Non-selective Evaporation of Ethanol-Water Binary Mixture within Heated Capillary

In the study, the evaporation of ethanol-water binary mixture within heated capillary is experimentally and numerically investigated. It was found that the ratio of the evaporation rates of ethanol and water equals the ratio of their initial concentrations in the mixture. This observation contradicts the commonly accepted view of selective evaporation, where the ratio of ethanol-to-water evaporation rates is expected to be considerably higher than the concentration ratio owing to the higher volatility of ethanol. We term this novel phenomenon as non-selective evaporation. Subsequently, through numerical study, it was discovered that the changes in component concentration induced by the ethanol preferential evaporation appear solely in the limited area, referred to as the diffusion layer, near the meniscus. When the diffusion layer is fully developed, the evaporation process will transition from selective evaporation stage to non-selective evaporation stage. Due to the short duration of the selective evaporation stage in current study, the evaporation process exhibits distinct characteristics of non-selective. Moreover, by considering the coupled effects of convection and diffusion, an analytical model was proposed, and the criteria related with Pe number were established to determine whether the evaporation process of binary mixture exhibits selective or non-selective characteristics

Carbon Sequestration by Fruit Trees - Chinese Apple Orchards as an Example

Apple production systems are an important component in the Chinese agricultural sector with 1.99 million ha plantation. The orchards in China could play an important role in the carbon (C) cycle of terrestrial ecosystems and contribute to C sequestration. The carbon sequestration capability in apple orchards was analyzed through identifying a set of potential assessment factors and their weighting factors determined by a field model study and literature. The dynamics of the net C sink in apple orchards in China was estimated based on the apple orchard inventory data from 1990s and the capability analysis. The field study showed that the trees reached the peak of C sequestration capability when they were 18 years old, and then the capability began to decline with age. Carbon emission derived from management practices would not be compensated through C storage in apple trees before reaching the mature stage. The net C sink in apple orchards in China ranged from 14 to 32 Tg C, and C storage in biomass from 230 to 475 Tg C between 1990 and 2010. The estimated net C sequestration in Chinese apple orchards from 1990 to 2010 was equal to 4.5% of the total net C sink in the terrestrial ecosystems in China. Therefore, apple production systems can be potentially considered as C sinks excluding the energy associated with fruit production in addition to provide fruits

Pressure-tuned superconductivity in the Dirac semimetal PdTe

We report an unusual evolution of superconductivity (SC) in the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal PdTe with increasing pressure up to $\sim$50 GPa. The compressed PdTe exhibits a sudden reversal in the superconducting transition temperature $T\mathrm{_c}$, from an initial decrease with pressure to an increase above a critical pressure $P\mathrm{_c} \approx$ 15 GPa, showing a V-shaped feature composed of SC-I and SC-II phases due to a structural phase transition through $P\mathrm{_c}$. Subsequently, the $T\mathrm{_c}$ goes into a plateau around 2.5 K when the pressure is higher than $\sim$32 GPa. In addition, we find the variations of carrier concentrations and mobilities also manifest a similar trend on the pressure response as the $T\mathrm{_c}$, and the normal-state electronic properties change from the electron-dominated single-band model to two-carrier model after the structural phase transition, implying the close correlation between electronic properties and two SC phases. Our findings establish the SC of PdTe is highly tunable under varying pressures.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure