China's carbon peak greatly impacts global climate targets. Limited studies have comprehensively analyzed the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, changing emission network, and recent carbon ...intensity (CI) reduction on the carbon peak and the corresponding mitigation implications. Using a unique dataset at different levels, we project China's CO
emission by 2035 and analyze the time, volume, driver patterns, complex emission network, and policy implications of China's carbon peak in the post- pandemic era. We develop an ensemble time-series model with machine learning approaches as the projection benchmark, and show that China's carbon peak will be achieved by 2021-2026 with > 80% probability. Most Chinese cities and counties have not achieved carbon peaks response to the priority-peak policy and the current implementation of CI reduction should thus be strengthened. While there is a "trade off" between the application of carbon emission reduction technology and economic recovery in the post-pandemic era, a close cooperation of interprovincial CO
emission is also warranted.
Tight gas belongs to unconventional gas reservoirs, and to obtain high gas production, it needs to be fractured and reformed. After the construction is completed, a large amount of flowback fluid is ...produced. In order to reduce the cost of flowback fluid treatment and avoid environmental pollution, a slippery water system with flowback fluid is usually used on the site of hydraulic fracturing. Almost all flowback fluids contain high‐order cations such as calcium ions, magnesium ions, iron ions, and a large amount of suspended solids. Some flowback fluids contain incomplete gel‐breaking micelles and unseparated condensate oil. The performance of the viscosity‐reducing and slippery water system with flowback fluid as the base fluid is poor, usually manifested as low viscosity of the slippery water, low friction reduction rate, and high formation damage. To study the effect of tight gas fracturing flowback fluid on the performance of modified polyacrylamide viscosity‐reducing and slippery water system, this paper found through cryo‐electron microscopy scanning experiments that the flowback fluid made the modified polyacrylamide molecular chain unable to form a complex network structure and showed the phenomenon of reduced strength and aggregation. The effects of mineralization degree, calcium and magnesium ions, divalent and trivalent iron ions, suspended solids, pH value, and oil content on the viscosity, friction reduction performance, and rock damage of the viscosity‐reducing and slippery water system were analyzed experimentally. It was found that the viscosity of the viscosity‐reducing and slippery water system was mainly affected by divalent iron ions, calcium and magnesium ions and other divalent cations; the friction reduction rate was mainly affected by the content of suspended solids and oil content; and the rock damage was mainly affected by the pH value and the content of suspended solids. Based on this, recommended parameters for reusing tight gas fracturing flowback fluid are given to guide the smooth progress of hydraulic fracturing construction on‐site.
Two‐dimensional (2D) materials are promising candidates for advanced water purification membranes. A new kind of lamellar membrane is based on a stack of 2D MXene nanosheets. Starting from compact ...Ti3AlC2, delaminated nanosheets of the composition Ti3C2Tx with the functional groups T (O, OH, and/or F) can be produced by etching and ultrasonication and stapled on a porous support by vacuum filtration. The MXene membrane supported on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) substrate shows excellent water permeance (more than 1000 L m−2 h−1 bar−1) and favorable rejection rate (over 90 %) for molecules with sizes larger than 2.5 nm. The water permeance through the MXene membrane is much higher than that of the most membranes with similar rejections. Long‐time operation also reveals the outstanding stability of the MXene membrane for water purification.
A lamellar MXene membrane formed of two‐dimensional Ti3C2TX MXene nanosheets (see picture; purple sheets) with colloidal Fe(OH)3 (yellow spheres) as intercalator exhibits an excellent water permeance (more than 1000 L m−2 h−1 bar−1). The membrane, which was formed on anodic Al2O3, also has good stability and a high rejection rate (over 90 %) for molecules with sizes larger than 2.5 nm.
In bacterial cells, histidine kinases (HKs) are receptors that monitor environmental and intracellular stimuli. HKs and their cognate response regulators constitute two-component signalling systems ...(TCSs) that modulate cellular homeostasis through reversible protein phosphorylation. Here the authors show that the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris responds to osmostress conditions by regulating the activity of a HK (VgrS) via irreversible, proteolytic modification. This regulation is mediated by a periplasmic, PDZ-domain-containing protease (Prc) that cleaves the N-terminal sensor region of VgrS. Cleavage of VgrS inhibits its autokinase activity and regulates the ability of the cognate response regulator (VgrR) to bind promoters of downstream genes, thus promoting bacterial adaptation to osmostress.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated and consumed in living organism for normal metabolism. Paradoxically, the overproduction and/or mismanagement of ROS have been involved in pathogenesis and ...progression of various human diseases. Here, we reported a two-dimensional (2D) vanadium carbide (V
C) MXene nanoenzyme (MXenzyme) that can mimic up to six naturally-occurring enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), thiol peroxidase (TPx) and haloperoxidase (HPO). Based on these enzyme-mimicking properties, the constructed 2D V
C MXenzyme not only possesses high biocompatibility but also exhibits robust in vitro cytoprotection against oxidative stress. Importantly, 2D V
C MXenzyme rebuilds the redox homeostasis without perturbing the endogenous antioxidant status and relieves ROS-induced damage with benign in vivo therapeutic effects, as demonstrated in both inflammation and neurodegeneration animal models. These findings open an avenue to enable the use of MXenzyme as a remedial nanoplatform to treat ROS-mediated inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.
Due to the restricted use and ban of brominated flame retardants, organophosphorus compounds (OPs), extensively used as flame retardants and plasticizers, are ubiquitous in various environmental ...compartments worldwide. The present study shows that the release of OPs from a wide variety of commercial products and wastewater discharge might be considered as primary emission sources and that high potential of long-range atmospheric transport and persistence of OPs would be responsible for their presence in various matrices on a global scale. The occurrence and environmental behaviors of OPs in diverse matrices (e.g., dust, air, water, sediment, soil and biota) are reviewed. Human exposures to OPs via dermal contact, dust ingestion, inhalation and dietary intake are comprehensively evaluated. Finally, this study identifies gaps in the existing issues and generates a future agenda for the emerging contaminants OPs.
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•Organophosphorus compounds (OPs) are ubiquitous in various environmental matrices worldwide.•Release of OPs from products and wastewater discharge are treated as primary emission sources.•High potentials of LRAT and persistence of OPs account for their global occurrence.•Dust intake is more important than inhalation and food intake for human, especially for toddlers.•Research gaps are concluded to define the directions and the primary emphasis of future studies.
The emission sources, environmental occurrence, toxicity and human exposure of organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizers are fully reviewed.
In order to deal with cadmium (Cd(II)) pollution, three modified biochar materials: alkaline treatment of biochar (BC-NaOH), KMnO4 impregnation of biochar (BC-MnOx) and FeCl3 magnetic treatment of ...biochar (BC-FeOx), were investigated. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Boehm titration, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to determine the characteristics of adsorbents and explore the main adsorption mechanism. The results show that manganese oxide particles are carried successfully within the biochar, contributing to micropore creation, boosting specific surface area and forming innersphere complexes with oxygen-containing groups, while also increasing the number of oxygen-containing groups. The adsorption sites created by the loaded manganese oxide, rather than specific surface areas, play the most important roles in cadmium adsorption. Batch adsorption experiments demonstrate a Langmuir model fit for Cd(II), and BC-MnOx provided the highest sorption capacity (81.10 mg g−1). The sorption kinetics of Cd(II) on adsorbents follows pseudo-second-order kinetics and the adsorption rate of the BC-MnOx material was the highest (14.46 g (mg·h)−1). Therefore, biochar modification methods involving KMnO4 impregnation may provide effective ways of enhancing Cd(II) removal from aqueous solutions.
•NaOH-treated, MnOx-loaded, and magnetic biochars were compared for Cd(II) sorption.•MnOx-biochar composite showed the highest sorption capacity for Cd(II) in solution.•MnOx-loaded biochar composite markedly changed surface areas and pore volumes.•Oxygen-containing groups were noticeably increased in MnOx-biochar composite.•Cation-exchange and cation-π bonding are main mechanisms in MnOx-biochar composite.
This paper aims to investigate efficiency performance and the dynamic evolution of industrial circular economy (ICE). We first employ the cooperative game network data envelopment analysis (DEA) to ...measure the overall efficiency, subsystem efficiency, and factor efficiency of the ICE system. Then, an extended Malmquist index (EMI) method is proposed to identify the dynamic evolution of efficiency performance over time. Unlike the standard Malmquist index method, the proposed EMI method can finally decompose the EMI of the ICE system into the square root of the product of four dynamic indicators of efficiency change and the technological progress of subsystems, providing more details and dominants underlying EMI in the ICE system. The evaluation results of China's Yangtze River Delta region over 2012–2017 show that overall efficiency of the ICE system presents obvious disparity across cities and subsystems. Besides, it is found that EMI of the ICE system presents a V-shaped fluctuation and is mainly dominated by the environmental treatment (ET) subsystem. The decline of EMI of the ICE system early in the sample period (2013–2014) is caused by serious efficiency deterioration of the ET subsystem, while its rise at the end of sample period (2016–2017) is due to the technological progress of the ET subsystem.
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•Industrial circular economy of China's Yangtze River Delta region is assessed.•The internal structure of industrial circular economy system is demonstrated.•The cooperative game network DEA is employed to measure ICE performance.•A novel extended Malmquist index is proposed for evaluating ICE performance change.
Taiwan's networking communication industry has had a clustering scale and a good position for collaboration in the global networking communication manufacturing network. This study considers whether ...Taiwan's networking communication industry can enhance its competitive advantage through supply chain management activities. In order to examine the relationships of supply chain collaboration value innovation, supply chain capability and competitive advantage, this research selects 74 firms and 465 questionnaires from the upstream, middle and downstream manufactures of Taiwan networking communication industry for research subjects, and uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify the theoretical model. Results show that the relationships among supply chain collaboration value innovation, supply chain capacity and competitive advantage can have a positive impact, and that supply chain capability is a full mediator. Moreover, supply chain echelons (upper, middle and downstream) have some moderating effects in these relationships.
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•Taiwan's networking communication industry has a good position for collaboration in the global manufacturing network.•This study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify the theoretical model.•Results show that the relationships among SCCVI, SCC and CA can have a positive impact.•Supply chain capability is a full mediator.•Moreover, supply chain echelons have some moderating effects in these relationships.
Aqueous zinc‐ion battery (AZIB) has become a promising candidate in grid energy storage due to its low cost, environmental friendliness, and high safety. However, AZIB usually suffers from ...uncontrollable zinc deposition and dendrite growth as well as hydrogen evolution and passivation on the surface of zinc anode. To address the above issues, a unique 3D Zn alloy foam anode built from Zn–Sn–Pb alloy in 3D Cu foam is constructed by a facile hot dipping method. The proposed 3D Zn alloy anode, through introducing elements Sn and Pb, enhances the hydrogen evolution overpotential, reduces the corrosion current, greatly mitigates the self‐corrosion in the electrolyte, and efficiently inhibits the growth of Zn dendrite during cycling. Importantly, such Zn alloy engineering together with a 3D Cu foam current collector enables highly stable Zn storage properties. The full cell assembled using the proposed 3D Zn alloy anode and MnO2 nanosheet cathode exhibits superior reversible capacity (103.4 mAh g−1) and excellent cycling stability (capacity retention of 87% over 4000 cycles) at 1.8 A g−1.
A facile alloying strategy and 3D foam structure are developed to synergistically construct stable Zn anode for aqueous Zn‐ion batteries. Such a 3D Zn alloy anode delivers superior cyclability both in symmetric and full cells through greatly mitigating self‐corrosion of Zn anode, and simultaneously inhibiting the growth of Zn dendrite, showing a great potential for practical applications of Zn‐ion batteries.
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