when the pH value increased to 11. An increase in NO concentration was detrimental to NO removal. The Cl⁻, HCO₃⁻, and CO₃²⁻ in seawater could augment the total concentration of active free radicals to improve denitrification performance.

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is an extremely promising technology for sustainable energy conversion and storage through highly efficient electrochemical reaction at high-temperature conditions. The existing studies commonly address the final equilibrium state of the SOFC electrode reactions, giving less consideration to the micro kinetic of electrode reactions. In this paper, a kinetic model-based SOFC combined cycle power generation system is suggested to recover multiple waste heat, which includes a Kalina cycle (KC) as the bottom cycle and a Rankine cycle (RC) as the top cycle. In devneloping the proposed system, a novel kinetic model is presented for SOFC based on the microscopic mechanism of the oxygen reduction. A dynamic stochastic programming model is established to optimize the integrated system sequentially and simultaneously, with maximum power generation taken as the objective, depending on whether the SOFC system and the KC-RC system are simultaneously optimized. In sequential optimization, the output power of SOFC-KC-RC system is 320.56 kW and it is 415.04 kW using simultaneous optimization, achieving a 29.5% increase in power generation. Further comparison with the previous reports obtained by a thermodynamic model, this work leads to a 10.8% increase in power generation, showing the promising power production performance of the developed system.

Controlling and optimizing carbon capture processes is vital for improving efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and enhancing sustainability. Process analytical technology (PAT) plays a crucial role in achieving these goals. Establishing the relationship between physico-chemical properties (PCPs) and solvent characteristics, such as loading and strength, can facilitate the practical implementation of PAT. This study develops empirical models for the PCPs of potassium carbonate solutions, including density, refractive index, and electrical conductivity, as well as a mechanistic model for pH across varying temperatures, solvent concentration, and solvent loadings. The models showed strong agreement with experimental data. Density and refractive index increased with solvent strength and decreased with temperature, while conductivity correlated with solvent strength and temperature but decreased with solvent loading. A feedforward neural network was trained to predict solvent strength and loading using eight input scenarios. The highest accuracy was achieved with PCPs combined with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) or ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), using only PCPs, or using PCPs with FTIR and UV-Vis while excluding pH. The findings provide essential insights into K₂CO₃ solution behavior, contributing to advances in carbon capture technologies.

Municipal sludge (MS) extract obtained by degradative solvent extraction has the typical fuel characteristics of high nitrogen content, zero moisture, and low ash, which is suitable for producing valuable nitrogen-containing chemicals. This study compared the nitrogen-rich pyrolysis characteristic of MS extracts using thermogravimetric/thermogravimetric-mass spectrometry/pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The composition of bio-oil from catalytic pyrolysis of MS extracts with HZSM-5 was studied, and the pyrolysis kinetic models was established. The results show that different from the raw MS pyrolysis, the MS extracts pyrolysis all had two main peaks with similar values in the range of 140–530 °C (Stage L and Stage W). NH₃ is mainly released in the range of 140–370 °C (Stage L), and the nitrogen-containing compounds content in the bio-oil in this stage is 41.81%. After adding HZSM-5, the weight loss rate in Stage L decreased by 21.97%, while that in Stage W increased by 10.04%. An obvious weight loss peak (30.32%) appeared at the temperature of 530–900 °C, which is due to the increased fixed carbon content (increased by 16.07%) of the bio-oil from catalytic pyrolysis. The number of components in the nitrogen-containing compounds decreases much, however, its yield increases by 9.45% due to the transformation of nitrogen by the catalyst effect of HZSM-5 adding.

Using the chemically stable and cost-effective nylon PA6 as a substrate with the help of the high hydrophilicity of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and TiO₂ nanoparticles to build micro-nanostructures on the surface of the nylon PA6, the superhydrophilic and underwater oleophobic composite membrane was fabricated to achieve the high efficiency of water-oil separation. TiO₂ nanoparticles wrapped in MCC were evenly dispersed on the composite membrane, and the pore size of the composite membrane decreased with increasing MCC mass fraction. MCC can be tightly bound to the surface of the PA6 membrane because of its excellent film-forming properties and ability to cross-link with PA6. The modification of TiO₂ and MCC led to a reduction in the surface adhesion of the composite membrane to oil droplets. The separation efficiency of the composite membrane for water-oil emulsions followed the order TiO₂@2MCC-PA6 > TiO₂@MCC-PA6 > TiO₂-PA6 > PA6, and the change in filtration flux was exactly the opposite. TiO₂@MCC-PA6 was the best composite membrane for three water-oil emulsions with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and its separation efficiency was over 96%. The water contact angle and underwater oil contact angle of TiO₂@MCC-PA6 changed slightly after it was immersed in acidic and alkaline solutions for 36 h. The filtration flux and separation efficiency of TiO₂@MCC-PA6 for n-hexane/SDS/water were still above 3100 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹ and 93%, respectively, after 50 cycles.

Although lignin is the second most abundant forest biomass polymer, it has been largely neglected in hydrogel electrolytes due to its insolubility and inflexibility. In this study, a double-crosslinked hydrogel was prepared using aspartic acid-modified lignin and sodium alginate, significantly improving the mechanical properties. The hydrogel exhibited an exceptional strain of 3008% and a tensile strength of 0.03 MPa, demonstrating its remarkable mechanical properties. In addition, high ionic conductivity (11.7 mS·cm⁻¹) was obtained due to the abundant presence of hydrophilic groups in the hydrogel. The hydrogel-assembled supercapacitor manifested an impressive specific capacitance of 39.46 F·g⁻¹. Notably, the supercapacitor showed a wide potential window of 0–1.5 V and achieved a maximum energy density of 5.48 Wh·kg⁻¹ at the power density of 499.9 W·kg⁻¹. The capacitance retention remained at 115% after 10000 charge-discharge cycles. Finally, the coulombic efficiency was almost 100% during the cycles. Upon reaching a bending angle of 90°, the specific capacitance retention remained impressively high at 94%. These results suggest that the supercapacitor cans maintain normal electrochemical performance under extremely harsh conditions.

Tetracycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that can rapidly inhibit bacterial growth, but its excessive usage and improper handling can lead to its discharge into water, soil, and other ecosystems, posing a significant hazard to ecology and human health. Photocatalysis is considered the most attractive solution for addressing this problem. However, most photocatalysts suffer from nanoparticle agglomeration, high electron-hole recombination rates, and low degradation efficiency. Herein, we offer a straightforward in situ hydrothermal phase separation strategy for synthesizing ZnIn₂S₄ particles on cellulose/chitosan composite sponges for the effective adsorption and degradation of tetracycline in wastewater. The prepared ZnIn₂S₄ composite sponge displayed a remarkably porous structure (with pore diameters of 150–500 µm), uniformly distributed ZnIn₂S₄ nanoparticles (with diameters of approximately 15 nm), a narrow bandgap (2.88 eV), and exceptional compressibility. Owing to these characteristics and the affinity sites of the polysaccharide sponge skeleton, ZnIn₂S₄ composite sponges represent an innovative model of synergistic adsorption-photocatalytic degradation. The prepared ZnIn₂S₄ composite sponge had a removal efficiency of up to 91.5% for tetracycline under sunlight irradiation and remained effective after eight consecutive cycles. This study highlights the potential application prospects of ZnIn₂S₄ composite sponges in the sustainable and environmentally friendly treatment of antibiotics.