Chemisorption and anodic oxidation of aromatic molecules on Pd electrode surfaces: studies by UHV-EC-STM

The chemisorption and anodic oxidation of hydroquinone (H2Q) and benzoquinone (BQ) at palladium electrode surfaces was studied by a combination of electrochemistry (EC), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), high-resolution electron- energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) and electrochemical-scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM) on a smooth polycrystalline and well-defined (single-crystalline) Pd(100) electrode surface. The results point to the following more critical conclusions: (i) Chemisorption of H2Q from dilute (less than or equal to 0.1 mM) aqueous solutions forms surface- coordinated BQ oriented parallel albeit with a slight tilt. (ii) At high concentrations (greater than or equal to 1mM), chemisorption yields an edge-vertical oriented diphenolic species. (iii) The extent of anodic oxidation of the chemisorbed organic strongly depends upon its initial orientation; only the flat-adsorbed species are oxidized completely to carbon dioxide. (iv) The rate of anodic oxidation is likewise dependent upon the initial adsorbate orientation; the rate for vertically-oriented species is more than twice that of flat- adsorbed species. (v) The chemisorbed species are not oxidized (to the same extent) simultaneously; instead, oxidation occurs one molecule at a time. That is, molecules that survive the anodic oxidation and remain on the surface retain their original identities

Numerical Simulation on Heat Transfer Performance of Silicon Carbide/ Nitrate Composite for Solar Power Generation

KNO3 was used as the phase change material (PCM), but its thermal conductivity is too low to transfer heat between the PCM and conduction oil efficiently. In this thesis, on the basis of the previous studies (Yong Li, 2015), the solar power generation efficiency is enhanced with high temperature interval (280℃—400℃), and the new composite which are composed by the SiC honeycomb (SCH) frame and infiltrated KNO3 is simulated by using Fluent software. The results show that the new composite of the KNO3 +30%SCH suit for the requirement of the charging time and capacity in the design of the thermal energy storage units (TESU); The comparable simulation for the long and short pipe models supplies the evidences that the long pipe simulation can be substituted by the short pipe simulation relatively, which reduces the 3-D simulation time enormously; The comparable simulation of the radial dimensions supplies some theory foundations for the design of the module thermal energy storage tank (MTEST) . These simulation results have important guidance on the design of the thermal energy storage unit and the module thermal energy storage tank

A number-based inventory of size-resolved black carbon particle emissions by global civil aviation

With the rapidly growing global air traffic, the impacts of the black carbon (BC) in the aviation exhaust on climate, environment and public health are likely rising. The particle number and size distribution are crucial metrics for toxicological analysis and aerosol-cloud interactions. Here, a size-resolved BC particle number emission inventory was developed for the global civil aviation. The BC particle number emission is approximately (10.9 ± 2.1) × 1025 per year with an average emission index of (6.06 ± 1.18) × 1014 per kg of burned fuel, which is about 1.3% of the total ground anthropogenic emissions, and 3.6% of the road transport emission. The global aviation emitted BC particles follow a lognormal distribution with a geometric mean diameter (GMD) of 31.99 ± 0.8 nm and a geometric standard deviation (GSD) of 1.85 ± 0.016. The variabilities of GMDs and GSDs for all flights are about 4.8 and 0.08 nm, respectively. The inventory provides new data for assessing the aviation impacts. Size-resolved Black Carbon (BC) particle number emission inventory is not available for global civil aviation. Here the authors converted BC mass emission inventory into number emission inventory and found that aviation BC number emission contributes to 1.3% of total ground anthropogenic emissions and 3.6% on global average. Document type: Articl

Molecular Characterization of Three Novel Phospholipase A2 Proteins from the Venom of Atheris chlorechis, Atheris nitschei and Atheris squamigera

Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) is known as a major component of snake venoms and displays higher-order catalytic hydrolysis functions as well as a wide range of pathological effects. Atheris is not a notoriously dangerous genus of snakes although there are some reports of fatal cases after envenomation due to the effects of coagulation disturbances and hemorrhaging. Molecular characterization of Atheris venom enzymes is incomplete and there are only a few reports in the literature. Here, we report, for the first time, the cloning and characterization of three novel cDNAs encoding phospholipase A2 precursors (one each) from the venoms of the Western bush viper (Atheris chlorechis), the Great Lakes bush viper (Atheris nitschei) and the Variable bush viper (Atheris squamigera), using a “shotgun cloning” strategy. Open-reading frames of respective cloned cDNAs contained putative 16 residue signal peptides and mature proteins composed of 121 to 123 amino acid residues. Alignment of mature protein sequences revealed high degrees of structural conservation and identity with Group II venom PLA2 proteins from other taxa within the Viperidae. Reverse-phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) profiles of these three snake venoms were obtained separately and chromatographic fractions were assessed for phospholipase activity using an egg yolk suspension assay. The molecular masses of mature proteins were all identified as approximately 14 kDa. Mass spectrometric analyses of the fractionated oligopeptides arising from tryptic digestion of intact venom proteins, was performed for further structural characterization

A Numerical Study on the Temperature Field of a R290 Hermetic Reciprocating Compressor with Experimental Validation

A numerical model to predict the temperature field in a R290 hermetic reciprocating compressor is presented in this work. The control volume method and the lumped parameter method are used in the simulation. The compressor is divided into 6 control volumes, including the suction muffler, the cylinder, the discharge chamber, the discharge muffler, the discharge pipe and the shell. The system of non-linear equations is formed of the energy balance equations of every control column. The temperature field is derived by solving the equations. To valid the numerical model accurately, temperature experiment has been carried out in 3 same-type hermetic reciprocating compressors using R290 as working fluid. The simulation result shows a good agreement compared with the experiment