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- ItemPolymer Brushes on Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Patterning and as a SERS Active Sensing Layer via Incorporated Nanoparticles(Washington, DC : Soc., 2020) Sheng, Wenbo; Li, Wei; Tan, Deming; Zhang, Panpan; Zhang, En; Sheremet, Evgeniya; Schmidt, Bernhard V.K.J.; Feng, Xinliang; Rodriguez, Raul D.; Jordan, Rainer; Amin, IhsanGraphitic carbon nitride (gCN) has a broad range of promising applications, from energy harvesting and storage to sensing. However, most of the applications are still restricted due to gCN poor dispersibility and limited functional groups. Herein, a direct photografting of gCN using various polymer brushes with tailorable functionalities via UV photopolymerization at ambient conditions is demonstrated. The systematic study of polymer brush-functionalized gCN reveals that the polymerization did not alter the inherent structure of gCN. Compared to the pristine gCN, the gCN-polymer composites show good dispersibility in various solvents such as water, ethanol, and tetrahydrofuran (THF). Patterned polymer brushes on gCN can be realized by employing photomask and microcontact printing technology. The polymer brushes with incorporated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on gCN can act as a multifunctional recyclable active sensing layer for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) detection and photocatalysis. This multifunctionality is shown in consecutive cycles of SERS and photocatalytic degradation processes that can be applied to in situ monitor pollutants, such as dyes or pharmaceutical waste, with high chemical sensitivity as well as to water remediation. This dual functionality provides a significant advantage to our AgNPs/polymer-gCN with regard to state-of-the-art systems reported so far that only allow SERS pollutant detection but not their decomposition. These results may provide a new methodology for the covalent functionalization of gCN and may enable new applications in the field of catalysis, biosensors, and, most interestingly, environmental remediation. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.
- ItemControlled synthesis of mussel-inspired Ag nanoparticle coatings with demonstrated in vitro and in vivo antibacterial properties(Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier Science, 2021) Wang, Xiaowei; Xu, Kehui; Cui, Wendi; Yang, Xi; Maitz, Manfred F.; Li, Wei; Li, Xiangyang; Chen, JialongThe in-situ formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) via dopamine-reduction of Ag+ has been widely utilized for titanium implants to introduce antibacterial properties. In previous studies, the preparation of AgNPs has focused on controlling the feeding concentrations, while the pH of the reaction solution was ignored. Herein, we systematically determined the influence of various pH (4, 7, 10) and Ag+ concentrations (0.01, 0.1 mg/mL) on the AgNPs formation, followed by the evaluation of the antibacterial properties in vitro and in vivo. The results revealed that an alkaline environment was favourable for AgNP formation and resulted in more particles. Although the AgNPs bearing Ti had lower biocompatibilities, it was significantly improved after 7 days of mineralization in simulated body fluid. The outstanding antibacterial property of the AgNPs was well maintained after one day and seven days of implantation. Moreover, 3D micro-CT modelling showed that the pH 10/0.1 group exhibited remarkable osteogenesis, which may be due to their strong antibacterial properties and ability to promote mineralization. Therefore, we have demonstrated that the solution pH was as important as the feeding Ag+ concentration in determining AgNP formation, and it has paved the way for developing various AgNP-loaded surfaces that could meet different antibacterial needs.
- ItemSpatially explicit analysis identifies significant potential for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in China([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2021) Xing, Xiaofan; Wang, Rong; Bauer, Nico; Ciais, Philippe; Cao, Junji; Chen, Jianmin; Tang, Xu; Wang, Lin; Yang, Xin; Boucher, Olivier; Goll, Daniel; Peñuelas, Josep; Janssens, Ivan A.; Balkanski, Yves; Clark, James; Ma, Jianmin; Pan, Bo; Zhang, Shicheng; Ye, Xingnan; Wang, Yutao; Li, Qing; Luo, Gang; Shen, Guofeng; Li, Wei; Yang, Yechen; Xu, SiqingAs China ramped-up coal power capacities rapidly while CO2 emissions need to decline, these capacities would turn into stranded assets. To deal with this risk, a promising option is to retrofit these capacities to co-fire with biomass and eventually upgrade to CCS operation (BECCS), but the feasibility is debated with respect to negative impacts on broader sustainability issues. Here we present a data-rich spatially explicit approach to estimate the marginal cost curve for decarbonizing the power sector in China with BECCS. We identify a potential of 222 GW of power capacities in 2836 counties generated by co-firing 0.9 Gt of biomass from the same county, with half being agricultural residues. Our spatially explicit method helps to reduce uncertainty in the economic costs and emissions of BECCS, identify the best opportunities for bioenergy and show the limitations by logistical challenges to achieve carbon neutrality in the power sector with large-scale BECCS in China.
- ItemMapping the yields of lignocellulosic bioenergy crops from observations at the global scale(Katlenburg-Lindau : Copernics Publications, 2020) Li, Wei; Ciais, Philippe; Stehfest, Elke; van Vuuren, Detlef; Popp, Alexander; Arneth, Almut; Di Fulvio, Fulvio; Doelma, Jonathan; Humpenöder, Florian; Harper, Anna B.; Park, Taejin; Makowski, David; Havlik, Petr; Obersteiner, Michael; Wang, Jingmeng; Krause, Andreas; Liu, WenfengMost scenarios from integrated assessment models (IAMs) that project greenhouse gas emissions include the use of bioenergy as a means to reduce CO2 emissions or even to achieve negative emissions (together with CCS carbon capture and storage). The potential amount of CO2 that can be removed from the atmosphere depends, among others, on the yields of bioenergy crops, the land available to grow these crops and the efficiency with which CO2 produced by combustion is captured. While bioenergy crop yields can be simulated by models, estimates of the spatial distribution of bioenergy yields under current technology based on a large number of observations are currently lacking. In this study, a random-forest (RF) algorithm is used to upscale a bioenergy yield dataset of 3963 observations covering Miscanthus, switchgrass, eucalypt, poplar and willow using climatic and soil conditions as explanatory variables. The results are global yield maps of five important lignocellulosic bioenergy crops under current technology, climate and atmospheric CO2 conditions at a 0:5 0:5 spatial resolution. We also provide a combined "best bioenergy crop" yield map by selecting one of the five crop types with the highest yield in each of the grid cells, eucalypt and Miscanthus in most cases. The global median yield of the best crop is 16.3 tDMha1 yr1 (DM dry matter). High yields mainly occur in the Amazon region and southeastern Asia. We further compare our empirically derived maps with yield maps used in three IAMs and find that the median yields in our maps are 50% higher than those in the IAM maps. Our estimates of gridded bioenergy crop yields can be used to provide bioenergy yields for IAMs, to evaluate land surface models or to identify the most suitable lands for future bioenergy crop plantations. The 0:5 0:5 global maps for yields of different bioenergy crops and the best crop and for the best crop composition generated from this study can be download from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3274254 (Li, 2019). © 2019 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.
- ItemIn Situ N-Doped Graphene and Mo Nanoribbon Formation from Mo2Ti2C3 MXene Monolayers(Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2020) Mendes, Rafael Gregorio; Ta, Huy Quang; Yang, Xiaoqin; Li, Wei; Bachmatiuk, Alicja; Choi, Jin-Ho; Gemming, Thomas; Anasori, Babak; Lijun, Liu; Fu, Lei; Liu, Zhongfan; Rümmeli, Mark HermannSince the advent of monolayered 2D transition metal carbide and nitrides (MXenes) in 2011, the number of different monolayer systems and the study thereof have been on the rise. Mo2Ti2C3 is one of the least studied MXenes and new insights to this material are of value to the field. Here, the stability of Mo2Ti2C3 under electron irradiation is investigated. A transmission electron microscope (TEM) is used to study the structural and elemental changes in situ. It is found that Mo2Ti2C3 is reasonably stable for the first 2 min of irradiation. However, structural changes occur thereafter, which trigger increasingly rapid and significant rearrangement. This results in the formation of pores and two new nanomaterials, namely, N-doped graphene membranes and Mo nanoribbons. The study provides insight into the stability of Mo2Ti2C3 monolayers against electron irradiation, which will allow for reliable future study of the material using TEM. Furthermore, these findings will facilitate further research in the rapidly growing field of electron beam driven chemistry and engineering of nanomaterials. © 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim