Mercury pollution is an increasing public concern in water environment, threatening the ecological quality and human health. In this work, a functionalized hydrogen-bonded organic framework material (HOF-3M) was synthesized and modified for the first time to efficiently remove Hg2+ from environmental water. Characterization results indicate that HOF-3M possesses excellent thermal and structural stability, confirming the successful grafting of sulfhydryl functional groups onto the HOF material. The adsorption mechanism of HOF-3M for Hg2+ is primarily attributed to the synergistic effect of chemical adsorption and electrostatic attraction. After optimization, the theoretical maximum adsorption capacity of HOF-3M was determined to be 306.2 mg/g. After thiol modification, the adsorption capacity increased to six times that of PFC-1. Furthermore, HOF-3M accommodates a wide pH range of 1-10, and exhibits an excellent selectivity (>98 %) for Hg2+ adsorption at pH approximate to 1, while an efficient multi-elemental adsorption of Hg2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, and Al3+ at pH approximate to 6.5. In addition, Hg2+ removal efficiency maintains 94 % after ten consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles, demonstrating favorable reusability. Further, a rapid quantitative detection method for Hg2+ in water can be finished within similar to 2 min by combining HOF-3M preconcentration with a portable energy dispersion X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (ED-XRF), making field deployment analysis of trace Hg in water and even available mercury species in soil extract solution possible. In general, HOF-3M demonstrates green, efficient, reproducible and versatile, and has a promising application for heavy metal pollution remedy and rapid analysis in the future.

The phase behavior in the critical/pseudo-critical region remains highly controversial. The phase co-existence of features and the dominant mechanism of mixing are still unclear. In this study, a high-speed laser interferometry measurement platform is employed to measure the transient CO2-N2 inter-injection processes. The key line-of-sight averaged parameters including transient density field, mixing layer thickness and mass transfer coefficient of the jet were obtained for inter-injections of fluids from different phase-status. The results show that the mixing of supercritical jet is dominated by diffusion effect and without thermodynamically stable phase interface. The experimental results show that the role of diffusion is far greater than that of the “interface” interaction, thus the theoretical framework of subcritical two-phase systems is not applicable for direct extrapolation to the mixing behavior in the supercritical regime. The results provide critical evidence into the intricate phase behaviors and non-equilibrium diffusion-mixing mechanisms of single and binary fluids within the critical regimes, which will further facilitate the development of physical models and theories for super/trans-critical fluid transport and mixing processes.

This study experimentally investigates supercritical CO2/N2 mixtures in a vertically heated circular tube. Two mixture compositions with N2 mole fractions of 1.7 % and 3.2 % were tested over a wide range of operating conditions: pressures from 8.4 to 9.4 MPa, mass fluxes of 750-1500 kg center dot m- 2 center dot s- 1, and heat fluxes of 0-260 kW center dot m- 2. The influences of mass flux, heat flux, pressure, and mixture composition on the heat transfer performance were systematically analyzed. Compared to pure CO2, the addition of N2 modifies thermophysical properties near the pseudo-critical region, leading to either enhancement or suppression of heat transfer depending on the flow and thermal conditions. Although the overall parametric trends remain similar to those of pure CO2, existing heat transfer correlations for pure fluids exhibit limited predictive accuracy for mixtures. A revised correlation was proposed in this study for low N2 concentrations, showing a mean absolute error of 11.75 %, with 95.2 % of predicted Nusselt numbers falling within +/- 30 %. These results contribute to improving prediction reliability and provide practical insights for the design and optimization of advanced CO2-based supercritical thermal systems.

Golgi-targeting carbon dots have garnered significant attention in the field of subcellular organelle imaging owing to their exceptional photoluminescence properties, specific Golgi-targeting abilities, and favorable biocompatibility. Currently reported Golgi-targeting carbon dots primarily exhibit emission wavelengths in the blue and orange spectral regions, which suffer from reduced imaging accuracy because of interference from endogenous tissue autofluorescence and limited tissue penetration. To overcome these disadvantages, redemissive Golgi-targeting carbon dots (RGCDs) were synthesized using a solvothermal method, with Nile blue, a fluorescent dye known for its large conjugated structure, as the carbon source, and benzene sulfonamide, a known Golgi-targeting ligand, as the targeting moiety. Results demonstrate that RGCDs exhibit superior optical properties, with an emission wavelength centered at 645 nm. Moreover, RGCDs exhibit low cytotoxicity, with rabbit hepatocarcinoma cell viability remaining above 80 % at a concentration of 400 mu g/mL. Furthermore, colocalization imaging with a commercial Golgi-targeting dye yielded a high Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.87, indicating that RGCDs possess both long-wavelength emission and specific Golgi targeting capabilities. Additionally, AutoDock simulation analysis confirmed that the sulfonamide groups on the surface of the RGCDs bind to cyclooxygenase-2, a known Golgi-associated protein, enhancing the imaging capabilities of RGCDs.

This work constructed an innovative rapid multi-elemental analyzer of Pb and Cd using solid sampling electrothermal vaporization (ETV) with a composite trap based on the principle of gas phase enrichment (GPE). A SiO2-MgO-SiO2 sandwich-structured GPE unit was first fabricated to enable simultaneous capture and rapid thermal release of Pb and Cd. Mechanism studies demonstrated that temperature drives the distribution of Pb and Cd in GPE unit; lower temperature favors accumulation at the lower layer, while higher temperature promotes upper migration and may thus reduce trapping efficiency. Under optimized conditions, limits of detection (LODs) of 0.4-0.5 ng/g were achieved in 100 mg sample size. The linearity (R2>0.999) and the recoveries (82-117 %) indicate excellent analytical precision and accuracy without requiring sample digestion. Rapid detection of Pb and Cd in various food matrices was accomplished with ∼3 min. Thus, the proposed method is simple, green and robust, making it suitable for rapid monitoring of heavy metals in food.

Low room temperature ionic conductivity and interfacial incompatibility severely hinder the further application of polymer electrolytes in lithium metal batteries. Here, a novel shear-oriented (SO) aliphatic ketone-carbonyl-based liquid crystal composite solid polymer electrolyte (FL7M3@CSPESO) is prepared by in situ thermal-polymerization of liquid crystal monomer (FPZ-LC, FL) and N, N'-Methylenebisacrylamide (MBA, M) on cellulose nanofiber (CNF) in the presence of triethylene-glycol-dimethyl-ether (G3) and lithium salt (lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide, LiTFSI). The high polarity of keto-carbonyl groups improves the dissociation ability of lithium salt. The highly oriented liquid crystals provide rapid ion transport channels. Thus, the FL7M3@CSPESO achieves ionic conductivity of 10-4 S cm-1 and a lithium-ion transference number (tLi+) of 0.52 at 30 degrees C. Besides, in situ formed stable interface layer effectively inhibits the growth of lithium dendrites. The assembled Li/FL7M3@CSPESO/Li cells operate stably over 5500 h at 0.05 mA cm-2 (30 degrees C). Impressively, the assembled Li/FL7M3@CSPESO/NCM811 cells exhibits a long-term cycle over 1200 h with a capacity retention of 92% under 0.05 C and 4.4 V (-5 degrees C). This work not only highlights the advantages of the aliphatic keto-carbonyl groups and highly oriented liquid crystal in improving ion transport capacity, but also provides a design strategy for advanced polymer electrolytes suitable for lower temperature and high-voltage solid-state lithium batteries.

Solid‐state lithium batteries have attracted significant interest due to their potential to enhance the safety and energy density of modern energy storage systems. However, challenges such as low ionic conductivity and poor interfacial compatibility have hindered their widespread adoption. In this study, a novel hydrogen‐bonded organic framework (HOF) composite polymer electrolyte (HCPG@SPE) is developed by integrating trimesic acid and melamine‐based HOFs with a natural polymer matrix composed of gelatin and chitosan. The hydrogen‐bonding interactions between the matrix and HOF in HCPG@SPE impart remarkable mechanical strength and thermal stability. Additionally, due to the weak interactions between HOF and lithium‐ions, and its anion adsorption capacity, HCPG@SPE effectively generates more free lithium‐ions, facilitating their migration while inhibiting anion movement. Electrochemical tests revealed that HCPG@SPE exhibited high ionic conductivity (5.74 × 10⁻ 3 S cm⁻¹ at 30 °C), a favorable lithium‐ion transference number (0.71), and an extended electrochemical stability window (5.4 V). Additionally, lithium metal batteries utilizing this electrolyte achieved outstanding performance, with LFP| HCPG@SPE| Li cells retaining 98% capacity after 1000 cycles at 5 C, and NCM811| HCPG@SPE| Li cells demonstrating stable cycling for 700 cycles at 1 C. The results suggest that the HOF‐based composite electrolyte holds significant promise for next‐generation high‐performance solid‐state lithium batteries.

Nowadays, low ionic conductivity, narrow electrochemical window of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) and the uneven deposition of Li + at the interface restrict the practical application of the assembled solid lithium metal batteries for fast charging-discharging(>5C). To address this issue, a new in-situ composite strategy is developed by constructing of B-containing COF and a modified lithium alginate electrospinning membrane. Beneficial from the synergy of the strong polar groups in the polymer chains and the B atoms in the COF backbone to promote the dissociation of lithium salts, the SPE exhibits high room-temperature ionic conductivity (0.879 mS cm(-1)) and Li+ transference number (0.51). Through the interactions between the polymers and COF, the electrolyte achieves high strength (1.07GPa) and wide electrochemical window (5.39 V). More importantly, combining the suppleness of the SPE and the strong lithophilicity of COF realizes the controlled deposition of Li+, the improved interface stability of devices is proved by Cryo-TEM and TOF-SIMS. As a result, the assembled Li/Li cells exhibit 10500 h stable cycling under 50 mA cm(-2), far better than currently reported work. Meanwhile, the assembled NCM811/Li solid cells realize excellent performance at 10C. Our research provides a strong impetus for the practical implementation of solid-state lithium batteries with high-voltage cathode.

Improving the room temperature ionic conductivity of solid-state polymer electrolytes for lithium batteries is a big challenge. Exploring new composite polymer electrolytes is one of the important solutions. Herein, a new inorganic two-dimensional layered metal boride nanomaterial (MBene) was first applied to the polymer electrolyte. The hyperbranched cross-linking composite polymer electrolyte is prepared by free radical polymerization of double bond modified MBene and hyperbranched ether with double bonds in the presence of PVDF-HFP and lithium salt. c provided by the two-dimensional layered material and the characteristics of adsorbing lithium salt anion. As a result, the room temperature ionic conductivity of DBMBene-DBHPG-PH CPEs reaches 9.35 × 10-4 S cm-1. Combination of ATR-FTIR spectra, XANES spectra, and DFT calculation reveals the influence of MBene on ion transport. Dendrite-free growth with high reversibility can be maintained for more than 2000 h by lithium plating/stripping in lithium symmetric batteries. The solid electrolyte can be adapted to LFP and LMFP, NCM523 high-voltage cathode materials. It is worth mentioning that the assembled pouch cell also can run stably for 150 cycles at 0.1 C, showing higher cycle capacity. This work not only demonstrates a novel MBene-based composite polymer electrolyte and provides an effective strategy to prevent the aggregation of inorganic fillers in polymer electrolyte but also exhibits excellent application prospects of two-dimensional layered MBene material in solid polymer electrolyte for high-energy density solid-state lithium batteries.

The development of photosynthetic biohybrid systems (PBSs) integrating inorganic light absorbers with non-photosynthetic bacteria innovate wastewater valorization via organics bioconversion, yet interfacial electron transfer bottlenecks limit efficiency. To address this, we regulated crystal facet exposure ratios in cadmium sulfide/reduced graphene oxide (CdS/RGO) through hydrothermal synthesis time control, observing facet-dependent activity trends. The optimized biohybrid achieved a maximum hydrogen yield of 2195.3 μmol (233.6 µmol·g-1·h-1 over 8 h), representing a 295 % enhancement over unmodified PBSs. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that increased exposure of high-activity (103) and (112) facets correlated with reduced work function values, promoting electron emission. Synergistically combined with RGO's electron-shuttling function, this facilitated charge transfer to bacterial outer membrane proteins. These results demonstrate facet engineering as a tunable strategy for enhancing electron donation capacity in PBSs, offering design principles for biohybrid systems.

Carbon capture and storage can reduce the carbon emission directly and effectively. Absorption carbon capture (ACC) is currently the most promising way to remove CO2 from coal-fired power plant, yet the main drawback is the excessive thermal energy consumption for the regeneration process. In this study, a new ACC system that utilizing the low-grade waste heat to generate steam has been proposed, in which system the steam is compressed to increase the saturation temperature to satisfy the thermal energy grade demand of the absorbent regeneration. Heat pump is introduced to increase the inlet pressure and enhance the energy and economic effect of vapor compression and R245fa is found suitable for the system. The vapor generating work can be controlled below 200 kWh t-1 when Twh is higher than 60 degrees C, and COPvg can be higher than 3.5 for situations of Ttag,sat not exceeding 130 degrees C. The energy performance and economic analysis of the proposed ACC system driven by the new vapor generation method is analyzed. Off-peak operation by ASS shows good economic effect, the operating cost for the regeneration process of carbon capture is only 69.70 CNY t-1 CO2 under the worst condition and far below the traditional heating method. The new heat supply method for carbon capture presents reasonable energy and economic performance, which is shown suitable for peak shifting of the power grid.

Lithium sulfur batteries (Li-S) with high theoretical specific capacity have aroused great interests in the field of energy storage. However, shuttle effect and slow conversion kinetics of lithium polysulfides seriously affect its practical application. Particularly, Li-S batteries face significant challenges in achieving good long-term cycling performance under high sulfur loading and low temperatures. Herein, a kind of bimetallic organosulfur cathode namely Porphyrin(Cu/Fe)-S-rGO with high sulfur content (85 wt.%) which benefits from the synergy of the bimetallic atom catalysis and covalently anchored sulfur is designed and prepared for the first time. The results of electrochemical measurements and calculations suggest that the cells with Porphyrin(Cu/Fe)-S-rGO cathode exhibit better performance than the cells with corresponding blending cathode Porphyrin(Cu/Fe)/S/rGO and the cell with monometallic cathode Porphyrin(Cu)/S/rGO). Remarkably, the cell with Porphyrin(Cu/Fe)-S-rGO cathode can stably cycle for 200 cycles with a maximum capacity of 5.92 mAh cm-2 even under a high sulfur loading of 7.79 mg cm-2 at -20 degrees C. This study believes that the method of introducing covalent linkages into bimetallic systems offers an innovative solution for the design of high-performance Li-S batteries under high sulfur loading and low-temperature conditions. Thanks to the synergism of covalent linkage and bimetallic atom catalysis, the cell with this Porphyrin(Cu/Fe)-S-rGO cathode can demonstrate stable 300 cycles under an ultra-high sulfur loading of 12.17 mg cm-2. Even under high sulfur loading of 7.79 mg cm-2 and at -20 degrees C, the cells with this Porphyrin(Cu/Fe)-S-rGO cathode can also maintain stability for up to 200 cycles. image

Low room temperature ionic conductivity and interfacial incompatibility are the key factors that hinder the practical application of solid polymer electrolyte (SPEs) in lithium metal batteries. Increasing the ability of the SPEs to dissolve and dissociate lithium salt is helpful to enhance ion transport capacity of the SPEs. Herein, ketone groups with high solubility and dissociation ability of lithium salt are introduced into the structural design of SPE, an aliphatic ketone solid polymer electrolyte (KT@SPE) with crosslinking structure is prepared by ultraviolet (UV) polymerization. The prepared KT@SPE shows excellent viscoelastic and possess room temperature ionic conductivity of 10-4 S cm-1 with 200 wt% lithium bis((trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl)azanide (LiTFSI). Thanks to the contribution of high ion transport capacity, construction of multi-hydrogen bonds network structure of KT@SPE and a wettability of controlling residual dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent to the interface, the assembled symmetrical Li cell realizes stable cycling for over 2000 h at 0.15 mA cm-2. Moreover, LiFePO4 cell achieves stable long cycle at 5C and enable Li/KT@SPE3/LiFe0.6Mn0.4PO4 cell operates at 4.4 V. This work not only provides a design strategy for preparing novel solid polymer electrolytes, but also exhibits the excellent application potential of aliphatic ketone-based polymer electrolyte in solid-state lithium batteries at high current density and high voltage.

In practice, efficient, rapid and simple removal of Hg(II) from water using nano adsorbents remains an extreme challenge at present. In this work, a novel Hg(II) adsorbent based on functionalized graphdiyne oxide (GDYO-3M) membrane was designed for the purpose of effective and prompt removal of Hg(II) from environmental water for the first time. Through filtration, the proposed GDYO-3M membrane (4 cm diameter size) fulfilled an exceeding 97% removal efficiency in > 10 L water containing 0.1 mg/L Hg(II) within 1 h. Due to the presence of -SH groups, the GDYO-3M membrane demonstrates an excellent selectivity for Hg(II) vs. 14 co-existing metal ions. In the meantime, the GDYO-3M membrane represents a favorable reproducibility (above 95% Hg(II) removal) after 9 successive adsorption-desorption cycles. For the mechanism, it is believed that the active sites in the adsorption process mainly include -SH groups, oxygen-containing functional groups, and alkyne bonds. Further, the GDYO-3M membrane can be utilized as an enrichment approach for sensitive analysis of Hg(II) in water based on energy dispersion X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (ED-XRF), whose detection limit (LOD) reaches 0.2 μg/L within 15 min. This work not only provides a green and efficient method for removing Hg(II), but also renders an approach for rapid, sensitive and portable Hg(II) detection in water.

The focus of this study is to accurately predict the convective heat transfer of CO2 to ensure the safe and efficient design of supercritical and trans-critical CO2 energy systems. The heat transfer performance of CO2 is crucial for the stable operation of these systems. This research study explored the flow and heat transfer behavior of CO2 in a long thin vertical loop through experiments. A range of key parameters were set in the experiments to ensure the broad coverage of operating conditions. The inlet temperature was set between 10 °C and 45 °C, the pressure ranged from 6.0 to 9.0 MPa, mass fluxes varied from 500 to 1500 kg/m2s, and the heat flux reached up to 300 kW/m2. Experiments were performed at Reynolds number 104. By adjusting these parameters, the experiments were able to simulate CO2 heat transfer performance under various real-world conditions. Additionally, numerical simulations were employed to further analyze CO2’s flow and heat transfer behavior. Different turbulence models were tested, and the results showed that the SST k-ω model can best predict CO2 convective heat transfer, effectively capturing the complex heat transfer characteristics under varying flow conditions. The research outcomes were compared with established correlations through the Nusselt number, and while a ±30% uncertainty was observed, the overall agreement was satisfactory. This indicates that the experimental and simulation results are within a reasonable range, confirming their reliability.

Improving high-temperature tolerance of microalgae is crucial to enhance the robustness and economy of microalgae industrial production. Herein, a continuous adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) system was developed to generate the thermotolerant strain of Chlorella sorokiniana. The resulting thermotolerant strain TR42 exhibited excellent cell growth and biomass production at 42 degrees C, the temperature that the original strain (OS) could not survive. The high-temperature resistant mechanism of TR42 was investigated by integrating the physiology, transcriptome, proteome and metabolome analyses, which involved enhancing antioxidant capacity, maintaining protein homeostasis, remodeling photosynthetic metabolism, and regulating the synthesis of heatstress related metabolites. The proof-of-concept high-temperature outdoor cultivation demonstrated that TR42 exhibited 1.15- to 5.72-fold increases in biomass production and 1.62- to 7.04-fold increases in lipid productivity compared to those of OS, respectively, which provided a promising platform for microalgae industrial production. Thus, the multi-system thermotolerant mechanism of TR42 offered potential targets for enhancing hightemperature tolerance of microalgae.

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) has the advantages of high thermal efficiency and compact layout in applications due to its excellent transport properties and lower critical point (pcr = 7.38 MPa, Tcr = 30.98 ℃). It can be considered as a modelling fluid instead of water for due to significantly lower critical parameters. This paper concentrates on the thermal-hydraulic characteristic of SCO2 in tube to provide a reliable database for future verification. An experimental loop was designed and constructed for SCO2 recently. Detailed component description and parameter information are described in the text. The designed maximum pressure and temperature of the system are 15 MPa and 200 °C, respectively, accompanied with circulating mass flux of 0-22 L/min in the loop. Calibrations and uncertainty analysis has been made before experimental tests. Preliminary experiments were carried out to collect heat-transfer data at three pressures above the critical point (7.6, 8.4 and 9.5 MPa), mass fluxes from 200 to 1000 kg/m2s, heat fluxes up to 300 kW/m2 and inlet temperatures from 20 to 40°C. The results are used to verify previous data and scaling laws.

Microbial nitrate reduction to ammonia (NRA) presents a promising route to recover wastewater nitrogen resources, but its practical application is currently challenged by limited bacterial activity and reaction selectivity. Here, we propose a facile strategy to boost microbial NRA by using zero-valent iron (ZVI) as an environmentally-benign augment. Unlike the previously reported hybrid systems that rely mainly on mediated electron transfer between ZVI and bacteria for enhanced denitrification, we revealed a combined pathway of direct and mediated electron transfer from ZVI to bacteria, along with a complementation between biological and abiotic nitrogen conversion processes, to promote the NRA process. The bio-hybrid exhibited over 13-fold higher NO3- reduction activity than the individual bacteria or ZVI groups, nearly 100% NRA selectivity, and good stability for treating real wastewater. Our work provides an efficient and scalable route to combine ammonia production with wastewater valorization, which may be readily incorporated into various wastewater treatment processes to maximize resource recovery.

Gas hydrates are regarded as one of the most promising alternative sources of energy, which have the potential to address the energy demand of a contemporary society. Based on the field explorations in the Eastern Nankai Trough (Japan), a multilayered hydrate reservoir model has been conceptualised and its behaviours during depressurisation production are simulated. This model incorporates the effects of the initial reservoir temperature and permeability on the mechanism of hydrate dissociation, which in turn affects the gas production. It is shown that the dissociation process is largely affected by the initial temperature distribution within the reservoir layers, and the ‘warmer’ reservoirs show (consistently) higher production potential. Furthermore, the gas production could be improved significantly, by increasing the permeability of the wellbore region, which can be achieved through the fracturing process. The close match between the simulation results and the field tests is noteworthy. The proposed multilayered model would be quite useful for analysing the efficacy of the ‘production strategy’, in most real-life situations.

The transformation of extracellular antibiotic resistance genes (eARGs) is largely influenced by their inevitable photodegradation in environments where they tend to be adsorbed by ubiquitous clay minerals instead of being in a free form. However, the photodegradation behaviors and mechanisms of the adsorbed eARGs may be quite different from those of the free form and still remain unclear. Herein, we found that kaolinite, a common 1:1-type clay, markedly enhanced eARG photodegradation and made eARGs undergo direct photodegradation under UVA. The decrease in the transformation efficiency of eARGs caused by photodegradation was also promoted. Spectroscopy methods combined with density functional theory calculations revealed that the Lewis acid-base interaction between P-O in eARGs and Al-OH on kaolinite delocalized electrons of eARGs, thus resulting in increased photon absorption ability of eARGs. This ultimately led to enhanced photodegradation of kaolinite-adsorbed eARGs. Additionally, divalent Ca2+ could reduce the Lewis acid-base interaction-mediated adsorption of eARGs by kaolinite, thereby weakening the enhanced photodegradation of eARGs caused by electron delocalization. In contrast, the 2:1-type clay montmorillonite without strong Lewis acid sites was unable to delocalize the electrons to enhance the photodegradation of eARGs. This work allowed us to better evaluate eARGs' fate and risk in real aqueous environments.