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Focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM) and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) analysis were used to study the precipitation process of CO2-loaded potassium glycinate (KGLY) solutions at different CO2 loadings, during the addition of ethanol as an antisolvent at a rate of 10 mL·min−1. The volume ratio of ethanol added to the KGLY solution (3.0 mol·L−1, 340 mL) ranged from 0 to 3.0. Three solid-liquid-liquid phases were formed during the precipitation process. The FBRM results showed that the number of particles formed increased with CO2 loading and ethanol addition for CO2-unsaturated KGLY solutions, whilst for CO2-saturated KGLY solution it first increased then decreased to a stable value with ethanol addition. 13C NMR spectroscopic analysis showed that the crystals precipitated from the CO2-unsaturated KGLY solutions consisted of glycine only, and the quantity crystallised increased with CO2 loading and ethanol addition. However, a complex mixture containing glycine, carbamate and potassium bicarbonate was precipitated from CO2-saturated KGLY solution with the maximum precipitation percentages of 94.3%, 31.4% and 89.6%, respectively, at the ethanol volume fractions of 1.6, 2.5 and 2.3.

Reductive iodonio-Claisen rearrangement (RICR) involving λ3-iodanes and allyl or substituted-allyl silanes in fluoroalcohols, such as 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) and 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), was studied for the synthesis of complex ortho-allyl or substituted-allyl iodoarenes. In comparison to the previously reported condition involving boron trifluoride diethyl etherate, the RICR mediated by fluoroalcohols was found to proceed more effectively. The resulting complex ortho-allyl iodoarenes are useful synthetic intermediates and can be readily converted to various heterocyclic compounds.

The massive conversion of resourceful biomass to carbon nanomaterials not only opens a new avenue to effective and economical disposal of biomass, but provides a possibility to produce highly valued functionalized carbon-based electrodes for energy storage and conversion systems. In this work, biomass is applied to a facile and scalable one-step pyrolysis method to prepare three-dimensional (3D) carbon nanotubes/mesoporous carbon architecture, which uses transition metal inorganic salts and melamine as initial precursors. The role of each employed component is investigated, and the electrochemical performance of the attained product is explored. Each component and precise regulation of their dosage is proven to be the key to successful conversion of biomass to the desired carbon nanomaterials. Owing to the unique 3D architecture and integration of individual merits of carbon nanotubes and mesoporous carbon, the assynthesized carbon nanotubes/mesoporous carbon hybrid exhibits versatile application toward lithium-ion batteries and Zn-air batteries. Apparently, a significant guidance on effective conversion of biomass to functionalized carbon nanomaterials can be shown by this work.

X-ray crystallography is a powerful strategy for 3-D structure determination of macromolecules, such as nucleic acids and protein-nucleic acid complexes. However, the crystallization and phase determination are the major bottle-neck problems in crystallography. Recently we have successfully developed synthesis and strategy of selenium-derivatized nucleic acids (SeNA) for nucleic acid crystallography. SeNA might not only provide the rational strategies to solve the phase determination problem, but also offer a potential strategy to explore crystallization solutions.

The zero-valent iron modified biochar materials are widely employed for heavy metals immobilization. However, these materials would be inevitably aged by natural forces after entering into the environment, while there are seldom studies reported the aging effects of zero-valent iron modified biochar. In this work, the hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid solution were applied to simulate aging conditions of zero-valent iron modified biochar. According to the results, the adsorption capacity of copper(II) contaminants on biochar, zero-valent iron modified biochar-1, and zero-valent iron modified biochar-2 after aging was decreased by 15.36%, 22.65% and 23.26%, respectively. The surface interactions were assigned with chemisorption occurred on multi-molecular layers, which were proved by the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models. After aging, the decreasing of capacity could be mainly attributed to the inhibition of ion-exchange and zero-valent iron oxidation. Moreover, the plant growth and soil leaching experiments also proved the effects of aging treatment, the zero-valent iron modified biochar reduced the inhibition of copper(II) bioavailability and increased the mobility of copper(II) after aging. All these results bridged the gaps between bio-adsorbents customization and their environmental behaviors during practical agro-industrial application.

Ni/SiO2-ZrO2 catalysts with Ni loadings of 1 to 13 wt-% were prepared, characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, N2 sorption, temperature programmed oxidation, temperature programmed reduction, and tested for their activity and stability in the dry reforming of methane with carbon dioxide at 850 °C, gas hourly space velocity of 6000 and 1800 h–1 and atmospheric pressure. The SiO2-ZrO2 support as obtained through a simple and efficient sol-gel synthesis is highly porous (A BET = 90 m2∙g–1, d P = 4.4 nm) with a homogeneously distributed Si-content of 3 wt-%. No loss of Si or formation of monoclinic ZrO2, even after steaming at 850 °C for 160 h, was detectable. The catalyst with 5 wt-% Ni loading in its fully reduced state is stable over 15 h on-stream in the dry reforming reaction. If the catalyst was not fully reduced, a reduction during the early stages of dry reforming is accompanied by the deposition of up to 44 mg∙g–1carbon as shown by experiments in a magnetic suspension balance. Rapid coking occurs for increased residence times and times-on-stream starting at 50 h. The Ni loading of 5 wt-% on SiO2-ZrO2 was shown to provide an optimal balance between activity and coking tendency.

A novel Z-scheme ZnFe2O4/BiVO4 heterojunction photocatalyst was successfully synthesized using a convenient solvothermal method and applied in the visible light photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin, which is a typical antibiotic contaminant in wastewater. The heterostructure of as-synthesized catalysts was confirmed using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations. Compared with the single-phase counterparts, ZnFe2O4/BiVO4 demonstrated considerably enhanced photogenerated charge separation efficiencies because of the Z-scheme transfer mechanism of electrons between the composite photocatalysts. Consequently, the 30% ZnFe2O4/BiVO4 catalyst afforded a degradation rate of up to 97% of 20 mg/L ciprofloxacin under 30 min of visible light irradiation with a total organic carbon removal rate of 50%, which is an excellent activity compared with ever reported BiVO4-based catalysts. In addition, the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and quantitative structure-activity relationships model analyses demonstrated that the toxicity of the intermediates was lower than that of the parent ciprofloxacin. Moreover, the as-synthesized ZnFe2O4/BiVO4 heterojunctions were quite stable and could be reused at least four times. This study thus provides a promising Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst for the efficient removal and detoxication of antibiotic pollutants from wastewater.

Transdermal delivery offers several advantages in drug distribution, including convenience, painless administration, avoidance of first-pass metabolism, and ease of termination. However, the natural protective barriers of the skin, such as the stratum corneum, the topmost layer of skin, limit the systemic absorption of external therapeutics via transdermal delivery. Therefore, extensive application of transdermal delivery in medical treatment has been limited. Over the past few years, many formulation strategies and physical technologies, therefore, have been developed to enhance transdermal delivery. This review summarizes various formulation strategies proposed for transdermal delivery and their application in medical treatment.