Amorphous Ge/C Composite Sponges: Synthesis and Application in a High-Rate Anode for Lithium Ion Batteries

A Ge/C spongelike composite is prepared by the facile and scalable single-step pyrolysis of the GeO_<i>x</i>/ethylenediamine gel process, which has a feature with three-dimensional interconnected pore structures and is hybridized with nitrogen-doped carbon. A detailed investigation shows that the pore in the sponge is formed for the departure of the gaseous products at the evaluated temperature. As an anode for lithium ion batteries, the obtained composite exhibits superior specific capacity in excess of 1016 mA h g^–1 at 100 mA g^–1 after 100 cycles. Moreover, the amorphous Ge/C sponge electrode also has a good rate capacity and stable cycling performance. The obtained amorphous Ge/C sponges are a good candidate anode for next-generation lithium ion batteries

Removal of benzene, toluene, xylene and styrene by biotrickling filters and identification of their interactions

<div><p>Biotrickling filters (BTFs) are becoming very potential means to purify waste gases containing multiple VOC components, but the removal of the waste gases by BTF has been a major challenge due to the extremely complicated interactions among the components. Four biotrickling filters packed with polyurethane foam were employed to identify the interactions among four aromatic compounds (benzene, toluene, xylene and styrene). The elimination capacities obtained at 90% of removal efficiency for individual toluene, styrene and xylene were 297.02, 225.27 and 180.75 g/m³h, respectively. No obvious removal for benzene was observed at the inlet loading rates ranging from 20 to 450 g/m³h. The total elimination capacities for binary gases significantly decreased in all biotrickling filters. However, the removal of benzene was enhanced in the presence of other gases. The removal capacities of ternary and quaternary gases were further largely lowered. High-throughput sequencing results revealed that microbial communities changed greatly with the composition of gases, from which we found that: all samples were dominated either by the genus <i>Achromobacter</i> or the <i>Burkholderia</i>. Different gaseous combination enriched or inhibited some microbial species. Group I includes samples of BTFs treating single and binary gases and was dominated by the genus <i>Achromobacter</i>, with little <i>Burkholderia</i> inside. Group II includes the rest of the samples taken from BTFs domesticated with ternary and quaternary gases, and was dominated by the genus <i>Burkholderia</i>, with little <i>Achromobacter</i> detected. These genera were highly associated with the biodegradation of benzene series in BTFs.</p></div

The heatmap of genera with relative abundances between 0.1% with 0.5%.

<p>B: benzene; T: toluene; X: xylene; S: styrene; JZ: inoculum; BTF: Biotrickling filter.</p

Comparison of elimination capacities and removal efficiencies of binary gases with inlet loadings.

<p>B: benzene; T: toluene; X: xylene; S: styrene.</p

The laboratory-scale biofiltration system.

<p>1. air compressor, 2. <a target="_blank">gas flow meter</a>, 3. micro-syringe pump, 4. nutrient-holding tank, 5. packing material bed, 6. inlet gas sampling port, 7. outlet gas sampling port, 8. U-type <a target="_blank">manometer</a>, 9. waste gas column, 10. humidification column.</p

Microbial community structures of 30 samples from 9 treatments and the original inoculums.

<p>B: benzene; T: toluene; X: xylene; S: styrene; JZ: inoculum; BTF: Biotrickling filter.</p

Elimination capacities of single toluene, styrene, xylene and benzene with inlet loadings.

<p>B: benzene; T: toluene; X: xylene; S: styrene.</p

The plot of weighted principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of the microbial communities based on the Bray-Curtis distance.

<p>B: benzene; T: toluene; X: xylene; S: styrene.</p

Gas interaction indexes between each two pollutants.

<p>Gas interaction indexes between each two pollutants.</p

Experimental procedures and conditions of biofiltration.

<p>Experimental procedures and conditions of biofiltration.</p