Regulating crude oil emulsification in low-permeability and tight reservoirs is difficult, as the controlling factors are strongly coupled and conventional methods have limited predictive capability. To address this, a composite system of the zwitterionic surfactant EHSB and the anionic-nonionic surfactant APEC was developed, and its interfacial properties, emulsification performance, and mechanisms were characterized by interfacial tension, zeta potential, and dilatational rheology measurements. A comprehensive emulsification index (CEI) was defined to compress the entire water separation process into a single dynamic descriptor, and linear regression, response surface, and machine learning models were compared for its prediction. Unlike previous studies that rely on several separate indicators, this work combines interfacial mechanism analysis, response surface modeling, and interpretable machine learning in one closed loop framework for rapid evaluation and prediction of emulsification under small sample conditions. The EHSB/APEC system reached its lowest interfacial tension at a 1:1 ratio, where electrostatic attraction and probable hydrogen bonding promoted dense adsorption and a stable interfacial film. The oil-water ratio, stirring rate, and temperature were the dominant factors, and a low interfacial tension favored emulsification but weakened long term stability. TabPFN, LightGBM, and XGBoost gave accurate and stable predictions, with a cross-validated R2 of up to 0.82, and SHAP analysis showed that the oil-water ratio contributed most, followed by the stirring rate and temperature.
Refractory high-entropy alloys are promising surface-protection materials for components subjected to elevated temperature, concentrated contact stress and severe sliding wear. However, laser direct energy deposited RHEA coatings exhibit the microstructural heterogeneity and unstable tribological behavior, which restrict their application under the wear-critical conditions. To address this issue, a WMoTaNbV RHEA coating was fabricated on Ti6Al4V alloy by laser direct energy deposition and subsequently tempering treated at 600, 700, and 800 °C. The phase constitution, microstructural evolution, elemental distribution, mechanical properties and tribological behavior were systematically investigated. The results show that the heat treatment (HT) refines and homogenizes the nanostructure while maintaining the BCC-based phase structure, improving the structural stability and resistance to plastic deformation. As the HT temperature is increased from 600 to 800 °C, the average coefficients of friction are decreased from 0.35 to 0.04, while the corresponding wear rates are decreased from 3.55 to 1.68 × 10−5 mm3 N−1 m−1. The improved tribological performance is attributed to the synergistic effects of microstructural refinement, solid-solution strengthening, microstructural stabilization and O-rich protective tribofilm, which reduce the direct contact, plastic deformation and material removal during the sliding wear process. This finding establishes the relationship among the HT-driven nanostructural evolution, tribofilm formation and the transition from severe abrasive/adhesive wear to mild oxidative wear in the WMoTaNbV coating, which is an effective strategy for manufacturing the wear-resistant W-based RHEA coatings.
Hydrogen spillover (HSo) exhibits significant potential in enhancing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Incorporation of phosphorus (P) atom can optimize HSo by modulating electronic structures and interfacial properties, thereby reducing reaction energy barriers, increasing active hydrogen (H*) coverage, and improving desorption kinetics. This provides novel strategies for designing highly effective HER catalysts. Moreover, the intrinsic advantages of transition metal phosphides (TMPs), including metallic conductivity, phase diversity, and a near-optimal hydrogen binding energy derived from the ligand effect of P enable them to become a focal system in HSo research. This review systematically elucidates the mechanistic role of HSo in phosphidebased catalysts, analyzing key strategies for interfacial electronic structure regulation, including morphology design, support engineering, and metal modification. It also summarizes some effective design strategies and future challenges for phosphide-based catalysts.
Aromatic amines are one kind of crucial raw materials used to manufacture fine chemicals, biofuel, fuel additives, resins, polymers, pharmaceuticals and other biobased materials, which can be obtained by aminating lignin-valorized aromatic alcohols and aldehydes. In this study, a sustainable biosynthetic route for producing vanillylamine and related aromatic amines from lignin-derived alcohols was developed. First, the galactose oxidase gene from Fusarium NRRL 2903 was introduced into E. coli to construct recombinant strain GO for entirely oxidizing 100 mM vanillyl alcohol into vanillin in ethyl acetate:Triton X-114:water = 5:5:90 (vol/vol/vol) containing Cu2+ (1 mM) (25 °C, pH 7.5). In addition, the CV ω-transaminase gene from Chromobacterium violaceum was acquired to construct recombinant E. coli CV for efficiently converting vanillin-derived vanillin into vanillylamine through transamination (35 °C, pH 7.5) with amine donor L-alanine (L-alanine/vanillin molar ratio 10:1), achieving the mass yield of 1.0 g vanillylamine per g vanillyl alcohol. This established tandem biocatalysis process for converting vanillyl alcohol was an efficient and ecofriendly way for synthesizing vanillylamine, and lignin-derived aromatic aldehydes could be transformed into organic amines, rendering the high-value valorization of biomass and its derivatives. In addition, this study has expanded the efficient oxidation transformation of furfuryl alcohol and aromatic alcohol compounds (anisyl alcohol, cinnamyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, veratryl alcohol, and syringic alcohol) that can be produced from lignocellulose, supplemented the substrate pedigree of the one-pot two-enzyme method, and provided a new idea for the high-value transformation of lignocellulose-derived compounds.
The catalytic oxidation of methane (CH4) is critical for mitigating the greenhouse effect, however, the high stability of the CH4 molecule makes its activation under mild conditions highly challenging. In this study, a highly efficient 0.75 %Pd/Mn0.45Co2.55O4/NF catalyst for low-temperature CH4 oxidation was successfully constructed by systematically optimizing parameters such as duty cycle, voltage, frequency, and deposition time, employing a strategy that combines pulsed electrodeposition with an impregnation method. This approach first yielded a porous nanosheet Mn0.45Co2.55O4 support on nickel foam (NF), followed by Pd loading to obtain the final catalyst. Catalytic activity tests demonstrated the catalyst's excellent performance, with low T50 (290 degrees C) and T90 (325 degrees C) values and strong moisture tolerance. Comprehensive structural characterization and mechanistic studies reveal that its superior performance originates from the synergistic effect of Mn doping and Pd loading: Mn doping induces lattice distortion in Co3O4 and enriches oxygen vacancies, and the introduction of Pd further amplifies these defect structures, increases the proportion of active Co3+ and surface adsorbed oxygen species, and significantly enhances the low-temperature reducibility of the catalyst. Operando DRIFTS-MS studies revealed that CH4 oxidation follows the reactions with surface reactive surface oxygen species (M = O and M-O-M, which are generated from O2 following Epling-Xu mechanism) to form readily detachable bicarbonate intermediates. The O2 dissociation and reaction with CH4, and the gasification of bicarbonate intermediates to gaseous CO2, complete the catalytic cycle. This study provides a rational strategy for designing high-performance catalysts obtained using the combination of pulsed electrodeposition and impregnation for CH4 abatement and offers new insights into the dynamic role of oxygen species in the oxidation mechanism.
