To develop an efficient filter for removing white blood cells from whole blood, hydrophilic large-pore blended membranes of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), polyvinyl pyrrolidone and polyethylene glycol, with good biocompatibility, were prepared using the process of vapor-induced phase separation at various PVDF concentrations. The results demonstrated that at a PVDF mass concentration of 14%, the membrane had increased surface roughness, significantly enhanced hydrophilicity and wettability, and a wetting time of 8 s. The surface roughness of the membrane was also reduced to 31.637 nm. Furthermore, hemolysis rate and protein adsorption tests indicated that the blended membranes possessed excellent biocompatibility. They were reduced to 2.48% and 34.44 μg·cm^{- 2}, respectively. The pore size of the fabricated membrane was relatively large, which reached approximately 8 μm respectively, satisfying the filtration requirements. Lastly, the effects of different temperatures and multi-layered filters on leukocyte removal and the retention of red blood cells and platelets from whole blood were evaluated. The results revealed that the leukocyte removal rate was highest at 4 ^◦C and with three membrane layers, the leukocyte removal rate was highest, reaching 98.36%, while the RBC and platelet content remained nearly unchanged compared with the original blood. This study provides a new approach for blood cell separation that is expected to play a significant role in medical fields such as blood transfusion demonstrating great potential for application and innovation.

To address the challenges of high energy consumption and prominent costs in the traditional threecolumns distillation process for cellulosic fuel ethanol, a distillation—molecular sieve coupling separation process is proposed. This process integrates a three-column (crude distillation column, first distillation column, second distillation column) system with a 3A molecular sieve adsorption deep dehydration unit. A thermal coupling network is constructed via differential pressure design (steam from medium/high-pressure columns as mutual heat sources, reboiler liquid waste heat for feed preheating), and molecular sieve adsorption conditions are optimized. The study first performs a thermodynamic consistency test on the ethanol—water system, determines optimal non-random two-liquid (NRTL) model binary interaction parameters via experimental data regression for Aspen Plus simulation. Aiming at minimum total annual cost (TAC), Aspen Plus is used to optimize process parameters (theoretical tray number, feed location, reflux ratio, side-draw position, etc.). Economic analysis shows this process reduces CO₂ emission costs by 27.56%, TAC by 15.58% (to 5.123 × 10⁶ USD·a^{- 1}), and increases ethanol purity to ＞99.6%, providing an effective solution for green, efficient separation.

This study investigates the droplet formation for the liquid—liquid two-phase flow within a square Tjunction microchannel through numerical simulation using volume of fluid method and experimental visualization using high-speed camera imaging. The T-junction microchannel has a cross-sectional width of 0.6 mm and a total length of 27.3 mm. The solution of cyclohexane with 2% and 3% mass concentrations of sorbitan trioleate surfactant were used as the continuous phase, and water was used as the dispersed phase. Slug flow, characteristic of squeezing regime, were predominantly observed. The effects of liquid—liquid two-phase flow rate ratio, and dimensionless number on droplet size, and pressure drop were investigated. The squeezing regime was mapped for 0.0005 ≤ Ca_c ≤ 0.0052 (capillary number) and 0.1≤ q ≤10 (flow rate ratio). The pressure drops of slugs were in the range from 40 Pa to 200 Pa. The slug lengths were measured between 1 mm and 9 mm. A universal flow map dependent on Ca_cRe_d^0.5 are projected to investigate the droplet formation behavior in T-junction microchannel. Correlation expressions are proposed to predict pressure drops and the slug lengths for liquid—liquid two-phase flow in a square T-junction microchannel, using dimensionless numbers such as flow rate ratio and capillary number. The result shows that large continuous phase flow rates facilitate smaller slugs, whereas higher dispersed phase flow rates result in longer shorts.

Nanoporous polymers are extensively coated on various substrates to deliver optical, permselective, or other functions. However, it remains desired to fast produce uniform nanoporous polymer coatings on substrates with complex surfaces. Herein, by manipulating the interactions between block copolymers and selective solvents, we prepare repairable nanoporous polymers on arbitrary substrates. This is realized by an extremely simple sequential coating process: sequential coating of block copolymers and their swelling agents on substrate surfaces. The swelling agents are comprised of two solvents that swell the constituent blocks of the copolymers to different degrees, rapidly producing polymer coatings with uniform, interconnected, sub-50 nm pores. This sequential coating process is able to conformally build nanoporous polymers on nonplanar substrates with large lateral sizes and complex surface features, and also toin situ repair defects arising during usages. We further demonstrate that the nanoporous coatings show excellent antireflective and membrane separation performances. This sequential coating process is dictated by polymer—solvent interactions, and is expected to find applications in diverse fields for its simplicity, adaptability, and the capability to produce well-defined nanoporosities.

As an important strategic rare-earth resource, bastnaesite has long been a global research focus. The carbochlorination process, as an efficient and low-cost extraction method, can be applied to treat bastnaesite, achieving ideal rare-earth extraction results in just one-step reaction. By using inexpensive chlorine gas as the chlorinating agent, it avoids lengthy procedural steps and the generation of acid-base waste liquids. Based on this, we propose a novel carbochlorination process for bastnaesite involving a fluorine-fixing agent. Thermodynamic data for the carbochlorination process of bastnaesite were calculated using the group contribution method. Thermodynamic feasibility was verified through Gibbs free energy. The effects of different chlorination times, fluorine-fixing agent dosages, chlorine flow rates, and chlorination temperatures on the carbochlorination process of bastnaesite were investigated. Experimental studies showed that under optimal chlorination conditions, a temperature of 800 ^◦C, a duration of 60 min, a fluorine-fixing agent dosage of 10%, and a chlorine flow rate of 10 L·min^{- 1}, the chlorination rates of rare-earth elements, Ca, Ba, and Fe in bastnaesite reached 96%, 99%, 98%, and 99%, respectively. The reaction mechanism was explored and analyzed based on characterization results such as mineral phase composition, micromorphology and thermogravimetry of water-washed residues under different chlorination conditions. Additionally, kinetic experiments were conducted at varying reaction temperatures and chlorine flow rates, revealing that the carbon-chlorination process is primarily controlled by chemical reactions.

Separation of 2-methylfuran (2-MF) and methanol (MeOH) azeotropes is a key challenge in biofuel production because of the efficiency and sustainability issues of conventional methods. In this study, ionic liquids (ILs) were introduced as green solvents for separation of 2-MF/MeOH through liquid—liquid equilibrium (LLE) experiment. Three ILs, namely 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazole dihydrogen phosphate ([EMIM][H₂PO₄]), 1-propyl-3-methylimidazole dihydrogen phosphate ([PMIM][H₂PO₄]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazole dihydrogen phosphate ([BMIM][H₂PO₄]), were screened out from 425 candidates using the conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS). Then, the ternary LLE data of 2-MF (1) + MeOH(2) + ILs(3) were determined at 30 ^◦C and 101.32 kPa. Results confirmed [EMIM][H₂PO₄] as the best performer, achieving a selectivity of 343.86 and a distribution coefficient of 36.66 for MeOH―significantly higher than [PMIM][H₂PO₄] and [BMIM][H₂PO₄]. The accuracy of the LLE data was verified by Othmer—Tobias and Hand equations (R²＞0.90). The non-random two liquid model was used to correlate the experimental data (RMSD＜2%). Besides, the combination of electrostatic surfaces potential, independent gradient model based on Hirshfeld partition, mean square displacement and radial distribution functions revealed strong electrostatic interactions between [H₂PO₄]^— and MeOH. Interaction energy analysis further emphasizes the mechanism of MeOH separation from a mixture of 2-MF and MeOH by ILs. This work provides a multiscale strategy for the separation of 2-MF and MeOH azeotropes, highlighting the potential of ILs to improve biofuel purification while reducing energy and environmental costs.

To efficiently remove radioactive nuclides from nuclear industry wastewater and minimize the generation of radioactive secondary waste, this study proposes the concept of a magnetically controlled microchannel adsorber based on magnetic adsorbents. A novel protocol for achieving high adsorption performance in microchannel adsorbers with periodically distributed particles is developed using the particle-resolved computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, which addresses the limitations of traditional porous media flow models. To align simulation results more closely with practical scenarios, a typical high-efficiency magnetic adsorbent, magnetic sodium alginate/cobalt-based Prussian blue (MSA/PB-Co), was synthesized. The M-SA/PB-Co microspheres exhibit a uniform size distribution (300—600 μm), and their Cs⁺ adsorption follows the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with a Langmuir saturated adsorption capacity of 124.84 mg·g^{- 1}. The performance parameters of M-SA/PB-Co, obtained from characterization and adsorption experiments, were integrated into CFD simulations. CFD results indicate that as the flow velocity increases, the flow field gradually transitions with vortices expanding in scale and streamline bifurcation points shifting rearward. The Cs⁺ concentration decreases progressively along the flow direction, with a more pronounced reduction in the vortex regions downstream of particles. The characteristic velocity and characteristic concentration of specific regions surrounding the particles were extracted based on boundary layer distribution. The amount of concentration reduction of Cs⁺ through particle is positively correlated with the characteristic concentration and negatively correlated with the characteristic velocity. The number of microspheres required in the microchannel adsorber was optimized using the response surface method. Compared with industrial fixed-bed adsorbers, microchannel adsorbers exhibit 8—10 times higher processing capacity, demonstrating significant industrial application potential.

4-Bromo-3-methylphenol (BMP) is an important chemical intermediate with wide applications in the fields of medicine and pesticides. The synthesis of BMP from m-cresol via bromination is easy to carry out on an industrial scale. However, due to the formation of regioisomeric impurities during bromination and the low melting point of BMP, the separation process is prone to the formation of oily substances, resulting in low yield and purity. In this work, a new cocrystallization engineering approach was proposed to separate and purify BMP. Through design of experiments, the cocrystallization process of BMP and triethylenediamine (DABCO) was optimized using a minimum-run resolution IV screening design combined with response surface methodology. In addition, the obtained 2BMP-DABCO powder was characterized by thermal analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Single crystals of 2BMP-DABCO were grown from acetone by slow evaporation, and detailed structural information was obtained through single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The self-assembly mechanism was further clarified by density functional theory calculations. This study provides a simple, robust, and scalable method for the production of BMP and offers a reference for the separation and purification of phenolic substances.

Flubendiamide is a commonly used pesticide with low water solubility and a high organic carbon sorption constant, causing it to adhere to soil particles and negatively impact soil ecosystems. First, chili plant stems, typically discarded after the harvest season, represent an abundant local biomass resource with significant potential for utilization, and were converted into biochar through pyrolysis. Here, we describe the synthesis of biochar modified with iron and chitosan to increase the diversity of functions and surface functional groups of biochar. The resulting chitosan-modified magnetic biochar (CMBC) presents a full range of functional groups of chitosan and iron oxide as shown by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The correlation between flubendiamide concentration and the dose of biochar on adsorption was explored. The flubendiamide adsorption efficiency of CMBC (1% mass ratio of soil) reached 68.03% in 90 min. The highest adsorption capacity achieved was 0.95 mg·g^{- 1}. The flubendiamide adsorption mechanism by CMBC can be described with a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The experiment data closely fit a Freundlich isotherm model (R² = 0.998), and the low residual sum of squares values demonstrate the high model applicability. In this study, we present a comprehensive overview of pesticides, alongside kinetic and isotherm model studies of flubendiamide adsorption by CMBC. We emphasize the potential of modified biochar to enhance environmental remediation applications.

MnO₂ stands out among cathode materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) high capacity and voltage, it has poor stability and slow Zn²⁺ kinetics. Herein, we propose a dual-regulation strategy integrating copper doping and carbon-based confinement. Residual carbon (RC), derived from acidwashed coal gasification fine slag (CGFS), serves as a conductive and porous framework for the directional growth of Cu-doped MnO₂ nanowires (CMO@RC). The synergistic modulation of Cu-induced electronic structure tuning and carbon confinement induced mechanical/electrical stabilization significantly enhances Zn²⁺ transport and electrochemical performance. CMO@RC achieves a high capacity of 563 mA·h·g^{- 1} at 0.1 A·g^{- 1} and maintains 106% after 1000 cycles at 1 A·g^{- 1}. Kinetic analyses confirm the dual-path Zn²⁺ diffusion and accelerated reaction kinetics, while DFT calculations reveal that Cu doping enhances Mn 3d orbital hybridization and electron interaction with carbon, elevating the density of states near the Fermi level and reducing charge transfer barriers. Furthermore, pouch cell testing demonstrates outstanding flexibility and mechanical resilience. This study provides a cost-effective and scalable strategy for high-performance AZIBs, leveraging both experimental and theoretical validations.

Dimethylphenols serve as important intermediates in synthesizing pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, yet traditional distillation struggles to separate their isomers due to minimal boiling point differences, and the development of melt crystallization is hampered by lacking solid—liquid equilibrium (SLE) data for some isomers. Therefore, the SLE data of both binary and ternary mixtures of 2, 3-dimethylphenol (2, 3-DMP), 3, 5-dimethylphenol (3, 5-DMP), and 3, 4-dimethylphenol (3, 4-DMP) were determined by using differential scanning calorimetry in this work. Additionally, crystallographic analysis was conducted to investigate the thermodynamic characteristics of these mixtures. The experimental results indicated that all the systems investigated in this research exhibited eutectic behavior. The experimentally obtained SLE data were well correlated with the Wilson and non-random two-liquid models. The excess thermodynamic functions were calculated to analyze the types and intensities of the molecular interactions occurring in the mixtures. Furthermore, this study developed a model for the correlation between the theoretical crystallization yield and the actual cooling yield and final yield in melt crystallization. This study has furnished reliable data essential for developing and optimizing the melt crystallization process of mixtures of 2, 3-DMP, 3, 5-DMP, and 3, 4-DMP.

The utilization of solid wastes to prepare Li₄SiO₄ based CO₂ adsorbents and thermochemical energy storage (TES) materials has recently garnered significant interest. Considering practical application conditions, the influence of CO₂ concentration and temperature fluctuations on adsorbent performance remains a key research focus. Among various waste materials, waste clay bricks are particularly suitable for Li₄SiO₄ synthesis due to their high SiO₂ content (60%% to 70%), while enabling waste valorization. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that heteroatoms present in the waste materials positively influence the CO₂ adsorption performance of Li₄SiO₄-based adsorbents. In this study, Li₄SiO₄ was synthesized for the first time directly from waste clay bricks without pretreatment. Comprehensive characterization revealed that the resulting Li₄SiO₄-based adsorbent exhibits outstanding performance:a high CO₂ capture capacity (27.9% (mass)), excellent cycling stability, and remarkable thermal energy storage capability (876.4 kJ·kg^{- 1}). These superior properties position it as one of the most promising high-temperature adsorbents for simultaneous CO₂ capture and thermal energy storage (TES) from fossil fuel flue gase. Moreover, the adsorbent maintained excellent stability under fluctuating temperature and CO₂ concentration. Even at 20% (vol) CO₂ and 500 ^◦C, it achieved a high capacity of 25.7% (mass), reaching equilibrium within 15 min. This CO₂ capture performance is truly impressive.

Data-driven deep learning modeling has been increasingly applied to quality prediction in complex chemical processes. However, the data show complex temporal features due to different residence times and strong coupling relationships among chemical entities. This study proposes a multi-scale temporal feature extraction module to extract local dynamic temporal features across different time scales and combines it with long short-term memory (LSTM) networks to capture global temporal patterns, thereby taking full advantage of available data. In addition, variable-wise channel attention is integrated into the model to enhance attention on the essential parts of the feature maps and improve predictive performance. Furthermore, by analyzing the attention weights, the model quickly identifies the key variables that significantly affect the predictions. Finally, the model is applied to a real corn starch liquefaction process and achieves an accurate product quality prediction with an R² value of 0.9392, which represents a 4% to 9% improvement over traditional models and demonstrates the superiority of the proposed approach.

Regenerative catalytic oxidizers (RCO) are widely used to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) due to their energy-saving and stability. In this study, a multi-component catalytic reaction model was constructed to numerically investigate the reaction process of hydrocarbon-containing VOCs in RCO using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. To obtain the conversion characteristics of multi-component hydrocarbons, the effects of intake load, equivalence ratio, and the composition of multi-component hydrocarbons on the flow, heat transfer, and conversion rate of the reactor were analyzed. A feasibility study plan targeting the hard-to-convert components was also proposed. The results indicated that as the load increases, the conversion rates of the various components decrease, while the reaction rates increase. Moreover, increasing the flow velocity intensifies turbulence and enhances the collision frequency between the gas and the wall surfaces. This, in turn, amplifies the resistance effect of the porous medium. As the equivalence ratio of VOCs to oxygen increases, the oxygen-deficient condition leads to a decrease in the molecular weight of the hydrocarbons involved in the reaction. The reaction temperature also shows a downward trend. A comparative analysis of the catalytic combustion characteristics of multi-component VOCs and single-component gases reveals that adding ethane and propane can facilitate methane oxidation.

Photocatalytic nitrogen fixation (PNF) is a promising alternative to the Haber-Bosch process. It achieves green ammonia production by utilizing solar energy for nitrogen fixation under mild conditions. While nanoscale photocatalysts offer enhanced performance due to their high surface area and abundant active sites, their small size makes them difficult to recover and prone to agglomeration. These bottlenecks severely limit industrial application. A promising solution is to immobilize the catalysts onto support surfaces. This paper provides a systematic review of recent advances in the design of immobilized photocatalysts for ammonia synthesis. It begins by outlining the key benefits of immobilization strategies, particularly in improving catalyst stability, recyclability, and overall photocatalytic performance. The working mechanisms and features of various immobilization techniques are then categorized and explained, covering physical adsorption/deposition, chemical bonding, in situ growth, and hybrid physico-chemical methods. Supported materials and common substrate types are also summarized. Furthermore, the widely used configurations of photoreactors suitable for immobilized systems are introduced. Finally, the review identifies current research limitations and challenges, and offers perspectives on future developments in the field of immobilized photocatalysis.

The synthesis of propylene carbonate (PC) from CO₂ and propylene oxide (PO) is a typical gas-liquid biphasic system, where gas-liquid mass transfer efficiency significantly influences CO₂ cycloaddition reactions. Here, we proposed a microchannel reaction system for the CO₂ cycloaddition reaction catalyzed by ionic liquid within an aqueous environment. The effect of liquid flow rate, temperature and residence time on gas-liquid flow pattern, catalytic performance and mass transfer were systematically investigated. The results revealed that the PC generation rate reached 560.11 mmol·ml^{- 1}·h^{- 1}) at a 50 cm of flow distance under reaction conditions of 105 ^◦C, 2.5 MPa, Q_G = 176 ml·min^{- 1} and Q_L = 0.3 ml·min^{- 1}. Variations in mass transfer rate and reaction rate at different flow distances were experimentally studied. The reaction efficiency gradually decreased with increasing flow distance, which were attributed to the reduction of mass transfer caused by decreasing bubble velocity. Optimizing bubble velocity at an appropriate position enhanced reaction efficiency by improving mass transfer, achieving a 97.7% PC yield within 2.85 min. Furthermore, a kinetic model coupling intrinsic kinetics with gas-liquid mass transfer was developed for CO₂ cycloaddition reaction. The kinetic model was applied to predict PC reaction rates in microchannel reactors at various temperatures and liquid flow rates, achieving an average relative error of 9.6%.

This article presents a new synergistic extraction system composed of Cyanex 272 (C272, bis(2, 4, 4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinic acid) and iso-octanol for Sc³⁺ separation. The proposed synergistic system possessed an Sc³⁺ extraction efficiency of 93.5% and a back-extraction efficiency of 82.7%, with selectivity coefficients of ßSc/Fe =459 and ßSc/Al =4241, which are considerably higher as compared to the current extraction systems. The extraction mechanism was studied and interpreted. The enhanced extraction efficiency is attributed to the increased hydrophobicity of the ternary complex, whereas the back-extraction efficiency can be ascribed to the attenuated stability of the complex. C272 and C272—iso-octanol systems also possess considerable surface activity, which is beneficial for the phase separation in solvent extraction. Based on the solvent extraction results, a preliminary study was conducted on polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) using the binary system for Sc³⁺ separation to avoid the formation of the third phase, achieving an optimal initial flux of PIM of 6.71 × 10^{- 4} mol·m^{- 2}·h^{- 1}. Our results provide valuable information on highly efficient Sc³⁺ separation, and the study on PIM extraction has shown a green alternative to solvent extraction.

The conversion of CO₂ into high value added chemicals via the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) reaction has attracted significant attention. The surface oxygenation environment is a significant factor influencing the performance of the catalyst. In this work, spin-polarized density-functional theory calculations have been used to investigate the adsorption and reactions of CO₂ and H to generate CH₄ and CH₃OH on Fe₅C₂(100) surfaces with varying OH*coverage. On the pure Fe₅C₂(100) surface, surface C*preferentially reacts with hydrogen to form CH₄, exposing C*vacancy. CO₂ favors adsorbing on the C*vacancy to further dissociating and activating. The co-adsorption of OH*promotes the C*cycle process by facilitating the hydrogenation of C*. The Fe₅C₂ surface with an oxide interface is favorable for reducing Fe_xO_y, thereby maintaining the dynamic stability of the surface. Therefore, surface oxidation is inevitably involved in the entire C*cycle of the FTS reaction and regulates the relative content of iron oxides and iron carbides. Our work can contribute to the rational modulation of the surface C* cycle, thereby enhancing catalyst performance.

Iron and steel industry is one of the main sources of air pollution emissions in China. The sintering process is an important link in the blast furnace ironmaking process, but it is also accompanied by a large number of pollutants. Under the background of ultra-low emissions, iron and steel enterprises urgently need to upgrade their existing processes to address the existing process in practical application problems. In this study, a steel group in Gansu Province was taken as an example. By comparing and analyzing the pollutant emission characteristics before and after the ultra-low emission retrofit, the collaborative control effect of the combined process on SO₂, NO_x, particulate matter, and dioxins after the new retrofit was systematically evaluated. The results show that after the retrofit, the concentrations of particulate matter, SO₂ and NO_xhave dropped to near-zero levels, and the dioxin removal efficiency has reached 98.87%, with all indicators being better than the national ultra-low emission standards. The study confirms that the optimal combination of multi-pollutant collaborative treatment technologies is the key to achieving efficient emission reduction, among which selective catalytic reduction technology has a particularly significant synergistic removal effect on NO_xand dioxins. This study provides an important technical reference and practical basis for the ultra-low emission retrofit of the steel industry, and has important guiding significance for promoting the green retrofit of the industry. Its ultra-low emission retrofit is of great significance for achieving green and low-carbon development.

With the development of hydrate technology, more and more applications have been appeared in many areas. However, hydrate additive is always one research hotspot, it has attracted more and more attention. The influence of two biosurfactants on CO₂ hydrate formation process were investigated. Through the investigation of experiment research, rhamnolipid and sophorolipid had the promotion effect on CO₂ hydrate formation kinetics. Hydrate gas storage reached the maximum value 32.01 (volume ratio) and conversion ratio of water to hydrate was 19.42% when sophorolipid concentration was 0.05% (mass). Hydrate gas storage capacity reached the maximum value 31.22 (volume ratio) and conversion ratio of water to hydrate was 18.94% when rhamnolipid concentration was 0.05% (mass). Through the comparison of gas storage capacity and hydrate formation rate, sophorolipid had stronger promotion effect on CO₂ hydrate formation kinetics than rhamnolipid. It increased the depth of gas hydration reaction. CO₂ hydrate formation gas was carried out under the condition of constant temperature and volume. Hydration number was considered in the hydrate calculation process. Combined with hydrate formation kinetic theory of Chen—Guo model, the hydrated gas volume was compared with remaining volume of reactor. This model could calculate the change of CO₂ hydrate gas storage capacity over time. The calculated values of gas storage was in good agreement with experimental values. So this study has the better guiding function for relevant hydrate technology application.

Rare earth (RE) Y-type zeolite was synthesized in situ by acidic co-hydrolysis route and hydrothermal method. The key process parameters were optimized based on the RE utilization rate. The effect of inducing a rotating packed bed (RPB) in premixing and crystallization on crystallinity and RE utilization rate was further investigated. The results indicate that lanthanide (La) cations are successfully introduced into the sodalite cage of Y-type zeolite. The optimized conditions are that the molar ratio of Si/La is 150, premixing for 5 h, crystallization at 90^◦C for 18 h, and calcination at 550^◦C for 3.5 h. At this stage, the RE utilization rate reaches 74.5%. Compared with the conventional stirred tank reactor (STR), RPB can effectively shorten the premixing time and crystallization time by 4.3 h and 6 h, improve the crystallinity by 23% and RE utilization rate by 7.5%. The RE utilization rate is more than 80% by RPB, surpassing the effectiveness of using the one-exchange one-calcination process in the traditional liquid ion exchange process. It is expected to provide a reference for the in-situ efficient and green synthesis of RE zeolite.

Supercapacitors represent one specific class of energy storage devices that bridge the gap between traditional capacitors and batteries. In current work, δ-MnO₂ nanoflakes arrayed on electrochemically exfoliated graphene (EEG) nanosheets were easily made as one composited electrode material for boosting the charge storage performances of supercapacitors. Coupled with the fluent electron and ion transport from two-dimensional EEG nanosheets, the uniformly anchored δ-MnO₂ nanoflake arrays present high reversible capacity, superior cycling stability, and unique rate capability. As expected, the MnO₂/EEG-10 electrode delivers high specific capacitance of 190 F·g^{- 1} at 0.2 A·g^{- 1}, and holds 97.3% of its initial capacitance after 10000 cycles at 5 A·g^{- 1}. Furthermore, an asymmetrical supercapacitor using MnO₂/EEG-10 as the positive electrode achieves an energy density of 17.7 W·h·kg^{- 1} at a power density of 922.7 W·kg^{- 1} with 82.9% capacity retention upon 10000 cycles at 5 A·g^{- 1}. This work highlights the facile fabrication of high-performance MnO₂/graphene composites with excellent structure stability using graphene nanosheets as the conductive matrix.

CdS photocatalysts have broad application prospects in environmental purification, energy conversion, and organic synthesis. However, their practical use is often hindered by the rapid recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs, which limits their efficiency on various reactions. Controlling morphological structures and crystal facets engineering are effective methods to enhance the photocatalytic performance of CdS. In this work, two different forms of CdS photocatalysts were synthesized by a hydrothermal method, namely nanoflower-shaped (CdS-NF) and nanorod-shaped (CdS-NR) for hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production. The exposed crystal planes of CdS-NF are mainly (002) planes, while the accesible crystal planes of CdS-NR are notablly (1 0 1) planes. Notably, the photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide production yield of CdS-NR was high at 1225.13 μmol·h^{- 1}·g^{- 1}, which is 1.78 times higher than the H₂O₂ generation rate of CdS-NF. Moreover, through free radical capture experiments and DFT calculations, the reaction pathway was further explored. Both different configurations of cadmium sulfide based photocatalysts conform to the reaction mechanism of oxygen reduction as the main and water oxidation as the auxiliary.

Partial least squares (PLS) model maximizes the covariance between process variables and quality variables, making it widely used in quality-related fault detection. However, traditional PLS methods focus primarily on linear processes, leading to poor performance in dynamic nonlinear processes. In this paper, a novel quality-related fault detection method, named DiCAE-PLS, is developed by combining dynamic-inner convolutional autoencoder with PLS. In the proposed DiCAE-PLS method, latent features are first extracted through dynamic-inner convolutional autoencoder (DiCAE) to capture process dynamics and nonlinearity from process variables. Then, a PLS model is established to build the relationship between the extracted latent features and the final product quality. To detect quality-related faults, Hotelling's T² statistic is employed. The developed quality-related fault detection is applied to the widely used industrial benchmark of the Tennessee.

In manganese electrolysis, electrochemical oscillations and manganese dendrite growth are typical nonlinear phenomena critical for energy consumption reduction. Nonetheless, existing research lacks a deep understanding of their underlying mechanisms. In this study, we systematically explored the evolution of anode electrochemical oscillations during manganese electrolysis and designed a square wave circuit to effectively suppress oscillations and dendrite growth while reducing energy consumption. A novel four-dimensional differential equation was introduced to explore the internal dynamic mechanisms of typical nonlinear behaviors. The experimental results showed that while the evolutionary patterns of current and potential oscillation signals were consistent, their waveform directions were opposite. The square wave current effectively suppressed both electrochemical oscillations and the growth of manganese dendrites. Furthermore, compared to direct current electrolysis, the square wave current improved the current efficiency by 3.6% and reduced the energy consumption by 0.32 kW·h·kg^{- 1}.

This study investigates catalytic tar cracking over semi-coke catalysts, addressing reaction kinetics challenges by integrating experimental data with a COMSOL Multiphysics model. A multi-physics framework combines catalysis, carbon deposition, and self-consumption to analyze toluene (tar model compound) removal. The model evaluates intrinsic catalytic activity, porosity evolution, and porous media flow, revealing that toluene conversion is governed by diffusion/convective mass transfer, homogeneous reactions, and surface reactions influenced by dynamic carbon deposition/removal. Increasing temperature from 973 to 1173 K enhances gas-film heat and mass transfer coefficient, accelerating tar cracking rates and extending catalyst lifetime. Elevated temperatures improve gas-solid phase heat/mass transfer, promoting efficient tar removal during syngas purification. The results highlight the interplay between reaction kinetics, carbon deposition dynamics, and transport phenomena in optimizing semi-coke catalyst performance under high-temperature conditions.

Digital twin technology brings more opportunities and challenges to chemical engineering in both academic and industry. A complex process could have multiple digitalization needs, including simulation, monitoring, operator training, etc.; thus, a hierarchical digital twin would be a comprehensive solution to that. In this study, a novel and general framework of the digital twin is proposed for operations in process industry. With the hierarchical structure, the framework can handle various tasks driven by different roles in process industry, including managers, engineers, and operators. To complete these tasks, the framework consists of three modules: OAS(Operation Analysis System), OMS(Operation Monitoring System), and OTS (Operator Training System). Each module focuses on one unique type of demand from the staff, as well as interactions among them enabling efficient data sharing. Based on the hierarchical framework, a digital twin system is applied for one complex industrial nitration process, which successfully enhances the operation efficiency and safety in several industrial scenarios with different demands.

Economical and sustainable wastewater treatment techniques are highly demanded to alleviate the issues of clearwater scarcity globally. In this work, the acetic acid/H₂O₂(AHP)was leveraged to enrich oxygenated functional groups on the biochar surface for efficient ciprofloxacin (CIP) adsorption and biochar regeneration (In situ degradation of CIP in the spent AHP solution). The AHP-modified biochar exhibited significantly enhanced CIP adsorption capacity, about 22 times that of the pristine biochar. The optimized modification condition (acetic acid/H₂O₂: 2.11, temperature: 45 ^◦C, and time: 12 h) was screened by the response surface method, reaching the highest CIP adsorption capacity of 86.26 mg·g^{- 1}. Characterization results revealed that the content of carboxyl―C=O―O was enhanced in AHP-modified biochar, which contributed to efficient CIP adsorption by the electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interaction. The adsorption of modified biochar to CIP molecules was a spontaneous endothermic process, and in line with the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir isotherm model. Moreover, the biochar modification process enabled the spent AHP solution with a strong oxidizing agent of peracetic acid (PAA), which can be employed to degrade adsorbed CIP for biochar in-situ generation. This work tailored a closed-loop strategy for biochar oxidation, contaminant adsorption, and biochar regeneration, highlighting a viable route for sustainable wastewater treatment.

Pyrolysis technology has emerged as a promising method for converting waste polyurethane (WPU) from waste refrigerators into high-value chemicals. In this study, the copper (Cu)-assisted pyrolysis strategy was employed to enhance the thermal degradation efficiency and product quality of WPU. Kinetic analysis revealed that the activation energy (E_a) of the Cu-assisted pyrolysis was 136.64 kJ·mol^{- 1} and Cu-assisted pyrolysis was controlled by the combined processes of diffusion, nucleation and phase boundary reactions. Comprehensive product analysis, including gas chromatography—mass spectrometry and thermogravimetric Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy—mass spectrometry suggested that Cu promoted the cleavage of urethane bonds and accelerated the decarboxylation of isocyanates, increasing the yields of aniline and ethanol at lower temperatures. Meanwhile, Cu effectively suppressed the formation of halogenated and heterocyclic compounds by promoting the cleavage of C—X (X = Cl, F) bonds through electron transfer interactions. Thus, the E_a is decreased and the halogenated compounds is reduced. This work provides the theoretical basis for converting waste to high-valued products through co-pyrolysis techniques.

The liquid-only transfer dividing wall column (LDWC) offers a promising path for industrializing dividing wall columns by simplifying vapor split control. However, their energy efficiency is insufficient due to the addition of heat at the bottom and its removal at the top. Therefore, developing an effective strategy to enhance the energy efficiency of the entire LDWC system is crucial. This work investigates the intensification of LDWC based on the column grand composite curve (CGCC) and thermodynamic analysis, proposing a novel intensification strategy to improve energy efficiency effectively. An optimization model with four blocks is developed to minimize the total annual cost (TAC) of the intensified LDWC. Energy, exergy, economic, and environmental analyses are used to evaluate its performance. Ternary mixtures with different easy separation indexes (ESI) are selected as illustrative examples. For mixtures with ESI ≤1, the optimal configuration involves partial feed preheating, compressors and intermediate reboilers on both side sections, along with optimized operating pressure. This setup leads to significant reductions in total energy consumption, TAC, and gas emissions by 43.80%, 28.08%, and 42.85% for ESI = 1, and by 46.17%, 29.06%, and 45.35% for ESI ＜1, respectively, when compared to conventional distillation sequences (CDS). For mixtures with ESI ＞1, the best performance is achieved by implementing partial feed preheating and modifications only to the right section. This results in reductions of 21.64% in energy consumption, 16.26% in TAC, and 21.51% in gas emissions when compared to CDS. In all cases, the optimal configurations show the lowest lost work and minimum work, indicating an improved thermodynamic performance.