Germanium-incorporated lithium silicate as highly efficient low-temperature sorbents for CO2 capture

© 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Carbon dioxide emission from massive point sources such as industries and power plants is perceived to be a major contributor towards global warming and associated climate changes. Although lithium silicate has the highest capacity for CO2sorption (8 mmol g-1), it is kinetically limited during the sorption process, particularly at temperatures below 500 °C. Herein, we report a facile strategy for the development of germanium-incorporated lithium silicate composites, which display enhanced CO2absorption capacity as well as kinetics in the temperature range of 150-680 °C. The absorption capacity of 324 mg g-1at the rate of 117 mg g-1min-1was measured at 680 °C, and 49 mg g-1at the rate of 36 mg g-1min-1was measured at 300 °C for samples with a Si:Ge molar ratio of 1:0.183. This study thus highlights the possibility of employing germanium-incorporated lithium silicates for the absorption of CO2at a wide range of temperatures, including the in situ removal of CO2from chemical and petrochemical reactions, such as the water-gas shift reaction occurring at low temperature ranges of 150-450 °C, that has hitherto been not possible with pure Li4SiO4

SHORT COMMUNICATION - Blood Parasites in Some Birds from Eastern Plains of Colombia

A total of 315 birds representing 75 species (23 families) from Villavicencio and San Miguel (Meta, Colombia) were examined for haematozoa. Fifty birds (15.9%) harbored blood parasites. Microfilariae were the most common haematozoans encountered, followed by species of the genera Haemoproteus   , Plasmodium   and Trypanosoma   . This survey included 15 new host-parasite records and 8 species of birds that were examined for haematozoa for the first time. The prevalence registered in this research was similar to others recorded in the Neotropical region, but in sharp contrast with the prevalence of blood parasites in other major land masses

New bryophyte records from Macaronesia

In this paper we provide new bryophyte reports for Macaronesia as a whole, for single archipelagos, and for single islands. New to Macaronesia are Aneura pseudopinguis, Didymodon brachyphyllus, Diplophyllum obtusifolium, Distichium capillaceum, and Schizymenium pontevedrense. First archipelago reports concern Brachythecium albicans (Canary Islands), Bryum dichotomum (Cape Verde), B. kunzei (Canary Islands), Homalothecium aureum (Cape Verde), Hydrogonium bolleanum (Madeira), Isopterygiopsis pulchella (Canary Islands), Pohlia cruda (Madeira), Pterygoneurum ovatum (Canary Islands), Schistidium flaccidum (Madeira), and Tortella fasciculata (Madeira). First single island reports are given for 42 species.</p