Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Xiao Liu, Yunfei Li, Rong Zhang, Lulu Huangfu, Guihong Du, Qisen Xiang
Summary: The combined treatment of plasma-activated water (PAW) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) showed significant antifungal effects against Saccharomyces cerevisiae by causing oxidative damage to cell membranes and abnormal mitochondrial membrane potential, eventually leading to cell death. This study demonstrates the potential application of PAW combined with SLES as an alternative disinfection method.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Wei Fang, Yiming Yang, Chen Wang, Panyue Zhang
Summary: This study investigated the combination pretreatment of sodium citrate and heating to enhance volatile fatty acid production during anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge. The results showed that the combined pretreatment resulted in significantly increased VFA yield and improved ratio of acetate and butyrate.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Wu-yang Zhou, Qian Fang, Wen-xue Ding, Zi-long Xiao, Fan Luo, Peng-fei Ren, Guang-hua Wang
Summary: This study evaluated the feasibility of a combination of free nitrous acid (FNA) and sodium citrate (SC) pretreatment to promote hydrolysis and fermentation of waste activated sludge (WAS). The results showed that the combined treatment of FNA and SC could effectively increase organic compound release rate, enrich acid-producing bacteria, and change the activities of key enzymes.
JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Zuwang Bian, Guowang Jin, Tao Ji
Summary: Utilizing a combined activator of Ca(OH)2 and Na2CO3, this study investigated the effect of combined activator content on the performance of alkali-activated ferronickel slag system. The workability decreases with the increase of Na2O equivalent, while compressive strength first increases and then decreases, with the optimal Na2O equivalent identified as 5%.
CEMENT & CONCRETE COMPOSITES
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Kanhaiya Lal Maurya, Ganesh Swain, Ravi Kumar Sonwani, Ankur Verma, Ram Sharan Singh
Summary: This study focuses on the treatment of dye-containing wastewater using modified biocarriers in packed bed bioreactors. Lysinibacillus sp. immobilized polyurethane foam combined with activated carbon and sodium alginate was used for the biodegradation of Congo red dye, achieving a high dye removal efficiency.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Ya-Juan Liu
Summary: A laboratory-scale flat-sheet ceramic microfiltration membrane system was developed to investigate the membrane fouling behaviors and mechanisms of sodium alginate in the presence of aeration and powdered activated carbon. The results showed that both aeration and PAC-aeration scouring significantly improved the membrane fouling of SA.
WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xinqiang Chang, Tao Lin, Jiachen Mo, Hang Xu, Hui Tao, Wei Liu
Summary: The Fe(III)-UV/SPC process, which combines pre-coagulation-sedimentation with ultraviolet activated sodium percarbonate, shows improved removal rates of organic compounds and reduced UF membrane fouling, leading to enhanced safety of rural drinking water. This process allows for a lower dosage of SPC, effectively disrupts the cake layer structure on the UF membrane, reduces contaminant concentration, and alleviates membrane fouling.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Ahmed Y. Radeef, Zainab Z. Ismail
Summary: Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a modern technique for treating industrial wastewater and converting organic content to bioenergy. This study investigates the modifications of MFCs using nanomaterials and evaluates their performance in terms of organic content removal efficiency and bioenergy generation. The results demonstrate that the modified MFCs show improved performance in both organic content removal efficiency and power output.
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Lihua Sun, Junyao Zhu, Pengfei Shi, Yu Ding, Cuimin Feng
Summary: The combination of three oxidants with PAC and UF can effectively reduce ARGs in the secondary effluent, with the NaClO-PAC-UF process showing the best removal effect on both cell-associated and cell-free ARGs.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
F. Gao, Ji Hong Yang, Bo Liu, Rui Zhang, Meng Zhang, Y. Geng
Summary: The combination of valproic acid and decitabine can significantly reduce the invasion and metastasis ability of liver cancer cells, increase the expression of E-cadherin protein and the expression level of p53, and inhibit these effects by the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activator anisomycin.
INDIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Organic
Jonas Everaert, Maarten Debruyne, Flore Vanden Bussche, Kristof Van Hecke, Thomas S. A. Heugebaert, Pascal Van der Voort, Veronique Van Speybroeck, Christian Stevens
Summary: This paper presents the synthesis of new nitrile-functionalized N-heterocyclic ligands, which vary in the extent of the aromatic system and denticity. These ligands can be used for rational design of enhanced support materials in catalysis.
SYNTHESIS-STUTTGART
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Pierre Quinodoz, Alexandre Lumbroso, Mathilde Lachia, Claudio Screpanti, Stefano Rendine, Beyza Horoz, Mert Bozoflu, Saron Catak, Raymonde Fonne-Pfister, Katrin Hermann, Alain De Mesmaeker
Summary: A new class of signaling molecules called strigolactams has been discovered, showing strong potential to induce the germination of the parasitic weed O. cumana and displaying enhanced chemical and soil stability. The stereoselective synthesis of these strigolactams has been achieved, which highlights the significant influence of stereochemistry on compound activity. Stability studies in soil reveal that stereoisomers have different degradation kinetics, emphasizing the importance of stereochemistry.
HELVETICA CHIMICA ACTA
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Stephen E. Brown, Ioanna Mantaloufa, Ryan T. Andrews, Thomas J. Barnes, Martin R. Lees, Frank De Proft, Ana V. Cunha, Sebastian D. Pike
Summary: The molecular titanium-oxo cluster [Ti6O6((OPr)-Pr-i)(6)((O2CBu)-Bu-t)(6)] (1) can be activated by UV light to produce a mixed valent (photoreduced) Ti (iii/iv) cluster, along with alcohol and ketone organic products. Mechanistic studies show a two-electron mechanism utilizing the cluster structure for multielectron reactions. The photoreduced products [Ti6O6((OPr)-Pr-i)(4)((O2CBu)-Bu-t)(6)(sol)(2)] can be isolated and characterized, and undergo onward oxidation under air. The redox reactivity described is only possible in a cluster with multiple Ti sites.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Sander Vandenhaute, Maarten Cools-Ceuppens, Simon DeKeyser, Toon Verstraelen, Veronique Van Speybroeck
Summary: In this study, an incremental learning scheme is proposed to construct accurate and data-efficient machine learning potentials for metal-organic framework materials. The scheme combines equivariant neural network potentials with parallelized enhanced sampling and on-the-fly training to explore and learn the phase space iteratively. With only a few hundred single-point density functional theory evaluations per material, accurate and transferable potentials are obtained, even for flexible frameworks with multiple structurally different phases. This incremental learning scheme is universally applicable and may pave the way to model framework materials in larger spatiotemporal windows with higher accuracy.
NPJ COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sander Borgmans, Sven M. J. Rogge, Juul S. De Vos, Pascal van der Voort, Veronique Van Speybroeck
Summary: Soft porous crystals with stimuli responsiveness are widely studied for various applications. However, the structural flexibility in 3D covalent organic frameworks (COFs) is not well understood. This study investigates the factors affecting the phase transformations of diamondoid COFs, including structural decoration, interpenetration, temperature, and guest adsorption. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the design principles for flexible diamondoid COFs.
COMMUNICATIONS CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Maarten Debruyne, Sander Borgmans, Sambhu Radhakrishnan, Eric Breynaert, Henk Vrielinck, Karen Leus, Andreas Laemont, Juul De Vos, Kuber Singh Rawat, Siebe Vanlommel, Hannes Rijckaert, Hadi Salemi, Jonas Everaert, Flore Vanden Bussche, Dirk Poelman, Rino Morent, Nathalie De Geyter, Pascal Van Der Voort, Veronique Van Speybroeck, Christian V. Stevens
Summary: Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a new type of photoactive organic semiconductors with ordered structures and high surface areas. The band gaps of COFs can be tuned by the choice of building blocks and linkages, making them tailor-made for specific (photocatalytic) applications. However, there are still many unexplored building blocks for COFs as photocatalytic moieties, and the scope of photocatalyzed reactions by COFs is limited.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Masahiko Yoshimura, Pierre Quinodoz, Lucia Reyes Mendez, Amandine Kolleth, Sarah Sulzer-Mosse, Thomas Vent-Schmidt, Ulfet Karadeniz Yezer, Saron Catak, Alain De Mesmaeker
Summary: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are important molecules in science and technology. Amino-substituted PAHs have potential for use in materials science. However, current synthetic methods limit the diversity of amino-substituted PAH structures.
HELVETICA CHIMICA ACTA
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Pieter Cnudde, Michel Waroquier, Veronique Van Speybroeck
Summary: The influence of pore topology and acid strength on the adsorption of (iso)butene in Bronsted acid zeolites has been studied using calculations and simulations. The adsorbed intermediates - physisorbed alkene, chemisorbed carbenium ion, and alkoxide - were evaluated for different zeolite topologies and acid site strengths. The stabilization of the carbenium ion depends on zeolite confinement and acid site strength, while alkoxides are not found at high temperature. The adsorption energies and protonation barriers can be predicted using universal descriptors such as dispersion component and ammonia adsorption energy.
CATALYSIS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Alexander E. J. Hoffman, Irena Senkovska, Leila Abylgazina, Volodymyr Bon, Veronika Grzimek, Anna Maria Dominic, Margarita Russina, Marvin A. Kraft, Inez Weidinger, Wolfgang G. Zeier, Veronique Van Speybroeck, Stefan Kaskel
Summary: This study utilizes spectroscopic techniques and density functional theory calculations to investigate the vibrational properties of DUT-8(M) materials with different metal nodes (M = Ni, Co, Zn, Cu). Experimental results show that the closed pore phase of the Ni-based compound is stiffer than those containing Co and Zn, while the open pore phase is softer. Theoretical calculations suggest that changing the metal atom mainly affects the phonon modes inducing changes in the paddle wheel unit. These findings provide valuable insights into the flexibility and phase transition mechanism of switchable MOFs.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Alexander E. J. Hoffman, Rafikul Ali Saha, Sander Borgmans, Pascal Puech, Tom Braeckevelt, Maarten B. J. Roeffaers, Julian A. A. Steele, Johan Hofkens, Veronique Van Speybroeck
Summary: Metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) have excellent properties for optoelectronic devices, but their long-term stability and phase transitions need to be understood. This study used GIWAXS, Raman spectroscopy, and theoretical calculations to investigate the structural phase transitions and phonon modes in CsPbBr3. The results provided direct evidence for the existence of these phase transitions and identified the Raman active phonon modes. This work enhances our understanding of the structure and lattice dynamics of CsPbBr3 and similar MHPs.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ramon Alain Miranda-Quintana, Alberto Vela, Frank De Proft, Marco Martinez Gonzalez, Jose L. Gazquez
Summary: The hard/soft acid/base (HSAB) principle is fundamental to understanding chemical reactivity preferences. However, the local HSAB principle often fails in making accurate predictions for regioselectivity preferences. By considering both the charge transferred between reacting centers and the charge reorganization within non-reacting parts of the molecule, we propose different reorganization models and corresponding regioselectivity rules.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jonas Everaert, Karen Leus, Hannes Rijckaert, Maarten Debruyne, Kristof Van Hecke, Rino Morent, Nathalie De Geyter, Veronique Van Speybroeck, Pascal Van Der Voort, Christian V. Stevens
Summary: Covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) based on polydentate ligands are promising catalyst supports that combine the reactivity of homogeneous catalysts with the robustness and recyclability of heterogeneous ones. In this study, a rhodium (III) complex was immobilized on a bipyridine-based CTF for the transfer hydrogenation of N-heteroarenes in water using sodium formate as the hydrogen source. The immobilized catalyst showed excellent activity for various quinoxalines and other N-heteroarenes, and maintained high activity during recycling, making it suitable for continuous flow synthesis.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Juul S. De Vos, Sander Borgmans, Pascal Van Der Voort, Sven M. J. Rogge, Veronique Van Speybroeck
Summary: This article introduces a database called ReDD-COFFEE, which contains 268,687 covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with accompanying ab initio derived force fields that outperform generic ones. The database provides a large number of computer-ready structures with high diversity in terms of geometric properties, linker cores, and linkage types. Additionally, the textural properties of the database are analyzed and the most promising COFs for vehicular methane storage are identified. By making the database freely accessible, it is hoped that it can inspire others to further explore the potential of these intriguing functional materials.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Mercedes Alonso, Tom Bettens, Jochen Eeckhoudt, Paul Geerlings, Frank De Proft
Summary: Mechanochemistry has undergone a renaissance in recent years, with a remarkable interplay between theory and experiment at the molecular level. Quantum mechanochemistry has incorporated various quantum-chemical methods to investigate the impact of external mechanical forces on molecular properties. This contribution provides an overview of recent work on quantum mechanochemistry, covering fundamental topics on reactivity descriptors and applied topics on molecular force probes and stereoselectivity tuning.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Aslihan Hepguler, Pelin Ulukan, Saron Catak
Summary: In this study, the thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) properties of emitters with sulfone-based acceptor moieties were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) methods. The focus was on three important structural parameters that affect the efficiency of intersystem crossing (ISC) and reverse intersystem crossing (RISC).
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)