On the Nature of Nitrogen-Containing Groups in the SCR of NO Over Functionalized Activated Coke

To improve the denitrification efficiency for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 in the flue gas purification process, a low-rank activated coke (AC) was treated with ammonia (NH3.H2O) solution or nitric acid (HNO3) solution to increase the content and type of nitrogen-containing functional groups, and then the role of nitrogen-containing functional groups in the reduction of NO was analyzed. The modified AC samples were characterized by N-2 adsorption/desorption to determine the pore structures and by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to detect the surface functional groups. After modification, the content of oxygen-containing functional groups on the AC surface increased, including quinone, lactone and carboxyl, which are favorable for SO2 adsorption. Meanwhile, the type and content of nitrogen-containing functional groups on the AC surface changed; these groups fall into two categories: active groups and non-active groups. Before and after the denitrification process, the regular changes in the content of active and non-active groups showed that the active groups with pyrrole-like or pyridine-like structures can promote NO adsorption and then strengthen the denitrification. On the other hand, active groups may be reduced by NH3 or oxidized by O-2, referring to side reactions, to generate non-active groups such as nitro, nitrate, amine and imine. More importantly, the role of nitrogen-containing functional groups was identified in the denitrification process. This chemical modification method is effective for improving the performance of low-cost AC since the employed chemicals are commercially available.Graphica

Enhancement of the denitrification efficiency over low-rank activated coke by doping with transition metal oxides

Low-rank activated coke (AC) is widely used for industrial flue gas purification due to its multipollutant cooperative removal capability. To enhance the denitrification capacity of AC for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH3, several transition metal (Fe, Mn, Ce, V) oxides were uniformly loaded into AC by solvent impregnation. Compared to untreated AC, modified AC showed excellent denitrification efficiency above 90%. N-2 adsorption-desorption and Raman spectroscopy techniques were used to characterize the pore size distribution and crystal structure of AC samples. The introduction of transition metal oxides had little effect on the pore structure of AC but increased the nitrogen-containing functional groups, which facilitated NO removal. Moreover, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to analyze the valence changes of metal elements before and after denitrification. After the reaction, the content increase of the low-valence metal oxides indicated that the transition metal oxides were involved in the reaction of NO with NH3. High-valence metal oxides oxidized NO to NO2, which reacts more easily with NH3, thereby increasing the denitrification efficiency. Importantly, in the presence of SO2, modified AC still presented high denitrification performance. This transition metal oxides doping method can effectively improve the ability of low-rank AC to remove NO in multi-contaminant flue gas

Lightweight and Ultrastrong Polymer Foams with Unusually Superior Flame Retardancy

High-performance flame-retardant materials are urgently needed to address outstanding issues that pertain to safety. Traditional flame retardants are toxic to the environment and/or lack the physical properties required for use in many contemporary applications. Here, we show that isocyanate-based polyimide (PI) foam, a flammable material, can exhibit unusually superior flame retardancy as well as, other excellent properties, such as being lightweight and displaying high mechanical strength, by incorporating red phosphorus (RP)-hybridized graphene. The covalent bonds formed between the graphene platelets and the PI matrix provide the resultant PI foam with a specific Young's modulus (83 kNm kg(-1)) that is comparable to or even higher than those displayed by state-of-the-art foams, including silica aerogels, polystyrene foams, and polyurethane foams. In addition, even a low content of the RP -hybridized graphene (2.2 wt %) results in an exceptionally higher limiting oxygen index (39.4) than those of traditional flame-retardant polymer-based materials (typically 20-30). The resultant PI foam also exhibits thermal insulation properties that are similar to that of air. Moreover, the RP -hybridized graphene is prepared using a one-step ball milling process in 100% yield, and does not require solvent or produce waste. The preparation of the flame-retardant PI foams can be scaled as the starting materials are commercially available and the techniques employed are industrially compatible

Discussions on the Path of Precise Poverty Alleviation in Dongxiang County

By means of questionnaire survey, household interview, conference exchange and field investigation, this paper makes a detailed investigation on the development status and existing problems of industry poverty alleviation and science and technology poverty alleviation in Dongxiang County. This paper puts forward the precise poverty alleviation path of Dongxiang County from the aspects of industry poverty alleviation, science and technology poverty alleviation, education poverty alleviation, poverty alleviation through ecology, relocation poverty alleviation and so on

Enhanced Photothermal Bactericidal Activity of the Reduced Graphene Oxide Modified by Cationic Water-Soluble Conjugated Polymer

Surface modification of graphene is extremely important for applications. Here, we report a grafting-through method for grafting water-soluble polythiophenes onto reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets. As a result of tailoring of the side chains of the polythiophenes, the modified RGO sheets, that is, RGO-<i>g</i>-P3TOPA and RGO-<i>g</i>-P3TOPS, are positively and negatively charged, respectively. The grafted water-soluble polythiophenes provide the modified RGO sheets with good dispersibility in water and high photothermal conversion efficiencies (ca. 88%). Notably, the positively charged RGO-<i>g</i>-P3TOPA exhibits unprecedentedly excellent photothermal bactericidal activity, because the electrostatic attractions between RGO-<i>g</i>-P3TOPA and <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) bind them together, facilitating direct heat conduction through their interfaces: the minimum concentration of RGO-<i>g</i>-P3TOPA that kills 100% of <i>E. coli</i> is 2.5 μg mL^–1, which is only 1/16th of that required for RGO-<i>g</i>-P3TOPS to exhibit a similar bactericidal activity. The direct heat conduction mechanism is supported by zeta-potential measurements and photothermal heating tests, in which the achieved temperature of the RGO-<i>g</i>-P3TOPA suspension (2.5 μg mL^–1, 32 °C) that kills 100% of <i>E. coli</i> is found to be much lower than the thermoablation threshold of bacteria. Therefore, this research demonstrates a novel and superior method that combines photothermal heating effect and electrostatic attractions to efficiently kill bacteria

Controlled Growth of Well-Defined Conjugated Polymers from the Surfaces of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes: Photoresponse Enhancement via Charge Separation

The installation of heterojunctions on the surfaces of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is an effective method for promoting the charge separation processes needed for CNT-based electronics and optoelectronics applications. Conjugated polymers are proven state-of-the-art candidates for modifying the surfaces of CNTs. However, all previous attempts to incorporate conjugated polymers to CNTs resulted in unordered interfaces. Herein we show that well-defined chains of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) were successfully grown from the surfaces of multiwalled CNTs (MWNTs) using surface-initiated Kumada catalyst-transfer polycondensation. The polymerization was found to proceed in a controlled manner as chains of tunable lengths were prepared through variation of the initial monomer-to-initiator ratio. Moreover, it was determined that large-diameter MWNTs afforded highly ordered P3HT aggregates, which exhibited a markedly bathochromically shifted optical absorption due to a high grafting density induced planarization of the polymer chains. Using ultrafast spectroscopy, the heterojunctions formed between the MWNTs and P3HT were shown to effectively overcome the binding energy of excitons, leading to photoinduced electron transfer from P3HT to MWNTs. Finally, when used as prototype devices, the individual MWNT-g-P3HT core-shell structures exhibited excellent photoresponses under a low illumination densityclos

Sex Differences in Genomic Features of Hepatitis B–Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Distinct Antitumor ImmunitySummary

Background &amp; Aims: Aflatoxin exposure increases the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected individuals, particularly males. We investigated sex-based differences in the HCC genome and antitumor immunity. Methods: Whole-genome, whole-exome, and RNA sequencing were performed on 101 HCC patient samples (47 males, 54 females) that resulted from HBV infection and aflatoxin exposure from Qidong. Androgen on the expression of aflatoxin metabolism-related genes and nonhomologous DNA end joining (NHEJ) factors were examined in HBV-positive HCC cell lines, and further tested in tumor-bearing syngeneic mice. Results: Qidong HCC differed between males and females in genomic landscape and transcriptional dysfunction pathways. Compared with females, males expressed higher levels of aflatoxin metabolism-related genes, such as AHR and CYP1A1, and lower levels of NHEJ factors, such as XRCC4, LIG4, and MRE11, showed a signature of up-regulated type I interferon signaling/response and repressed antitumor immunity. Treatment with AFB1 in HBV-positive cells, the addition of 2 nmol/L testosterone to cultures significantly increased the expression of aflatoxin metabolism-related genes, but reduced NHEJ factors, resulting in more nuclear DNA leakage into cytosol to activate cGAS-STING. In syngeneic tumor-bearing mice that were administrated tamoxifen daily via oral gavage, favorable androgen signaling repressed NHEJ factor expression and activated cGAS-STING in tumors, increasing T-cell infiltration and improving anti–programmed cell death protein 1 treatment effect. Conclusions: Androgen signaling in the context of genotoxic stress repressed DNA damage repair. The alteration caused more nuclear DNA leakage into cytosol to activate the cGAS-STING pathway, which increased T-cell infiltration into tumor mass and improved anti–programmed cell death protein 1 immunotherapy in HCCs