WorldWideScience

Sample records for carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle

  1. Nitrogen and Oxygen Isotopic Studies of the Marine Nitrogen Cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casciotti, Karen L

    2016-01-01

    The marine nitrogen cycle is a complex web of microbially mediated reactions that control the inventory, distribution, and speciation of nitrogen in the marine environment. Because nitrogen is a major nutrient that is required by all life, its availability can control biological productivity and ecosystem structure in both surface and deep-ocean communities. Stable isotopes of nitrogen and oxygen in nitrate and nitrite have provided new insights into the rates and distributions of marine nitrogen cycle processes, especially when analyzed in combination with numerical simulations of ocean circulation and biogeochemistry. This review highlights the insights gained from dual-isotope studies applied at regional to global scales and their incorporation into oceanic biogeochemical models. These studies represent significant new advances in the use of isotopic measurements to understand the modern nitrogen cycle, with implications for the study of past ocean productivity, oxygenation, and nutrient status.

  2. Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycle Modeling

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    Woo, D.; Chaoka, S.; Kumar, P.; Quijano, J. C.

    2012-12-01

    Second generation bioenergy crops, such as miscanthus (Miscantus × giganteus) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), are regarded as clean energy sources, and are an attractive option to mitigate the human-induced climate change. However, the global climate change and the expansion of perennial grass bioenergy crops have the power to alter the biogeochemical cycles in soil, especially, soil carbon storages, over long time scales. In order to develop a predictive understanding, this study develops a coupled hydrological-soil nutrient model to simulate soil carbon responses under different climate scenarios such as: (i) current weather condition, (ii) decreased precipitation by -15%, and (iii) increased temperature up to +3C for four different crops, namely miscanthus, switchgrass, maize, and natural prairie. We use Precision Agricultural Landscape Modeling System (PALMS), version 5.4.0, to capture biophysical and hydrological components coupled with a multilayer carbon and ¬nitrogen cycle model. We apply the model at daily time scale to the Energy Biosciences Institute study site, located in the University of Illinois Research Farms, in Urbana, Illinois. The atmospheric forcing used to run the model was generated stochastically from parameters obtained using available data recorded in Bondville Ameriflux Site. The model simulations are validated with observations of drainage and nitrate and ammonium concentrations recorded in drain tiles during 2011. The results of this study show (1) total soil carbon storage of miscanthus accumulates most noticeably due to the significant amount of aboveground plant carbon, and a relatively high carbon to nitrogen ratio and lignin content, which reduce the litter decomposition rate. Also, (2) the decreased precipitation contributes to the enhancement of total soil carbon storage and soil nitrogen concentration because of the reduced microbial biomass pool. However, (3) an opposite effect on the cycle is introduced by the increased

  3. Terrestrial nitrogen-carbon cycle interactions at the global scale.

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    Zaehle, S

    2013-07-05

    Interactions between the terrestrial nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) cycles shape the response of ecosystems to global change. However, the global distribution of nitrogen availability and its importance in global biogeochemistry and biogeochemical interactions with the climate system remain uncertain. Based on projections of a terrestrial biosphere model scaling ecological understanding of nitrogen-carbon cycle interactions to global scales, anthropogenic nitrogen additions since 1860 are estimated to have enriched the terrestrial biosphere by 1.3 Pg N, supporting the sequestration of 11.2 Pg C. Over the same time period, CO2 fertilization has increased terrestrial carbon storage by 134.0 Pg C, increasing the terrestrial nitrogen stock by 1.2 Pg N. In 2001-2010, terrestrial ecosystems sequestered an estimated total of 27 Tg N yr(-1) (1.9 Pg C yr(-1)), of which 10 Tg N yr(-1) (0.2 Pg C yr(-1)) are due to anthropogenic nitrogen deposition. Nitrogen availability already limits terrestrial carbon sequestration in the boreal and temperate zone, and will constrain future carbon sequestration in response to CO2 fertilization (regionally by up to 70% compared with an estimate without considering nitrogen-carbon interactions). This reduced terrestrial carbon uptake will probably dominate the role of the terrestrial nitrogen cycle in the climate system, as it accelerates the accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere. However, increases of N2O emissions owing to anthropogenic nitrogen and climate change (at a rate of approx. 0.5 Tg N yr(-1) per 1°C degree climate warming) will add an important long-term climate forcing.

  4. Oxygen etching mechanism in carbon-nitrogen (CNx) domelike nanostructures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Acuna, J. J. S.; Figueroa, C. A.; Kleinke, M. U.; Alvarez, F.; Biggemann, D.

    2008-01-01

    We report a comprehensive study involving the ion beam oxygen etching purification mechanism of domelike carbon nanostructures containing nitrogen. The CN x nanodomes were prepared on Si substrate containing nanometric nickel islands catalyzed by ion beam sputtering of a carbon target and assisting the deposition by a second nitrogen ion gun. After preparation, the samples were irradiated in situ by a low energy ion beam oxygen source and its effects on the nanostructures were studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in an attached ultrahigh vacuum chamber, i.e., without atmospheric contamination. The influence of the etching process on the morphology of the samples and structures was studied by atomic force microscopy and field emission gun-secondary electron microscopy, respectively. Also, the nanodomes were observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The oxygen atoms preferentially bond to carbon atoms by forming terminal carbonyl groups in the most reactive parts of the nanostructures. After the irradiation, the remaining nanostructures are grouped around two well-defined size distributions. Subsequent annealing eliminates volatile oxygen compounds retained at the surface. The oxygen ions mainly react with nitrogen atoms located in pyridinelike structures

  5. Electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction on nitrogen-containing multi-walled carbon nanotube modified glassy carbon electrodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vikkisk, Merilin; Kruusenberg, Ivar; Joost, Urmas; Shulga, Eugene; Tammeveski, Kaido

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Pyrolysis in the presence of urea was used for nitrogen doping of carbon nanotubes. ► N-doped carbon nanotubes were used as catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. ► N-doped carbon material showed a high catalytic activity for ORR in alkaline media. ► N-containing CNT material is an attractive cathode catalyst for alkaline membrane fuel cells. - Abstract: The electrochemical reduction of oxygen was studied on nitrogen-doped multi-walled carbon nanotube (NCNT) modified glassy carbon (GC) electrodes employing the rotating disk electrode (RDE) method. Nitrogen doping was achieved by simple pyrolysis of the carbon nanotube material in the presence of urea. The surface morphology and composition of the NCNT samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The SEM images revealed a rather uniform distribution of NCNTs on the GC electrode substrate. The XPS analysis showed a successful doping of carbon nanotubes with nitrogen species. The RDE results revealed that in alkaline solution the N-doped nanotube materials showed a remarkable electrocatalytic activity towards oxygen reduction. At low overpotentials the reduction of oxygen followed a two-electron pathway on undoped carbon nanotube modified GC electrodes, whereas on NCNT/GC electrodes a four-electron pathway of O 2 reduction predominated. The results obtained are significant for the development of nitrogen-doped carbon-based cathodes for alkaline membrane fuel cells.

  6. Carbon and nitrogen isotope variations in tree-rings as records of perturbations in regional carbon and nitrogen cycles.

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    Bukata, Andrew R; Kyser, T Kurtis

    2007-02-15

    Increasing anthropogenic pollution from urban centers and fossil fuel combustion can impact the carbon and nitrogen cycles in forests. To assess the impact of twentieth century anthropogenic pollution on forested system carbon and nitrogen cycles, variations in the carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of tree-rings were measured. Individual annual growth rings in trees from six sites across Ontario and one in New Brunswick, Canada were used to develop site chronologies of tree-ring delta 15N and delta 13C values. Tree-ring 615N values were approximately 0.5% per hundred higher and correlated with contemporaneous foliar samples from the same tree, but not with delta 15N values of soil samples. Temporal trends in carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of these tree-rings are consistent with increasing anthropogenic influence on both the carbon and nitrogen cycles since 1945. Tree-ring delta 13C values and delta 15N values are correlated at both remote and urban-proximal sites, with delta 15N values decreasing since 1945 and converging on 1% per hundred at urban-proximal sites and decreasing but not converging on a single delta 15N value in remote sites. These results indicate that temporal trends in tree-ring nitrogen and carbon isotopic compositions record the regional extent of pollution.

  7. High electrochemical capacitor performance of oxygen and nitrogen enriched activated carbon derived from the pyrolysis and activation of squid gladius chitin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raj, C. Justin; Rajesh, Murugesan; Manikandan, Ramu; Yu, Kook Hyun; Anusha, J. R.; Ahn, Jun Hwan; Kim, Dong-Won; Park, Sang Yeup; Kim, Byung Chul

    2018-05-01

    Activated carbon containing nitrogen functionalities exhibits excellent electrochemical property which is more interesting for several renewable energy storage and catalytic applications. Here, we report the synthesis of microporous oxygen and nitrogen doped activated carbon utilizing chitin from the gladius of squid fish. The activated carbon has large surface area of 1129 m2 g-1 with microporous network and possess ∼4.04% of nitrogen content in the form of pyridinic/pyrrolic-N, graphitic-N and N-oxide groups along with oxygen and carbon species. The microporous oxygen/nitrogen doped activated carbon is utilize for the fabrication of aqueous and flexible supercapacitor electrodes, which presents excellent electrochemical performance with maximum specific capacitance of 204 Fg-1 in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte and 197 Fg-1 as a flexible supercapacitor. Moreover, the device displays 100% of specific capacitance retention after 25,000 subsequent charge/discharge cycles in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte.

  8. Nitrogen attenuation of terrestrial carbon cycle response to global environmental factors

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    Atul Jain; Xiaojuan Yang; Haroon Kheshgi; A. David McGuire; Wilfred Post; David. Kicklighter

    2009-01-01

    Nitrogen cycle dynamics have the capacity to attenuate the magnitude of global terrestrial carbon sinks and sources driven by CO2 fertilization and changes in climate. In this study, two versions of the terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycle components of the Integrated Science Assessment Model (ISAM) are used to evaluate how variation in nitrogen...

  9. Biomass-Derived Oxygen and Nitrogen Co-Doped Porous Carbon with Hierarchical Architecture as Sulfur Hosts for High-Performance Lithium/Sulfur Batteries

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    Yan Zhao

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In this work, a facile strategy to synthesize oxygen and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon (ONPC is reported by one-step pyrolysis of waste coffee grounds. As-prepared ONPC possesses highly rich micro/mesopores as well as abundant oxygen and nitrogen co-doping, which is applied to sulfur hosts as lithium/sulfur batteries’ appropriate cathodes. In battery testing, the sulfur/oxygen and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon (S/ONPC composite materials reveal a high initial capacity of 1150 mAh·g−1 as well as a reversible capacity of 613 mAh·g−1 after the 100th cycle at 0.2 C. Furthermore, when current density increases to 1 C, a discharge capacity of 331 mAh·g−1 is still attainable. Due to the hierarchical porous framework and oxygen/nitrogen co-doping, the S/ONPC composite exhibits a high utilization of sulfur and good electrochemical performance via the immobilization of the polysulfides through strong chemical binding.

  10. A Nanopore-Structured Nitrogen-Doped Biocarbon Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction from Two-Step Carbonization of Lemna minor Biomass

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    Guo, Chaozhong; Li, Zhongbin; Niu, Lidan; Liao, Wenli; Sun, Lingtao; Wen, Bixia; Nie, Yunqing; Cheng, Jing; Chen, Changguo

    2016-05-01

    So far, the development of highly active and stable carbon-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) to replace commercial Pt/C catalyst is a hot topic. In this study, a new nanoporous nitrogen-doped carbon material was facilely designed by two-step pyrolysis of the renewable Lemna minor enriched in crude protein under a nitrogen atmosphere. Electrochemical measurements show that the onset potential for ORR on this carbon material is around 0.93 V (versus reversible hydrogen electrode), slightly lower than that on the Pt/C catalyst, but its cycling stability is higher compared to the Pt/C catalyst in an alkaline medium. Besides, the ORR at this catalyst approaches to a four-electron transfer pathway. The obtained ORR performance can be basically attributed to the formation of high contents of pyridinic and graphitic nitrogen atoms inside this catalyst. Thus, this work opens up the path in the ORR catalysis for the design of nitrogen-doped carbon materials utilizing aquatic plants as starting precursors.

  11. Photoperiod length paces the temporal orchestration of cell cycle and carbon-nitrogen metabolism in Crocosphaera watsonii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dron, Anthony; Rabouille, Sophie; Claquin, Pascal; Talec, Amélie; Raimbault, Virginie; Sciandra, Antoine

    2013-12-01

    We analysed the effect of photoperiod length (PPL) (16:8 and 8:16 h of light-dark regime, named long and short PPL, respectively) on the temporal orchestration of the two antagonistic, carbon and nitrogen acquisitions in the unicellular, diazotrophic cyanobacterium Crocosphaera watsonii strain WH8501 growing diazotrophically. Carbon and nitrogen metabolism were monitored at high frequency, and their patterns were compared with the cell cycle progression. The oxygen-sensitive N2 fixation process occurred mainly during the dark period, where photosynthesis cannot take place, inducing a light-dark cycle of cellular C : N ratio. Examination of circadian patterns in the cell cycle revealed that cell division occurred during the midlight period, (8 h and 4 h into the light in the long and short PPL conditions, respectively), thus timely separated from the energy-intensive diazotrophic process. Results consistently show a nearly 5 h time lag between the end of cell division and the onset of N2 fixation. Shorter PPLs affected DNA compaction of C. watsonii cells and also led to a decrease in the cell division rate. Therefore, PPL paces the growth of C. watsonii: a long PPL enhances cell division while a short PPL favours somatic growth (biomass production) with higher carbon and nitrogen cell contents. © 2013 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Onset of the aerobic nitrogen cycle during the Great Oxidation Event.

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    Zerkle, Aubrey L; Poulton, Simon W; Newton, Robert J; Mettam, Colin; Claire, Mark W; Bekker, Andrey; Junium, Christopher K

    2017-02-23

    The rise of oxygen on the early Earth (about 2.4 billion years ago) caused a reorganization of marine nutrient cycles, including that of nitrogen, which is important for controlling global primary productivity. However, current geochemical records lack the temporal resolution to address the nature and timing of the biogeochemical response to oxygenation directly. Here we couple records of ocean redox chemistry with nitrogen isotope ( 15 N/ 14 N) values from approximately 2.31-billion-year-old shales of the Rooihoogte and Timeball Hill formations in South Africa, deposited during the early stages of the first rise in atmospheric oxygen on the Earth (the Great Oxidation Event). Our data fill a gap of about 400 million years in the temporal 15 N/ 14 N record and provide evidence for the emergence of a pervasive aerobic marine nitrogen cycle. The interpretation of our nitrogen isotope data in the context of iron speciation and carbon isotope data suggests biogeochemical cycling across a dynamic redox boundary, with primary productivity fuelled by chemoautotrophic production and a nitrogen cycle dominated by nitrogen loss processes using newly available marine oxidants. This chemostratigraphic trend constrains the onset of widespread nitrate availability associated with ocean oxygenation. The rise of marine nitrate could have allowed for the rapid diversification and proliferation of nitrate-using cyanobacteria and, potentially, eukaryotic phytoplankton.

  13. Molten salt synthesis of nitrogen and oxygen enriched hierarchically porous carbons derived from biomass via rapid microwave carbonization for high voltage supercapacitors

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    Cheng, Yinfeng; Li, Baoqiang; Huang, Yanjuan; Wang, Yaming; Chen, Junchen; Wei, Daqing; Feng, Yujie; Jia, Dechang; Zhou, Yu

    2018-05-01

    Nitrogen and oxygen enriched hierarchically porous carbons (NOHPCs) derived from biomass have been successfully prepared by rapid microwave carbonization coupled with molten salt synthesis method in only 4 min. ZnCl2 plays important roles as microwave absorber, chemical activation agent and porogen in this process. NOHPC-1:10 sample possesses the maximum specific surface area of 1899 m2 g-1 with a pore volume of 1.16 cm3 g-1 and mesopore ratio of 70%, as well as nitrogen content of 5.30 wt% and oxygen content of 14.12 wt%. When evaluated as an electrode in a three-electrode system with 6 M KOH electrolyte, the material exhibits a high specific capacitance of 276 F g-1 at 0.2 A g-1, with a good rate capability of 90.9% retention at 10 A g-1. More importantly, the symmetric supercapacitor based on NOHPC-1:10 in 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte exhibits a high energy density of 13.9 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 120 W kg-1 in a wide voltage window of 0-1.6 V, an excellent cycling stability with 95% of capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles. Our strategy provides a facile and rapid way for the preparation of advanced carbon materials derived from biomass towards energy storage applications.

  14. A Natural Light/Dark Cycle Regulation of Carbon-Nitrogen Metabolism and Gene Expression in Rice Shoots.

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    Li, Haixing; Liang, Zhijun; Ding, Guangda; Shi, Lei; Xu, Fangsen; Cai, Hongmei

    2016-01-01

    Light and temperature are two particularly important environmental cues for plant survival. Carbon and nitrogen are two essential macronutrients required for plant growth and development, and cellular carbon and nitrogen metabolism must be tightly coordinated. In order to understand how the natural light/dark cycle regulates carbon and nitrogen metabolism in rice plants, we analyzed the photosynthesis, key carbon-nitrogen metabolites, and enzyme activities, and differentially expressed genes and miRNAs involved in the carbon and nitrogen metabolic pathway in rice shoots at the following times: 2:00, 6:00, 10:00, 14:00, 18:00, and 22:00. Our results indicated that more CO2 was fixed into carbohydrates by a high net photosynthetic rate, respiratory rate, and stomatal conductance in the daytime. Although high levels of the nitrate reductase activity, free ammonium and carbohydrates were exhibited in the daytime, the protein synthesis was not significantly facilitated by the light and temperature. In mRNA sequencing, the carbon and nitrogen metabolism-related differentially expressed genes were obtained, which could be divided into eight groups: photosynthesis, TCA cycle, sugar transport, sugar metabolism, nitrogen transport, nitrogen reduction, amino acid metabolism, and nitrogen regulation. Additionally, a total of 78,306 alternative splicing events have been identified, which primarily belong to alternative 5' donor sites, alternative 3' acceptor sites, intron retention, and exon skipping. In sRNA sequencing, four carbon and nitrogen metabolism-related miRNAs (osa-miR1440b, osa-miR2876-5p, osa-miR1877 and osa-miR5799) were determined to be regulated by natural light/dark cycle. The expression level analysis showed that the four carbon and nitrogen metabolism-related miRNAs negatively regulated their target genes. These results may provide a good strategy to study how natural light/dark cycle regulates carbon and nitrogen metabolism to ensure plant growth and

  15. A natural light/dark cycle regulation of carbon-nitrogen metabolism and gene expression in rice shoots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haixing Li

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Light and temperature are two particularly important environmental cues for plant survival. Carbon and nitrogen are two essential macronutrients required for plant growth and development, and cellular carbon and nitrogen metabolism must be tightly coordinated. In order to understand how the natural light/dark cycle regulates carbon and nitrogen metabolism in rice plants, we analyzed the photosynthesis, key carbon-nitrogen metabolites and enzyme activities, and differentially expressed genes and miRNAs involved in the carbon and nitrogen metabolic pathway in rice shoots at the following times: 2:00, 6:00, 10:00, 14:00, 18:00 and 22:00. Our results indicated that more CO2 was fixed into carbohydrates by a high net photosynthetic rate, respiratory rate and stomatal conductance in the daytime. Although high levels of the nitrate reductase activity, free ammonium and carbohydrates were exhibited in the daytime, the protein synthesis was not significantly facilitated by the light and temperature. In mRNA sequencing, the carbon and nitrogen metabolism-related differentially expressed genes were obtained, which could be divided into eight groups: photosynthesis, TCA cycle, sugar transport, sugar metabolism, nitrogen transport, nitrogen reduction, amino acid metabolism and nitrogen regulation. Additionally, a total of 78,306 alternative splicing events have been identified, which primarily belong to alternative 5' donor sites, alternative 3' acceptor sites, intron retention and exon skipping. In sRNA sequencing, four carbon and nitrogen metabolism-related miRNAs (osa-miR1440b, osa-miR2876-5p, osa-miR1877 and osa-miR5799 were determined to be regulated by natural light/dark cycle. The expression level analysis showed that the four carbon and nitrogen metabolism-related miRNAs negatively regulated their target genes. These results may provide a good strategy to study how natural light/dark cycle regulates carbon and nitrogen metabolism to ensure plant

  16. Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotube and Graphene Materials for Oxygen Reduction Reactions

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    Qiliang Wei

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Nitrogen-doped carbon materials, including nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs and nitrogen-doped graphene (NG, have attracted increasing attention for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR in metal-air batteries and fuel cell applications, due to their optimal properties including excellent electronic conductivity, 4e− transfer and superb mechanical properties. Here, the recent progress of NCNTs- and NG-based catalysts for ORR is reviewed. Firstly, the general preparation routes of these two N-doped carbon-allotropes are introduced briefly, and then a special emphasis is placed on the developments of both NCNTs and NG as promising metal-free catalysts and/or catalyst support materials for ORR. All these efficient ORR electrocatalysts feature a low cost, high durability and excellent performance, and are thus the key factors in accelerating the widespread commercialization of metal-air battery and fuel cell technologies.

  17. Effects of nitrogen- and oxygen-containing functional groups of activated carbon nanotubes on the electrochemical performance in supercapacitors

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    Liu, Haiyan; Song, Huaihe; Chen, Xiaohong; Zhang, Su; Zhou, Jisheng; Ma, Zhaokun

    2015-07-01

    A kind of nitrogen- and oxygen-containing activated carbon nanotubes (ACNTs) has been prepared by carbonization and activation of polyaniline nanotubes obtained by rapidly mixed reaction. The ACNTs show oxygen content of 15.7% and nitrogen content of 2.97% (atomic ratio). The ACNTs perform high capacitance and good rate capability (327 F g-1 at the current density of 10 A g-1) when used as the electrode materials for supercapacitors. Hydrogen reduction has been further used to investigate the effects of surface functional groups on the electrochemical performance. The changes for both structural component and electrochemical performance reveal that the quinone oxygen, pyridinic nitrogen, and pyrrolic nitrogen of carbon have the most obvious influence on the capacitive property because of their pseudocapacitive contributions.

  18. Implications of a More Comprehensive Nitrogen Cycle in a Global Biogeochemical Ocean Model

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    Six, K. D.; Ilyina, T.

    2016-02-01

    Nitrogen plays a crucial role for nearly all living organisms in the Earth system. Changes in the marine nitrogen cycle not only alter the marine biota, but will also have an impact on the marine carbon cycle and, in turn, on climate due to the close coupling of the carbon-nitrogen cycle. The understanding of processes and controls of the marine nitrogen cycle is therefore a prerequisite to reduce uncertainties in the prediction of future climate. Nevertheless, most ocean biogeochemical components of modern Earth system models have a rather simplistic representation of marine N-cycle mainly focusing on nitrate. Here we present results of the HAMburg Ocean Carbon Cycle model (HAMOCC) as part of the MPI-ESM which was extended by a prognostic representation of ammonium and nitrite to resolve important processes of the marine N-cycle such as nitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). Additionally, we updated the production of nitrous oxide, an important greenhouse gas, allowing for two sources from oxidation of ammonium (nitrification) and from reduction of nitrite (nitrifier-denitrification) at low oxygen concentrations. Besides an extended model data comparison we discuss the following aspects of the N-cycle by model means: (1) contribution of anammox to the loss of fixed nitrogen, and (2) production and emission of marine nitrous oxide.

  19. Inhibition of nitrogenase by oxygen in marine cyanobacteria controls the global nitrogen and oxygen cycles

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    Berman-Frank, I.; Chen, Y.-B.; Gerchman, Y.; Dismukes, G. C.; Falkowski, P. G.

    2005-03-01

    Cyanobacterial N2-fixation supplies the vast majority of biologically accessible inorganic nitrogen to nutrient-poor aquatic ecosystems. The process, catalyzed by the heterodimeric protein complex, nitrogenase, is thought to predate that of oxygenic photosynthesis. Remarkably, while the enzyme plays such a critical role in Earth's biogeochemical cycles, the activity of nitrogenase in cyanobacteria is markedly inhibited in vivo at a post-translational level by the concentration of O2 in the contemporary atmosphere leading to metabolic and biogeochemical inefficiency in N2 fixation. We illustrate this crippling effect with data from Trichodesmium spp. an important contributor of "new nitrogen" to the world's subtropical and tropical oceans. The enzymatic inefficiency of nitrogenase imposes a major elemental taxation on diazotrophic cyanobacteria both in the costs of protein synthesis and for scarce trace elements, such as iron. This restriction has, in turn, led to a global limitation of fixed nitrogen in the contemporary oceans and provides a strong biological control on the upper bound of oxygen concentration in Earth's atmosphere.

  20. A high-performance mesoporous carbon supported nitrogen-doped carbon electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

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    Xu, Jingjing; Lu, Shiyao; Chen, Xu; Wang, Jianan; Zhang, Bo; Zhang, Xinyu; Xiao, Chunhui; Ding, Shujiang

    2017-12-01

    Investigating low-cost and highly active electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) is of crucial importance for energy conversion and storage devices. Herein, we design and prepare mesoporous carbon supported nitrogen-doped carbon by pyrolysis of polyaniline coated on CMK-3. This electrocatalyst exhibits excellent performance towards ORR in alkaline media. The optimized nitrogen-doped mesoporous electrocatalyst show an onset potential (E onset) of 0.95 V (versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) and half-wave potential (E 1/2) of 0.83 V (versus RHE) in 0.1 M KOH. Furthermore, the as-prepared catalyst presents superior durability and methanol tolerance compared to commercial Pt/C indicating its potential applications in fuel cells and metal-air batteries.

  1. LBA-ECO CD-02 Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen Stable Isotopes in Organic Material, Brazil

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set reports the measurement of stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope ratios in organic material (plant, litter and soil samples) in forest canopy...

  2. LBA-ECO CD-02 Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen Stable Isotopes in Organic Material, Brazil

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: This data set reports the measurement of stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope ratios in organic material (plant, litter and soil samples) in forest...

  3. Self-doped carbon architectures with heteroatoms containing nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur as high-performance anodes for lithium- and sodium-ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Mingjie; Yu, Wenhua; Shi, Jing; Liu, Wei; Chen, Shougang; Wang, Xin; Wang, Huanlei

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: •Self-doped carbon architectures with nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur are derived from Carrageen. •The obtained carbon materials exhibit excellent electrochemical property. •The strategy provides a one-step synthesis route to design advanced anodes for batteries. -- Abstract: Nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur tridoped porous carbons have been successfully synthesized from natural biomass algae-Carrageen by using a simultaneous carbonization and activation procedure. The doped carbons with sponge-like interconnected architecture, partially ordered graphitic structure, and abundant heteroatom doping perform outstanding features for electrochemical energy storage. When tested as lithium-ion battery anodes, a high reversible capacity of 839 mAh g −1 can be obtained at the current density of 0.1 A g −1 after 100 cycles, while a high capacity of 228 mAh g −1 can be maintained at 10 A g −1 . Tested against sodium, a high specific capacity of 227 can be delivered at 0.1 A g −1 after 100 cycles, while a high capacity of 109 mAh g −1 can be achieved at 10 A g −1 . These results turn out that the doped carbons would be potential anode materials for lithium- and sodium-ion batteries, which can be achieved by a one-step and large-scale synthesis route. Our observation indicates that heteroatom doping (especially sulfur) can significantly promote ion storage and reduce irreversible ion trapping to some extent. This work gives a general route for designing carbon nanostructures with heteroatom doping for efficient energy storage.

  4. Mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon microfibers derived from Mg-biquinoline-dicarboxy compound for efficient oxygen electroreduction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kong, Aiguo, E-mail: agkong@chem.ecnu.edu.cn [School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241 (China); Fan, Xiaohong; Chen, Aoling [School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241 (China); Zhang, Hengiang [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hebei Normal University for Nationalities, Chengde 067000 (China); Shan, Yongkui, E-mail: agkong@chem.ecnu.edu.cn [School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241 (China)

    2017-02-15

    An in-situ MgO-templating synthesis route was introduced to obtain the mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon microfibers by thermal conversion of new Mg-2,2′-biquinoline 4,4-dicarboxy acid coordination compound (Mg-DCA) microfibers. The investigated crystal structure of Mg-DCA testified that the assembling of Mg{sup 2+} and DCA through Mg-O coordination bond and hydrogen bond contributed to the formation of one-dimensional (1D) crystalline Mg-DCA microfibers. The nitrogen-doped carbons derived from the pyrolysis of Mg-DCA showed the well-defined microfiber morphology with high mesopore-surface area. Such mesoporous microfibers exhibited the efficient catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline solutions with better stability and methanol-tolerance performance. - Graphical abstract: Mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon microfibers with efficient oxygen electroreduction activity were prepared by thermal conversion of new Mg-biquinoline-based coordination compound microfibers.

  5. Characterization of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon and sulfur in nuclear fuel (UO2) and cladding nuclear rod materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crewe, Maria Teresa I.; Lopes, Paula Corain; Moura, Sergio C.; Sampaio, Jessica A.G.; Bustillos, Oscar V.

    2011-01-01

    The importance of Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon and Sulfur gases analysis in nuclear fuels such as UO 2 , U 3 O 8 , U 3 Si 2 and in the fuel cladding such as Zircaloy, is a well known as a quality control in nuclear industry. In UO 2 pellets, the Hydrogen molecule fragilizes the metal lattice causing the material cracking. In Zircaloy material the H2 molecules cause the boiling of the cladding. Other gases like Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon and Sulfur affect in the lattice structure change. In this way these chemical compounds have to be measure within specify parameters, these measurement are part of the quality control of the nuclear industry. The analytical procedure has to be well established by a convention of the quality assurance. Therefore, the Oxygen, Carbon, Sulfur and Hydrogen are measured by infrared absorption (IR) and the nitrogen will be measured by thermal conductivity (TC). The gas/metal analyzer made by LECO Co. model TCHEN-600 is Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen analyzer in a variety of metals, refractory and other inorganic materials, using the principle of fusion by inert gas, infrared and thermo-coupled detector. The Carbon and Sulfur compounds are measure by LECO Co. model CS-400. A sample is first weighed and placed in a high purity graphite crucible and is casted on a stream of helium gas, enough to release the oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. During the fusion, the oxygen present in the sample combines with the carbon crucible to form carbon monoxide. Then, the nitrogen present in the sample is analyzed and released as molecular nitrogen and the hydrogen is released as gas. The hydrogen gas is measured by infrared absorption, and the sample gases pass through a trap of copper oxide which converts CO to CO 2 and hydrogen into water. The gases enter the cell where infrared water content is then converted making the measurement of total hydrogen present in the sample. The Hydrogen detection limits for the nuclear fuel is 1 μg/g for the Nitrogen

  6. Oxygen- and nitrogen-co-doped activated carbon from waste particleboard for potential application in high-performance capacitance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shang, Tong-Xin; Ren, Ru-Quan; Zhu, Yue-Mei; Jin, Xiao-Juan

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: All electrodes showed excellent capacitance and retention versus discharge current density from 0.05 to 5 A/g. - Abstract: Oxygen- and nitrogen-co-doped activated carbons were obtained from phosphoric acid treated nitrogen-doped activated carbons which were prepared from waste particleboard bonded with urea-formaldehyde resin adhesives. The activated carbon samples obtained were tested as supercapacitors in two-electrode cell and extensive wetting 7 M KOH electrolytes. Their structural properties and surface chemistry, before the electrical testing, were investigated using elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, and adsorption of nitrogen. Activated carbon treated by 4 M phosphoric acid of the highest capacitance (235 F/g) was measured in spite of a relatively lower surface (1360 m 2 /g) than that of the activated carbon treated by 2 M phosphoric acid (1433 m 2 /g). The surface chemistry, and especially oxygen- and nitrogen-containing functional groups, was found of paramount importance for the capacitive behavior and for the effective pore space utilization by the electrolyte ions

  7. Carbon amendment stimulates benthic nitrogen cycling during the bioremediation of particulate aquaculture waste

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Georgina; MacTavish, Thomas; Savage, Candida; Caldwell, Gary S.; Jones, Clifford L. W.; Probyn, Trevor; Eyre, Bradley D.; Stead, Selina M.

    2018-03-01

    The treatment of organic wastes remains one of the key sustainability challenges facing the growing global aquaculture industry. Bioremediation systems based on coupled bioturbation-microbial processing offer a promising route for waste management. We present, for the first time, a combined biogeochemical-molecular analysis of the short-term performance of one such system that is designed to receive nitrogen-rich particulate aquaculture wastes. Using sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra) as a model bioturbator we provide evidence that adjusting the waste C : N from 5 : 1 to 20 : 1 promoted a shift in nitrogen cycling pathways towards the dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), resulting in net NH4+ efflux from the sediment. The carbon amended treatment exhibited an overall net N2 uptake, whereas the control receiving only aquaculture waste exhibited net N2 production, suggesting that carbon supplementation enhanced nitrogen fixation. The higher NH4+ efflux and N2 uptake was further supported by meta-genome predictions that indicate that organic-carbon addition stimulated DNRA over denitrification. These findings indicate that carbon addition may potentially result in greater retention of nitrogen within the system; however, longer-term trials are necessary to determine whether this nitrogen retention is translated into improved sea cucumber biomass yields. Whether this truly constitutes a remediation process is open for debate as there remains the risk that any increased nitrogen retention may be temporary, with any subsequent release potentially raising the eutrophication risk. Longer and larger-scale trials are required before this approach may be validated with the complexities of the in-system nitrogen cycle being fully understood.

  8. Cement Pastes and Mortars Containing Nitrogen-Doped and Oxygen-Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mauricio Martínez-Alanis

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Cement pastes and mortars based on ordinary Portland cement containing nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-Nx or oxygen-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-Ox are investigated. To incorporate MWCNTs into the cementitious matrix, the as-produced carpets are dispersed over periods of 1 and 2 hours in distilled water at pH levels of 1 and 7. The cement pastes are prepared by adding 0.1 wt% of MWCNTs to cement powder, followed by characterization with SEM and X-ray diffraction (XRD at an early age (first hours of hydration. The mortars are mechanically characterized during the hydration process for a period of 28 days. SEM characterization of cement pastes revealed that the carbon nanotubes are well incorporated in the cementitious matrix, with the hydrated cement grains interconnected by long carbon nanotubes. XRD characterizations demonstrated that, during the hydration of cement pastes, different peaks emerged that were associated with ettringite, hydrated calcium silicate, and calcium hydroxide, among other structures. Results of the compressive strength measurements for mortars simultaneously mixed with MWCNT-Nx and MWCNT-Ox reached an increment of approximately 30% in compressive strength. In addition, density functional theory calculations were performed in nitrogen-doped and oxygen-functionalized carbon nanotubes interacting with a cement grain.

  9. Nitrogen Alters Fungal Communities in Boreal Forest Soil: Implications for Carbon Cycling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allison, S. D.; Treseder, K. K.

    2005-12-01

    One potential effect of climate change in high latitude ecosystems is to increase soil nutrient availability. In particular, greater nitrogen availability could impact decomposer communities and lead to altered rates of soil carbon cycling. Since fungi are the primary decomposers in many high-latitude ecosystems, we used molecular techniques and field surveys to test whether fungal communities and abundances differed in response to nitrogen fertilization in a boreal forest ecosystem. We predicted that fungi that degrade recalcitrant carbon would decline under nitrogen fertilization, while fungi that degrade labile carbon would increase, leading to no net change in rates of soil carbon mineralization. The molecular data showed that basidiomycete fungi dominate the active fungal community in both fertilized and unfertilized soils. However, we found that fertilization reduced peak mushroom biomass by 79%, although most of the responsive fungi were ectomycorrhizal and therefore their capacity to degrade soil carbon is uncertain. Fertilization increased the activity of the cellulose-degrading enzyme beta-glucosidase by 78%, while protease activity declined by 39% and polyphenol oxidase, a lignin-degrading enzyme, did not respond. Rates of soil respiration did not change in response to fertilization. These results suggest that increased nitrogen availability does alter the composition of the fungal community, and its potential to degrade different carbon compounds. However, these differences do not affect the total flux of CO2 from the soil, even though the contribution to CO2 respiration from different carbon pools may vary with fertilization. We conclude that in the short term, increased nitrogen availability due to climate warming or nitrogen deposition is more likely to alter the turnover of individual carbon pools rather than total carbon fluxes from the soil. Future work should determine if changes in fungal community structure and associated differences in

  10. On the linkages between the global carbon-nitrogen-phosphorus cycles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Katsumasa; Mackenzie, Fred; Bouchez, Julien; Knutti, Reto

    2013-04-01

    State-of-the-art earth system models used for long-term climate projections are becoming ever more complex in terms of not only spatial resolution but also the number of processes. Biogeochemical processes are beginning to be incorporated into these models. The motivation of this study is to quantify how climate projections are influenced by biogeochemical feedbacks. In the climate modeling community, it is virtually accepted that climate-Carbon (C) cycle feedbacks accelerate the future warming (Cox et al. 2000; Friedlingstein et al. 2006). It has been demonstrated that the Nitrogen (N) cycle suppresses climate-C cycle feedbacks (Thornton et al. 2009). On the contrary, biogeochemical studies show that the coupled C-N-Phosphorus (P) cycles are intimately interlinked via biosphere and the N-P cycles amplify C cycle feedbacks (Ver et al. 1999). The question as to whether the N-P cycles enhance or attenuate C cycle feedbacks is debated and has a significant implication for projections of future climate. We delve into this problem by using the Terrestrial-Ocean-aTmosphere Ecosystem Model 3 (TOTEM3), a globally-aggregated C-N-P cycle box model. TOTEM3 is a process-based model that describes the biogeochemical reactions and physical transports involving these elements in the four domains of the Earth system: land, atmosphere, coastal ocean, and open ocean. TOTEM3 is a successor of earlier TOTEM models (Ver et al. 1999; Mackenzie et al. 2011). In our presentation, we provide an overview of fundamental features and behaviors of TOTEM3 such as the mass balance at the steady state and the relaxation time scales to various types of perturbation. We also show preliminary results to investigate how the N-P cycles influence the behavior of the C cycle. References Cox PM, Betts RA, Jones CD, Spall SA, Totterdell IJ (2000) Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model. Nature, 408, 184-187. Friedlingstein P, Cox P, Betts R, Bopp L, von Bloh

  11. Light-dark (12:12) cycle of carbon and nitrogen metabolism in Crocosphaera watsonii WH8501: relation to the cell cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dron, Anthony; Rabouille, Sophie; Claquin, Pascal; Le Roy, Bertrand; Talec, Amélie; Sciandra, Antoine

    2012-04-01

    This study provides with original data sets on the physiology of the unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacterium Crocosphaera watsonii WH8501, maintained in continuous culture in conditions of obligate diazotrophy. Cultures were exposed to a 12:12 light-dark regime, representative of what they experience in nature and where growth is expected to be balanced. Nitrogen and carbon metabolism were monitored at high frequency and their dynamics was compared with the cell cycle. Results reveal a daily cycle in the physiological and biochemical parameters, tightly constrained by the timely decoupled processes of N(2) fixation and carbon acquisition. The cell division rate increased concomitantly to carbon accumulation and peaked 6 h into the light. The carbon content reached a maximum at the end of the light phase. N(2) fixation occurred mostly during the dark period and peaked between 9 and 10 h into the night, while DNA synthesis, reflected by DNA fluorescence, increased until the end of the night. Consequently, cells in G1- and S-phases present a marked decrease in their C:N ratio. Nitrogen acquisition through N(2) fixation exceeded 1.3- to 3-fold the nitrogen requirements for growth, suggesting that important amounts of nitrogen are excreted even under conditions supposed to favour balanced, carbon and nitrogen acquisitions. © 2011 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  12. Carbon cycle makeover

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Canfield, Donald Eugene; Kump, Lee R.

    2013-01-01

    remaining in sediments after respiration leave a residual of oxygen in the atmosphere. The source of oxygen to the atmosphere represented by organic matter burial is balanced by oxygen sinks associated with rock weathering and chemical reaction with volcanic gases. This is the long-term carbon and oxygen...... geochemical cycle. But Earth is an old planet, and oxygen levels have changed through time (2). On page 540 of this issue, Schrag et al. (3) challenge the most commonly used geochemical approach to assess long-term changes in the coupled oxygen and carbon cycles....

  13. Heavily Graphitic-Nitrogen Self-doped High-porosity Carbon for the Electrocatalysis of Oxygen Reduction Reaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Tong; Liao, Wenli; Li, Zhongbin; Sun, Lingtao; Shi, Dongping; Guo, Chaozhong; Huang, Yu; Wang, Yi; Cheng, Jing; Li, Yanrong; Diao, Qizhi

    2017-11-01

    Large-scale production of active and stable porous carbon catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) from protein-rich biomass became a hot topic in fuel cell technology. Here, we report a facile strategy for synthesis of nitrogen-doped porous nanocarbons by means of a simple two-step pyrolysis process combined with the activation of zinc chloride and acid-treatment process, in which kidney bean via low-temperature carbonization was preferentially adopted as the only carbon-nitrogen sources. The results show that this carbon material exhibits excellent ORR electrocatalytic activity, and higher durability and methanol-tolerant property compared to the state-of-the-art Pt/C catalyst for the ORR, which can be mainly attributed to high graphitic-nitrogen content, high specific surface area, and porous characteristics. Our results can encourage the synthesis of high-performance carbon-based ORR electrocatalysts derived from widely-existed natural biomass.

  14. Oxygen- and Nitrogen-Enriched 3D Porous Carbon for Supercapacitors of High Volumetric Capacity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jia; Liu, Kang; Gao, Xiang; Yao, Bin; Huo, Kaifu; Cheng, Yongliang; Cheng, Xiaofeng; Chen, Dongchang; Wang, Bo; Sun, Wanmei; Ding, Dong; Liu, Meilin; Huang, Liang

    2015-11-11

    Efficient utilization and broader commercialization of alternative energies (e.g., solar, wind, and geothermal) hinges on the performance and cost of energy storage and conversion systems. For now and in the foreseeable future, the combination of rechargeable batteries and electrochemical capacitors remains the most promising option for many energy storage applications. Porous carbonaceous materials have been widely used as an electrode for batteries and supercapacitors. To date, however, the highest specific capacitance of an electrochemical double layer capacitor is only ∼200 F/g, although a wide variety of synthetic approaches have been explored in creating optimized porous structures. Here, we report our findings in the synthesis of porous carbon through a simple, one-step process: direct carbonization of kelp in an NH3 atmosphere at 700 °C. The resulting oxygen- and nitrogen-enriched carbon has a three-dimensional structure with specific surface area greater than 1000 m(2)/g. When evaluated as an electrode for electrochemical double layer capacitors, the porous carbon structure demonstrated excellent volumetric capacitance (>360 F/cm(3)) with excellent cycling stability. This simple approach to low-cost carbonaceous materials with unique architecture and functionality could be a promising alternative to fabrication of porous carbon structures for many practical applications, including batteries and fuel cells.

  15. Synthesis of 2D Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbon Catalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhipeng Yu

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available 2D nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (NMC is synthesized by using a mesoporous silica film as hard template, which is then investigated as a non-precious metal catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR. The effect of the synthesis conditions on the silica template and carbon is extensively investigated. In this work, we employ dual templates—viz. graphene oxide and triblock copolymer F127—to control the textural features of a 2D silica film. The silica is then used as a template to direct the synthesis of a 2D nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon. The resultant nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon is characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM, nitrogen ad/desorption isotherms, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, cyclic voltammetry (CV, and rotating disk electrode measurements (RDE. The electrochemical test reveals that the obtained 2D-film carbon catalyst yields a highly electrochemically active surface area and superior electrocatalytic activity for the ORR compared to the 3D-particle. The superior activity can be firstly attributed to the difference in the specific surface area of the two catalysts. More importantly, the 2D-film morphology makes more active sites accessible to the reactive species, resulting in a much higher utilization efficiency and consequently better activity. Finally, it is noted that all the carbon catalysts exhibit a higher ORR activity than a commercial Pt catalyst, and are promising for use in fuel cells.

  16. Carbon and nitrogen uptake of calcareous benthic foraminifera along a depth-related oxygen gradient in the OMZ of the Arabian Sea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annekatrin Julie Enge

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Foraminifera are an important faunal element of the benthos in oxygen-depleted settings such as Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs where they can play a relevant role in the processing of phytodetritus. We investigated the uptake of phytodetritus (labeled with 13C and 15N by cal-careous foraminifera in the 0-1 cm sediment horizon under different oxygen concentrations within the OMZ in the eastern Arabian Sea. The in situ tracer experiments were carried out along a depth transect on the Indian margin over a period of 4 to 10 days. The uptake of phy-todetrital carbon within 4 days by all investigated species shows that phytodetritus is a rele-vant food source for foraminifera in OMZ sediments. The decrease of total carbon uptake from 540 to 1100 m suggests a higher demand for carbon by species in the low-oxygen core region of the OMZ or less food competition with macrofauna. Especially Uvigerinids showed high uptake of phytodetrital carbon at the lowest oxygenated site. Variation in the ratio of phytodetrital carbon to nitrogen between species and sites indicates that foraminiferal carbon and nitrogen use can be decoupled and different nutritional demands are found between spe-cies. Lower ratio of phytodetrital carbon and nitrogen at 540 m could hint for greater demand or storage of food-based nitrogen, ingestion or hosting of bacteria under almost anoxic condi-tions. Shifts in the foraminiferal assemblage structure (controlled by oxygen or food availabil-ity and in the presence of other benthic organisms account for observed changes in the pro-cessing of phytodetritus in the different OMZ habitats. Foraminifera dominate the short-term processing of phytodetritus in the OMZ core but are less important in the lower OMZ bounda-ry region of the Indian margin as biological interactions and species distribution of foraminif-era change with depth and oxygen levels.

  17. Synergistically enhanced activity of nitrogen-doped carbon dots/graphene composites for oxygen reduction reaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hui; Zhao, Qingshan; Liu, Jingyan; Ma, Xiao; Rao, Yuan; Shao, Xiaodong; Li, Zhongtao; Wu, Wenting; Ning, Hui; Wu, Mingbo

    2017-11-01

    With rapid dissociative adsorption of oxygen, nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials have been demonstrated to be efficient alternative catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells. Herein, we developed a mild hydrothermal strategy to construct nitrogen-doped carbon dots/graphene (NCDs-NG) composites towards ORR. Carbon dots (CDs) were derived from petroleum coke via acid oxidation while graphene oxide (GO) was obtained from graphite by modified Hummer's method. Graphene was employed as a conductive substrate to disperse CDs during hydrothermal reducing reaction while ammonia was utilized as N source to dope both graphene and CDs. The synergistic effects, i.e. CDs as pillars for graphene and catalytic sites for ORR, the high conductivity of graphene, the quick O2 adsorption on doped pyridinic nitrogen endow the NCDs-NG composites with enhanced ORR catalytic performance in alkaline electrolyte. The onset potential of -95 mV and kinetic current density of 12.7 mA cm-2 at -0.7 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) can be compared to those of the commercial 20 wt% Pt/C catalyst. The electron transfer number is about 3.9, revealing a four-electron pathway for ORR. The optimal NCDs-NG catalyst shows superior durability and methanol tolerance than 20 wt% Pt/C. This work demonstrates a feasible and effective strategy to prepare metal-free efficient ORR electrocatalysts for fuel cell applications.

  18. Co@Co3O4 nanoparticle embedded nitrogen-doped carbon architectures as efficient bicatalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Chunling; Zhang, Li; Xu, Guancheng; Sun, Zhipeng; Zhao, Aihua; Jia, Dianzeng

    2018-01-01

    The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) play crucial roles in efficient energy conversion and storage solutions. Here, Co@Co3O4 nanoparticle embedded nitrogen-doped carbon architectures (denoted as Co@Co3O4/NCs) are prepared via a simple two-step and in situ approach by carbonization and subsequent oxidation of Co-MOF containing high contents of carbon and nitrogen. When evaluated as electrocatalyst towards both ORR and OER in a KOH electrolyte solution, the as-fabricated Co@Co3O4/NC-2 exhibits similar ORR catalytic activity to the commercial Pt/C catalyst, but superior stability and good methanol tolerance. Furthermore, the as-fabricated catalysts also show promising catalytic activity for OER. The effective catalytic activities originate from the synergistic effects between well wrapped Co@Co3O4 nanoparticles and nitrogen doped carbon structures.

  19. Influences of Air, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Carbon Dioxide Nanobubbles on Seed Germination and Plant Growth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Ahmed Khaled Abdella; Shi, Xiaonan; Hua, Likun; Manzueta, Leidy; Qing, Weihua; Marhaba, Taha; Zhang, Wen

    2018-05-23

    Nanobubbles (NBs) hold promise in green and sustainable engineering applications in diverse fields (e.g., water/wastewater treatment, food processing, medical applications, and agriculture). This study investigated the effects of four types of NBs on seed germination and plant growth. Air, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide NBs were generated and dispersed in tap water. Different plants, including lettuce, carrot, fava bean, and tomato, were used in germination and growth tests. The seeds in water-containing NBs exhibited 6-25% higher germination rates. Especially, nitrogen NBs exhibited considerable effects in the seed germination, whereas air and carbon dioxide NBs did not significantly promote germination. The growth of stem length and diameter, leave number, and leave width were promoted by NBs (except air). Furthermore, the promotion effect was primarily ascribed to the generation of exogenous reactive oxygen species by NBs and higher efficiency of nutrient fixation or utilization.

  20. Adsorption Energies of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen Atoms on the Low-temperature Amorphous Water Ice: A Systematic Estimation from Quantum Chemistry Calculations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimonishi, Takashi; Nakatani, Naoki; Furuya, Kenji; Hama, Tetsuya

    2018-03-01

    We propose a new simple computational model to estimate the adsorption energies of atoms and molecules to low-temperature amorphous water ice, and we present the adsorption energies of carbon (3 P), nitrogen (4 S), and oxygen (3 P) atoms based on quantum chemistry calculations. The adsorption energies were estimated to be 14,100 ± 420 K for carbon, 400 ± 30 K for nitrogen, and 1440 ± 160 K for oxygen. The adsorption energy of oxygen is consistent with experimentally reported values. We found that the binding of a nitrogen atom is purely physisorption, while that of a carbon atom is chemisorption, in which a chemical bond to an O atom of a water molecule is formed. That of an oxygen atom has a dual character, with both physisorption and chemisorption. The chemisorption of atomic carbon also implies the possibility of further chemical reactions to produce molecules bearing a C–O bond, though this may hinder the formation of methane on water ice via sequential hydrogenation of carbon atoms. These properties would have a large impact on the chemical evolution of carbon species in interstellar environments. We also investigated the effects of newly calculated adsorption energies on the chemical compositions of cold dense molecular clouds with the aid of gas-ice astrochemical simulations. We found that abundances of major nitrogen-bearing molecules, such as N2 and NH3, are significantly altered by applying the calculated adsorption energy, because nitrogen atoms can thermally diffuse on surfaces, even at 10 K.

  1. Nitrogen deposition may enhance soil carbon storage via change of soil respiration dynamic during a spring freeze-thaw cycle period.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Guoyong; Xing, Yajuan; Xu, Lijian; Wang, Jianyu; Meng, Wei; Wang, Qinggui; Yu, Jinghua; Zhang, Zhi; Wang, Zhidong; Jiang, Siling; Liu, Boqi; Han, Shijie

    2016-06-30

    As crucial terrestrial ecosystems, temperate forests play an important role in global soil carbon dioxide flux, and this process can be sensitive to atmospheric nitrogen deposition. It is often reported that the nitrogen addition induces a change in soil carbon dioxide emission in growing season. However, the important effects of interactions between nitrogen deposition and the freeze-thaw-cycle have never been investigated. Here we show nitrogen deposition delays spikes of soil respiration and weaken soil respiration. We found the nitrogen addition, time and nitrogen addition×time exerted the negative impact on the soil respiration of spring freeze-thaw periods due to delay of spikes and inhibition of soil respiration (p nitrogen), 39% (medium-nitrogen) and 36% (high-nitrogen) compared with the control. And the decrease values of soil respiration under medium- and high-nitrogen treatments during spring freeze-thaw-cycle period in temperate forest would be approximately equivalent to 1% of global annual C emissions. Therefore, we show interactions between nitrogen deposition and freeze-thaw-cycle in temperate forest ecosystems are important to predict global carbon emissions and sequestrations. We anticipate our finding to be a starting point for more sophisticated prediction of soil respirations in temperate forests ecosystems.

  2. Nitrogen-doped porous carbon from Camellia oleifera shells with enhanced electrochemical performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhai, Yunbo; Xu, Bibo; Zhu, Yun; Qing, Renpeng; Peng, Chuan; Wang, Tengfei; Li, Caiting; Zeng, Guangming

    2016-01-01

    Nitrogen doped porous activated carbon was prepared by annealing treatment of Camellia oleifera shell activated carbon under NH 3 . We found that nitrogen content of activated carbon up to 10.43 at.% when annealed in NH 3 at 800 °C. At 600 °C or above, the N-doped carbon further reacts with NH 3 , leads to a low surface area down to 458 m 2 /g and low graphitization degree. X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) analysis indicated that the nitrogen functional groups on the nitrogen-doped activated carbons (NACs) were mostly in the form of pyridinic nitrogen. We discovered that the oxygen groups and carbon atoms at the defect and edge sites of graphene play an important role in the reaction, leading to nitrogen atoms incorporated into the lattice of carbon. When temperatures were lower than 600 °C the nitrogen atoms displaced oxygen groups and formed nitrogen function groups, and when temperatures were higher than 600 °C and ~ 4 at.% carbon atoms and part of oxygen function groups reacted with NH 3 . When compared to pure activated carbon, the nitrogen doped activated carbon shows nearly four times the capacitance (191 vs 51 F/g). - Highlights: • The nitrogen content up to 10.43 at % during CAC pyrolysis under NH3 at 800 °C. • The oxygen groups and carbon atoms played an important role in the nitrogen doping. • NAC-600 shows a much higher specific capacitance than CAC.

  3. Nitrogen-Doped Carbon for Red Phosphorous Based Anode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiaoyang Li

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Serving as conductive matrix and stress buffer, the carbon matrix plays a pivotal role in enabling red phosphorus to be a promising anode material for high capacity lithium ion batteries and sodium ion batteries. In this paper, nitrogen-doping is proved to effective enhance the interface interaction between carbon and red phosphorus. In detail, the adsorption energy between phosphorus atoms and oxygen-containing functional groups on the carbon is significantly reduced by nitrogen doping, as verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The adsorption mechanisms are further revealed on the basis of DFT (the first density functional theory calculations. The RPNC (red phosphorus/nitrogen-doped carbon composite material shows higher cycling stability and higher capacity than that of RPC (red phosphorus/carbon composite anode. After 100 cycles, the RPNC still keeps discharge capacity of 1453 mAh g−1 at the current density of 300 mA g−1 (the discharge capacity of RPC after 100 cycles is 1348 mAh g−1. Even at 1200 mA g−1, the RPNC composite still delivers a capacity of 1178 mAh g−1. This work provides insight information about the interface interactions between composite materials, as well as new technology develops high performance phosphorus based anode materials.

  4. Improving the capacity of lithium-sulfur batteries by tailoring the polysulfide adsorption efficiency of hierarchical oxygen/nitrogen-functionalized carbon host materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Artur; Janek, Jürgen; Brezesinski, Torsten

    2017-03-22

    The use of monolithic carbons with structural hierarchy and varying amounts of nitrogen and oxygen functionalities as sulfur host materials in high-loading lithium-sulfur cells is reported. The primary focus is on the strength of the polysulfide/carbon interaction with the goal of assessing the effect of (surface) dopant concentration on cathode performance. The adsorption capacity - which is a measure of the interaction strength between the intermediate lithium polysulfide species and the carbon - was found to scale almost linearly with the nitrogen level. Likewise, the discharge capacity of lithium-sulfur cells increased linearly. This positive correlation can be explained by the favorable effect of nitrogen on both the chemical and electronic properties of the carbon host. The incorporation of additional oxygen-containing surface groups into highly nitrogen-functionalized carbon helped to further enhance the polysulfide adsorption efficiency, and therefore the reversible cell capacity. Overall, the areal capacity could be increased by almost 70% to around 3 mA h cm -2 . We believe that the design parameters described here provide a blueprint for future carbon-based nanocomposites for high-performance lithium-sulfur cells.

  5. Nitrogen-doped porous carbon from Camellia oleifera shells with enhanced electrochemical performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhai, Yunbo, E-mail: ybzhai@hnu.edu.cn [College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082 (China); Xu, Bibo [College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082 (China); Zhu, Yun [Office of Scientific R& D, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Qing, Renpeng; Peng, Chuan; Wang, Tengfei; Li, Caiting; Zeng, Guangming [College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082 (China)

    2016-04-01

    Nitrogen doped porous activated carbon was prepared by annealing treatment of Camellia oleifera shell activated carbon under NH{sub 3}. We found that nitrogen content of activated carbon up to 10.43 at.% when annealed in NH{sub 3} at 800 °C. At 600 °C or above, the N-doped carbon further reacts with NH{sub 3}, leads to a low surface area down to 458 m{sup 2}/g and low graphitization degree. X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) analysis indicated that the nitrogen functional groups on the nitrogen-doped activated carbons (NACs) were mostly in the form of pyridinic nitrogen. We discovered that the oxygen groups and carbon atoms at the defect and edge sites of graphene play an important role in the reaction, leading to nitrogen atoms incorporated into the lattice of carbon. When temperatures were lower than 600 °C the nitrogen atoms displaced oxygen groups and formed nitrogen function groups, and when temperatures were higher than 600 °C and ~ 4 at.% carbon atoms and part of oxygen function groups reacted with NH{sub 3}. When compared to pure activated carbon, the nitrogen doped activated carbon shows nearly four times the capacitance (191 vs 51 F/g). - Highlights: • The nitrogen content up to 10.43 at % during CAC pyrolysis under NH3 at 800 °C. • The oxygen groups and carbon atoms played an important role in the nitrogen doping. • NAC-600 shows a much higher specific capacitance than CAC.

  6. A lithium–oxygen battery with a long cycle life in an air-like atmosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asadi, Mohammad; Sayahpour, Baharak; Abbasi, Pedram; Ngo, Anh T.; Karis, Klas; Jokisaari, Jacob R.; Liu, Cong; Narayanan, Badri; Gerard, Marc; Yasaei, Poya; Hu, Xuan; Mukherjee, Arijita; Lau, Kah Chun; Assary, Rajeev S.; Khalili-Araghi, Fatemeh; Klie, Robert F.; Curtiss, Larry A.; Salehi-Khojin, Amin

    2018-03-01

    Lithium–air batteries are considered to be a potential alternative to lithium-ion batteries for transportation applications, owing to their high theoretical specific energy. So far, however, such systems have been largely restricted to pure oxygen environments (lithium–oxygen batteries) and have a limited cycle life owing to side reactions involving the cathode, anode and electrolyte. In the presence of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapour, these side reactions can become even more complex. Moreover, because of the need to store oxygen, the volumetric energy densities of lithium–oxygen systems may be too small for practical applications. Here we report a system comprising a lithium carbonate-based protected anode, a molybdenum disulfide cathode and an ionic liquid/dimethyl sulfoxide electrolyte that operates as a lithium–air battery in a simulated air atmosphere with a long cycle life of up to 700 cycles. We perform computational studies to provide insight into the operation of the system in this environment. This demonstration of a lithium–oxygen battery with a long cycle life in an air-like atmosphere is an important step towards the development of this field beyond lithium-ion technology, with a possibility to obtain much higher specific energy densities than for conventional lithium-ion batteries.

  7. A lithium-oxygen battery with a long cycle life in an air-like atmosphere.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asadi, Mohammad; Sayahpour, Baharak; Abbasi, Pedram; Ngo, Anh T; Karis, Klas; Jokisaari, Jacob R; Liu, Cong; Narayanan, Badri; Gerard, Marc; Yasaei, Poya; Hu, Xuan; Mukherjee, Arijita; Lau, Kah Chun; Assary, Rajeev S; Khalili-Araghi, Fatemeh; Klie, Robert F; Curtiss, Larry A; Salehi-Khojin, Amin

    2018-03-21

    Lithium-air batteries are considered to be a potential alternative to lithium-ion batteries for transportation applications, owing to their high theoretical specific energy. So far, however, such systems have been largely restricted to pure oxygen environments (lithium-oxygen batteries) and have a limited cycle life owing to side reactions involving the cathode, anode and electrolyte. In the presence of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapour, these side reactions can become even more complex. Moreover, because of the need to store oxygen, the volumetric energy densities of lithium-oxygen systems may be too small for practical applications. Here we report a system comprising a lithium carbonate-based protected anode, a molybdenum disulfide cathode and an ionic liquid/dimethyl sulfoxide electrolyte that operates as a lithium-air battery in a simulated air atmosphere with a long cycle life of up to 700 cycles. We perform computational studies to provide insight into the operation of the system in this environment. This demonstration of a lithium-oxygen battery with a long cycle life in an air-like atmosphere is an important step towards the development of this field beyond lithium-ion technology, with a possibility to obtain much higher specific energy densities than for conventional lithium-ion batteries.

  8. Biological phosphorus and nitrogen removal in sequencing batch reactors: effects of cycle length, dissolved oxygen concentration and influent particulate matter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ginige, Maneesha P; Kayaalp, Ahmet S; Cheng, Ka Yu; Wylie, Jason; Kaksonen, Anna H

    2013-01-01

    Removal of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) from municipal wastewaters is required to mitigate eutrophication of receiving water bodies. While most treatment plants achieve good N removal using influent carbon (C), the use of influent C to facilitate enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is poorly explored. A number of operational parameters can facilitate optimum use of influent C and this study investigated the effects of cycle length, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration during aerobic period and influent solids on biological P and N removal in sequencing batch reactors (SRBs) using municipal wastewaters. Increasing cycle length from 3 to 6 h increased P removal efficiency, which was attributed to larger portion of N being removed via nitrite pathway and more biodegradable organic C becoming available for EBPR. Further increasing cycle length from 6 to 8 h decreased P removal efficiencies as the demand for biodegradable organic C for denitrification increased as a result of complete nitrification. Decreasing DO concentration in the aerobic period from 2 to 0.8 mg L(-1) increased P removal efficiency but decreased nitrification rates possibly due to oxygen limitation. Further, sedimented wastewater was proved to be a better influent stream than non-sedimented wastewater possibility due to the detrimental effect of particulate matter on biological nutrient removal.

  9. ANALYTICAL EMPLOYMENT OF STABLE ISOTOPES OF CARBON, NITROGEN, OXYGEN AND HYDROGEN FOR FOOD AUTHENTICATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Novelli

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen were used for analytical purposes for the discrimination of the type of production (farming vs. fishing in the case of sea bass and for geographical origin in the case of milk. These results corroborate similar experimental evidences and confirm the potential of this analytical tool to support of food traceability.

  10. Nitrogen doped silicon-carbon multilayer protective coatings on carbon obtained by thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciupinǎ, Victor; Vasile, Eugeniu; Porosnicu, Corneliu; Vladoiu, Rodica; Mandes, Aurelia; Dinca, Virginia; Nicolescu, Virginia; Manu, Radu; Dinca, Paul; Zaharia, Agripina

    2018-02-01

    To obtain protective nitrogen doped Si-C multilayer coatings on carbon, used to improve the oxidation resistance of carbon, was used TVA method. The initial carbon layer has been deposed on a silicon substrate in the absence of nitrogen, and then a 3nm Si thin film to cover carbon layer was deposed. Further, seven Si and C layers were alternatively deposed in the presence of nitrogen ions. In order to form silicon carbide at the interface between silicon and carbon layers, all carbon, silicon and nitrogen ions energy has increased up to 150eV. The characterization of microstructure and electrical properties of as-prepared N-Si-C multilayer structures were done using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM, STEM) techniques, Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy (TDS) and electrical measurements. The retention of oxygen in the protective layer of N-Si-C is due to the following phenomena: (a) The reaction between oxygen and silicon carbide resulting in silicon oxide and carbon dioxide; (b) The reaction involving oxygen, nitrogen and silicon resulting silicon oxinitride with a variable composition; (c) Nitrogen acts as a trapping barrier for oxygen. To perform electrical measurements, ohmic contacts were attached on the N-Si-C samples. Electrical conductivity was measured in constant current mode. To explain the temperature behavior of electrical conductivity we assumed a thermally activated electric transport mechanism.

  11. Oxygen- and nitrogen-chemisorbed carbon nanostructures for Z-scheme photocatalysis applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qian Zhao; Pathak, Biswarup; Nisar, Jawad; Ahuja, Rajeev

    2012-01-01

    Here focusing on the very new experimental finding on carbon nanomaterials for solid-state electron mediator applications in Z-scheme photocatalysis, we have investigated different graphene-based nanostructures chemisorbed by various types and amounts of species such as oxygen (O), nitrogen (N) and hydroxyl (OH) and their electronic structures using density functional theory. The work functions of different nanostructures have also been investigated by us to evaluate their potential applications in Z-scheme photocatalysis for water splitting. The N-, O–N-, and N–N-chemisorbed graphene-based nanostructures (32 carbon atoms supercell, corresponding to lattice parameter of about 1 nm) are found promising to be utilized as electron mediators between reduction level and oxidation level of water splitting. The O- or OH-chemisorbed nanostructures have potential to be used as electron conductors between H 2 -evolving photocatalysts and the reduction level (H + /H 2 ). This systematic study is proposed to understand the properties of graphene-based carbon nanostructures in Z-scheme photocatalysis and guide experimentalists to develop better carbon-based nanomaterials for more efficient Z-scheme photocatalysis applications in the future.

  12. Surface Modification of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes via Hemoglobin-Derived Iron and Nitrogen-Rich Carbon Nanolayers for the Electrocatalysis of Oxygen Reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wensheng Li

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The great challenge of boosting the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR activity of non-noble-metal electrocatalysts is how to achieve effective exposure and full utilization of nitrogen-rich active sites. To realize the goals of high utilization of active sites and fast electron transport, here we report a new strategy for synthesis of an iron and nitrogen co-doped carbon nanolayers-wrapped multi-walled carbon nanotubes as ORR electrocatalyst (N-C@CNT-Fe via using partially carbonized hemoglobin as a single-source precursor. The onset and half-wave potentials for ORR of N-C@CNT-Fe are only 45 and 54 mV lower than those on a commercial Pt/C (20 wt.% Pt catalyst, respectively. Besides, this catalyst prepared in this work has been confirmed to follow a four-electron reaction mechanism in ORR process, and also displays ultra-high electrochemical cycling stability in both acidic and alkaline electrolytes. The enhancement of ORR activity can be not only attributed to full exposure and utilization of active site structures, but also can be resulted from the improvement of electrical conductivity owing to the introduction of CNT support. The analysis of X-ray photoelectric spectroscopy shows that both Fe–N and graphitic-N species may be the ORR active site structures of the prepared catalyst. Our study can provide a valuable idea for effective improvement of the electrocatalytic activity of non-noble-metal ORR catalysts.

  13. Influence of oxygen, nitrogen and carbonic gas during gamma irradiation of 'Sitophilus zeamais' Mots. and 'Zabrotes subfasciatus' (Boh.)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiendl, F.M.; Tornisielo, V.L.; Walder, J.M.N.; Sgrillo, R.B.

    1976-01-01

    Zero to twenty-four hour old adults of the corn-weevil (S. zeamais) and of the bean weevil (Z. subfasciatus) with their food were irradiated with 5 krad of gamma rays from a Co-60 source (dose rate of 96.25 krad/h). The foodstuffs for the corn weevil were maize and rice as well as common beans for the bean weevil. Before irradiation, the insects of each treatment were exposed to 30 minutes gas fluxes of air, oxygen, nitrogen or carbonic gas, respectively. After irradiation, insects were kept in a temperature controlled chamber at 28 0 C. Losses in weight of the foodstuffs were recorded for 51 weeks. The greatest weight loss was found in the treatment with air flux. Weight losses decreased with the nitrogen, carbonic gas and oxygen treatments, respectively [pt

  14. Nitrogen and Fluorine-Codoped Carbon Nanowire Aerogels as Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fu, Shaofang [School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164 USA; Zhu, Chengzhou [School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164 USA; Song, Junhua [School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164 USA; Engelhard, Mark H. [Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA 99352 USA; Xiao, Biwei [Energy and Environmental Directory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA 99352 USA; Du, Dan [School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164 USA; Lin, Yuehe [School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164 USA

    2017-07-11

    The development of active, durable, and low-cost catalysts to replace noble metal-based materials is highly desirable to promote the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. Herein, nitrogen and fluorine-codoped three-dimensional carbon nanowire aerogels, composed of interconnected carbon nanowires, were synthesized for the first time by a hydrothermal carbonization process. Owing to their porous nanostructures and heteroatom-doping, the as-prepared carbon nanowire aerogels, with optimized composition, present excellent electrocatalytic activity that is comparable to commercial Pt/C. Remarkably, the aerogels also exhibit superior stability and methanol tolerance. This synthesis procedure paves a new way to design novel heteroatomdoped catalysts.

  15. Anaerobic nitrogen turnover by sinking diatom aggregates at varying ambient oxygen levels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stief, Peter; Kamp, Anja; Thamdrup, Bo

    2016-01-01

    nitrate supply. Sinking diatom aggregates can contribute directly to fixed-nitrogen loss in low-oxygen environments in the ocean and vastly expand the ocean volume in which anaerobic nitrogen turnover is possible, despite relatively high ambient oxygen levels. Depending on the extent of intracellular......In the world’s oceans, even relatively low oxygen levels inhibit anaerobic nitrogen cycling by free-living microbes. Sinking organic aggregates, however, might provide oxygen-depleted microbial hotspots in otherwise oxygenated surface waters. Here, we show that sinking diatom aggregates can host...

  16. Transcriptome Analysis of Polyhydroxybutyrate Cycle Mutants Reveals Discrete Loci Connecting Nitrogen Utilization and Carbon Storage in Sinorhizobium meliloti.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Alessio, Maya; Nordeste, Ricardo; Doxey, Andrew C; Charles, Trevor C

    2017-01-01

    Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and glycogen polymers are produced by bacteria as carbon storage compounds under unbalanced growth conditions. To gain insights into the transcriptional mechanisms controlling carbon storage in Sinorhizobium meliloti , we investigated the global transcriptomic response to the genetic disruption of key genes in PHB synthesis and degradation and in glycogen synthesis. Under both nitrogen-limited and balanced growth conditions, transcriptomic analysis was performed with genetic mutants deficient in PHB synthesis ( phbA , phbB , phbAB , and phbC ), PHB degradation ( bdhA , phaZ , and acsA2 ), and glycogen synthesis ( glgA1 ). Three distinct genomic regions of the pSymA megaplasmid exhibited altered expression in the wild type and the PHB cycle mutants that was not seen in the glycogen synthesis mutant. An Fnr family transcriptional motif was identified in the upstream regions of a cluster of genes showing similar transcriptional patterns across the mutants. This motif was found at the highest density in the genomic regions with the strongest transcriptional effect, and the presence of this motif upstream of genes in these regions was significantly correlated with decreased transcript abundance. Analysis of the genes in the pSymA regions revealed that they contain a genomic overrepresentation of Fnr family transcription factor-encoding genes. We hypothesize that these loci, containing mostly nitrogen utilization, denitrification, and nitrogen fixation genes, are regulated in response to the intracellular carbon/nitrogen balance. These results indicate a transcriptional regulatory association between intracellular carbon levels (mediated through the functionality of the PHB cycle) and the expression of nitrogen metabolism genes. IMPORTANCE The ability of bacteria to store carbon and energy as intracellular polymers uncouples cell growth and replication from nutrient uptake and provides flexibility in the use of resources as they are available to

  17. A reappraisal of the terrestrial nitrogen cycle: what can we learn by extracting concepts from Gaia theory?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cresser, Malcolm S; Aitkenhead, Matthew J; Mian, Ishaq A

    2008-08-01

    Although soil scientists and most environmental scientists are acutely aware of the interactions between the cycling of carbon and nitrogen, for conceptual convenience when portraying the nitrogen cycle in text books the N cycle tends to be considered in isolation from its interactions with the cycling of other elements and water, usually as a snap shot at the current time; the origins of dinitrogen are rarely considered, for example. The authors suggest that Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis provides a useful and stimulating framework for consideration of the terrestrial nitrogen cycle. If it is used, it suggests that urbanization and management of sewage, and intensive animal rearing are probably bigger global issues than nitrogen deposition from fossil fuel combustion, and that plant evolution may be driven by the requirement of locally sustainable and near optimal soil mineral N supply dynamics. This may, in turn, be partially regulating global carbon and oxygen cycles. It is suggested that pollutant N deposition may disrupt this essential natural plant and terrestrial ecosystem evolutionary process, causing biodiversity change. Interactions between the Earth and other bodies in the solar system, and possibly beyond, also need to be considered in the context of the global N cycle over geological time scales. This is because of direct potential impacts on the nitrogen content of the atmosphere, potential long-term impacts of past boloid collisions on plate tectonics and thus on global N cycling via subduction and volcanic emissions, and indirect effects upon C, O and water cycling that all may impact upon the N cycle in the long term.

  18. Carbon-nitrogen interactions in forest ecosystems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gundersen, Per; Berg, Bjørn; Currie, W.S.

    This report is a summary of the main results from the EU project “CarbonNitrogen Interactions in Forest Ecosystems” (CNTER). Since carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are bound together in organic matter we studied both the effect of N deposition on C cycling in forest ecosystems, and the effect of C ...

  19. Effects of nitrogen deposition on carbon cycle in terrestrial ecosystems of China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Hao; Li, Dejun; Gurmesa, Geshere Abdisa

    2015-01-01

    Nitrogen (N) deposition in China has increased greatly, but the general impact of elevated N deposition on carbon (C) dynamics in Chinese terrestrial ecosystems is not well documented. In this study we used a meta-analysis method to compile 88 studies on the effects of N deposition C cycling...... and rate of N addition. Overall, our findings suggest that 1) decreased below-ground plant C pool may limit long-term soil C sequestration; and 2) it is better to treat N-rich and N-limited ecosystems differently in modeling effects of N deposition on ecosystem C cycle....

  20. Microstructure and tribology of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen implanted ferrous materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williamson, D.L.

    1993-01-01

    Nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen ions have been implanted into ferrous materials under unusual conditions of elevated temperatures and very high dose rates. The tribological durabilities of the resulting surfaces are examined with a special type of pin-on-disc wear test apparatus and found in most cases to be dramatically improved compared to surfaces prepared with conventional implantation conditions. Near-surface microstructures and compositions are characterized after implantation and after wear testing by backscatter Moessbauer spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy. These data provide evidence for the predominant mechanisms responsible for the observed sliding wear behavior induced by each of the three species. (orig.)

  1. Oxygen and nitrogen diffusion in coal-molecular sieve

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stefanescu, Doina Maria

    1996-01-01

    Recently, the air separation process based on selective adsorption of carbon-molecular sieves has been developed strongly. The separation is based on the system kinematics and depends on the oxygen diffusion in adsorber micropores. The oxygen is preferentially adsorbed and in given conditions it is possible to obtain nitrogen of high purity. Recent theoretical and experimental studies concerning the production of nitrogen by PSA process have shown that the obtained performances can not be described by a constant diffusion model. The paper present the 'dual' model assumed for O 2 and N 2 diffusion through molecular sieve as well as the experimental data obtained in the adsorption study on carbon material produced at ICIS to determine the diffusivity values in micropores

  2. CoM(M=Fe,Cu,Ni)-embedded nitrogen-enriched porous carbon framework for efficient oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Xiaogeng; Bo, Xiangjie; Guo, Liping

    2018-06-01

    Rational synthesis and development of earth-abundant materials with efficient electrocatalytic activity and stability for water splitting is a critical but challenging step for sustainable energy application. Herein, a family of bimetal (CoFe, CoCu, CoNi) embedded nitrogen-doped carbon frameworks is developed through a facile and simple thermal conversion strategy of metal-doped zeolitic imidazolate frameworks. Thanks to collaborative superiorities of abundant M-N-C species, modulation action of secondary metal, cobalt-based electroactive phases, template effect of MOFs and unique porous structure, bimetal embedded nitrogen-doped carbon frameworks materials manifest good oxygen and hydrogen evolution catalytic activity. Especially, after modulating the species and molar ratio of metal sources, optimal Co0.75Fe0.25 nitrogen-doped carbon framework catalyst just requires a low overpotential of 303 mV to achieve 10 mA cm-2 with a low Tafel slope (39.49 mV dec-1) for oxygen evolution reaction, which even surpasses that of commercial RuO2. In addition, the optimal catalyst can function as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting with satisfying activity and stability. This development offers an attractive direction for the rational design and fabrication of porous carbon materials for electrochemical energy applications.

  3. Defect-induced Catalysis toward the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Single-walled Carbon Nanotube: Nitrogen doped and Non-nitrogen doped

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Di; Wu, Dan; Jin, Jian; Chen, Liwei

    2016-01-01

    Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are post-treated by argon (Ar) or ammonia (NH 3 ) plasma irradiation to introduce defects that are potentially related to catalysis towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Electrochemical characterization in alkali medium suggests that the plasma irradiated SWNTs demonstrate enhanced catalytic activity toward the ORR with a positively shifted threshold potential. Moreover the enhanced desired four-electron pathway catalytic activity, which exhibited as the positive shifted threshold potential, is independent of the nitrogen dopant. The nature of the defects is probed with Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicate that the non-nitrogen doped defects of SWNTs contribute to the actual active site for the ORR.

  4. Carbon-nitrogen-water interactions: is model parsimony fruitful?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puertes, Cristina; González-Sanchis, María; Lidón, Antonio; Bautista, Inmaculada; Lull, Cristina; Francés, Félix

    2017-04-01

    It is well known that carbon and nitrogen cycles are highly intertwined and both should be explained through the water balance. In fact, in water-controlled ecosystems nutrient deficit is related to this water scarcity. For this reason, the present study compares the capability of three models in reproducing the interaction between the carbon and nitrogen cycles and the water cycle. The models are BIOME-BGCMuSo, LEACHM and a simple carbon-nitrogen model coupled to the hydrological model TETIS. Biome-BGCMuSo and LEACHM are two widely used models that reproduce the carbon and nitrogen cycles adequately. However, their main limitation is that these models are quite complex and can be too detailed for watershed studies. On the contrary, the TETIS nutrient sub-model is a conceptual model with a vertical tank distribution over the active soil depth, dividing it in two layers. Only the input of the added litter and the losses due to soil respiration, denitrification, leaching and plant uptake are considered as external fluxes. Other fluxes have been neglected. The three models have been implemented in an experimental plot of a semi-arid catchment (La Hunde, East of Spain), mostly covered by holm oak (Quercus ilex). Plant transpiration, soil moisture and runoff have been monitored daily during nearly two years (26/10/2012 to 30/09/2014). For the same period, soil samples were collected every two months and taken to the lab in order to obtain the concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, ammonium and nitrate. In addition, between field trips soil samples were placed in PVC tubes with resin traps and were left incubating (in situ buried cores). Thus, mineralization and nitrification accumulated fluxes for two months, were obtained. The ammonium and nitrate leaching accumulated for two months were measured using ion-exchange resin cores. Soil respiration was also measured every field trip. Finally, water samples deriving from runoff, were collected

  5. Assembling nitrogen and oxygen co-doped graphene quantum dots onto hierarchical carbon networks for all-solid-state flexible supercapacitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Zhen; Li, Yanfeng; Wang, Liang; Cao, Ling; Liu, Xiang; Chen, Zhiwen; Pan, Dengyu; Wu, Minghong

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • The all-carbon ternary flexible electrodes have been fabricated by the electrode deposition of nitrogen and oxygen co-doped single-crystalline GQDs. • The flexible electrodes deliver ultrahigh specific capacitance (461 mF cm"−"2) by inducing a high concentration of active nitrogen and oxygen at edge. • Symmetrical N-O-GQD/CNT/CC all-solid-state flexible supercapacitors offer energy density up to 32 μWh cm"−"2 and demonstrate the good stability, high flexibility, and folding ability under different deformations. • Nitrogen and oxygen co-doped GQDs can function as a highly active, solution-processable pseudocapacitive materials applicable to high-performance supercapacitors. - Abstract: We present a novel approach for hierarchical fabrication of high-performance, all-solid-state, flexible supercapacitors from environmentally friendly all-carbon materials. Three-dimensional carbon nanotube/carbon cloth network (CNT/CC) is used as a conductive, flexible and free-standing scaffold for the electro-deposition of highly N/O co-doped graphene quantum dots to form the high-activity, all-carbon electrodes. The hierarchical structure of the CNT/CC network with high electrical conductivity and high surface area provides improved conductive pathways for the efficient activation of GQDs with high pseudocapacitance and electrical double layer capacitance. The obtained N-O-GQD/CNT/CC electrodes for all-solid-state flexible supercapacitors exhibit an ultrahigh areal capacitance of up to 461 mF cm"−"2 at a current density of 0.5 mA cm"−"2, while keeping high rate and cyclic performances. This work highlights the great potential of highly active GQDs in the construction of high-performance flexible energy-storage devices.

  6. Locations of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon atoms in vanadium determined by neutron diffraction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hiraga, K.; Onozuka, T.; Hirabayashi, M.

    1977-01-01

    The occupation sites of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon atoms dissolved interstitially in vanadium have been determined by means of neutron diffraction with use of single crystals of VOsub(0.032), VNsub(0.013) and VCsub(0.006). It is revealed that the interstitial atoms occupy, randomly, the octahedral sites in the b.c.c. host lattice of the three crystals. Neutron diffraction is advantageous for the present purpose, since the coherent scattering amplitudes of the solute atoms are much larger than that of the vanadium atom. (Auth.)

  7. Nitrogen and oxygen co-doped carbon nanofibers with rich sub-nanoscale pores as self-supported electrode material of high-performance supercapacitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Qun; Xie, Wenhe; Liu, Dequan; Wang, Qi; He, Deyan

    2016-01-01

    Self-supported porous carbon nanofibers (CNFs) network has been prepared by electrospinning technology assisted with template method. The as-prepared material is rich in sub-nanoscale pores and nitrogen and oxygen functional groups, which can serve as a fast conductive network with abundant electrochemical active sites and greatly facilitates the transport of electrons and ions. When the porous CNFs network is used as an electrode for supercapacitor in a three electrode system, it displays a high capacitance of 233.1 F/g at 0.2 A/g, and a capacitance of 130.2 F/g even at 14 A/g. It maintains a capacitance of 154.0 F/g with 90.17% retention after 4000 cycles at 2 A/g. Moreover, the assembled symmetric supercapacitor not only exhibits excellent rate capability and cycle performance, but also delivers an energy density of 4.17 Wh/kg and a power density of 2500 W/kg. The experimental results demonstrate that the prepared N, O co-doped carbon nanofibers with rich sub-nanoscale pores are a promising electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.

  8. Next Generation Carbon-Nitrogen Dynamics Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, C.; Fisher, R. A.; Vrugt, J. A.; Wullschleger, S. D.; McDowell, N. G.

    2012-12-01

    Nitrogen is a key regulator of vegetation dynamics, soil carbon release, and terrestrial carbon cycles. Thus, to assess energy impacts on the global carbon cycle and future climates, it is critical that we have a mechanism-based and data-calibrated nitrogen model that simulates nitrogen limitation upon both above and belowground carbon dynamics. In this study, we developed a next generation nitrogen-carbon dynamic model within the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM). This next generation nitrogen-carbon dynamic model utilized 1) a mechanistic model of nitrogen limitation on photosynthesis with nitrogen trade-offs among light absorption, electron transport, carboxylation, respiration and storage; 2) an optimal leaf nitrogen model that links soil nitrogen availability and leaf nitrogen content; and 3) an ecosystem demography (ED) model that simulates the growth and light competition of tree cohorts and is currently coupled to CLM. Our three test cases with changes in CO2 concentration, growing temperature and radiation demonstrate the model's ability to predict the impact of altered environmental conditions on nitrogen allocations. Currently, we are testing the model against different datasets including soil fertilization and Free Air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments across different forest types. We expect that our calibrated model will considerably improve our understanding and predictability of vegetation-climate interactions.itrogen allocation model evaluations. The figure shows the scatter plots of predicted and measured Vc,max and Jmax scaled to 25 oC (i.e.,Vc,max25 and Jmax25) at elevated CO2 (570 ppm, test case one), reduced radiation in canopy (0.1-0.9 of the radiation at the top of canopy, test case two) and reduced growing temperature (15oC, test case three). The model is first calibrated using control data under ambient CO2 (370 ppm), radiation at the top of the canopy (621 μmol photon/m2/s), the normal growing temperature (30oC). The fitted model

  9. Methanol Droplet Extinction in Oxygen/Carbon-dioxide/Nitrogen Mixtures in Microgravity: Results from the International Space Station Experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nayagam, Vedha; Dietrich, Daniel L.; Ferkul, Paul V.; Hicks, Michael C.; Williams, Forman A.

    2012-01-01

    Motivated by the need to understand the flammability limits of condensed-phase fuels in microgravity, isolated single droplet combustion experiments were carried out in the Combustion Integrated Rack Facility onboard the International Space Station. Experimental observations of methanol droplet combustion and extinction in oxygen/carbon-dioxide/nitrogen mixtures at 0.7 and 1 atmospheric pressure in quiescent microgravity environment are reported for initial droplet diameters varying between 2 mm to 4 mm in this study.The ambient oxygen concentration was systematically lowered from test to test so as to approach the limiting oxygen index (LOI) at fixed ambient pressure. At one atmosphere pressure, ignition and some burning were observed for an oxygen concentration of 13% with the rest being nitrogen. In addition, measured droplet burning rates, flame stand-off ratios, and extinction diameters are presented for varying concentrations of oxygen and diluents. Simplified theoretical models are presented to explain the observed variations in extinction diameter and flame stand-off ratios.

  10. Nitrogen-enriched hierarchically porous carbons prepared from polybenzoxazine for high-performance supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Liu; Wang, Jianlong; Xie, Lijing; Sun, Yahui; Li, Kaixi

    2014-09-10

    Nitrogen-enriched hierarchically porous carbons (HPCs) were synthesized from a novel nitrile-functionalized benzoxazine based on benzoxazine chemistry using a soft-templating method and a potassium hydroxide (KOH) chemical activation method and used as electrode materials for supercapacitors. The textural and chemical properties could be easily tuned by adding a soft template and changing the activation temperature. The introduction of the soft-templating agent (surfactant F127) resulted in the formation of mesopores, which facilitated fast ionic diffusion and reduced the internal resistance. The micropores of HPCs were extensively developed by KOH activation to provide large electrochemical double-layer capacitance. As the activation temperature increased from 600 to 800 °C, the specific surface area of nitrogen-enriched carbons increased dramatically, micropores were enlarged, and more meso/macropores were developed, but the nitrogen and oxygen content decreased, which affected the electrochemical performance. The sample HPC-800 activated at 800 °C possesses a high specific surface area (1555.4 m(2) g(-1)), high oxygen (10.61 wt %) and nitrogen (3.64 wt %) contents, a hierarchical pore structure, a high graphitization degree, and good electrical conductivity. It shows great pseudocapacitance and the largest specific capacitance of 641.6 F g(-1) at a current density of 1 A g(-1) in a 6 mol L(-1) KOH aqueous electrolyte when measured in a three-electrode system. Furthermore, the HPC-800 electrode exhibits excellent rate capability (443.0 F g(-1) remained at 40 A g(-1)) and good cycling stability (94.3% capacitance retention over 5000 cycles).

  11. Bioturbation: impact on the marine nitrogen cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laverock, Bonnie; Gilbert, Jack A; Tait, Karen; Osborn, A Mark; Widdicombe, Steve

    2011-01-01

    Sediments play a key role in the marine nitrogen cycle and can act either as a source or a sink of biologically available (fixed) nitrogen. This cycling is driven by a number of microbial remineralization reactions, many of which occur across the oxic/anoxic interface near the sediment surface. The presence and activity of large burrowing macrofauna (bioturbators) in the sediment can significantly affect these microbial processes by altering the physicochemical properties of the sediment. For example, the building and irrigation of burrows by bioturbators introduces fresh oxygenated water into deeper sediment layers and allows the exchange of solutes between the sediment and water column. Burrows can effectively extend the oxic/anoxic interface into deeper sediment layers, thus providing a unique environment for nitrogen-cycling microbial communities. Recent studies have shown that the abundance and diversity of micro-organisms can be far greater in burrow wall sediment than in the surrounding surface or subsurface sediment; meanwhile, bioturbated sediment supports higher rates of coupled nitrification-denitrification reactions and increased fluxes of ammonium to the water column. In the present paper we discuss the potential for bioturbation to significantly affect marine nitrogen cycling, as well as the molecular techniques used to study microbial nitrogen cycling communities and directions for future study.

  12. Measurement of the isotopic composition of galactic cosmic ray carbon, nitrogen and oxygen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiedenbeck, M.E.; Greiner, D.E.; Bieser, F.S.; Crawford, H.J.; Heckman, H.H.; Lindstrom, P.J.

    1979-06-01

    The results of an investigation of the isotopic composition of galactic cosmic ray carbon, nitrogen and oxygen (E approx. 80 to 230 MeV/amu) made using the U.C. Berkeley HKH instrument aboard the ISEE-3 spacecraft are reported. The combination of high mass resolution and a large statistical sample makes possible a precise determination of the relative isotopic abundances for these elements. In local interplanetary space we find: 13 C/C = 0.067 +- 0.008, 15 N/N = 0.54 +- 0.03, 17 O/O 18 O/O = 0.019 +- 0.003

  13. Marine nitrogen cycle

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Naqvi, S.W.A.

    ) such as the Marine nitrogen cycle The marine nitrogen cycle. ‘X’ and ‘Y’ are intra-cellular intermediates that do not accumulate in water column. (Source: Codispoti et al., 2001) Page 1 of 3Marine nitrogen cycle - Encyclopedia of Earth 11/20/2006http://www... and nitrous oxide budgets: Moving targets as we enter the anthropocene?, Sci. Mar., 65, 85-105, 2001. Page 2 of 3Marine nitrogen cycle - Encyclopedia of Earth 11/20/2006http://www.eoearth.org/article/Marine_nitrogen_cycle square6 Gruber, N.: The dynamics...

  14. Lipids as paleomarkers to constrain the marine nitrogen cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rush, Darci; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S

    2017-06-01

    Global climate is, in part, regulated by the effect of microbial processes on biogeochemical cycling. The nitrogen cycle, in particular, is driven by microorganisms responsible for the fixation and loss of nitrogen, and the reduction-oxidation transformations of bio-available nitrogen. Within marine systems, nitrogen availability is often the limiting factor in the growth of autotrophic organisms, intrinsically linking the nitrogen and carbon cycles. In order to elucidate the state of these cycles in the past, and help envisage present and future variability, it is essential to understand the specific microbial processes responsible for transforming bio-available nitrogen species. As most microorganisms are soft-bodied and seldom leave behind physical fossils in the sedimentary record, recalcitrant lipid biomarkers are used to unravel microbial processes in the geological past. This review emphasises the recent advances in marine nitrogen cycle lipid biomarkers, underlines the missing links still needed to fully elucidate past shifts in this biogeochemically-important cycle, and provides examples of biomarker applications in the geological past. © 2017 The Authors. Environmental Microbiology published by Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Equilibration of the terrestrial water, nitrogen, and carbon cycles

    OpenAIRE

    Schimel, David S.; Braswell, B. H.; Parton, W. J.

    1997-01-01

    Recent advances in biologically based ecosystem models of the coupled terrestrial, hydrological, carbon, and nutrient cycles have provided new perspectives on the terrestrial biosphere’s behavior globally, over a range of time scales. We used the terrestrial ecosystem model Century to examine relationships between carbon, nitrogen, and water dynamics. The model, run to a quasi-steady-state, shows strong correlations between carbon, water, and nitrogen fluxes that l...

  16. Biomass derived porous nitrogen doped carbon for electrochemical devices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Litao Yan

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Biomass derived porous nanostructured nitrogen doped carbon (PNC has been extensively investigated as the electrode material for electrochemical catalytic reactions and rechargeable batteries. Biomass with and without containing nitrogen could be designed and optimized to prepare PNC via hydrothermal carbonization, pyrolysis, and other methods. The presence of nitrogen in carbon can provide more active sites for ion absorption, improve the electronic conductivity, increase the bonding between carbon and sulfur, and enhance the electrochemical catalytic reaction. The synthetic methods of natural biomass derived PNC, heteroatomic co- or tri-doping into biomass derived carbon and the application of biomass derived PNC in rechargeable Li/Na batteries, high energy density Li–S batteries, supercapacitors, metal-air batteries and electrochemical catalytic reaction (oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, hydrogen evolution reaction are summarized and discussed in this review. Biomass derived PNCs deliver high performance electrochemical storage properties for rechargeable batteries/supercapacitors and superior electrochemical catalytic performance toward hydrogen evolution, oxygen reduction and evolution, as promising electrodes for electrochemical devices including battery technologies, fuel cell and electrolyzer. Keywords: Biomass, Nitrogen doped carbon, Batteries, Fuel cell, Electrolyzer

  17. Nitrogen doped silicon-carbon multilayer protective coatings on carbon obtained by TVA method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciupina, Victor; Vasile, Eugeniu; Porosnicu, Corneliu; Lungu, Cristian P.; Vladoiu, Rodica; Jepu, Ionut; Mandes, Aurelia; Dinca, Virginia; Caraiane, Aureliana; Nicolescu, Virginia; Cupsa, Ovidiu; Dinca, Paul; Zaharia, Agripina

    2017-08-01

    Protective nitrogen doped Si-C multilayer coatings on carbon, used to improve the oxidation resistance of carbon, were obtained by Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA) method. The initial carbon layer having a thickness of 100nm has been deposed on a silicon substrate in the absence of nitrogen, and then a 3nm Si thin film to cover carbon layer was deposed. Further, seven Si and C layers were alternatively deposed in the presence of nitrogen ions, each having a thickness of 40nm. In order to form silicon carbide at the interface between silicon and carbon layers, all carbon, silicon and nitrogen ions energy has increased up to 150eV . The characterization of microstructure and electrical properties of as-prepared N-Si-C multilayer structures were done using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM, STEM) techniques, Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy (TDS) and electrical measurements. Oxidation protection of carbon is based on the reaction between oxygen and silicon carbide, resulting in SiO2, SiO and CO2, and also by reaction involving N, O and Si, resulting in silicon oxynitride (SiNxOy) with a continuously variable composition, and on the other hand, since nitrogen acts as a trapping barrier for oxygen. To perform electrical measurements, 80% silver filled two-component epoxy-based glue ohmic contacts were attached on the N-Si-C samples. Electrical conductivity was measured in constant current mode. The experimental data show the increase of conductivity with the increase of the nitrogen content. To explain the temperature behavior of electrical conductivity we assumed a thermally activated electric transport mechanism.

  18. Improved Electrochemical Performance of Biomass-Derived Nanoporous Carbon/Sulfur Composites Cathode for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries by Nitrogen Doping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geng, Zhen; Xiao, Qiangfeng; Wang, Dabin; Yi, Guanghai; Xu, Zhigang; Li, Bing; Zhang, Cunman

    2016-01-01

    A two-step method with high-efficiency is developed to prepare nitrogen doped activated carbons (NACs) with high surface area and nitrogen content. Based on the method, series of NACs with similar surface area and pore texture but different nitrogen content and nitrogen group species are successfully prepared. The influence of nitrogen doping on electrochemical performance of carbon/sulfur composites cathode is studied deeply under the conditions of similar surface area and pore texture. It presents the directly experimental demonstration that both nitrogen content and nitrogen group species play crucial roles on electrochemical performance of carbon/sulfur composites cathode. NAC/sulfur composites show the much improved cycling performance, which is about 3.5 times as that of nitrogen free carbon. Improved electrochemical performance is due to synergistic effects between nitrogen content and effective nitrogen groups, which enables effective trapping of lithium polysulfides within carbon framework. Besides, it is found that oxygen groups exist in carbon materials obviously influence electrochemical performance of cathode, which could be ignored in most of studies. Based on above, it can be concluded that enhanced chemisorption to lithium polysulfides by functional groups modification is the effective route to improve the electrochemical performance of Li-S battery.

  19. Measurement of total-body oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon in vivo by photon activation analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ulin, K.

    1984-01-01

    With the aim of assessing nutritional status, the feasibility of measuring the total body quantities of the major body elements, i.e. oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon, using the photon beam of a 45 MV betatron and a whole-body counter, has been evaluated in detail. Following photon activation a single energy γ-radiation (.511 MeV) is observed from all three elements to be measured. The half-lives of 15 O, 13 N, and 11 C, however, are sufficiently different (20.5 min, 10.0 min, and 20.4 min. respectively) to permit their measurement from an analysis of the measured decay curve. Following corrections for interfering reactions, a computer curve-fitting algorithm is used to resolve the data into 15 O, 13 N, and 11 C components. Measurements of O, N, and C have been made both in phantoms and in live and dead rats. A comparison of the body composition results from this technique with results from chemical analysis indicates that measured carbon can quite accurately predict total body fat. The comparison of the total body nitrogen measurement by photon activation with total body protein by chemical analysis was inconclusive and suggests that further work be done to verify the estimated accuracy of the nitrogen measurement

  20. A Cryptic Sulfur Cycle in Oxygen-Minimum-Zone Waters off the Chilean Coast

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canfield, Don E.; Stewart, Frank J.; Thamdrup, Bo; De Brabandere, Loreto; Dalsgaard, Tage; Delong, Edward F.; Revsbech, Niels Peter; Ulloa, Osvaldo

    2010-12-01

    Nitrogen cycling is normally thought to dominate the biogeochemistry and microbial ecology of oxygen-minimum zones in marine environments. Through a combination of molecular techniques and process rate measurements, we showed that both sulfate reduction and sulfide oxidation contribute to energy flux and elemental cycling in oxygen-free waters off the coast of northern Chile. These processes may have been overlooked because in nature, the sulfide produced by sulfate reduction immediately oxidizes back to sulfate. This cryptic sulfur cycle is linked to anammox and other nitrogen cycling processes, suggesting that it may influence biogeochemical cycling in the global ocean.

  1. Preparation of nitrogen-doped graphitic carboncages as electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yan, Jing; Meng, Hui; Yu, Wendan; Yuan, Xiaoli; Lin, Worong; Ouyang, Wenpeng; Yuan, Dingsheng

    2014-01-01

    Nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials have been attracted increasing research interests in lithium-O 2 and Zinc-O 2 batteries, ultracapacitors and fuel cells. Herein, nitrogen-doped graphitic carboncages (N-GCs) have been prepared by mesoporous Fe 2 O 3 as a catalyst and lysine as a nitrogen doped carbon source. Due to the catalysis of Fe 2 O 3 , the N-GCs have a high graphitization degree at a low temperature, which is detected by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectrometer. Simultaneously, the heteroatom nitrogen is in-situ doped into carbon network. Therefore, the excellent electrocatalysis performance for oxygen reduction reaction is expected. The electrochemical measurement indicates that The N-GCs for oxygen reduction reaction in O 2 -saturated 0.1 mol L −1 KOH show a four-electron transfer process and exhibit excellent electrocatalytic activity (E ORR = -0.05 V vs. Ag/AgCl) and good stability (i/i 0 = 90% at -0.35 V after 4000 s with a rotation rate of 1600 rpm)

  2. Improving biomass-derived carbon by activation with nitrogen and cobalt for supercapacitors and oxygen reduction reaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Man; Jin, Xin; Wang, Linan; Sun, Mengjia; Tang, Yang; Chen, Yongmei; Sun, Yanzhi; Yang, Xiaojin; Wan, Pingyu

    2017-07-01

    Biomass-derived carbon by activation with nitrogen and cobalt (denoted as NPACCo) was prepared by one-pot pyrolysis of pomelo peel with melamine, cobalt nitrate and potassium hydroxide, followed by acid leaching. NPACCo possesses high content of quaternary-N (2.5%) and pyridinic-N (1.7%), co-existences of amorphous and short-range ordered carbon, high specific surface area and pore structure with majority of micropores and small mesopores. As electrode material of supercapacitors, NPACCo exhibits high specific capacitance and good rate capability. At ultrahigh rate of 50 A g-1 (135 mA cm-2), the capacitance of NPACCo remains 246 F g-1, which is 6.3, 1.9 and 3.2 times as high as that of other three materials (PC, PAC and NPAC). The as-assembled symmetric supercapacitor of NPACCo delivers high energy density, high power density and excellent cycling stability. With respect to oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), NPACCo exhibits high onset potential (0.87 V), high half-wave potential (0.78 V), excellent methanol tolerance and low yield of H2O2. The ORR properties of NPACCo are comparable or superior to those of commercial Pt/C. This investigation of pomelo peel-based NPACCo would be valuable for development of both supercapacitor and ORR.

  3. Identification of catalytic sites in cobalt-nitrogen-carbon materials for the oxygen reduction reaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zitolo, Andrea; Ranjbar-Sahraie, Nastaran; Mineva, Tzonka; Li, Jingkun; Jia, Qingying; Stamatin, Serban; Harrington, George F; Lyth, Stephen Mathew; Krtil, Petr; Mukerjee, Sanjeev; Fonda, Emiliano; Jaouen, Frédéric

    2017-10-16

    Single-atom catalysts with full utilization of metal centers can bridge the gap between molecular and solid-state catalysis. Metal-nitrogen-carbon materials prepared via pyrolysis are promising single-atom catalysts but often also comprise metallic particles. Here, we pyrolytically synthesize a Co-N-C material only comprising atomically dispersed cobalt ions and identify with X-ray absorption spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility measurements and density functional theory the structure and electronic state of three porphyrinic moieties, CoN 4 C 12 , CoN 3 C 10,porp and CoN 2 C 5 . The O 2 electro-reduction and operando X-ray absorption response are measured in acidic medium on Co-N-C and compared to those of a Fe-N-C catalyst prepared similarly. We show that cobalt moieties are unmodified from 0.0 to 1.0 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode, while Fe-based moieties experience structural and electronic-state changes. On the basis of density functional theory analysis and established relationships between redox potential and O 2 -adsorption strength, we conclude that cobalt-based moieties bind O 2 too weakly for efficient O 2 reduction.Nitrogen-doped carbon materials with atomically dispersed iron or cobalt are promising for catalytic use. Here, the authors show that cobalt moieties have a higher redox potential, bind oxygen more weakly and are less active toward oxygen reduction than their iron counterpart, despite similar coordination.

  4. Could a secular increase in organic burial explain the rise of oxygen? Insights from a geological carbon cycle model constrained by the carbon isotope record

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krissansen-Totton, J.; Kipp, M.; Catling, D. C.

    2017-12-01

    The stable isotopes of carbon in marine sedimentary rock provide a window into the evolution of the Earth system. Conventionally, a relatively constant carbon isotope ratio in marine sedimentary rocks has been interpreted as implying constant organic carbon burial relative to total carbon burial. Because organic carbon burial corresponds to net oxygen production from photosynthesis, it follows that secular changes in the oxygen source flux cannot explain the dramatic rise of oxygen over Earth history. Instead, secular declines in oxygen sink fluxes are often invoked as causes for the rise of oxygen. However, constant fractional organic burial is difficult to reconcile with tentative evidence for low phosphate concentrations in the Archean ocean, which would imply lower marine productivity and—all else being equal—less organic carbon burial than today. The conventional interpretation of the carbon isotope record rests on the untested assumption that the isotopic ratio of carbon inputs into the ocean reflect mantle isotopic values throughout Earth history. In practice, differing rates of carbonate and organic weathering will allow for changes in isotopic inputs, as suggested by [1] and [2]. However, these inputs can not vary freely because large changes in isotopic inputs would induce secular trends in carbon reservoirs, which are not observed in the isotope record. We apply a geological carbon cycle model to all Earth history, tracking carbon isotopes in crustal, mantle, and ocean reservoirs. Our model is constrained by the carbon isotope record such that we can determine the extent to which large changes in organic burial are permitted. We find both constant organic burial and 3-5 fold increases in organic burial since 4.0 Ga can be reconciled with the carbon isotope record. Changes in the oxygen source flux thus need to be reconsidered as a possible contributor to Earth's oxygenation. [1] L. A. Derry, Organic carbon cycling and the lithosphere, in Treatise on

  5. Oxygen response of the wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae EC1118 grown under carbon-sufficient, nitrogen-limited enological conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aceituno, Felipe F; Orellana, Marcelo; Torres, Jorge; Mendoza, Sebastián; Slater, Alex W; Melo, Francisco; Agosin, Eduardo

    2012-12-01

    Discrete additions of oxygen play a critical role in alcoholic fermentation. However, few studies have quantitated the fate of dissolved oxygen and its impact on wine yeast cell physiology under enological conditions. We simulated the range of dissolved oxygen concentrations that occur after a pump-over during the winemaking process by sparging nitrogen-limited continuous cultures with oxygen-nitrogen gaseous mixtures. When the dissolved oxygen concentration increased from 1.2 to 2.7 μM, yeast cells changed from a fully fermentative to a mixed respirofermentative metabolism. This transition is characterized by a switch in the operation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) and an activation of NADH shuttling from the cytosol to mitochondria. Nevertheless, fermentative ethanol production remained the major cytosolic NADH sink under all oxygen conditions, suggesting that the limitation of mitochondrial NADH reoxidation is the major cause of the Crabtree effect. This is reinforced by the induction of several key respiratory genes by oxygen, despite the high sugar concentration, indicating that oxygen overrides glucose repression. Genes associated with other processes, such as proline uptake, cell wall remodeling, and oxidative stress, were also significantly affected by oxygen. The results of this study indicate that respiration is responsible for a substantial part of the oxygen response in yeast cells during alcoholic fermentation. This information will facilitate the development of temporal oxygen addition strategies to optimize yeast performance in industrial fermentations.

  6. Towards a quantitative understanding of the late Neoproterozoic carbon cycle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjerrum, Christian Jannik; Canfield, Donald Eugene

    2011-01-01

    The cycles of carbon and oxygen at the Earth surface are intimately linked, where the burial of organic carbon into sediments represents a source of oxygen to the surface environment. This coupling is typically quantified through the isotope records of organic and inorganic carbon. Yet, the late...... Neoproterozoic Eon, the time when animals first evolved, experienced wild isotope fluctuations which do not conform to our normal understanding of the carbon cycle and carbon-oxygen coupling. We interpret these fluctuations with a new carbon cycle model and demonstrate that all of the main features...... of the carbonate and organic carbon isotope record can be explained by the release of methane hydrates from an anoxic dissolved organic carbon-rich ocean into an atmosphere containing oxygen levels considerably less than today....

  7. From nitrogen enrichment to oxygen depletion: a mechanistic model of coastal marine ecosystems response

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cosme, Nuno Miguel Dias; Koski, Marja; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    Nitrogen (N) emissions from anthropogenic sources may enrich coastal waters and lead to marine eutrophication impacts. Processes describing N-limited primary production (PP), zooplankton grazing, and bacterial respiration of sinking organic carbon, were modelled to quantify the potential dissolved...... oxygen (DO) consumption as a function of N input. Such indicator is the basis for an eXposure Factor (XF) applied in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) to estimate impacts from N enrichment. The Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) biogeographical classification system was adopted to address the spatial...

  8. Nitrogen cycling in Hot Spring Sediments and Biofilms (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer-Dombard, D. R.; Burton, M. S.; Havig, J. R.; Shock, E.

    2010-12-01

    Over the past several decades, gene-targeted analyses have revealed that microbial communities in hydrothermal environments can be surprisingly diverse. However, we know shockingly little about basic ecological functions such as carbon and nitrogen cycling or community shifts over time, or environmental parameters such as growth criteria. Previous work has shown that carbon cycling in one hot spring in Yellowstone National Park [“Bison Pool”] and its associated runoff channel functions as a complex system. Analysis of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in biofilms across a temperature and chemical gradient at this location revealed that multiple autotrophic carbon fixation pathways are functioning in this system, and nitrogen fixation varies across the chemosynthetic/photosynthetic ecotone [1]. Further, sequencing of metagenomes from multiple locations at “Bison Pool” has indicated the presence of genes involved in carbon fixation [both phototrophic and autotrophic], and heterotrophy, as well as nitrogen fixation [2]. Studies from other Yellowstone locations have also found genetic evidence for carbon and nitrogen fixation [3-5]. The role of individual microbes in nitrogen cycling as environmental conditions vary over space and time is the focus of this study. Here, we explore the diversity of nifH [nitrogen fixation], nirK [nitrite reduction] and amoA [ammonia oxidation] genes across a variety of Yellowstone environments. Environmental nucleic acids were extracted, and the presence/absence of Bacteria and Archaea determined by PCR. In addition, PCR-directed screens reveal the presence or absence of the aforementioned functional genes, indicating genetic capacity for nitrogen cycling. We have examined the transition of genetic diversity and genetic capacity within sediments and biofilms at the chemosynthetic/photosynthetic ecotone in several hot springs spanning ranges of pH and geochemical conditions. By sampling across this ecotone, changes in the genetic

  9. Understanding spatial heterogeneity in soil carbon and nitrogen cycling in regenerating tropical dry forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waring, B. G.; Powers, J. S.; Branco, S.; Adams, R.; Schilling, E.

    2015-12-01

    Tropical dry forests (TDFs) currently store significant amounts of carbon in their biomass and soils, but these highly seasonal ecosystems may be uniquely sensitive to altered climates. The ability to quantitatively predict C cycling in TDFs under global change is constrained by tremendous spatial heterogeneity in soil parent material, land-use history, and plant community composition. To explore this variation, we examined soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in 18 permanent plots spanning orthogonal gradients of stand age and soil fertility. Soil C and N pools, microbial biomass, and microbial extracellular enzyme activities were most variable at small (m2) spatial scales. However, the ratio of organic vs. inorganic N cycling was consistently higher in forest stands dominated by slow-growing, evergreen trees that associate with ectomycorrhizal fungi. Similarly, although bulk litter stocks and turnover rates varied greatly among plots, litter decomposition tended to be slower in ectomycorrhizae-dominated stands. Soil N cycling tended to be more conservative in older plots, although the relationship between stand age and element cycling was weak. Our results emphasize that microscale processes, particularly interactions between mycorrhizal fungi and free-living decomposers, are important controls on ecosystem-scale element cycling.

  10. Facile Synthesis of Nitrogen and Oxygen Co-Doped Clews of Carbon Nanobelts for Supercapacitors with Excellent Rate Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liang Yu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Facile synthesis of carbon materials with high heteroatom content, large specific surface area (SSA and hierarchical porous structure is critical for energy storage applications. In this study, nitrogen and oxygen co-doped clews of carbon nanobelts (NCNBs with hierarchical porous structures are successfully prepared by a carbonization and subsequent activation by using ladder polymer of hydroquinone and formaldehyde (LPHF as the precursor and ammonia as the activating agent. The hierarchical porous structures and ultra-high SSA (up to 2994 m2 g−1 can effectively facilitate the exchange and transportation of electrons and ions. Moreover, suitable heteroatom content is believed to modify the wettability of the carbon material. The as-prepared activated NCNBs-60 (the NCNBs activated by ammonia at 950 °C for 60 min possess a high capacitance of 282 F g−1 at the current density of 0.25 A g−1, NCNBs-45 (the NCNBs are activated by ammonia at 950 °C for 45 min and show an excellent capacity retention of 50.2% when the current density increase from 0.25 to 150 A g−1. Moreover, the NCNBs-45 electrode exhibits superior electrochemical stability with 96.2% capacity retention after 10,000 cycles at 5.0 A g−1. The newly prepared NCNBs thus show great potential in the field of energy storage.

  11. A microbial biogeochemistry network for soil carbon and nitrogen cycling and methane flux: model structure and application to Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, X.; Song, C.; Wang, Y.; Ricciuto, D. M.; Lipson, D.; Shi, X.; Zona, D.; Song, X.; Yuan, F.; Oechel, W. C.; Thornton, P. E.

    2017-12-01

    A microbial model is introduced for simulating microbial mechanisms controlling soil carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycling and methane fluxes. The model is built within the CN (carbon-nitrogen) framework of Community Land Model 4.5, named as CLM-Microbe to emphasize its explicit representation of microbial mechanisms to biogeochemistry. Based on the CLM4.5, three new pools were added: bacteria, fungi, and dissolved organic matter. It has 11 pools and 34 transitional processes, compared with 8 pools and 9 transitional flow in the CLM4.5. The dissolve organic carbon was linked with a new microbial functional group based methane module to explicitly simulate methane production, oxidation, transport and their microbial controls. Comparing with CLM4.5-CN, the CLM-Microbe model has a number of new features, (1) microbial control on carbon and nitrogen flows between soil carbon/nitrogen pools; (2) an implicit representation of microbial community structure as bacteria and fungi; (3) a microbial functional-group based methane module. The model sensitivity analysis suggests the importance of microbial carbon allocation parameters on soil biogeochemistry and microbial controls on methane dynamics. Preliminary simulations validate the model's capability for simulating carbon and nitrogen dynamics and methane at a number of sites across the globe. The regional application to Asia has verified the model in simulating microbial mechanisms in controlling methane dynamics at multiple scales.

  12. A highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction: phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped hierarchically ordered porous carbon derived from an iron-functionalized polymer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Chengwei; Zhong, Hexiang; Li, Xianfeng; Yao, Lan; Zhang, Huamin

    2016-01-01

    Heteroatom-doped carbon materials have shown respectable activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. However, the performances of these materials are not satisfactory for energy conversion devices, such as fuel cells. Here, we demonstrate a new type of phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped hierarchically ordered porous carbon (PNHOPC) derived from an iron-functionalized mesoporous polymer through an evaporation-induced self-assembly process that simultaneously combines the carbonization and nitrogen doping processes. The soft template and the nitrogen doping process facilitate the formation of the hierarchically ordered structure for the PNHOPC. The catalyst possesses a large surface area (1118 cm2 g-1) and a pore volume of 1.14 cm3 g-1. Notably, it exhibits excellent ORR catalytic performance, superior stability and methanol tolerance in acidic electrolytes, thus making the catalyst promising for fuel cells. The correlations between the unique pore structure and the nitrogen and phosphorus configuration of the catalysts with high catalytic activity are thoroughly investigated.Heteroatom-doped carbon materials have shown respectable activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. However, the performances of these materials are not satisfactory for energy conversion devices, such as fuel cells. Here, we demonstrate a new type of phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped hierarchically ordered porous carbon (PNHOPC) derived from an iron-functionalized mesoporous polymer through an evaporation-induced self-assembly process that simultaneously combines the carbonization and nitrogen doping processes. The soft template and the nitrogen doping process facilitate the formation of the hierarchically ordered structure for the PNHOPC. The catalyst possesses a large surface area (1118 cm2 g-1) and a pore volume of 1.14 cm3 g-1. Notably, it exhibits excellent ORR catalytic performance, superior stability and methanol tolerance in acidic

  13. The Seasonal Cycle of Carbon in the Southern Pacific Ocean Observed from Biogeochemical Profiling Floats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarmiento, J. L.; Gray, A. R.; Johnson, K. S.; Carter, B.; Riser, S.; Talley, L. D.; Williams, N. L.

    2016-02-01

    The Southern Ocean is thought to play an important role in the ocean-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide and the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide. However, the total number of observations of the carbonate system in this region is small and heavily biased towards the summer. Here we present 1.5 years of biogeochemical measurements, including pH, oxygen, and nitrate, collected by 11 autonomous profiling floats deployed in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean in April 2014. These floats sampled a variety of oceanographic regimes ranging from the seasonally ice-covered zone to the subtropical gyre. Using an algorithm trained with bottle measurements, alkalinity is estimated from salinity, temperature, and oxygen and then used together with the measured pH to calculate total carbon dioxide and pCO2 in the upper 1500 dbar. The seasonal cycle in the biogeochemical quantities is examined, and the factors governing pCO2 in the surface waters are analyzed. The mechanisms driving the seasonal cycle of carbon are further investigated by computing budgets of heat, carbon, and nitrogen in the mixed layer. Comparing the different regimes sampled by the floats demonstrates the complex and variable nature of the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean.

  14. Unlocking the Electrocatalytic Activity of Chemically Inert Amorphous Carbon-Nitrogen for Oxygen Reduction: Discerning and Refactoring Chaotic Bonds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Caihong; Zhang, Wei; Wang, Dong

    2017-01-01

    Mild annealing enables inactive nitrogen (N)-doped amorphous carbon (a-C) films abundant with chaotic bonds prepared by magnetron sputtering to become effective for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) by virtue of generating pyridinic N. The rhythmic variation of ORR activity elaborates well...... on the subtle evolution of the amorphous C−N bonds conferred by spectroscopic analysis....

  15. Environmental factors affecting rates of nitrogen cycling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lipschultz, F.

    1984-01-01

    The nitrogen cycle in the eutrophic Delaware river was studied in late summer, 1983 using 15 N tracer additions of NHG 4 + , NO 2 - , and NO 3 - . Rates for nine different transformations were calculated simultaneously with a least-squares minimization analysis. Light was found to stimulate ammonium uptake and to inhibit ammonium oxidation. Rates for nitrification, ammonium uptake by phytoplankton, and photosynthesis were integrated over 24 hours and river depth. High turbidity lifted the effect of light inhibition on nitrification and restricted phytoplankton uptake. Uptake of ammonium contributed over 95% of the inorganic nitrogen ration for phytoplankton, with dark uptake accounting for more than 50%. A mass-conservation, box model of river was used to calculate rate constants required to reproduce observed nutrient concentration changes. The calculated constants correlated well with the measured 15 N and oxygen integrated rates. Water-column nitrification was the major loss term for NH 4 + , while water column regeneration was the primary source. Loss of oxidized nitrogen was insignificant. Oxygen consumption and air-water exchange far exceeded net photosynthetic oxygen production. Nitrification contributed less than 1% to the oxygen demand near Philadelphia but up to 25% further downstream. Production of NO and N 2 O was measured under varying oxygen concentrations in batch cultures of the nitrifying bacteria Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrosococcus oceanus. Production of both gases increased relative to nitrite production as oxygen levels decreased

  16. Nitrogen-doped carbon monolith for alkaline supercapacitors and understanding nitrogen-induced redox transitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Da-Wei; Li, Feng; Yin, Li-Chang; Lu, Xu; Chen, Zhi-Gang; Gentle, Ian R; Lu, Gao Qing; Cheng, Hui-Ming

    2012-04-23

    A nitrogen-doped porous carbon monolith was synthesized as a pseudo-capacitive electrode for use in alkaline supercapacitors. Ammonia-assisted carbonization was used to dope the surface with nitrogen heteroatoms in a way that replaced carbon atoms but kept the oxygen content constant. Ammonia treatment expanded the micropore size-distributions and increased the specific surface area from 383 m(2) g(-1) to 679 m(2) g(-1). The nitrogen-containing porous carbon material showed a higher capacitance (246 F g(-1)) in comparison with the nitrogen-free one (186 F g(-1)). Ex situ electrochemical spectroscopy was used to investigate the evolution of the nitrogen-containing functional groups on the surface of the N-doped carbon electrodes in a three-electrode cell. In addition, first-principles calculations were explored regarding the electronic structures of different nitrogen groups to determine their relative redox potentials. We proposed possible redox reaction pathways based on the calculated redox affinity of different groups and surface analysis, which involved the reversible attachment/detachment of hydroxy groups between pyridone and pyridine. The oxidation of nitrogen atoms in pyridine was also suggested as a possible reaction pathway. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. [Effects of biochar on soil nitrogen cycle and related mechanisms: a review].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Yi-Fan; Yang, Min; Dong, Da; Wu, Wei-Xiang

    2013-09-01

    Biochar has its unique physical and chemical properties, playing a significant role in soil amelioration, nutrient retention, fertility improvement, and carbon storage, and being a hotspot in the research areas of soil ecosystem, biogeochemical cycling, and agricultural carbon sequestration. As a kind of anthropogenic materials, biochar has the potential in controlling soil nitrogen (N) cycle directly or indirectly, and thus, has profound effects on soil ecological functions. This paper reviewed the latest literatures regarding the effects of biochar applications on soil N cycle, with the focuses on the nitrogen species adsorption and the biochemical processes (nitrification, denitrification, and nitrogen fixation) , and analyzed the related action mechanisms of biochar. The future research areas for better understanding the interactions between biochar and soil N cycle were proposed.

  18. Metagenomic profiling of a microbial assemblage associated with the California mussel: a node in networks of carbon and nitrogen cycling.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine A Pfister

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Mussels are conspicuous and often abundant members of rocky shores and may constitute an important site for the nitrogen cycle due to their feeding and excretion activities. We used shotgun metagenomics of the microbial community associated with the surface of mussels (Mytilus californianus on Tatoosh Island in Washington state to test whether there is a nitrogen-based microbial assemblage associated with mussels. Analyses of both tidepool mussels and those on emergent benches revealed a diverse community of Bacteria and Archaea with approximately 31 million bp from 6 mussels in each habitat. Using MG-RAST, between 22.5-25.6% were identifiable using the SEED non-redundant database for proteins. Of those fragments that were identifiable through MG-RAST, the composition was dominated by Cyanobacteria and Alpha- and Gamma-proteobacteria. Microbial composition was highly similar between the tidepool and emergent bench mussels, suggesting similar functions across these different microhabitats. One percent of the proteins identified in each sample were related to nitrogen cycling. When normalized to protein discovery rate, the high diversity and abundance of enzymes related to the nitrogen cycle in mussel-associated microbes is as great or greater than that described for other marine metagenomes. In some instances, the nitrogen-utilizing profile of this assemblage was more concordant with soil metagenomes in the Midwestern U.S. than for open ocean system. Carbon fixation and Calvin cycle enzymes further represented 0.65 and 1.26% of all proteins and their abundance was comparable to a number of open ocean marine metagenomes. In sum, the diversity and abundance of nitrogen and carbon cycle related enzymes in the microbes occupying the shells of Mytilus californianus suggest these mussels provide a node for microbial populations and thus biogeochemical processes.

  19. Oxygen Response of the Wine Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae EC1118 Grown under Carbon-Sufficient, Nitrogen-Limited Enological Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aceituno, Felipe F.; Orellana, Marcelo; Torres, Jorge; Mendoza, Sebastián; Slater, Alex W.; Melo, Francisco

    2012-01-01

    Discrete additions of oxygen play a critical role in alcoholic fermentation. However, few studies have quantitated the fate of dissolved oxygen and its impact on wine yeast cell physiology under enological conditions. We simulated the range of dissolved oxygen concentrations that occur after a pump-over during the winemaking process by sparging nitrogen-limited continuous cultures with oxygen-nitrogen gaseous mixtures. When the dissolved oxygen concentration increased from 1.2 to 2.7 μM, yeast cells changed from a fully fermentative to a mixed respirofermentative metabolism. This transition is characterized by a switch in the operation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) and an activation of NADH shuttling from the cytosol to mitochondria. Nevertheless, fermentative ethanol production remained the major cytosolic NADH sink under all oxygen conditions, suggesting that the limitation of mitochondrial NADH reoxidation is the major cause of the Crabtree effect. This is reinforced by the induction of several key respiratory genes by oxygen, despite the high sugar concentration, indicating that oxygen overrides glucose repression. Genes associated with other processes, such as proline uptake, cell wall remodeling, and oxidative stress, were also significantly affected by oxygen. The results of this study indicate that respiration is responsible for a substantial part of the oxygen response in yeast cells during alcoholic fermentation. This information will facilitate the development of temporal oxygen addition strategies to optimize yeast performance in industrial fermentations. PMID:23001663

  20. A Three-Dimensional Model of the Marine Nitrogen Cycle during the Last Glacial Maximum Constrained by Sedimentary Isotopes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher J. Somes

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Nitrogen is a key limiting nutrient that influences marine productivity and carbon sequestration in the ocean via the biological pump. In this study, we present the first estimates of nitrogen cycling in a coupled 3D ocean-biogeochemistry-isotope model forced with realistic boundary conditions from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM ~21,000 years before present constrained by nitrogen isotopes. The model predicts a large decrease in nitrogen loss rates due to higher oxygen concentrations in the thermocline and sea level drop, and, as a response, reduced nitrogen fixation. Model experiments are performed to evaluate effects of hypothesized increases of atmospheric iron fluxes and oceanic phosphorus inventory relative to present-day conditions. Enhanced atmospheric iron deposition, which is required to reproduce observations, fuels export production in the Southern Ocean causing increased deep ocean nutrient storage. This reduces transport of preformed nutrients to the tropics via mode waters, thereby decreasing productivity, oxygen deficient zones, and water column N-loss there. A larger global phosphorus inventory up to 15% cannot be excluded from the currently available nitrogen isotope data. It stimulates additional nitrogen fixation that increases the global oceanic nitrogen inventory, productivity, and water column N-loss. Among our sensitivity simulations, the best agreements with nitrogen isotope data from LGM sediments indicate that water column and sedimentary N-loss were reduced by 17–62% and 35–69%, respectively, relative to preindustrial values. Our model demonstrates that multiple processes alter the nitrogen isotopic signal in most locations, which creates large uncertainties when quantitatively constraining individual nitrogen cycling processes. One key uncertainty is nitrogen fixation, which decreases by 25–65% in the model during the LGM mainly in response to reduced N-loss, due to the lack of observations in the open ocean most

  1. Nitrogen Cycling throughout Secondary Succession following Agricultural Disturbance in North-Central Virginia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parisien, A.; Epstein, H. E.

    2017-12-01

    While much is known about the carbon cycle during succession that follows agricultural disturbance, less understood are the dynamics of the nitrogen cycle throughout secondary succession, and how plant-available nitrogen may or may not limit vegetation transitions and net primary productivity over time. Two chronosequences at the Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce, north-central Virginia were examined to elucidate the complexities of the nitrogen cycle over a temporal successional gradient. Each chronosequence consists of one early, one mid, and one late secondary successional field ( 15 years, 30 years, and 100 years post agricultural abandonment, respectively). Five 10x10 m plots were established in each of the 6 fields for a total of 30 plots. Total soil nitrogen (and carbon) data were collected from soils to 30 cm depth at 10-cm intervals, and net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification were estimated using an in situ soil core with anion-cation exchange resin bag technique. Previous studies of carbon cycling at this location have indicated relatively constant soil CO2 efflux of approximately 1100 g C/m2, as well as increasing net primary production and therefore net ecosystem production, with time since abandonment. In addition, soil C and N, and the soil C:N ratio have been shown to increase from the early to late successional plots. Our current study marks the first comprehensive examination of soil nitrogen dynamics including mineralization and nitrification over a successional gradient at Blandy Farm. A thorough understanding of nitrogen dynamics during secondary succession is especially important in the southeastern United States, where a large portion of previously cultivated land has been abandoned over the past century, due to advances in farming efficiency and the move westward to more fertile soils. Much of the southeastern U.S. is now undergoing secondary succession, and quality data on the dynamics of nitrogen cycling during this procession can

  2. Phosphorus, and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots as a fluorescent probe for real-time measurement of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species inside macrophages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Yunqian; Yu, Bin; Yang, Wen; Zhang, Xiaoling

    2016-05-15

    Phosphorus and nitrogen doped carbon dots (PN-CDs) were conveniently prepared by carbonization of adenosine-5'-triphosphate using a hydrothermal treatment. The PN-CDs with P/C atomic ratio of ca. 9.2/100 emit blue luminescence with high quantum yields of up to 23.5%. The PN-CDs were used as a novel sensing platform for live cell imaging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), including ClO(-), ONOO(-), and NO in macrophages. The nanosensor design is based on our new finding that the strong fluorescence of the PN-CDs can be sensitively and selectively quenched by ROS and RNS both in vitro and in vivo. These results reveal that the PN-CDs can serve as a sensitive sensor for rapid imaging of ROS and RNS signaling with high selectivity and contrast. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Nitrogen cycling in corals: the key to understanding holobiont functioning?

    KAUST Repository

    Rädecker, Nils

    2015-04-01

    Corals are animals that form close mutualistic associations with endosymbiotic photosynthetic algae of the genus Symbiodinium. Together they provide the calcium carbonate framework of coral reef ecosystems. The importance of the microbiome (i.e., bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses) to holobiont functioning has only recently been recognized. Given that growth and density of Symbiodinium within the coral host is highly dependent on nitrogen availability, nitrogen-cycling microbes may be of fundamental importance to the stability of the coral–algae symbiosis and holobiont functioning, in particular under nutrient-enriched and -depleted scenarios. We summarize what is known about nitrogen cycling in corals and conclude that disturbance of microbial nitrogen cycling may be tightly linked to coral bleaching and disease.

  4. Nitrogen cycling in corals: the key to understanding holobiont functioning?

    KAUST Repository

    Rä decker, Nils; Pogoreutz, Claudia; Voolstra, Christian R.; Wiedenmann, Jö rg; Wild, Christian

    2015-01-01

    Corals are animals that form close mutualistic associations with endosymbiotic photosynthetic algae of the genus Symbiodinium. Together they provide the calcium carbonate framework of coral reef ecosystems. The importance of the microbiome (i.e., bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses) to holobiont functioning has only recently been recognized. Given that growth and density of Symbiodinium within the coral host is highly dependent on nitrogen availability, nitrogen-cycling microbes may be of fundamental importance to the stability of the coral–algae symbiosis and holobiont functioning, in particular under nutrient-enriched and -depleted scenarios. We summarize what is known about nitrogen cycling in corals and conclude that disturbance of microbial nitrogen cycling may be tightly linked to coral bleaching and disease.

  5. Emissions of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur from biomass burning in Nigeria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akeredolu, F.; Isichei, A.O.

    1991-01-01

    The atmospheric implications of the effects of burning of vegetation in Nigeria are discussed. The following topics are explored: the extent of biomass burning by geographical area; estimates of emission rates of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur; and the impact on biogeochemical cycling of elements. The results suggest that biomass burning generates a measurable impact on the cycling of carbon and nitrogen

  6. CARBON CYCLES, NITROGEN FIXATION AND THE LEGUME-RHIZOBIA SYMBIOSIS AS SOIL CONTAMINANT BIOTEST SYSTEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dietrich Werner

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available The major pools and turnover  rates of the global carbon (C cycles are presented and compared to the human production of CO2  from the burning of fossil fuels (e.g. coal and oil and geothermal  fuels (natural  gases, both categorized as non-renewable energy resources which  in amount  reaches around  6.5 Gigatons C per year. These pools that serve as C-holding stallions  are in the atmosphere,  the land plant biomass, the organic soils carbon, the ocean carbon and the lithosphere. In another related case, the present focus in the area of nitrogen  fixation  is discussed with  data on world  production of grain  legumes  compared  to cereals production and nitrogen  fertilizer use. The focus to understand  the molecular  biology of the legume-rhizobia symbiosis as a major contributor to nitrogen  fixation  is in the areas of signal exchange between  host plants and rhizobia  in the rhizophere including  the nod factor signalling, the infection  and nodule compartmentation and the soils stress factors affecting the symbiosis. The use of the Legume-Rhizobia symbiosis as a biotest system for soil contaminants includes data for cadmium,  arsenate, atrazine,  lindane,  fluoranthene, phenantrene and acenaphthene and also results  on the mechanism,  why the symbiotic system is more sensitive  than test systems with plant growth  parameters.

  7. Isotopic-spectral determination of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon in semiconductor materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dudich, G.K.; Eremeev, V.A.; Li, V.N.; Nemets, V.M.

    1981-01-01

    Techniques of low-temperature isotopic-spectral determination of impurities of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon in semiconductor materials Bi, Ge, Pb tellurides are developed. The techniques include selection into special vessel with the known volume (exchanger) of sample analyzed, dosed introduction into exchanger of rare isotope of the element determined ( 2 H, 15 N, 18 O, 13 C) in the form of isotope-containing gas, balancing of the determined element isotopes in the system sample-isotope, containing gas, spectroscopic, determination of its isotope composition in gaseous phase of the system and calculation of the amount of the element determined in the sample. The lower boundaries of the amounts determined constitute 10 -7 , 10 -7 , 10 -6 and 10 -5 mass % respectively when sample of 20 g are used [ru

  8. Meta-omic signatures of microbial metal and nitrogen cycling in marine oxygen minimum zones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer B. Glass

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Iron (Fe and copper (Cu are essential cofactors for microbial metalloenzymes, but little is known about the metalloenyzme inventory of anaerobic marine microbial communities despite their importance to the nitrogen cycle. We compared dissolved O2, NO3-, NO2-, Fe and Cu concentrations with nucleic acid sequences encoding Fe and Cu-binding proteins in 21 metagenomes and 9 metatranscriptomes from Eastern Tropical North and South Pacific oxygen minimum zones and 7 metagenomes from the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Station. Dissolved Fe concentrations increased sharply at upper oxic-anoxic transition zones, with the highest Fe:Cu molar ratio (1.8 occurring at the anoxic core of the Eastern Tropical North Pacific oxygen minimum zone and matching the predicted maximum ratio based on data from diverse ocean sites. The relative abundance of genes encoding Fe-binding proteins was negatively correlated with O2, driven by significant increases in genes encoding Fe-proteins involved in dissimilatory nitrogen metabolisms under anoxia. Transcripts encoding cytochrome c oxidase, the Fe- and Cu-containing terminal reductase in aerobic respiration, were positively correlated with O2 content. A comparison of the taxonomy of genes encoding Fe- and Cu-binding vs. bulk proteins in OMZs revealed that Planctomycetes represented a higher percentage of Fe genes while Thaumarchaeota represented a higher percentage of Cu genes, particularly at oxyclines. These results are broadly consistent with higher relative abundance of genes encoding Fe-proteins in the genome of a marine planctomycete vs. higher relative abundance of genes encoding Cu-proteins in the genome of a marine thaumarchaeote. These findings highlight the importance of metalloenzymes for microbial processes in oxygen minimum zones and suggest preferential Cu use in oxic habitats with Cu > Fe vs. preferential Fe use in anoxic niches with Fe > Cu.

  9. Influence of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon on the lattice parameter of uranium mono-carbide; Influence de l'oxygene, de l'azote et du carbone sur le parametre reticulaire du monocarbure d'uranium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Magnier, P [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1966-04-15

    The author studies the influence of oxygen and nitrogen contents on the lattice parameter of U(C,O,N) solid solutions around UC composition. The whole data conducts to a determination of the solubility of oxygen in UC: a U(C(1-x)O(x)) solid solution exist if x if smaller than 0.37. The author studies also the influence of carbon content on the lattice parameter of U-UC solid solutions around UC. This study conducts to the determination of the solubility of U in UC at the different temperatures. Consequences upon uranium-carbon diagram are envisaged. (author) [French] L'auteur etudie quantitativement l'influence de l'oxygene et de l'azote sur le parametre reticulaire des solutions solides U(C,O,N) proches de UC. Cette etude permet la determination de la solubilite de l'oxygene dans UC: on montre l'existence d'une solution solide U(C(1-x)O(x)) lorsque x est compris entre 0 et 0,37. Par ailleurs l'auteur etudie l'influence de la teneur en carbone sur le parametre des solutions solides U-UC proches de UC. Cette etude permet la determination de la solubilite de l'uranium dans UC aux differentes temperatures. On envisage enfin les modifications apportees par cette etude au diagramme uranium-carbone. (auteur)

  10. The determination of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in TiCsub(x)Nsub(y)Osub(z) with the Auger electron spectroscopy (AES)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schneider, H.; Nold, E.; Miller, H.T.

    1980-01-01

    The possibility of determining the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen contents in TiCsub(x)Nsub(y)Osub(z) with the Auger-electron-spectroscopy (AES) is discussed. As an example the concentration dependence over the cross section of 1 μm thick TiN-layers is presented. (orig.)

  11. Nitrogen Isotope Evidence for a Shift in Eastern Beringian Nitrogen Cycle after the Terminal Pleistocene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tahmasebi, F.; Longstaffe, F. J.; Zazula, G.

    2016-12-01

    The loess deposits of eastern Beringia, a region in North America between 60° and 70°N latitude and bounded by Chukchi Sea to the west and the Mackenzie River to the east, are a magnificent repository of Late Pleistocene megafauna fossils. The stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions of these fossils are measured to determine the paleodiet of these animals, and hence the paleoenvironment of this ecosystem during the Quaternary. For this approach to be most successful, however, requires consideration of possible changes in nutrient cycling and hence the carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of vegetation in this ecosystem. To test for such a shift following the terminal Pleistocene, we analyzed the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions of modern plants and bone collagen of Arctic ground squirrels from Yukon Territory, and fossil plants and bones recovered from Late Pleistocene fossil Arctic ground squirrel nests. The data for modern samples provided a measure of the isotopic fractionation between ground squirrel bone collagen and their diet. The over-wintering isotopic effect of decay on typical forage grasses was also measured to evaluate its role in determining fossil plant isotopic compositions. The grasses showed only a minor change ( 0-1 ‰) in carbon isotope composition, but a major change ( 2-10 ‰) in nitrogen isotope composition over the 317-day experiment. Based on the modern carbon isotope fractionation between ground squirrel bone collagen and their diet, the modern vegetation carbon isotopic baseline provides a suitable proxy for the Late Pleistocene of eastern Beringia, after accounting for the Suess effect. However, the predicted nitrogen isotope composition of vegetation comprising the diet of fossil ground squirrels remains 2.5 ‰ higher than modern grasslands in this area, even after accounting for possible N-15 enrichment during decay. This result suggests a change in N cycling in this region since the Late Pleistocene.

  12. Biogeochemical reactive transport of carbon, nitrogen and iron in the hyporheic zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dwivedi, D.; Steefel, C. I.; Newcomer, M. E.; Arora, B.; Spycher, N.; Hammond, G. E.; Moulton, J. D.; Fox, P. M.; Nico, P. S.; Williams, K. H.; Dafflon, B.; Carroll, R. W. H.

    2017-12-01

    To understand how biogeochemical processes in the hyporheic zone influence carbon and nitrogen cycling as well as stream biogeochemistry, we developed a biotic and abiotic reaction network and integrated it into a reactive transport simulator - PFLOTRAN. Three-dimensional reactive flow and transport simulations were performed to describe the hyporheic exchange of fluxes from and within an intra-meander region encompassing two meanders of East River in the East Taylor watershed, Colorado. The objectives of this study were to quantify (1) the effect of transience on the export of carbon, nitrogen, and iron; and (2) the biogeochemical transformation of nitrogen and carbon species as a function of the residence time. The model was able to capture reasonably well the observed trends of nitrate and dissolved oxygen values that decreased as well as iron (Fe (II)) values that increased along the meander centerline away from the stream. Hyporheic flow paths create lateral redox zonation within intra-meander regions, which considerably impact nitrogen export into the stream system. Simulation results further demonstrated that low water conditions lead to higher levels of dissolved iron in groundwater, which (Fe (II)> 80%) is exported to the stream on the downstream side during high water conditions. An important conclusion from this study is that reactive transport models representing spatial and temporal heterogeneities are required to identify important factors that contribute to the redox gradients at riverine scales.

  13. Superior supercapacitors based on nitrogen and sulfur co-doped hierarchical porous carbon: Excellent rate capability and cycle stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Deyi; Han, Mei; Wang, Bing; Li, Yubing; Lei, Longyan; Wang, Kunjie; Wang, Yi; Zhang, Liang; Feng, Huixia

    2017-08-01

    Vastly improving the charge storage capability of supercapacitors without sacrificing their high power density and cycle performance would bring bright application prospect. Herein, we report a nitrogen and sulfur co-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NSHPC) with very superior capacitance performance fabricated by KOH activation of nitrogen and sulfur co-doped ordered mesoporous carbon (NSOMC). A high electrochemical double-layer (EDL) capacitance of 351 F g-1 was observed for the reported NSHPC electrodes, and the capacitance remains at 288 F g-1 even under a large current density of 20 A g-1. Besides the high specific capacitance and outstanding rate capability, symmetrical supercapacitor cell based on the NSHPC electrodes also exhibits an excellent cycling performance with 95.61% capacitance retention after 5000 times charge/discharge cycles. The large surface area caused by KOH activation (2056 m2 g-1) and high utilized surface area owing to the ideal micro/mesopores ratio (2.88), large micropores diameter (1.38 nm) and short opened micropores structure as well as the enhanced surface wettability induced by N and S heteroatoms doping and improved conductivity induced by KOH activation was found to be responsible for the very superior capacitance performance.

  14. The Influence of Leaf Fall and Organic Carbon Availability on Nitrogen Cycling in a Headwater Stream

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, S. A.; Kristin, A.; Doyle, B.; Goodale, C. L.; Gurwick, N. P.; Lepak, J.; Kulkari, M.; McIntyre, P.; McCalley, C.; Raciti, S.; Simkin, S.; Warren, D.; Weiss, M.

    2005-05-01

    The study of allochthonous carbon has a long and distinguished history in stream ecology. Despite this legacy, relatively little is known regarding the influence of leaf litter on nutrient dynamics. We conducted 15N-NO3 tracer additions to a headwater stream in upstate New York before and after autumn leaf fall to assess the influence of leaf litter on nitrogen spiraling. In addition, we amended the stream with labile dissolved organic carbon (as acetate) midway through each experiment to examine whether organic carbon availability differentially stimulated nitrogen cycling. Leaf standing stocks increased from 53 to 175 g dry mass m-2 and discharge more than tripled (6 to 20 L s-1) between the pre- and post-leaf fall period. In contrast, nitrate concentration fell from approximately 50 to less then 10 ug L-1. Despite higher discharge, uptake length was shorter following leaf fall under both ambient (250 and 72 m, respectively) and DOC amended (125 and 45 m) conditions. Uptake velocity increased dramatically following leaf fall, despite a slight decline in the areal uptake rate. Dissolved N2 gas samples were also collected to estimate denitrification rates under each experimental condition. The temporal extent of increased nitrogen retention will also be explored.

  15. Fungi contribute critical but spatially varying roles in nitrogen and carbon cycling in acid mine drainage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annika C. Mosier

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The ecosystem roles of fungi have been extensively studied by targeting one organism and/or biological process at a time, but the full metabolic potential of fungi has rarely been captured in an environmental context. We hypothesized that fungal genome sequences could be assembled directly from the environment using metagenomics and that transcriptomics and proteomics could simultaneously reveal metabolic differentiation across habitats. We reconstructed the near-complete 27 Mbp genome of a filamentous fungus, Acidomyces richmondensis, and evaluated transcript and protein expression in floating and streamer biofilms from an acid mine drainage system. A. richmondensis transcripts involved in denitrification and in the degradation of complex carbon sources (including cellulose were up-regulated in floating biofilms, whereas central carbon metabolism and stress-related transcripts were significantly up-regulated in streamer biofilms. These findings suggest that the biofilm niches are distinguished by distinct carbon and nitrogen resource utilization, oxygen availability and environmental challenges. An isolated A. richmondensis strain from this environment was used to validate the metagenomics-derived genome and confirm nitrous oxide production at pH 1. Overall, our analyses defined mechanisms of fungal adaptation and identified a functional shift related to different roles in carbon and nitrogen turnover for the same species of fungi growing in closely located but distinct biofilm niches.

  16. Synergistic interaction and controllable active sites of nitrogen and sulfur co-doping into mesoporous carbon sphere for high performance oxygen reduction electrocatalysts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Taeseob; Kim, Myeongjin; Park, Dabin; Kim, Jooheon

    2018-05-01

    Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped mesoporous carbon sphere (NSMCS) was prepared as a metal-free catalyst by an economical and facile pyrolysis process. The mesoporous carbon spheres were derived from sodium carboxymethyl cellulose as the carbon source and the nitrogen and sulfur dopants were derived from urea and p-benzenedithiol, respectively. The doping level and chemical states of nitrogen and sulfur in the prepared NSMCS can be easily adjusted by controlling the pyrolysis temperature. The NSMCS pyrolyzed at 900 °C (NSMCS-900) exhibited higher oxygen reduction reaction activity than the mesoporous carbon sphere doped solely with nitrogen or sulfur, due to the synergistic effect of co-doping. Among all the NSMCS samples, NSMCS-900 exhibited excellent ORR catalytic activity owing to the presence of a highly active site, consisting of pyridinic N, graphitic N, and thiophene S. Remarkably, the NSMCS-900 catalyst was comparable with commercial Pt/C, in terms of the onset and the half-wave potentials and showed better durability than Pt/C for ORR in an alkaline electrolyte. The approach demonstrated in this work could be used to prepare promising metal-free electrocatalysts for application in energy conversion and storage.

  17. Nitrogen Cycling Considerations for Low-Disturbance, High-Carbon Soil Management in Climate-Adaptive Agriculture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruns, M. A.; Dell, C. J.; Karsten, H.; Bhowmik, A.; Regan, J. M.

    2016-12-01

    Agriculturists are responding to climate change concerns by reducing tillage and increasing organic carbon inputs to soils. Although these management practices are intended to enhance soil carbon sequestration and improve water retention, resulting soil conditions (moister, lower redox, higher carbon) are likely to alter nitrogen cycling and net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Soils are particularly susceptible to denitrification losses of N2O when soils are recently fertilized and wet. It is paradoxical that higher N2O emissions may occur when farmers apply practices intended to make soils more resilient to climate change. As an example, the application of animal manures to increase soil organic matter and replace fossil fuel-based fertilizers could either increase or decrease GHGs. The challenges involved with incorporating manures in reduced-tillage soils often result in N2O emission spikes immediately following manure application. On the other hand, manures enrich soils with bacteria capable of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), a process that could counter N2O production by denitrification. Since bacterial DNRA activity is enhanced by labile forms of carbon, the forms of carbon in soils may play a role in determining the predominant N cycling processes and the extent and duration of DNRA activity. A key question is how management can address the tradeoff of higher N2O emissions from systems employing climate-adaptive practices. Management factors such as timing and quality of carbon inputs therefore may be critical considerations in minimizing GHG emissions from low-disturbance, high-carbon cropping systems.

  18. Nitrogen/Sulfur-Codoped Carbon Materials from Chitosan for Supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Mei; Han, Xianlong; Chang, Xiaoqing; Yin, Wenchao; Ma, Jingyun

    2016-08-01

    d-Methionine and chitosan have been used for fabrication of nitrogen/sulfur-codoped carbon materials by a hydrothermal process followed by carbonization at 750°C for 3 h. The as-prepared carbon materials showed enhanced electrochemical performance, combining electrical double-layer capacitance with pseudocapacitance owing to the doping with sulfur and nitrogen. The specific capacitance of the obtained carbon material reached 135 F g-1 at current density of 1 A g-1, which is much higher than undoped chitosan (67 F g-1). The capacitance retention of the carbon material was almost 97.2% after 5000 cycles at current density of 1 A g-1. With such improved electrochemical performance, the nitrogen/sulfur-codoped carbon material may have promising potential for use in energy-storage electrodes of supercapacitors.

  19. Carbon mineralization and oxygen dynamics in sediments with deep oxygen penetration, Lake Superior

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Jiying; Crowe, Sean Andrew; Miklesh, David

    2012-01-01

    To understand carbon and oxygen dynamics in sediments with deep oxygen penetration, we investigated eight locations (160–318-m depth) throughout Lake Superior. Despite the 2–4 weight percent organic carbon content, oxygen penetrated into the sediment by 3.5 to > 12 cm at all locations. Such deep ...... volume-specific carbon degradation rates were 0.3–1.5 µmol cm−3 d−1; bioturbation coefficient near the sediment surface was 3–8 cm2 yr−1. These results indicate that carbon cycling in large freshwater systems conforms to many of the same trends as in marine systems.......To understand carbon and oxygen dynamics in sediments with deep oxygen penetration, we investigated eight locations (160–318-m depth) throughout Lake Superior. Despite the 2–4 weight percent organic carbon content, oxygen penetrated into the sediment by 3.5 to > 12 cm at all locations. Such deep......, suggesting that temporal variability in deeply oxygenated sediments may be greater than previously acknowledged. The oxygen uptake rates (4.4–7.7 mmol m−2 d−1, average 6.1 mmol m−2 d−1) and carbon mineralization efficiency (∼ 90% of deposited carbon) were similar to those in marine hemipelagic and pelagic...

  20. MIL-100 derived nitrogen-embodied carbon shells embedded with iron nanoparticles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Chengyu; Kong, Aiguo; Wang, Yuan; Bu, Xianhui; Feng, Pingyun

    2015-06-01

    The use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as templates and precursors to synthesize new carbon materials with controllable morphology and pre-selected heteroatom doping holds promise for applications as efficient non-precious metal catalysts. Here, we report a facile pyrolysis pathway to convert MIL-100 into nitrogen-doped carbon shells encapsulating Fe nanoparticles in a comparative study involving multiple selected nitrogen sources. The hierarchical porous architecture, embedded Fe nanoparticles, and nitrogen decoration endow this composite with a superior oxygen reduction activity. Furthermore, the excellent durability and high methanol tolerance even outperform the commercial Pt-C catalyst.The use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as templates and precursors to synthesize new carbon materials with controllable morphology and pre-selected heteroatom doping holds promise for applications as efficient non-precious metal catalysts. Here, we report a facile pyrolysis pathway to convert MIL-100 into nitrogen-doped carbon shells encapsulating Fe nanoparticles in a comparative study involving multiple selected nitrogen sources. The hierarchical porous architecture, embedded Fe nanoparticles, and nitrogen decoration endow this composite with a superior oxygen reduction activity. Furthermore, the excellent durability and high methanol tolerance even outperform the commercial Pt-C catalyst. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Material synthesis and elemental analysis, electrochemistry measurements, and additional figures. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr02346g

  1. 15N indicates an active N-cycling microbial community in low carbon, freshwater sediments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheik, C.

    2017-12-01

    Earth's large lakes are unique aquatic ecosystems, but we know little of the microbial life driving sedimentary biogeochemical cycles and ultimately the isotopic record. In several of these large lakes, water column productivity is constrained by element limitation, such as phosphorus and iron, creating oligotrophic water column conditions that drive low organic matter content in sediments. Yet, these sediments are biogeochemically active and have been shown to have oxygen consumption rates akin to pelagic ocean sediments and complex sulfur cycling dynamics. Thus, large oligotrophic lakes provide unique and interesting biogeochemical contrast to highly productive freshwater and coastal marine systems. Using Lake Superior as our study site, we found microbial community structure followed patterns in bulk sediment carbon and nitrogen concentrations. These observed patterns were loosely driven by land proximity, as some stations are more coastal and have higher rates of sedimentation, allochthonous carbon inputs and productivity than pelagic sites. Interestingly, upper sediment carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were quite different from water column. Sediment carbon and nitrogen isotopes correlated significantly with microbial community structure. However, 15N showed much stronger correlation than 13C, and became heavier with core depth. Coinciding with the increase in 15N values, we see evidence of both denitrification and anammox processes in 16S rRNA gene libraries and metagenome assembled genomes. Given that microorganisms prefer light isotopes and that these N-cycling processes both contribute to N2 production and efflux from the sediment, the increase in 15N with sediment depth suggests microbial turnover. Abundance of these genomes also varies with depth suggesting these novel microorganisms are partitioning into specific sediment geochemical zones. Additionally, several of these genomes contain genes involved in sulphur cycling, suggesting a dual

  2. Representing leaf and root physiological traits in CLM improves global carbon and nitrogen cycling predictions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghimire, Bardan; Riley, William J.; Koven, Charles D.; Mu, Mingquan; Randerson, James T.

    2016-06-01

    In many ecosystems, nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for plant growth and productivity. However, current Earth System Models (ESMs) do not mechanistically represent functional nitrogen allocation for photosynthesis or the linkage between nitrogen uptake and root traits. The current version of CLM (4.5) links nitrogen availability and plant productivity via (1) an instantaneous downregulation of potential photosynthesis rates based on soil mineral nitrogen availability, and (2) apportionment of soil nitrogen between plants and competing nitrogen consumers assumed to be proportional to their relative N demands. However, plants do not photosynthesize at potential rates and then downregulate; instead photosynthesis rates are governed by nitrogen that has been allocated to the physiological processes underpinning photosynthesis. Furthermore, the role of plant roots in nutrient acquisition has also been largely ignored in ESMs. We therefore present a new plant nitrogen model for CLM4.5 with (1) improved representations of linkages between leaf nitrogen and plant productivity based on observed relationships in a global plant trait database and (2) plant nitrogen uptake based on root-scale Michaelis-Menten uptake kinetics. Our model improvements led to a global bias reduction in GPP, LAI, and biomass of 70%, 11%, and 49%, respectively. Furthermore, water use efficiency predictions were improved conceptually, qualitatively, and in magnitude. The new model's GPP responses to nitrogen deposition, CO2 fertilization, and climate also differed from the baseline model. The mechanistic representation of leaf-level nitrogen allocation and a theoretically consistent treatment of competition with belowground consumers led to overall improvements in global carbon cycling predictions.

  3. Complementary constraints from carbon (13C) and nitrogen (15N) isotopes on the glacial ocean's soft-tissue biological pump

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmittner, A.; Somes, C. J.

    2016-06-01

    A three-dimensional, process-based model of the ocean's carbon and nitrogen cycles, including 13C and 15N isotopes, is used to explore effects of idealized changes in the soft-tissue biological pump. Results are presented from one preindustrial control run (piCtrl) and six simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) with increasing values of the spatially constant maximum phytoplankton growth rate μmax, which accelerates biological nutrient utilization mimicking iron fertilization. The default LGM simulation, without increasing μmax and with a shallower and weaker Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and increased sea ice cover, leads to 280 Pg more respired organic carbon (Corg) storage in the deep ocean with respect to piCtrl. Dissolved oxygen concentrations in the colder glacial thermocline increase, which reduces water column denitrification and, with delay, nitrogen fixation, thus increasing the ocean's fixed nitrogen inventory and decreasing δ15NNO3 almost everywhere. This simulation already fits sediment reconstructions of carbon and nitrogen isotopes relatively well, but it overestimates deep ocean δ13CDIC and underestimates δ15NNO3 at high latitudes. Increasing μmax enhances Corg and lowers deep ocean δ13CDIC, improving the agreement with sediment data. In the model's Antarctic and North Pacific Oceans modest increases in μmax result in higher δ15NNO3 due to enhanced local nutrient utilization, improving the agreement with reconstructions there. Models with moderately increased μmax fit both isotope data best, whereas large increases in nutrient utilization are inconsistent with nitrogen isotopes although they still fit the carbon isotopes reasonably well. The best fitting models reproduce major features of the glacial δ13CDIC, δ15N, and oxygen reconstructions while simulating increased Corg by 510-670 Pg compared with the preindustrial ocean. These results are consistent with the idea that the soft-tissue pump was more efficient

  4. In Situ One-Step Synthesis of Hierarchical Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon for High Performance Supercapacitors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jeon, Ju Won [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Sharma, Ronish [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Meduri, Praveen [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Arey, Bruce W. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Schaef, Herbert T. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lutkenhaus, Jodie [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Lemmon, John P. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Thallapally, Praveen K. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Nandasiri, Manjula I. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); McGrail, B. Peter [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Nune, Satish K. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2014-04-30

    Electrochemical performance of the existing state-of-the art capacitors is not very high, key scientific barrier is that its charge storage mechanism wholly depends on adsorption of electrolyte on electrode. We present a novel method for the synthesis of nitrogen -doped porous carbons and address the drawback by precisely controlling composition and surface area. Nitrogen-doped porous carbon was synthesized using a self-sacrificial template technique without any additional nitrogen and carbon sources. They exhibited exceptionally high capacitance (239 Fg-1) due to additional pseudocapacitance originating from doped nitrogen. Cycling tests showed no obvious capacitance decay even after 10,000 cycles, which meets the requirement of commercial supercapacitors. Our method is simple and highly efficient for the production of large quantities of nitrogen-doped porous carbons.

  5. Highly nitrogen-doped carbon capsules: scalable preparation and high-performance applications in fuel cells and lithium ion batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Chuangang; Xiao, Ying; Zhao, Yang; Chen, Nan; Zhang, Zhipan; Cao, Minhua; Qu, Liangti

    2013-04-07

    Highly nitrogen-doped carbon capsules (hN-CCs) have been successfully prepared by using inexpensive melamine and glyoxal as precursors via solvothermal reaction and carbonization. With a great promise for large scale production, the hN-CCs, having large surface area and high-level nitrogen content (N/C atomic ration of ca. 13%), possess superior crossover resistance, selective activity and catalytic stability towards oxygen reduction reaction for fuel cells in alkaline medium. As a new anode material in lithium-ion battery, hN-CCs also exhibit excellent cycle performance and high rate capacity with a reversible capacity of as high as 1046 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 50 mA g(-1) after 50 cycles. These features make the hN-CCs developed in this study promising as suitable substitutes for the expensive noble metal catalysts in the next generation alkaline fuel cells, and as advanced electrode materials in lithium-ion batteries.

  6. GASP: A computer code for calculating the thermodynamic and transport properties for ten fluids: Parahydrogen, helium, neon, methane, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, oxygen, fluorine, argon, and carbon dioxide. [enthalpy, entropy, thermal conductivity, and specific heat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendricks, R. C.; Baron, A. K.; Peller, I. C.

    1975-01-01

    A FORTRAN IV subprogram called GASP is discussed which calculates the thermodynamic and transport properties for 10 pure fluids: parahydrogen, helium, neon, methane, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, oxygen, fluorine, argon, and carbon dioxide. The pressure range is generally from 0.1 to 400 atmospheres (to 100 atm for helium and to 1000 atm for hydrogen). The temperature ranges are from the triple point to 300 K for neon; to 500 K for carbon monoxide, oxygen, and fluorine; to 600 K for methane and nitrogen; to 1000 K for argon and carbon dioxide; to 2000 K for hydrogen; and from 6 to 500 K for helium. GASP accepts any two of pressure, temperature and density as input conditions along with pressure, and either entropy or enthalpy. The properties available in any combination as output include temperature, density, pressure, entropy, enthalpy, specific heats, sonic velocity, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and surface tension. The subprogram design is modular so that the user can choose only those subroutines necessary to the calculations.

  7. The Range of 1-3 keV Electrons in Solid Oxygen and Carbon Monoxide

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oehlenschlæger, M.; Andersen, H.H.; Schou, Jørgen

    1985-01-01

    The range of 1-3 keV electrons in films of solid oxygen and carbon monoxide has been measured by a mirror substrate method. The technique used here is identical to the one previously used for range measurements in solid hydrogen and nitrogen. The range in oxygen is slightly shorter than that in n......The range of 1-3 keV electrons in films of solid oxygen and carbon monoxide has been measured by a mirror substrate method. The technique used here is identical to the one previously used for range measurements in solid hydrogen and nitrogen. The range in oxygen is slightly shorter than...

  8. Complementary Constraints from Carbon (13C) and Nitrogen (15N) Isotopes on the Efficiency of the Glacial Ocean's Soft-Tissue Biological Pump

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmittner, A.; Somes, C. J.

    2016-12-01

    A three-dimensional, process-based model of the ocean's carbon and nitrogen cycles, including 13C and 15N isotopes, is used to explore effects of idealized changes in the soft-tissue biological pump. Results are presented from one preindustrial control run and six simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) with increasing values of the spatially constant maximum phytoplankton growth rate μmax, which mimicks iron fertilization. The default LGM simulation, without increasing μmax and with a shallower and weaker Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and increased sea ice cover, leads to 280 Pg more respired organic carbon (Corg) than the pre-industrial control. Dissolved oxygen in the thermocline increase, which reduces water column denitrification and nitrogen fixation, thus increasing the ocean's fixed nitrogen inventory and decreasing δ15NNO3. This simulation already fits observed carbon and nitrogen isotopes relatively well, but it overestimates deep ocean δ13CDIC and underestimates δ15NNO3 at high latitudes. Increasing μmax enhances Corg and lowers deep ocean δ13CDIC, improving the fit. Modest increases in μmax result in higher subpolar δ15NNO3 due to enhanced local nutrient utilization, and better agreement with reconstructions. Large increases in nutrient utilization are inconsistent with nitrogen isotopes although they still fit the carbon isotopes reasonably well. The best fitting models with modest increases in μmax reproduce major features of the glacial δ13CDIC, δ15N, and oxygen reconstructions while simulating increased Corg by 510-670 Pg. These results are consistent with the idea that the soft-tissue pump was more efficient during the LGM. Both circulation and biological nutrient utilization contribute. However, these conclusions are preliminary given our idealized experiments, which do not consider changes in benthic denitrification and spatially inhomogenous changes in aeolian iron fluxes. The analysis illustrates interactions

  9. Oxygen vacancy rich Cu2O based composite material with nitrogen doped carbon as matrix for photocatalytic H2 production and organic pollutant removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Lele; Xu, Xinxin; Yan, Jiaming; Shi, Fa-Nian; Huo, Yuqiu

    2018-02-06

    A nitrogen doped carbon matrix supported Cu 2 O composite material (Cu/Cu2O@NC) was fabricated successfully with a coordination polymer as precursor through calcination. In this composite material, Cu 2 O particles with a size of about 6-10 nm were dispersed evenly in the nitrogen doped carbon matrix. After calcination, some coordinated nitrogen atoms were doped in the lattice of Cu 2 O and replace oxygen atoms, thus generating a large number of oxygen vacancies. In Cu/Cu2O@NC, the existence of oxygen vacancies has been confirmed by electron spin resonance (ESR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Under visible light irradiation, Cu/Cu2O@NC exhibits excellent H 2 production with the rate of 379.6 μmol h -1 g -1 . Its photocatalytic activity affects organic dyes, such as Rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO). In addition to photocatalysis, Cu/Cu2O@NC also exhibits striking catalytic activity in reductive conversion of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol with in presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ). The conversion efficiency reaches almost 100% in 250 s with the quantity of Cu/Cu2O@NC as low as 5 mg. The outstanding H 2 production and organic pollutants removal are attributed to the oxygen vacancy. We expect that Cu/Cu2O@NC will find its way as a new resource for hydrogen energy as well as a promising material in water purification.

  10. Functionalised Oximes: Emergent Precursors for Carbon-, Nitrogen- and Oxygen-Centred Radicals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John C. Walton

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Oxime derivatives are easily made, are non-hazardous and have long shelf lives. They contain weak N–O bonds that undergo homolytic scission, on appropriate thermal or photochemical stimulus, to initially release a pair of N- and O-centred radicals. This article reviews the use of these precursors for studying the structures, reactions and kinetics of the released radicals. Two classes have been exploited for radical generation; one comprises carbonyl oximes, principally oxime esters and amides, and the second comprises oxime ethers. Both classes release an iminyl radical together with an equal amount of a second oxygen-centred radical. The O-centred radicals derived from carbonyl oximes decarboxylate giving access to a variety of carbon-centred and nitrogen-centred species. Methods developed for homolytically dissociating the oxime derivatives include UV irradiation, conventional thermal and microwave heating. Photoredox catalytic methods succeed well with specially functionalised oximes and this aspect is also reviewed. Attention is also drawn to the key contributions made by EPR spectroscopy, aided by DFT computations, in elucidating the structures and dynamics of the transient intermediates.

  11. Remote Sensing of Vegetation Nitrogen Content for Spatially Explicit Carbon and Water Cycle Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Y. L.; Miller, J. R.; Chen, J. M.

    2009-05-01

    Foliage nitrogen concentration is a determinant of photosynthetic capacity of leaves, thereby an important input to ecological models for estimating terrestrial carbon and water budgets. Recently, spectrally continuous airborne hyperspectral remote sensing imagery has proven to be useful for retrieving an important related parameter, total chlorophyll content at both leaf and canopy scales. Thus remote sensing of vegetation biochemical parameters has promising potential for improving the prediction of global carbon and water balance patterns. In this research, we explored the feasibility of estimating leaf nitrogen content using hyperspectral remote sensing data for spatially explicit estimation of carbon and water budgets. Multi-year measurements of leaf biochemical contents of seven major boreal forest species were carried out in northeastern Ontario, Canada. The variation of leaf chlorophyll and nitrogen content in response to various growth conditions, and the relationship between them,were investigated. Despite differences in plant type (deciduous and evergreen), leaf age, stand growth conditions and developmental stages, leaf nitrogen content was strongly correlated with leaf chlorophyll content on a mass basis during the active growing season (r2=0.78). With this general correlation, leaf nitrogen content was estimated from leaf chlorophyll content at an accuracy of RMSE=2.2 mg/g, equivalent to 20.5% of the average measured leaf nitrogen content. Based on this correlation and a hyperspectral remote sensing algorithm for leaf chlorophyll content retrieval, the spatial variation of leaf nitrogen content was inferred from the airborne hyperspectral remote sensing imagery acquired by Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI). A process-based ecological model Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) was used for estimating terrestrial carbon and water budgets. In contrast to the scenario with leaf nitrogen content assigned as a constant value without

  12. Effect of exogenous carbon addition and the freeze-thaw cycle on soil microbes and mineral nitrogen pools1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Xia; Yin, Peng; Nong, Xiang; Liao, Jinhua

    2018-01-01

    To elucidate the alpine soil process in winter, the response mechanism of soil mineral nitrogen and soil microbes to exogenous carbon (0 mg C, 1 mg C, 2 mg C, 4 mg C and 8 mg C·g-1 dry soil) and the freeze-thaw cycle (-2 °C, -2 ∼ 2 °C, -20 ∼2°C) were studied by laboratory simulation. The freeze-thaw treatment had no significant effect on microbial biomass nitrogen and the number of bacteria. The soil mineral N pool, the number of fungi, and enzyme activities were obviously affected by the freeze-thaw cycle. A mild freeze-thaw cycle (-2∼2°C) significantly increased the number of fungi and catalase activity, while severe freeze-thaw cycle (-20∼2°C) obviously decreased invertase activity. The results suggested that both the freeze-thaw rate and freeze-thaw temperature amplitudes have a strong effect on soil microbial dynamics in the alpine zone in winter. The results showed that exogenous carbon addition significantly decreased soil NO3-N and NH4 +-N contents, increased soil microbial biomass, the number of microbes, and soil enzyme activities. The results showed that microbial growth in the eastern Tibetan Plateau was somewhat limited by available C. It may represent a larger potential pulse of soil nutrient for alpine plants in the next spring, and may be instrumental for plant community shifts under future climate change predictions due to the possible increased litter addition.

  13. Coupling of oceanic carbon and nitrogen: A window to spatially resolved quantitative reconstruction of nitrate inventories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glock, N.; Liebetrau, V.; Gorb, S.; Wallmann, K. J. G.; Erdem, Z.; Schönfeld, J.; Eisenhauer, A.

    2017-12-01

    Anthropogenic impact has led to a severe acceleration of the global nitrogen cycle. Every second nitrogen atom in the biosphere may now originate from anthropogenic sources such as chemical fertilizers and the burning of fossil fuels. A quantitative reconstruction of past reactive nitrogen inventories is invaluable to facilitate projections for future scenarios and calibrations for such paleoproxies should be done as long the natural signature is still visible. Here we present a first quantitative reconstruction of nitrate concentrations in intermediate water depths of the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone over the last deglaciation using the pore density in the benthic foraminiferal species Bolivina spissa. A comparison of the nitrate reconstruction to the stable carbon isotope (δ13C) record reveals a strong coupling between the carbon and nitrogen cycles. The linear correlation between δ13C and nitrate availability remained stable over the last 22,000 years, facilitating the use of δ13C records as a quantitative nitrate proxy. The combination of the pore density record with δ13C records shows an elevated oceanic nitrate inventory during the Last Glacial Maximum as compared to the Holocene. Our novel proxy approach is consistent with the results of previous δ15N-based biogeochemical modeling studies, and thus provides sound estimates of the nitrate inventory in the glacial and deglacial ocean.

  14. The certification of carbon and nitrogen in molybdenum (BCR No.23)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vandecasteele, C.

    1985-01-01

    The experimental procedures used for the certification of carbon and nitrogen in molybdenum (CRM 023), which has already been certified for oxygen, are presented. Samples were analysed by 5 different laboratories using photon and charged particle activation analysis. The analytical methods and the approach used to analyse the data are described. The carbon content is certified to be below 0.2 μg/g; the nitrogen content to be below 0.3 μg/g

  15. Foil bearing performance in liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genge, Gary G.; Saville, Marshall; Gu, Alston

    1993-01-01

    Space transfer vehicles and other power and propulsion systems require long-life turbopumps. Rolling-element bearings used in current turbopumps do not have sufficient life for these applications. Process fluid foil bearings have established long life, with exceptional reliability, over a wide range of temperatures and fluids in many high-speed turbomachinery applications. However, actual data on bearing performance in cryogenic fluids has been minimal. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and AlliedSignal Aerospace Systems and Equipment (ASE) have attempted to characterize the leaf-type compliant foil bearing in oxygen and nitrogen. The work performed under a joint internal research and development program between Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and ASE demonstrated that the foil bearing has load capacities of at least 266 psi in liquid oxygen and 352 psi in liquid nitrogen. In addition, the bearing demonstrated a direct damping coefficient of 40 to 50 lb-sec/in. with a damping ratio of .7 to 1.4 in. liquid nitrogen using a bearing sized for upper-stage turbopumps. With the results from this testing and the years of successful use in air cycle machines and other applications, leaf-type compliant foil bearings are ready for testing in liquid oxygen turbopumps.

  16. [Research advances in identifying nitrate pollution sources of water environment by using nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Wei; Liang, Zhi-wei; Li, Wei; Zhu, Yao; Yanng, Mu-yi; Jia, Chao-jie

    2013-04-01

    Water body' s nitrate pollution has become a common and severe environmental problem. In order to ensure human health and water environment benign evolution, it is of great importance to effectively identify the nitrate pollution sources of water body. Because of the discrepant composition of nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes in different sources of nitrate in water body, nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes can be used to identify the nitrate pollution sources of water environment. This paper introduced the fractionation factors of nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes in the main processes of nitrogen cycling and the composition of these stable isotopes in main nitrate sources, compared the advantages and disadvantages of five pre-treatment methods for analyzing the nitrogen and oxygen isotopes in nitrate, and summarized the research advances in this aspect into three stages, i. e. , using nitrogen stable isotope alone, using nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes simultaneously, and combining with mathematical models. The future research directions regarding the nitrate pollution sources identification of water environment were also discussed.

  17. Combined oxygen- and carbon-isotope records through the Early Jurassic: multiple global events and two modes of carbon-cycle/temperature coupling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hesselbo, Stephen P.; Korte, Christoph

    2010-01-01

    , to the extent that meaningful comparisons between these events can begin to be made. Here we present new carbon and oxygen isotope data from mollusks (bivalves and belemnites) and brachiopods collected through the marine Early Jurassic succession of NE England, including the Sinemurian-Plienbachian boundary...... GSSP. All materials have been screened by chemical analysis and scanning electron microscopy to check for diagenetic alteration. Analysis of carbon isotopes from marine calcite is supplemented by analysis of carbon-isotope values from fossil wood collected through the same section. It is demonstrated...... that both long-term and short-term carbon-isotope shifts from the UK Early Jurassic represent global changes in carbon cycle balances. The Sinemurian-Pliensbachian boundary event is an event of global significance and shows several similarities to the Toarcian OAE (relative sea-level change, carbon-isotope...

  18. Towards a quantitative understanding of the late Neoproterozoic carbon cycle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjerrum, Christian J.; Canfield, Donald Eugene

    2011-01-01

    Neoproterozoic Eon, the time when animals first evolved, experienced wild isotope fluctuations which do not conform to our normal understanding of the carbon cycle and carbon-oxygen coupling. We interpret these fluctuations with a new carbon cycle model and demonstrate that all of the main features...

  19. Carbonate-silicate cycle models of the long-term carbon cycle, carbonate accumulation in the oceans, and climate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caldeira, K.G.

    1991-01-01

    Several models of the long-term carbon cycle, incorporating models of the carbonate-silicate cycle, were developed and utilized to investigate issues relating to global climate and the causes and consequences of changes in calcium carbonate accumulation in the oceans. Model results indicate that the marked mid-Cretaceous (120 Ma) global warming could be explained by increased rates of release of carbon dioxide from subduction-zone metamorphism and mid-ocean-ridges, in conjunction with paleogeographic factors. Since the mid-Cretaceous, the primary setting for calcium carbonate accumulation in the oceans has shifted from shallow-water to deep-water environments. Model results suggest that this shift could have major consequences for the carbonate-silicate cycle and climate, and lead to significant increases in the flux of metamorphic carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Increases in pelagic carbonate productivity, and decreases in tropical shallow-water area available for neritic carbonate accumulation, have both been proposed as the primary cause of this shift. Two lines of evidence developed here (one involving a statistical analysis of Tertiary carbonate-accumulation and oxygen-isotope data, and another based on modeling the carbonate-silicate cycle and ocean chemistry) suggest that a decrease in tropical shallow-water area was more important than increased pelagic productivity in explaining this shift. Model investigations of changes in ocean chemistry at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary (66 Ma) indicate that variations in deep-water carbonate productivity may affect shallow-water carbonate accumulation rates through a mechanism involving surface-water carbonate-ion concentration. In the aftermath of the K/T boundary event, deep-water carbonate production and accumulation were significantly reduced as a result of the extinction of calcareous plankton

  20. A Cryptic Sulfur Cycle in Oxygen-Minimum-Zone Waters off the Chilean Coast

    OpenAIRE

    Canfield, D. E.; Thamdrup, B.; De Brabandere, L.; Dalsgaard, T.; Revsbech, N. P.; Ulloa, O.; Stewart, Frank J.; DeLong, Edward Francis

    2010-01-01

    Nitrogen cycling is normally thought to dominate the biogeochemistry and microbial ecology of oxygen-minimum zones in marine environments. Through a combination of molecular techniques and process rate measurements, we showed that both sulfate reduction and sulfide oxidation contribute to energy flux and elemental cycling in oxygen-free waters off the coast of northern Chile. These processes may have been overlooked because in nature, the sulfide produced by sulfate reduction immediately oxid...

  1. Anaerobic Nitrogen Turnover by Sinking Diatom Aggregates at Varying Ambient Oxygen Levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter eStief

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available In the world’s oceans, even relatively low oxygen (O2 levels inhibit anaerobic nitrogen cycling by free-living microbes. Sinking organic aggregates, however, might provide oxygen-depleted microbial hotspots in otherwise oxygenated surface waters. Here we show that sinking diatom aggregates can host anaerobic nitrogen cycling at ambient O2 levels well above the hypoxic threshold. Aggregates were produced from the ubiquitous diatom Skeletonema marinoi and the natural microbial community of seawater. Microsensor profiling through the center of sinking aggregates revealed internal anoxia at ambient 40% air saturation (~100 µmol O2 L-1 and below. Accordingly, anaerobic nitrate turnover inside the aggregates was evident within this range of ambient O2 levels. In incubations with 15N-labeled nitrate, individual Skeletonema aggregates produced NO2- (up to 10.7 nmol N h-1 per aggregate, N2 (up to 7.1 nmol N h-1, NH4+ (up to 2.0 nmol N h-1, and N2O (up to 0.2 nmol N h-1. Intriguingly, nitrate stored inside the diatom cells served as an additional, internal nitrate source for N2 production, which may partially uncouple anaerobic nitrate turnover by diatom aggregates from direct ambient nitrate supply. Sinking diatom aggregates can contribute directly to fixed-nitrogen loss in low-oxygen environments in the ocean and vastly expand the ocean volume in which anaerobic nitrogen turnover is possible, despite relatively high ambient O2 levels. Depending on the extent of intracellular nitrate consumption during the sinking process, diatom aggregates may also be involved in the long-distance export of nitrate to the deep ocean.

  2. The geochemical record of the ancient nitrogen cycle, nitrogen isotopes, and metal cofactors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godfrey, Linda V; Glass, Jennifer B

    2011-01-01

    The nitrogen (N) cycle is the only global biogeochemical cycle that is driven by biological functions involving the interaction of many microorganisms. The N cycle has evolved over geological time and its interaction with the oxygen cycle has had profound effects on the evolution and timing of Earth's atmosphere oxygenation (Falkowski and Godfrey, 2008). Almost every enzyme that microorganisms use to manipulate N contains redox-sensitive metals. Bioavailability of these metals has changed through time as a function of varying redox conditions, and likely influenced the biological underpinnings of the N cycle. It is possible to construct a record through geological time using N isotopes and metal concentrations in sediments to determine when the different stages of the N cycle evolved and the role metal availability played in the development of key enzymes. The same techniques are applicable to understanding the operation and changes in the N cycle through geological time. However, N and many of the redox-sensitive metals in some of their oxidation states are mobile and the isotopic composition or distribution can be altered by subsequent processes leading to erroneous conclusions. This chapter reviews the enzymology and metal cofactors of the N cycle and describes proper utilization of methods used to reconstruct evolution of the N cycle through time. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. The marine nitrogen cycle: recent discoveries, uncertainties and the potential relevance of climate change

    OpenAIRE

    Voss, Maren; Bange, Hermann W.; Dippner, Joachim W.; Middelburg, Jack J.; Montoya, Joseph P.; Ward, Bess

    2013-01-01

    The ocean's nitrogen cycle is driven by complex microbial transformations, including nitrogen fixation, assimilation, nitrification, anammox and denitrification. Dinitrogen is the most abundant form of nitrogen in sea water but only accessible by nitrogen-fixing microbes. Denitrification and nitrification are both regulated by oxygen concentrations and potentially produce nitrous oxide (N2O), a climate-relevant atmospheric trace gas. The world's oceans, including the coastal areas and upwelli...

  4. The Global Nitrogen Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galloway, J. N.

    2003-12-01

    Once upon a time nitrogen did not exist. Today it does. In the intervening time the universe was formed, nitrogen was created, the Earth came into existence, and its atmosphere and oceans were formed! In this analysis of the Earth's nitrogen cycle, I start with an overview of these important events relative to nitrogen and then move on to the more traditional analysis of the nitrogen cycle itself and the role of humans in its alteration.The universe is ˜15 Gyr old. Even after its formation, there was still a period when nitrogen did not exist. It took ˜300 thousand years after the big bang for the Universe to cool enough to create atoms; hydrogen and helium formed first. Nitrogen was formed in the stars through the process of nucleosynthesis. When a star's helium mass becomes great enough to reach the necessary pressure and temperature, helium begins to fuse into still heavier elements, including nitrogen.Approximately 10 Gyr elapsed before Earth was formed (˜4.5 Ga (billion years ago)) by the accumulation of pre-assembled materials in a multistage process. Assuming that N2 was the predominate nitrogen species in these materials and given that the temperature of space is -270 °C, N2 was probably a solid when the Earth was formed since its boiling point (b.p.) and melting point (m.p.) are -196 °C and -210 °C, respectively. Towards the end of the accumulation period, temperatures were probably high enough for significant melting of some of the accumulated material. The volcanic gases emitted by the resulting volcanism strongly influenced the surface environment. Nitrogen was converted from a solid to a gas and emitted as N2. Carbon and sulfur were probably emitted as CO and H2S (Holland, 1984). N2 is still the most common nitrogen volcanic gas emitted today at a rate of ˜2 TgN yr-1 (Jaffee, 1992).Once emitted, the gases either remained in the atmosphere or were deposited to the Earth's surface, thus continuing the process of biogeochemical cycling. The rate of

  5. Nitrogen fixation in the activated sludge treatment of thermomechanical pulping wastewater: effect of dissolved oxygen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slade, A H; Anderson, S M; Evans, B G

    2003-01-01

    N-ViroTech, a novel technology which selects for nitrogen-fixing bacteria as the bacteria primarily responsible for carbon removal, has been developed to treat nutrient limited wastewaters to a high quality without the addition of nitrogen, and only minimal addition of phosphorus. Selection of the operating dissolved oxygen level to maximise nitrogen fixation forms a key component of the technology. Pilot scale activated sludge treatment of a thermomechanical pulping wastewater was carried out in nitrogen-fixing mode over a 15 month period. The effect of dissolved oxygen was studied at three levels: 14% (Phase 1), 5% (Phase 2) and 30% (Phase 3). The plant was operated at an organic loading of 0.7-1.1 kg BOD5/m3/d, a solids retention time of approximately 10 d, a hydraulic retention time of 1.4 d and a F:M ratio of 0.17-0.23 mg BOD5/mg VSS/d. Treatment performance was very stable over the three dissolved oxygen operating levels. The plant achieved 94-96% BOD removal, 82-87% total COD removal, 79-87% soluble COD removal, and >99% total extractives removal. The lowest organic carbon removals were observed during operation at 30% DO but were more likely to be due to phosphorus limitation than operation at high dissolved oxygen, as there was a significant decrease in phosphorus entering the plant during Phase 3. Discharge of dissolved nitrogen, ammonium and oxidised nitrogen were consistently low (1.1-1.6 mg/L DKN, 0.1-0.2 mg/L NH4+-N and 0.0 mg/L oxidised nitrogen). Discharge of dissolved phosphorus was 2.8 mg/L, 0.1 mg/L and 0.6 mg/L DRP in Phases 1, 2 and 3 respectively. It was postulated that a population of polyphosphate accumulating bacteria developed during Phase 1. Operation at low dissolved oxygen during Phase 2 appeared to promote biological phosphorus uptake which may have been affected by raising the dissolved oxygen to 30% in Phase 3. Total nitrogen and phosphorus discharge was dependent on efficient secondary clarification, and improved over the course of

  6. Nitrogen Cycling in the Mycorrhizosphere: Multipartite Interactions and Plant Nitrogen Uptake Vary with Fertilization Legacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hestrin, R.; Lehmann, J.

    2017-12-01

    Soil microbes play an important role in rhizosphere nutrient cycling and plant productivity. In this study, the contributions of soil microbes to organic matter mineralization and plant nitrogen uptake were investigated using incubation and microcosm experiments. Microbial inocula included arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and microbial communities sampled across a long-term gradient of nitrogen fertilization. Stable isotopes, nanoSIMS imaging, and phospholipid fatty acid analysis were used to track carbon and nitrogen movement from organic matter into microbes, mycorrhizal fungi, and plants. Results show that multipartite relationships between plants and microbes increased plant growth and access to nitrogen from organic matter, and that nitrogen fertilization history had a lasting effect on microbial contributions to fungal and plant nitrogen uptake. This research links rhizosphere ecology and land management with terrestrial biogeochemistry.

  7. Kinetics and mechanisms of interactions of nitrogen and carbon monoxide with liquid niobium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, H.G.

    1990-01-01

    The kinetics and mechanisms of interactions of N 2 and CO with liquid niobium were investigated in the temperature range of 2,700 to 3,000 K in samples levitated in N 2 /Ar and CO/Ar streams. The nitrogen absorption and desorption processes were found to be second-order with respect to nitrogen concentration, indicating that the rate controlling step is either the adsorption of nitrogen molecules on the liquid surface or dissociation of absorbed nitrogen molecules into adsorbed atoms. The carbon and oxygen dissolution in liquid niobium from CO gas is an exothermic process and the solubilities of carbon and oxygen (C Ce , C Oe in at%) are related to the temperature and the partial pressure of CO. The reaction CO → [C] + [O] along with the evaporation of niobium oxide takes place during C and O dissolution, whereas C and O desorption occurs via CO evolution only

  8. Cycling the Hot CNO: A Teaching Methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frost-Schenk, J. W.; Diget, C. Aa.; Bentley, M. A.; Tuff, A.

    2018-01-01

    An interactive activity to teach the hot Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen (HCNO) cycle is proposed. Justification for why the HCNO cycle is important is included via an example of x-ray bursts. The activity allows teaching and demonstration of half-life, nuclear isotopes, nuclear reactions, protons and a-particles, and catalytic processes. Whilst the…

  9. Nutrient limitation reduces land carbon uptake in simulations with a model of combined carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. S. Goll

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Terrestrial carbon (C cycle models applied for climate projections simulate a strong increase in net primary productivity (NPP due to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration during the 21st century. These models usually neglect the limited availability of nitrogen (N and phosphorus (P, nutrients that commonly limit plant growth and soil carbon turnover. To investigate how the projected C sequestration is altered when stoichiometric constraints on C cycling are considered, we incorporated a P cycle into the land surface model JSBACH (Jena Scheme for Biosphere–Atmosphere Coupling in Hamburg, which already includes representations of coupled C and N cycles.

    The model reveals a distinct geographic pattern of P and N limitation. Under the SRES (Special Report on Emissions Scenarios A1B scenario, the accumulated land C uptake between 1860 and 2100 is 13% (particularly at high latitudes and 16% (particularly at low latitudes lower in simulations with N and P cycling, respectively, than in simulations without nutrient cycles. The combined effect of both nutrients reduces land C uptake by 25% compared to simulations without N or P cycling. Nutrient limitation in general may be biased by the model simplicity, but the ranking of limitations is robust against the parameterization and the inflexibility of stoichiometry. After 2100, increased temperature and high CO2 concentration cause a shift from N to P limitation at high latitudes, while nutrient limitation in the tropics declines. The increase in P limitation at high-latitudes is induced by a strong increase in NPP and the low P sorption capacity of soils, while a decline in tropical NPP due to high autotrophic respiration rates alleviates N and P limitations. The quantification of P limitation remains challenging. The poorly constrained processes of soil P sorption and biochemical mineralization are identified as the main uncertainties in the strength of P limitation

  10. Ruthenium supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline electrolyte; Poster

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mabena, LF

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available . Recently, several researchers have shown that nitrogen modified carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are good electrocatalyst supports and that they enhance the electrocatalytic activity for the ORR. Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) prepared via thermal chemical...

  11. Extreme 15N-enrichments in 2.72-Gyr-old sediments: evidence for a turning point in the nitrogen cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomazo, C; Ader, M; Philippot, P

    2011-03-01

    Although nitrogen is a key element in organic molecules such as nucleic acids and proteins, the timing of the emergence of its modern biogeochemical cycle is poorly known. Recent studies on the antiquity of the nitrogen cycle and its interaction with free oxygen suggests the establishment of a complete aerobic N biogeochemical cycle with nitrification, denitrification, and nitrogen fixation at about 2.68 Gyr. Here, we report new bulk nitrogen isotope data for the 2.72 billion-year-old sedimentary succession of the Tumbiana Formation (Pilbara Craton, Western Australia). The nitrogen isotopic compositions vary widely from +8.6‰ up to +50.4‰ and are inversely correlated with the very low δ(13)C values of associated organic matter defining the Fortescue excursion (down to about -56‰). We propose that this (15)N-enrichment records the onset of nitrification coupled to the continuous removal of its derivatives (nitrite and nitrate) by denitrification. This finding implies an increase in the availability of electron acceptors and probably oxygen in the Tumbiana depositional environment, 300 million years before the oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  12. Improved Electrochemical Performance of LiFePO4@N-Doped Carbon Nanocomposites Using Polybenzoxazine as Nitrogen and Carbon Sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ping; Zhang, Geng; Li, Zhichen; Sheng, Wangjian; Zhang, Yichi; Gu, Jiangjiang; Zheng, Xinsheng; Cao, Feifei

    2016-10-03

    Polybenzoxazine is used as a novel carbon and nitrogen source for coating LiFePO 4 to obtain LiFePO 4 @nitrogen-doped carbon (LFP@NC) nanocomposites. The nitrogen-doped graphene-like carbon that is in situ coated on nanometer-sized LiFePO 4 particles can effectively enhance the electrical conductivity and provide fast Li + transport paths. When used as a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries, the LFP@NC nanocomposite (88.4 wt % of LiFePO 4 ) exhibits a favorable rate performance and stable cycling performance.

  13. Nitrogen-doped carbon-supported cobalt-iron oxygen reduction catalyst

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zelenay, Piotr; Wu, Gang

    2014-04-29

    A Fe--Co hybrid catalyst for oxygen reaction reduction was prepared by a two part process. The first part involves reacting an ethyleneamine with a cobalt-containing precursor to form a cobalt-containing complex, combining the cobalt-containing complex with an electroconductive carbon supporting material, heating the cobalt-containing complex and carbon supporting material under conditions suitable to convert the cobalt-containing complex and carbon supporting material into a cobalt-containing catalyst support. The second part of the process involves polymerizing an aniline in the presence of said cobalt-containing catalyst support and an iron-containing compound under conditions suitable to form a supported, cobalt-containing, iron-bound polyaniline species, and subjecting said supported, cobalt-containing, iron bound polyaniline species to conditions suitable for producing a Fe--Co hybrid catalyst.

  14. Assessment of nitrogen and oxygen isotopic fractionation during nitrification and its expression in the marine environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casciotti, Karen L; Buchwald, Carolyn; Santoro, Alyson E; Frame, Caitlin

    2011-01-01

    Nitrification is a microbially-catalyzed process whereby ammonia (NH(3)) is oxidized to nitrite (NO(2)(-)) and subsequently to nitrate (NO(3)(-)). It is also responsible for production of nitrous oxide (N(2)O), a climatically important greenhouse gas. Because the microbes responsible for nitrification are primarily autotrophic, nitrification provides a unique link between the carbon and nitrogen cycles. Nitrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios have provided insights into where nitrification contributes to the availability of NO(2)(-) and NO(3)(-), and where it constitutes a significant source of N(2)O. This chapter describes methods for determining kinetic isotope effects involved with ammonia oxidation and nitrite oxidation, the two independent steps in the nitrification process, and their expression in the marine environment. It also outlines some remaining questions and issues related to isotopic fractionation during nitrification. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Nitrogen-Doped Hollow Carbon Spheres with Embedded Co Nanoparticles as Active Non-Noble-Metal Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruohao Xing

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Transition metal (Fe, Co, Ni complexes on carbon nanomaterials are promising candidates as electrocatalysts towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR. In this paper, nitrogen-doped hollow carbon spheres with embedded Co nanoparticles were successfully prepared via a controllable synthesis strategy. The morphology characterization shows that the hollow carbon spheres possess an average diameter of ~150 nm with a narrow size distribution and a shell thickness of ~14.5 nm. The content of N doping ranges from 2.1 to 6.6 at.% depending on the calcination temperature from 900 to 1050 °C. Compared with commercial Pt/C, the Co-containing nitrogen-doped hollow carbon spheres prepared at 900 °C (CoNHCS-900 as an ORR electrocatalyst shows a half-wave potential shift of only ∆E1/2 = 55 mV, but a superior stability of about 90.2% maintenance after 20,000 s in the O2-saturated 0.1 M KOH at a rotating speed of 1600 rpm. This could be ascribed to the synergistic effects of N-containing moieties, Co-Nx species, and Co nanoparticles, which significantly increase the density of active sites and promote the charge transfer during the ORR process.

  16. Parasite infection alters nitrogen cycling at the ecosystem scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mischler, John; Johnson, Pieter T J; McKenzie, Valerie J; Townsend, Alan R

    2016-05-01

    Despite growing evidence that parasites often alter nutrient flows through their hosts and can comprise a substantial amount of biomass in many systems, whether endemic parasites influence ecosystem nutrient cycling, and which nutrient pathways may be important, remains conjectural. A framework to evaluate how endemic parasites alter nutrient cycling across varied ecosystems requires an understanding of the following: (i) parasite effects on host nutrient excretion; (ii) ecosystem nutrient limitation; (iii) effects of parasite abundance, host density, host functional role and host excretion rate on nutrient flows; and (iv) how this infection-induced nutrient flux compares to other pools and fluxes. Pathogens that significantly increase the availability of a limiting nutrient within an ecosystem should produce a measurable ecosystem-scale response. Here, we combined field-derived estimates of trematode parasite infections in aquatic snails with measurements of snail excretion and tissue stoichiometry to show that parasites are capable of altering nutrient excretion in their intermediate host snails (dominant grazers). We integrated laboratory measurements of host nitrogen excretion with field-based estimates of infection in an ecosystem model and compared these fluxes to other pools and fluxes of nitrogen as measured in the field. Eighteen nitrogen-limited ponds were examined to determine whether infection had a measurable effect on ecosystem-scale nitrogen cycling. Because of their low nitrogen content and high demand for host carbon, parasites accelerated the rate at which infected hosts excreted nitrogen to the water column in a dose-response manner, thereby shifting nutrient stoichiometry and availability at the ecosystem scale. Infection-enhanced fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen were similar to other commonly important environmental sources of bioavailable nitrogen to the system. Additional field measurements within nitrogen-limited ponds indicated that

  17. Similar below-ground carbon cycling dynamics but contrasting modes of nitrogen cycling between arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal forests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Guigang; McCormack, M Luke; Ma, Chengen; Guo, Dali

    2017-02-01

    Compared with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) forests, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) forests are hypothesized to have higher carbon (C) cycling rates and a more open nitrogen (N) cycle. To test this hypothesis, we synthesized 645 observations, including 22 variables related to below-ground C and N dynamics from 100 sites, where AM and ECM forests co-occurred at the same site. Leaf litter quality was lower in ECM than in AM trees, leading to greater forest floor C stocks in ECM forests. By contrast, AM forests had significantly higher mineral soil C concentrations, and this result was strongly mediated by plant traits and climate. No significant differences were found between AM and ECM forests in C fluxes and labile C concentrations. Furthermore, inorganic N concentrations, net N mineralization and nitrification rates were all higher in AM than in ECM forests, indicating 'mineral' N economy in AM but 'organic' N economy in ECM trees. AM and ECM forests show systematic differences in mineral vs organic N cycling, and thus mycorrhizal type may be useful in predicting how different tree species respond to multiple environmental change factors. By contrast, mycorrhizal type alone cannot reliably predict below-ground C dynamics without considering plant traits and climate. © 2016 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2016 New Phytologist Trust.

  18. Developing Ecological Models on Carbon and Nitrogen in Secondary Facultative Ponds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aponte-Reyes Alexander

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Ecological models formulated for TOC, CO2, NH4+, NO3- and NTK, based in literature reviewed and field work were obtained monitoring three facultative secondary stabilization ponds, FSSP, pilots: conventional pond, CP, baffled pond, BP, and baffled-meshed pond, BMP. Models were sensitive to flow inlet, solar radiation, pH and oxygen content; the sensitive parameters in Carbon Model were KCOT Ba, umax Ba, umax Al, K1OX, VAl, R1DCH4, YBh. The sensitive parameters in the Nitrogen model were KCOT Ba, umax Ba, umax Al, VAl, KOPH, KOPA, r4An. The test t–paired showed a good simulating of Carbon model refers to TOC in FSSP; on the other side, the Nitrogen model showed a good simulating of NH4+. Different topological models modify ecosystem ecology forcing different transformation pathways of Nitrogen; equal transformations of the Carbon BMP topology could be achieved using lower volumes, however, a calibration for a new model would be required. Carbon and Nitrogen models developed could be coupled to hydrodynamics models for better modeling of FSSP.

  19. Nitrogen-doped porous carbon derived from biomass waste for high-performance supercapacitor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Guofu; Yang, Qian; Sun, Kanjun; Peng, Hui; Ran, Feitian; Zhao, Xiaolong; Lei, Ziqiang

    2015-12-01

    High capacitance property and low cost are the pivotal requirements for practical application of supercapacitor. In this paper, a low cost and high capacitance property nitrogen-doped porous carbon with high specific capacitance is prepared. The as-prepared nitrogen-doped porous carbon employing potato waste residue (PWR) as the carbon source, zinc chloride (ZnCl2) as the activating agent and melamine as nitrogen doping agent. The morphology and structure of the carbon materials are studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectra. The surface area of the nitrogen-doped carbon which prepared under 700°C is found to be 1052m(2)/g, and the specific capacitance as high as 255Fg(-1) in 2M KOH electrolyte is obtained utilize the carbon as electrode materials. The electrode materials also show excellent cyclability with 93.7% coulombic efficiency at 5Ag(-1) current density of for 5000cycles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Development of soil properties and nitrogen cycling in created wetlands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, K.L.; Ahn, C.; Noe, G.B.

    2011-01-01

    Mitigation wetlands are expected to compensate for the loss of structure and function of natural wetlands within 5–10 years of creation; however, the age-based trajectory of development in wetlands is unclear. This study investigates the development of coupled structural (soil properties) and functional (nitrogen cycling) attributes of created non-tidal freshwater wetlands of varying ages and natural reference wetlands to determine if created wetlands attain the water quality ecosystem service of nitrogen (N) cycling over time. Soil condition component and its constituents, gravimetric soil moisture, total organic carbon, and total N, generally increased and bulk density decreased with age of the created wetland. Nitrogen flux rates demonstrated age-related patterns, with younger created wetlands having lower rates of ammonification, nitrification, nitrogen mineralization, and denitrification potential than older created wetlands and natural reference wetlands. Results show a clear age-related trajectory in coupled soil condition and N cycle development, which is essential for water quality improvement. These findings can be used to enhance N processing in created wetlands and inform the regulatory evaluation of mitigation wetlands by identifying structural indicators of N processing performance.

  1. Self-Cleaning Boudouard Reactor for Full Oxygen Recovery from Carbon Dioxide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coutts, Janelle; Hintze, Paul E.; Muscatello, Anthony C.; Gibson, Tracy L.; Captain, James G.; Lunn, Griffin M.; Devor, Robert W.; Bauer, Brint; Parks, Steve

    2016-01-01

    Oxygen recovery from respiratory carbon dioxide is an important aspect of human spaceflight. Methods exist to sequester the carbon dioxide, but production of oxygen needs further development. The current International Space Station Carbon Dioxide Reduction System (CRS) uses the Sabatier reaction to produce water (and ultimately breathing air). Oxygen recovery is limited to 50 because half of the hydrogen used in the Sabatier reactor is lost as methane, which is vented overboard. The Bosch reaction, which converts carbon dioxide to oxygen and solid carbon is capable of recovering all the oxygen from carbon dioxide, and is the only real alternative to the Sabatier reaction. However, the last reaction in the cycle, the Boudouard reaction, produces solid carbon and the resulting carbon buildup will eventually foul the nickel or iron catalyst, reducing reactor life and increasing consumables. To minimize this fouling and increase efficiency, a number of self-cleaning catalyst designs have been created. This paper will describe recent results evaluating one of the designs.

  2. Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanoparticles for Oxygen Reduction Prepared via a Crushing Method Involving a High Shear Mixer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Shi

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The disposal of agricultural wastes such as fresh banana peels (BPs is an environmental issue. In this work, fresh BPs were successfully transformed into nitrogen-doped carbon nanoparticles (N-CNPs by using a high shear mixer facilitated crushing method (HSM-FCM followed by carbonization under Ar atmosphere. Ammonia-activated N-CNPs (N-CNPs-NH3 were prepared via subsequent ammonia activation treatments at a high temperature. The as-prepared N-CNPs and N-CNPs-NH3 materials both exhibited high surface areas (above 700 m2/g and mean particle size of 50 nm. N-CNPs-NH3 showed a relatively higher content of pyridinic and graphitic N compared to N-CNPs. In alkaline media, N-CNPs-NH3 showed superior performances as an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR catalyst (E0 = −0.033 V, J = 2.4 mA/cm2 compared to N-CNPs (E0 = 0.07 V, J = 1.8 mA/cm2. In addition, N-CNPs-NH3 showed greater oxygen reduction stability and superior methanol crossover avoidance than a conventional Pt/C catalyst. This study provides a novel, simple, and scalable approach to valorize biomass wastes by synthesizing highly efficient electrochemical ORR catalysts.

  3. Fire frequency drives decadal changes in soil carbon and nitrogen and ecosystem productivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellegrini, Adam F. A.; Ahlström, Anders; Hobbie, Sarah E.; Reich, Peter B.; Nieradzik, Lars P.; Staver, A. Carla; Scharenbroch, Bryant C.; Jumpponen, Ari; Anderegg, William R. L.; Randerson, James T.; Jackson, Robert B.

    2018-01-01

    Fire frequency is changing globally and is projected to affect the global carbon cycle and climate. However, uncertainty about how ecosystems respond to decadal changes in fire frequency makes it difficult to predict the effects of altered fire regimes on the carbon cycle; for instance, we do not fully understand the long-term effects of fire on soil carbon and nutrient storage, or whether fire-driven nutrient losses limit plant productivity. Here we analyse data from 48 sites in savanna grasslands, broadleaf forests and needleleaf forests spanning up to 65 years, during which time the frequency of fires was altered at each site. We find that frequently burned plots experienced a decline in surface soil carbon and nitrogen that was non-saturating through time, having 36 per cent (±13 per cent) less carbon and 38 per cent (±16 per cent) less nitrogen after 64 years than plots that were protected from fire. Fire-driven carbon and nitrogen losses were substantial in savanna grasslands and broadleaf forests, but not in temperate and boreal needleleaf forests. We also observe comparable soil carbon and nitrogen losses in an independent field dataset and in dynamic model simulations of global vegetation. The model study predicts that the long-term losses of soil nitrogen that result from more frequent burning may in turn decrease the carbon that is sequestered by net primary productivity by about 20 per cent of the total carbon that is emitted from burning biomass over the same period. Furthermore, we estimate that the effects of changes in fire frequency on ecosystem carbon storage may be 30 per cent too low if they do not include multidecadal changes in soil carbon, especially in drier savanna grasslands. Future changes in fire frequency may shift ecosystem carbon storage by changing soil carbon pools and nitrogen limitations on plant growth, altering the carbon sink capacity of frequently burning savanna grasslands and broadleaf forests.

  4. Direct and indirect costs of dinitrogen fixation in Crocosphaera watsonii WH8501 and possible implications for the nitrogen cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tobias eGroßkopf

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The recent detection of heterotrophic nitrogen (N2 fixation in deep waters of the southern Californian and Peruvian OMZ questions our current understanding of marine N2 fixation as a process confined to oligotrophic surface waters of the oceans. In experiments with Crocosphaera watsonii WH8501, a marine unicellular diazotrophic (N2-fixing cyanobacterium, we demonstrated that the presence of high nitrate concentrations (up to 800 µM had no inhibitory effect on growth and N2 fixation over a period of two weeks. In contrast, the environmental oxygen concentration significantly influenced rates of N2 fixation and respiration, as well as carbon and nitrogen cellular content of C. watsonii over a 24 hour period. Cells grown under lowered oxygen atmosphere (5% had a higher nitrogenase activity and respired less carbon during the dark cycle than under normal oxygen atmosphere (20%. Respiratory oxygen drawdown during the dark period could be fully explained (104% by energetic needs due to basal metabolism and N2 fixation at low oxygen, while at normal oxygen these two processes could only account for 40% of the measured respiration rate. Our results revealed that under normal oxygen concentration most of the energetic costs during N2 fixation (~60% are not derived from the process of N2 fixation per se but rather from the indirect costs incurred for the removal of intracellular oxygen or by the reversal of oxidative damage (e.g. nitrogenase de novo synthesis. Theoretical calculations suggest a slight energetic advantage of N2 fixation relative to assimilatory nitrate uptake for heterotrophic and phototrophic growth, when oxygen supply is in balance with the oxygen requirement for cellular respiration (i.e. energy generation for basal metabolism and N2 fixation. Taken together our results imply the existence of a niche for diazotrophic organisms inside oxygen minimum zones, which are predicted to further expand in the future ocean.

  5. Range measurements of keV hydrogen ions in solid oxygen and carbon monoxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schou, J.; Soerensen, H.; Andersen, H.H.; Nielsen, M.; Rune, J.

    1984-01-01

    Ranges of 1.3-3.5 keV/atom hydrogen and deuterium molecular ions have been measured by a thin-film reflection method. The technique, used here for range measurements in solid oxygen and carbon monoxide targets, is identical to the one used previously for range measurements in hydrogen and nitrogen. The main aim was to look for phase-effects, i.e. gas-solid differences in the stopping processes. While measured ranges in solid oxygen were in agreement with known gas data, the ranges in solid carbon monoxide were up to 50% larger than those calculated from gas-stopping data. The latter result agrees with that previously found for solid nitrogen. (orig.)

  6. Benthic biogeochemical cycling, nutrient stoichiometry, and carbon and nitrogen mass balances in a eutrophic freshwater bay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klump, J.V.; Fitzgerald, S.A.; Waplesa, J.T.

    2009-01-01

    Green Bay, while representing only ,7% of the surface area and ??1.4% of the volume of Lake Michigan, contains one-third of the watershed of the lake, and receives approximately one-third of the total nutrient loading to the Lake Michigan basin, largely from the Fox River at the southern end of the bay. With a history of eutrophic conditions dating back nearly a century, the southern portion of the bay behaves as an efficient nutrient and sediment trap, sequestering much of the annual carbon and nitrogen input within sediments accumulating at up to 1 cm per year. Depositional fluxes of organic matter varied from ??0.1 mol C m-2 yr-1 to >10 mol C m-2 yr-1 and were both fairly uniform in stoichiometric composition and relatively labile. Estimates of benthic recycling derived from pore-water concentration gradients, whole-sediment incubation experiments, and deposition-burial models of early diagenesis yielded an estimated 40% of the carbon and 50% of the nitrogen recycled back into the overlying water. Remineralization was relatively rapid with ??50% of the carbon remineralized within <15 yr of deposition, and a mean residence time for metabolizable carbon and nitrogen in the sediments of 20 yr. On average, organic carbon regeneration occurred as 75% CO2, 15% CH4, and 10% dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Carbon and nitrogen budgets for the southern bay were based upon direct measurements of inputs and burial and upon estimates of export and production derived stoichiometrically from a coupled phosphorus budget. Loadings of organic carbon from rivers were ??3.7 mol m-2 yr-1, 80% in the form of DOC and 20% as particulate organic carbon. These inputs were lost through export to northern Green Bay and Lake Michigan (39%), through sediment burial (26%), and net CO2 release to the atmosphere (35%). Total carbon input, including new production, was 4.54 mol m-2 C yr-1, equivalent to ??10% of the gross annual primary production. Nitrogen budget terms were less well quantified

  7. The nitrogen cycle: Atmosphere interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levine, J. S.

    1984-01-01

    Atmospheric interactions involving the nitrogen species are varied and complex. These interactions include photochemical reactions, initiated by the absorption of solar photons and chemical kinetic reactions, which involve both homogeneous (gas-to-gas reactions) and heterogeneous (gas-to-particle) reactions. Another important atmospheric interaction is the production of nitrogen oxides by atmospheric lightning. The nitrogen cycle strongly couples the biosphere and atmosphere. Many nitrogen species are produced by biogenic processes. Once in the atmosphere nitrogen oxides are photochemically and chemically transformed to nitrates, which are returned to the biosphere via precipitation, dry deposition and aerosols to close the biosphere-atmosphere nitrogen cycle. The sources, sinks and photochemistry/chemistry of the nitrogen species; atmospheric nitrogen species; souces and sinks of nitrous oxide; sources; sinks and photochemistry/chemistry of ammonia; seasonal variation of the vertical distribution of ammonia in the troposphere; surface and atmospheric sources of the nitrogen species, and seasonal variation of ground level ammonia are summarized.

  8. Polyaniline-Derived Ordered Mesoporous Carbon as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kai Wan

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Nitrogen-doped ordered mesoporous carbon was synthesized by using polyaniline as the carbon source and SBA-15 as the template. The microstructure, composition and electrochemical behavior were extensively investigated by the nitrogen sorption isotherm, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and rotating ring-disk electrode. It is found that the pyrolysis temperature yielded a considerable effect on the pore structure, elemental composition and chemical configuration. The pyrolysis temperature from 800 to 1100 °C yielded a volcano-shape relationship with both the specific surface area and the content of the nitrogen-activated carbon. Electrochemical tests showed that the electrocatalytic activity followed a similar volcano-shape relationship, and the carbon catalyst synthesized at 1000 °C yielded the best performance. The post-treatment in NH3 was found to further increase the specific surface area and to enhance the nitrogen doping, especially the edge-type nitrogen, which favored the oxygen reduction reaction in both acid and alkaline media. The above findings shed light on electrocatalysis and offer more strategies for the controllable synthesis of the doped carbon catalyst.

  9. Novel nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous coralloid carbon materials as host matrixes for lithium–sulfur batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Jing; Wang, Shuyuan; Ma, Zhipeng; Du, Zhiling; Li, Chunying; Song, Jianjun; Wang, Guiling; Shao, Guangjie

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous coralloid carbon/sulfur composites were prepared • Nitrogen atoms were introduced to improve electrochemical properties • The intriguing structural features benefited discharge capacity and cycling stability - Abstract: Nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous coralloid carbon/sulfur composites (N-HPCC/S) served as attractive cathode materials for lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries were fabricated for the first time. The nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous coralloid carbon (N-HPCC) with an appropriate nitrogen content (1.29 wt%) was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal approach, combined with subsequent carbonization–activation. The N-HPCC/S composites prepared by a simple melt–diffusion method displayed an excellent electrochemical performance. With a high sulfur content (58 wt%) in the total electrode weight, the N-HPCC/S cathode delivered a high initial discharge capacity of 1626.8 mA h g −1 and remained high up to 1086.3 mA h g −1 after 50 cycles at 100 mA g −1 , which is about 1.86 times as that of activated carbon. Particularly, the reversible discharge capacity still maintained 607.2 mA h g −1 after 200 cycles even at a higher rate of 800 mA g −1 . The enhanced electrochemical performance was attributed to the synergetic effect between the intriguing hierarchically porous coralloid structure and appropriate nitrogen doping, which could effectively trap polysulfides, alleviate the volume expansion, enhance the electronic conductivity and improve the surface interaction between the carbon matrix and polysulfides

  10. Decoupling of microbial carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling in response to extreme temperature events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mooshammer, Maria; Hofhansl, Florian; Frank, Alexander H.; Wanek, Wolfgang; Hämmerle, Ieda; Leitner, Sonja; Schnecker, Jörg; Wild, Birgit; Watzka, Margarete; Keiblinger, Katharina M.; Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie; Richter, Andreas

    2017-01-01

    Predicted changes in the intensity and frequency of climate extremes urge a better mechanistic understanding of the stress response of microbially mediated carbon (C) and nutrient cycling processes. We analyzed the resistance and resilience of microbial C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling processes and microbial community composition in decomposing plant litter to transient, but severe, temperature disturbances, namely, freeze-thaw and heat. Disturbances led temporarily to a more rapid cycling of C and N but caused a down-regulation of P cycling. In contrast to the fast recovery of the initially stimulated C and N processes, we found a slow recovery of P mineralization rates, which was not accompanied by significant changes in community composition. The functional and structural responses to the two distinct temperature disturbances were markedly similar, suggesting that direct negative physical effects and costs associated with the stress response were comparable. Moreover, the stress response of extracellular enzyme activities, but not that of intracellular microbial processes (for example, respiration or N mineralization), was dependent on the nutrient content of the resource through its effect on microbial physiology and community composition. Our laboratory study provides novel insights into the mechanisms of microbial functional stress responses that can serve as a basis for field studies and, in particular, illustrates the need for a closer integration of microbial C-N-P interactions into climate extremes research. PMID:28508070

  11. Effects of nitrogen deposition on carbon cycle in terrestrial ecosystems of China: A meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hao; Li, Dejun; Gurmesa, Geshere A; Yu, Guirui; Li, Linghao; Zhang, Wei; Fang, Huajun; Mo, Jiangming

    2015-11-01

    Nitrogen (N) deposition in China has increased greatly, but the general impact of elevated N deposition on carbon (C) dynamics in Chinese terrestrial ecosystems is not well documented. In this study we used a meta-analysis method to compile 88 studies on the effects of N deposition C cycling on Chinese terrestrial ecosystems. Our results showed that N addition did not change soil C pools but increased above-ground plant C pool. A large decrease in below-ground plant C pool was observed. Our result also showed that the impacts of N addition on ecosystem C dynamics depend on ecosystem type and rate of N addition. Overall, our findings suggest that 1) decreased below-ground plant C pool may limit long-term soil C sequestration; and 2) it is better to treat N-rich and N-limited ecosystems differently in modeling effects of N deposition on ecosystem C cycle. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Heterotrophic denitrification vs. autotrophic anammox – quantifying collateral effects on the oceanic carbon cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. Koeve

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available The conversion of fixed nitrogen to N2 in suboxic waters is estimated to contribute roughly a third to total oceanic losses of fixed nitrogen and is hence understood to be of major importance to global oceanic production and, therefore, to the role of the ocean as a sink of atmospheric CO2. At present heterotrophic denitrification and autotrophic anammox are considered the dominant sinks of fixed nitrogen. Recently, it has been suggested that the trophic nature of pelagic N2-production may have additional, "collateral" effects on the carbon cycle, where heterotrophic denitrification provides a shallow source of CO2 and autotrophic anammox a shallow sink. Here, we analyse the stoichiometries of nitrogen and associated carbon conversions in marine oxygen minimum zones (OMZ focusing on heterotrophic denitrification, autotrophic anammox, and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to nitrite and ammonium in order to test this hypothesis quantitatively. For open ocean OMZs the combined effects of these processes turn out to be clearly heterotrophic, even with high shares of the autotrophic anammox reaction in total N2-production and including various combinations of dissimilatory processes which provide the substrates to anammox. In such systems, the degree of heterotrophy (ΔCO2:ΔN2, varying between 1.7 and 6.5, is a function of the efficiency of nitrogen conversion. On the contrary, in systems like the Black Sea, where suboxic N-conversions are supported by diffusive fluxes of NH4+ originating from neighbouring waters with sulphate reduction, much lower values of ΔCO2:ΔN2 can be found. However, accounting for concomitant diffusive fluxes of CO2, the ratio approaches higher values similar to those computed for open ocean OMZs. Based on this analysis, we question the significance of collateral effects concerning the trophic

  13. Microbial ecology of soda lakes: investigating sulfur and nitrogen cycling at Mono Lake, CA, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fairbanks, D.; Phillips, A. A.; Wells, M.; Bao, R.; Fullerton, K. M.; Stamps, B. W.; Speth, D. R.; Johnson, H.; Sessions, A. L.

    2017-12-01

    Soda lakes represent unique ecosystems characterized by extremes of pH, salinity and distinct geochemical cycling. Despite these extreme conditions, soda lakes are important repositories of biological adaptation and have a highly functional microbial system. We investigated the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur and nitrogen compounds in Mono Lake, California, located east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Mono lake is characterized by hyperalkaline, hypersaline and high sulfate concentrations and can enter prolonged periods of meromixis due to freshwater inflow. Typically, the microbial sulfur cycle is highly active in soda lakes with both oxidation and reduction of sulfur compounds. However, the biological sulfur cycle is connected to many other main elemental cycles such as carbon, nitrogen and metals. Here we investigated the interaction between sulfur and nitrogen cycling in Mono lake using a combination of molecular, isotopic, and geochemical observations to explore the links between microbial phylogenetic composition and functionality. Metagenomic and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing were determined at two locations and five depths in May 2017. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing analysis revealed organisms capable of both sulfur and nitrogen cycling. The relative abundance and distribution of functional genes (dsrA, soxAB, nifH, etc) were also determined. These genetic markers indicate the potential in situ relevance of specific carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur pathways in the water column prior to the transition to meromictic stratification. However, genes for sulfide oxidation, denitrification, and ammonification were present. Genome binning guided by the most abundant dsrA sequences, GC content, and abundance with depth identified a Thioalkalivibrio paradoxus bin containing genes capable of sulfur oxidation, denitrification, and nitrate reduction. The presence of a large number of sulfur and nitrogen cycling genes associated with Thioalkalivibrio paradoxus

  14. Carbon cycling and calcification in hypersaline microbial mats

    OpenAIRE

    Ludwig, Rebecca

    2004-01-01

    Phototrophic microbial mats are laminated aggregations of microorganisms that thrive in extreme and oligotrophic environments. Primary production rates by oxygenic phototrophs are extremely high. Primary producers supply heterotrophic mat members with organic carbon, which in turn regenerate CO2 needed for autotrophic carbon fixation. Another potential source of CO2 is calcification, which is known to shift the carbonate equilibrium towards CO2. This thesis investigated the carbon cycle of mi...

  15. Nitrogen cycling and bacterial community structure of sinking and aging diatom aggregates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lundgaard, Ann Sofie Birch; Treusch, Alexander H.; Stief, Peter

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT: Sinking phycodetrital aggregates can contribute to anaerobic nitrogen turnover as they may represent oxygen-depleted microbial hot spots in otherwise oxygenated waters. However, the dynamics of anaerobic nitrogen cycling during the long descent of aggregates through oxic or hypoxic waters...... are unknown. Thus, model aggregates prepared from the diatom Skeletonema marinoi were allowed to age for 4 d at high and low ambient O2 levels (70 and 15% air saturation, respectively), and changes in nitrogen transformations and microbial community structure were followed. At both O2 levels, denitrification...... at average production rates of 0.66 nmol N2-N aggregate (aggr.)–1 h–1 and 0.26 nmol NO2– aggr.–1 h–1. At both O2 levels, but more pronouncedly at 70% air saturation, the microbial community underwent succession as expressed by an increase in (1) relative abundance of specific bacterial taxonomic units; (2...

  16. Carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry across stream ecosystems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wymore, A.; Kaushal, S.; McDowell, W. H.; Kortelainen, P.; Bernhardt, E. S.; Johnes, P.; Dodds, W. K.; Johnson, S.; Brookshire, J.; Spencer, R.; Rodriguez-Cardona, B.; Helton, A. M.; Barnes, R.; Argerich, A.; Haq, S.; Sullivan, P. L.; López-Lloreda, C.; Coble, A. A.; Daley, M.

    2017-12-01

    Anthropogenic activities are altering carbon and nitrogen concentrations in surface waters globally. The stoichiometry of carbon and nitrogen regulates important watershed biogeochemical cycles; however, controls on carbon and nitrogen ratios in aquatic environments are poorly understood. Here we use a multi-biome and global dataset (tropics to Arctic) of stream water chemistry to assess relationships between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrate, ammonium and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), providing a new conceptual framework to consider interactions between DOC and the multiple forms of dissolved nitrogen. We found that across streams the total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) pool is comprised of very little ammonium and as DOC concentrations increase the TDN pool shifts from nitrate to DON dominated. This suggests that in high DOC systems, DON serves as the primary source of nitrogen. At the global scale, DOC and DON are positively correlated (r2 = 0.67) and the average C: N ratio of dissolved organic matter (molar ratio of DOC: DON) across our data set is approximately 31. At the biome and smaller regional scale the relationship between DOC and DON is highly variable (r2 = 0.07 - 0.56) with the strongest relationships found in streams draining the mixed temperate forests of the northeastern United States. DOC: DON relationships also display spatial and temporal variability including latitudinal and seasonal trends, and interactions with land-use. DOC: DON ratios correlated positively with gradients of energy versus nutrient limitation pointing to the ecological role (energy source versus nutrient source) that DON plays with stream ecosystems. Contrary to previous findings we found consistently weak relationships between DON and nitrate which may reflect DON's duality as an energy or nutrient source. Collectively these analyses demonstrate how gradients of DOC drive compositional changes in the TDN pool and reveal a high degree of variability in the C: N ratio

  17. Intracellular Nitrate of Marine Diatoms as a Driver of Anaerobic Nitrogen Cycling in Sinking Aggregates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anja Kamp

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Diatom-bacteria aggregates are key for the vertical transport of organic carbon in the ocean. Sinking aggregates also represent pelagic microniches with intensified microbial activity, oxygen depletion in the center, and anaerobic nitrogen cycling. Since some of the aggregate-forming diatom species store nitrate intracellularly, we explored the fate of intracellular nitrate and its availability for microbial metabolism within anoxic diatom-bacteria aggregates. The ubiquitous nitrate-storing diatom Skeletonema marinoi was studied as both axenic cultures and laboratory-produced diatom-bacteria aggregates. Stable 15N isotope incubations under dark and anoxic conditions revealed that axenic S. marinoi is able to reduce intracellular nitrate to ammonium that is immediately excreted by the cells. When exposed to a light:dark cycle and oxic conditions, S. marinoi stored nitrate intracellularly in concentrations > 60 mmol L-1 both as free-living cells and associated to aggregates. Intracellular nitrate concentrations exceeded extracellular concentrations by three orders of magnitude. Intracellular nitrate was used up within 2-3 days after shifting diatom-bacteria aggregates to dark and anoxic conditions. Thirty-one percent of the diatom-derived nitrate was converted to nitrogen gas, indicating that a substantial fraction of the intracellular nitrate pool of S. marinoi becomes available to the aggregate-associated bacterial community. Only 5% of the intracellular nitrate was reduced to ammonium, while 59% was recovered as nitrite. Hence, aggregate-associated diatoms accumulate nitrate from the surrounding water and sustain complex nitrogen transformations, including loss of fixed nitrogen, in anoxic, pelagic microniches. Additionally, it may be expected that intracellular nitrate not converted before the aggregates have settled onto the seafloor could fuel benthic nitrogen transformations.

  18. Impacts of Human Induced Nitrogen Deposition on Ecosystem Carbon Sequestration and Water Balance in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheng, M.; Yang, D.; Tang, J.; Lei, H.

    2017-12-01

    Enhanced plant biomass accumulation in response to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration could dampen the future rate of increase in CO2 levels and associated climate warming. However, many experiments around the world reported that nitrogen availability could limit the sustainability of the ecosystems' response to elevated CO2. In the recent 20 years, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, primarily from fossil fuel combustion, has increased sharply about 25% in China and meanwhile, China has the highest carbon emission in the world, implying a large opportunity to increase vegetation greenness and ecosystem carbon sequestration. Moreover, the water balance of the ecosystem will also change. However, in the future, the trajectory of increasing nitrogen deposition from fossil fuel use is to be controlled by the government policy that shapes the energy and industrial structure. Therefore, the historical and future trajectories of nitrogen deposition are likely very different, and it is imperative to understand how changes in nitrogen deposition will impact the ecosystem carbon sequestration and water balance in China. We here use the Community Land Model (CLM 4.5) to analyze how the change of nitrogen deposition has influenced and will influence the ecosystem carbon and water cycle in China at a high spatial resolution (0.1 degree). We address the following questions: 1) what is the contribution of the nitrogen deposition on historical vegetation greenness? 2) How does the change of nitrogen deposition affect the carbon sequestration? 3) What is its influence to water balance? And 4) how different will be the influence of the nitrogen deposition on ecosystem carbon and water cycling in the future?

  19. The genome of Cyanothece 51142, a unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacterium important in the marine nitrogen cycle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Welsh, Eric A.; Liberton, Michelle L.; Stockel, Jana; Loh, Thomas; Elvitigala, Thanura R.; Wang, Chunyan; Wollam, Aye; Fulton, Robert S.; Clifton, Sandra W.; Jacobs, Jon M.; Aurora, Rajeev; Ghosh, Bijoy K.; Sherman, Louis A.; Smith, Richard D.; Wilson, Richard K.; Pakrasi, Himadri B.

    2008-09-30

    Cyanobacteria are oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria that have significant roles in global biological carbon sequestration and oxygen production. They occupy a diverse range of habitats, from open ocean, to hot springs, deserts, and arctic waters. Cyanobacteria are known as the progenitors of the chloroplasts of plants and algae, and are the simplest known organisms to exhibit circadian behavior4. Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142 is a unicellular marine cyanobacterium capable of N2-fixation, a process that is biochemically incompatible with oxygenic photosynthesis. To resolve this problem, Cyanothece performs photosynthesis during the day and nitrogen fixation at night, thus temporally separating these processes in the same cell. The genome of Cyanothece 51142 was completely sequenced and found to contain a unique arrangement of one large circular chromosome, four small plasmids, and one linear chromosome, the first report of such a linear element in a photosynthetic bacterium. Annotation of the Cyanothece genome was aided by the use of highthroughput proteomics data, enabling the reclassification of 25% of the proteins with no informative sequence homology. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that nitrogen fixation is an ancient process that arose early in evolution and has subsequently been lost in many cyanobacterial strains. In cyanobacterial cells, the circadian clock influences numerous processes, including carbohydrate synthesis, nitrogen fixation, photosynthesis, respiration, and the cell division cycle. During a diurnal period, Cyanothece cells actively accumulate and degrade different storage inclusion bodies for the products of photosynthesis and N2-fixation. This ability to utilize metabolic compartmentalization and energy storage makes Cyanothece an ideal system for bioenergy research, as well as studies of how a unicellular organism balances multiple, often incompatible, processes in the same cell.

  20. Electronic states of carbon alloy catalysts and nitrogen substituent effects on catalytic activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hata, Tomoyuki; Ushiyama, Hiroshi; Yamashita, Koichi

    2013-03-01

    In recent years, Carbon Alloy Catalysts (CACs) are attracting attention as a candidate for non-platinum-based cathode catalysts in fuel cells. Oxygen reduction reactions at the cathode are divided into two elementary processes, electron transfer and oxygen adsorption. The electron transfer reaction is the rate-determining, and by comparison of energy levels, catalytic activity can be evaluated quantitatively. On the other hand, to begin with, adsorption mechanism is obscure. The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of nitrogen substitution and oxygen adsorption mechanism, by first-principle electronic structure calculations for nitrogen substituted models. To reproduce the elementary processes of oxygen adsorption, we assumed that the initial structures are formed based on the Pauling model, a CACs model and nitrogen substituted CACs models in which various points are replaced with nitrogen. When we try to focus only on the DOS peaks of oxygen, in some substituted model that has high adsorption activity, a characteristic partial occupancy state was found. We conclude that this state will affect the adsorption activity, and discuss on why partially occupied states appear with simplification by using an orbital correlation diagram.

  1. Tungsten carbide encapsulated in nitrogen-doped carbon with iron/cobalt carbides electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Jie; Chen, Jinwei, E-mail: jwchen@scu.edu.cn; Jiang, Yiwu; Zhou, Feilong; Wang, Gang; Wang, Ruilin, E-mail: rl.wang@scu.edu.cn

    2016-12-15

    Graphical abstract: A hybrid catalyst was prepared via a quite green and simple method to achieve an one-pot synthesis of the N-doping carbon, tungsten carbides, and iron/cobalt carbides. It exhibited comparable electrocatalytic activity, higher durability and ability to methanol tolerance compared with commercial Pt/C to ORR. - Highlights: • A novel type of hybrid Fe/Co/WC@NC catalysts have been successfully synthesized. • The hybrid catalyst also exhibited better durability and methanol tolerance. • Multiple effective active sites of Fe{sub 3}C, Co{sub 3}C, WC, and NC help to improve catalytic performance. - Abstract: This work presents a type of hybrid catalyst prepared through an environmental and simple method, combining a pyrolysis of transition metal precursors, a nitrogen-containing material, and a tungsten source to achieve a one-pot synthesis of N-doping carbon, tungsten carbides, and iron/cobalt carbides (Fe/Co/WC@NC). The obtained Fe/Co/WC@NC consists of uniform Fe{sub 3}C and Co{sub 3}C nanoparticles encapsulated in graphitized carbon with surface nitrogen doping, closely wrapped around a plate-like tungsten carbide (WC) that functions as an efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst. The introduction of WC is found to promote the ORR activity of Fe/Co-based carbide electrocatalysts, which is attributed to the synergistic catalysts of WC, Fe{sub 3}C, and Co{sub 3}C. Results suggest that the composite exhibits comparable electrocatalytic activity, higher durability, and ability for methanol tolerance compared with commercial Pt/C for ORR in alkaline electrolyte. These advantages make Fe/Co/WC@NC a promising ORR electrocatalyst and a cost-effective alternative to Pt/C for practical application as fuel cell.

  2. Impacts of Human Alteration of the Nitrogen Cycle in the U.S. on Radiative Forcing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nitrogen cycling processes affect radiative forcing directly through emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and indirectly because emissions of nitrogen oxide (NO x ) and ammonia (NH3) affect atmospheric concentrations of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor (H2O), ozone (O...

  3. Nitrogen, organic carbon and sulphur cycling in terrestrial ecosystems: linking nitrogen saturation to carbon limitation of soil microbial processes

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kopáček, Jiří; Cosby, B. J.; Evans, C. D.; Hruška, J.; Moldan, F.; Oulehle, F.; Šantrůčková, H.; Tahovská, K.; Wright, R. F.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 115, 1-3 (2013), s. 33-51 ISSN 0168-2563. [BIOGEOMON : international symposium on ecosystem behavior /7./. Northport, 15.07.2012-20.07.2012] R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP504/12/1218 Institutional support: RVO:60077344 Keywords : nitrogen * carbon * sulphur * acidification * forest soil * modelling Subject RIV: DJ - Water Pollution ; Quality Impact factor: 3.730, year: 2013

  4. One step synthesis of chlorine-free Pt/Nitrogen-doped graphene composite for oxygen reduction reaction

    KAUST Repository

    Varga, Tamás

    2018-03-14

    Chlorine-free Platinum/nitrogen-doped graphene oxygen reduction reaction catalysts were synthesized by a one step method of annealing a mixture of platinum acetylacetonate and graphene oxide under ammonia atmosphere. Nanoparticles with close to the ideal particle size for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were formed, i.e., with diameter of 3–4 nm (500 and 600 °C) and 6 nm (700 °C). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the successful introduction of both pyridinic and pyrrolic type nitrogen moieties into the graphene layers, which indicates a strong interaction between the nanoparticles and the graphene layers. The electrocatalytic activity of glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) modified with the synthesized Pt/NG samples for oxygen reduction was compared to that of a platinum/carbon black catalyst modified electrode in acidic and alkaline media. Based on the measured limiting current densities and calculated electron transfer number, the highest activity was measured in acidic and alkaline media on the samples annealed at 600 and 700 °C, respectively.

  5. Regulation of Carbon Flow by Nitrogen and Light in the Red Alga, Gelidium coulteri.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macler, B A

    1986-09-01

    The red alga Gelidium coulteri Harv. photosynthetically fixed [(14)C] bicarbonate at high rates under defined conditions in unialgal laboratory culture. The fixation rate and flow of photosynthate into various end products were dependent on the nitrogen status of the tissue. Plants fed luxury levels of nitrogen (approximately 340 micromolar) showed fixation rates several-fold higher than those seen for plants starved for nitrogen. The addition of NO(3) (-) or NH(4) (+) to such starved plants further inhibited fixation over at least the first several hours after addition. The majority of (14)C after incubations of 30 minutes to 8 hours was found in the compounds floridoside, agar and floridean starch. In addition, amino acids and intermediate compounds of the reductive pentose phosphate pathway, glycolytic pathway and tricarboxylic acid cycle were detected. Nitrogen affected the partitioning of labeled carbon into these compounds. Plants under luxury nitrogen conditions had higher floridoside levels and markedly lower amounts of agar and starch than found in plants limited for nitrogen. Amino acid, phycobiliprotein and chlorophyll levels were also significantly higher in nitrogen-enriched plants. Addition of NO(3) (-) to starved plants led to an increase in floridoside, tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates and amino acids within 1 hour and inhibited carbon flow into agar and starch. Carbon fixation in the dark was only 1 to 7% of that seen in the light. Dark fixation of [(14)C]bicarbonate yielded label primarily in tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, amino acids and polysaccharides. Nitrogen stimulated amino acid synthesis at the expense of agar and starch. Floridoside was only a minor component in the dark. Pulse-chase experiments, designed to show carbon turnover, indicated a 2-fold increase in labeling of agar over 96 hours of chase in the light. No increases were seen in the dark. Low molecular weight pools, including floridoside, decreased 2- to 5-fold

  6. A Pt-free Electrocatalyst Based on Pyrolized Vinazene-Carbon Composite for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akinpelu, Akeem; Merzougui, Belabbes; Bukola, Saheed; Azad, Abdul-Majeed; Basheer, Rafil A.; Swain, Greg M.; Chang, Qiaowan; Shao, Minhua

    2015-01-01

    The 2-vinyl-4, 5-dicyanoimidazole (Vinazene) was used as a nitrogen precursor to synthesize a promising non-precious metal (NPM) catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Vinazene together with an iron source was impregnated into a carbon matrix and pyrolyzed at 900 °C in N 2 atmosphere. The structure of the resulting Fe–N–C nanocomposite was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Both rotating disk electrode (RDE) and rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) experiments showed excellent ORR activity for the obtained catalyst with low H 2 O 2 formation (∼3.0%) in 0.1 M KOH. The catalyst was found to be rich in mesoporous structure along with high percentage of pyrrolic-N function with surface area of about 673 m 2 g −1 and pore size of 4.2 nm. In addition to its excellent ORR activity, the catalyst showed remarkable tolerance towards methanol oxidation and demonstrates good stability over 10,000 potential cycles (0.6–1.0 V Vs RHE). We believe that this N-rich Vinazene molecule will be beneficial to further development of nitrogen doped carbon electrocatalysts

  7. Calcium constrains plant control over forest ecosystem nitrogen cycling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groffman, Peter M; Fisk, Melany C

    2011-11-01

    Forest ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling is a critical controller of the ability of forests to prevent the movement of reactive N to receiving waters and the atmosphere and to sequester elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Here we show that calcium (Ca) constrains the ability of northern hardwood forest trees to control the availability and loss of nitrogen. We evaluated soil N-cycling response to Ca additions in the presence and absence of plants and observed that when plants were present, Ca additions "tightened" the ecosystem N cycle, with decreases in inorganic N levels, potential net N mineralization rates, microbial biomass N content, and denitrification potential. In the absence of plants, Ca additions induced marked increases in nitrification (the key process controlling ecosystem N losses) and inorganic N levels. The observed "tightening" of the N cycle when Ca was added in the presence of plants suggests that the capacity of forests to absorb elevated levels of atmospheric N and CO2 is fundamentally constrained by base cations, which have been depleted in many areas of the globe by acid rain and forest harvesting.

  8. Facile preparation of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon with high performance in supercapacitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yan, Kun; Kong, Ling-Bin; Shen, Kui-Wen; Dai, Yan-Hua; Shi, Ming; Hu, Bing; Luo, Yong-Chun; Kang, Long

    2016-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Preparing and activating process of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC). - Highlights: • The well-defined PAN-b-PMMA copolymer was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization with narrow molecular weight distribution. • Nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous structure (NHPC) was prepared through a simple carbonization procedure of PAN-b-PMMA precursor. • NHPC possessed hierarchical porous structure with high BET surface area of 257 m"2 g"−"1 and DFT mesopore size of 14.61 nm. • Effects of activation conditions on supercapacitive behavior were systematically studied. - Abstract: The nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC) material was successfully prepared through a simple carbonization procedure of well-defined diblock copolymer precursor containing nitrogen-enriched carbon source, i.e., polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and asacrificial block, i.e., polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). PAN-b-PMMA diblock copolymer was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymeriation (ATRP) with narrow molecular weight distribution. The as-obtained NHPC possessed nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous structure with high BET surface area of 257 m"2 g"−"1 and Nonlocal density functional theory (NLDFT) mesopore size of 14.61 nm. Surface activated nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (A-NHPC) materials were obtained by subsequent surface activation with HNO_3 solution. The effects of activation conditions on supercapacitive behavior were systematically studied, a maximum specific capacitance of 314 F g"−"1 at a current density of 0.5 A g"−"1 was achieved in 2 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. Simultaneously, it exhibited excellent rate capability of 67.8% capacitance retention as the current density increased from 0.5 to 20 A g"−"1 and superior cycling performance of 90% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at the current density of 2 A g"−"1.

  9. Facile preparation of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon with high performance in supercapacitors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yan, Kun [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Processing and Recycling of Non-ferrous Metals, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China); Kong, Ling-Bin, E-mail: konglb@lut.cn [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Processing and Recycling of Non-ferrous Metals, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China); School of Materials Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China); Shen, Kui-Wen; Dai, Yan-Hua; Shi, Ming; Hu, Bing [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Processing and Recycling of Non-ferrous Metals, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China); Luo, Yong-Chun; Kang, Long [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050 (China)

    2016-02-28

    Graphical abstract: Preparing and activating process of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC). - Highlights: • The well-defined PAN-b-PMMA copolymer was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization with narrow molecular weight distribution. • Nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous structure (NHPC) was prepared through a simple carbonization procedure of PAN-b-PMMA precursor. • NHPC possessed hierarchical porous structure with high BET surface area of 257 m{sup 2} g{sup −1} and DFT mesopore size of 14.61 nm. • Effects of activation conditions on supercapacitive behavior were systematically studied. - Abstract: The nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC) material was successfully prepared through a simple carbonization procedure of well-defined diblock copolymer precursor containing nitrogen-enriched carbon source, i.e., polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and asacrificial block, i.e., polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). PAN-b-PMMA diblock copolymer was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymeriation (ATRP) with narrow molecular weight distribution. The as-obtained NHPC possessed nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous structure with high BET surface area of 257 m{sup 2} g{sup −1} and Nonlocal density functional theory (NLDFT) mesopore size of 14.61 nm. Surface activated nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (A-NHPC) materials were obtained by subsequent surface activation with HNO{sub 3} solution. The effects of activation conditions on supercapacitive behavior were systematically studied, a maximum specific capacitance of 314 F g{sup −1} at a current density of 0.5 A g{sup −1} was achieved in 2 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. Simultaneously, it exhibited excellent rate capability of 67.8% capacitance retention as the current density increased from 0.5 to 20 A g{sup −1} and superior cycling performance of 90% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at the current density of 2 A g{sup −1}.

  10. Major changes in forest carbon and nitrogen cycling caused by declining sulphur deposition

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Oulehle, F.; Evans, C. D.; Hofmeister, J.; Krejci, R.; Tahovská, K.; Persson, T.; Cudlín, Pavel; Hruška, J.

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 17, č. 10 (2011), 3115–3129 ISSN 1354-1013 R&D Projects: GA MŠk OC10022 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520 Keywords : acidification * carbon * deposition * DOC * forest floor * leaching * nitrogen * nitrogen saturation * soil * sulphur Subject RIV: DD - Geochemistry Impact factor: 6.862, year: 2011 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02468.x/pdf

  11. Comparative genomic analysis of carbon and nitrogen assimilation mechanisms in three indigenous bioleaching bacteria: predictions and validations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levicán, Gloria; Ugalde, Juan A; Ehrenfeld, Nicole; Maass, Alejandro; Parada, Pilar

    2008-01-01

    Background Carbon and nitrogen fixation are essential pathways for autotrophic bacteria living in extreme environments. These bacteria can use carbon dioxide directly from the air as their sole carbon source and can use different sources of nitrogen such as ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, or even nitrogen from the air. To have a better understanding of how these processes occur and to determine how we can make them more efficient, a comparative genomic analysis of three bioleaching bacteria isolated from mine sites in Chile was performed. This study demonstrated that there are important differences in the carbon dioxide and nitrogen fixation mechanisms among bioleaching bacteria that coexist in mining environments. Results In this study, we probed that both Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans incorporate CO2 via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle; however, the former bacterium has two copies of the Rubisco type I gene whereas the latter has only one copy. In contrast, we demonstrated that Leptospirillum ferriphilum utilizes the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle for carbon fixation. Although all the species analyzed in our study can incorporate ammonia by an ammonia transporter, we demonstrated that Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans could also assimilate nitrate and nitrite but only Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans could fix nitrogen directly from the air. Conclusion The current study utilized genomic and molecular evidence to verify carbon and nitrogen fixation mechanisms for three bioleaching bacteria and provided an analysis of the potential regulatory pathways and functional networks that control carbon and nitrogen fixation in these microorganisms. PMID:19055775

  12. Enzymology and ecology of the nitrogen cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Espinosa, Rosa María; Cole, Jeffrey A; Richardson, David J; Watmough, Nicholas J

    2011-01-01

    The nitrogen cycle describes the processes through which nitrogen is converted between its various chemical forms. These transformations involve both biological and abiotic redox processes. The principal processes involved in the nitrogen cycle are nitrogen fixation, nitrification, nitrate assimilation, respiratory reduction of nitrate to ammonia, anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) and denitrification. All of these are carried out by micro-organisms, including bacteria, archaea and some specialized fungi. In the present article, we provide a brief introduction to both the biochemical and ecological aspects of these processes and consider how human activity over the last 100 years has changed the historic balance of the global nitrogen cycle.

  13. Climate-mediated nitrogen and carbon dynamics in a tropical watershed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballantyne, A. P.; Baker, P. A.; Fritz, S. C.; Poulter, B.

    2011-06-01

    Climate variability affects the capacity of the biosphere to assimilate and store important elements, such as nitrogen and carbon. Here we present biogeochemical evidence from the sediments of tropical Lake Titicaca indicating that large hydrologic changes in response to global glacial cycles during the Quaternary were accompanied by major shifts in ecosystem state. During prolonged glacial intervals, lake level was high and the lake was in a stable nitrogen-limited state. In contrast, during warm dry interglacials lake level fell and rates of nitrogen concentrations increased by a factor of 4-12, resulting in a fivefold to 24-fold increase in organic carbon concentrations in the sediments due to increased primary productivity. Observed periods of increased primary productivity were also associated with an apparent increase in denitrification. However, the net accumulation of nitrogen during interglacial intervals indicates that increased nitrogen supply exceeded nitrogen losses due to denitrification, thereby causing increases in primary productivity. Although primary productivity in tropical ecosystems, especially freshwater ecosystems, tends to be nitrogen limited, our results indicate that climate variability may lead to changes in nitrogen availability and thus changes in primary productivity. Therefore some tropical ecosystems may shift between a stable state of nitrogen limitation and a stable state of nitrogen saturation in response to varying climatic conditions.

  14. The Effect of Nitrogen Enrichment on C1-Cycling Microorganisms and Methane Flux in Salt Marsh Sediments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina Catherine Irvine

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Methane (CH4 flux from ecosystems is driven by C1-cycling microorganisms – the methanogens and the methylotrophs. Little is understood about what regulates these communities, complicating predictions about how global change drivers such as nitrogen enrichment will affect methane cycling. Using a nitrogen addition gradient experiment in three Southern California salt marshes, we show that sediment CH4 flux increased linearly with increasing nitrogen addition (1.23 µg CH4 m-2 d-1 for each g N m-2 yr-1 applied after seven months of fertilization. To test the reason behind this increased CH4 flux, we conducted a microcosm experiment altering both nitrogen and carbon availability under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Methanogenesis appeared to be both nitrogen and carbon (acetate limited. N and C each increased methanogenesis by 18%, and together by 44%. In contrast, methanotrophy was stimulated by carbon (methane addition (830%, but was unchanged by nitrogen addition. Sequence analysis of the sediment methylotroph community with the methanol dehydrogenase gene (mxaF revealed three distinct clades that fall outside of known lineages. However, in agreement with the microcosm results, methylotroph abundance (assayed by qPCR and composition (assayed by T-RFLP did not vary across the experimental nitrogen gradient in the field. Together, these results suggest that nitrogen enrichment to salt marsh sediments increases methane flux by stimulating the methanogen community.

  15. The nitrogen cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, Lisa Y; Klotz, Martin G

    2016-02-08

    Nitrogen is the fourth most abundant element in cellular biomass, and it comprises the majority of Earth's atmosphere. The interchange between inert dinitrogen gas (N2) in the extant atmosphere and 'reactive nitrogen' (those nitrogen compounds that support, or are products of, cellular metabolism and growth) is entirely controlled by microbial activities. This was not the case, however, in the primordial atmosphere, when abiotic reactions likely played a significant role in the inter-transformation of nitrogen oxides. Although such abiotic reactions are still important, the extant nitrogen cycle is driven by reductive fixation of dinitrogen and an enzyme inventory that facilitates dinitrogen-producing reactions. Prior to the advent of the Haber-Bosch process (the industrial fixation of N2 into ammonia, NH3) in 1909, nearly all of the reactive nitrogen in the biosphere was generated and recycled by microorganisms. Although the Haber-Bosch process more than quadrupled the productivity of agricultural crops, chemical fertilizers and other anthropogenic sources of fixed nitrogen now far exceed natural contributions, leading to unprecedented environmental degradation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. A stable organic-inorganic hybrid layer protected lithium metal anode for long-cycle lithium-oxygen batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Jinhui; Yang, Jun; Zhou, Jingjing; Zhang, Tao; Li, Lei; Wang, Jiulin; Nuli, Yanna

    2017-10-01

    A stable organic-inorganic hybrid layer (OIHL) is direct fabricated on lithium metal surface by the interfacial reaction of lithium metal foil with 1-chlorodecane and oxygen/carbon dioxide mixed gas. This favorable OIHL is approximately 30 μm thick and consists of lithium alkyl carbonate and lithium chloride. The lithium-oxygen batteries with OIHL protected lithium metal anode exhibit longer cycle life (340 cycles) than those with bare lithium metal anode (50 cycles). This desirable performance can be ascribed to the robust OIHL which prevents the growth of lithium dendrites and the corrosion of lithium metal.

  17. The microbial nitrogen cycling potential in marine sediments is impacted by polyaromatic hydrocarbon pollution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole M Scott

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available During petroleum hydrocarbon exposure the composition and functional dynamics of marine microbial communities are altered, favoring bacteria that can utilize this rich carbon source. Initial exposure of high levels of hydrocarbons in aerobic surface sediments can enrich growth of heterotrophic microorganisms having hydrocarbon degradation capacity. As a result, there can be a localized reduction in oxygen potential, if the sediments are aerobic, within the surface layer of marine sediments resulting in anaerobic zones. We hypothesized that increasing exposure to elevated hydrocarbon concentrations would positively correlate with an increase in denitrification processes and the net accumulation of dinitrogen. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the relative abundance of genes associated with nitrogen metabolism and nitrogen cycling identified in 6 metagenomes from sediments contaminated by polyaromatic hydrocarbons from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and 3 metagenomes from sediments associated with natural oil seeps in the Santa Barbara Channel. An additional 8 metagenomes from uncontaminated sediments from the Gulf of Mexico were analyzed for comparison. We predicted relative changes in metabolite turnover as a function of the differential microbial gene abundances, which showed predicted accumulation of metabolites associated with denitrification processes, including anammox, in the contaminated samples compared to uncontaminated sediments, with the magnitude of this change being positively correlated to the hydrocarbon concentration and exposure duration. These data highlight the potential impact of hydrocarbon inputs on N cycling processes in marine sediments and provide information relevant for system scale models of nitrogen metabolism in affected ecosystems.

  18. Effects of nitrogen deposition on carbon cycle in terrestrial ecosystems of China: A meta-analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Hao; Li, Dejun; Gurmesa, Geshere A.; Yu, Guirui; Li, Linghao; Zhang, Wei; Fang, Huajun; Mo, Jiangming

    2015-01-01

    Nitrogen (N) deposition in China has increased greatly, but the general impact of elevated N deposition on carbon (C) dynamics in Chinese terrestrial ecosystems is not well documented. In this study we used a meta-analysis method to compile 88 studies on the effects of N deposition C cycling on Chinese terrestrial ecosystems. Our results showed that N addition did not change soil C pools but increased above-ground plant C pool. A large decrease in below-ground plant C pool was observed. Our result also showed that the impacts of N addition on ecosystem C dynamics depend on ecosystem type and rate of N addition. Overall, our findings suggest that 1) decreased below-ground plant C pool may limit long-term soil C sequestration; and 2) it is better to treat N-rich and N-limited ecosystems differently in modeling effects of N deposition on ecosystem C cycle. - Highlights: • Meta-analysis was used to address the effects of N addition on C cycle. • N addition caused an large decease in belowground plant C pool. • N-rich and N-limited ecosystems had different responses to N addition. - N addition caused a large decrease in below-ground plant C pool.

  19. Nitrogen-doped carbon based on peptides of hair as electrode materials for surpercapacitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Zihan; Zhou, Qingwen; Wu, Zhaojun; Zhang, Zhiguo; Zhang, Wen; Zhang, Yao; Li, Lijun; Cao, Zhenzhu; Wang, Hong; Gao, Yanfang

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Hair was directly carbonized by environmental and energy-saving methods. • Hair was utilized to prepare nitrogen-doped carbon materials for supercapacitor. • A new approache for preparing nitrogen-rich active carbon from biomass waste of hair-like precursor. • Hair-based carbon having a non-crystalline layered structure and excellent capacitive performance. -- Abstract: Hair, a high-nitrogen energetic material, is utilized as a precursor for nitrogen-doped porous carbon. The preparation procedures for obtaining carbon from hair are very simple, namely, reductant or deionized water activation process followed by hair carbonization under argon atmosphere at 800 °C for 2 h. The samples are characterized through scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, and X-ray photoelectron microscopy. The carbon samples are tested as electrode materials in supercapacitors in a three-electrode system. The carbon (soaked in deionized water at 80 °C) presents relatively low specific surface areas (441.34 m 2 g −1 ) and shows higher capacitance (154.5 F g −1 ) compared with nitrogen-free commercial activated carbons (134.5 F g −1 ) at 5 A g −1 . The capacitance remains at 130.5 F g −1 even when the current load is increased to 15 A g −1 . The capacitance loss is only 5% in 6 M KOH after 10,000 charge and discharge cycles at 5 A g −1 . It is the unique microstructure after activation processing and electroactive nitrogen functionalities that enable the carbon obtained through a simple, ecological, and economical process to be utilized as a potential electrode material for electrical double-layer capacitors

  20. Nitrogen Oxide Fluxes and Nitrogen Cycling during Postagricultural Succession and Forest Fertilization in the Humid Tropics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heather Erickson; Michael Keller; Eric Davidson

    2001-01-01

    The effects of changes in tropical land use on soil emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) are not well understood. We examined emissions of N2O and NO and their relationships to land use and forest composition, litterfall, soil nitrogen (N) pools and turnover, soil moisture, and patterns of carbon (C) cycling in a lower montane, subtropical wet region...

  1. [Bacterial anaerobic ammonia oxidation (Anammox) in the marine nitrogen cycle--a review].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Yiguo; Li, Meng; Gu, Jidong

    2009-03-01

    Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) is a microbial oxidation process of ammonium, with nitrite as the electron acceptor and dinitrogen gas as the main product, and is performed by a clade of deeply branched Planctomycetes, which possess an intracytoplasmic membrane-bounded organelle, the anammoxosome, for the Anammox process. The wide distribution of Anammox bacteria in different natural environments has been greatly modified the traditional view of biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen, in which microbial denitrifier is considered as the only organism to respire nitrate and nitrite to produce nitric and nitrous oxides, and eventually nitrogen gas. More evidences indicate that Anammox is responsible for the production of more than 50% of oceanic N2 and plays an important role in global nitrogen cycling. Moreover, due to the close relationship between nitrogen and carbon cycling, it is anticipated that Anammox process might also affect the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, and influence the global climate change. In addition, the simultaneous transformation of nitrite and ammonium in wastewater treatment by Anammox would allow a 90% reduction in operational costs and provide a much more effective biotechnological process for wastewater treatment.

  2. Biomass derived nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sheets for supercapacitors with high performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Cunjing; Wu, Dapeng; Wang, Hongju; Gao, Zhiyong; Xu, Fang; Jiang, Kai

    2018-08-01

    A facile potassium chloride salt-locking technique combined with hydrothermal treatment on precursors was explored to prepare nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sheets in air from biomass. Benefiting from the effective synthesis strategy, the as-obtained carbon possesses a unique nitrogen-doped thin carbon sheet structure with abundant hierarchical pores and large specific surface areas of 1459 m 2  g -1 . The doped nitrogen in carbon framework has a positive effect on the electrochemical properties of the electrode material, the thin carbon sheet structure benefits for fast ion transfer, the abundant meso-pores provide convenient channels for rapid charge transportation, large specific surface area and lots of micro-pores guarantee sufficient ion-storage sites. Therefore, applied for supercapacitors, the carbon electrode material exhibits an outstanding specific capacitance of 451 F g -1 at 0.5 A g -1 in a three-electrode system. Moreover, the assembled symmetric supercapacitor based on two identical carbon electrodes also displays high specific capacitance of 309 F g -1 at 0.5 A g -1 , excellent rate capacity and remarkable cycling stability with 99.3% of the initial capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 5 A -1 . The synthesis strategy avoids expensive inert gas protection and the use of corrosive KOH and toxic ZnCl 2 activated reagents, representing a promising green route to design advanced carbon electrode materials from biomass for high-capacity supercapacitors. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  3. Hydrogen, carbon and oxygen determination in proxy material samples using a LaBr3:Ce detector.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naqvi, A A; Al-Matouq, Faris A; Khiari, F Z; Isab, A A; Raashid, M; Khateeb-ur-Rehman

    2013-08-01

    Hydrogen, carbon and oxygen concentrations were measured in caffeine, urea, ammonium acetate and melamine bulk samples via 14 MeV neutron inelastic scattering using a LaBr3:Ce detector. The samples tested herein represent drugs, explosives and benign materials, respectively. Despite its intrinsic activity, the LaBr3:Ce detector performed well in detecting the hydrogen, carbon and oxygen elements. Because 5.1 MeV nitrogen gamma rays interfere with silicon and calcium prompt gamma rays from the room background, the nitrogen peak was not detected in the samples. An excellent agreement was observed between the experimental and theoretical yields of 2.22, 4.43 and 6.13 MeV gamma rays from the analyzed samples as a function of H, C and O concentrations, respectively. Within statistical errors, the minimum detectable concentration (MDC) of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen elements in the tested materials were consistent with previously reported MDC values for these elements measured in hydrocarbon samples. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Comparative genomic analysis of carbon and nitrogen assimilation mechanisms in three indigenous bioleaching bacteria: predictions and validations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ehrenfeld Nicole

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Carbon and nitrogen fixation are essential pathways for autotrophic bacteria living in extreme environments. These bacteria can use carbon dioxide directly from the air as their sole carbon source and can use different sources of nitrogen such as ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, or even nitrogen from the air. To have a better understanding of how these processes occur and to determine how we can make them more efficient, a comparative genomic analysis of three bioleaching bacteria isolated from mine sites in Chile was performed. This study demonstrated that there are important differences in the carbon dioxide and nitrogen fixation mechanisms among bioleaching bacteria that coexist in mining environments. Results In this study, we probed that both Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans incorporate CO2 via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle; however, the former bacterium has two copies of the Rubisco type I gene whereas the latter has only one copy. In contrast, we demonstrated that Leptospirillum ferriphilum utilizes the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle for carbon fixation. Although all the species analyzed in our study can incorporate ammonia by an ammonia transporter, we demonstrated that Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans could also assimilate nitrate and nitrite but only Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans could fix nitrogen directly from the air. Conclusion The current study utilized genomic and molecular evidence to verify carbon and nitrogen fixation mechanisms for three bioleaching bacteria and provided an analysis of the potential regulatory pathways and functional networks that control carbon and nitrogen fixation in these microorganisms.

  5. Accounting for the biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen in input-output life cycle assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Shweta; Bakshi, Bhavik R

    2013-08-20

    Nitrogen is indispensable for sustaining human activities through its role in the production of food, animal feed, and synthetic chemicals. This has encouraged significant anthropogenic mobilization of reactive nitrogen and its emissions into the environment resulting in severe disruption of the nitrogen cycle. This paper incorporates the biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen into the 2002 input-output model of the U.S. economy. Due to the complexity of this cycle, this work proposes a unique classification of nitrogen flows to facilitate understanding of the interaction between economic activities and various flows in the nitrogen cycle. The classification scheme distinguishes between the mobilization of inert nitrogen into its reactive form, use of nitrogen in various products, and nitrogen losses to the environment. The resulting inventory and model of the US economy can help quantify the direct and indirect impacts or dependence of economic sectors on the nitrogen cycle. This paper emphasizes the need for methods to manage the N cycle that focus not just on N losses, which has been the norm until now, but also include other N flows for a more comprehensive view and balanced decisions. Insight into the N profile of various sectors of the 2002 U.S. economy is presented, and the inventory can also be used for LCA or Hybrid LCA of various products. The resulting model is incorporated in the approach of Ecologically-Based LCA and available online.

  6. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in vertical peat profiles of natural and drained boreal peatlands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nykänen, Hannu; Mpamah, Promise; Rissanen, Antti; Pitkänen, Aki; Turunen, Jukka; Simola, Heikki

    2015-04-01

    Peatlands form a significant carbon pool in the global carbon cycle. Change in peat hydrology, due to global warming is projected to change microbiological processes and peat carbon pool. We tested if bulk stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes serve as indicators of severe long term drying in peatlands drained for forestry. Depth profile analysis of peat, for their carbon and nitrogen content as well as their carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic signatures, were conducted for peatlands in southern and eastern Finland, having ombrotrophic and minerotrophic natural and corresponding drained pairs or separate drained sites. The selection of sites allowed us to compare changes due to different fertility and changes due to long term artificial drying. Drainage lasting over 40 years has led to changes in hydrology, vegetation, nutrient mineralization and respiration. Furthermore, increased nutrient uptake and possible recycling of peat nitrogen and carbon trough vegetation back to the peat surface, also possibly has an effect on the stable isotopic composition of peat carbon and nitrogen. We think that drainage induced changes somehow correspond to those caused by changed hydrology due to climate change. We will present data from these measurements and discuss their implications for carbon and nitrogen flows in peatlands.

  7. Highly Graphitic Carbon Nanofibers Web as a Cathode Material for Lithium Oxygen Batteries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyungkyu Han

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The lithium oxygen battery is a promising energy storage system due to its high theoretical energy density and ability to use oxygen from air as a “fuel”. Although various carbonaceous materials have been widely used as a cathode material due to their high electronic conductivity and facial processability, previous studies mainly focused on the electrochemical properties associated with the materials (such as graphene and carbon nanotubes and the electrode configuration. Recent reports demonstrated that the polarization associated with cycling could be significantly increased by lithium carbonates generated from the reaction between the carbon cathode and an electrolyte, which indicates that the physicochemical properties of the carbon cathode could play an important role on the electrochemical performances. However, there is no systematic study to understand these phenomena. Here, we systematically explore the electrochemical properties of carbon nanofibers (CNF webs with different graphitization degree as a cathode for Li oxygen batteries. The physicochemical properties and electrochemical properties of CNF webs were carefully monitored before and after cycling. CNF webs are prepared at 1000, 1200 and 1400 °C. CNF web pyrolyzed at 1400 °C shows lowered polarization and improved cycle retention compared to those of CNF webs pyrolyzed at 1000 and 1200 °C.

  8. Terrestrial nitrogen cycling in Earth system models revisited

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stocker, Benjamin D; Prentice, I. Colin; Cornell, Sarah; Davies-Barnard, T; Finzi, Adrien; Franklin, Oskar; Janssens, Ivan; Larmola, Tuula; Manzoni, Stefano; Näsholm, Torgny; Raven, John; Rebel, Karin; Reed, Sasha C.; Vicca, Sara; Wiltshire, Andy; Zaehle, Sönke

    2016-01-01

    Understanding the degree to which nitrogen (N) availability limits land carbon (C) uptake under global environmental change represents an unresolved challenge. First-generation ‘C-only’vegetation models, lacking explicit representations of N cycling,projected a substantial and increasing land C sink under rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This prediction was questioned for not taking into account the potentially limiting effect of N availability, which is necessary for plant growth (Hungate et al.,2003). More recent global models include coupled C and N cycles in land ecosystems (C–N models) and are widely assumed to be more realistic. However, inclusion of more processes has not consistently improved their performance in capturing observed responses of the global C cycle (e.g. Wenzel et al., 2014). With the advent of a new generation of global models, including coupled C, N, and phosphorus (P) cycling, model complexity is sure to increase; but model reliability may not, unless greater attention is paid to the correspondence of model process representations ande mpirical evidence. It was in this context that the ‘Nitrogen Cycle Workshop’ at Dartington Hall, Devon, UK was held on 1–5 February 2016. Organized by I. Colin Prentice and Benjamin D. Stocker (Imperial College London, UK), the workshop was funded by the European Research Council,project ‘Earth system Model Bias Reduction and assessing Abrupt Climate change’ (EMBRACE). We gathered empirical ecologists and ecosystem modellers to identify key uncertainties in terrestrial C–N cycling, and to discuss processes that are missing or poorly represented in current models.

  9. Contributions of secondary forest and nitrogen dynamics to terrestrial carbon uptake

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    X. Yang

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available We use a terrestrial carbon-nitrogen cycle component of the Integrated Science Assessment Model (ISAM to investigate the impacts of nitrogen dynamics on regrowing secondary forests over the 20th century. We further examine what the impacts of nitrogen deposition and land use change history are on terrestrial carbon uptake since preindustrial time. Our results suggest that global total net land use emissions for the 1990s associated with changes in cropland, pastureland, and wood harvest are 1.22 GtC/yr. Without considering the secondary forest regrowth, the estimated net global total land use emissions are 1.58 GtC/yr or about 0.36 GtC/yr higher than if secondary forest regrowth is considered. Results also show that without considering the nitrogen dynamics and deposition, the estimated global total secondary forest sink for the 1990s is 0.90 GtC/yr or about 0.54 GtC/yr higher than estimates that include the impacts of nitrogen dynamics and deposition. Nitrogen deposition alone is responsible for about 0.13 GtC/yr of the total secondary forest sink. While nitrogen is not a limiting nutrient in the intact primary forests in tropical regions, our study suggests that nitrogen becomes a limiting nutrient for regrowing secondary forests of the tropical regions, in particular Latin America and Tropical Africa. This is because land use change activities, especially wood harvest, removes large amounts of nitrogen from the system when slash is burnt or wood is removed for harvest. However, our model results show that carbon uptake is enhanced in the tropical secondary forests of the Indian region. We argue that this may be due to enhanced nitrogen mineralization and increased nitrogen availability following land use change in the Indian tropical forest ecosystems. Results also demonstrate that there is a significant amount of carbon accumulating in the Northern Hemisphere where most land use changes and forest regrowth has occurred in recent decades

  10. Hydrogen, carbon and oxygen determination in proxy material samples using a LaBr3:Ce detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naqvi, A.A.; Al-Matouq, Faris A.; Khiari, F.Z.; Isab, A.A.; Raashid, M.; Khateeb-ur-Rehman

    2013-01-01

    Hydrogen, carbon and oxygen concentrations were measured in caffeine, urea, ammonium acetate and melamine bulk samples via 14 MeV neutron inelastic scattering using a LaBr 3 :Ce detector. The samples tested herein represent drugs, explosives and benign materials, respectively. Despite its intrinsic activity, the LaBr 3 :Ce detector performed well in detecting the hydrogen, carbon and oxygen elements. Because 5.1 MeV nitrogen gamma rays interfere with silicon and calcium prompt gamma rays from the room background, the nitrogen peak was not detected in the samples. An excellent agreement was observed between the experimental and theoretical yields of 2.22, 4.43 and 6.13 MeV gamma rays from the analyzed samples as a function of H, C and O concentrations, respectively. Within statistical errors, the minimum detectable concentration (MDC) of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen elements in the tested materials were consistent with previously reported MDC values for these elements measured in hydrocarbon samples. - Highlights: • Hydrogen, carbon and oxygen concentration measurement in bulk samples using 14 MeV neutrons induced prompt gamma rays. • Prompt gamma analysis of narcotics and explosive proxy materials e.g. ammonium acetate, caffeine, urea and melamine Bulk samples. • Prompt gamma detection using large cylindrical 76×76 mm 2 (diameter x height ) LaBr 3 :Ce detector. • Carbon/oxygen elemental ratio measurement from explosive and narcotics proxy material samples

  11. Nitrogen fixation and molecular oxygen: comparative genomic reconstruction of transcription regulation in Alphaproteobacteria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga V Tsoy

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Biological nitrogen fixation plays a crucial role in the nitrogen cycle. An ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, reducing it to ammonium, was described for multiple species of Bacteria and Archaea. Being a complex and sensitive process, nitrogen fixation requires a complicated regulatory system, also, on the level of transcription. The transcriptional regulatory network for nitrogen fixation was extensively studied in several representatives of the class Alphaproteobacteria. This regulatory network includes the activator of nitrogen fixation NifA, working in tandem with the alternative sigma-factor RpoN as well as oxygen-responsive regulatory systems, one-component regulators FnrN/FixK and two-component system FixLJ. Here we used a comparative genomics analysis for in silico study of the transcriptional regulatory network in 50 genomes of Alphaproteobacteria. We extended the known regulons and proposed the scenario for the evolution of the nitrogen fixation transcriptional network. The reconstructed network substantially expands the existing knowledge of transcriptional regulation in nitrogen-fixing microorganisms and can be used for genetic experiments, metabolic reconstruction, and evolutionary analysis.

  12. Nanostructured nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon derived from polyacrylonitrile for advanced lithium sulfur batteries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Ying; Zhao, Xiaohui; Chauhan, Ghanshyam S. [Department of Chemical Engineering and Research Institute for Green Energy Convergence Technology, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju 660-701 (Korea, Republic of); Ahn, Jou-Hyeon, E-mail: jhahn@gnu.ac.kr [Department of Chemical Engineering and Research Institute for Green Energy Convergence Technology, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju 660-701 (Korea, Republic of); Department of Materials Engineering and Convergence Technology and RIGET, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju 660-701 (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-09-01

    Graphical abstract: Well-ordered nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon materials were prepared by in-situ polymerization of polyacrylonitrile in SBA-15 template. The composite of sulfur and nitrogen-doped carbon was successfully used as a cathode material for lithium sulfur battery. - Highlights: • N-doped mesoporous carbons were prepared with PAN as carbon source. • Highly ordered pore system facilitates sulfur loading. • Ladder-type carbon matrix provides good structural stability for confining sulfur. • N-doping ensures an improved absorbability of soluble polysulfides. - Abstract: Nitrogen doping in carbon matrix can effectively improve the wettability of electrolyte and increase electric conductivity of carbon by ensuring fast transfer of ions. We synthesized a series of nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbons (CPANs) via in situ polymerization of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) in SBA-15 template followed by carbonization at different temperatures. Carbonization results in the formation of ladder structure which enhances the stability of the matrix. In this study, CPAN-800, carbon matrix synthesized by the carbonization at 800 °C, was found to possess many desirable properties such as high specific surface area and pore volume, moderate nitrogen content, and highly ordered mesoporous structure. Therefore, it was used to prepare S/CPAN-800 composite as cathode material in lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries. The S/CPAN-800 composite was proved to be an excellent material for Li-S cells which delivered a high initial discharge capacity of 1585 mAh g{sup −1} and enhanced capacity retention of 862 mAh g{sup −1} at 0.1 C after 100 cycles.

  13. Facile preparation of three-dimensional Co1-xS/sulfur and nitrogen-codoped graphene/carbon foam for highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Hui; Li, Chenwei; Chen, Tao; Cui, Liang; Han, Jingrui; Peng, Zhi; Liu, Jingquan

    2018-02-01

    Because of the urgent need for renewable resources, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has been widely studied. Finding efficient and low cost non-precious metal catalyst is increasingly critical. In this study, melamine foam is used as template to obtain porous sulfur and nitrogen-codoped graphene/carbon foam with uniformly distributed cobalt sulfide nanoparticles (Co1-xS/SNG/CF) which is prepared by a simple infiltration-drying-sulfuration method. It is noteworthy that melamine foam not only works as a three-dimensional support skeleton, but also provides a nitrogen source without any environmental pollution. Such Co1-xS/SNG/CF catalyst shows excellent oxygen reduction catalytic performance with an onset potential of only 0.99 V, which is the same as that of Pt/C catalyst (Eonset = 0.99 V). Furthermore, the stability and methanol tolerance of Co1-xS/SNG/CF are more outstanding than those of Pt/C catalyst. Our work manifests a facile method to prepare S and N-codoped 3D graphene network decorated with Co1-xS nanoparticles, which may be utilized as potential alternative to the expensive Pt/C catalysts toward ORR.

  14. Carbon-nitrogen feedbacks in the UVic ESCM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Wania

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available A representation of the terrestrial nitrogen cycle is introduced into the UVic Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM. The UVic ESCM now contains five terrestrial carbon pools and seven terrestrial nitrogen pools: soil, litter, leaves, stem and roots for both elements and ammonium and nitrate in the soil for nitrogen. Nitrogen cycles through plant tissue, litter, soil and the mineral pools before being taken up again by the plant. Biological N2 fixation and nitrogen deposition represent external inputs to the plant-soil system while losses occur via leaching. Simulated carbon and nitrogen pools and fluxes are in the range of other models and observations. Gross primary production (GPP for the 1990s in the CN-coupled version is 129.6 Pg C a−1 and net C uptake is 0.83 Pg C a−1, whereas the C-only version results in a GPP of 133.1 Pg C a−1 and a net C uptake of 1.57 Pg C a−1. At the end of a transient experiment for the years 1800–1999, where radiative forcing is held constant but CO2 fertilisation for vegetation is permitted to occur, the CN-coupled version shows an enhanced net C uptake of 1.05 Pg C a−1, whereas in the experiment where CO2 is held constant and temperature is transient the land turns into a C source of 0.60 Pg C a−1 by the 1990s. The arithmetic sum of the temperature and CO2 effects is 0.45 Pg C a−1, 0.38 Pg C a−1 lower than seen in the fully forced model, suggesting a strong nonlinearity in the CN-coupled version. Anthropogenic N deposition has a positive effect on Net Ecosystem Production of 0.35 Pg C a−1. Overall, the UVic CN-coupled version shows similar characteristics to other CN-coupled Earth System Models, as measured by net C balance and sensitivity to changes in climate, CO2 and temperature.

  15. Ewing Symposium in Honor of Taro Takahashi: The controversial aspects of the contemporary [carbon] cycle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Broecker, Wallace Smith

    2001-12-31

    This Ewing Symposium in honor of Taro Takahashi's work on the carbon cycle was held at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, New York, on October 26-27, 2000. A program and set of abstracts are appended to this report. A summary of the meeting (included in this report) will be published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles. The theme of the symposium was the magnitude and cause of excess carbon storage on the north temperate continents. Disagreement exists on the relative roles of forest regrowth and fertilization by excess fixed nitrogen and carbon dioxide, as well as the distribution of this storage. Phenomena playing important roles include pre-anthropogenic gradients in carbon dioxide, the so-called rectification effect, uptake and release of carbon dioxide by the ocean, soil nitrogen dynamics, atmospheric carbon-13 gradients, and the role of fire.

  16. Bacteria in the greenhouse: Modeling the role of oceanic plankton in the global carbon cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ducklow, H.W.; Fasham, M.J.R.

    1992-01-01

    To plan effectively to deal with the greenhouse effect, a fundamental understanding is needed of the biogeochemical and physical machinery that cycles carbon in the global system; in addition, models are needed of the carbon cycle to project the effects of increasing carbon dioxide. In this chapter, a description is given of efforts to simulate the cycling of carbon and nitrogen in the upper ocean, concentrating on the model's treatment of marine phytoplankton, and what it reveals of their role in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon between the ocean and atmosphere. The focus is on the upper ocean because oceanic uptake appears to regulate the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

  17. The evolution and future of Earth's nitrogen cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canfield, Donald E; Glazer, Alexander N; Falkowski, Paul G

    2010-10-08

    Atmospheric reactions and slow geological processes controlled Earth's earliest nitrogen cycle, and by ~2.7 billion years ago, a linked suite of microbial processes evolved to form the modern nitrogen cycle with robust natural feedbacks and controls. Over the past century, however, the development of new agricultural practices to satisfy a growing global demand for food has drastically disrupted the nitrogen cycle. This has led to extensive eutrophication of fresh waters and coastal zones as well as increased inventories of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N(2)O). Microbial processes will ultimately restore balance to the nitrogen cycle, but the damage done by humans to the nitrogen economy of the planet will persist for decades, possibly centuries, if active intervention and careful management strategies are not initiated.

  18. The Evolution and Future of Earth's Nitrogen Cycle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Canfield, Donald Eugene; Glazer, Alexander N.; Falkowski, Paul G.

    2010-01-01

    , the development of new agricultural practices to satisfy a growing global demand for food has drastically disrupted the nitrogen cycle. This has led to extensive eutrophication of fresh waters and coastal zones as well as increased inventories of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Microbial processes......Atmospheric reactions and slow geological processes controlled Earth's earliest nitrogen cycle, and by similar to 2.7 billion years ago, a linked suite of microbial processes evolved to form the modern nitrogen cycle with robust natural feedbacks and controls. Over the past century, however...... will ultimately restore balance to the nitrogen cycle, but the damage done by humans to the nitrogen economy of the planet will persist for decades, possibly centuries, if active intervention and careful management strategies are not initiated....

  19. Synthesis of ultrathin nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon nanocages as advanced electrode materials for supercapacitor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Yueming; Xu, Chaofa; Chen, Guangxu; Liu, Zhaohui; Ma, Ming; Xie, Qingji; Zheng, Nanfeng; Yao, Shouzhuo

    2013-03-01

    Synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbons with large surface area, high conductivity, and suitable pore size distribution is highly desirable for high-performance supercapacitor applications. Here, we report a novel protocol for template synthesis of ultrathin nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon nanocages (CNCs) derived from polyaniline (PANI) and their excellent capacitive properties. The synthesis of CNCs involves one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of Mn3O4@PANI core-shell nanoparticles, carbonization to produce carbon coated MnO nanoparticles, and then removal of the MnO cores by acidic treatment. The CNCs prepared at an optimum carbonization temperature of 800 °C (CNCs-800) have regular frameworks, moderate graphitization, high specific surface area, good mesoporosity, and appropriate N doping. The CNCs-800 show high specific capacitance (248 F g(-1) at 1.0 A g(-1)), excellent rate capability (88% and 76% capacitance retention at 10 and 100 A g(-1), respectively), and outstanding cycling stability (~95% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles) in 6 M KOH aqueous solution. The CNCs-800 can also exhibit great pseudocapacitance in 0.5 M H2SO4 aqueous solution besides the large electrochemical double-layer capacitance. The excellent capacitance performance coupled with the facile synthesis of ultrathin nitrogen-doped graphitic CNCs indicates their great application potential in supercapacitors.

  20. A global model of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles for the terrestrial biosphere

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. P. Wang

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Carbon storage by many terrestrial ecosystems can be limited by nutrients, predominantly nitrogen (N and phosphorus (P, in addition to other environmental constraints, water, light and temperature. However the spatial distribution and the extent of both N and P limitation at the global scale have not been quantified. Here we have developed a global model of carbon (C, nitrogen (N and phosphorus (P cycles for the terrestrial biosphere. Model estimates of steady state C and N pool sizes and major fluxes between plant, litter and soil pools, under present climate conditions, agree well with various independent estimates. The total amount of C in the terrestrial biosphere is 2767 Gt C, and the C fractions in plant, litter and soil organic matter are 19%, 4% and 77%. The total amount of N is 135 Gt N, with about 94% stored in the soil, 5% in the plant live biomass, and 1% in litter. We found that the estimates of total soil P and its partitioning into different pools in soil are quite sensitive to biochemical P mineralization. The total amount of P (plant biomass, litter and soil excluding occluded P in soil is 17 Gt P in the terrestrial biosphere, 33% of which is stored in the soil organic matter if biochemical P mineralization is modelled, or 31 Gt P with 67% in soil organic matter otherwise.

    This model was used to derive the global distribution and uncertainty of N or P limitation on the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems at steady state under present conditions. Our model estimates that the net primary productivity of most tropical evergreen broadleaf forests and tropical savannahs is reduced by about 20% on average by P limitation, and most of the remaining biomes are N limited; N limitation is strongest in high latitude deciduous needle leaf forests, and reduces its net primary productivity by up to 40% under present conditions.

  1. High-temperature interaction of low niobium oxides with carbon and nitrogen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyubimov, V.D.; Alyamovskij, S.I.; Askarova, L.Kh.

    1980-01-01

    Presented are the results of investigation on the process of high-temperature interaction (1200-1300 deg C) of NbO 2 and NbO with carbon (in the helium medium) and nitrogen. The reaction between NbO 2 and carbon is successfully realized at 1300 deg C and involves two stages, viz. reduction of oxide by the mechanism of direct reduction and subsequent insertion of metalloid into the oxygen vacancies formed. As a result, on the base of the initial oxide a cubic phase is formed, its final composition at 1300 deg C corresponding to the formula NbCsub(0.74)Osub(0.28). Neither NbO monoxide, nor metal is detected in the reaction products under these conditions. Interaction of NbO 2 with carbon and nitrogen proceeds in the similar way. In this case, the oxygen vacancies formed are occupied by the atoms of the two metalloids the end-product of the reaction at 1300 deg C being oxycarbonitride NbCsub(0.30)Nsub(0.66)Osub(0.66). Intermediate products of the reaction between NbO and metalloids involve oxycarbide, oxynitride, or oxycarbonitride and dioxide of niobium, while the end products contain only a cubic phase [ru

  2. Nitrogen-doped hierarchical lamellar porous carbon synthesized from the fish scale as support material for platinum nanoparticle electrocatalyst toward the oxygen reduction reaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Haijing; Cao, Yinliang; Wang, Feng; Huang, Yaqin

    2014-01-22

    Novel hierarchical lamellar porous carbon (HLPC) with high BET specific surface area of 2730 m(2) g(-1) and doped by nitrogen atoms has been synthesized from the fish scale without any post-synthesis treatment, and applied to support the platinum (Pt) nanoparticle (NP) catalysts (Pt/HLPC). The Pt NPs could be highly dispersed on the porous surface of HLPC with a narrow size distribution centered at ca. 2.0 nm. The results of the electrochemical analysis reveal that the electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) of Pt/HLPC is larger than the Pt NP electrocatalyst supported on the carbon black (Pt/Vulcan XC-72). Compared with the Pt/Vulcan XC-72, the Pt/HLPC exhibits larger current density, lower overpotential, and enhanced catalytic activity toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) through the direct four-electron pathway. The improved catalytic activity is mainly attributed to the high BET specific surface area, hierarchical porous structures and the nitrogen-doped surface property of HLPC, indicating the superiority of HLPC as a promising support material for the ORR electrocatalysts.

  3. Determination of carbon and nitrogen in silicon and germanium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gebauhr, W.; Martin, J.

    1975-01-01

    The essential aim of this study is to examine the various technical and economic problems encountered in the determination of carbon and nitrogen in silicon and germanium, for this is in a way an extension of the discussion concerning the presence of oxygen in these two elements. The greater part of the study is aimed at drawing up a catalogue of the methods of analysis used and of the results obtained so far

  4. N-Doped Carbon Xerogels as Pt Support for the Electro-Reduction of Oxygen

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cinthia Alegre

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Durability and limited catalytic activity are key impediments to the commercialization of polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Carbon materials employed as catalyst support can be doped with different heteroatoms, like nitrogen, to improve both catalytic activity and durability. Carbon xerogels are nanoporous carbons that can be easily synthesized in order to obtain N-doped materials. In the present work, we introduced melamine as a carbon xerogel precursor together with resorcinol for an effective in-situ N doping (3–4 wt % N. Pt nanoparticles were supported on nitrogen-doped carbon xerogels and their activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR was evaluated in acid media along with their stability. Results provide new evidences of the type of N groups aiding the activity of Pt for the ORR and of a remarkable stability for N-doped carbon-supported Pt catalysts, providing appropriate physico-chemical features.

  5. Regulation of Carbon Flow by Nitrogen and Light in the Red Alga, Gelidium coulteri1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macler, Bruce A.

    1986-01-01

    The red alga Gelidium coulteri Harv. photosynthetically fixed [14C] bicarbonate at high rates under defined conditions in unialgal laboratory culture. The fixation rate and flow of photosynthate into various end products were dependent on the nitrogen status of the tissue. Plants fed luxury levels of nitrogen (approximately 340 micromolar) showed fixation rates several-fold higher than those seen for plants starved for nitrogen. The addition of NO3− or NH4+ to such starved plants further inhibited fixation over at least the first several hours after addition. The majority of 14C after incubations of 30 minutes to 8 hours was found in the compounds floridoside, agar and floridean starch. In addition, amino acids and intermediate compounds of the reductive pentose phosphate pathway, glycolytic pathway and tricarboxylic acid cycle were detected. Nitrogen affected the partitioning of labeled carbon into these compounds. Plants under luxury nitrogen conditions had higher floridoside levels and markedly lower amounts of agar and starch than found in plants limited for nitrogen. Amino acid, phycobiliprotein and chlorophyll levels were also significantly higher in nitrogen-enriched plants. Addition of NO3− to starved plants led to an increase in floridoside, tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates and amino acids within 1 hour and inhibited carbon flow into agar and starch. Carbon fixation in the dark was only 1 to 7% of that seen in the light. Dark fixation of [14C]bicarbonate yielded label primarily in tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, amino acids and polysaccharides. Nitrogen stimulated amino acid synthesis at the expense of agar and starch. Floridoside was only a minor component in the dark. Pulse-chase experiments, designed to show carbon turnover, indicated a 2-fold increase in labeling of agar over 96 hours of chase in the light. No increases were seen in the dark. Low molecular weight pools, including floridoside, decreased 2- to 5-fold over this period

  6. Nitrogen deposition alters nitrogen cycling and reduces soil carbon content in low-productivity semiarid Mediterranean ecosystems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ochoa-Hueso, Raúl; Maestre, Fernando T.; Ríos, Asunción de los; Valea, Sergio; Theobald, Mark R.; Vivanco, Marta G.; Manrique, Esteban; Bowker, Mathew A.

    2013-01-01

    Anthropogenic N deposition poses a threat to European Mediterranean ecosystems. We combined data from an extant N deposition gradient (4.3–7.3 kg N ha −1 yr −1 ) from semiarid areas of Spain and a field experiment in central Spain to evaluate N deposition effects on soil fertility, function and cyanobacteria community. Soil organic N did not increase along the extant gradient. Nitrogen fixation decreased along existing and experimental N deposition gradients, a result possibly related to compositional shifts in soil cyanobacteria community. Net ammonification and nitrification (which dominated N-mineralization) were reduced and increased, respectively, by N fertilization, suggesting alterations in the N cycle. Soil organic C content, C:N ratios and the activity of β-glucosidase decreased along the extant gradient in most locations. Our results suggest that semiarid soils in low-productivity sites are unable to store additional N inputs, and that are also unable to mitigate increasing C emissions when experiencing increased N deposition. -- Highlights: •Soil organic N does not increase along the extant N deposition gradient. •Reduced N fixation is related to compositional shifts in soil cyanobacteria community. •Nitrogen cycling is altered by simulated N deposition. •Soil organic C content decrease along the extant N deposition gradient. •Semiarid soils are unable to mitigate CO 2 emissions after increased N deposition. -- N deposition alters N cycling and reduces soil C content in semiarid Mediterranean ecosystems

  7. Effects of nitrogen-doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes compared to pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes on human small airway epithelial cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mihalchik, Amy L; Ding, Weiqiang; Porter, Dale W; McLoughlin, Colleen; Schwegler-Berry, Diane; Sisler, Jennifer D; Stefaniak, Aleksandr B; Snyder-Talkington, Brandi N; Cruz-Silva, Rodolfo; Terrones, Mauricio; Tsuruoka, Shuji; Endo, Morinobu; Castranova, Vincent; Qian, Yong

    2015-07-03

    Nitrogen-doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes (ND-MWCNTs) are modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with enhanced electrical properties that are used in a variety of applications, including fuel cells and sensors; however, the mode of toxic action of ND-MWCNT has yet to be fully elucidated. In the present study, we compared the interaction of ND-MWCNT or pristine MWCNT-7 with human small airway epithelial cells (SAEC) and evaluated their subsequent bioactive effects. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction suggested the presence of N-containing defects in the lattice of the nanotube. The ND-MWCNTs were determined to be 93.3% carbon, 3.8% oxygen, and 2.9% nitrogen. A dose-response cell proliferation assay showed that low doses of ND-MWCNT (1.2μg/ml) or MWCNT-7 (0.12μg/ml) increased cellular proliferation, while the highest dose of 120μg/ml of either material decreased proliferation. ND-MWCNT and MWCNT-7 appeared to interact with SAEC at 6h and were internalized by 24h. ROS were elevated at 6 and 24h in ND-MWCNT exposed cells, but only at 6h in MWCNT-7 exposed cells. Significant alterations to the cell cycle were observed in SAEC exposed to either 1.2μg/ml of ND-MWCNT or MWCNT-7 in a time and material-dependent manner, possibly suggesting potential damage or alterations to cell cycle machinery. Our results indicate that ND-MWCNT induce effects in SAEC over a time and dose-related manner which differ from MWCNT-7. Therefore, the physicochemical characteristics of the materials appear to alter their biological effects. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  8. Effect of pre-pyrolysis mode on simultaneous introduction of nitrogen/oxygen-containing functional groups into the structure of bagasse-based mesoporous carbon and its influence on Cu(II) adsorption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Zeqing; Li, Kunquan

    2018-03-01

    A convenient effective microwave pre-pyrolysis treatment to synthesize biomass-based mesoporous carbon with higher nitrogen/oxygen-chelating adsorption for Cu(II) is reported here, in which phosphoric acid impregnated bagasse was used as a microwave absorber and porogen. For comparison, conventional electric-heating pyrolyzed carbon was prepared and doped with nitrogen/oxygen groups. Nitrogen adsorption, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and batch adsorption were employed to investigate the effects of the two pre-pyrolysis modes on the sample physicochemical and Cu(II) adsorptive properties. The 22-min-microwave-pyrolyzed bagasse mesoporous activated carbon (MBAC, 85.32% mesoporosity) contained 10.52% O, which is 3.94% more than electric-heating pyrolyzed mesoporous activated carbon (89.52% mesoporosity). After electrophilic aromatic substitutions of N/O doping, the former possessed more N (5.83%) and more O (21.40%), confirming that time-saving energy-efficient microwave pyrolysis favors the formation of defective C/O atoms in or at the edges of the graphite layer of MBAC, which are highly active and tend to act as preferred reactive positions for the doping of N/O-containing groups simultaneously compared with conventional electric-heating pyrolysis. These N and O species existed mainly as COOH, OH, NH and NH 2 functional groups, and were confirmed by XPS to be active sites for metal binding via electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding, a chelate effect and complexation, resulting in the great enhancement of Cu(II) adsorption. Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic fitting further proved that Cu(II) adsorption by N/O-doped MBAC is ascribed mainly to chemisorption. Therefore, rapid microwave pre-pyrolysis provides a promising route to prepare excellent-performance N/O-doped carbon adsorbents. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Molecular biological and isotopic biogeochemical prognoses of the nitrification-driven dynamic microbial nitrogen cycle in hadopelagic sediments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nunoura, Takuro; Nishizawa, Manabu; Kikuchi, Tohru; Tsubouchi, Taishi; Hirai, Miho; Koide, Osamu; Miyazaki, Junichi; Hirayama, Hisako; Koba, Keisuke; Takai, Ken

    2013-11-01

    There has been much progress in understanding the nitrogen cycle in oceanic waters including the recent identification of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and anaerobic ammonia oxidizing (anammox) bacteria, and in the comprehensive estimation in abundance and activity of these microbial populations. However, compared with the nitrogen cycle in oceanic waters, there are fewer studies concerning the oceanic benthic nitrogen cycle. To further elucidate the dynamic nitrogen cycle in deep-sea sediments, a sediment core obtained from the Ogasawara Trench at a water depth of 9760 m was analysed in this study. The profiles obtained for the pore-water chemistry, and nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopic compositions of pore-water nitrate in the hadopelagic sediments could not be explained by the depth segregation of nitrifiers and nitrate reducers, suggesting the co-occurrence of nitrification and nitrate reduction in the shallowest nitrate reduction zone. The abundance of SSU rRNA and functional genes related to nitrification and denitrification are consistent with the co-occurrence of nitrification and nitrate reduction observed in the geochemical analyses. This study presents the first example of cooperation between aerobic and anaerobic nitrogen metabolism in the deep-sea sedimentary environments. © 2013 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Effect of operational cycle time length on nitrogen removal in an alternating oxidation ditch system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mantziaras, I D; Stamou, A; Katsiri, A

    2011-06-01

    This paper refers to nitrogen removal optimization of an alternating oxidation ditch system through the use of a mathematical model and pilot testing. The pilot system where measurements have been made has a total volume of 120 m(3) and consists of two ditches operating in four phases during one cycle and performs carbon oxidation, nitrification, denitrification and settling. The mathematical model consists of one-dimensional mass balance (convection-dispersion) equations based on the IAWPRC ASM 1 model. After the calibration and verification of the model, simulation system performance was made. Optimization is achieved by testing operational cycles and phases with different time lengths. The limits of EU directive 91/271 for nitrogen removal have been used for comparison. The findings show that operational cycles with smaller time lengths can achieve higher nitrogen removals and that an "equilibrium" between phase time percentages in the whole cycle, for a given inflow, must be achieved.

  11. A method for measuring element fluxes in an undisturbed soil: nitrogen and carbon from earthworms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bouche, M.B.

    1984-01-01

    Data on chemical cycles, as nitrogen or carbon cycles, are extrapolated to the fields or ecosystems without the possibility for checking conclusions; i.e. from scientific knowledge (para-ecology). A new method, by natural introduction of an earthworm compartment into an undisturbed soil, with earthworms labelled both by isotopes ( 15 N, 14 C) and by staining is described. This method allows us to measure fluxes of chemicals. The first results, gathered during the improvement of the method in partly artificial conditions, are cross-checked with other data given by direct observation in the field. Measured flux (2.2 mg N/g fresh mass empty gut/day/15 0 C) is far more important than para-ecological estimations; animal metabolism plays directly an important role in nitrogen and carbon cycles. (author)

  12. Different types of nitrogen deposition show variable effects on the soil carbon cycle process of temperate forests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Yuhan; Guo, Peng; Liu, Jianqiu; Wang, Chunyu; Yang, Ning; Jiao, Zhenxia

    2014-10-01

    Nitrogen (N) deposition significantly affects the soil carbon (C) cycle process of forests. However, the influence of different types of N on it still remained unclear. In this work, ammonium nitrate was selected as an inorganic N (IN) source, while urea and glycine were chosen as organic N (ON) sources. Different ratios of IN to ON (1 : 4, 2 : 3, 3 : 2, 4 : 1, and 5 : 0) were mixed with equal total amounts and then used to fertilize temperate forest soils for 2 years. Results showed that IN deposition inhibited soil C cycle processes, such as soil respiration, soil organic C decomposition, and enzymatic activities, and induced the accumulation of recalcitrant organic C. By contrast, ON deposition promoted these processes. Addition of ON also resulted in accelerated transformation of recalcitrant compounds into labile compounds and increased CO2 efflux. Meanwhile, greater ON deposition may convert C sequestration in forest soils into C source. These results indicated the importance of the IN to ON ratio in controlling the soil C cycle, which can consequently change the ecological effect of N deposition. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Nitrogen-doped carbon spheres: A new high-energy-density and long-life pseudo-capacitive electrode material for electrochemical flow capacitor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Shujin; Wang, Miao; Xu, Xingtao; Li, Yandong; Li, Yanjiang; Lu, Ting; Pan, Likun

    2017-04-01

    One of the most challenging issues in developing electrochemical flow capacitor (EFC) technology is the design and synthesis of active electrode materials with high energy density and long cycle life. However, in practical cases, the energy density and cycle ability obtained currently cannot meet the practical need. In this work, we propose a new active material, nitrogen-doped carbon spheres (NCSs), as flowable electrodes for EFC application. The NCSs were prepared via one-pot hydrothermal synthesis in the presence of resorcinol/formaldehyde as carbon precursors and melamine as nitrogen precursor, followed by carbonization in nitrogen flow at various temperatures. The results of EFC experiments demonstrate that NCSs obtained at 800°C exhibit a high energy density of 13.5Whkg -1 and an excellent cycle ability, indicating the superiority of NCSs for EFC application. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Halloysite-derived nitrogen doped carbon electrocatalysts for anion exchange membrane fuel cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Yaxiang; Wang, Lianqin; Preuß, Kathrin; Qiao, Mo; Titirici, Maria-Magdalena; Varcoe, John; Cai, Qiong

    2017-12-01

    Developing the low-cost, highly active carbonaceous materials for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts has been a high-priority research direction for durable fuel cells. In this paper, two novel N-doped carbonaceous materials with flaky and rod-like morphology using the natural halloysite as template are obtained from urea nitrogen source as well as glucose (denoted as GU) and furfural (denoted as FU) carbon precursors, respectively, which can be directly applied as metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR in alkaline electrolyte. Importantly, compared with a benchmark Pt/C (20wt%) catalyst, the as-prepared carbon catalysts demonstrate higher retention in diffusion limiting current density (after 3000 cycles) and enhanced methanol tolerances with only 50-60mV negative shift in half-wave potentials. In addition, electrocatalytic activity, durability and methanol tolerant capability of the two N-doped carbon catalysts are systematically evaluated, and the underneath reasons of the outperformance of rod-like catalysts over the flaky are revealed. At last, the produced carbonaceous catalysts are also used as cathodes in the single cell H2/O2 anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC), in which the rod-like FU delivers a peak power density as high as 703 mW cm-2 (vs. 1106 mW cm-2 with a Pt/C benchmark cathode catalyst).

  15. Developments in nitrogen generators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ayres, C.L.; Abrardo, J.M.; Himmelberger, L.M.

    1984-01-01

    Three process cycles for the production of nitrogen by the cryogenic separation of air are described in detail. These cycles are: (1) a waste expander cycle; (2) an air expander cycle; and (3) a cycle for producing large quantities of gaseous nitrogen. Each cycle has distinct advantages for various production ranges and delivery pressures. A dicussion of key parameters that must be considered when selecting a cycle to meet specific product requirements is presented. The importance of high plant reliability and a dependable liquid nitrogen back up system is also presented. Lastly, a discussion of plant safety dealing with the hazards of nitrogen, enriched oxygen, and hydrocarbons present in the air is reviewed

  16. Nitrogen-modified carbon nanostructures derived from metal-organic frameworks as high performance anodes for Li-ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, Cai; Zhao, Chongchong; Xin, Fengxia; Cao, Can; Han, Wei-Qiang

    2015-01-01

    Here, we report preparation of nitrogen-modified nanostructure carbons through carbonization of Cu-based metal organic nanofibers at 700 °C under argon gas atmosphere. After removal of copper through chemical treatment with acids, pure N-modified nanostructure carbon with a nitrogen content of 8.62 wt% is obtained. When use as anodes for lithium-ion battery, the nanostructure carbon electrode has a discharge capacity of 853.1 mAh g −1 measured at a current of 500 mA g −1 after 800 cycles.

  17. Geochemical isotope compartment model of the nitrogen cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weise, G.; Wetzel, K.; Stiehl, G.

    1981-01-01

    A model of the global cycle of nitrogen and its isotopes is described. It takes into account geochemical reservoirs (nitrogen in magmatic metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and in the atmosphere) and the nitrogen exchange between magmatic rocks and the outer mantle, the transition of nitrogen exchange between sedimentary rocks and the atmosphere. With the aid of the mathematical formalisms of the compartment theory and on the basis of all available delta 11 N values assumptions regarding the isotope effects in forming these nitrogen fluxes data have been obtained on the degree of the nitrogen exchange between the earth crust and the outer mantle and on other nitrogen fluxes characterizing the global nitrogen cycle. (author)

  18. 40 CFR 415.490 - Applicability; description of the oxygen and nitrogen production subcategory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... oxygen and nitrogen production subcategory. 415.490 Section 415.490 Protection of Environment... POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Oxygen and Nitrogen Production Subcategory § 415.490 Applicability; description of the oxygen and nitrogen production subcategory. The provisions of this subpart are applicable to...

  19. Ethanol flame synthesis of carbon nanotubes in deficient oxygen environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Wei-Chieh; Lin, Ta-Hui

    2016-04-01

    In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized using ethanol diffusion flames in a stagnation-flow system composed of an upper oxidizer duct and a lower liquid pool. In the experiments, a gaseous mixture of oxygen and nitrogen flowed from the upper oxidizer duct, and then impinged onto the vertically aligned ethanol pool to generate a planar and steady diffusion flame in a deficient oxygen environment. A nascent nickel mesh was used as the catalytic metal substrate to collect deposited materials. The effect of low oxygen concentration on the formation of CNTs was explored. The oxygen concentration significantly influenced the flame environment and thus the synthesized carbon products. Lowering the oxygen concentration increased the yield, diameter, and uniformity of CNTs. The optimal operating conditions for CNT synthesis were an oxygen concentration in the range of 15%-19%, a flame temperature in the range of 460 °C-870 °C, and a sampling position of 0.5-1 mm below the upper edge of the blue flame front. It is noteworthy that the concentration gradient of C2 species and CO governed the CNT growth directly. CNTs were successfully fabricated in regions with uniform C2 species and CO distributions.

  20. Nitrogen-enriched carbon sheets derived from egg white by using expanded perlite template and its high-performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jiucun; Liu, Yinqin; Li, Wenjun; Xu, Liqun; Yang, Huan; Li, Chang Ming

    2015-08-01

    Nitrogen-enriched carbon sheets were synthesized using egg white as a unique carbon source and expanded perlite as a novel template. The as-prepared material was further used as an electrode material for supercapacitor applications, demonstrating excellent supercapacitance with a maximum gravimetric specific capacitance of 302 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 in a 3-electrode setup for a sample carbonized at 850 °C and activated for 6 h. Moreover, the carbon sheet-based capacitor with 2-symmetric electrodes showed an excellent cycle life (2% loss at 0.1 A g-1 after 10 000 cycles). The excellent performance may be attributed to the combination of the 3D carbon structure and the highly concentrated doped nitrogen component from the natural egg source for superior pseudocapacitance.

  1. Successive ionization of positive ions of carbon and nitrogen by electron bombardment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donets, E.D.; Ilyushchenko, V.I.

    Experimental studies of deep ionization of heavy ions are described. The applications of such studies in atomic physics, plasma physics and space physics are discussed. Investigations using intersecting ion-electron beams, shifted beams and ion trap sources are described, and data are presented for multi-charged ions of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. A detailed description of the development of the IEL (electron beam ionizer) source, and the KRION (cryogenic version) source is given, and further data for the multiple ionization of carbon and nitrogen are given for charge states up to C 6+ and N 7+ . The advantages and disadvantages of the KRION source are discussed, and preliminary studies of a new torroidal ion trap source (HIRAC) are presented. (11 figs, 57 refs) (U.S.)

  2. Homogeneously Dispersed Co9S8 Anchored on Nitrogen and Sulfur Co-Doped Carbon Derived from Soybean as Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysts and Supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Zhen; Xiao, Guozheng; Shi, Minhao; Zhu, Ying

    2018-05-16

    Developing low-cost and highly active multifunctional electrocatalysts to replace noble metal catalysts is crucial for the commercialization of future clean energy technology. Herein, homogeneous Co 9 S 8 nanoparticles anchored on nitrogen and sulfur co-doped porous carbon nanomaterials (CoS@NSCs) are fabricated by pyrolysis of natural soybean treated with cobalt nitrate. The unique porous structures of the soybean are utilized to provide space for the oxidation and complexation reactions for cobalt compounds, thus leading to in situ generation of homogenously dispersed cobalt sulfide nanoparticles that anchored on the N,S co-doped carbon framework. Because of the coupling effect of cobalt sulfide and doping heteroatoms, CoS@NSC-800 not only displays excellent electrocatalytic performances with low overpotential and high current density toward both oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst and IrO 2 catalyst, but also might be a promising candidate for high-performance supercapacitors. The method for the preparation of the multifunctional hybrids is simple but effective for the formation of uniformly distributed metal sulfide nanoparticles anchored on carbon materials, therefore providing a new perspective for the design and synthesis of multifunctional electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy conversion and storage at a large scale.

  3. Is nitrogen the next carbon?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Battye, William; Aneja, Viney P.; Schlesinger, William H.

    2017-09-01

    Just as carbon fueled the Industrial Revolution, nitrogen has fueled an Agricultural Revolution. The use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and the cultivation of nitrogen-fixing crops both expanded exponentially during the last century, with most of the increase occurring after 1960. As a result, the current flux of reactive, or fixed, nitrogen compounds to the biosphere due to human activities is roughly equivalent to the total flux of fixed nitrogen from all natural sources, both on land masses and in the world's oceans. Natural fluxes of fixed nitrogen are subject to very large uncertainties, but anthropogenic production of reactive nitrogen has increased almost fivefold in the last 60 years, and this rapid increase in anthropogenic fixed nitrogen has removed any uncertainty on the relative importance of anthropogenic fluxes to the natural budget. The increased use of nitrogen has been critical for increased crop yields and protein production needed to keep pace with the growing world population. However, similar to carbon, the release of fixed nitrogen into the natural environment is linked to adverse consequences at local, regional, and global scales. Anthropogenic contributions of fixed nitrogen continue to grow relative to the natural budget, with uncertain consequences.

  4. Nitrates in SNCs: Implications for the nitrogen cycle on Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grady, Monica M.; Wright, I. P.; Franchi, I. A.; Pillinger, C. T.

    1993-01-01

    Nitrogen is the second most abundant constituent of the Martian atmosphere, after CO2, present at a level of ca. 2.7 percent. Several authors have hypothesized that earlier in the planet's history, nitrogen was more abundant, but has been removed by processes such as exospheric loss from the atmosphere. However, an alternative sink for atmospheric nitrogen is the regolith; model calculations have predicted that, via the formation of NOx, HNO2 and HNO3 in the lower layers of the Martian atmosphere, the regolith might trap nitrite and nitrate anions, leading to the build-up of involatile nitrates. Integrated over 4.5 x 10(exp 9) yr, such a mechanism would contribute the equivalent of a layer of nitrates up to 0.3 cm thick distributed across the Martian surface. Features in thermal emission spectra of the surface of Mars have been interpreted tentatively as emanating from various anions (carbonates, bicarbonates, sulphates, etc.), and the presence of nitrates has also been addressed as a possibility. The identification of carbonates in SCN meteorites has allowed inferences to be drawn concerning the composition and evolution of the Martian atmosphere in terms of its carbon isotope systematics; if nitrites, nitrates, or other nitrogen-bearing salts could be isolated from SNC's, similar conclusions might be possible for an analogous nitrogen cycle. Nitrates are unstable, being readily soluble in water, and decomposed at temperatures between 50 C and 600 C, depending on composition. Any nitrates present in SNC's might be removed during ejection from the planet's surface, passage to Earth, or during the sample's terrestrial history, by weathering etc. The same might have been said for carbonates, but pockets of shock-produced glass (lithology C) from within the EET A79001 shergottite and bulk samples of other SNC contain this mineral, which did apparently survive. Nitrates occurring within the glassy melt pockets of lithology C in EET A79001 might likewise be protected

  5. Microbial nitrogen cycling in Arctic snowpacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larose, Catherine; Vogel, Timothy M; Dommergue, Aurélien

    2013-01-01

    Arctic snowpacks are often considered as chemical reactors for a variety of chemicals deposited through wet and dry events, but are overlooked as potential sites for microbial metabolism of reactive nitrogen species. The fate of deposited species is critical since warming leads to the transfer of contaminants to snowmelt-fed ecosystems. Here, we examined the role of microorganisms and the potential pathways involved in nitrogen cycling in the snow. Next generation sequencing data were used to follow functional gene abundances and a 16S rRNA (ribosomal ribonucleic acid) gene microarray was used to follow shifts in microbial community structure during a two-month spring-time field study at a high Arctic site, Svalbard, Norway (79° N). We showed that despite the low temperatures and limited water supply, microbial communities inhabiting the snow cover demonstrated dynamic shifts in their functional potential to follow several different pathways of the nitrogen cycle. In addition, microbial specific phylogenetic probes tracked different nitrogen species over time. For example, probes for Roseomonas tracked nitrate concentrations closely and probes for Caulobacter tracked ammonium concentrations after a delay of one week. Nitrogen cycling was also shown to be a dominant process at the base of the snowpack. (letter)

  6. A transport modeling of the carbon-nitrogen cycle at Igapó I Lake - Londrina, Paraná State, Brazil - doi: 10.4025/actascitechnol.v34i2.11792

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suellen Ribeiro Pardo

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This work is a contribution to a better understanding of the effect that domestic sewage discharges may cause in a water body, specifically at Igapó I Lake, in Londrina, Paraná State, Brazil. The simulation of the dynamics of pollutant concentrations throughout the water body was conducted by means of structured discretization of the geometry of Igapó I Lake, together with the finite differences and the finite elements methods. Firstly, the hydrodynamic flow (without the pollutants, modeled by Navier-Stokes and pressure equations, was numerically resolved by the finite differences method, and associated with the fourth order Runge-Kutta procedure. After that, by using the hydrodynamic field velocity, the flow of the reactive species (pollutants was described through a reaction transport model, restricted to the carbon-nitrogen cycle. The reaction transport model was numerically resolved by the stabilized finite elements method, by means of a semi-discrete formulation. A qualitative analysis of the numerical simulations provided a better understanding of the dynamics of the processes involved in the flow of the reactive species, such as the dynamics of the nitrification process, of the biochemical demand of oxygen and of the level of oxygen dissolved in the water body at Igapó I Lake.

  7. Nitrogen-doped carbon aerogels for electrical energy storage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Patrick; Montalvo, Elizabeth; Baumann, Theodore F.; Biener, Juergen; Merrill, Matthew; Reed, Eric W.; Worsley, Marcus A.

    2017-10-03

    Disclosed here is a method for making a nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel, comprising: preparing a reaction mixture comprising formaldehyde, at least one nitrogen-containing resorcinol analog, at least one catalyst, and at least one solvent; curing the reaction mixture to produce a wet gel; drying the wet gel to produce a dry gel; and thermally annealing the dry gel to produce the nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel. Also disclosed is a nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel obtained according to the method and a supercapacitor comprising the nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel.

  8. Metabolic and transcriptomic response of the wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain EC1118 after an oxygen impulse under carbon-sufficient, nitrogen-limited fermentative conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orellana, Marcelo; Aceituno, Felipe F; Slater, Alex W; Almonacid, Leonardo I; Melo, Francisco; Agosin, Eduardo

    2014-05-01

    During alcoholic fermentation, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is exposed to continuously changing environmental conditions, such as decreasing sugar and increasing ethanol concentrations. Oxygen, a critical nutrient to avoid stuck and sluggish fermentations, is only discretely available throughout the process after pump-over operation. In this work, we studied the physiological response of the wine yeast S. cerevisiae strain EC1118 to a sudden increase in dissolved oxygen, simulating pump-over operation. With this aim, an impulse of dissolved oxygen was added to carbon-sufficient, nitrogen-limited anaerobic continuous cultures. Results showed that genes related to mitochondrial respiration, ergosterol biosynthesis, and oxidative stress, among other metabolic pathways, were induced after the oxygen impulse. On the other hand, mannoprotein coding genes were repressed. The changes in the expression of these genes are coordinated responses that share common elements at the level of transcriptional regulation. Beneficial and detrimental effects of these physiological processes on wine quality highlight the dual role of oxygen in 'making or breaking wines'. These findings will facilitate the development of oxygen addition strategies to optimize yeast performance in industrial fermentations. © 2014 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Kinetics of liquid lithium reaction with oxygen-nitrogen mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gil, T.K.; Kazimi, M.S.

    1986-01-01

    A series of experiments have been conducted in order to characterize the kinetics of lithium chemical reaction with a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. Three mixed gas compositions were used; 80% N 2 and 20% O 2 , 90% N 2 and 10% O 2 , and 95% N 2 and 5% O 2 . The reaction rate was obtained as a function of lithium temperature and the oxygen fraction. Liquid lithium temperature varied from 400 to 1100 0 C. By varying the composition, the degree of inhibition of the lithium-nitrogen reaction rate due to the presence of oxygen was observed. The results indicate that the lithium-nitrogen reaction rate depended on both the fraction of oxygen present and lithium temperature. The lithium nitride layer formed from the reaction also had a significant inhibition effect on the lithium-nitrogen reaction rate while the lithium-oxygen reaction rate was not as greatly hindered. LITFIRE, a computer code which simulates temperature and pressure history in a containment building following lithium spills, was modified by including (1) an improved model for the lithium-nitrogen reaction rate and (2) a model for the lithium-CO 2 reaction. LITFIRE was used to simulate HEDL's LC-2 and LA-5 experiments, and the predicted temperatures and pressures were in a reasonable agreement. Furthermore, LITFIRE was applied to a prototypical fusion reactor containment in order to simulate the consequences of a lithium spill accident. The result indicated that if nitrogen was used as containment building gas during the accident, the consequences of the accident would be less severe than those with air. The pressure rise in the building was found to be reduced by 50% and the maximum temperature of the combustion zone was limited to 900 0 C instead of 1200 0 C in the case of air

  10. Reactive template synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene-like carbon nanosheets derived from hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and dicyandiamide as efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalysts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Chun; Zhou, Yao; Ma, Ruguang; Liu, Qian; Wang, Jiacheng

    2017-03-01

    Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) plays a dominant role in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Thus, the design and preparation of efficient ORR electrocatalysts is of high importance. In this work, we successfully prepared a series of nitrogen-doped graphene-like carbon nanosheets (NCNSs) with large pore volumes of up to 1.244 cm3 g-1 and high level of N dopants (5.3-6.8 at%) via a one-step, in-situ reactive template strategy by co-pyrolysis of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and dicyandiamide (DICY) as the precursors at 1000 °C. The DICY-derived graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets could act as the hard template for the confined growth of 2D carbon nanosheets, and the further increase in the pyrolysis temperature could directly remove off the g-C3N4 template by complete decomposition and simultaneously dope N atoms within the carbon nanosheets. The pyridinic and graphitic nitrogen groups are dominant among various N functional groups in the NCNSs. The NCNS_1:10 prepared with the HPMC/DICY mass ratio of 1/10 can be used as the metal-free ORR electrocatalysts with optimal activity (onset potential: -0.1 V vs. SCE; limiting current density: 4.8 mA cm-2) in O2-saturated 0.1 M KOH electrolyte among the NCNSs. Moreover, the NCNS_1:10 demonstrates a dominant four-electron reduction process, as well as excellent long-term operation stability and outstanding methanol crossover resistance. The excellent ORR activity of the NCNS_1:10 should be mainly owing to high contents of pyridinic and graphitic N dopants, large pore volume, hierarchical structures, and microstructural defects.

  11. Simulated Carbon Cycling in a Model Microbial Mat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Decker, K. L.; Potter, C. S.

    2006-12-01

    We present here the novel addition of detailed organic carbon cycling to our model of a hypersaline microbial mat ecosystem. This ecosystem model, MBGC (Microbial BioGeoChemistry), simulates carbon fixation through oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis, and the release of C and electrons for microbial heterotrophs via cyanobacterial exudates and also via a pool of dead cells. Previously in MBGC, the organic portion of the carbon cycle was simplified into a black-box rate of accumulation of simple and complex organic compounds based on photosynthesis and mortality rates. We will discuss the novel inclusion of fermentation as a source of carbon and electrons for use in methanogenesis and sulfate reduction, and the influence of photorespiration on labile carbon exudation rates in cyanobacteria. We will also discuss the modeling of decomposition of dead cells and the ultimate release of inorganic carbon. The detailed modeling of organic carbon cycling is important to the accurate representation of inorganic carbon flux through the mat, as well as to accurate representation of growth models of the heterotrophs under different environmental conditions. Because the model ecosystem is an analog of ancient microbial mats that had huge impacts on the atmosphere of early earth, this MBGC can be useful as a biological component to either early earth models or models of other planets that potentially harbor life.

  12. Lipids as paleomarkers to constrain the marine nitrogen cycle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rush, Darci; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S

    Global climate is, in part, regulated by the effect of microbial processes on biogeochemical cycling. The nitrogen cycle, in particular, is driven by microorganisms responsible for the fixation and loss of nitrogen, and the reduction-oxidation transformations of bio-available nitrogen. Within marine

  13. Lipids as paleomarkers to constrain the marine nitrogen cycle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rush, D.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S.

    2017-01-01

    Global climate is, in part, regulated by the effect of microbial processes on biogeochemical cycling. The nitrogen cycle, in particular, is driven by microorganisms responsible for the fixation and loss of nitrogen, and the reduction-oxidation transformations of bio-available nitrogen. Within marine

  14. State of the Carbon Cycle of North America: Overarching Findings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayes, M. A.; Reed, S.; Najjar, R.; Romero-Lankao, P.; Birdsey, R.

    2016-12-01

    This presentation will provide an overarching summary of the second "State of the Carbon Cycle of North America Report" (SOCCR2) from the perspective of the five editorial lead authors. The chapters of SOCCR2 represent a major update and much new material since the original report published a decade ago. The new report includes an overview of the North American carbon budget and future projections, the consequences of changes to the carbon budget, details of the carbon budget in major terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and anthropogenic drivers, and implications for carbon management. The chapters focus on advances since the 2007 report, but also include new focus areas such as soil carbon, tribal lands, as well as greater emphasis on aquatic systems and the role of societal drivers and decision making on the carbon cycle. In addition, methane and the role of nitrogen will be considered to a greater extent than before. Each chapter also contains a section focusing on national and regional accounting to complement the overarching North American framework. In conclusion, SOCCR2 is expected to provide an updated assessment and a unique perspective on the carbon cycle, which will contribute to the next U.S. National Climate Assessment.

  15. One-step synthesis of shell/core structural boron and nitrogen co-doped graphitic carbon/nanodiamond as efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Xiaoxu; Wang, Yanhui; Dong, Liang; Chen, Xi; Xin, Guoxiang; Zhang, Yan; Zang, Jianbing

    2016-01-01

    Shell/core structural boron and nitrogen co-doped graphitic carbon/nanodiamond (BN-C/ND) non-noble metal catalyst has been synthesized by a simple one-step heat-treatment of the mixture with nanodiamond, melamine, boric acid and FeCl 3 . In the process of the surface graphitization of nanodiamond with catalysis by FeCl 3 , B and N atoms from the decomposition of boric acid and melamine were directly introduced into the graphite lattice to form B, N co-doped graphitic carbon shell, while the core still retained the diamond structure. Electrochemical measurements of the BN-C/ND catalyst show much higher electrocatalytic activities towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline medium than its analogues doped with B or N alone (B-C/ND or N-C/ND). The high catalytic activity of BN-C/ND is attributed to the synergetic effect caused by co-doping of C/ND with B and N. Meanwhile, the BN-C/ND exhibits an excellent electrochemical stability due to the special shell/core structure. There is almost no alteration occurred in the cyclic voltammetry measurements for BN-C/ND before and after 5000 cycles. All experimental results prove that the BN-C/ND may be exploited as a potentially efficient and inexpensive non-noble metal cathode catalyst for ORR to substitute Pt-based catalysts in fuel cells.

  16. Oxygen reduction activity of N-doped carbon-based films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hakoda, Teruyuki; Yamamoto, Shunya; Kawaguchi, Kazuhiro; Yamaki, Tetsuya; Kobayashi, Tomohiro; Yoshikawa, Masahito

    2010-12-01

    Carbon-based films with nitrogen species on their surface were prepared on a glassy carbon (GC) substrate for application as a non-platinum cathode catalyst for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Cobalt and carbon were deposited in the presence of N 2 gas using a pulsed laser deposition method and then the metal Co was removed by HCl-washing treatment. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity was electrochemically determined using a rotating disk electrode system in which the film samples on the GC substrate were replaceable. The ORR activity increased with the temperature of the GC substrate during deposition. A carbon-based film prepared at 600 °C in the presence of N 2 at 66.7 Pa showed the highest ORR activity among the tested samples (0.66 V vs. NHE). This film was composed of amorphous carbons doped with pyridine type nitrogen atoms on its surface.

  17. Dendrite-free Li metal anode enabled by a 3D free-standing lithiophilic nitrogen-enriched carbon sponge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Guangmei; Ren, Xiaohua; Ma, Xiaoxin; Zhang, Le; Zhai, Wei; Ai, Qing; Xu, Xiaoyan; Zhang, Lin; Si, Pengchao; Feng, Jinkui; Ding, Fei; Ci, Lijie

    2018-05-01

    Lithium metal is considered as the ultimate anode material for high-energy Li battery systems. However, the commercial application of lithium anode is impeded by issues with safety and low coulombic efficiency induced by Li dendrite growth. Herein, a free-standing three-dimensional nitrogen-enriched graphitic carbon sponge with a high nitrogen content is proposed as a multifunctional current collect for Lithium accommodation. The abundant lithiophilic N-containing functional groups are served as preferred nucleation sites to guide a uniform Li deposition. In addition, the nitrogen-enriched graphitic carbon sponge with a high specific surface area can effectively reduce the local current density. As a result of the synergistic effect, the nitrogen-enriched graphitic carbon sponge electrode realizes a long-term stable cycling without dendrites formation. Notably, the as-obtained composite electrode can deliver an ultra-high specific capacity of ∼3175 mA h g-1. The nitrogen-enriched graphitic carbon sponge might provide innovative insights to design a superior matrix for dendrite-free Li anode.

  18. Effects of nitrogen additions on above- and belowground carbon dynamics in two tropical forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniela F. Cusack; Whendee L. Silver; Margaret S. Torn; William H. McDowell

    2011-01-01

    Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition is increasing rapidly in tropical regions, adding N to ecosystems that often have high background N availability. Tropical forests play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle, yet the effects of N deposition on C cycling in these ecosystems are poorly understood. We used a field N-fertilization experiment in lower and...

  19. Enhancement of oxygen transfer and nitrogen removal in a membrane separation bioreactor for domestic wastewater treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiemchaisri, C; Yamamoto, K

    2005-01-01

    Biological nitrogen removal in a membrane separation bioreactor developed for on-site domestic wastewater treatment was investigated. The bioreactor employed hollow fiber membrane modules for solid-liquid separation so that the biomass could be completely retained within the system. Intermittent aeration was supplied with 90 minutes on and off cycle to achieve nitrification and denitrification reaction for nitrogen removal. High COD and nitrogen removal of more than 90% were achieved under a moderate temperature of 25 degrees C. As the temperature was stepwise decreased from 25 to 5 degrees C, COD removal in the system could be constantly maintained while nitrogen removal was deteriorated. Nevertheless, increasing aeration supply could enhance nitrification at low temperature with benefit from complete retention of nitrifying bacteria within the system by membrane separation. At low operating temperature range of 5 degrees C, nitrogen removal could be recovered to more than 85%. A mathematical model considering diffusion resistance of limiting substrate into the bio-particle is applied to describe nitrogen removal in a membrane separation bioreactor. The simulation suggested that limitation of the oxygen supply was the major cause of inhibition of nitrification during temperature decrease. Nevertheless, increasing aeration could promote oxygen diffusion into the bio-particle. Sufficient oxygen was supplied to the nitrifying bacteria and the nitrification could proceed. In the membrane separation bioreactor, biomass concentration under low temperature operation was allowed to increase by 2-3 times of that of moderate temperature to compensate for the loss of bacterial activities so that the temperature effect was masked.

  20. A rechargeable carbon-oxygen battery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2014-01-01

    The invention relates to a rechargeable battery and a method to operate a rechargeable battery having high efficiency and high energy density for storing energy. The battery stores electrical energy in the bonds of carbon and oxygen atoms by converting carbon dioxide into solid carbon and oxygen....

  1. Preparation of nitrogen-doped graphene/activated carbon composite papers to enhance energy storage in supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yong-feng; Liu, Yan-zhen; Liang, Yu; Guo, Xiao-hui; Chen, Cheng-meng

    2017-09-01

    This report presents a facile and effective method to synthesize freestanding nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/activated carbon (AC) composite papers for supercapacitors by a method combining vacuum filtration with post-annealing in NH3 atmosphere. The effect of activated carbon contents on the microstructure and capacitive behavior of the resulting composite papers before and after the annealing was investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Results show that the composite paper with a 30% activated carbon loading has a high nitrogen content of 14.6 at% and superior capacitive performance (308 F/g, 1 A/g) to the other composite papers with various activated carbon loadings. Nitrogen was doped and GO reduced during the annealing. The rGO nanosheets acted as a framework, and the AC particles served as spacers to avoid agglomeration of graphene sheets. The high capacitance of the composite paper is ascribed to the electric double-layer behavior and the reversible redox reactions of the nitrogen and oxygen groups. The entire process is simple, environmental friendly and easily scalable for mass production.

  2. Improving representation of nitrogen uptake, allocation, and carbon assimilation in the Community Land Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghimire, B.; Riley, W. J.; Koven, C.

    2013-12-01

    Nitrogen is the most important nutrient limiting plant carbon assimilation and growth, and is required for production of photosynthetic enzymes, growth and maintenance respiration, and maintaining cell structure. The forecasted rise in plant available nitrogen through atmospheric nitrogen deposition and the release of locked soil nitrogen by permafrost thaw in high latitude ecosystems is likely to result in an increase in plant productivity. However a mechanistic representation of plant nitrogen dynamics is lacking in earth system models. Most earth system models ignore the dynamic nature of plant nutrient uptake and allocation, and further lack tight coupling of below- and above-ground processes. In these models, the increase in nitrogen uptake does not translate to a corresponding increase in photosynthesis parameters, such as maximum Rubisco capacity and electron transfer rate. We present an improved modeling framework implemented in the Community Land Model version 4.5 (CLM4.5) for dynamic plant nutrient uptake, and allocation to different plant parts, including leaf enzymes. This modeling framework relies on imposing a more realistic flexible carbon to nitrogen stoichiometric ratio for different plant parts. The model mechanistically responds to plant nitrogen uptake and leaf allocation though changes in photosynthesis parameters. We produce global simulations, and examine the impacts of the improved nitrogen cycling. The improved model is evaluated against multiple observations including TRY database of global plant traits, nitrogen fertilization observations and 15N tracer studies. Global simulations with this new version of CLM4.5 showed better agreement with the observations than the default CLM4.5-CN model, and captured the underlying mechanisms associated with plant nitrogen cycle.

  3. Nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbons for high performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Kai; Liu, Qiming

    2016-08-01

    The mesoporous carbons have been synthesized by using α-D(+)-Glucose, D-Glucosamine hydrochloride or their mixture as carbon precursors and mesoporous silicas (SBA-15 or MCF) as hard templates. The as-prepared products show a large pore volume (0.59-0.97 cm3 g-1), high surface areas (352.72-1152.67 m2 g-1) and rational nitrogen content (ca. 2.5-3.9 wt.%). The results of electrochemical tests demonstrate that both heteroatom doping and suitable pore structure play a decisive role in the performance of supercapacitors. The representative sample of SBA-15 replica obtained using D-Glucosamine hydrochloride only exhibits high specific capacitance (212.8 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1) and good cycle durability (86.1% of the initial capacitance after 2000 cycles) in 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte, which is attributed to the contribution of double layer capacitance and pseudo-capacitance. The excellent electrochemical performance makes it a promising electrode material for supercapacitors.

  4. Aligned carbon nanotube with electro-catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Di-Jia; Yang, Junbing; Wang, Xiaoping

    2010-08-03

    A catalyst for an electro-chemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of a bundle of longitudinally aligned carbon nanotubes having a catalytically active transition metal incorporated longitudinally in said nanotubes. A method of making an electro-chemical catalyst for an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) having a bundle of longitudinally aligned carbon nanotubes with a catalytically active transition metal incorporated throughout the nanotubes, where a substrate is in a first reaction zone, and a combination selected from one or more of a hydrocarbon and an organometallic compound containing an catalytically active transition metal and a nitrogen containing compound and an inert gas and a reducing gas is introduced into the first reaction zone which is maintained at a first reaction temperature for a time sufficient to vaporize material therein. The vaporized material is then introduced to a second reaction zone maintained at a second reaction temperature for a time sufficient to grow longitudinally aligned carbon nanotubes over the substrate with a catalytically active transition metal incorporated throughout the nanotubes.

  5. Coupled effects of light and nitrogen source on the urea cycle and nitrogen metabolism over a diel cycle in the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bender, Sara J; Parker, Micaela S; Armbrust, E Virginia

    2012-03-01

    Diatoms are photoautotrophic organisms capable of growing on a variety of inorganic and organic nitrogen sources. Discovery of a complete urea cycle in diatoms was surprising, as this pathway commonly functions in heterotrophic organisms to rid cells of waste nitrogen. To determine how the urea cycle is integrated into cellular nitrogen metabolism and energy management, the centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana was maintained in semi-continuous batch cultures on nitrate, ammonium, or urea as the sole nitrogen source, under a 16: 8 light: dark cycle and at light intensities that were low, saturating, or high for growth. Steady-state transcript levels were determined for genes encoding enzymes linked to the urea cycle, urea hydrolysis, glutamine synthesis, pyrimidine synthesis, photorespiration, and energy storage. Transcript abundances were significantly affected by nitrogen source, light intensity and a diel cycle. The impact of N source on differential transcript accumulation was most apparent under the highest light intensity. Models of cellular metabolism under high light were developed based on changes in transcript abundance and predicted enzyme localizations. We hypothesize that the urea cycle is integrated into nitrogen metabolism through its connection to glutamine and in the eventual production of urea. These findings have important implications for nitrogen flow in the cell over diel cycles at surface ocean irradiances. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  6. Alteration of the Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Composition in the Martian Surface Rocks Due to Cosmic Ray Exposure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavlov, A. A.; Pavlov, A. K.; Ostryakov, V. M.; Vasilyev, G. I.; Mahaffy, P.; Steele, A.

    2014-01-01

    C-13/C-12 and N-15/N-14 isotopic ratios are pivotal for our understanding of the Martian carbon cycle, history of the Martian atmospheric escape, and origin of the organic compounds on Mars. Here we demonstrate that the carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of the surface rocks on Mars can be significantly altered by the continuous exposure of Martian surface to cosmic rays. Cosmic rays can effectively produce C-13 and N-15 isotopes via spallation nuclear reactions on oxygen atoms in various Martian rocks. We calculate that in the top meter of the Martian rocks, the rates of production of both C-13 and N-15 due to galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) exposure can vary within 1.5-6 atoms/cm3/s depending on rocks' depth and chemical composition. We also find that the average solar cosmic rays can produce carbon and nitrogen isotopes at a rate comparable to GCRs in the top 5-10 cm of the Martian rocks. We demonstrate that if the total carbon content in a surface Martian rock is <10 ppm, then the "light," potentially "biological" C-13/C-12 ratio would be effectively erased by cosmic rays over 3.5 billion years of exposure. We found that for the rocks with relatively short exposure ages (e.g., 100 million years), cosmogenic changes in N-15/N-14 ratio are still very significant. We also show that a short exposure to cosmic rays of Allan Hills 84001 while on Mars can explain its high-temperature heavy nitrogen isotopic composition (N-15/N-14). Applications to Martian meteorites and the current Mars Science Laboratory mission are discussed.

  7. Preparation and use of nitrogen (2) oxide of special purity for production of oxygen and nitrogen isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Polevoj, A.S.

    1989-01-01

    Problems related with production of oxygen and nitrogen isotopes by means of low-temperature rectification of nitrogen (2) oxide are analyzed. Special attention, in particular, is payed to the techniques of synthesis and high purification of initial NO, utilization of waste flows formed during isotope separation. Ways to affect the initial isotope composition of nitrogen oxide and the rate of its homogeneous-isotope exchange, which provide for possibility of simultaneous production of oxygen and nitrogen isotopes by means of NO rectification, are considered. Description of a new technique for high purification of nitrogen oxide, prepared at decomposition of nitric acid by sulfurous anhydride, suggested by the author is presented

  8. Evaluation of carbon-14 life cycle in reactors VVER-1000

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lysakova, Katerina; Neumann, Jan; Vonkova, Katerina

    2012-09-01

    This work is aimed at the evaluation of carbon-14 life cycle in light water reactors VVER-1000. Carbon-14 is generated as a side product in different systems of nuclear reactors and has been an issue not only in radioactive waste management but mainly in release into the environment in the form of gaseous effluents. The principal sources of this radionuclide are in primary cooling water and fuel. Considerable amount of C-14 is generated by neutron reactions with oxygen 17 O and nitrogen 14 N present in water coolant and fuel. The reaction likelihood and consequently volume of generated radioisotope depends on several factors, especially on the effective cross-section, concentrations of parent elements and conditions of power plant operating strategies. Due to its long half-life and high capability of integration into the environment and thus into the living species, it is very important to monitor the movement of carbon-14 in all systems of nuclear power plant and to manage its release out of NPP. The dominant forms of radioactive carbon-14 are the hydrocarbons owing to the combinations with hydrogen used for absorption of radiolytic oxygen. These organic compounds, such as formaldehyde, methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol and formic acid can be mostly retained on ion exchange resins used in the system for purifying primary cooling water. The gaseous carbon compounds (CH 4 and CO 2 ) are released into the atmosphere via the ventilation systems of NPP. Based on the information and data obtained from different sources, it has been designed a balance model of possible carbon-14 pathways throughout the whole NPP. This model includes also mass balance model equations for each important node in system and available sampling points which will be the background for further calculations. This document is specifically not to intended to describe the best monitoring program attributes or technologies but rather to provide evaluation of obtained data and find the optimal way to

  9. Fractionation of Nitrogen and Oxygen Isotopes and Roles of Bacteria during Denitrification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, J.; Buyanjargal, A.; Jeen, S. W.

    2017-12-01

    Nitrate in groundwater can cause health and environmental problems when not properly treated. The purpose of this study was to develop a treatment method for nitrate in groundwater using organic carbon-based reactive mixtures (i.e., wood chips and gravel) through column experiments and to evaluate reaction mechanisms responsible for the treatment. The column experiments were operated for a total of 19 months. The results from the geochemical analyses for the experiments suggest that cultures of denitrifying bacteria used organic carbon while utilizing nitrate as their electron acceptor via denitrification process. Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum in all samples, accounting for 45.7% of the bacterial reads, followed by Firmicutes (22.6%) and Chlorobi (10.6%). Bacilli, Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria_c consisted of 32, 30, 23, 11, and 2% of denitrifying bacteria class. The denitrification process caused fractionation of nitrogen and oxygen isotopes of nitrate while nitrate concentration decreased. When fitted to the Rayleigh's fractionation model, enrichment factors (ɛ) were 11.5‰ and 5.6‰ for 15N and 18O isotopes, respectively. Previous studies suggested that nitrogen isotope enrichment factors of denitrification are within the range of 4.7 to 40‰ and oxygen isotopic enrichment factors are between 8 and 18.3‰. This study shows that nitrate in groundwater can be effectively treated using passive treatment systems, such as permeable reactive barriers (PRBs), and denitrificaton is the dominant process reponsible for the removal of nitrate.

  10. Potential roles of anaerobic ammonium and methane oxidation in the nitrogen cycle of wetland ecosystems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Guibing; Jetten, Mike S M; Kuschk, Peter; Ettwig, Katharina F; Yin, Chengqing

    2010-04-01

    Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and anaerobic methane oxidation (ANME coupled to denitrification) with nitrite as electron acceptor are two of the most recent discoveries in the microbial nitrogen cycle. Currently the anammox process has been relatively well investigated in a number of natural and man-made ecosystems, while ANME coupled to denitrification has only been observed in a limited number of freshwater ecosystems. The ubiquitous presence of anammox bacteria in marine ecosystems has changed our knowledge of the global nitrogen cycle. Up to 50% of N(2) production in marine sediments and oxygen-depleted zones may be attributed to anammox bacteria. However, there are only few indications of anammox in natural and constructed freshwater wetlands. In this paper, the potential role of anammox and denitrifying methanotrophic bacteria in natural and artificial wetlands is discussed in relation to global warming. The focus of the review is to explore and analyze if suitable environmental conditions exist for anammox and denitrifying methanotrophic bacteria in nitrogen-rich freshwater wetlands.

  11. Nitrogen expander cycles for large capacity liquefaction of natural gas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chang, Ho-Myung; Park, Jae Hoon; Gwak, Kyung Hyun [Hong Ik University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul, 121-791 (Korea, Republic of); Choe, Kun Hyung [Korea Gas Corporation, Incheon, 406-130 (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-01-29

    Thermodynamic study is performed on nitrogen expander cycles for large capacity liquefaction of natural gas. In order to substantially increase the capacity, a Brayton refrigeration cycle with nitrogen expander was recently added to the cold end of the reputable propane pre-cooled mixed-refrigerant (C3-MR) process. Similar modifications with a nitrogen expander cycle are extensively investigated on a variety of cycle configurations. The existing and modified cycles are simulated with commercial process software (Aspen HYSYS) based on selected specifications. The results are compared in terms of thermodynamic efficiency, liquefaction capacity, and estimated size of heat exchangers. The combination of C3-MR with partial regeneration and pre-cooling of nitrogen expander cycle is recommended to have a great potential for high efficiency and large capacity.

  12. Nitrogen expander cycles for large capacity liquefaction of natural gas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Ho-Myung; Park, Jae Hoon; Gwak, Kyung Hyun; Choe, Kun Hyung

    2014-01-01

    Thermodynamic study is performed on nitrogen expander cycles for large capacity liquefaction of natural gas. In order to substantially increase the capacity, a Brayton refrigeration cycle with nitrogen expander was recently added to the cold end of the reputable propane pre-cooled mixed-refrigerant (C3-MR) process. Similar modifications with a nitrogen expander cycle are extensively investigated on a variety of cycle configurations. The existing and modified cycles are simulated with commercial process software (Aspen HYSYS) based on selected specifications. The results are compared in terms of thermodynamic efficiency, liquefaction capacity, and estimated size of heat exchangers. The combination of C3-MR with partial regeneration and pre-cooling of nitrogen expander cycle is recommended to have a great potential for high efficiency and large capacity.

  13. Nitrogen expander cycles for large capacity liquefaction of natural gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Ho-Myung; Park, Jae Hoon; Gwak, Kyung Hyun; Choe, Kun Hyung

    2014-01-01

    Thermodynamic study is performed on nitrogen expander cycles for large capacity liquefaction of natural gas. In order to substantially increase the capacity, a Brayton refrigeration cycle with nitrogen expander was recently added to the cold end of the reputable propane pre-cooled mixed-refrigerant (C3-MR) process. Similar modifications with a nitrogen expander cycle are extensively investigated on a variety of cycle configurations. The existing and modified cycles are simulated with commercial process software (Aspen HYSYS) based on selected specifications. The results are compared in terms of thermodynamic efficiency, liquefaction capacity, and estimated size of heat exchangers. The combination of C3-MR with partial regeneration and pre-cooling of nitrogen expander cycle is recommended to have a great potential for high efficiency and large capacity

  14. Nitrogen oxidative activation in the radiolysis process of dioxide hydrocarbon composition, oxygen-nitrogen over 3-d transition metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rustamov, V.R.; Garibov, A.A.; Kerimov, V.K.; Aliyev, S.M.; Nasirova, Kh.Y.

    2004-01-01

    The radiochemical process of nitrogen fixation in carbon dioxide, oxygen-nitrogen composition in 3-d metal (iron, nickel) was studied. Bifunctional character of surface's role in the generation of radiolysis products was postulated: a) Chemisorption's of molecular ions (N 2 + , CO 2 + , O 2 + ) on the surface of metal and their dissociative neutralization. b) Coordination of nitrogen and carbon oxide being generated in nitrosyl and carbonyl-nitrosyl complex of iron and nickel. Total yield of the products is over the rang 6,4†7,5, to explain radiolysis' what contribution of only neutral products is impossible. Evidently in the generation of final products, defined contribution brings in molecular ions N 2 + (N + ) and CO 2 + . Interaction character of these ions with nickel proposes the formation of the relation between unpaired electrons N 2 + and CO 2 + with unfilled d-sub level of this metals with the nickel nitride generation [N i -N=N + ] and binding energy in ion diazotate decreases to twice. The yield of nitrogen dioxide on radiolysis of the air gave G NO2 =0,8±0,2 molecule/100eV which is proper to the date in the literature. Kinetic curve appears rapidly in the saturation. Air radiolysis over iron gave the following results: G NO 2 = 2,75 ± 0,25, G N 2 O = 9,0 ± 1,0 molecule/100eV. Thus total yield of radiolysis products is Σ G = 10,5 ± 12,0 molecule/100eV. (author)

  15. Nitrogen oxidative activation in the radiolysis process of dioxide hydrocarbon composition, oxygen-nitrogen over 3-D transition metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rustamov, V.R.; Garibov, A.A.; Kerimov, V.K.; Aliyev, S.M.; Nasirova, Kh.Y.

    2004-01-01

    Full text: The radiochemical process of nitrogen fixation in carbon dioxide, oxygen-nitrogen composition in 3-d metal (iron, nickel) was studied. Bifunctional character of surface's role in the generation of radiolysis products was postulated: a) Chemisorption's of molecular ions (N 2 + , CO 2 + , O 2 + ) on the surface of metal and their dissociative neutralization. b) Coordination of nitrogen and carbon oxide being generated in nitrosyl and carbonyl-nitrosyl complex of iron and nickel. Total yield of the products is over the rang 6,4†7,5, to explain radiolysis' what contribution of only neutral products is impossible. Evidently in the generation of final products, defined contribution brings in molecular ions N 2 + (N + ) and CO 2 + . Interaction character of these ions with nickel proposes the formation of the relation between unpaired electrons N 2 + and CO 2 + with unfilled d-sub level of this metals with the nickel nitride generation [N i -N=N + ] and binding energy in ion diazotate decreases to twice. The yield of nitrogen dioxide on radiolysis of the air gave G NO2 =0,8±0,2 molecule/100eV which is proper to the date in the literature. Kinetic curve appears rapidly in the saturation. Air radiolysis over iron gave the following results: G NO 2 = 2,75 ± 0,25, G N 2 O = 9,0 ± 1,0 molecule/100eV. Thus total yield of radiolysis products is Σ G = 10,5 ± 12,0 molecule/100eV

  16. [Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus budgets of bottom-cultured clam Ruditapes philippinarum].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Sheng-li; Zhang, An-guo; Yuan, Xiu-tang; Liang, Bin; Liu, Shu-xi

    2015-04-01

    In order to elucidate the role of bottom-cultured clams in the coastal nutrient cycle, the seasonal filtration, ingestion and biodeposition rates were in situ measured and carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) budgets of Ruditapes philippinarum among four seasons were modeled. The results showed that the scope for growth of R. philippinarum in carbon (SFG(C)), nitrogen (SFG(N)), and phosphorus (SFG(P)) all varied significantly among seasons, with the highest values in spring. Meanwhile, SFG(C) was negative in summer, SFG(N) and SFG(P) were always positive throughout the year. The seasonal variations of SFG(C), SFG(N) and SFG(P) were -3.94-49.82 mg C x ind(-1) x d(-1), 0.72-9.49 mg N x ind(-1) x d(-1), and 0.15-3.06 mg P x ind(-1) x d(-1), respectively. The net growth efficiencies in carbon (K(C2)), nitrogen (K(N2)), and phosphorus (K(P2)) also showed a distinct seasonal pattern among seasons, and ranked as K(P2) > K(N2) > K(C2). The C, N, and P budgets illustrated that the R. philippinarum population relatively used more N and P than C for growth and efficiently transferred the pelagic primary production to a higher trophic level. The current study suggested that R. philippinarum bottom-cultured at large scale might play a dominant role in the nutrient cycle of the coastal ecosystem and should be considered as an important ecological component in coastal areas.

  17. Synthesis and electrochemical capacitive properties of nitrogen-doped porous carbon micropolyhedra by direct carbonization of zeolitic imidazolate framework-11

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hao, Fei; Li, Li; Zhang, Xiaohua, E-mail: mickyxie@hnu.edu.cn; Chen, Jinhua, E-mail: chenjinhua@hnu.edu.cn

    2015-06-15

    Highlights: • Nitrogen-doped porous carbon micropolyhedra (N-PCMPs) were prepared from ZIF-11. • The activated N-PCMPs with fused KOH (N-PCMPs-A) have high specific surface area. • N-PCMPs-A exhibits high specific capacitance. • N-PCMPs-A reveals good cycling performance even at a high current density. - Abstract: Nitrogen-doped porous carbon micropolyhedra (N-PCMPs) were successfully prepared by direct carbonization of ZIF-11 polyhedra and further activated with fused KOH to obtain N-PCMPs-A. The morphology and microstructure of samples were examined by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and micropore and chemisorption analyzer. Electrochemical properties were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge method in 1.0 M H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} aqueous solution on a standard three-electrode system. Results show that, compared with N-PCMPs, N-PCMPs-A has higher specific surface area (2188 m{sup 2} g{sup −1}) and exhibits improved electrochemical capacitive properties (307 F g{sup −1} at 1.0 A g{sup −1}). The mass specific capacitance of N-PCMPs-A is also higher than that of most MOF-derived carbons, some carbide-derived carbons and carbon aerogel-derived carbons. In addition, the capacitance of the N-PCMPs-A retains 90% after 4000 cycles even at a high current density of 10 A g{sup −1}. These imply that N-PCMPs-A is the promising materials for the construction of a high-performance supercapacitor.

  18. One-carbon metabolism in acetogenic and sulfate-reducing bacteria

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Visser, M.

    2015-01-01

    ABSTRACT

    One-carbon metabolism in acetogenic and sulfate-reducing bacteria

    Life on earth is sustained by the constant cycling of six essential elements: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen,

  19. [Effects and mechanism of freeze-thawing cycles on key processes of nitrogen cycle in terrestrial ecosystem].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Li-qin; Qi, Yu-chun; Dong, Yun-she; Peng, Qin; Guo, Shu-fang; He, Yun-long; Yan, Zhong-qing

    2015-11-01

    As a widespread natural phenomenon in the soil of middle and high latitude as well as high altitude, freeze-thawing cycles have a great influence on the nitrogen cycle of terrestrial ecosystem in non-growing season. Freeze-thawing cycles can alter the physicochemical and biological properties of the soil, which thereby affect the migration and transformation of soil nitrogen. The impacts of freeze-thawing cycles on key processes of nitrogen cycle in terrestrial ecosystem found in available studies remain inconsistent, the mechanism is still not clear, and the research methods also need to be further explored and innovated. So it is necessary to sum up and analyze the existing achievements in order to better understand the processes of soil nitrogen cycle subjected to freeze-thawing cycles. This paper reviewed the research progress in China and abroad about the effects and mechanisms of freeze-thawing cycles on key processes of nitrogen cycle in terrestrial ecosystem, including mineralization, immobilization, nitrification and denitrification, N leakage and gaseous loss, and analyzed the deficiencies of extant research. The possible key research topics that should be urgently paid more attention to in the future were also discussed.

  20. Determination of oxygen and nitrogen in coal by instrumental neutron activation analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamrin, C.E. Jr.; Johannes, A.H.; James, W.D. Jr.; Sun, G.H.; Ehmann, W.D.

    1979-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to measure oxygen and nitrogen in coals using instrumental neutron activation analysis. For six U.S. coals total oxygen ranged from 9.4 to 28.7% and total nitrogen varied from 0.72 to 1.61%. To obtain values of organic oxygen and nitrogen either a low-temperature-ashing (LTA) method or an acid-treatment (AT) method was suitable for bituminous coals. The mean difference of the experimentally determined values (Osub(dmmf))sub(LTA) - (Osub(dmmf))sub(AT) = -0.82, s = 0.51, [dmmf = dry, mineral-matter-free basis], was found to be statistically significant at the 95% confidence level, but the comparable difference for nitrogen was not. By the LTA method oxygen and nitrogen on the dmmf basis for bituminous coals showed no statistically significant difference with calculated dmmf values. Nitrogen was detected in all the LTAs varying from 0.38 to 1.67%. Formation of insoluble CaF 2 in the acid-treatment method caused an interference in the nitrogen determination due to the 19 F (n, 2n) 18 F reaction but was correctable. In addition, recoil proton reactions on C and O leading to the formation of 13 N must be accounted for in all nitrogen determinations in the coal matrix. (author)

  1. Nitrogen Cycle Ninja, A Teaching Exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raun, William R.; And Others

    1997-01-01

    Assesses the effectiveness of using pop quizzes and rewards to improve student retention of the nitrogen cycle. Students able to diagram the N cycle on pop quizzes were rewarded with special cards that included the N cycle. These cards could then be used on subsequent tests in place of memory alone. Six of 11 students tested three months later…

  2. High content of pyridinic- and pyrrolic-nitrogen-modified carbon nanotubes derived from blood biomass for the electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline medium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng, Jie; Guo, Chaozhong; Chen, Chunyan; Fan, Mingzhi; Gong, Jianping; Zhang, Yanfang; Zhao, Tianxin; Sun, Yuelin; Xu, Xiaofan; Li, Mengmeng; Wang, Ran; Luo, Zhongli; Chen, Changguo

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Display Omitted -- Highlights: •An ORR electrocatalyst was fabricated from blood biomass and carbon nanotube. •The N-CNT catalyst exhibits good ORR activity, methanol resistance and stability. •The pyrolysis process produces high contents of pyridinic and pyrrolic N species. •The pyridinic-N group may play more important role in the active sites for ORR. -- Abstract: Here we present a facile synthetic route to design nitrogen-doped nanostructured carbon-based electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) by the copyrolysis of blood biomass from pig and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at high temperatures. The nitrogen-doped CNTs obtained at 800 °C not only results in excellent ORR activity with four-electron transfer selectivity in alkaline medium, but also exhibits superior methanol-tolerant property and long-term stability. It is confirmed that high-temperature pyrolysis processes can facilitate to produce higher contents of pyridinic- and pyrrolic-N binding groups in electrocatalysts, contributing to the enhancement of ORR performance in terms of onset potential, half-wave potential, and limited current density. We also propose that the planar-N configuration may be the active site that is responsible for the improved ORR electrocatalytic performance. The straight-forward and cheap synthesis of the active and stable electrocatalyst makes it a promising candidate for electrochemical power sources such as fuel cells or metal-air batteries

  3. In-depth nanocrystallization enhanced Li-ions batteries performance with nitrogen-doped carbon coated Fe3O4 yolk-shell nanocapsules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Qianhui; Zhao, Rongfang; Liu, Wenjie; Zhang, Xiue; Shen, Xiao; Li, Wenlong; Diao, Guowang; Chen, Ming

    2017-03-01

    In this paper nitrogen-doped carbon-encapsulation Fe3O4 yolk-shell magnetic nanocapsules (Fe3O4@C-N nanocapsules) have been successfully constructed though a facile hydrothermal method and subsequent annealing process. Fe3O4 nanoparticles are completely enclosed in nitrogen-doped carbon shells with void space between the nanoparticle and the shell. The yolk-shell structure allows Fe3O4 nanoparticles to expand freely without breaking the outer carbon shell during the lithiation/delithiation processes. The volume expansion of Fe3O4 results in the in-depth nanocrystallization. Fortunately, the new generated small nanoparticles can increase the capability with the cycle increase due to the unique confinement effect and excellent electronic conductivity of the nitrogen-doped carbon shells. Hence, after 150 cycles, the discharge capacity of Fe3O4@C-N-700 nanocapsules still remained 832 mA h g-1 at 500 mA g-1, which corresponds to 116.7% of the lowest capacity (713 mA h g-1) at the 16th cycle. We believe that the yolk-shell structure is conducive to enhance the capacity of easy pulverization metal oxidation during the charge/discharge processes.

  4. Porous Hierarchical Nitrogen-doped Carbon Coated ZnFe_2O_4 Composites as High Performance Anode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yue, Hongyun; Wang, Qiuxian; Shi, Zhenpu; Ma, Chao; Ding, Yanmin; Huo, Ningning; Zhang, Jun; Yang, Shuting

    2015-01-01

    Porous hierarchical and nitrogen-doped carbon coated ZnFe_2O_4 (ZnFe_2O_4@NC) was obtained by combustion method and unique carbon coating technology. Gum Arabic was firstly introduced in the carbon coating process as an additive, which played an important role to control the uniformity of carbon coating layer. The nitrogen-doped carbon layer was obtained through the pyrolysis of glycine. The elemental composition and content of the nitrogen-doped carbon in composites were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling was used to test the electrochemical performance of ZnFe_2O_4@NC and pure ZnFe_2O_4. The sub-micro size ZnFe_2O_4@NC with unique porous structure showed an excellent electrochemical performance as an anode material, which was higher than that of pure ZnFe_2O_4. ZnFe_2O_4@NC could maintain the specific discharge capacity of 1477 mAh g"−"1 at 0.1 A g"−"1 after 100 cycles and 705 mAh g"−"1 at 1 A g"−"1 after 1000 cycles, respectively.

  5. Nitrogen doped carbon derived from polyimide/multiwall carbon nanotube composites for high performance flexible all-solid-state supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dae Kyom; Kim, Nam Dong; Park, Seung-Keun; Seong, Kwang-dong; Hwang, Minsik; You, Nam-Ho; Piao, Yuanzhe

    2018-03-01

    Flexible all-solid-state supercapacitors are desirable as potential energy storage systems for wearable technologies. Herein, we synthesize aminophenyl multiwall carbon nanotube (AP-MWCNT) grafted polyimide precursor by in situ polymerization method as a nitrogen-doped carbon precursor. Flexible supercapacitor electrodes are fabricated via a coating of carbon precursor on carbon cloth surface and carbonization at high temperature directly. The as-obtained electrodes, which can be directly used without any binders or additives, can deliver a high specific capacitance of 333.4 F g-1 at 1 A g-1 (based on active material mass) and excellent cycle stability with 103% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles in a three-electrode system. The flexible all-solid-state supercapacitor device exhibits a high volumetric capacitance of 3.88 F cm-3 at a current density of 0.02 mA cm-3. And also the device can deliver a maximum volumetric energy density of 0.50 mWh cm-3 and presents good cycling stability with 85.3% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles. This device cell can not only show extraordinary mechanical flexibilities allowing folding, twisting, and rolling but also demonstrate remarkable stable electrochemical performances under their forms. This work provides a novel approach to obtain carbon textile-based flexible supercapacitors with high electrochemical performance and mechanical flexibility.

  6. Nitrogen-doped porous “green carbon” derived from shrimp shell: Combined effects of pore sizes and nitrogen doping on the performance of lithium sulfur battery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qu, Jiangying, E-mail: qujy@lnnu.edu.cn [Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029 (China); Carbon Research Laboratory, Center for Nano Materials and Science, School of Chemical Engineering, State Key Lab of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024 (China); Lv, Siyuan; Peng, Xiyue; Tian, Shuo; Wang, Jia [Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029 (China); Gao, Feng, E-mail: fenggao2003@163.com [Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029 (China); Carbon Research Laboratory, Center for Nano Materials and Science, School of Chemical Engineering, State Key Lab of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024 (China)

    2016-06-25

    Nitrogen-rich porous “green carbons” derived from abundant shrimp shell shows good performance for Li–S batteries. The strategy in this work is highlighted to selective removal of intrinsic CaCO{sub 3} in shrimp shell followed by KOH activation to tune the pore sizes of the obtained carbons. On the basis of the different porous structures, the discharge capacity of the obtained carbons as Li–S cathodes follows the order of micro-mesoporous carbon>mesoporous carbon>microporous carbon. The high capacity of the micro-mesoporous carbon is attributed to its positive characters such as the coexistence of micro-mesoporous structure, the large pore volume and the high specific surface area. Furthermore, well-dispersed nitrogen in the porous carbons is naturally doped and inherited from shrimp shell, and can help to enhance cycle stability when used as cathodes. As a result, all carbon cathodes exhibit the good cycle stability (>78%) due to their nitrogen doping induced chemical adsorption of sulfur on the surface areas of the porous carbons. Among them, mesoporous carbon cathode shows the best cycle stability with 90% retention within 100 cycles, which is mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of its both large pore size (5.12 nm) and high nitrogen content (6.67 wt %). - Highlights: • Nitrogen-rich porous “green carbons” derived from abundant shrimp shell shows good performance for Li–S batteries. • Intrinsic CaCO{sub 3} in shrimp shell as the natural template plays an important role on tailoring of the pore sizes of the porous carbons. • Nitrogen containing polysaccharide in shrimp shell benefits to produce nitrogen-rich carbons. • The effects of pore sizes on the electrochemical performance are investigated in detail. • The carbon-sulfur cathodes exhibit the good cycle stability because of nitrogen doping induced chemical adsorption of sulfur.

  7. Nitrogen-doped porous “green carbon” derived from shrimp shell: Combined effects of pore sizes and nitrogen doping on the performance of lithium sulfur battery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qu, Jiangying; Lv, Siyuan; Peng, Xiyue; Tian, Shuo; Wang, Jia; Gao, Feng

    2016-01-01

    Nitrogen-rich porous “green carbons” derived from abundant shrimp shell shows good performance for Li–S batteries. The strategy in this work is highlighted to selective removal of intrinsic CaCO_3 in shrimp shell followed by KOH activation to tune the pore sizes of the obtained carbons. On the basis of the different porous structures, the discharge capacity of the obtained carbons as Li–S cathodes follows the order of micro-mesoporous carbon>mesoporous carbon>microporous carbon. The high capacity of the micro-mesoporous carbon is attributed to its positive characters such as the coexistence of micro-mesoporous structure, the large pore volume and the high specific surface area. Furthermore, well-dispersed nitrogen in the porous carbons is naturally doped and inherited from shrimp shell, and can help to enhance cycle stability when used as cathodes. As a result, all carbon cathodes exhibit the good cycle stability (>78%) due to their nitrogen doping induced chemical adsorption of sulfur on the surface areas of the porous carbons. Among them, mesoporous carbon cathode shows the best cycle stability with 90% retention within 100 cycles, which is mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of its both large pore size (5.12 nm) and high nitrogen content (6.67 wt %). - Highlights: • Nitrogen-rich porous “green carbons” derived from abundant shrimp shell shows good performance for Li–S batteries. • Intrinsic CaCO_3 in shrimp shell as the natural template plays an important role on tailoring of the pore sizes of the porous carbons. • Nitrogen containing polysaccharide in shrimp shell benefits to produce nitrogen-rich carbons. • The effects of pore sizes on the electrochemical performance are investigated in detail. • The carbon-sulfur cathodes exhibit the good cycle stability because of nitrogen doping induced chemical adsorption of sulfur.

  8. Kinetics of irreversible thermal decomposition of dissociating nitrogen dioxide with nitrogen oxide or oxygen additions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gvozdev, A.A.

    1987-01-01

    The effect of NO or O 2 admixtures on kinetics of the irreversible thermal decomposition of nitrogen dioxide at temperatures 460-520 deg C and pressures 4-7 MPa has been studied. It follows from experimental data that the rate of N 2 O 4 formation reduces with the increase of partial pressure of oxygen or decrease of partial pressure of nitrogen oxide. The same regularity is seen for the rate of nitrogen formation. The rate constants of N 2 O formation in dissociating nitrogen tetroxide with oxygen or nitrogen oxide additions agree satisfactorily with previously published results, obtained in stoichiometric mixtures. The appreciable discrepancy at 520 deg C is bind with considerable degree of nitrogen oxide transformation which constitutes approximately 14%. It is determined that the kinetics of formation of the products of irreversible N 2 O and N 2 decomposition in stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric 2NO 2 ↔ 2NO+O 2 mixtures is described by identical 3NO → N 2 O+NO 2 and N 2 O+NO → N 2 +NO 2 reactions

  9. Increased forest ecosystem carbon and nitrogen storage from nitrogen rich bedrock.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morford, Scott L; Houlton, Benjamin Z; Dahlgren, Randy A

    2011-08-31

    Nitrogen (N) limits the productivity of many ecosystems worldwide, thereby restricting the ability of terrestrial ecosystems to offset the effects of rising atmospheric CO(2) emissions naturally. Understanding input pathways of bioavailable N is therefore paramount for predicting carbon (C) storage on land, particularly in temperate and boreal forests. Paradigms of nutrient cycling and limitation posit that new N enters terrestrial ecosystems solely from the atmosphere. Here we show that bedrock comprises a hitherto overlooked source of ecologically available N to forests. We report that the N content of soils and forest foliage on N-rich metasedimentary rocks (350-950 mg N kg(-1)) is elevated by more than 50% compared with similar temperate forest sites underlain by N-poor igneous parent material (30-70 mg N kg(-1)). Natural abundance N isotopes attribute this difference to rock-derived N: (15)N/(14)N values for rock, soils and plants are indistinguishable in sites underlain by N-rich lithology, in marked contrast to sites on N-poor substrates. Furthermore, forests associated with N-rich parent material contain on average 42% more carbon in above-ground tree biomass and 60% more carbon in the upper 30 cm of the soil than similar sites underlain by N-poor rocks. Our results raise the possibility that bedrock N input may represent an important and overlooked component of ecosystem N and C cycling elsewhere.

  10. Carbon Cycling with Nuclear Power

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lackner, Klaus S.

    2011-11-01

    Liquid hydrocarbon fuels like gasoline, diesel or jet fuel are the most efficient ways of delivering energy to the transportation sector, in particular cars, ships and airplanes. Unfortunately, their use nearly unavoidably leads to the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Unless an equivalent amount is removed from the air, the carbon dioxide will accumulate and significantly contribute to the man-made greenhouse effect. If fuels are made from biomass, the capture of carbon dioxide is a natural part of the cycle. Here, we discuss technical options for capturing carbon dioxide at much faster rates. We outline the basic concepts, discuss how such capture technologies could be made affordable and show how they could be integrated into a larger system approach. In the short term, the likely source of the hydrocarbon fuels is oil or gas; in the longer term, technologies that can provide energy to remove oxygen from carbon dioxide and water molecules and combine the remaining components into liquid fuels make it possible to recycle carbon between fuels and carbon dioxide in an entirely abiotic process. Here we focus on renewable and nuclear energy options for producing liquid fuels and show how air capture combined with fuel synthesis could be more economic than a transition to electric cars or hydrogen-fueled cars.

  11. Pomelo peels-derived porous activated carbon microsheets dual-doped with nitrogen and phosphorus for high performance electrochemical capacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhen; Tan, Yongtao; Yang, Yunlong; Zhao, Xiaoning; Liu, Ying; Niu, Lengyuan; Tichnell, Brandon; Kong, Lingbin; Kang, Long; Liu, Zhen; Ran, Fen

    2018-02-01

    In this work, biomass pomelo peel is used to fabricate the porous activated carbon microsheets, and diammonium hydrogen phosphate (DHP) is employed to dual-dope carbon with nitrogen and phosphorus elements. With the benefit of DHP inducement and dual-doping of nitrogen and phosphorus, the prepared carbon material has a higher carbon yield, and exhibits higher specific surface area (about 807.7 m2/g), and larger pore volume (about 0.4378 cm3/g) with hierarchically structure of interconnected thin microsheets compared to the pristine carbon. The material exhibits not only high specific capacitance (240 F/g at 0.5 A/g), but also superior cycling performance (approximately 100% of capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 2 A/g) in 2 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. Furthermore, the assembled symmetric electrochemical capacitor in 1 M Na2SO4 aqueous electrolyte exhibits a high energy density of 11.7 Wh/kg at a power density of 160 W/kg.

  12. Soils and Global Change in the Carbon Cycle over Geological Time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Retallack, G. J.

    2003-12-01

    Soils play an important role in the carbon cycle as the nutrition of photosynthesized biomass. Nitrogen fixed by microbes from air is a limiting nutrient for ecosystems within the first flush of ecological succession of new ground, and sulfur can limit some components of wetland ecosystems. But over the long term, the limiting soil nutrient is phosphorus extracted by weathering from minerals such as apatite (Vitousek et al., 1997a; Chadwick et al., 1999). Life has an especially voracious appetite for common alkali (Na+ and K+) and alkaline earth (Ca2+ and Mg2+) cations, supplied by hydrolytic weathering, which is in turn amplified by biological acidification (Schwartzmann and Volk, 1991; see Chapter 5.06). These mineral nutrients fuel photosynthetic fixation and chemical reduction of atmospheric CO2 into plants and plantlike microbes, which are at the base of the food chain. Plants and photosynthetic microbes are consumed and oxidized by animals, fungi, and other respiring microbes, which release CO2, methane, and water vapor to the air. These greenhouse gases absorb solar radiation more effectively than atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen, and are important regulators of planetary temperature and albedo (Kasting, 1992). Variations in solar insolation ( Kasting, 1992), mountainous topography ( Raymo and Ruddiman, 1992), and ocean currents ( Ramstein et al., 1997) also play a role in climate, but this review focuses on the carbon cycle. The carbon cycle is discussed in detail in Volume 8 of this Treatise.The greenhouse model for global paleoclimate has proven remarkably robust (Retallack, 2002), despite new challenges ( Veizer et al., 2000). The balance of producers and consumers is one of a number of controls on atmospheric greenhouse gas balance, because CO2 is added to the air from fumaroles, volcanic eruptions, and other forms of mantle degassing (Holland, 1984). Carbon dioxide is also consumed by burial as carbonate and organic matter within limestones and other

  13. Development of Nanofiller-Modulated Polymeric Oxygen Enrichment Membranes for Reduction of Nitrogen Oxides in Coal Combustion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jianzhong Lou; Shamsuddin Ilias

    2010-12-31

    North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, has undertaken this project to develop the knowledge and the material to improve the oxygen-enrichment polymer membrane, in order to provide high-grade oxygen-enriched streams for coal combustion and gasification applications. Both experimental and theoretical approaches were used in this project. The membranes evaluated thus far include single-walled carbon nano-tube, nano-fumed silica polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and zeolite-modulated polyimide membranes. To document the nanofiller-modulated polymer, molecular dynamics simulations have been conducted to calculate the theoretical oxygen molecular diffusion coefficient and nitrogen molecular coefficient inside single-walled carbon nano-tube PDMS membranes, in order to predict the effect of the nano-tubes on the gas-separation permeability. The team has performed permeation and diffusion experiments using polymers with nano-silica particles, nano-tubes, and zeolites as fillers; studied the influence of nano-fillers on the self diffusion, free volume, glass transition, oxygen diffusion and solubility, and perm-selectivity of oxygen in polymer membranes; developed molecular models of single-walled carbon nano-tube and nano-fumed silica PDMS membranes, and zeolites-modulated polyimide membranes. This project partially supported three graduate students (two finished degrees and one transferred to other institution). This project has resulted in two journal publications and additional publications will be prepared in the near future.

  14. Radiobiological investigations of soft X-rays near carbon, nitrogen, oxygen K-shell edges on Aspergillus oryzae spores

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, L.; Jiang, S. P.; Wan, L. B.; Ma, X. D.; Li, M. F.

    2008-01-01

    Soft X-rays at carbon, nitrogen, oxygen K-shell edges have special radiobiological effects. Using Aspergillus oryzae spores as sample, the radiation effects of soft X-rays near the K-shell edges of C, N and O elements from synchrotron radiation were investigated. Also the dose depositions of different X-ray energies in spore were discussed. At the same time, the spores were irradiated by gamma rays from 60 Co and relative biological effects were compared with those produced by soft X-rays. The results showed that soft X-rays near K-shell edges of O element had higher ability of radiation damage than that of X-rays near K-shell edges of C and N elements as compared with one another. But they all had higher killing abilities per unit dose than that of gamma rays from 60 Co. The relative biological effects (RBEs), the comparison of dose to gamma rays at 10% survival level, of the three soft X-rays were 1.65, 1.73 and 1.91, respectively. (authors)

  15. Carbon sequestration and Jerusalem artichoke biomass under nitrogen applications in coastal saline zone in the northern region of Jiangsu, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niu, Li; Manxia, Chen; Xiumei, Gao; Xiaohua, Long; Hongbo, Shao; Zhaopu, Liu; Zed, Rengel

    2016-01-01

    Agriculture is an important source of greenhouse gases, but can also be a significant sink. Nitrogen fertilization is effective in increasing agricultural production and carbon storage. We explored the effects of different rates of nitrogen fertilization on biomass, carbon density, and carbon sequestration in fields under the cultivation of Jerusalem artichoke as well as in soil in a coastal saline zone for two years. Five nitrogen fertilization rates were tested (in g urea m"− "2): 4 (N1), 8 (N2), 12 (N3), 16 (N4), and 0 (control, CK). The biomass of different organs of Jerusalem artichoke during the growth cycle was significantly higher in N2 than the other treatments. Under different nitrogen treatments, carbon density in organs of Jerusalem artichoke ranged from 336 to 419 g C kg"− "1. Carbon sequestration in Jerusalem artichoke was higher in treatments with nitrogen fertilization compared to the CK treatment. The highest carbon sequestration was found in the N2 treatment. Soil carbon content was higher in the 0–10 cm than 10–20 cm layer, with nitrogen fertilization increasing carbon content in both soil layers. The highest soil carbon sequestration was measured in the N2 treatment. Carbon sequestration in both soil and Jerusalem artichoke residue was increased by nitrogen fertilization depending on the rates in the coastal saline zone studied. - Highlights: • Dry matter accumulation increased under nitrogen fertilization application. • Carbon density in Jerusalem artichoke ranged from 336 to 419 g C kg"− "1. • Soil carbon storage increased under nitrogen fertilizer application. • Nitrogen application is effective in increasing carbon sequestration.

  16. Carbon sequestration and Jerusalem artichoke biomass under nitrogen applications in coastal saline zone in the northern region of Jiangsu, China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Niu, Li; Manxia, Chen; Xiumei, Gao [Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Biology, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095 (China); Xiaohua, Long, E-mail: longxiaohua@njau.edu.cn [Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Biology, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095 (China); Hongbo, Shao, E-mail: shaohongbochu@126.com [Institute of Agro-biotechnology, Jiangsu Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Nanjing 210014 (China); Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003 (China); Zhaopu, Liu [Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Biology, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095 (China); Zed, Rengel [Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009 (Australia)

    2016-10-15

    Agriculture is an important source of greenhouse gases, but can also be a significant sink. Nitrogen fertilization is effective in increasing agricultural production and carbon storage. We explored the effects of different rates of nitrogen fertilization on biomass, carbon density, and carbon sequestration in fields under the cultivation of Jerusalem artichoke as well as in soil in a coastal saline zone for two years. Five nitrogen fertilization rates were tested (in g urea m{sup −} {sup 2}): 4 (N1), 8 (N2), 12 (N3), 16 (N4), and 0 (control, CK). The biomass of different organs of Jerusalem artichoke during the growth cycle was significantly higher in N2 than the other treatments. Under different nitrogen treatments, carbon density in organs of Jerusalem artichoke ranged from 336 to 419 g C kg{sup −} {sup 1}. Carbon sequestration in Jerusalem artichoke was higher in treatments with nitrogen fertilization compared to the CK treatment. The highest carbon sequestration was found in the N2 treatment. Soil carbon content was higher in the 0–10 cm than 10–20 cm layer, with nitrogen fertilization increasing carbon content in both soil layers. The highest soil carbon sequestration was measured in the N2 treatment. Carbon sequestration in both soil and Jerusalem artichoke residue was increased by nitrogen fertilization depending on the rates in the coastal saline zone studied. - Highlights: • Dry matter accumulation increased under nitrogen fertilization application. • Carbon density in Jerusalem artichoke ranged from 336 to 419 g C kg{sup −} {sup 1}. • Soil carbon storage increased under nitrogen fertilizer application. • Nitrogen application is effective in increasing carbon sequestration.

  17. A scenario analysis of effects of reduced nitrogen input on oxygen conditions in the Kattegat and the Belt Sea

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, I.S.; Ærtebjerg, G.; Richardson, K.

    1995-01-01

    A numerical tool has been developed for analyzing the potential effects of reduced nitrogen loading to the Kattegat and the Belt Sea. The analyzed effects relate to general trends in the occurrence of hypoxia and anoxia in the water below the pycnocline during the summer and autumn. Nitrogen...... is assumed to be the nutrient controlling production in these waters. The tool is a dynamic numerical model which includes the dominant hydrodynamic processes of the study area as well as the nitrogen cycle and is linked to oxygen conditions. The model has been calibrated based on the average intraannual...

  18. Carbon sequestration and Jerusalem artichoke biomass under nitrogen applications in coastal saline zone in the northern region of Jiangsu, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niu, Li; Manxia, Chen; Xiumei, Gao; Xiaohua, Long; Hongbo, Shao; Zhaopu, Liu; Zed, Rengel

    2016-10-15

    Agriculture is an important source of greenhouse gases, but can also be a significant sink. Nitrogen fertilization is effective in increasing agricultural production and carbon storage. We explored the effects of different rates of nitrogen fertilization on biomass, carbon density, and carbon sequestration in fields under the cultivation of Jerusalem artichoke as well as in soil in a coastal saline zone for two years. Five nitrogen fertilization rates were tested (in guream(-2)): 4 (N1), 8 (N2), 12 (N3), 16 (N4), and 0 (control, CK). The biomass of different organs of Jerusalem artichoke during the growth cycle was significantly higher in N2 than the other treatments. Under different nitrogen treatments, carbon density in organs of Jerusalem artichoke ranged from 336 to 419gCkg(-1). Carbon sequestration in Jerusalem artichoke was higher in treatments with nitrogen fertilization compared to the CK treatment. The highest carbon sequestration was found in the N2 treatment. Soil carbon content was higher in the 0-10cm than 10-20cm layer, with nitrogen fertilization increasing carbon content in both soil layers. The highest soil carbon sequestration was measured in the N2 treatment. Carbon sequestration in both soil and Jerusalem artichoke residue was increased by nitrogen fertilization depending on the rates in the coastal saline zone studied. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Climate Change Impacts on the Organic Carbon Cycle at the Land-Ocean Interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canuel, E. A.; Cammer, S. S.; McIntosh, H.; Pondell, C. R.

    2012-12-01

    Humans have modified estuaries across the globe by altering the delivery of water, sediments and elements such as carbon and nitrogen that play important roles in biogeochemical processes. These activities have caused declines in the health and quality of estuarine ecosystems globally and this trend will likely continue due to increasing population growth in coastal regions, expected changes associated with climate change, and their interaction with each other, leading to serious consequences for the ecological and societal services they provide. A key function of estuaries is the transfer and transformation of carbon and biogenic elements between land and ocean systems. The anticipated effects of climate change on biogeochemical processes in estuaries are likely to be both numerous and complex but are poorly understood. Climate change has the potential to influence the carbon cycle in estuaries through anticipated changes to organic matter production, transformation, burial and export. Estuarine biogeochemical processes will likely be altered by: 1) sea level rise and increased storm intensity which will amplify the erosion and transfer of terrigenous materials, 2) increases in water temperatures which will enhance the rates of biological and biogeochemical processes (e.g., enzyme kinetics, decomposition rates, and remineralization), while simultaneously decreasing the concentration of dissolved oxygen, 3) changes in particle (or sediment) loadings in response to altered patterns of precipitation and river runoff, and 4) altered inputs of nutrients and dissolved organic materials to coastal waters, also resulting from changing precipitation and runoff. In this presentation, we review the effects of climate change on the carbon cycle in estuaries, with a focus on the temperate estuaries of North America.

  20. Biome-scale nitrogen fixation strategies selected by climatic constraints on nitrogen cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheffer, Efrat; Batterman, Sarah A; Levin, Simon A; Hedin, Lars O

    2015-11-23

    Dinitrogen fixation by plants (in symbiosis with root bacteria) is a major source of new nitrogen for land ecosystems(1). A long-standing puzzle(2) is that trees capable of nitrogen fixation are abundant in nitrogen-rich tropical forests, but absent or restricted to early successional stages in nitrogen-poor extra-tropical forests. This biome-scale pattern presents an evolutionary paradox(3), given that the physiological cost(4) of nitrogen fixation predicts the opposite pattern: fixers should be out-competed by non-fixers in nitrogen-rich conditions, but competitively superior in nitrogen-poor soils. Here we evaluate whether this paradox can be explained by the existence of different fixation strategies in tropical versus extra-tropical trees: facultative fixers (capable of downregulating fixation(5,6) by sanctioning mutualistic bacteria(7)) are common in the tropics, whereas obligate fixers (less able to downregulate fixation) dominate at higher latitudes. Using a game-theoretic approach, we assess the ecological and evolutionary conditions under which these fixation strategies emerge, and examine their dependence on climate-driven differences in the nitrogen cycle. We show that in the tropics, transient soil nitrogen deficits following disturbance and rapid tree growth favour a facultative strategy and the coexistence of fixers and non-fixers. In contrast, sustained nitrogen deficits following disturbance in extra-tropical forests favour an obligate fixation strategy, and cause fixers to be excluded in late successional stages. We conclude that biome-scale differences in the abundance of nitrogen fixers can be explained by the interaction between individual plant strategies and climatic constraints on the nitrogen cycle over evolutionary time.

  1. Bacterial quorum sensing and nitrogen cycling in rhizosphere soil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DeAngelis, K.M.; Lindow, S.E.; Firestone, M.K.

    2008-10-01

    Plant photosynthate fuels carbon-limited microbial growth and activity, resulting in increased rhizosphere nitrogen (N)-mineralization. Most soil organic N is macromolecular (chitin, protein, nucleotides); enzymatic depolymerization is likely rate-limiting for plant N accumulation. Analyzing Avena (wild oat) planted in microcosms containing sieved field soil, we observed increased rhizosphere chitinase and protease specific activities, bacterial cell densities, and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) compared to bulk soil. Low-molecular weight DON (<3000 Da) was undetectable in bulk soil but comprised 15% of rhizosphere DON. Extracellular enzyme production in many bacteria requires quorum sensing (QS), cell-density dependent group behavior. Because proteobacteria are considered major rhizosphere colonizers, we assayed the proteobacterial QS signals acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), which were significantly increased in the rhizosphere. To investigate the linkage between soil signaling and N cycling, we characterized 533 bacterial isolates from Avena rhizosphere: 24% had chitinase or protease activity and AHL production; disruption of QS in 7 of 8 eight isolates disrupted enzyme activity. Many {alpha}-Proteobacteria were newly found with QS-controlled extracellular enzyme activity. Enhanced specific activities of N-cycling enzymes accompanied by bacterial density-dependent behaviors in rhizosphere soil gives rise to the hypothesis that QS could be a control point in the complex process of rhizosphere N-mineralization.

  2. The geobiological nitrogen cycle: From microbes to the mantle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zerkle, A L; Mikhail, S

    2017-05-01

    Nitrogen forms an integral part of the main building blocks of life, including DNA, RNA, and proteins. N 2 is the dominant gas in Earth's atmosphere, and nitrogen is stored in all of Earth's geological reservoirs, including the crust, the mantle, and the core. As such, nitrogen geochemistry is fundamental to the evolution of planet Earth and the life it supports. Despite the importance of nitrogen in the Earth system, large gaps remain in our knowledge of how the surface and deep nitrogen cycles have evolved over geologic time. Here, we discuss the current understanding (or lack thereof) for how the unique interaction of biological innovation, geodynamics, and mantle petrology has acted to regulate Earth's nitrogen cycle over geologic timescales. In particular, we explore how temporal variations in the external (biosphere and atmosphere) and internal (crust and mantle) nitrogen cycles could have regulated atmospheric pN 2 . We consider three potential scenarios for the evolution of the geobiological nitrogen cycle over Earth's history: two in which atmospheric pN 2 has changed unidirectionally (increased or decreased) over geologic time and one in which pN 2 could have taken a dramatic deflection following the Great Oxidation Event. It is impossible to discriminate between these scenarios with the currently available models and datasets. However, we are optimistic that this problem can be solved, following a sustained, open-minded, and multidisciplinary effort between surface and deep Earth communities. © 2017 The Authors Geobiology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. RECENT PROGRESS OF OXYGEN/NITROGEN SEPARATION USING MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY

    OpenAIRE

    K. C. CHONG; S. O. LAI; H. S. THIAM; H. C. TEOH; S. L. HENG

    2016-01-01

    The oxygen-enriched air is highly demanded for various industrial applications such as medical, chemical and enhanced combustion processes. The conventional oxygen/nitrogen production is either cryogenic distillation or pressure swing adsorption (PSA). Both of these techniques possess the production capability of 20 to 300 tonnes of oxygen per day and oxygen purity of more than 95%. However, these techniques are energy intensive. Alternatively, membrane technology is an emerging technology...

  4. Cycling the hot CNO: a teaching methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frost-Schenk, J. W.; Diget, C. Aa; Bentley, M. A.; Tuff, A.

    2018-03-01

    An interactive activity to teach the hot Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen (HCNO) cycle is proposed. Justification for why the HCNO cycle is important is included via an example of x-ray bursts. The activity allows teaching and demonstration of half-life, nuclear isotopes, nuclear reactions, protons and α-particles, and catalytic processes. Whilst the process example is specific to astrophysics it may be used to teach more broadly about catalytic processes. This practical is designed for use with 10-20 participants, with the intention that the exercise will convey nuclear physics principles in a fun and interactive manner.

  5. EMERGY ANALYSIS OF THE PREHISTORIC NITROGEN CYCLE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Several relationships between the specific emergy or the emergy per unit mass and the mass concentration of nitrogen were shown to exist through an analysis of the global nitrogen cycle. These observed relationships were interpreted by examining the nature of the underlying ener...

  6. Nitrogen removal in a SBR operated with and without pre-denitrification: effect of the carbon:nitrogen ratio and the cycle time.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mees, Juliana Bortoli Rodrigues; Gomes, Simone Damasceno; Hasan, Salah Din Mahmud; Gomes, Benedito Martins; Boas, Márcio Antonio Vilas

    2014-01-01

    The effects of cycle time (CT) (8, 12 and 16h) and C/N ratio (3, 6 and 9) on nitrogen removal efficiencies in a bench top sequencing batch reactor treating slaughterhouse wastewater were investigated under different operating conditions: in condition 1, the reaction comprises an aerobic/anoxic phase and in condition II, the reaction comprises anoxic I/aerobic/anoxic II phases (with pre-denitrification). The greatest percentages of nitrogen removal were obtained in the CT range from 12 to 16 h and C/N ratios from 3 to 6, with mean efficiency values of 80.76% and 85.57% in condition I and 90.99% and 91.09% in condition II. Although condition II gave a higher removal of total inorganic nitrogen (NH4+ - N + NO2- - N + NO3- - N) than condition I, only condition I showed statistically significant and predictive regression for all the steps of nitrogen removal.

  7. Cycling of grain legume residue nitrogen

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, E.S.

    1995-01-01

    Symbiotic nitrogen fixation by legumes is the main input of nitrogen in ecological agriculture. The cycling of N-15-labelled mature pea (Pisum sativum L.) residues was studied during three years in small field plots and lysimeters. The residual organic labelled N declined rapidly during the initial...... management methods in order to conserve grain legume residue N sources within the soil-plant system....

  8. Hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Hong

    2017-08-03

    The present invention is a structure, method of making and method of use for a novel macroscopic hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped, nano-porous carbon membrane (HNDCMs) with asymmetric and hierarchical pore architecture that can be produced on a large-scale approach. The unique HNDCM holds great promise as components in separation and advanced carbon devices because they could offer unconventional fluidic transport phenomena on the nanoscale. Overall, the invention set forth herein covers a hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes and methods of making and using such a membranes.

  9. Nutrient amendment does not increase mineralisation of sequestered carbon during incubation of a nitrogen limited mangrove soil

    KAUST Repository

    Keuskamp, Joost A.

    2013-02-01

    Mangrove forests are sites of intense carbon and nutrient cycling, which result in soil carbon sequestration on a global scale. Currently, mangrove forests receive increasing quantities of exogenous nutrients due to coastal development. The present paper quantifies the effects of nutrient loading on microbial growth rates and the mineralisation of soil organic carbon (SOC) in two mangrove soils contrasting in carbon content. An increase in SOC mineralisation rates would lead to the loss of historically sequestered carbon and an enhanced CO2 release from these mangrove soils.In an incubation experiment we enriched soils from Avicennia and Rhizophora mangrove forests bordering the Red Sea with different combinations of nitrogen, phosphorus and glucose to mimic the effects of wastewater influx. We measured microbial growth rates as well as carbon mineralisation rates in the natural situation and after enrichment. The results show that microbial growth is energy limited in both soils, with nitrogen as a secondary limitation. Nitrogen amendment increased the rate at which labile organic carbon was decomposed, while it decreased SOC mineralisation rates. Such an inhibitory effect on SOC mineralisation was not found for phosphorus enrichment.Our data confirm the negative effect of nitrogen enrichment on the mineralisation of recalcitrant carbon compounds found in other systems. Based on our results it is not to be expected that nutrient enrichment by itself will cause degradation of historically sequestered soil organic carbon in nitrogen limited mangrove forests. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

  10. Investigations on the nitrogen cycle in the coastal North Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fan, H.

    2016-01-01

    This thesis focuses on the nitrogen cycle in Dutch coastal waters and sediments. Themain hypothesis of this study was that the different steps of the nitrogen cycle occurspatially and temporally separated from each other rather than that the cycle is closedin the same place and time. To verify this

  11. Regulation causes nitrogen cycling discontinuities in Mediterranean rivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Schiller, Daniel; Aristi, Ibon; Ponsatí, Lídia; Arroita, Maite; Acuña, Vicenç; Elosegi, Arturo; Sabater, Sergi

    2016-01-01

    River regulation has fundamentally altered large sections of the world's river networks. The effects of dams on the structural properties of downstream reaches are well documented, but less is known about their effect on river ecosystem processes. We investigated the effect of dams on river nutrient cycling by comparing net uptake of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), phosphorus (TDP) and organic carbon (DOC) in river reaches located upstream and downstream from three reservoir systems in the Ebro River basin (NE Iberian Peninsula). Increased hydromorphological stability, organic matter standing stocks and ecosystem metabolism below dams enhanced the whole-reach net uptake of TDN, but not that of TDP or DOC. Upstream from dams, river reaches tended to be at biogeochemical equilibrium (uptake≈release) for all nutrients, whereas river reaches below dams acted as net sinks of TDN. Overall, our results suggest that flow regulation by dams may cause relevant N cycling discontinuities in rivers. Higher net N uptake capacity below dams could lead to reduced N export to downstream ecosystems. Incorporating these discontinuities could significantly improve predictive models of N cycling and transport in complex river networks. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  12. Depletion of oxygen, nitrate and nitrite in the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone cause an imbalance of benthic nitrogen fluxes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommer, S.; Gier, J.; Treude, T.; Lomnitz, U.; Dengler, M.; Cardich, J.; Dale, A. W.

    2016-06-01

    Oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) are key regions for fixed nitrogen loss in both the sediments and the water column. During this study, the benthic contribution to N cycling was investigated at ten sites along a depth transect (74-989 m) across the Peruvian OMZ at 12°S. O2 levels were below detection limit down to ~500 m. Benthic fluxes of N2, NO3-, NO2-, NH4+, H2S and O2 were measured using benthic landers. Flux measurements on the shelf were made under extreme geochemical conditions consisting of a lack of O2, NO3- and NO2- in the bottom water and elevated seafloor sulphide release. These particular conditions were associated with a large imbalance in the benthic nitrogen cycle. The sediments on the shelf were densely covered by filamentous sulphur bacteria Thioploca, and were identified as major recycling sites for DIN releasing high amounts of NH4+up to 21.2 mmol m-2 d-1 that were far in excess of NH4+ release by ammonification. This difference was attributed to dissimilatory nitrate (or nitrite) reduction to ammonium (DNRA) that was partly being sustained by NO3- stored within the sulphur oxidizing bacteria. Sediments within the core of the OMZ (ca. 200-400 m) also displayed an excess flux of N of 3.5 mmol m-2 d-1 mainly as N2. Benthic nitrogen and sulphur cycling in the Peruvian OMZ appears to be particularly susceptible to bottom water fluctuations in O2, NO3- and NO2-, and may accelerate the onset of pelagic euxinia when NO3- and NO2- become depleted.

  13. Carbon and nitrogen burial in a plateau lake during eutrophication and phytoplankton blooms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Changchun; Zhang, Linlin; Li, Yunmei; Lin, Chen; Huang, Tao; Zhang, Mingli; Zhu, A-Xing; Yang, Hao; Wang, Xiaolei

    2018-03-01

    Organic carbon (OC) buried in lake sediment is an important component of the global carbon cycle. The impact of eutrophication on OC burial in lakes should be addressed due to worldwide lake eutrophication. Fourteen 210 Pb- and 137 Cs-dated sediment cores taken in Dianchi Lake (China) in August 2006 (seven cores) and July 2014 (seven cores) were analyzed to evaluate the response of the organic carbon accumulation rate (OCAR) to eutrophication and algal blooms over the past hundred years. The mean value of OCAR before eutrophication occurred in 1979, 16.62±7.53 (mean value±standard deviation), increased to 54.33±27.29gm -2 yr -1 after eutrophication. It further increased to 61.98±28.94gm -2 yr -1 after algal blooms occurred (1989). The accumulation rate of organic nitrogen (ONAR) is coupled with OCAR. The high loss rate of OC and organic nitrogen (ON) leads to a long-term burial efficiency of only 10% and 5% of OC and ON. However, this efficiency can still lead to an increase in OCAR by a factor of 4.55 during algal blooms in Dianchi Lake. Dianchi Lake stored 1.26±0.32 Tg carbon and 0.071±0.018 Tg nitrogen, including 0.94±0.23 Tg OC and 0.32±0.14 Tg inorganic carbon, 0.066±0.018 Tg ON, 0.002±0.001 Tg nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 -N) and 0.003±0.001 Tg ammonium nitrogen (NH 4 -N) between 1900 and 2012. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Carbon cost of plant nitrogen acquisition: global carbon cycle impact from an improved plant nitrogen cycle in the Community Land Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Mingjie; Fisher, Joshua B; Brzostek, Edward R; Phillips, Richard P

    2016-03-01

    Plants typically expend a significant portion of their available carbon (C) on nutrient acquisition - C that could otherwise support growth. However, given that most global terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) do not include the C cost of nutrient acquisition, these models fail to represent current and future constraints to the land C sink. Here, we integrated a plant productivity-optimized nutrient acquisition model - the Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen Model - into one of the most widely used TBMs, the Community Land Model. Global plant nitrogen (N) uptake is dynamically simulated in the coupled model based on the C costs of N acquisition from mycorrhizal roots, nonmycorrhizal roots, N-fixing microbes, and retranslocation (from senescing leaves). We find that at the global scale, plants spend 2.4 Pg C yr(-1) to acquire 1.0 Pg N yr(-1) , and that the C cost of N acquisition leads to a downregulation of global net primary production (NPP) by 13%. Mycorrhizal uptake represented the dominant pathway by which N is acquired, accounting for ~66% of the N uptake by plants. Notably, roots associating with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi - generally considered for their role in phosphorus (P) acquisition - are estimated to be the primary source of global plant N uptake owing to the dominance of AM-associated plants in mid- and low-latitude biomes. Overall, our coupled model improves the representations of NPP downregulation globally and generates spatially explicit patterns of belowground C allocation, soil N uptake, and N retranslocation at the global scale. Such model improvements are critical for predicting how plant responses to altered N availability (owing to N deposition, rising atmospheric CO2 , and warming temperatures) may impact the land C sink. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Investigations on the nitrogen cycle in the coastal North Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fan, H.

    2016-01-01

    This thesis focuses on the nitrogen cycle in Dutch coastal waters and sediments. The main hypothesis of this study was that the different steps of the nitrogen cycle occur spatially and temporally separated from each other rather than that the cycle is closed in the same place and time. To verify

  16. Solvent-induced synthesis of nitrogen-doped hollow carbon spheres with tunable surface morphology for supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Feng; Yuan, Ren-Lu; Zhang, Ning; Ke, Chang-Ce; Ma, Shao-Xia; Zhang, Ru-Liang; Liu, Lei

    2018-04-01

    Nitrogen doped hollow carbon spheres (NHCSs) with tunable surface morphology have been prepared through one-pot carbonization method by using melamine-formaldehyde spheres as template and resorcinol-based resin as carbon precursor in ethanol-water solution. Well-dispersed NHCSs with particle size of 800 nm were obtained and the surface of NHCSs turn from smooth to tough, wrinkled, and finally concave by increasing the ethanol concentration. The fabricated NHCSs possessed high nitrogen content (3.99-4.83%) and hierarchical micro-dual mesoporous structure with surface area range of 265-405 m2 g-1 and total pore volume of 0.18-0.29 cm3 g-1, which contributed to high specific capacitance, excellent rate capability and long cycle life.

  17. Achieving low effluent NO3-N and TN concentrations in low influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) to total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) ratio without using external carbon source

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Jiashun; Oleyiblo, Oloche James; Xue, Zhaoxia; Otache, Y. Martins; Feng, Qian

    2015-07-01

    Two mathematical models were used to optimize the performance of a full-scale biological nutrient removal (BNR) activated treatment plant, a plug-flow bioreactors operated in a 3-stage phoredox process configuration, anaerobic anoxic oxic (A2/O). The ASM2d implemented on the platform of WEST2011 software and the BioWin activated sludge/anaerobic digestion (AS/AD) models were used in this study with the aim of consistently achieving the designed effluent criteria at a low operational cost. Four ASM2d parameters (the reduction factor for denitrification , the maximum growth rate of heterotrophs (µH), the rate constant for stored polyphosphates in PAOs ( q pp), and the hydrolysis rate constant ( k h)) were adjusted. Whereas three BioWin parameters (aerobic decay rate ( b H), heterotrophic dissolved oxygen (DO) half saturation ( K OA), and Y P/acetic) were adjusted. Calibration of the two models was successful; both models have average relative deviations (ARD) less than 10% for all the output variables. Low effluent concentrations of nitrate nitrogen (N-NO3), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) were achieved in a full-scale BNR treatment plant having low influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) to total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) ratio (COD/TKN). The effluent total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen concentrations were improved by 50% and energy consumption was reduced by approximately 25%, which was accomplished by converting the two-pass aerobic compartment of the plug-flow bioreactor to anoxic reactors and being operated in an alternating mode. Findings in this work are helpful in improving the operation of wastewater treatment plant while eliminating the cost of external carbon source and reducing energy consumption.

  18. Inherent N,O-containing carbon frameworks as electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Fangyuan; Wang, Jinyan; Hu, Shui; Li, Linfei; Wang, Gang; Qiu, Jieshan; Jian, Xigao

    2016-09-15

    N,O-Containing micropore-dominated materials have been developed successfully via temperature-dependent cross-linking of 4,4'-(dioxo-diphenyl-2,3,6,7-tetraazaanthracenediyl)dibenzonitrile (DPDN) monomers. By employing a molecular engineering strategy, we have designed and synthesized a series of porous heteroatom-containing carbon frameworks (PHCFs), in which nitrogen and oxygen heteroatoms are distributed homogeneously throughout the whole framework at the atomic level, which can ensure the stability of its electrical properties. The as-made PHCFs@550 exhibits a high specific capacitance of 378 F g -1 , with an excellent long cycling life, including excellent cycling stability (capacitance retention of ca. 120% over 20 000 cycles). Moreover, the successful preparation of PHCFs provides new insights for the fabrication of nitrogen and oxygen-containing electrode materials from readily available components via a facile route.

  19. The mechanism of enhanced wastewater nitrogen removal by photo-sequencing batch reactors based on comprehensive analysis of system dynamics within a cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Jianfeng; Liang, Junyu; Wang, Liang; Markou, Giorgos

    2018-07-01

    To understand the mechanism of enhanced nitrogen removal by photo-sequencing batch reactors (photo-SBRs), which incorporated microalgal photosynthetic oxygenation into the aerobic phases of a conventional cycle, this study performed comprehensive analysis of one-cycle dynamics. Under a low aeration intensity (about 0.02 vvm), a photo-SBR, illuminated with light at 92.27 μ·mol·m -2 ·s -1 , could remove 99.45% COD, 99.93% NH 4 + -N, 90.39% TN, and 95.17% TP, while the control SBR could only remove 98.36% COD, 83.51% NH 4 + -N, 78.96% TN, and 97.75% TP, for a synthetic domestic sewage. The specific oxygen production rate (SOPR) of microalgae in the photo-SBR could reach 6.63 fmol O 2 ·cell -1 ·h -1 . One-cycle dynamics shows that the enhanced nitrogen removal by photo-SBRs is related to photosynthetic oxygenation, resulting in strengthened nitrification, instead of direct nutrient uptake by microalgae. A too high light or aeration intensity could deteriorate anoxic conditions and thus adversely affect the removal of TN and TP in photo-SBRs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Optimising carbon and nitrogen sources for Azotobacter ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The present work deals with selecting and optimization of carbon and nitrogen sources for producing biomass from Azotobacter chroococcum. Four carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, manitol and sodium benzoate) and four nitrogen sources (yeast extract, meat extract, NH4Cl and (NH4)2SO4) were evaluated during the first ...

  1. Transforming waste biomass with an intrinsically porous network structure into porous nitrogen-doped graphene for highly efficient oxygen reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Huang; Zhang, Jian; Amiinu, Ibrahim Saana; Zhang, Chenyu; Liu, Xiaobo; Tu, Wenmao; Pan, Mu; Mu, Shichun

    2016-04-21

    Porous nitrogen-doped graphene with a very high surface area (1152 m(2) g(-1)) is synthesized by a novel strategy using intrinsically porous biomass (soybean shells) as a carbon and nitrogen source via calcination and KOH activation. To redouble the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity by tuning the doped-nitrogen content and type, ammonia (NH3) is injected during thermal treatment. Interestingly, this biomass-derived graphene catalyst exhibits the unique properties of mesoporosity and high pyridine-nitrogen content, which contribute to the excellent oxygen reduction performance. As a result, the onset and half-wave potentials of the new metal-free non-platinum catalyst reach -0.009 V and -0.202 V (vs. SCE), respectively, which is very close to the catalytic activity of the commercial Pt/C catalyst in alkaline media. Moreover, our catalyst has a higher ORR stability and stronger CO and CH3OH tolerance than Pt/C in alkaline media. Importantly, in acidic media, the catalyst also exhibits good ORR performance and higher ORR stability compared to Pt/C.

  2. Novel Co3O4 Nanoparticles/Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Composites with Extraordinary Catalytic Activity for Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xiaobing; Chen, Juan; Chen, Yuqing; Feng, Pingjing; Lai, Huixian; Li, Jintang; Luo, Xuetao

    2018-03-01

    Herein, Co3O4 nanoparticles/nitrogen-doped carbon (Co3O4/NPC) composites with different structures were prepared via a facile method. Structure control was achieved by the rational morphology design of ZIF-67 precursors, which were then pyrolyzed in air to obtain Co3O4/NPC composites. When applied as catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the M-Co3O4/NPC composites derived from the flower-like ZIF-67 showed superior catalytic activities than those derived from the rhombic dodecahedron and hollow spherical ZIF-67. The former M-Co3O4/NPC composite displayed a small over-potential of 0.3 V, low onset potential of 1.41 V, small Tafel slope of 83 mV dec-1, and a desirable stability. (94.7% OER activity was retained after 10 h.) The excellent performance of the flower-like M-Co3O4/NPC composite in the OER was attributed to its favorable structure. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

  3. Nitrogen doped activated carbon from pea skin for high performance supercapacitor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Sultan; Ahmed, Ahsan; Rafat, M.

    2018-04-01

    In this work, nitrogen doped porous carbon (NDC) has been synthesized employing a facile two-step process. Firstly, carbon precursor (pea skin) was heated with melamine (acting as nitrogen source) followed by activation with KOH in different ratios. The dependence of porosity and nitrogen content on impregnation ratio was extensively studied. Other textural properties of prepared NDC sample were studied using standard techniques of material characterization. The electrochemical performance of NDC sample as an electrode was studied in two-electrode symmetric supercapacitor system. 1 M LiTFSI (lithium bis-trifluoromethanesulfonimide) solution in IL EMITFSI (1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide), was used as electrolyte. It was found that the fabricated supercapacitor cell offers high values of specific capacitance (141.1 F g‑1), specific energy (19.6 Wh kg‑1) and specific power (25.4 kW kg‑1) at current density of 1.3 A g‑1. More importantly, the fabricated supercapacitor cell shows capacitance retention of ∼75%, for more than 5000 cycles. The enhanced performance of NDC sample is primarily due to large surface area with favorable surface structure (contributing to double layer capacitance) and presence of nitrogen functionalities (contributing to pseudo-capacitance). Such important features make the synthesized NDC sample, an attractive choice for electrode material in high performance supercapacitor.

  4. Arctic shelves as platforms for biogeochemical activity: Nitrogen and carbon transformations in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardison, Amber K.; McTigue, Nathan D.; Gardner, Wayne S.; Dunton, Kenneth H.

    2017-10-01

    Continental shelves comprise 50% of marine denitrification. The Hanna Shoal region, part of the continental shelf system in the northeast Chukchi Sea, Alaska, is recognized for its high biodiversity and productivity. We investigated the role of sediments in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling at five stations on the shallow Hanna Shoal. In particular, we asked (1) how much sediment organic matter is remineralized in the Chukchi Sea, and what factors drive this degradation, (2) do sediments function as a net source for fixed nitrogen (thus fueling primary production in the overlying water), or as a net sink for fixed nitrogen (thereby removing it from the system), and (3) what is the balance between sediment NH4+ uptake and regeneration, and what factors drive NH4+ cycling? We conducted dark sediment core incubations to measure sediment O2 consumption, net N2 and nutrient (NH4+, NO3-, NO2-, PO43-) fluxes, and rates of sediment NH4+ cycling, including uptake and regeneration. Rates of sediment O2 consumption and NH4+ and PO43- efflux suggest that high organic matter remineralization rates occurred in these cold (-2 °C) sediments. We estimated that total organic carbon remineralization accounted for 20-57% of summer export production measured on the Chukchi Shelf. Net N2 release was the dominant nitrogen flux, indicating that sediments acted as a net sink for bioavailable nitrogen via denitrification. Organic carbon remineralization via denitrification accounted for 6-12% of summer export production, which made up 25% of the total organic carbon oxidized in Hanna Shoal sediments. These shallow, productive Arctic shelves are ;hotspots; for organic matter remineralization.

  5. Remarkable activity of nitrogen-doped hollow carbon spheres encapsulated Cu on synthesis of dimethyl carbonate: Role of effective nitrogen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Haixia; Zhao, Jinxian; Shi, Ruina; Hao, Panpan; Liu, Shusen; Li, Zhong; Ren, Jun

    2018-04-01

    A critical aspect in the improvement of the catalytic performance of Cu-based catalysts for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is the development of an appropriate support. In this work, nitrogen-doped hollow carbon spheres (NHCSs), with 240 nm average diameter, 17 nm shell thickness, uniform mesoporous structure and a specific surface area of 611 m2 g-1, were prepared via a two-step Stӧber method. By varying the quantity of nitrogen-containing phenols used in the preparation it has been possible to control the nitrogen content and, consequently, the sphericity of the NHCSs. It was found that perfect spheres were obtained for nitrogen contents below 5.4 wt.%. The catalysts (Cu@NHCSs) were prepared by the hydrothermal impregnation method. The catalytic activity towards DMC synthesis was notably enhanced due to the immobilization effect on Cu particles and the enhanced electron transfer effect exercised by the effective nitrogen species, including pyridinic-N and graphitic-N. When the average size of the copper nanoparticles was 7.4 nm and the nitrogen content was 4.0 wt.%, the values of space-time yield of DMC and of turnover frequency (TOF) reached 1528 mg/(g h) and 11.0 h-1, respectively. The TOF value of Cu@NHCSs was 6 times higher than non-doped Cu@Carbon (2.1 h-1). The present work introduces the potential application of nitrogen-doped carbon materials and presents a novel procedure for the preparation of catalysts for DMC synthesis.

  6. Preparation of nitrogen-doped carbon tubes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Hoon Taek; Zelenay, Piotr

    2015-12-22

    A method for synthesizing nitrogen-doped carbon tubes involves preparing a solution of cyanamide and a suitable transition metal-containing salt in a solvent, evaporating the solvent to form a solid, and pyrolyzing the solid under an inert atmosphere under conditions suitable for the production of nitrogen-doped carbon tubes from the solid. Pyrolyzing for a shorter period of time followed by rapid cooling resulted in a tubes with a narrower average diameter.

  7. The Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ACVDmethod was used to prepare high-quality nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes (N-MWCNTs) using acetonitrile as the nitrogen and carbon source and acetylene as a carbon source over an Fe-Co/CaCO3 catalyst in the temperature range 700–850 °C. This represents a continuation of earlier work in which ...

  8. Reactivity of amino acid anions with nitrogen and oxygen atoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhe-Chen; Li, Ya-Ke; He, Sheng-Gui; Bierbaum, Veronica M

    2018-02-14

    For many decades, astronomers have searched for biological molecules, including amino acids, in the interstellar medium; this endeavor is important for investigating the hypothesis of the origin of life from space. The space environment is complex and atomic species, such as nitrogen and oxygen atoms, are widely distributed. In this work, the reactions of eight typical deprotonated amino acids (glycine, alanine, cysteine, proline, aspartic acid, histidine, tyrosine, and tryptophan) with ground state nitrogen and oxygen atoms are studied by experiment and theory. These amino acid anions do not react with nitrogen atoms. However, the reactions of these ions with oxygen atoms show an intriguing variety of ionic products and the reaction rate constants are of the order of 10 -10 cm 3 s -1 . Density functional calculations provide detailed mechanisms of the reactions, and demonstrate that spin conversion is essential for some processes. Our study provides important data and insights for understanding the kinetic and dynamic behavior of amino acids in space environments.

  9. Polyol synthesis in Aspergillus niger : influence of oxygen availability, carbon and nitrogen sources on the metabolism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Diano, Audrey; Bekker-Jensen, S; Dynesen, Jens Østergaard

    2006-01-01

    Polyol production has been studied in Aspergillus niger under different conditions. Fermentations have been run using high concentration of glucose or xylose as carbon source and ammonium or nitrate as nitrogen source. The growth of biomass, as freely dispersed hyphae, led to an increase of medium...

  10. Electrocatalytic and supercapacitor performance of Phosphorous and Nitrogen co-doped Porous Carbons synthesized from Aminated Tannins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bairi, Venu Gopal; Nasini, Udaya B.; Kumar Ramasahayam, Sunil; Bourdo, Shawn E.; Viswanathan, Tito

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Microwave Synthetic technique using aminated tannins is reported for the first time. • P,N doped carbon was characterized extensively for physico-chemical properties. • Cyclic Voltammetry, RDE and RRDE studies were investigated for O 2 reduction capability. • O 2 reduction occurred by a kinetically favored one step four electron reduction pathway. • The charge storage capacity was found to be 161 F/g at 5 mV/S in alkaline conditions. - Abstract: A phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped carbon material (PNDC) was synthesized from aminated tannin and polyphosphoric acid by a rapid and highly efficient microwave synthetic technique. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study was useful in the identification of nitrogen and phosphorous environments in a sp 2 hybridized carbon lattice. The PNDC was found to be a porous material with a surface area of 433 m 2 g −1 . PNDC sample exhibited excellent thermal stability and the Raman spectroscopic studies were used for analyzing defects in the sp 2 hybridized carbon lattice. This material has promising electrochemical applications, especially for catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells and for charge storage in supercapacitors. The oxygen reduction capability of PNDC was investigated in 0.1 M KOH solution, and rotating disk and ring disk electrode studies were performed to identify the mechanism of oxygen reduction. The capacitative behavior of the PNDC was investigated in 6 M KOH and specific capacitance was determined to be 161 F g −1 due to the electric double layer charge storage phenomenon.

  11. Nitrogen- and oxygen-enriched carbon with square tubular structure prepared from polyaniline as electrode for supercapacitors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiang, X.; Liu, E.; Wu, Y.; Tian, Y.; Xie, H.; Wu, Z.; Zhu, Y. [Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Chemistry and Applications of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Hunan (China)

    2012-10-15

    Square tubular carbon with a large number of surface functional groups are prepared by carbonizing and activating polyaniline, which are synthesized by polymerization of aniline with a template-free self-assembly method in aqueous media. The physicochemical properties of the square tubular carbon is characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area measurements, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. When used as an electrode, the square tubular carbon exhibit a specific capacitance of 223 F g{sup -1} at a scan rate of 2 mV s{sup -1}, which could still stay over 90% when the scan rate increased by 10 times. The specific capacitance even hardly decrease at a current density of 3 A g{sup -1} after 10,000 cycles, which indicates that the square tubular carbon have good cycle durability and may be a promising candidate as an electrode for supercapacitors. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  12. Transcriptional Activities of the Microbial Consortium Living with the Marine Nitrogen-Fixing Cyanobacterium Trichodesmium Reveal Potential Roles in Community-Level Nitrogen Cycling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Michael D; Webb, Eric A; Walworth, Nathan G; Fu, Fei-Xue; Held, Noelle A; Saito, Mak A; Hutchins, David A

    2018-01-01

    Trichodesmium is a globally distributed cyanobacterium whose nitrogen-fixing capability fuels primary production in warm oligotrophic oceans. Like many photoautotrophs, Trichodesmium serves as a host to various other microorganisms, yet little is known about how this associated community modulates fluxes of environmentally relevant chemical species into and out of the supraorganismal structure. Here, we utilized metatranscriptomics to examine gene expression activities of microbial communities associated with Trichodesmium erythraeum (strain IMS101) using laboratory-maintained enrichment cultures that have previously been shown to harbor microbial communities similar to those of natural populations. In enrichments maintained under two distinct CO 2 concentrations for ∼8 years, the community transcriptional profiles were found to be specific to the treatment, demonstrating a restructuring of overall gene expression had occurred. Some of this restructuring involved significant increases in community respiration-related transcripts under elevated CO 2 , potentially facilitating the corresponding measured increases in host nitrogen fixation rates. Particularly of note, in both treatments, community transcripts involved in the reduction of nitrate, nitrite, and nitrous oxide were detected, suggesting the associated organisms may play a role in colony-level nitrogen cycling. Lastly, a taxon-specific analysis revealed distinct ecological niches of consistently cooccurring major taxa that may enable, or even encourage, the stable cohabitation of a diverse community within Trichodesmium consortia. IMPORTANCE Trichodesmium is a genus of globally distributed, nitrogen-fixing marine cyanobacteria. As a source of new nitrogen in otherwise nitrogen-deficient systems, these organisms help fuel carbon fixation carried out by other more abundant photoautotrophs and thereby have significant roles in global nitrogen and carbon cycling. Members of the Trichodesmium genus tend to

  13. Structural properties of nitrogenated amorphous carbon films: Influence of deposition temperature and radiofrequency discharge power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lazar, G.; Bouchet-Fabre, B.; Zellama, K.; Clin, M.; Ballutaud, D.; Godet, C.

    2008-01-01

    The structural properties of nitrogenated amorphous carbon deposited by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering of graphite in pure N 2 plasma are investigated as a function of the substrate temperature and radiofrequency discharge power. The film composition is derived from x-ray photoemission spectroscopy, nuclear reaction analysis and elastic recoil detection measurements and the film microstructure is discussed using infrared, Raman, x-ray photoemission and near edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopic results. At low deposition temperature and low radiofrequency power, the films are soft, porous, and easily contaminated with water vapor and other atmospheric components. The concentration of nitrogen in the films is very large for low deposition temperatures (∼33.6 at. % N at 150 deg. C) but decreases strongly when the synthesis temperature increases (∼15 at. % N at 450 deg. C). With increasing deposition temperature and discharge power values, the main observed effects in amorphous carbon nitride alloys are a loss of nitrogen atoms, a smaller hydrogen and oxygen contamination related to the film densification, an increased order of the aromatic sp 2 phase, and a strong change in the nitrogen distribution within the carbon matrix. Structural changes are well correlated with modifications of the optical and transport properties

  14. Nitrogen narcosis induced by repetitive hyperbaric nitrogen oxygen mixture exposure impairs long-term cognitive function in newborn mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Peng

    Full Text Available Human beings are exposed to compressed air or a nitrogen-oxygen mixture, they will produce signs and symptoms of nitrogen narcosis such as amnesia or even loss of memory, which may be disappeared once back to the normobaric environment. This study was designed to investigate the effect of nitrogen narcosis induced by repetitive hyperbaric nitrogen-oxygen mixture exposure on long-term cognitive function in newborn mice and the underlying mechanisms. The electroencephalogram frequency was decreased while the amplitude was increased in a pressure-dependent manner during 0.6, 1.2, 1.8 MPa (million pascal nitrogen-oxygen mixture exposures in adult mice. Nitrogen narcosis in postnatal days 7-9 mice but not in adult mice induced by repetitive hyperbaric exposure prolonged the latency to find the platform and decreased the number of platform-site crossovers during Morris water maze tests, and reduced the time in the center during the open field tests. An increase in the expression of cleaved caspase-3 in the hippocampus and cortex were observed immediately on the first day after hyperbaric exposure, and this lasted for seven days. Additionally, nitrogen narcosis induced loss of the dendritic spines but not of the neurons, which may mainly account for the cognitive dysfunction. Nitrogen narcosis induced long-term cognitive and emotional dysfunction in the postnatal mice but not in the adult mice, which may result from neuronal apoptosis and especially reduction of dendritic spines of neurons.

  15. The History and Impact of the CNO Cycles in Nuclear Astrophysics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiescher, Michael

    2018-03-01

    The carbon cycle, or Bethe-Weizsäcker cycle, plays an important role in astrophysics as one of the most important energy sources for quiescent and explosive hydrogen burning in stars. This paper presents the intellectual and historical background of the idea of the correlation between stellar energy production and the synthesis of the chemical elements in stars on the example of this cycle. In particular, it addresses the contributions of Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker and Hans Bethe, who provided the first predictions of the carbon cycle. Further, the experimental verification of the predicted process as it developed over the following decades is discussed, as well as the extension of the initial carbon cycle to the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) multi-cycles and the hot CNO cycles. This development emerged from the detailed experimental studies of the associated nuclear reactions over more than seven decades. Finally, the impact of the experimental and theoretical results on our present understanding of hydrogen burning in different stellar environments is presented, as well as the impact on our understanding of the chemical evolution of our universe.

  16. Overlooked runaway feedback in the marine nitrogen cycle: the vicious cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Landolfi

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The marine nitrogen (N inventory is thought to be stabilized by negative feedback mechanisms that reduce N inventory excursions relative to the more slowly overturning phosphorus inventory. Using a global biogeochemical ocean circulation model we show that negative feedbacks stabilizing the N inventory cannot persist if a close spatial association of N2 fixation and denitrification occurs. In our idealized model experiments, nitrogen deficient waters, generated by denitrification, stimulate local N2 fixation activity. But, because of stoichiometric constraints, the denitrification of newly fixed nitrogen leads to a net loss of N. This can enhance the N deficit, thereby triggering additional fixation in a vicious cycle, ultimately leading to a runaway N loss. To break this vicious cycle, and allow for stabilizing negative feedbacks to occur, inputs of new N need to be spatially decoupled from denitrification. Our idealized model experiments suggest that factors such as iron limitation or dissolved organic matter cycling can promote such decoupling and allow for negative feedbacks that stabilize the N inventory. Conversely, close spatial co-location of N2 fixation and denitrification could lead to net N loss.

  17. Nitrogen removal from coal gasification wastewater by activated carbon technologies combined with short-cut nitrogen removal process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Qian; Han, Hongjun; Hou, Baolin; Zhuang, Haifeng; Jia, Shengyong; Fang, Fang

    2014-11-01

    A system combining granular activated carbon and powdered activated carbon technologies along with shortcut biological nitrogen removal (GAC-PACT-SBNR) was developed to enhance total nitrogen (TN) removal for anaerobically treated coal gasification wastewater with less need for external carbon resources. The TN removal efficiency in SBNR was significantly improved by introducing the effluent from the GAC process into SBNR during the anoxic stage, with removal percentage increasing from 43.8%-49.6% to 68.8%-75.8%. However, the TN removal rate decreased with the progressive deterioration of GAC adsorption. After adding activated sludge to the GAC compartment, the granular carbon had a longer service-life and the demand for external carbon resources became lower. Eventually, the TN removal rate in SBNR was almost constant at approx. 43.3%, as compared to approx. 20.0% before seeding with sludge. In addition, the production of some alkalinity during the denitrification resulted in a net savings in alkalinity requirements for the nitrification reaction and refractory chemical oxygen demand (COD) degradation by autotrophic bacteria in SBNR under oxic conditions. PACT showed excellent resilience to increasing organic loadings. The microbial community analysis revealed that the PACT had a greater variety of bacterial taxons and the dominant species associated with the three compartments were in good agreement with the removal of typical pollutants. The study demonstrated that pre-adsorption by the GAC-sludge process could be a technically and economically feasible method to enhance TN removal in coal gasification wastewater (CGW). Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  18. Earth Without Life: A Systems Model of a Global Abiotic Nitrogen Cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laneuville, Matthieu; Kameya, Masafumi; Cleaves, H James

    2018-03-20

    Nitrogen is the major component of Earth's atmosphere and plays important roles in biochemistry. Biological systems have evolved a variety of mechanisms for fixing and recycling environmental nitrogen sources, which links them tightly with terrestrial nitrogen reservoirs. However, prior to the emergence of biology, all nitrogen cycling was abiological, and this cycling may have set the stage for the origin of life. It is of interest to understand how nitrogen cycling would proceed on terrestrial planets with comparable geodynamic activity to Earth, but on which life does not arise. We constructed a kinetic mass-flux model of nitrogen cycling in its various major chemical forms (e.g., N 2 , reduced (NH x ) and oxidized (NO x ) species) between major planetary reservoirs (the atmosphere, oceans, crust, and mantle) and included inputs from space. The total amount of nitrogen species that can be accommodated in each reservoir, and the ways in which fluxes and reservoir sizes may have changed over time in the absence of biology, are explored. Given a partition of volcanism between arc and hotspot types similar to the modern ones, our global nitrogen cycling model predicts a significant increase in oceanic nitrogen content over time, mostly as NH x , while atmospheric N 2 content could be lower than today. The transport timescales between reservoirs are fast compared to the evolution of the environment; thus atmospheric composition is tightly linked to surface and interior processes. Key Words: Nitrogen cycle-Abiotic-Planetology-Astrobiology. Astrobiology 18, xxx-xxx.

  19. Preparation of nitrogen-doped biomass-derived carbon nanofibers/graphene aerogel as a binder-free electrode for high performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yimei; Wang, Fei; Zhu, Hao; Zhou, Lincheng; Zheng, Xinliang; Li, Xinghua; Chen, Zhuang; Wang, Yue; Zhang, Dandan; Pan, Duo

    2017-12-01

    Carbon materials derived from various biomasses have aroused forceful interest from scientific community based on their abundant resource, low cost, environment friendly and easy fabrication. Herein, the method has been developed to prepare nitrogen-doped biomass-derived carbon nanofibers/graphene aerogel (NCGA) as the binder-free electrode for supercapacitors. Ethylenediamine (EDA) is select as nitrogen source for its high nitrogen content and strong interaction with graphene oxide (GO) and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) via hydrothermal self-assembly method to form hybrid hydrogel, and finally converts to NCGA by freeze-drying and carbonization. After carbonization the insulated CNFs converted to high conductivity carbon nanofibers. The NCGA electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 289 F g-1 at 5 mV s-1 and high stability of 90.5% capacitance retention ratio after 5000 cycles at 3 A g-1. This novel biomass electrode could be potential candidate for high performance supercapacitors.

  20. Assessment of watershed scale nitrogen cycling and dynamics by hydrochemical modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onishi, T.; Hiramatsu, K.; Somura, H.

    2017-12-01

    Nitrogen cycling in terrestrial areas is affecting water quality and ecosystem of aquatic area such as lakes and oceans through rivers. Owing to the intensive researches on nitrogen cycling in each different type of ecosystem, we acquired rich knowledge on nitrogen cycling of each ecosystem. On the other hand, since watershed are composed of many different kinds of ecosystems, nitrogen cycling in a watershed as a complex of these ecosystems is not well quantified. Thus, comprehensive understanding of nitrogen cycling of watersheds by modelling efforts are required. In this study, we attempted to construct hydrochemical model of the Ise Bay watershed to reproduce discharge, TN, and NO3 concentration. The model is based on SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tools) model. As anthropogenic impacts related to both hydrological cycling and nitrogen cycling, agricultural water intake/drainage, and domestic water intake/drainage were considered. In addition, fertilizer input to agricultural lands were also considered. Calibration period and validation period are 2004-2006, and 2007-2009, respectively. As a result of calibration using 2000 times LCS (Latin Cubic Sampling) method, discharge of rivers were reproduced fairly well with NS of 0.6-0.8. In contrast, the calibration result of TN and NO3 concentration tended to show overestimate values in spite of considering parameter uncertainties. This implies that unimplemented denitrification processes in the model. Through exploring the results, it is indicated that riparian areas, and agricultural drainages might be important spots for denitrification. Based on the result, we also attempted to evaluate the impact of climate change on nitrogen cycling. Though it is fully explored, this result will also be reported.

  1. Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope fractionation during food cooking: Implications for the interpretation of the fossil human record.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royer, Aurélien; Daux, Valérie; Fourel, François; Lécuyer, Christophe

    2017-08-01

    Stable isotope data provide insight into the reconstruction of ancient human diet. However, cooking may alter the original stable isotope compositions of food due to losses and modifications of biochemical and water components. To address this issue, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope ratios were measured on meat aliquots sampled from various animals such as pork, beef, duck and chicken, and also from the flesh of fishes such as salmon, European seabass, European pilchard, sole, gilt-head bream, and tuna. For each specimen, three pieces were cooked according to the three most commonly-known cooking practices: boiling, frying and roasting on a barbecue. Our data show that cooking produced isotopic shifts up to 1.8‰, 3.5‰, and 5.2‰ for δ 13 C, δ 15 N, and δ 18 O values, respectively. Such variations between raw and cooked food are much greater than previously estimated in the literature; they are more sensitive to the type of food rather than to the cooking process itself, except in the case of boiling. Reconstructions of paleodietary may thus suffer slight bias in cases of populations with undiversified diets that are restrained toward a specific raw or cooked product, or using a specific cooking mode. In cases of oxygen isotope compositions from skeletal remains (bones, teeth), they not only constitute a valuable proxy for reconstructing past climatic conditions, but they could also be used to improve our knowledge of past human diet. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  2. Constraining the Exchange of Carbon and Nitrogen in Eastern Long Island Sound

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrd, A.; Warren, J. K.; Vlahos, P.; Whitney, M. M.

    2017-12-01

    Long Island Sound (LIS) is an urban estuary on the US east coast that undergoes seasonal hypoxia in its western and central regions. Currently, the budgets of both carbon and nitrogen in LIS remain unbalanced, despite their importance to the efficient and strategic management of the health of coastal and aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we evaluated the exchange values of C and N at the mouth of LIS (the Race), in order to constrain export through this important boundary. Discreet water samples were collected during four 15 km transects over the Race at five stations and three depths each station to resolve the temporal variability over a complete tidal cycle, in order to assess both net flux and variations across the tidal period. By evaluating both the particulate and dissolved pools of carbon (POC, PIC, DOC, DIC) and nitrogen (PON, DON, DIN) during the spring, summer and winter (high and low flow conditions) and pairing these measurements with physical data, we were able to identify a variety of forcing and export regimes. Preliminary results indicate the importance of spatial and tidal variability on flux estimates and show little or no export (and sometimes import) of nitrogen and significant export of organic carbon.

  3. Nitrogen-doped porous carbon monoliths from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and carbon nanotubes as electrodes for supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yanqing; Fugetsu, Bunshi; Wang, Zhipeng; Gong, Wei; Sakata, Ichiro; Morimoto, Shingo; Hashimoto, Yoshio; Endo, Morinobu; Dresselhaus, Mildred; Terrones, Mauricio

    2017-01-01

    Nitrogen-doped porous activated carbon monoliths (NDP-ACMs) have long been the most desirable materials for supercapacitors. Unique to the conventional template based Lewis acid/base activation methods, herein, we report on a simple yet practicable novel approach to production of the three-dimensional NDP-ACMs (3D-NDP-ACMs). Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) contained carbon nanotubes (CNTs), being pre-dispersed into a tubular level of dispersions, were used as the starting material and the 3D-NDP-ACMs were obtained via a template-free process. First, a continuous mesoporous PAN/CNT based 3D monolith was established by using a template-free temperature-induced phase separation (TTPS). Second, a nitrogen-doped 3D-ACM with a surface area of 613.8 m2/g and a pore volume 0.366 cm3/g was obtained. A typical supercapacitor with our 3D-NDP-ACMs as the functioning electrodes gave a specific capacitance stabilized at 216 F/g even after 3000 cycles, demonstrating the advantageous performance of the PAN/CNT based 3D-NDP-ACMs. PMID:28074847

  4. Nitrogen-doped porous carbon monoliths from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and carbon nanotubes as electrodes for supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yanqing; Fugetsu, Bunshi; Wang, Zhipeng; Gong, Wei; Sakata, Ichiro; Morimoto, Shingo; Hashimoto, Yoshio; Endo, Morinobu; Dresselhaus, Mildred; Terrones, Mauricio

    2017-01-11

    Nitrogen-doped porous activated carbon monoliths (NDP-ACMs) have long been the most desirable materials for supercapacitors. Unique to the conventional template based Lewis acid/base activation methods, herein, we report on a simple yet practicable novel approach to production of the three-dimensional NDP-ACMs (3D-NDP-ACMs). Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) contained carbon nanotubes (CNTs), being pre-dispersed into a tubular level of dispersions, were used as the starting material and the 3D-NDP-ACMs were obtained via a template-free process. First, a continuous mesoporous PAN/CNT based 3D monolith was established by using a template-free temperature-induced phase separation (TTPS). Second, a nitrogen-doped 3D-ACM with a surface area of 613.8 m 2 /g and a pore volume 0.366 cm 3 /g was obtained. A typical supercapacitor with our 3D-NDP-ACMs as the functioning electrodes gave a specific capacitance stabilized at 216 F/g even after 3000 cycles, demonstrating the advantageous performance of the PAN/CNT based 3D-NDP-ACMs.

  5. Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped porous carbon – is an efficient electrocatalyst as platinum or a hoax for oxygen reduction reaction in acidic environment PEM fuel cell?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sahoo, Madhumita; Ramaprabhu, S.

    2017-01-01

    Non-precious, heteroatom doped carbon is reported to replace commercial Pt/C in both alkaline and acidic half-cell rotating disc electrode study; however the real world full cell measurements with the metal-free electrocatalysts overcoming the practical troubles in acidic environment proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are almost negligible to confirm the claim. Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped porous carbon (DPC) was synthesized in a one step, high yield process from single source ionic liquid precursor using eutectic salt as porogens to achieve porosity. Structural characterization confirms 7.03% nitrogen and 1.68% sulfur doping into the high surface area, porous carbon structure. As the cathode oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst, metal-free DPC and Pt nanoparticles decorated DPC (Pt/DPC) shows stable and high exchange current density by four electron transfer pathway in acidic half–cell liquid environment due to the synergistic effect of nitrogen and sulfur doping and porous nature of DPC. In an actual solid state full cell measurement, Pt/DPC shows higher performance comparable to commercial Pt/C; however DPC failed to reciprocate the half-cell performance due to blockage of active sites in the membrane electrode assembly fabrication process. - Highlights: • Synthesis of N and S co-doped porous carbon (DPC) in simple one-pot technique. • High surface area DPC shows comparable activity for ORR in half-cell acidic PEMFC study. • Real-world performance of DPC gives 20 mW/cm 2 peak power density at 60 °C. • Homogeneous Pt nanoparticles decorated DPC (Pt/DPC) outperforms commercial Pt/C. • Pt/DPC shows maximum power density of 718 mW/cm 2 with lower 0.3 mg/cm 2 total Pt loading.

  6. Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks of Different Hawaiian Sugarcane Cultivars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca Tirado-Corbalá

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Sugarcane has been widely used as a biofuel crop due to its high biological productivity, ease of conversion to ethanol, and its relatively high potential for greenhouse gas reduction and lower environmental impacts relative to other derived biofuels from traditional agronomic crops. In this investigation, we studied four sugarcane cultivars (H-65-7052, H-78-3567, H-86-3792 and H-87-4319 grown on a Hawaiian commercial sugarcane plantation to determine their ability to store and accumulate soil carbon (C and nitrogen (N across a 24-month growth cycle on contrasting soil types. The main study objective establish baseline parameters for biofuel production life cycle analyses; sub-objectives included (1 determining which of four main sugarcane cultivars sequestered the most soil C and (2 assessing how soil C sequestration varies among two common Hawaiian soil series (Pulehu-sandy clay loam and Molokai-clay. Soil samples were collected at 20 cm increments to depths of up to 120 cm using hand augers at the three main growth stages (tillering, grand growth, and maturity from two experimental plots at to observe total carbon (TC, total nitrogen (TN, dissolved organic carbon (DOC and nitrates (NO−3 using laboratory flash combustion for TC and TN and solution filtering and analysis for DOC and NO−3. Aboveground plant biomass was collected and subsampled to determine lignin and C and N content. This study determined that there was an increase of TC with the advancement of growing stages in the studied four sugarcane cultivars at both soil types (increase in TC of 15–35 kg·m2. Nitrogen accumulation was more variable, and NO−3 (<5 ppm were insignificant. The C and N accumulation varies in the whole profile based on the ability of the sugarcane cultivar’s roots to explore and grow in the different soil types. For the purpose of storing C in the soil, cultivar H-65-7052 (TC accumulation of ~30 kg·m−2 and H-86-3792 (25 kg·m−2 rather H-78

  7. Non-platinum nanocatalyst on porous nitrogen-doped carbon fabricated by cathodic vacuum arc plasma technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sirirak, Reungruthai [Material Science Research Center, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200 (Thailand); Department of Chemistry and Center of Excellence for Innovation in Chemistry (PERCH-CIC), Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200 (Thailand); Sarakonsri, Thapanee, E-mail: tsarakonsri@gmail.com [Material Science Research Center, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200 (Thailand); Department of Chemistry and Center of Excellence for Innovation in Chemistry (PERCH-CIC), Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200 (Thailand); Medhesuwakul, Min [Plasma & Beam Physics Research Facility, Department of Physics and Materials Science, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200 (Thailand)

    2015-11-30

    Highlights: • High surface area porous coral-like nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) and non-platinum nanocatalysts were fabricated on proton exchange membrane using the cathodic vacuum arc plasma (CVAP) technique. • It is a one-step catalysts preparation directly on nafion proton exchange membrane. This CVAP technique is the first new method that was applied in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) catalysts preparation. • Due to these excellent characteristics of nitrogen-doped carbon, it is expected to exhibit a good catalyst supporter for PEMFC. • In addition, the Fe–NC catalysts fabricated via this CVAP technique are sphere-like nanoparticle and well disperse on coral-like NC film, which particularity exhibits that these prepared catalysts ought to be a good oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst for PEMFC. • This approach can be extended to the synthesis of other non-platinum ORR catalyst for broad range applications in energy conversion. - Abstract: Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) convert chemical energy directly into electrical energy where catalysts composing of non-noble transition metals, nitrogen, and carbon compounds are the most promising materials to replace the expensive platinum catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this research, cathodic vacuum arc plasma (CVAP) technique was used to fabricate porous nitrogen doped carbon (NC) and non-platinum catalyst on porous NC (Fe–NC) directly on ion exchange membrane for being used as an ORR catalyst at the cathode. The porous NC layer was fabricated on silicon wafer at 0.05 mTorr, 0.1 mTorr, 0.5 mTorr, 1 mTorr, and 5 mTorr of nitrogen gas inlet. The AFM, and SEM images are observed to be regularly big with quite high hillocks and thin NC layers; these results indicate that the optimum process pressure of nitrogen gas inlet is 5 mTorr for porous NC fabrication. The SEM–EDS detects Fe, N, and C elements in the prepared catalysts, and the XRD pattern reviews

  8. Non-platinum nanocatalyst on porous nitrogen-doped carbon fabricated by cathodic vacuum arc plasma technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sirirak, Reungruthai; Sarakonsri, Thapanee; Medhesuwakul, Min

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • High surface area porous coral-like nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) and non-platinum nanocatalysts were fabricated on proton exchange membrane using the cathodic vacuum arc plasma (CVAP) technique. • It is a one-step catalysts preparation directly on nafion proton exchange membrane. This CVAP technique is the first new method that was applied in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) catalysts preparation. • Due to these excellent characteristics of nitrogen-doped carbon, it is expected to exhibit a good catalyst supporter for PEMFC. • In addition, the Fe–NC catalysts fabricated via this CVAP technique are sphere-like nanoparticle and well disperse on coral-like NC film, which particularity exhibits that these prepared catalysts ought to be a good oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst for PEMFC. • This approach can be extended to the synthesis of other non-platinum ORR catalyst for broad range applications in energy conversion. - Abstract: Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) convert chemical energy directly into electrical energy where catalysts composing of non-noble transition metals, nitrogen, and carbon compounds are the most promising materials to replace the expensive platinum catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this research, cathodic vacuum arc plasma (CVAP) technique was used to fabricate porous nitrogen doped carbon (NC) and non-platinum catalyst on porous NC (Fe–NC) directly on ion exchange membrane for being used as an ORR catalyst at the cathode. The porous NC layer was fabricated on silicon wafer at 0.05 mTorr, 0.1 mTorr, 0.5 mTorr, 1 mTorr, and 5 mTorr of nitrogen gas inlet. The AFM, and SEM images are observed to be regularly big with quite high hillocks and thin NC layers; these results indicate that the optimum process pressure of nitrogen gas inlet is 5 mTorr for porous NC fabrication. The SEM–EDS detects Fe, N, and C elements in the prepared catalysts, and the XRD pattern reviews

  9. Controlling porosity of porous carbon cathode for lithium oxygen batteries: Influence of micro and meso porosity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Minjae; Yoo, Eunjoo; Ahn, Wha-Seung; Shim, Sang Eun

    2018-06-01

    In rechargeable lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries, the porosity of porous carbon materials plays a crucial role in the electrochemical performance serving as oxygen diffusion path and Li ion transfer passage. However, the influence of optimization of porous carbon as an air electrode on cell electrochemical performance remains unclear. To understand the role of carbon porosity in Li-O2 batteries, carbon materials featuring controlled pore sizes and porosity, including C-800 (nearly 96% microporous) and AC-950 (55:45 micro/meso porosity), are designed and synthesized by carbonization using a triazine-based covalent organic polymer (TCOP). We find that the microporous C-800 cathode allows 120 cycles with a limited capacity of 1000 mAh g-1, about 2 and 10 times higher than that of mixed-porosity AC-950 and mesoporous CMK-3, respectively. Meanwhile, the specific discharge capacity of the C-800 electrode at 200 mA g-1 is 6003 mAh g-1, which is lower than that of the 8433 and 9960 mAh g-1 when using AC-950 and CMK-3, respectively. This difference in the electrochemical performance of the porous carbon cathode with different porosity causes to the generation and decomposition of Li2O2 during the charge and discharge cycle, which affects oxygen diffusion and Li ion transfer.

  10. Ectomycorrhizal fungi slow soil carbon cycling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Averill, Colin; Hawkes, Christine V

    2016-08-01

    Respiration of soil organic carbon is one of the largest fluxes of CO2 on earth. Understanding the processes that regulate soil respiration is critical for predicting future climate. Recent work has suggested that soil carbon respiration may be reduced by competition for nitrogen between symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi that associate with plant roots and free-living microbial decomposers, which is consistent with increased soil carbon storage in ectomycorrhizal ecosystems globally. However, experimental tests of the mycorrhizal competition hypothesis are lacking. Here we show that ectomycorrhizal roots and hyphae decrease soil carbon respiration rates by up to 67% under field conditions in two separate field exclusion experiments, and this likely occurs via competition for soil nitrogen, an effect larger than 2 °C soil warming. These findings support mycorrhizal competition for nitrogen as an independent driver of soil carbon balance and demonstrate the need to understand microbial community interactions to predict ecosystem feedbacks to global climate. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  11. Oxygen sensitivity of anammox and coupled N-cycle processes in oxygen minimum zones.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tim Kalvelage

    Full Text Available Nutrient measurements indicate that 30-50% of the total nitrogen (N loss in the ocean occurs in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs. This pelagic N-removal takes place within only ~0.1% of the ocean volume, hence moderate variations in the extent of OMZs due to global warming may have a large impact on the global N-cycle. We examined the effect of oxygen (O(2 on anammox, NH(3 oxidation and NO(3(- reduction in (15N-labeling experiments with varying O(2 concentrations (0-25 µmol L(-1 in the Namibian and Peruvian OMZs. Our results show that O(2 is a major controlling factor for anammox activity in OMZ waters. Based on our O(2 assays we estimate the upper limit for anammox to be ~20 µmol L(-1. In contrast, NH(3 oxidation to NO(2(- and NO(3(- reduction to NO(2(- as the main NH(4(+ and NO(2(- sources for anammox were only moderately affected by changing O(2 concentrations. Intriguingly, aerobic NH(3 oxidation was active at non-detectable concentrations of O(2, while anaerobic NO(3(- reduction was fully active up to at least 25 µmol L(-1 O(2. Hence, aerobic and anaerobic N-cycle pathways in OMZs can co-occur over a larger range of O(2 concentrations than previously assumed. The zone where N-loss can occur is primarily controlled by the O(2-sensitivity of anammox itself, and not by any effects of O(2 on the tightly coupled pathways of aerobic NH(3 oxidation and NO(3(- reduction. With anammox bacteria in the marine environment being active at O(2 levels ~20 times higher than those known to inhibit their cultured counterparts, the oceanic volume potentially acting as a N-sink increases tenfold. The predicted expansion of OMZs may enlarge this volume even further. Our study provides the first robust estimates of O(2 sensitivities for processes directly and indirectly connected with N-loss. These are essential to assess the effects of ocean de-oxygenation on oceanic N-cycling.

  12. Three-dimensional iron, nitrogen-doped carbon foams as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline solution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Yanjiao; Wang, Hui; Feng, Hanqing; Ji, Shan; Mao, Xuefeng; Wang, Rongfang

    2014-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Three-dimentional Fe, N-doped carbon foams prepared by two steps exhibited comparable catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction to commercial Pt/C due to the unique structure and the synergistic effect of Fe and N atoms. - Highlights: • Three-dimensional Fe, N-doped carbon foam (3D-CF) were prepared. • 3D-CF exhibits comparable catalytic activity to Pt/C for oxygen reduction reaction. • The enhanced activity of 3D-CF results of its unique structure. - Abstract: Three-dimensional (3D) Fe, N-doped carbon foams (3D-CF) as efficient cathode catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline solution are reported. The 3D-CF exhibit interconnected hierarchical pore structure. In addition, Fe, N-doped carbon without porous strucuture (Fe-N-C) and 3D N-doped carbon without Fe (3D-CF’) are prepared to verify the electrocatalytic activity of 3D-CF. The electrocatalytic performance of as-prepared 3D-CF for ORR shows that the onset potential on 3D-CF electrode positively shifts about 41 mV than those of 3D-CF’ and Fe-N-C respectively. In addition, the onset potential on 3D-CF electrode for ORR is about 27 mV more negative than that on commercial Pt/C electrode. 3D-CF also show better methanol tolerance and durability than commercial Pt/C catalyst. These results show that to synthesize 3D hierarchical pores with high specific surface area is an efficient way to improve the ORR performance

  13. Comparing carbon to carbon: Organic and inorganic carbon balances across nitrogen fertilization gradients in rainfed vs. irrigated Midwest US cropland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, S. K.; McGill, B.

    2017-12-01

    The top meter of the earth's soil contains about twice the amount of carbon than the atmosphere. Agricultural management practices influence whether a cropland soil is a net carbon source or sink. These practices affect both organic and inorganic carbon cycling although the vast majority of studies examine the former. We will present results from several rarely-compared carbon fluxes: carbon dioxide emissions and sequestration from lime (calcium carbonate) weathering, dissolved gases emitted from groundwater-fed irrigation, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leaching to groundwater, and soil organic matter storage. These were compared in a corn-soybean-wheat rotation under no-till management across a nitrogen fertilizer gradient where half of the replicated blocks are irrigated with groundwater. DOC and liming fluxes are also estimated from a complementary study in neighboring plots comparing a gradient of management practices from conventional to biologically-based annuals and perennials. These studies were conducted at the Kellogg Biological Station Long Term Ecological Research site in Michigan where previous work estimated that carbon dioxide emissions from liming accounted for about one quarter of the total global warming impact (GWI) from no-till systems—our work refines that figure. We will present a first time look at the GWI of gases dissolved in groundwater that are emitted when the water equilibrates with the atmosphere. We will explore whether nitrogen fertilizer and irrigation increase soil organic carbon sequestration by producing greater crop biomass and residues or if they enhance microbial activity, increasing decomposition of organic matter. These results are critical for more accurately estimating how intensive agricultural practices affect the carbon balance of cropping systems.

  14. Atmospheric oxygen regulation at low Proterozoic levels by incomplete oxidative weathering of sedimentary organic carbon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daines, Stuart J.; Mills, Benjamin J. W.; Lenton, Timothy M.

    2017-02-01

    It is unclear why atmospheric oxygen remained trapped at low levels for more than 1.5 billion years following the Paleoproterozoic Great Oxidation Event. Here, we use models for erosion, weathering and biogeochemical cycling to show that this can be explained by the tectonic recycling of previously accumulated sedimentary organic carbon, combined with the oxygen sensitivity of oxidative weathering. Our results indicate a strong negative feedback regime when atmospheric oxygen concentration is of order pO2~0.1 PAL (present atmospheric level), but that stability is lost at pO2counterbalancing changes in the weathering of isotopically light organic carbon. This can explain the lack of secular trend in the Precambrian δ13C record, and reopens the possibility that increased biological productivity and resultant organic carbon burial drove the Great Oxidation Event.

  15. Balancing carbon/nitrogen ratio to improve nutrients removal and algal biomass production in piggery and brewery wastewaters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Hongli; Liu, Mingzhi; Lu, Qian; Wu, Xiaodan; Ma, Yiwei; Cheng, Yanling; Addy, Min; Liu, Yuhuan; Ruan, Roger

    2018-02-01

    To improve nutrients removal from wastewaters and enhance algal biomass production, piggery wastewater was mixed with brewery wastewaters. The results showed that it was a promising way to cultivate microalga in piggery and brewery wastewaters by balancing the carbon/nitrogen ratio. The optimal treatment condition for the mixed piggery-brewery wastewater using microalga was piggery wastewater mixed with brewery packaging wastewater by 1:5 at pH 7.0, resulting in carbon/nitrogen ratio of 7.9, with the biomass concentration of 2.85 g L -1 , and the removal of 100% ammonia, 96% of total nitrogen, 90% of total phosphorus, and 93% of chemical oxygen demand. The application of the established strategies can enhance nutrient removal efficiency of the wastewaters while reducing microalgal biomass production costs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Controllable synthesis of nitrogen-doped hollow mesoporous carbon spheres using ionic liquids as template for supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Aibing; Li, Yunqian; Liu, Lei; Yu, Yifeng; Xia, Kechan; Wang, Yuying; Li, Shuhui

    2017-01-01

    We have demonstrated a facile and controllable synthesis of monodispersed nitrogen-doped hollow mesoporous carbon spheres (N-HMCSs) using resorcinol/formaldehyde resin as a carbon precursor, tetraethyl orthosilicate as a structure-assistant agent, ionic liquids (ILs) as soft template, partial carbon sources, and nitrogen sources. The sizes and the architectures including hollow and yolk-shell of resultant carbon spheres can be efficiently controlled through the adjustment of the content of ILs. Alkyl chain length of the ILs also has an important effect on the formation of N-HMCSs. With proper alkyl chain length and content of ILs, the resultant N-HMCSs show monodispersed hollow spheres with high surface areas (up to 1158 m2 g-1), large pore volumes (up to 1.70 cm3 g-1), and uniform mesopore size (5.0 nm). Combining the hollow mesoporous structure, high porosity, large surface area, and nitrogen functionality, the as-synthesized N-HMCSs have good supercapacitor performance with good capacitance (up to 159 F g-1) and favorable capacitance retention (88% capacitive retention after 5000 cycles).

  17. Adsorption/oxidation of sulfur-containing gases on nitrogen-doped activated carbon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liu Qiang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Coconut shell-based activated carbon (CAC was used for the removal of methyl mercaptan (MM. CAC was modified by urea impregnation and calcined at 450°C and 950°C. The desulfurization activity was determined in a fixed bed reactor under room temperature. The results showed that the methyl mercaptan adsorption/oxidation capacity of modified carbon caicined at 950°C is more than 3 times the capacity of original samples. On the other hand, the modified carbon caicined at 950°C also has a high capacity for the simultaneous adsorption/oxidation of methyl mercaptan and hydrogen sulfide.The introduce of basic nitrogen groups siginificantly increases the desulfurization since it can facilitate the electron transfer process between sulfur and oxygen. The structure and chemical properties are characterized using Boehm titration, N2 adsorption-desorption method, thermal analysis and elemental analysis. The results showed that the major oxidation products were dimethyl disulfide and methanesulfonic acid which adsorbed in the activated carbon.

  18. Moisture effects on carbon and nitrogen emission from burning of wildland biomass

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L.-W. A. Chen

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Carbon (C and nitrogen (N released from biomass burning have multiple effects on the Earth's biogeochemical cycle, climate change, and ecosystem. These effects depend on the relative abundances of C and N species emitted, which vary with fuel type and combustion conditions. This study systematically investigates the emission characteristics of biomass burning under different fuel moisture contents, through controlled burning experiments with biomass and soil samples collected from a typical alpine forest in North America. Fuel moisture in general lowers combustion efficiency, shortens flaming phase, and introduces prolonged smoldering before ignition. It increases emission factors of incompletely oxidized C and N species, such as carbon monoxide (CO and ammonia (NH3. Substantial particulate carbon and nitrogen (up to 4 times C in CO and 75% of N in NH3 were also generated from high-moisture fuels, maily associated with the pre-flame smoldering. This smoldering process emits particles that are larger and contain lower elemental carbon fractions than soot agglomerates commonly observed in flaming smoke. Hydrogen (H/C ratio and optical properties of particulate matter from the high-moisture fuels show their resemblance to plant cellulous and brown carbon, respectively. These findings have implications for modeling biomass burning emissions and impacts.

  19. Oxygen Consumption of Tilapia and Preliminary Mass Flows through a Prototype Closed Aquaculture System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muller, Matthew S.; Bauer, Clarence F.

    1994-01-01

    Performance of NASA's prototype CELSS Breadboard Project Closed Aquaculture System was evaluated by estimating gas exchange quantification and preliminary carbon and nitrogen balances. The total system oxygen consumption rate was 535 mg/hr kg/fish (cv = 30%) when stocked with Tilapia aurea populations (fresh weights of 97 +/- 19 to 147 +/- 36 g/fish for various trials). Oxygen consumption by T. aurea (260 mg/hr kg/fish) contributed to approximately one-half of total system demand. Continuous carbon dioxide quantification methods were analyzed using the,relation of carbon dioxide to oxygen consumption. Overall food conversion rates averaged 18.2 +/- 3.2%. Major pathways for nitrogen and carbon in the system were described with preliminary mass closure of 60-80% and 60% for nitrogen and carbon.

  20. Oxygen-rich hierarchical porous carbon made from pomelo peel fiber as electrode material for supercapacitor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jing; Liu, Wenlong; Xiao, Dan; Wang, Xinhui

    2017-09-01

    Oxygen-rich hierarchical porous carbon has been fabricated using pomelo peel fiber as a carbon source via an improved KOH activation method. The morphology and chemical composition of the obtained carbon materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), electron microscopy (EM), Raman spectra and elemental analysis. The unique porous structure with abundant oxygen functional groups is favorable to capacitive behavior, and the as-prepared carbon material exhibits high specific capacitance of 222.6 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 in 6 M KOH and superior stability over 5000 cycles. This work not only describes a simple way to prepare high-performance carbon material from the discarded pomelo peel, but also provides a strategy for its disposal issue and contributes to the environmental improvement.

  1. Nitrogen: Unraveling the Secret to Stable Carbon-Supported Pt-Alloy Electrocatalysts

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-01

    release; distribution is unlimited. Nitrogen: unraveling the secret to stable carbon-supported Pt- alloy electrocatalysts The views, opinions and/or...Nitrogen: unraveling the secret to stable carbon-supported Pt-alloy electrocatalysts Report Title Nitrogen functionalities significantly improve...design and optimization of next generation high performance catalyst materials. Nitrogen: unraveling the secret to stable carbon-supported Pt-alloy

  2. Ecosystem services and biogeochemical cycles on a global scale: valuation of water, carbon and nitrogen processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watanabe, Marcos D.B.; Ortega, Enrique

    2011-01-01

    Ecosystem services (ES) are provided by healthy ecosystems and are fundamental to support human life. However, natural systems have been degraded all over the world and the process of degradation is partially attributed to the lack of knowledge regarding the economic benefits associated with ES, which usually are not captured in the market. To valuate ES without using conventional approaches, such as the human's willingness-to-pay for ecosystem goods and services, this paper uses a different method based on Energy Systems Theory to estimate prices for biogeochemical flows that affect ecosystem services by considering their emergy content converted to equivalent monetary terms. Ecosystem services related to water, carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical flows were assessed since they are connected to a range of final ecosystem services including climate regulation, hydrological regulation, food production, soil formation and others. Results in this paper indicate that aquifer recharge, groundwater flow, carbon dioxide sequestration, methane emission, biological nitrogen fixation, nitrous oxide emission and nitrogen leaching/runoff are the most critical biogeochemical flows in terrestrial systems. Moreover, monetary values related to biogeochemical flows on a global scale could provide important information for policymakers concerned with payment mechanisms for ecosystem services and costs of greenhouse gas emissions.

  3. Recent studies of the ocean nitrogen cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eppley, R. W.

    1984-01-01

    The nitrogen cycle in the ocean is dominated by the activities of organisms. External nitrogen inputs from land and from the atmosphere are small compared with rates of consumption and production by organisms and with rates of internal rearrangements of nitrogen pools within the ocean. The chief reservoirs of nitrogen are, in decreasing order of size: nitrogen in sediments, dissolved N2, nitrate, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), particulate organic nitrogen (PON) (mostly organisms and their by-products). The biogenic fluxes of nitrogen were reviewed. The rate of PON decomposition in the surface layer must be comparable to the rate of ammonium consumption; and at the same time the nitrate consumption rate will be similar to the rates of: (1) sinking of PON out of the surface layer and its decompositon at depth, (2) the rate of nitrification at depth, and (3) the rate of nitrate return to the surface layer by upwelling.

  4. Structure and photoluminescence of boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon nanorods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, B.B. [College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, 69 Hongguang Rd, Lijiatuo, Banan District, Chongqing 400054 (China); Gao, B. [College of Computer Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China); Chongqing Municipal Education Examinations Authority, Chongqing 401147 (China); Zhong, X.X., E-mail: xxzhong@sjtu.edu.cn [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Shao, R.W.; Zheng, K. [Institute of Microstructure and Properties of Advanced Materials, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124 (China)

    2016-07-15

    Graphical abstract: Boron- and nitrogen- doped carbon nanorods. - Highlights: • The co-doping of nitrogen and boron in carbon nanorods. • The doping mechanism of nitrogen and boron in carbon nanorods by plasma. • Photoluminescence properties of nitrogen- and boron-doped carbon nanorods. - Abstract: Boron and nitrogen doped carbon nanorods (BNCNRs) were synthesized by plasma-enhanced hot filament chemical vapor deposition, where methane, nitrogen and hydrogen were used as the reaction gases and boron carbide was the boron source. The results of scanning electron microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicate that boron and nitrogen can be used as co-dopants in amorphous carbon nanorods. Combined with the characterization results, the doping mechanism was studied. The mechanism is used to explain the formation of different carbon materials by different methods. The photoluminescence (PL) properties of BNCNRs were studied. The PL results show that the BNCNRs generate strong green PL bands and weak blue PL bands, and the PL intensity lowered due to the doping of boron. The outcomes advance our knowledge on the synthesis and optical properties of carbon-based nanomaterials and contribute to the development of optoelectronic nanodevices based on nano-carbon mateirals.

  5. High nitrogen-containing cotton derived 3D porous carbon frameworks for high-performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Li-Zhen; Chen, Tian-Tian; Song, Wei-Li; Li, Xiaogang; Zhang, Shichao

    2015-01-01

    Supercapacitors fabricated by 3D porous carbon frameworks, such as graphene- and carbon nanotube (CNT)-based aerogels, have been highly attractive due to their various advantages. However, their high cost along with insufficient yield has inhibited their large-scale applications. Here we have demonstrated a facile and easily scalable approach for large-scale preparing novel 3D nitrogen-containing porous carbon frameworks using ultralow-cost commercial cotton. Electrochemical performance suggests that the optimal nitrogen-containing cotton-derived carbon frameworks with a high nitrogen content (12.1 mol%) along with low surface area 285 m2 g−1 present high specific capacities of the 308 and 200 F g−1 in KOH electrolyte at current densities of 0.1 and 10 A g−1, respectively, with very limited capacitance loss upon 10,000 cycles in both aqueous and gel electrolytes. Moreover, the electrode exhibits the highest capacitance up to 220 F g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and excellent flexibility (with negligible capacitance loss under different bending angles) in the polyvinyl alcohol/KOH gel electrolyte. The observed excellent performance competes well with that found in the electrodes of similar 3D frameworks formed by graphene or CNTs. Therefore, the ultralow-cost and simply strategy here demonstrates great potential for scalable producing high-performance carbon-based supercapacitors in the industry. PMID:26472144

  6. High nitrogen-containing cotton derived 3D porous carbon frameworks for high-performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Li-Zhen; Chen, Tian-Tian; Song, Wei-Li; Li, Xiaogang; Zhang, Shichao

    2015-10-01

    Supercapacitors fabricated by 3D porous carbon frameworks, such as graphene- and carbon nanotube (CNT)-based aerogels, have been highly attractive due to their various advantages. However, their high cost along with insufficient yield has inhibited their large-scale applications. Here we have demonstrated a facile and easily scalable approach for large-scale preparing novel 3D nitrogen-containing porous carbon frameworks using ultralow-cost commercial cotton. Electrochemical performance suggests that the optimal nitrogen-containing cotton-derived carbon frameworks with a high nitrogen content (12.1 mol%) along with low surface area 285 m2 g-1 present high specific capacities of the 308 and 200 F g-1 in KOH electrolyte at current densities of 0.1 and 10 A g-1, respectively, with very limited capacitance loss upon 10,000 cycles in both aqueous and gel electrolytes. Moreover, the electrode exhibits the highest capacitance up to 220 F g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 and excellent flexibility (with negligible capacitance loss under different bending angles) in the polyvinyl alcohol/KOH gel electrolyte. The observed excellent performance competes well with that found in the electrodes of similar 3D frameworks formed by graphene or CNTs. Therefore, the ultralow-cost and simply strategy here demonstrates great potential for scalable producing high-performance carbon-based supercapacitors in the industry.

  7. The Contemporary Carbon Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houghton, R. A.

    2003-12-01

    The global carbon cycle refers to the exchanges of carbon within and between four major reservoirs: the atmosphere, the oceans, land, and fossil fuels. Carbon may be transferred from one reservoir to another in seconds (e.g., the fixation of atmospheric CO2 into sugar through photosynthesis) or over millennia (e.g., the accumulation of fossil carbon (coal, oil, gas) through deposition and diagenesis of organic matter). This chapter emphasizes the exchanges that are important over years to decades and includes those occurring over the scale of months to a few centuries. The focus will be on the years 1980-2000 but our considerations will broadly include the years ˜1850-2100. Chapter 8.09, deals with longer-term processes that involve rates of carbon exchange that are small on an annual timescale (weathering, vulcanism, sedimentation, and diagenesis).The carbon cycle is important for at least three reasons. First, carbon forms the structure of all life on the planet, making up ˜50% of the dry weight of living things. Second, the cycling of carbon approximates the flows of energy around the Earth, the metabolism of natural, human, and industrial systems. Plants transform radiant energy into chemical energy in the form of sugars, starches, and other forms of organic matter; this energy, whether in living organisms or dead organic matter, supports food chains in natural ecosystems as well as human ecosystems, not the least of which are industrial societies habituated (addicted?) to fossil forms of energy for heating, transportation, and generation of electricity. The increased use of fossil fuels has led to a third reason for interest in the carbon cycle. Carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), forms two of the most important greenhouse gases. These gases contribute to a natural greenhouse effect that has kept the planet warm enough to evolve and support life (without the greenhouse effect the Earth's average temperature would be -33

  8. Sensitivity study on nitrogen Brayton cycle coupled with a small ultra-long cycle fast reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seo, Seok Bin; Seo, Han; Bang, In Cheol

    2014-01-01

    The main characteristics of UCFR are constant neutron flux and power density. They move their positions every moment at constant speed along with axial position of fuel rod for 60 years. Simultaneously with the development of the reactors, a new power conversion system has been considered. To solve existing issues of vigorous sodium-water reaction in SFR with steam power cycle, many researchers suggested a closed Brayton cycle as an alternative technique for SFR power conversion system. Many inactive gases are selected as a working fluid in Brayton power cycle, mainly supercritical CO 2 (S-CO 2 ). However, S-CO 2 still has potential for reaction with sodium. CO 2 -sodium reaction produces solid product, which has possibility to have an auto ignition reaction around 600 .deg. C. Thus, instead of S-CO 2 , CEA in France has developed nitrogen power cycle for ASTRID (Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration). In addition to inactive characteristic of nitrogen with sodium, its thermal and physical similarity with air enables to easily adopt to existing air Brayton cycle technology. In this study, for an optimized power conversion system for UCFR, a nitrogen Brayton cycle was analyzed in thermodynamic aspect. Based on subchannel analysis data of UCFR-100, a parametric study for thermal performance of nitrogen Brayton cycle was achieved. The system maximum pressure significantly affects to the overall efficiency of cycle, while other parameters show little effects. Little differences of the overall efficiencies for all cases between three stages (BOC, MOC, EOC) indicate that the power cycle of UCFR-100 maintains its performance during the operation

  9. Extreme diel dissolved oxygen and carbon cycles in shallow vegetated lakes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Mikkel R; Kragh, Theis; Sand-Jensen, Kaj

    2017-09-13

    A common perception in limnology is that shallow lakes are homogeneously mixed owing to their small water volume. However, this perception is largely gained by downscaling knowledge from large lakes to their smaller counterparts. Here we show that shallow vegetated lakes (less than 0.6 m), in fact, undergo recurring daytime stratification and nocturnal mixing accompanied by extreme chemical variations during summer. Dense submerged vegetation effectively attenuates light and turbulence generating separation between warm surface waters and much colder bottom waters. Photosynthesis in surface waters produces oxygen accumulation and CO 2 depletion, whereas respiration in dark bottom waters causes anoxia and CO 2 accumulation. High daytime pH in surface waters promotes precipitation of CaCO 3 which is re-dissolved in bottom waters. Nocturnal convective mixing re-introduces oxygen into bottom waters for aerobic respiration and regenerated inorganic carbon into surface waters, which supports intense photosynthesis. Our results reconfigure the basic understanding of local environmental gradients in shallow lakes, one of the most abundant freshwater habitats globally. © 2017 The Author(s).

  10. Effect of nitrogen and oxygen on radiolysis of iodide solution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karasawa, H; Endo, M [Hitachi Ltd., Power and Industrial System R+D Divisions, Ibaraki (Japan)

    1996-12-01

    The effect of nitrogen and oxygen on radiolysis of iodide solution was examined. Direct decomposition of nitrogen by {gamma}-radiation produced nitric acid to decrease a water pH. This resulted in the iodine formation in the radiolysis of iodide solution. Hydrogen peroxide was produced by the radiolysis of water containing oxygen. This worked a reducing agent to suppress the formation of iodine in the radiolysis of iodide solution. In the analytical model, fourteen iodine species were considered and reaction scheme consisted in 124 reactions. The analytical model could estimate the oxidation state of iodide ions. (author) 4 figs., 4 refs.

  11. Oxygen-rich hierarchical porous carbon derived from artemia cyst shells with superior electrochemical performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yufeng; Ran, Wei; He, Jing; Song, Yanfang; Zhang, Chunming; Xiong, Ding-Bang; Gao, Faming; Wu, Jinsong; Xia, Yongyao

    2015-01-21

    In this study, three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous carbon with abundant functional groups is produced through a very simple low-cost carbonization of Artemia cyst shells. The unique hierarchical porous structure of this material, combining large numbers of micropores and macropores, as well as reasonable amount of mesopores, is proven favorable to capacitive behavior. The abundant oxygen functional groups from the natural carbon precursor contribute stable pseudocapacitance. As-prepared sample exhibits high specific capacitance (369 F g(-1) in 1 M H2SO4 and 349 F g(-1) in 6 M KOH), excellent cycling stability with capacitance retention of 100% over 10 000 cycles, and promising rate performance. This work not only describes a simple way to produce high-performance carbon electrode materials for practical application, but also inspires an idea for future structure design of porous carbon.

  12. Carbon and nitrogen distribution in oak-hickory forests distributed along a productivity gradient

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reber, R.T.; Kaczmarek, D.J.; Pope, P.E.; Rodkey, K.S. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

    1993-12-31

    Biomass, carbon and nitrogen pools were determined for oak-hickory forests of varying productivity. Little information of this type is available for the central hardwood region. Six oak-hickory dominated forests were chosen to represent a range in potential site productivity as influenced by soil type, amount of recyclable nutrients and available water. Biomass, carbon and nitrogen storage were determined for the following components: above ground standing biomass, fine root biomass, forest floor organic layers and litterfall. As site sequestered at each site was dependent more on the amount of living biomass at each site Litterfall, to some extent, increased with increasing site productivity. As potential site productivity decreased, total fine root biomass increased. The data suggest that as site quality decreased fine root production and turnover may become as important in nutrient cycling as annual litterfall.

  13. Cascading costs: an economic nitrogen cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moomaw, William R; Birch, Melissa B L

    2005-09-01

    The chemical nitrogen cycle is becoming better characterized in terms of fluxes and reservoirs on a variety of scales. Galloway has demonstrated that reactive nitrogen can cascade through multiple ecosystems causing environmental damage at each stage before being denitrified to N(2). We propose to construct a parallel economic nitrogen cascade (ENC) in which economic impacts of nitrogen fluxes can be estimated by the costs associated with each stage of the chemical cascade. Using economic data for the benefits of damage avoided and costs of mitigation in the Chesapeake Bay basin, we have constructed an economic nitrogen cascade for the region. Since a single ton of nitrogen can cascade through the system, the costs also cascade. Therefore evaluating the benefits of mitigating a ton of reactive nitrogen released needs to consider the damage avoided in all of the ecosystems through which that ton would cascade. The analysis reveals that it is most cost effective to remove a ton of nitrogen coming from combustion since it has the greatest impact on human health and creates cascading damage through the atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic and coastal ecosystems. We will discuss the implications of this analysis for determining the most cost effective policy option for achieving environmental quality goals.

  14. A facile approach towards increasing the nitrogen-content in nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes via halogenated catalysts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ombaka, L.M.; Ndungu, P.G.; Omondi, B.; McGettrick, J.D.; Davies, M.L.; Nyamori, V.O.

    2016-01-01

    Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) have been synthesized at 850 °C via a CVD deposition technique by use of three ferrocenyl derivative catalysts, i.e. para-CN, -CF_3 and -Cl substituted-phenyl rings. The synthesized catalysts have been characterized by NMR, IR, HR-MS and XRD. The XRD analysis of the para-CF_3 catalyst indicates that steric factors influence the X-ray structure of 1,1′-ferrocenylphenyldiacrylonitriles. Acetonitrile or pyridine was used as carbon and nitrogen sources to yield mixtures of N-CNTs and carbon spheres (CS). The N-CNTs obtained from the para-CF_3 catalysts, in pyridine, have the highest nitrogen-doping level, show a helical morphology and are less thermally stable compared with those synthesized by use of the para-CN and -Cl as catalyst. This suggests that fluorine heteroatoms enhance nitrogen-doping in N-CNTs and formation of helical-N-CNTs (H-N-CNTs). The para-CF_3 and para-Cl catalysts in acetonitrile yielded iron-filled N-CNTs, indicating that halogens promote encapsulation of iron into the cavity of N-CNT. The use of acetonitrile, as carbon and nitrogen source, with the para-CN and -Cl as catalysts also yielded a mixture of N-CNTs and carbon nanofibres (CNFs), with less abundance of CNFs in the products obtained using para-Cl catalysts. However, para-CF_3 catalyst in acetonitrile gave N-CNTs as the only shaped carbon nanomaterials. - Graphical abstract: Graphical abstract showing the synthesis of N-CNTs using halogenated-ferrocenyl derivatives as catalyst with pyridine or acetonitrile as nitrogen and carbon sources via the chemical vapour deposition technique. - Highlights: • N-CNTs were synthesized from halogenated ferrocenyl catalysts. • Halogenated catalysts promote nitrogen-doping and pyridinic nitrogen in N-CNTs. • Halogenated catalysts facilitate iron filling of N-CNTs.

  15. Carbon-nitrogen interactions and biomass partitioning of Carex rostrata grown at three levels of nitrogen supply

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saarinen, T [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Ecology and Systematics

    1997-12-31

    Biomass and production of vascular plants constitutes a major source of carbon input in peatlands. As rates of decomposition vary considerably with depth, the vertical distribution of biomass may substantially affect accumulation of carbon in peatlands. Therefore, allocation patterns between shoot and roots are particularly important when considering carbon balance of peatland ecosystems. The stimulatory effect of increasing atmospheric concentration of CO{sub 2} or photosynthesis may increase availability of carbon to most C3 plants. Availability of nitrogen may also alter both due to increased atmospheric deposition and changer in mineralisation rates associated with climate change. Most root-shoot partitioning models predict that allocation of biomass is dependent of the availability and uptake of carbon and nitrogen. A decrease in supply of carbon would favour allocation to shoots and a decrease in supply of nitrogen would increase allocation to roots. At a cellular level, non structural carbohydrates and free amino acids are thought to represent the biochemically available fraction of carbon and nitrogen, respectively. The aim of this work is study the long-term growth responses of Carex rostrata to changes in the availability of nitrogen. Special attention is paid to soluble sugars ant free amino acids, which may control partitioning of biomass. (10 refs.)

  16. Carbon-nitrogen interactions and biomass partitioning of Carex rostrata grown at three levels of nitrogen supply

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saarinen, T. [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Ecology and Systematics

    1996-12-31

    Biomass and production of vascular plants constitutes a major source of carbon input in peatlands. As rates of decomposition vary considerably with depth, the vertical distribution of biomass may substantially affect accumulation of carbon in peatlands. Therefore, allocation patterns between shoot and roots are particularly important when considering carbon balance of peatland ecosystems. The stimulatory effect of increasing atmospheric concentration of CO{sub 2} or photosynthesis may increase availability of carbon to most C3 plants. Availability of nitrogen may also alter both due to increased atmospheric deposition and changer in mineralisation rates associated with climate change. Most root-shoot partitioning models predict that allocation of biomass is dependent of the availability and uptake of carbon and nitrogen. A decrease in supply of carbon would favour allocation to shoots and a decrease in supply of nitrogen would increase allocation to roots. At a cellular level, non structural carbohydrates and free amino acids are thought to represent the biochemically available fraction of carbon and nitrogen, respectively. The aim of this work is study the long-term growth responses of Carex rostrata to changes in the availability of nitrogen. Special attention is paid to soluble sugars ant free amino acids, which may control partitioning of biomass. (10 refs.)

  17. Sub-ambient carbon dioxide adsorption properties of nitrogen doped graphene

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tamilarasan, P.; Ramaprabhu, Sundara, E-mail: ramp@iitm.ac.in [Alternative Energy and Nanotechnology Laboratory (AENL), Nano Functional Materials Technology Centre (NFMTC), Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036 (India)

    2015-04-14

    Carbon dioxide adsorption on carbon surface can be enhanced by doping the surface with heterogeneous atoms, which can increase local surface affinity. This study presents the carbon dioxide adsorption properties of nitrogen doped graphene at low pressures (<100 kPa). Graphene was exposed to nitrogen plasma, which dopes nitrogen atoms into carbon hexagonal lattice, mainly in pyridinic and pyrrolic forms. It is found that nitrogen doping significantly improves the CO{sub 2} adsorption capacity at all temperatures, due to the enrichment of local Lewis basic sites. In general, isotherm and thermodynamic parameters suggest that doped nitrogen sites have nearly same adsorption energy of surface defects and residual functional groups. The isosteric heat of adsorption remains in physisorption range, which falls with surface coverage, suggesting the distribution of magnitude of adsorption energy. The absolute values of isosteric heat and entropy of adsorption are slightly increased upon nitrogen doping.

  18. High-resolution spectra of stars in globular clusters. VI - Oxygen-deficient red giant stars in M13

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, J.A.; Wallerstein, G.; Oke, J.B.

    1991-01-01

    From high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra, abundances of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen and the C-12/C-13 ratio for five red giants in M13, including star II-67, which has previously been reported to be deficient in oxygen have been determined. Three of the five stars exhibit substantial oxygen deficiencies; O/Fe values range from +0.5 to less than about 0.3. The sum of the CNO nuclides is the same for all stars, which is interpreted as evidence that mixing of CNO-cycled material into the envelope is the cause of the variations in oxygen abundance. 41 refs

  19. Highly enhanced electrochemical activity of Ni foam electrodes decorated with nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes for non-aqueous redox flow batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jungkuk; Park, Min-Sik; Kim, Ki Jae

    2017-02-01

    Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) are directly grown on the surface of a three-dimensional (3D) Ni foam substrate by floating catalytic chemical vapor deposition (FCCVD). The electrochemical properties of the 3D NCNT-Ni foam are thoroughly examined as a potential electrode for non-aqueous redox flow batteries (RFBs). During synthesis, nitrogen atoms can be successfully doped onto the carbon nanotube (CNT) lattices by forming an abundance of nitrogen-based functional groups. The 3D NCNT-Ni foam electrode exhibits excellent electrochemical activities toward the redox reactions of [Fe (bpy)3]2+/3+ (in anolyte) and [Co(bpy)3]+/2+ (in catholyte), which are mainly attributed to the hierarchical 3D structure of the NCNT-Ni foam electrode and the catalytic effect of nitrogen atoms doped onto the CNTs; this leads to faster mass transfer and charge transfer during operation. As a result, the RFB cell assembled with 3D NCNT-Ni foam electrodes exhibits a high energy efficiency of 80.4% in the first cycle; this performance is maintained up to the 50th cycle without efficiency loss.

  20. Nitrogen And Oxygen Amount In Weld After Welding With Micro-Jet Cooling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Węgrzyn T.

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Micro-jet cooling after welding was tested only for MIG welding process with argon, helium and nitrogen as a shielded gases. A paper presents a piece of information about nitrogen and oxygen in weld after micro-jet cooling. There are put down information about gases that could be chosen both for MIG/MAG welding and for micro-jet process. There were given main information about influence of various micro-jet gases on metallographic structure of steel welds. Mechanical properties of weld was presented in terms of nitrogen and oxygen amount in WMD (weld metal deposit.

  1. The global carbon cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maier-Reimer, E.

    1991-01-01

    Basic concepts of the global carbon cycle on earth are described; by careful analyses of isotopic ratios, emission history and oceanic ventilation rates are derived, which provide crucial tests for constraining and calibrating models. Effects of deforestation, fertilizing, fossil fuel burning, soil erosion, etc. are quantified and compared, and the oceanic carbon process is evaluated. Oceanic and terrestrial biosphere modifications are discussed and a carbon cycle model is proposed

  2. Long-term soil warming and Carbon Cycle Feedbacks to the Climate System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Melillo, Jerry M.

    2014-04-30

    The primary objective of the proposed research was to quantify and explain the effects of a sustained in situ 5oC soil temperature increase on net carbon (C) storage in a northeastern deciduous forest ecosystem. The research was done at an established soil warming experiment at the Harvard Forest in central Massachusetts – Barre Woods site established in 2001. In the field, a series of plant and soil measurements were made to quantify changes in C storage in the ecosystem and to provide insights into the possible relationships between C-storage changes and nitrogen (N) cycling changes in the warmed plots. Field measurements included: 1) annual woody increment; 2) litterfall; 3) carbon dioxide (CO2) efflux from the soil surface; 4) root biomass and respiration; 5) microbial biomass; and 6) net N mineralization and net nitrification rates. This research was designed to increase our understanding of how global warming will affect the capacity of temperate forest ecosystems to store C. The work explored how soil warming changes the interactions between the C and N cycles, and how these changes affect land-atmosphere feedbacks. This core research question framed the project – What are the effects of a sustained in situ 5oC soil temperature increase on net carbon (C) storage in a northeastern deciduous forest ecosystem? A second critical question was addressed in this research – What are the effects of a sustained in situ 5{degrees}C soil temperature increase on nitrogen (N) cycling in a northeastern deciduous forest ecosystem?

  3. Green synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon sheets with use of Prunus persica for supercapacitor applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Atchudan, Raji, E-mail: atchudanr@yu.ac.kr [School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541 (Korea, Republic of); Edison, Thomas Nesakumar Jebakumar Immanuel [School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541 (Korea, Republic of); Perumal, Suguna [Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Yong Rok, E-mail: yrlee@yu.ac.kr [School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541 (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-01-30

    Highlights: • N-GCSs was synthesized from the unripe Prunus persica by direct hydrothermal method. • The resulting N-GCSs-2 exhibit an excellent graphitization with 9.33% of nitrogen. • N-GCSs-2 provide high C{sub s} of 176 F g{sup −1} at current density of 0.1 A g{sup −1} in 1 M H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}. • N-GCSs-2 have high capacitance retention and 20% capacity growth after 2000 cycles. • First time, N-GCSs resulted from peach via green route for flexible supercapacitors. - Abstract: Nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon sheets (N-GCSs) were prepared from the extract of unripe Prunus persica fruit by a direct hydrothermal method. The synthesized N-GCSs were examined by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. HRTEM showed that the synthesized carbon sheets were graphitic with lattice fringes and an inter-layer distance of 0.36 nm. Doping with the nitrogen moiety present over the synthesized GCSs was confirmed by XPS, FT-IR spectroscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy elemental mapping. The fruit extract associated with hydrothermal-carbonization method is economical and eco-friendly with a single step process. The resulting carbon sheets could be modified and are promising candidates for nano-electronic applications, including supercapacitors. The synthesized N-GCSs-2 provided a high specific capacitance of 176 F g{sup −1} at a current density of 0.1 A g{sup −1}. This electrode material has excellent cyclic stability, even after 2000 cycles of charge-discharge at a current density of 0.5 A g{sup −1}.

  4. Liquid Phase Plasma Synthesis of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles on Nitrogen-Doped Activated Carbon Resulting in Nanocomposite for Supercapacitor Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Heon; Lee, Won-June; Park, Young-Kwon; Ki, Seo Jin; Kim, Byung-Joo; Jung, Sang-Chul

    2018-03-25

    Iron oxide nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped activated carbon powder were synthesized using an innovative plasma-in-liquid method, called the liquid phase plasma (LPP) method. Nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) was prepared by a primary LPP reaction using an ammonium chloride reactant solution, and an iron oxide/NC composite (IONCC) was prepared by a secondary LPP reaction using an iron chloride reactant solution. The nitrogen component at 3.77 at. % formed uniformly over the activated carbon (AC) surface after a 1 h LPP reaction. Iron oxide nanoparticles, 40~100 nm in size, were impregnated homogeneously over the NC surface after the LPP reaction, and were identified as Fe₃O₄ by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. NC and IONCCs exhibited pseudo-capacitive characteristics, and their specific capacitance and cycling stability were superior to those of bare AC. The nitrogen content on the NC surface increased the compatibility and charge transfer rate, and the composites containing iron oxide exhibited a lower equivalent series resistance.

  5. Ebullitive methane emissions from oxygenated wetland streams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crawford, John T.; Stanley, Emily H.; Spawn, Seth A.; Finlay, Jacques C.; Striegl, Robert G.

    2014-01-01

    Stream and river carbon dioxide emissions are an important component of the global carbon cycle. Methane emissions from streams could also contribute to regional or global greenhouse gas cycling, but there are relatively few data regarding stream and river methane emissions. Furthermore, the available data do not typically include the ebullitive (bubble-mediated) pathway, instead focusing on emission of dissolved methane by diffusion or convection. Here, we show the importance of ebullitive methane emissions from small streams in the regional greenhouse gas balance of a lake and wetland-dominated landscape in temperate North America and identify the origin of the methane emitted from these well-oxygenated streams. Stream methane flux densities from this landscape tended to exceed those of nearby wetland diffusive fluxes as well as average global wetland ebullitive fluxes. Total stream ebullitive methane flux at the regional scale (103 Mg C yr−1; over 6400 km2) was of the same magnitude as diffusive methane flux previously documented at the same scale. Organic-rich stream sediments had the highest rates of bubble release and higher enrichment of methane in bubbles, but glacial sand sediments also exhibited high bubble emissions relative to other studied environments. Our results from a database of groundwater chemistry support the hypothesis that methane in bubbles is produced in anoxic near-stream sediment porewaters, and not in deeper, oxygenated groundwaters. Methane interacts with other key elemental cycles such as nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur, which has implications for ecosystem changes such as drought and increased nutrient loading. Our results support the contention that streams, particularly those draining wetland landscapes of the northern hemisphere, are an important component of the global methane cycle.

  6. Lithium storage performance of carbon nanotubes prepared from polyaniline for lithium-ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiang Xiaoxia; Huang Zhengzheng; Liu Enhui; Shen Haijie; Tian Yingying; Xie Hui; Wu Yuhu; Wu Zhilian

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Polyaniline nanotube is synthesized by the self-assembly method in aqueous media. → Carbon nanotubes were prepared from polyaniline nanotube by physical activation. → Activation leads to large surface area, and surface nitrogen and oxygen functional groups. → Such physical and chemical properties lead to the good electrochemical properties. → After 20 cycles, a reversible capacity of 728 mAh g -1 was obtained. - Abstract: Carbon nanotubes with large surface area and surface nitrogen and oxygen functional groups are prepared by carbonizing and activating of polyaniline nanotubes, which is synthesized by polymerization of aniline with the self-assembly method in aqueous media. The physicochemical properties of the carbon nanotubes are characterized by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, elemental analyses and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. The surface area and pore diameter are 618.9 m 2 g -1 and 3.10 nm. The electrochemical properties of the carbon nanotubes as anode materials in lithium ion batteries are evaluated. At a current density of 100 mA g -1 , the activated carbon nanotube shows an enormously first discharge capacity of about 1370 mAh g -1 and a charge capacity of 907 mAh g -1 . After 20 cycling tests, the activated carbon nanotube retains a reversible capacity of 728 mAh g -1 . These indicate it may be a promising candidate for an anode material for lithium secondary batteries.

  7. Ultrasmall Tin Nanodots Embedded in Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbon: Metal-Organic-Framework Derivation and Electrochemical Application as Highly Stable Anode for Lithium Ion Batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dai, Ruoling; Sun, Weiwei; Wang, Yong

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Sn-based metal-organic-framework (MOF) is prepared. • Ultrasmall tin nanodots (2–3 nm) are embedded in nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon. • The Sn/C composite anode shows high capacity and ultralong cycle life. - Abstract: This work reports a facile metal-organic-framework based approach to synthesize Sn/C composite, in which ultrasmall Sn nanodots with typical size of 2–3 nm are uniformly embedded in the nitrogen-doped porous carbon matrix (denoted as Sn@NPC). The effect of thermal treatment and nitrogen doping are also explored. Owing to the delicate size control and confined volume change within carbon matrix, the Sn@NPC composite can exhibit reversible capacities of 575 mAh g −1 (Sn contribution: 1091 mAh g −1 ) after 500 cycles at 0.2 A g −1 and 507 mAh g −1 (Sn contribution: 1077 mAh g −1 ) after 1500 cycles at 1 A g −1 . The excellent long-life electrochemical stability of the Sn@NPC anode has been mainly attributed to the uniform distribution of ultrasmall Sn nanodots and the highly-conductive and flexible N-doped carbon matrix, which can effectively facilitate lithium ion/electron diffusion, buffer the large volume change and improve the structure stability of the electrode during repetitive cycling with lithium ions.

  8. Oxygen sensitivity of anammox and coupled N-cycle processes in oxygen minimum zones

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kalvelage, Tim; Jensen, Marlene Mark; Contreras, Sergio

    2011-01-01

    Nutrient measurements indicate that 30–50% of the total nitrogen (N) loss in the ocean occurs in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs). This pelagic N-removal takes place within only ,0.1% of the ocean volume, hence moderate variations in the extent of OMZs due to global warming may have a large impact...... at non-detectable concentrations of O2, while anaerobic NO3 2 reduction was fully active up to at least 25 mmol L21 O2. Hence, aerobic and anaerobic N-cycle pathways in OMZs can co-occur over a larger range of O2 concentrations than previously assumed. The zone where N-loss can occur is primarily...... controlled by the O2-sensitivity of anammox itself, and not by any effects of O2 on the tightly coupled pathways of aerobic NH3 oxidation and NO3 2 reduction. With anammox bacteria in the marine environment being active at O2 levels ,20 times higher than those known to inhibit their cultured counterparts...

  9. The solubility of carbon in low-nitrogen liquid lithium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yonco, R.M.; Homa, M.I.

    1986-01-01

    The solubility of carbon in liquid lithium containing 0 C and compared with the solubility in lithium containing proportional 2600 wppm nitrogen in that same temperature range. A direct sampling method was employed in which filtered samples of the saturated solution were taken at randomly selected temperatures. The entire sample was analyzed for carbon by the acetylene evolution method. The analytical method was examined critically and it was found that (1) all of the carbon in solution, including carbon introduced as lithium cyanamide is detected and (2) ethylene and ethane must also be measured and included with the acetylene to get complete recovery of the carbon content of the sample. The solubility of carbon in low-nitrogen lithium can be expressed by the equations ln S=6.731-8617T -1 and log Ssup(*)=7.459-3740T -1 , where S is the mole percent Li 2 C 2 and Ssup(*) is in weight parts per million carbon. The presence of proportional 2600 wppm nitrogen does not affect the solubility of carbon in lithium at temperatures above proportional 350 0 C, but at lower temperatures it increased the solubility by as much as an order of magnitude compared to the solubility in low-nitrogen lithium. (orig.)

  10. Fe Isolated Single Atoms on S, N Codoped Carbon by Copolymer Pyrolysis Strategy for Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Qiheng; Chen, Wenxing; Xiao, Hai; Gong, Yue; Li, Zhi; Zheng, Lirong; Zheng, Xusheng; Yan, Wensheng; Cheong, Weng-Chon; Shen, Rongan; Fu, Ninghua; Gu, Lin; Zhuang, Zhongbin; Chen, Chen; Wang, Dingsheng; Peng, Qing; Li, Jun; Li, Yadong

    2018-06-01

    Heteroatom-doped Fe-NC catalyst has emerged as one of the most promising candidates to replace noble metal-based catalysts for highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, delicate controls over their structure parameters to optimize the catalytic efficiency and molecular-level understandings of the catalytic mechanism are still challenging. Herein, a novel pyrrole-thiophene copolymer pyrolysis strategy to synthesize Fe-isolated single atoms on sulfur and nitrogen-codoped carbon (Fe-ISA/SNC) with controllable S, N doping is rationally designed. The catalytic efficiency of Fe-ISA/SNC shows a volcano-type curve with the increase of sulfur doping. The optimized Fe-ISA/SNC exhibits a half-wave potential of 0.896 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)), which is more positive than those of Fe-isolated single atoms on nitrogen codoped carbon (Fe-ISA/NC, 0.839 V), commercial Pt/C (0.841 V), and most reported nonprecious metal catalysts. Fe-ISA/SNC is methanol tolerable and shows negligible activity decay in alkaline condition during 15 000 voltage cycles. X-ray absorption fine structure analysis and density functional theory calculations reveal that the incorporated sulfur engineers the charges on N atoms surrounding the Fe reactive center. The enriched charge facilitates the rate-limiting reductive release of OH* and therefore improved the overall ORR efficiency. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  11. Nitrogen diffusion in hafnia and the impact of nitridation on oxygen and hydrogen diffusion: A first-principles study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sathiyanarayanan, Rajesh, E-mail: rajessat@in.ibm.com, E-mail: rajesh.sathiyanarayanan@gmail.com; Pandey, R. K.; Murali, K. V. R. M. [IBM Semiconductor Research and Development Center, Bangalore 560045 (India)

    2015-01-21

    Using first-principles simulations, we have computed incorporation energies and diffusion barriers of ammonia, the nitrogen molecule and atomic nitrogen in monoclinic hafnia (m-HfO{sub 2}). Our calculations show that ammonia is likely to dissociate into an NH{sub 2} molecular unit, whereas the nitrogen molecule remains as a molecule either in the interstitial space or at an oxygen lattice site. The lowest energy pathway for the diffusion of atomic nitrogen interstitials consists of the hopping of the nitrogen interstitial between neighboring three-coordinated lattice oxygen atoms that share a single Hf atom, and the barrier for such hops is determined by a switching mechanism. The substitutional nitrogen atom shows a preference for diffusion through the doubly positive oxygen vacancy-mediated mechanism. Furthermore, we have investigated the impact of nitrogen atoms on the diffusion barriers of oxygen and hydrogen interstitials in m-HfO{sub 2}. Our results show that nitrogen incorporation has a significant impact on the barriers for oxygen and hydrogen diffusion: nitrogen atoms attract oxygen and hydrogen interstitials diffusing in the vicinity, thereby slowing down (reducing) their diffusion (diffusion length)

  12. The role of benthic macrofauna on nitrogen cycling in eutrophic lake sediment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Svensson, J M

    1998-12-01

    This thesis concerns the role of sediment-living macrobenthos in the cycling of nitrogen species and nitrogen transformation in eutrophic freshwater sediments. In my thesis I have, employing {sup 15}N-isotope techniques in laboratory experiments, shown the importance of infaunal chironomid larvae and oligochaetes on denitrification in eutrophic lake sediments. Investigated benthic organisms not only expand the sediment surface with their permanent or non-permanent burrow constructions, they also transport water through the burrows continuously. This behaviour of intermittent water-pumping activity, provides the burrows with oxygen, and in addition, mediates the supply of nitrate to denitrifying zones. The highly dynamic oxygen climate within and narrow oxic zones around burrows, due to their radial geometry, provides a very short diffusion path for nitrate into surrounding anoxic zones. In my studies rates of denitrification were enhanced c. 3 to 6-fold by the influence of chironomids (Chironomus plumosus) and c. 2-fold by the influence of oligochaetes at comparable biomass. The difference in degree of stimulation is explained by species-specific habitat exploitation which could also be observed between different tube-dwelling species of chironomids. Besides chironomid biomass, the degree of enhancement of denitrification by chironomids was dependent on nitrate concentration in the overlying water, and water temperature. Nitrification was also seen to be stimulated by the infaunal macrobenthos but to a lesser degree than denitrification. It is suggested that bioturbated eutrophic sediment, under predominantly oxic bottom water conditions may act more pronouncedly as a sink for inorganic nitrogen relative to non-bioturbated sediment, and that bioturbated sediment above all, may be an important factor contributing to lowered transport of nitrogen to the coast. In order to sustain high nitrogen removal capacity in wetlands, ponds and lakes, it is further suggested

  13. Oxygen, nitrogen and air broadening of HCN spectral lines at terahertz frequencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Chun; Buldyreva, Jeanna; Gordon, Iouli E.; Rohart, Francois; Cuisset, Arnaud; Mouret, Gael; Bocquet, Robin; Hindle, Francis

    2008-01-01

    The room-temperature nitrogen- and oxygen-broadening coefficients of hydrogen cyanide spectral lines have been measured in the 0.5-3 THz (17-100 cm -1 ) frequency range (purely rotational transitions with 5≤J≤36) by a continuous-wave terahertz spectrometer based on a photomixing source. An improved version of the Robert and Bonamy semiclassical formalism has been used to calculate the oxygen-broadening coefficients and resulted in a good agreement with these measurements. The nitrogen and oxygen data are combined to provide the air-broadening coefficients as used by the HITRAN database. A significant difference is observed between the measured and tabulated values for transitions with high values of the rotational quantum number. A new polynomial representation is suggested for inclusion in HITRAN. A similar polynomial expression has been derived for the nitrogen broadening to aid the studies of Titan's atmosphere

  14. The Hamburg oceanic carbon cycle circulation model. Cycle 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maier-Reimer, E.; Heinze, C.

    1992-02-01

    The carbon cycle model calculates the prognostic fields of oceanic geochemical carbon cycle tracers making use of a 'frozen' velocity field provided by a run of the LSG oceanic circulation model (see the corresponding manual, LSG=Large Scale Geostrophic). The carbon cycle model includes a crude approximation of interactions between sediment and bottom layer water. A simple (meridionally diffusive) one layer atmosphere model allows to calculate the CO 2 airborne fraction resulting from the oceanic biogeochemical interactions. (orig.)

  15. Feasibility Study on Nitrogen-15 Enrichment and Recycling System for Innovative FR Cycle System With Nitride Fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masaki Inoue; Kiyoshi Ono; Tsuna-aki Fujioka; Koji Sato; Takeo Asaga

    2002-01-01

    Highly-isotopically-enriched nitrogen (HE-N 2 ; 15 N abundance 99.9%) is indispensable for a nitride fueled fast reactor (FR) cycle to minimize the effect of carbon-14 ( 14 C) generated mainly by 14 N(n,p) 14 C reaction in the core on environmental burden. Thus, the development of inexpensive 15 N enrichment and recycling technology is one of the key aspects for the commercialization of a nitride fueled FR cycle. Nitrogen isotope separation by the gas adsorption technique was experimentally confirmed in order to obtain its technological perspective. A conventional pressure swing adsorption technique, which is already commercialized for recovering the nitrogen gas from multi-composition gas-mixture, would be suitable for recovering in both reprocessing and fuel fabrication to recycle the HE-N 2 gas. A couple of the nitride fuel cycle system concepts including the reprocessing and fuel fabrication process flow diagrams with the HE-N 2 gas recycling were newly designed for both aqueous and non-aqueous (pyrochemical) nitride fuel recycle plants, and also the effect of the HE-N 2 gas recycling on the economics of each concept was evaluated. (authors)

  16. Influence of Micropore and Mesoporous in Activated Carbon Air-cathode Catalysts on Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Microbial Fuel Cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Yi; Li, Kexun; Ge, Baochao; Pu, Liangtao; Liu, Ziqi

    2016-01-01

    In this study, carbon samples with different micropore and mesoporous structures are prepared as air-cathode catalyst layer to explore the role of pore structure on oxygen reduction reaction. The results of linear sweep voltammetry and power density show that the commercially-produced activated carbon (CAC) has the best electrochemical performance, and carbon samples with only micropore or mesoporous show lower performance than CAC. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms analysis confirm that CAC has highest surface area (1616 m 2 g −1 ) and a certain amount of micropore and mesoporous. According to Tafel plot and rotating disk electrode, CAC behaves the highest kinetic activity and electron transfer number, leading to the improvement of oxygen reduction reaction. The air permeability test proves that mesoporous structure enhance oxygen permeation. Carbon materials are also analyzed by In situ Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and H 2 temperature programmed reduction, which indicate that micropore provide active sites for catalysis. In a word, micropore and mesoporous together would improve the electrochemical performance of carbon materials.

  17. The prefrontal oxygenation and ventilatory responses at start of one-legged cycling exercise have relation to central command.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asahara, Ryota; Matsukawa, Kanji; Ishii, Kei; Liang, Nan; Endo, Kana

    2016-11-01

    When performing exercise arbitrarily, activation of central command should start before the onset of exercise, but when exercise is forced to start with cue, activation of central command should be delayed. We examined whether the in-advance activation of central command influenced the ventilatory response and reflected in the prefrontal oxygenation, by comparing the responses during exercise with arbitrary and cued start. The breath-by-breath respiratory variables and the prefrontal oxygenated-hemoglobin concentration (Oxy-Hb) were measured during one-legged cycling. Minute ventilation (V̇e) at the onset of arbitrary one-legged cycling was augmented to a greater extent than cued cycling, while end-tidal carbon dioxide tension (ETco 2 ) decreased irrespective of arbitrary or cued start. Symmetric increase in the bilateral prefrontal Oxy-Hb occurred before and at the onset of arbitrary one-legged cycling, whereas such an increase was absent with cued start. The time course and magnitude of the increased prefrontal oxygenation were not influenced by the extent of subjective rating of perceived exertion and were the same as those of the prefrontal oxygenation during two-legged cycling previously reported. Mental imagery or passive performance of the one-legged cycling increased V̇e and decreased ETco 2 Neither intervention, however, augmented the prefrontal Oxy-Hb. The changes in ETco 2 could not explain the prefrontal oxygenation response during voluntary or passive one-legged cycling. Taken together, it is likely that the in-advance activation of central command influenced the ventilatory response by enhancing minute ventilation at the onset of one-legged cycling exercise and reflected in the preexercise increase in the prefrontal oxygenation. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

  18. Calcification rate and the stable carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen isotopes in the skeleton, host tissue, and zooxanthellae of bleached and recovering Hawaiian corals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Lisa J.; Grottoli, Andréa G.

    2006-06-01

    We tested the effectiveness of stable isotopes as recorders of physiological changes that occur during coral bleaching and recovery. Montipora capitata and Porites compressa fragments were bleached in outdoor tanks with seawater temperature raised to 30 °C (treatment corals) for one month. Additional fragments were maintained at 27 °C in separate tanks (control corals). After one month, (0 months recovery), buoyant weight was measured and a subset of fragments was frozen. Remaining fragments were returned to the reef for recovery. After 1.5, 4, and 8 months, fragments were collected, measured for buoyant weight, and frozen. Fragments were analyzed for stable carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of the skeleton (δ 13C s; δ 18O s) and nitrogen and carbon isotopic compositions of the host tissue (δ 15N h; δ 13C h) and zooxanthellae (δ 15N z; δ 13C z). δ 13C s decreased immediately after bleaching in M. capitata, but not in P. compressa. δ 18O s of both species failed to record the warming event. During the remaining months of recovery, δ 13C s and δ 18O s were more enriched in treatment than control corals due to decreases in calcification and metabolic fractionation during that time. Increased δ 15N h of treatment P. compressa may be due to expelled zooxanthellae during bleaching and recovery. Increased δ 15N z at 1.5 months in treatment fragments of both species reflects the increased incorporation of dissolved inorganic nitrogen to facilitate mitotic cell division and/or chl a/cell recovery. Changes in δ 13C h and δ 13C z at 1.5 months in treatment M. capitata indicated a large increase in heterotrophically acquired carbon relative to photosynthetically fixed carbon. We experimentally show that isotopes in coral skeleton, host tissue and zooxanthellae can be used to verify physiological changes during bleaching and recovery, but their use as a proxy for past bleaching events in the skeletal record is limited.

  19. Fabrication of Nitrogen-Doped Hollow Mesoporous Spherical Carbon Capsules for Supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Aibing; Xia, Kechan; Zhang, Linsong; Yu, Yifeng; Li, Yuetong; Sun, Hexu; Wang, Yuying; Li, Yunqian; Li, Shuhui

    2016-09-06

    A novel "dissolution-capture" method for the fabrication of nitrogen-doped hollow mesoporous spherical carbon capsules (N-HMSCCs) with high capability for supercapacitor is developed. The fabrication process is performed by depositing mesoporous silica on the surface of the polyacrylonitrile nanospheres, followed by a dissolution-capture process occurring in the polyacrylonitrile core and silica shell. The polyacrylonitrile core is dissolved by dimethylformamide treatment to form a hollow cavity. Then, the polyacrylonitrile is captured into the mesochannel of silica. After carbonization and etching of silica, N-HMSCCs with uniform mesopore size are produced. The N-HMSCCs show a high specific capacitance of 206.0 F g(-1) at a current density of 1 A g(-1) in 6.0 M KOH due to its unique hollow nanostructure, high surface area, and nitrogen content. In addition, 92.3% of the capacitance of N-HMSCCs still remains after 3000 cycles at 5 A g(-1). The "dissolution-capture" method should give a useful enlightenment for the design of electrode materials for supercapacitor.

  20. Enhanced photosynthetic capacity increases nitrogen metabolism through the coordinated regulation of carbon and nitrogen assimilation in Arabidopsis thaliana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otori, Kumi; Tanabe, Noriaki; Maruyama, Toshiki; Sato, Shigeru; Yanagisawa, Shuichi; Tamoi, Masahiro; Shigeoka, Shigeru

    2017-09-01

    Plant growth and productivity depend on interactions between the metabolism of carbon and nitrogen. The sensing ability of internal carbon and nitrogen metabolites (the C/N balance) enables plants to regulate metabolism and development. In order to investigate the effects of an enhanced photosynthetic capacity on the metabolism of carbon and nitrogen in photosynthetically active tissus (source leaves), we herein generated transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants (ApFS) that expressed cyanobacterial fructose-1,6-/sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase in their chloroplasts. The phenotype of ApFS plants was indistinguishable from that of wild-type plants at the immature stage. However, as plants matured, the growth of ApFS plants was superior to that of wild-type plants. Starch levels were higher in ApFS plants than in wild-type plants at 2 and 5 weeks. Sucrose levels were also higher in ApFS plants than in wild-type plants, but only at 5 weeks. On the other hand, the contents of various free amino acids were lower in ApFS plants than in wild-type plants at 2 weeks, but were similar at 5 weeks. The total C/N ratio was the same in ApFS plants and wild-type plants, whereas nitrite levels increased in parallel with elevations in nitrate reductase activity at 5 weeks in ApFS plants. These results suggest that increases in the contents of photosynthetic intermediates at the early growth stage caused a temporary imbalance in the free-C/free-N ratio and, thus, the feedback inhibition of the expression of genes involved in the Calvin cycle and induction of the expression of those involved in nitrogen metabolism due to supply deficient free amino acids for maintenance of the C/N balance in source leaves of ApFS plants.

  1. Composite of TiN nanoparticles and few-walled carbon nanotubes and its application to the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction

    KAUST Repository

    Isogai, Shunsuke

    2011-11-30

    Nanoparticles meet nanotubes! Direct synthesis of TiN nanoparticles in a three-dimensional network of few-walled carbon nanotubes (FWCNTs) was achieved by using mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (C 3N 4) as both a hard template and a nitrogen source. The TiN/FWCNT composite showed high performance for the oxygen reduction reaction in acidic media. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. Determination of oxygen, nitrogen, and silicon in Nigerian fossil fuels by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hannan, M.A.; Oluwole, A.F.; Kehinde, L.O.; Borisade, A.B.

    2003-01-01

    Classification, assessment, and utilization of coal and crude oil extracts are enhanced by analysis of their oxygen content. Values of oxygen obtained 'by difference' from chemical analysis have proved inaccurate. The oxygen, nitrogen, and silicon content of Nigerian coal samples, crude oils, bitumen extracts, and tar sand samples were measured directly using instrumental fast neutron activation analysis (FNAA). The total oxygen in the coal ranges from 5.20% to 23.3%, in the oil and extracts from 0.14% to 1.08%, and in the tar sands from 38% to 47%. The nitrogen content in the coal ranges from 0.54% to 1.35%, in the crude oil and bitumen extracts from ≤ 0.014% to 0.490%, and in the tar sands from 0.082% to 0.611%. The silicon content in the coal ranges from 1.50% to 8.86%; in the oil and the bitumen extracts it is <1%, and in the tar sands between 25.1% and 37.5%. The results show that Nigerian coals are mostly sub-bituminous. However, one of the samples showed bituminous properties as evidenced by the dry ash-free (daf) percent of carbon obtained. This same sample indicated a higher ash content resulting in a comparatively high percentage of silicon. In oils and tar sands from various locations, a comparison of elements is made. (author)

  3. Effect of various carbon and nitrogen sources on cellulose synthesis ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The effect of various carbon and nitrogen sources on cellulose production by Acetobacter lovaniensis HBB5 was examined. In this study, glucose, fructose, sucrose and ethanol as carbon source and yeast extract, casein hydrolysate and ammonium sulphate as nitrogen source were used. Among the carbon sources, ...

  4. THE REDSHIFT EVOLUTION OF OXYGEN AND NITROGEN ABUNDANCES IN EMISSION-LINE SDSS GALAXIES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thuan, Trinh X.; Pilyugin, Leonid S.; Zinchenko, Igor A.

    2010-01-01

    The oxygen and nitrogen abundance evolutions with redshift and galaxy stellar mass in emission-line galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) are investigated. This is the first such study for nitrogen abundances, and it provides an additional constraint for the study of the chemical evolution of galaxies. We have devised a criterion to recognize and exclude from consideration active galactic nuclei and star-forming galaxies with large errors in the line flux measurements. To select star-forming galaxies with accurate line fluxes measurements, we require that, for each galaxy, the nitrogen abundances derived with various calibrations based on different emission lines agree. Using this selection criterion, subsamples of star-forming SDSS galaxies have been extracted from catalogs of the Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics/Johns Hopkins University group. We found that the galaxies of highest masses, those with masses ∼>10 11.2 M sun , have not been enriched in both oxygen and nitrogen over the last ∼3 Gyr: they have formed their stars in the so distant past that these have returned their nucleosynthesis products to the interstellar medium before z = 0.25. The galaxies in the mass range from ∼10 11.0 M sun to ∼10 11.2 M sun do not show an appreciable enrichment in oxygen, but do show some enrichment in nitrogen: they also formed their stars before z = 0.25 but later in comparison to the galaxies of highest masses; these stars have not returned nitrogen to the interstellar medium before z = 0.25 because they have not had enough time to evolve. This suggests that stars with lifetimes of 2-3 Gyr, in the 1.5-2 M sun mass range, contribute to the nitrogen production. Finally, galaxies with masses ∼ 11 M sun show enrichment in both oxygen and nitrogen during the last 3 Gyr: they have undergone appreciable star formation and have converted up to ∼20% of their mass into stars over this period. Both oxygen and nitrogen enrichments increase with decreasing

  5. Oxygen, nitrogen and air broadening of HCN spectral lines at terahertz frequencies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang Chun [Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie de l' Atmosphere, UMR CNRS 8101, Universite du Littoral Cote d' Opale, 189A Av. Maurice Schumann, 59140 Dunkerque (France); Buldyreva, Jeanna [Institut UTINAM, UMR CNRS 6213, Universite de Franche-Comte, 16, Route de Gray, 25030 Besancon Cedex (France); Gordon, Iouli E. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Atomic and Molecular Physics Division, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-1516 (United States); Rohart, Francois [Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molecules, UMR CNRS 8523, Batiment P5-135, Universite de Lille 1, 59655 Villeneuve d' Ascq Cedex (France); Cuisset, Arnaud; Mouret, Gael; Bocquet, Robin [Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie de l' Atmosphere, UMR CNRS 8101, Universite du Littoral Cote d' Opale, 189A Av. Maurice Schumann, 59140 Dunkerque (France); Hindle, Francis [Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie de l' Atmosphere, UMR CNRS 8101, Universite du Littoral Cote d' Opale, 189A Av. Maurice Schumann, 59140 Dunkerque (France)], E-mail: francis.hindle@univ-littoral.fr

    2008-11-15

    The room-temperature nitrogen- and oxygen-broadening coefficients of hydrogen cyanide spectral lines have been measured in the 0.5-3 THz (17-100 cm{sup -1}) frequency range (purely rotational transitions with 5{<=}J{<=}36) by a continuous-wave terahertz spectrometer based on a photomixing source. An improved version of the Robert and Bonamy semiclassical formalism has been used to calculate the oxygen-broadening coefficients and resulted in a good agreement with these measurements. The nitrogen and oxygen data are combined to provide the air-broadening coefficients as used by the HITRAN database. A significant difference is observed between the measured and tabulated values for transitions with high values of the rotational quantum number. A new polynomial representation is suggested for inclusion in HITRAN. A similar polynomial expression has been derived for the nitrogen broadening to aid the studies of Titan's atmosphere.

  6. Nitrogen-doped biomass-based ultra-thin carbon nanosheets with interconnected framework for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Shasha; Chen, Yaxin; Shi, Liluo; Dong, Yue; Ma, Jing; Chen, Xiaohong; Song, Huaihe

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, a low-cost and environmental friendly synthesis strategy is proposed to fabricate nitrogen-doped biomass-based ultra-thin carbon nanosheets (N-CNS) with interconnected framework by using soybean milk as the carbon precursor and sodium chloride as the template. The interconnected porous nanosheet structure is beneficial for lithium ion transportation, and the defects introduced by pyridine nitrogen doping are favorable for lithium storage. When used as the anodes for lithium-ion batteries, the N-CNS electrode shows a high initial reversible specific capacity of 1334 mAh g-1 at 50 mA g-1, excellent rate performance (1212, 555 and 336 mAh g-1 at 0.05, 0.5 and 2 A g-1, respectively) and good cycling stability (355 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 after 1000 cycles). Furthermore, this study demonstrates the prospects of biomass and soybean milk, as the potential anode for the application of electrochemical energy storage devices.

  7. Suppression of carbon desorption from 4H-SiC by irradiating a remote nitrogen plasma at a low temperature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimabayashi, Masaharu; Kurihara, Kazuaki; Sasaki, Koichi

    2018-05-01

    We remotely irradiated a nitrogen plasma onto the carbon-side surface of 4H-SiC at a low temperature, and examined the effect of sample cooling on the characteristics of the nitride layer. An improved nitride layer, which had higher concentrations of carbon and silicon and a lower concentration of oxygen, was formed in the region at depths of more than 0.6–0.9 nm from the top surface. The depth of the fragile nitride layer in the top region, where no improved characteristics of the nitride layer were observed, became smaller with sample cooling. In addition, on the basis of the experimental results, we discussed the difference in the activation energy of the nitriding reaction of 4H-SiC supported by atomic nitrogen and molecular nitrogen in the metastable \\text{A}3Σ \\text{u} + state.

  8. Salt melt synthesis of curved nitrogen-doped carbon nanostructures: ORR kinetics boost

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rybarczyk, Maria K.; Gontarek, Emilia; Lieder, Marek; Titirici, Maria-Magdalena

    2018-03-01

    Implementing metal-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and revealing crucial chemical or topographical parameters driving their activity are vital for the development of power cells. The carbon-based catalysts are very often synthesized through carbonization of biopolymers, in particular, those one containing nitrogen groups such as chitosan. Unfortunately, the resulting carbonaceous materials usually lack specific porosity and exhibit low catalytic activity. Here, we demonstrate that pyrolysis of chitosan in a ZnCl2 melt assisted by the presence of LiCl results not only in a highly porous activated carbon material with a specific surface area of 1317.97 m2/g and the total nitrogen content of 6.5%, but also induces unexpected curvature in the grown graphitic layers. This is the first work that shows curved graphene layers obtained from a biopolymer precursor by its pyrolytic decomposition in the melted salt media. On the other hand, a carbonaceous material obtained from chitosan but without the salts has very low specific surface area of 7.8 m2/g, possesses no specific structural features, and contains 4.7% of nitrogen. The electrochemical studies show, that the former material is highly active towards four-electron pathway of the ORR in terms of an onset potential (0.89 V vs RHE) and the turnover frequency (TOFmax = 0.095 e site-1 s-1). We attribute this high catalytic performance to the presence of the pyridinic and pyrrolic sites in the structure. The ORR kinetics is probably further promoted by curvature in the graphitic layers.

  9. Some aspects of the nitrogen cycling in the Arabian Sea

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Naqvi, S.W.A.; Noronha, R.J.; Shailaja, M.S.; Somasundar, K.; SenGupta, R.

    in the intensity of the oxygen-deficient conditions is providEd. by data on the nitrogen system as well as the activity of the electron transport system (ETS). The results imply a quick renewal of the oxygen-depleted waters. Denitrification in the Arabian Sea...

  10. Vegetation controls on carbon and nitrogen cycling and retention: contrasts in spruce and hardwood watershed budgets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charlene N. Kelly; Stephen H. Schoenholtz; Mary Beth. Adams

    2010-01-01

    Anthropogenic sources of nitrogen (N) have altered the global N cycle to such an extent as to nearly double the rate of N that enters many terrestrial ecosystems. However, predicting the fate of N inputs continues to present challenges, as a multitude of environmental factors play major roles in determining N pathways. This research investigates the role of specific...

  11. Hierarchical nitrogen-doped porous carbon with high surface area derived from endothelium corneum gigeriae galli for high-performance supercapacitor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong, Xiaoting; Hui, K.S.; Zeng, Zhi; Hui, K.N.; Zhang, Luojiang; Mo, Mingyue; Li, Min

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Porous carbons were prepared using endothelium corneum gigeriae galli as precursor. • Surface and structural properties strongly depend on carbonization temperatures. • Resultant carbons possess nitrogen heteroatom and high surface areas. • ECGG-900 sample exhibits excellent electrochemical capacitive performances. - Abstract: Endothelium corneum gigeriae galli derived 3D hierarchical nitrogen-doped porous carbon was for the first time prepared by preliminary carbonization at 450 °C and final KOH activation at high temperatures. The surface and structural properties of the as-synthesized samples are analyzed with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface analyzer apparatus, X-Ray Diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. The electrochemical performances are analyzed by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The obtained results show that the sample carbonized at 900 °C possesses the SSA of 2149.9 m 2 g −1 , average micropore diameter of 1.78 nm, and exhibits the highest initial specific capacitance of 198.0 F g −1 at current density of 1 A g −1 in 6 M KOH solution. It retains good specific capacitance retention of 91.6% after 3000 charge/discharge cycles at current density of 2 A g −1

  12. Formation of short-lived positron emitters in reactions of protons of energies up to 200 MeV with the target elements carbon, nitrogen and oxygen

    CERN Document Server

    Kettern, K; Qaim, S M; Shubin, Yu N; Steyn, G F; Van der Walt, T N; 10.1016/j.apradiso.2004.02.007

    2004-01-01

    Excitation functions were measured by the stacked-foil technique for proton induced reactions on carbon, nitrogen and oxygen leading to the formation of the short-lived positron emitters /sup 11/C (T/sub 1 /2/=20.38 min) and /sup 13/N (T/sub 1/2/=9.96 min). The energy region covered extended up to 200 MeV. The product activity was measured non-destructively via gamma -ray spectrometry. A careful decay curve analysis of the positron annihilation radiation was invariably performed. The experimental results were compared with theoretical data obtained using the modified hybrid nuclear model code ALICE-IPPE for intermediate energies. The agreement was found to be generally satisfactory. The data are of importance in proton therapy.

  13. Microbial Nitrogen-Cycle Gene Abundance in Soil of Cropland Abandoned for Different Periods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huhe; Borjigin, Shinchilelt; Buhebaoyin; Wu, Yanpei; Li, Minquan; Cheng, Yunxiang

    2016-01-01

    In Inner Mongolia, steppe grasslands face desertification or degradation because of human overuse and abandonment after inappropriate agricultural management. The soils in these abandoned croplands exist in heterogeneous environments characterized by widely fluctuating microbial growth. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis of microbial genes encoding proteins involved in the nitrogen cycle was used to study Azotobacter species, nitrifiers, and denitrifiers in the soils from steppe grasslands and croplands abandoned for 2, 6, and 26 years. Except for nitrifying archaea and nitrous oxide-reducing bacteria, the relative genotypic abundance of microbial communities involved in nitrogen metabolism differed by approximately 2- to 10-fold between abandoned cropland and steppe grassland soils. Although nitrogen-cycle gene abundances varied with abandonment time, the abundance patterns of nitrogen-cycle genes separated distinctly into abandoned cropland versus light-grazing steppe grassland, despite the lack of any cultivation for over a quarter-century. Plant biomass and plant diversity exerted a significant effect on the abundance of microbial communities that mediate the nitrogen cycle (P nitrogen cycle in recently abandoned croplands.

  14. Sequestration of Carbon in Mycorrhizal Fungi Under Nitrogen Fertilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treseder, K. K.; Turner, K. M.

    2005-12-01

    Mycorrhizal fungi are root symbionts that facilitate plant uptake of soil nutrients in exchange for plant carbohydrates. They grow in almost every terrestrial ecosystem on earth, form relationships with about 80% of plant species, and receive 10 to 20% of the carbon fixed by their host plants. As such, they could potentially sequester a significant amount of carbon in ecosystems. We hypothesized that nitrogen fertilization would decrease carbon storage in mycorrhizal fungi, because plants should reduce investment of carbon in mycorrhizal fungi when nitrogen availability is high. We measured the abundance of two major groups of mycorrhizal fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, in control and nitrogen-fertilized plots within three boreal ecosystems of inland Alaska. The ecosystems represented different recovery stages following severe fire, and comprised a young site dominated by AM fungi, an old site dominated by ECM fungi, and an intermediate site co-dominated by both groups. Pools of mycorrhizal carbon included root-associated AM and ECM structures, soil-associated AM hyphae, and soil-associated glomalin. Glomalin is a glycoprotein produced only by AM fungi. It is present in the cell walls of AM hyphae, and then is deposited in the soil as the hyphae senesce. Nitrogen significantly altered total mycorrhizal carbon pools, but its effect varied by site (site * N interaction, P = 0.05). Under nitrogen fertilization, mycorrhizal carbon was reduced from 99 to 50 g C m2 in the youngest site, was increased from 124 to 203 g C m2 in the intermediate-aged site, and remained at 35 g C m2 in the oldest site. The changes in total mycorrhizal carbon stocks were driven mostly by changes in glomalin (site * N interaction, P = 0.05), and glomalin stocks were strongly correlated with AM hyphal abundance (P stocks within root-associated AM structures increased significantly with nitrogen fertilization across all sites (P = 0.001), as did root

  15. High-Surface-Area Nitrogen-Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide for Electric Double-Layer Capacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youn, Hee-Chang; Bak, Seong-Min; Kim, Myeong-Seong; Jaye, Cherno; Fischer, Daniel A; Lee, Chang-Wook; Yang, Xiao-Qing; Roh, Kwang Chul; Kim, Kwang-Bum

    2015-06-08

    A two-step method consisting of solid-state microwave irradiation and heat treatment under NH3 gas was used to prepare nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-RGO) with a high specific surface area (1007 m(2)  g(-1) ), high electrical conductivity (1532 S m(-1) ), and low oxygen content (1.5 wt %) for electrical double-layer capacitor applications. The specific capacitance of N-RGO was 291 F g(-1) at a current density of 1 A g(-1) , and a capacitance of 261 F g(-1) was retained at 50 A g(-1) , which indicated a very good rate capability. N-RGO also showed excellent cycling stability and preserved 96 % of the initial specific capacitance after 100 000 cycles. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy results provided evidenced for the recovery of π conjugation in the carbon networks with the removal of oxygenated groups and revealed chemical bonding of the nitrogen atoms in N-RGO. The good electrochemical performance of N-RGO is attributed to its high surface area, high electrical conductivity, and low oxygen content. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  16. Oxygen nitrogen and ozone: application in wastewater treatment and environment protection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pinto, Julio A.G. [Oxigenio do Brasil, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

    1994-12-31

    Oxygen`s versatility as an oxidant and as a combustion atmosphere provides clean solutions to different industries. Oxygen also finds excellent application for the regeneration of eutrophic surface waters where high biochemical oxygen demand loading demands extra available oxygen for life support. When even stronger oxidizing properties are needed, ozone may act as a supplement. Nitrogen, on the other hand, has excellent cooling capacity, resulting in practical application in solvent recapture, enabling processes to meet emission standards while allowing solvent recycle for reuse. 7 figs., 1 tab.

  17. Oxygen nitrogen and ozone: application in wastewater treatment and environment protection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pinto, Julio A.G. [Oxigenio do Brasil, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

    1993-12-31

    Oxygen`s versatility as an oxidant and as a combustion atmosphere provides clean solutions to different industries. Oxygen also finds excellent application for the regeneration of eutrophic surface waters where high biochemical oxygen demand loading demands extra available oxygen for life support. When even stronger oxidizing properties are needed, ozone may act as a supplement. Nitrogen, on the other hand, has excellent cooling capacity, resulting in practical application in solvent recapture, enabling processes to meet emission standards while allowing solvent recycle for reuse. 7 figs., 1 tab.

  18. Amorphous carbon nitrogenated films prepared by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rangel, Elidiane C.; Durrant, Steven F.; Rangel, Rita C.C.; Kayama, Milton E.; Landers, Richard; Cruz, Nilson C. da

    2006-01-01

    In this work, an investigation was conducted on amorphous hydrogenated-nitrogenated carbon films prepared by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition. Glow discharge was excited by radiofrequency power (13.56 MHz, 40 W) whereas the substrate-holder was biased with 25 kV negative pulses. The films were deposited from benzene, nitrogen and argon mixtures. The proportion of nitrogen in the chamber feed (R N ) was varied against that of argon, while keeping the total pressure constant (1.3 Pa). From infrared reflectance-absorbance spectroscopy it was observed that the molecular structure of the benzene is not preserved in the film. Nitrogen was incorporated from the plasma while oxygen arose as a contaminant. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that N/C and O/C atomic ratios change slightly with R N . Water wettability decreased as the proportion of N in the gas phase increased while surface roughness underwent just small changes. Nanoindentation measurements showed that film deposition by means of ion bombardment was beneficial to the mechanical properties of the film-substrate interface. The intensity of the modifications correlates well with the degree of ion bombardment

  19. Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Variability [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dennis Baldocchi

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available A growing literature is reporting on how the terrestrial carbon cycle is experiencing year-to-year variability because of climate anomalies and trends caused by global change. As CO2 concentration records in the atmosphere exceed 50 years and as satellite records reach over 30 years in length, we are becoming better able to address carbon cycle variability and trends. Here we review how variable the carbon cycle is, how large the trends in its gross and net fluxes are, and how well the signal can be separated from noise. We explore mechanisms that explain year-to-year variability and trends by deconstructing the global carbon budget. The CO2 concentration record is detecting a significant increase in the seasonal amplitude between 1958 and now. Inferential methods provide a variety of explanations for this result, but a conclusive attribution remains elusive. Scientists have reported that this trend is a consequence of the greening of the biosphere, stronger northern latitude photosynthesis, more photosynthesis by semi-arid ecosystems, agriculture and the green revolution, tropical temperature anomalies, or increased winter respiration. At the global scale, variability in the terrestrial carbon cycle can be due to changes in constituent fluxes, gross primary productivity, plant respiration and heterotrophic (microbial respiration, and losses due to fire, land use change, soil erosion, or harvesting. It remains controversial whether or not there is a significant trend in global primary productivity (due to rising CO2, temperature, nitrogen deposition, changing land use, and preponderance of wet and dry regions. The degree to which year-to-year variability in temperature and precipitation anomalies affect global primary productivity also remains uncertain. For perspective, interannual variability in global gross primary productivity is relatively small (on the order of 2 Pg-C y-1 with respect to a large and uncertain background (123 +/- 4 Pg-C y-1

  20. Response of Nodularia spumigena to pCO2 – Part 1: Growth, production and nitrogen cycling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Nausch

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Heterocystous cyanobacteria of the genus Nodularia form extensive blooms in the Baltic Sea and contribute substantially to the total annual primary production. Moreover, they dispense a large fraction of new nitrogen to the ecosystem when inorganic nitrogen concentration in summer is low. Thus, it is of ecological importance to know how Nodularia will react to future environmental changes, in particular to increasing carbon dioxide (CO2 concentrations and what consequences there might arise for cycling of organic matter in the Baltic Sea. Here, we determined carbon (C and dinitrogen (N2 fixation rates, growth, elemental stoichiometry of particulate organic matter and nitrogen turnover in batch cultures of the heterocystous cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena under low (median 315 μatm, mid (median 353 μatm, and high (median 548 μatm CO2 concentrations. Our results demonstrate an overall stimulating effect of rising pCO2 on C and N2 fixation, as well as on cell growth. An increase in pCO2 during incubation days 0 to 9 resulted in an elevation in growth rate by 84 ± 38% (low vs. high pCO2 and 40 ± 25% (mid vs. high pCO2, as well as in N2 fixation by 93 ± 35% and 38 ± 1%, respectively. C uptake rates showed high standard deviations within treatments and in between sampling days. Nevertheless, C fixation in the high pCO2 treatment was elevated compared to the other two treatments by 97% (high vs. low and 44% (high vs. mid at day 0 and day 3, but this effect diminished afterwards. Additionally, elevation in carbon to nitrogen and nitrogen to phosphorus ratios of the particulate biomass formed (POC : POP and PON : POP was observed at high pCO2. Our findings suggest that rising pCO2 stimulates the growth of heterocystous diazotrophic cyanobacteria, in a similar way as reported for the non-heterocystous diazotroph Trichodesmium. Implications for biogeochemical cycling and food web dynamics, as well as ecological and socio-economical aspects in the

  1. Responses of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen to experimental warming: a meta-analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, W.; Yuan, W.

    2017-12-01

    Soil microbes play important roles in regulating terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycling and strongly influence feedbacks of ecosystem to global warming. However, the inconsistent responses of microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) to experimental warming have been observed, and the response on ratio between MBC and MBN (MBC:MBN) has not been identified. This meta-analysis synthesized the warming experiments at 58 sites globally to investigate the responses of MBC:MBN to climate warming. Our results showed that warming significantly increased MBC by 3.61 ± 0.80% and MBN by 5.85 ± 0.90% and thus decreased the MBC:MBN by 3.34 ± 0.66%. MBC showed positive responses to warming but MBN exhibited negative responses to warming at low warming magnitude (2°C) the results were inverted. The different effects of warming magnitude on microbial biomass resulted from the warming-induced decline in soil moisture and substrate supply. Moreover, MBC and MBN had strong positive responses to warming at the mid-term (3-4 years) or short-term (1-2 years) duration, but the responses tended to decrease at long-term (≥ 5 years) warming duration. This study fills the knowledge gap on the responses of MBC:MBN to warming and may benefit the development of coupled carbon and nitrogen models.

  2. Startup and oxygen concentration effects in a continuous granular mixed flow autotrophic nitrogen removal reactor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varas, Rodrigo; Guzmán-Fierro, Víctor; Giustinianovich, Elisa; Behar, Jack; Fernández, Katherina; Roeckel, Marlene

    2015-08-01

    The startup and performance of the completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite (CANON) process was tested in a continuously fed granular bubble column reactor (BCR) with two different aeration strategies: controlling the oxygen volumetric flow and oxygen concentration. During the startup with the control of oxygen volumetric flow, the air volume was adjusted to 60mL/h and the CANON reactor had volumetric N loadings ranging from 7.35 to 100.90mgN/Ld with 36-71% total nitrogen removal and high instability. In the second stage, the reactor was operated at oxygen concentrations of 0.6, 0.4 and 0.2mg/L. The best condition was 0.2 mgO2/L with a total nitrogen removal of 75.36% with a CANON reactor activity of 0.1149gN/gVVSd and high stability. The feasibility and effectiveness of CANON processes with oxygen control was demonstrated, showing an alternative design tool for efficiently removing nitrogen species. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. The relationship between mantle pH and the deep nitrogen cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikhail, Sami; Barry, Peter H.; Sverjensky, Dimitri A.

    2017-07-01

    Nitrogen is distributed throughout all terrestrial geological reservoirs (i.e., the crust, mantle, and core), which are in a constant state of disequilibrium due to metabolic factors at Earth's surface, chemical weathering, diffusion, and deep N fluxes imposed by plate tectonics. However, the behavior of nitrogen during subduction is the subject of ongoing debate. There is a general consensus that during the crystallization of minerals from melts, monatomic nitrogen behaves like argon (highly incompatible) and ammonium behaves like potassium and rubidium (which are relatively less incompatible). Therefore, the behavior of nitrogen is fundamentally underpinned by its chemical speciation. In aqueous fluids, the controlling factor which determines if nitrogen is molecular (N2) or ammonic (inclusive of both NH4+ and NH30) is oxygen fugacity, whereas pH designates if ammonic nitrogen is NH4+ or NH30. Therefore, to address the speciation of nitrogen at high pressures and temperatures, one must also consider pH at the respective pressure-temperature conditions. To accomplish this goal we have used the Deep Earth Water Model (DEW) to calculate the activities of aqueous nitrogen from 1-5 GPa and 600-1000 °C in equilibrium with a model eclogite-facies mineral assemblage of jadeite + kyanite + quartz/coesite (metasediment), jadeite + pyrope + talc + quartz/coesite (metamorphosed mafic rocks), and carbonaceous eclogite (metamorphosed mafic rocks + elemental carbon). We then compare these data with previously published data for the speciation of aqueous nitrogen across these respective P-T conditions in equilibrium with a model peridotite mineral assemblage (Mikhail and Sverjensky, 2014). In addition, we have carried out full aqueous speciation and solubility calculations for the more complex fluids in equilibrium with jadeite + pyrope + kyanite + diamond, and for fluids in equilibrium with forsterite + enstatite + pyrope + diamond. Our results show that the pH of the fluid is

  4. The G-factor in molecular nitrogen, oxygen and air

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mentzoni, M.

    1987-06-01

    The electron energy relaxation in molecular nitrogen and oxygen is found experimentally using the methods of microwave cross-modulation, transport coeffisients, and flowing afterglows. On the basis of these results the excess electron energy loss factor, the G-factor, has been computed for nitrogen, oxygen and air as a function of electron temperature for various published effective electron collision frequencies. It is shown that the lack of a definitive theory for rotational excitation of O 2 , and very conflicting experimental results for this gas, yield a G-factor in air with a large degree of uncertainty. In spite of this uncertanty it is shown that the formula G = 18.9xT -1.5 , with T being the electron temperature in deg. K, agrees within 15% of the results obtained from swarm data and microwave cross-modulation

  5. Memristive effects in oxygenated amorphous carbon nanodevices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bachmann, T. A.; Koelmans, W. W.; Jonnalagadda, V. P.; Le Gallo, M.; Santini, C. A.; Sebastian, A.; Eleftheriou, E.; Craciun, M. F.; Wright, C. D.

    2018-01-01

    Computing with resistive-switching (memristive) memory devices has shown much recent progress and offers an attractive route to circumvent the von-Neumann bottleneck, i.e. the separation of processing and memory, which limits the performance of conventional computer architectures. Due to their good scalability and nanosecond switching speeds, carbon-based resistive-switching memory devices could play an important role in this respect. However, devices based on elemental carbon, such as tetrahedral amorphous carbon or ta-C, typically suffer from a low cycling endurance. A material that has proven to be capable of combining the advantages of elemental carbon-based memories with simple fabrication methods and good endurance performance for binary memory applications is oxygenated amorphous carbon, or a-CO x . Here, we examine the memristive capabilities of nanoscale a-CO x devices, in particular their ability to provide the multilevel and accumulation properties that underpin computing type applications. We show the successful operation of nanoscale a-CO x memory cells for both the storage of multilevel states (here 3-level) and for the provision of an arithmetic accumulator. We implement a base-16, or hexadecimal, accumulator and show how such a device can carry out hexadecimal arithmetic and simultaneously store the computed result in the self-same a-CO x cell, all using fast (sub-10 ns) and low-energy (sub-pJ) input pulses.

  6. Ambient groundwater flow diminishes nitrogen cycling in streams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azizian, M.; Grant, S. B.; Rippy, M.; Detwiler, R. L.; Boano, F.; Cook, P. L. M.

    2017-12-01

    Modeling and experimental studies demonstrate that ambient groundwater reduces hyporheic exchange, but the implications of this observation for stream N-cycling is not yet clear. We utilized a simple process-based model (the Pumping and Streamline Segregation or PASS model) to evaluate N- cycling over two scales of hyporheic exchange (fluvial ripples and riffle-pool sequences), ten ambient groundwater and stream flow scenarios (five gaining and losing conditions and two stream discharges), and three biogeochemical settings (identified based on a principal component analysis of previously published measurements in streams throughout the United States). Model-data comparisons indicate that our model provides realistic estimates for direct denitrification of stream nitrate, but overpredicts nitrification and coupled nitrification-denitrification. Riffle-pool sequences are responsible for most of the N-processing, despite the fact that fluvial ripples generate 3-11 times more hyporheic exchange flux. Across all scenarios, hyporheic exchange flux and the Damkohler Number emerge as primary controls on stream N-cycling; the former regulates trafficking of nutrients and oxygen across the sediment-water interface, while the latter quantifies the relative rates of organic carbon mineralization and advective transport in streambed sediments. Vertical groundwater flux modulates both of these master variables in ways that tend to diminish stream N-cycling. Thus, anthropogenic perturbations of ambient groundwater flows (e.g., by urbanization, agricultural activities, groundwater mining, and/or climate change) may compromise some of the key ecosystem services provided by streams.

  7. Bacterial nitrogen fixation in sand bioreactors treating winery wastewater with a high carbon to nitrogen ratio.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welz, Pamela J; Ramond, Jean-Baptiste; Braun, Lorenz; Vikram, Surendra; Le Roes-Hill, Marilize

    2018-02-01

    Heterotrophic bacteria proliferate in organic-rich environments and systems containing sufficient essential nutrients. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the nutrients required in the highest concentrations. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen is an important consideration for wastewater bioremediation because insufficient nitrogen may result in decreased treatment efficiency. It has been shown that during the treatment of effluent from the pulp and paper industry, bacterial nitrogen fixation can supplement the nitrogen requirements of suspended growth systems. This study was conducted using physicochemical analyses and culture-dependent and -independent techniques to ascertain whether nitrogen-fixing bacteria were selected in biological sand filters used to treat synthetic winery wastewater with a high carbon to nitrogen ratio (193:1). The systems performed well, with the influent COD of 1351 mg/L being reduced by 84-89%. It was shown that the nitrogen fixing bacterial population was influenced by the presence of synthetic winery effluent in the surface layers of the biological sand filters, but not in the deeper layers. It was hypothesised that this was due to the greater availability of atmospheric nitrogen at the surface. The numbers of culture-able nitrogen-fixing bacteria, including presumptive Azotobacter spp. exhibited 1-2 log increases at the surface. The results of this study confirm that nitrogen fixation is an important mechanism to be considered during treatment of high carbon to nitrogen wastewater. If biological treatment systems can be operated to stimulate this phenomenon, it may obviate the need for nitrogen addition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Remote Sensing of Dissolved Oxygen and Nitrogen in Water Using Raman Spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganoe, Rene; DeYoung, Russell J.

    2013-01-01

    The health of an estuarine ecosystem is largely driven by the abundance of dissolved oxygen and nitrogen available for maintenance of plant and animal life. An investigation was conducted to quantify the concentration of dissolved molecular oxygen and nitrogen in water by means of Raman spectroscopy. This technique is proposed for the remote sensing of dissolved oxygen in the Chesapeake Bay, which will be utilized by aircraft in order to survey large areas in real-time. A proof of principle system has been developed and the specifications are being honed to maximize efficiency for the final application. The theoretical criteria of the research, components of the experimental system, and key findings are presented in this report

  9. Oxygen Limited Bioreactors System For Nitrogen Removal Using Immobilized Mix Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pathak, B. K.; Sumino, T.; Saiki, Y.; Kazama, F.

    2005-12-01

    Recently nutrients concentrations especially nitrogen in natural water is alarming in the world wide. Most of the effort is being done on the removal of high concentration of nitrogen especially from the wastewater treatment plants. The removal efficiency is targeted in all considering the effluent discharge standard set by the national environment agency. In many cases, it does not meet the required standard and receiving water is being polluted. Eutrophication in natural water bodies has been reported even if the nitrogen concentration is low and self purification of natural systems itself is not sufficient to remove the nitrogen due to complex phenomenon. In order to recover the pristine water environment, it is very essential to explore bioreactor systems for natural water systems using immobilized mix culture. Microorganism were entrapped in Polyethylene glycol (PEG) prepolymer gel and cut into 3mm cubic immobilized pellets. Four laboratory scale micro bio-reactors having 0.1 L volumes were packed with immobilized pellets with 50% compact ratio. RUN1, RUN2, RUN3 and RUN4 were packed with immobilized pellets from reservoirs sediments, activated sludge (AS), mixed of AS, AG and biodegradable plastic and anaerobic granules (AG) respectively. Water from Shiokawa Reservoirs was feed to all reactors with supplemental ammonia and nitrite nitrogen as specified in the results and discussions. The reactors were operated dark incubated room in continuous flow mode with hydraulic retention time of 12 hours under oxygen limiting condition. Ammonium, nitrate nitrite nitrogen and total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations were measured as described in APWA and AWWA (1998). Laboratory scale four bioreactors containing different combination of immobilized cell were monitored for 218 days. Influent NH4+-N and NO2--N concentration were 2.27±0.43 and 2.05±0.41 mg/l respectively. Average dissolved oxygen concentration and pH in the reactors were 0.40-2.5 mg/l and pH 6

  10. Increase of carbon cycle feedback with climate sensitivity: results from a coupled climate and carbon cycle model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Govindasamy, B.; Thompson, S.; Mirin, A.; Wickett, M.; Caldeira, K.; Delire, C.

    2005-01-01

    Coupled climate and carbon cycle modelling studies have shown that the feedback between global warming and the carbon cycle, in particular the terrestrial carbon cycle, could accelerate climate change and result in greater warming. In this paper we investigate the sensitivity of this feedback for year 2100 global warming in the range of 0 to 8 K. Differing climate sensitivities to increased CO 2 content are imposed on the carbon cycle models for the same emissions. Emissions from the SRES A2 scenario are used. We use a fully coupled climate and carbon cycle model, the INtegrated Climate and CArbon model (INCCA), the NCAR/DOE Parallel Climate Model coupled to the IBIS terrestrial biosphere model and a modified OCMIP ocean biogeochemistry model. In our integrated model, for scenarios with year 2100 global warming increasing from 0 to 8 K, land uptake decreases from 47% to 29% of total CO 2 emissions. Due to competing effects, ocean uptake (16%) shows almost no change at all. Atmospheric CO 2 concentration increases are 48% higher in the run with 8 K global climate warming than in the case with no warming. Our results indicate that carbon cycle amplification of climate warming will be greater if there is higher climate sensitivity to increased atmospheric CO 2 content; the carbon cycle feedback factor increases from 1.13 to 1.48 when global warming increases from 3.2 to 8 K

  11. In situ one-step synthesis of hierarchical nitrogen-doped porous carbon for high-performance supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, Ju-Won; Sharma, Ronish; Meduri, Praveen; Arey, Bruce W; Schaef, Herbert T; Lutkenhaus, Jodie L; Lemmon, John P; Thallapally, Praveen K; Nandasiri, Manjula I; McGrail, Benard Peter; Nune, Satish K

    2014-05-28

    A hierarchically structured nitrogen-doped porous carbon is prepared from a nitrogen-containing isoreticular metal-organic framework (IRMOF-3) using a self-sacrificial templating method. IRMOF-3 itself provides the carbon and nitrogen content as well as the porous structure. For high carbonization temperatures (950 °C), the carbonized MOF required no further purification steps, thus eliminating the need for solvents or acid. Nitrogen content and surface area are easily controlled by the carbonization temperature. The nitrogen content decreases from 7 to 3.3 at % as carbonization temperature increases from 600 to 950 °C. There is a distinct trade-off between nitrogen content, porosity, and defects in the carbon structure. Carbonized IRMOFs are evaluated as supercapacitor electrodes. For a carbonization temperature of 950 °C, the nitrogen-doped porous carbon has an exceptionally high capacitance of 239 F g(-1). In comparison, an analogous nitrogen-free carbon bears a low capacitance of 24 F g(-1), demonstrating the importance of nitrogen dopants in the charge storage process. The route is scalable in that multi-gram quantities of nitrogen-doped porous carbons are easily produced.

  12. Microbial Nitrogen-Cycle Gene Abundance in Soil of Cropland Abandoned for Different Periods.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huhe

    Full Text Available In Inner Mongolia, steppe grasslands face desertification or degradation because of human overuse and abandonment after inappropriate agricultural management. The soils in these abandoned croplands exist in heterogeneous environments characterized by widely fluctuating microbial growth. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis of microbial genes encoding proteins involved in the nitrogen cycle was used to study Azotobacter species, nitrifiers, and denitrifiers in the soils from steppe grasslands and croplands abandoned for 2, 6, and 26 years. Except for nitrifying archaea and nitrous oxide-reducing bacteria, the relative genotypic abundance of microbial communities involved in nitrogen metabolism differed by approximately 2- to 10-fold between abandoned cropland and steppe grassland soils. Although nitrogen-cycle gene abundances varied with abandonment time, the abundance patterns of nitrogen-cycle genes separated distinctly into abandoned cropland versus light-grazing steppe grassland, despite the lack of any cultivation for over a quarter-century. Plant biomass and plant diversity exerted a significant effect on the abundance of microbial communities that mediate the nitrogen cycle (P < 0.002 and P < 0.03, respectively. The present study elucidates the ecology of bacteria that mediate the nitrogen cycle in recently abandoned croplands.

  13. Thermotransport of nitrogen and oxygen in β-zirconium

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vogel, D.L.; Rieck, G.D.

    1971-01-01

    An investigation of thermotransport of nitrogen in ß-zirconium is reported. Using a method previously described, the heat of transport turned out to be 25.1 kcal/mole with a standard deviation of 2.5 kcal/mole. The formerly published value of the heat of transport of oxygen in ß-zirconium, viz. 20

  14. Identification and quantification of nitrogen cycling processes in cryptogamic covers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Bettina; Wu, Dianming; Lenhart, Katharina; Tamm, Alexandra; Ruckteschler, Nina; Rodríguez-Caballero, Emilio; Elbert, Wolfgang; Burrows, Susannah; Clough, Tim; Steinkamp, Jörg; Meusel, Hannah; Behrendt, Thomas; Büdel, Burkhard; Andreae, Meinrat O.; Sörgel, Matthias; Cheng, Yafang; Crutzen, Paul; Keppler, Frank; Su, Hang; Pöschl, Ulrich

    2016-04-01

    budget from natural terrestrial sources (Lenhart et al., 2015). 15N isotope labeling experiments revealed that nitrate (NO3-) was a precursor of N2O, suggesting that N2O may be formed during denitrification. Thus, our experiments revealed that CC play a prominent role in different steps of the N cycle, being relevant in terrestrial biogeochemistry, atmospheric chemistry and air quality. Literature Elbert W, Weber B, Burrows S, Steinkamp J, Büdel B, Andreae MO, Pöschl U (2012) Contribution of cryptogamic covers to the global cycles of carbon and nitrogen. Nature Geosciences 5: 459-462. Lenhart K, Weber B, Elbert W, Steinkamp J, Clough T, Crutzen P, Pöschl U, Keppler F (2015) Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from cryptogamic covers. Global Change Biology 21(10): 3889-3900. Weber B, Wu D, Tamm A, Ruckteschler N, Rodríguez-Caballero E, Steinkamp J, Meusel H, Elbert W, Behrendt T, Sörgel M, Cheng Y, Crutzen P, Su H, Pöschl U (2015) Biological soil crusts accelerate the nitrogen cycle through large NO and HONO emissions in drylands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(50): 15384-15389.

  15. Simulated effects of nitrogen saturation the global carbon budget using the IBIS model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Xuehe; Jiang, Hong; Liu, Jinxun; Zhang, Xiuying; Jin, Jiaxin; Zhu, Qiuan; Zhang, Zhen; Peng, Changhui

    2016-01-01

    Over the past 100 years, human activity has greatly changed the rate of atmospheric N (nitrogen) deposition in terrestrial ecosystems, resulting in N saturation in some regions of the world. The contribution of N saturation to the global carbon budget remains uncertain due to the complicated nature of C-N (carbon-nitrogen) interactions and diverse geography. Although N deposition is included in most terrestrial ecosystem models, the effect of N saturation is frequently overlooked. In this study, the IBIS (Integrated BIosphere Simulator) was used to simulate the global-scale effects of N saturation during the period 1961–2009. The results of this model indicate that N saturation reduced global NPP (Net Primary Productivity) and NEP (Net Ecosystem Productivity) by 0.26 and 0.03 Pg C yr−1, respectively. The negative effects of N saturation on carbon sequestration occurred primarily in temperate forests and grasslands. In response to elevated CO2 levels, global N turnover slowed due to increased biomass growth, resulting in a decline in soil mineral N. These changes in N cycling reduced the impact of N saturation on the global carbon budget. However, elevated N deposition in certain regions may further alter N saturation and C-N coupling.

  16. Nitrogen and Triple Oxygen Isotopic Analyses of Atmospheric Particulate Nitrate over the Pacific Ocean

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamezaki, Kazuki; Hattori, Shohei; Iwamoto, Yoko; Ishino, Sakiko; Furutani, Hiroshi; Miki, Yusuke; Miura, Kazuhiko; Uematsu, Mitsuo; Yoshida, Naohiro

    2017-04-01

    Nitrate plays a significant role in the biogeochemical cycle. Atmospheric nitrate (NO3- and HNO3) are produced by reaction precursor as NOx (NO and NO2) emitted by combustion, biomass burning, lightning, and soil emission, with atmospheric oxidants like ozone (O3), hydroxyl radical (OH), peroxy radical and halogen oxides. Recently, industrial activity lead to increases in the concentrations of nitrogen species (NOx and NHy) throughout the environment. Because of the increase of the amount of atmospheric nitrogen deposition, the oceanic biogeochemical cycle are changed (Galloway et al., 2004; Kim et al., 2011). However, the sources and formation pathways of atmospheric nitrate are still uncertain over the Pacific Ocean because the long-term observation is limited. Stable isotope analysis is useful tool to gain information of sources, sinks and formation pathways. The nitrogen stable isotopic composition (δ15N) of atmospheric particulate NO3- can be used to posses information of its nitrogen sources (Elliott et al., 2007). Triple oxygen isotopic compositions (Δ17O = δ17O - 0.52 ×δ18O) of atmospheric particulate NO3- can be used as tracer of the relative importance of mass-independent oxygen bearing species (e.g. O3, BrO; Δ17O ≠ 0 ‰) and mass-dependent oxygen bearing species (e.g. OH radical; Δ17O ≈ 0 ‰) through the formation processes from NOx to NO3- in the atmosphere (Michalski et al., 2003; Thiemens, 2006). Here, we present the isotopic compositions of atmospheric particulate NO3- samples collected over the Pacific Ocean from 40˚ S to 68˚ N. We observed significantly low δ15N values for atmospheric particulate NO3- on equatorial Pacific Ocean during both cruises. Although the data is limited, combination analysis of δ15N and Δ17O values for atmospheric particulate NO3- showed the possibility of the main nitrogen source of atmospheric particulate NO3- on equatorial Pacific Ocean is ammonia oxidation in troposphere. Furthermore, the Δ17O values

  17. Linking carbon and nitrogen cycling: Environmental transcription of mmoX, pmoA, and nifH by methane oxidizing Proteobacteria in a Sub-Arctic palsa peatland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liebner, Susanne; Svenning, Mette M.

    2013-04-01

    Sub-Arctic terrestrial ecosystems are currently affected by climate change which causes degradation of stored organic carbon and emissions of greenhouse gases from microbial processes. Methane oxidizing bacteria (MOB) mitigate methane emissions and perform an important function in the soil-atmosphere interaction. In this study we investigated presence and environmental transcription of functional genes of MOB along the degradation of permafrost in a Sub-Arctic palsa peatland using molecular approaches. The acidic and oligotrophic peatland hosts a small number of active MOB among a seemingly specialized community. The methanotrophic community displayed a broad functional potential by transcribing genes for key enzymes involved in both carbon and nitrogen metabolisms including particulate and soluble methane monoogygenase (pMMO and sMMO) as well as nitrogenase. Transcription of mmoX that encodes for a subunit of the sMMO suggests an ecological importance of sMMO with a broad substrate range in this peatland. In situ transcripts of mmoX were tracked mainly to Methylocella related Beijerinckiaceae, and to relatives of Methylomonas while Methylocystis constituting the dominant group which utilizes pMMO. These results address interesting questions concerning in-situ substrate preferences of MOB, and the general importance of species that lack a pMMO for mitigating methane emissions. The importance of MOB for the nitrogen budget in this low pH, nitrogen limited habitat was identified by nifH transcripts of native methanotrophs. Hence, methane oxidizing Proteobacteria show an extended functional repertoire and importance for the biogeochemical cycling in this dynamic ecosystem of degrading permafrost.

  18. Triple oxygen isotopes in biogenic and sedimentary carbonates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Passey, Benjamin H.; Hu, Huanting; Ji, Haoyuan; Montanari, Shaena; Li, Shuning; Henkes, Gregory A.; Levin, Naomi E.

    2014-09-01

    The 17O anomaly (Δ17O) of natural waters has been shown to be sensitive to evaporation in a way analogous to deuterium excess, with evaporated bodies of water (e.g., leaf waters, lake waters, animal body waters) tending to have lower Δ17O than primary meteoric waters. In animal body water, Δ17O relates to the intake of evaporated waters, evaporative effluxes of water, and the Δ17O value of atmospheric O2, which itself carries signatures of global carbon cycling and photochemical reactions in the stratosphere. Carbonates have the potential to record the triple oxygen isotope compositions of parent waters, allowing reconstruction of past water compositions, but such investigations have awaited development of methods for high-precision measurement of Δ17O of carbonate. We describe optimized methods based on a sequential acid digestion/reduction/fluorination approach that yield Δ17O data with the high precision (∼0.010‰, 1σ) needed to resolve subtle environmental signals. We report the first high-precision Δ17O dataset for terrestrial carbonates, focusing on vertebrate biogenic carbonates and soil carbonates, but also including marine invertebrates and high-temperature carbonates. We determine apparent three-isotope fractionation factors between the O2 analyte derived from carbonate and the parent waters of the carbonate. These in combination with appropriate temperature estimates (from clumped isotope thermometry, or known or estimated body temperatures) are used to calculate the δ18O and Δ17O of parent waters. The clearest pattern to emerge is the strong 17O-depletion in avian, dinosaurian, and mammalian body water (from analyses of eggshell and tooth enamel) relative to meteoric waters, following expected influences of evaporated water (e.g., leaf water) and atmospheric O2 on vertebrate body water. Parent waters of the soil carbonates studied here have Δ17O values that are similar to or slightly lower than global precipitation. Our results suggest

  19. Modelling carbon and nitrogen turnover in variably saturated soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batlle-Aguilar, J.; Brovelli, A.; Porporato, A.; Barry, D. A.

    2009-04-01

    Natural ecosystems provide services such as ameliorating the impacts of deleterious human activities on both surface and groundwater. For example, several studies have shown that a healthy riparian ecosystem can reduce the nutrient loading of agricultural wastewater, thus protecting the receiving surface water body. As a result, in order to develop better protection strategies and/or restore natural conditions, there is a growing interest in understanding ecosystem functioning, including feedbacks and nonlinearities. Biogeochemical transformations in soils are heavily influenced by microbial decomposition of soil organic matter. Carbon and nutrient cycles are in turn strongly sensitive to environmental conditions, and primarily to soil moisture and temperature. These two physical variables affect the reaction rates of almost all soil biogeochemical transformations, including microbial and fungal activity, nutrient uptake and release from plants, etc. Soil water saturation and temperature are not constants, but vary both in space and time, thus further complicating the picture. In order to interpret field experiments and elucidate the different mechanisms taking place, numerical tools are beneficial. In this work we developed a 3D numerical reactive-transport model as an aid in the investigation the complex physical, chemical and biological interactions occurring in soils. The new code couples the USGS models (MODFLOW 2000-VSF, MT3DMS and PHREEQC) using an operator-splitting algorithm, and is a further development an existing reactive/density-dependent flow model PHWAT. The model was tested using simplified test cases. Following verification, a process-based biogeochemical reaction network describing the turnover of carbon and nitrogen in soils was implemented. Using this tool, we investigated the coupled effect of moisture content and temperature fluctuations on nitrogen and organic matter cycling in the riparian zone, in order to help understand the relative

  20. Oxygen reduction reaction properties of nitrogen-incorporated nanographenes synthesized using in-liquid plasma from mixture of ethanol and iron phthalocyanine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amano, Tomoki; Kondo, Hiroki; Takeda, Keigo; Ishikawa, Kenji; Hiramatsu, Mineo; Sekine, Makoto; Hori, Masaru

    2018-04-01

    Nanographenes were synthesized using in-liquid plasma from a mixture of iron phthalocyanine and ethanol. In a previous study, micrometer-scale flakes with nitrogen incorporation were obtained. A nonprecious metal catalytic activity was observed with 3.13 electrons in an oxygen reduction reaction under an acidic solute condition. Large-surface-area, high-graphene-crystallinity, and iron-carbon-bonding sites were found owing to a high catalytic activity in Fe-N/nanographene.

  1. Modification of pure oxygen absorption equipment for concurrent stripping of carbon dioxide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watten, B.J.; Sibrell, P.L.; Montgomery, G.A.; Tsukuda, S.M.

    2004-01-01

    The high solubility of carbon dioxide precludes significant desorption within commercial oxygen absorption equipment. This operating characteristic of the equipment limits its application in recirculating water culture systems despite its ability to significantly increase allowable fish loading rates (kg/(L min)). Carbon dioxide (DC) is typically removed by air stripping. This process requires a significant energy input for forced air movement, air heating in cold climates and water pumping. We developed a modification for a spray tower that provides for carbon dioxide desorption as well as oxygen absorption. Elimination of the air-stripping step reduces pumping costs while allowing dissolved nitrogen to drop below saturation concentrations. This latter response provides for an improvement in oxygen absorption efficiency within the spray tower. DC desorption is achieved by directing head-space gases from the spray tower (O2, N2, CO2) through a sealed packed tower scrubber receiving a 2 N NaOH solution. Carbon dioxide is selectively removed from the gas stream, by chemical reaction, forming the product Na 2CO3. Scrubber off-gas, lean with regard to carbon dioxide but still rich with oxygen, is redirected through the spray tower for further stripping of DC and absorption of oxygen. Make-up NaOH is metered into the scrubbing solution sump on an as needed basis as directed by a feedback control loop programmed to maintain a scrubbing solution pH of 11.4-11.8. The spent NaOH solution is collected, then regenerated for reuse, in a batch process that requires relatively inexpensive hydrated lime (Ca(OH)2). A by-product of the regeneration step is an alkaline filter cake, which may have use in bio-solids stabilization. Given the enhanced gas transfer rates possible with chemical reaction, the required NaOH solution flow rate through the scrubber represents a fraction of the spray tower water flow rate. Further, isolation of the water being treated from the atmosphere (1

  2. Synergistic Effect between Metal-Nitrogen-Carbon Sheets and NiO Nanoparticles for Enhanced Electrochemical Water-Oxidation Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jun; Li, Kai; Zhong, Hai-xia; Xu, Dan; Wang, Zhong-li; Jiang, Zheng; Wu, Zhi-jian; Zhang, Xin-bo

    2015-09-01

    Identifying effective means to improve the electrochemical performance of oxygen-evolution catalysts represents a significant challenge in several emerging renewable energy technologies. Herein, we consider metal-nitrogen-carbon sheets which are commonly used for catalyzing the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR), as the support to load NiO nanoparticles for the oxygen-evolution reaction (OER). FeNC sheets, as the advanced supports, synergistically promote the NiO nanocatalysts to exhibit superior performance in alkaline media, which is confirmed by experimental observations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Our findings show the advantages in considering the support effect for designing highly active, durable, and cost-effective OER electrocatalysts. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  3. Insights into the importance of oxygen functional groups in carbon reactions with oxygen containing gases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    John Zhu, Max Lu

    2005-01-01

    The role of pore structure of carbon in carbon-related adsorptions and reactions has been extensively investigated. However the studies on the role of surface chemistry of carbon are limited. In this paper, we present the importance of oxygen functional groups in carbon reactions with oxygen-containing gases. It is found that there is a good correlation between the electronic structures and reactivities of carbon edge sites. Zigzag sites are more active in oxygen adsorption because of the unpaired electrons and armchair sites are less active in oxygen adsorption due to the triple character. However, the desorption of semi-quinone oxygen from zigzag sites needs a bond energy ca. 30% higher than that of o-quinone oxygen from armchair edge sites. CO 2 and H 2 O adsorb on carbon surface much less favorably than O 2 . H 2 O is first physically adsorbed on the virgin graphite surface followed by chemisorption through oxygen atom approaching the carbon edge site and the movements of two hydrogen atoms to produce H 2 . The adsorption mechanism of H 2 O is different from that for CO 2 , but the final result is quite similar, i.e. producing only semi-quinone oxygen. Based upon the above studies, a new generalized mechanism, as shown in Fig. 1, is developed and can account for all the important kinetic phenomena of carbon-gas reactions. The key point is that in CO 2 /H 2 O-carbon reaction only semi-quinone formed; while, in O 2 -carbon reaction, semi-quinone, o-quinone (at lower pressure), and off-plane epoxy oxygen (at relatively higher pressure) can be formed. This is the main reason for the different reaction kinetics of O 2 -carbon reaction and CO 2 /H 2 O-carbon reactions as observed experimentally. The oxygen functional groups of carbon can be characterized by XPS, PZC (point of zero charge), IEP (isoelectric point) and TPD (temperature-programmed desorption), which were used in our previous studies. We treated the carbon surface with different acids, finding that HNO 3

  4. Carbonization-dependent nitrogen-doped hollow porous carbon nanospheres synthesis and electrochemical study for supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Lingyun; Xie, Guohong; Chen, Xiling

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, a nitrogen-doped hollow microporous carbon nanospheres was synthesized via the combination of hyper-crosslinking mediated self-assembly and further pyrolysis using polylactide-b-polystyrene (PLA-b-PS) copolymers and aniline monomers as precursor. The pore structure and the correlative electrochemical performance of nitrogen-doped hollow microporous carbon nanospheres were affected by the molar mass ratio of aniline and PS in block copolymers and the carbonization conditions. The electrochemical measurements results showed that the obtained PLA150-PS250-N4-900-10H sample with nitrogen content of 3.57% and the BET surface area of 945 m2 g-1 displays the best capacitance performance. At a current density of 1.0 Ag-1, the resultant specific capacitance is 250 Fg-1. In addition, it also exhibits high capacitance retention of 98% after charging-discharging 1500 times at 25 Ag-1. The results demonstrate the nitrogen-doped hollow microporous carbon nanospheres can be used as promising supercapacitor electrode materials for high performance energy storage devices.

  5. Measuring reactive oxygen and nitrogen species with fluorescent probes: challenges and limitations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalyanaraman, Balaraman; Darley-Usmar, Victor; Davies, Kelvin J.A.; Dennery, Phyllis A.; Forman, Henry Jay; Grisham, Matthew B.; Mann, Giovanni E.; Moore, Kevin; Roberts, L. Jackson; Ischiropoulos, Harry

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this position paper is to present a critical analysis of the challenges and limitations of the most widely used fluorescent probes for detecting and measuring reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. Where feasible, we have made recommendations for the use of alternate probes and appropriate analytical techniques that measure the specific products formed from the reactions between fluorescent probes and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. We have proposed guidelines that will help present and future researchers with regard to the optimal use of selected fluorescent probes and interpretation of results. PMID:22027063

  6. [Nitrogen and water cycling of typical cropland in the North China Plain].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pei, Hong-wei; Shen, Yan-jun; Liu, Chang-ming

    2015-01-01

    Intensive fertilization and irrigation associated increasing grain production has led to serious groundwater depletion and soil/water pollution in the North China Plain (NCP). Intensive agriculture changes the initial mass and energy balance, and also results in huge risks to the water/soil resources and food security regionally. Based on the research reports on the nitrogen cycle and water cycle in typical cropland (winter wheat and summer corn) in the NCP during the past 20 years, and the meteorological data, field experiments and surveys, we calculated the nitrogen cycle and water-cycle for this typical cropland. Annual total nitrogen input were 632 kg N . hm-2, including 523 kg N . hm-2 from commercial fertilizer, 74 kg N . hm-2 from manure, 23 kg N . hm-2 from atmosphere, and 12 kg N . hm-2 from irrigation. All of annual outputs summed to 532 kg N . hm-2 including 289 kg N . hm-2 for crop, 77 kg N . hm-2 staying in soil profile, leaching 104 kg N . hm-2, 52 kg N . hm-2 for ammonia volatilization, 10 kg N . hm-2 loss in nitrification and denitrification. Uncertainties of the individual cases and the summary process lead to the unbalance of nitrogen. For the dominant parts of the field water cycle, annual precipitation was 557 mm, irrigation was 340 mm, while 762 mm was for evapotranspiration and 135 mm was for deep percolation. Considering uncertainties in the nitrogen and water cycles, coupled experiments based on multi-disciplines would be useful for understanding mechanisms for nitrogen and water transfer processes in the soil-plant-atmosphere-continuum (SPAC) , and the interaction between nitrogen and water, as well as determining the critical threshold values for sustainability of soil and water resources in the NCP.

  7. Soil microbial community structure and nitrogen cycling responses to agroecosystem management and carbon substrate addition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berthrong, S. T.; Buckley, D. H.; Drinkwater, L. E.

    2011-12-01

    Fertilizer application in conventional agriculture leads to N saturation and decoupled soil C and N cycling, whereas organic practices, e.g. complex rotations and legume incorporation, often results in increased SOM and tightly coupled cycles of C and N. These legacy effects of management on soils likely affect microbial community composition and microbial process rates. This project tested if agricultural management practices led to distinct microbial communities and if those communities differed in ability to utilize labile plant carbon substrates and to produce more plant available N. We addressed several specific questions in this project. 1) Do organic and conventional management legacies on similar soils produce distinct soil bacterial and fungal community structures and abundances? 2) How do these microbial community structures change in response to carbon substrate addition? 3) How do the responses of the microbial communities influence N cycling? To address these questions we conducted a laboratory incubation of organically and conventionally managed soils. We added C-13 labelled glucose either in one large dose or several smaller pulses. We extracted genomic DNA from soils before and after incubation for TRFLP community fingerprinting. We measured C in soil pools and respiration and N in soil extracts and leachates. Management led to different compositions of bacteria and fungi driven by distinct components in organic soils. Biomass did not differ across treatments indicating that differences in cycling were due to composition rather than abundance. C substrate addition led to convergence in bacterial communities; however management still strongly influenced the difference in communities. Fungal communities were very distinct between managements and plots with substrate addition not altering this pattern. Organic soils respired 3 times more of the glucose in the first week than conventional soils (1.1% vs 0.4%). Organic soils produced twice as much

  8. Effects of climate, CO2 concentration, nitrogen deposition, and stand age changes on the carbon budget of China's forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, C.; Ju, W.; Zhang, F.; Mao, D.; Wang, X.

    2017-12-01

    Forests play an irreplaceable role in the Earth's terrestrial carbon budget which retard the atmospheric CO2 buildup. Understanding the factors controlling forest carbon budget is critical for reducing uncertainties in projections of future climate. The relative importance of climate, atmospheric CO2 concentration, nitrogen deposition, and stand age changes on carbon budget, however, remains unclear for China's forests. In this study, we quantify individual contribution of these drivers to the trends of forest carbon budget in China from 1901 to 2012 by integrating national datasets, the updated Integrated Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Cycle (InTEC) model and factorial simulations. Results showed that the average carbon sink in China's forests from 1982 to 2012 was 186.9 Tg C yr-1 with 68% (127.6 Tg C yr-1) of the sink in living biomass because of the integrated effects of climate, atmospheric CO2 concentration, nitrogen deposition, and stand age factors. Compared with the simulation of all factors combined, the estimated carbon sink during 1901-2012 would be reduced by 41.8 Tg C yr-1 if climate change, atmospheric CO2 concentration and nitrogen deposition factors were omitted, and reduced by 25.0 Tg C yr-1 if stand age factor was omitted. In most decades, these factors increased forest carbon sinks with the largest of 101.3, 62.9, and 44.0 Tg C yr-1 from 2000 to 2012 contributed by stand age, CO2 concentration and nitrogen deposition, respectively. During 1901-2012, climate change, CO2 concentration, nitrogen deposition and stand age contributed -13.3, 21.4, 15.4 and 25.0 Tg C yr-1 to the averaged carbon sink of China's forests, respectively. Our study also showed diverse regional patterns of forest carbon budget related to the importance of driving factors. Stand age effect was the largest in most regions, but the effects of CO2 concentration and nitrogen deposition were dominant in southern China.

  9. Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System for the International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, David E.; Dick, Brandon; Cook, Tony; Leonard, Dan

    2009-01-01

    The International Space Station (ISS) requires stores of Oxygen (O2) and Nitrogen (N2) to provide for atmosphere replenishment, direct crew member usage, and payload operations. Currently, supplies of N2/O2 are maintained by transfer from the Space Shuttle. Following Space Shuttle is retirement in 2010, an alternate means of resupplying N2/O2 to the ISS is needed. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has determined that the optimal method of supplying the ISS with O2/N2 is using tanks of high pressure N2/O2 carried to the station by a cargo vehicle capable of docking with the ISS. This paper will outline the architecture of the system selected by NASA and will discuss some of the design challenges associated with this use of high pressure oxygen and nitrogen in the human spaceflight environment.

  10. Fixed-nitrogen loss associated with sinking zooplankton carcasses in a coastal oxygen minimum zone (Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stief, Peter; Lundgaard, Ann Sofie Birch; Morales Ramirez, Alvaro

    2017-01-01

    Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) in the ocean are of key importance for pelagic fixed-nitrogen loss (N-loss) through microbial denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). Recent studies document that zooplankton is surprisingly abundant in and around OMZs and that the microbial community...... associated with carcasses of a large copepod species mediates denitrification. Here, we investigate the complex N-cycling associated with sinking zooplankton carcasses exposed to the steep O2 gradient in a coastal OMZ (Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica). 15N-stable-isotope enrichment experiments revealed...... that the carcasses of abundant copepods and ostracods provide anoxic microbial hotspots in the pelagic zone by hosting intense anaerobic N-cycle activities even in the presence of ambient O2. Carcass-associated anaerobic N-cycling was clearly dominated by dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) at up...

  11. Nitrogen-doped ordered mesoporous carbon with a high surface area, synthesized through organic-inorganic coassembly, and its application in supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yanfang; Li, Li; Wang, Yonggang; Wang, Congxiao; Guo, Zaipin; Xia, Yongyao

    2014-07-21

    A new nitrogen-doped ordered mesoporous carbon (N-doped OMC) is synthesized by using an organic-inorganic coassembly method, in which resol is used as the carbon precursor, dicyandiamide as the nitrogen precursor, silicate oligomers as the inorganic precursors, and F127 as the soft template. The N-doped OMC possesses a surface area as high as 1374 m(2)  g(-1) and a large pore size of 7.4 nm. As an electrode material for supercapacitors, the obtained carbon exhibits excellent cycling stability and delivers a reversible specific capacitance as high as 308 F g(-1) in 1 mol L(-1) H(2)SO(4) aqueous electrolyte, of which 58 % of the capacity is due to pseudo-capacitance. The large specific capacitance is attributed to proper pore size distributions, large surface area, and high nitrogen content. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  12. Nitrogen and Oxygen Isotope Effects of Ammonia Oxidation by Thermophilic Thaumarchaeota from a Geothermal Water Stream.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishizawa, Manabu; Sakai, Sanae; Konno, Uta; Nakahara, Nozomi; Takaki, Yoshihiro; Saito, Yumi; Imachi, Hiroyuki; Tasumi, Eiji; Makabe, Akiko; Koba, Keisuke; Takai, Ken

    2016-08-01

    the rate of ammonia oxidation. The discovery of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in marine and terrestrial environments has transformed the concept that ammonia oxidation is operated only by bacterial species, suggesting that AOA play a significant role in the global nitrogen cycle. However, the archaeal contribution to ammonia oxidation in the global biosphere is not yet completely understood. This study successfully identified key factors controlling nitrogen and oxygen isotopic ratios of nitrite produced from thermophilic Thaumarchaeota and elucidated the applicability and its limit of nitrite isotopes as a geochemical clock of ammonia oxidation rate in nature. Oxygen isotope analysis in this study also provided new biochemical information on archaeal ammonia oxidation. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  13. Nitrogen and oxygen isotopic constraints on the origin of atmospheric nitrate in coastal Antarctica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Savarino

    2007-01-01

    isotopic composition, known atmospheric transport patterns and the current understanding of kinetics and isotope effects of relevant atmospheric chemical processes, we suggest that elevated tropospheric nitrate levels during Period 3 are most likely the result of nitrate sedimentation from polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs, whereas elevated nitrate levels during Period 4 are likely to result from snow re-emission of nitrogen oxide species. We are unable to attribute the source of the nitrate during periods 1 and 2 to local production or long-range transport, but note that the oxygen isotopic composition is in agreement with day and night time nitrate chemistry driven by the diurnal solar cycle. A precise quantification is difficult, due to our insufficient knowledge of isotope fractionation during the reactions leading to nitrate formation, among other reasons.

  14. Biophysical Controls over Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks in Desert Playa Wetlands

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenna, O. P.; Sala, O. E.

    2014-12-01

    Playas are ephemeral desert wetlands situated at the bottom of closed catchments. Desert playas in the Southwestern US have not been intensively studied despite their potential importance for the functioning of desert ecosystems. We want to know which geomorphic and ecological variables control of the stock size of soil organic carbon, and soil total nitrogen in playas. We hypothesize that the magnitude of carbon and nitrogen stocks depends on: (a) catchment size, (b) catchment slope, (d) catchment vegetation cover, (e) bare-ground patch size, and (f) catchment soil texture. We chose thirty playas from across the Jornada Basin (Las Cruces, NM) ranging from 0.5-60ha in area and with varying catchment characteristics. We used the available 5m digital elevation map (DEM) to calculate the catchment size and catchment slope for these thirty playas. We measured percent cover, and patch size using the point-intercept method with three 10m transects in each catchment. We used the Bouyoucos-hydrometer soil particle analysis to determine catchment soil texture. Stocks of organic carbon and nitrogen were measured from soil samples at four depths (0-10 cm, 10-30 cm, 30-60 cm, 60-100 cm) using C/N combustion analysis. In terms of nitrogen and organic carbon storage, we found soil nitrogen values in the top 10cm ranging from 41.963-214.365 gN/m2, and soil organic carbon values in the top 10cm ranging from 594.339-2375.326 gC/m2. The results of a multiple regression analysis show a positive relationship between catchment slope and both organic carbon and nitrogen stock size (nitrogen: y= 56.801 +47.053, R2=0.621; organic carbon: y= 683.200 + 499.290x, R2= 0.536). These data support our hypothesis that catchment slope is one of factors controlling carbon and nitrogen stock in desert playas. We also applied our model to the 69 other playas of the Jornada Basin and estimated stock sizes (0-10cm) between 415.07-447.97 Mg for total soil nitrogen and 4627.99-5043.51 Mg for soil organic

  15. LOSCAR: Long-term Ocean-atmosphere-Sediment CArbon cycle Reservoir Model v2.0.4

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. E. Zeebe

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The LOSCAR model is designed to efficiently compute the partitioning of carbon between ocean, atmosphere, and sediments on time scales ranging from centuries to millions of years. While a variety of computationally inexpensive carbon cycle models are already available, many are missing a critical sediment component, which is indispensable for long-term integrations. One of LOSCAR's strengths is the coupling of ocean-atmosphere routines to a computationally efficient sediment module. This allows, for instance, adequate computation of CaCO3 dissolution, calcite compensation, and long-term carbon cycle fluxes, including weathering of carbonate and silicate rocks. The ocean component includes various biogeochemical tracers such as total carbon, alkalinity, phosphate, oxygen, and stable carbon isotopes. LOSCAR's configuration of ocean geometry is flexible and allows for easy switching between modern and paleo-versions. We have previously published applications of the model tackling future projections of ocean chemistry and weathering, pCO2 sensitivity to carbon cycle perturbations throughout the Cenozoic, and carbon/calcium cycling during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. The focus of the present contribution is the detailed description of the model including numerical architecture, processes and parameterizations, tuning, and examples of input and output. Typical CPU integration times of LOSCAR are of order seconds for several thousand model years on current standard desktop machines. The LOSCAR source code in C can be obtained from the author by sending a request to loscar.model@gmail.com.

  16. Nitrogen-Rich Polyacrylonitrile-Based Graphitic Carbons for Hydrogen Peroxide Sensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brandon Pollack

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Catalytic substrate, which is devoid of expensive noble metals and enzymes for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, reduction reactions can be obtained via nitrogen doping of graphite. Here, we report a facile fabrication method for obtaining such nitrogen doped graphitized carbon using polyacrylonitrile (PAN mats and its use in H2O2 sensing. A high degree of graphitization was obtained with a mechanical treatment of the PAN fibers embedded with carbon nanotubes (CNT prior to the pyrolysis step. The electrochemical testing showed a limit of detection (LOD 0.609 µM and sensitivity of 2.54 µA cm−2 mM−1. The promising sensing performance of the developed carbon electrodes can be attributed to the presence of high content of pyridinic and graphitic nitrogens in the pyrolytic carbons, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The reported results suggest that, despite their simple fabrication, the hydrogen peroxide sensors developed from pyrolytic carbon nanofibers are comparable with their sophisticated nitrogen-doped graphene counterparts.

  17. The Use of an Edible Mushroom-Derived Renewable Carbon Material as a Highly Stable Electrocatalyst towards Four-Electron Oxygen Reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaozhong Guo

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The development of highly stable and efficient electrocatalysts for sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR is exceedingly significant for the commercialization of fuel cells but remains a challenge. We here synthesize a new nitrogen-doped biocarbon composite material (N-BC@CNP-900 as a nitrogen-containing carbon-based electrocatalyst for the ORR via facile all-solid-state multi-step pyrolysis of bioprotein-enriched enoki mushroom as a starting material, and inexpensive carbon nanoparticles as the inserting matrix and conducting agent at controlled temperatures. Results show that the N-BC@CNP-900 catalyst exhibits the best ORR electrocatalytic activity with an onset potential of 0.94 V (versus reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE and high stability. Meanwhile, this catalyst significantly exhibits good selectivity of the four-electron reaction pathway in an alkaline electrolyte. It is notable that pyridinic- and graphtic-nitrogen groups that play a key role in the enhancement of the ORR activity may be the catalytically active structures for the ORR. We further propose that the pyridinic-nitrogen species can mainly stabilize the ORR activity and the graphitic-nitrogen species can largely enhance the ORR activity. Besides, the addition of carbon support also plays an important role in the pyrolysis process, promoting the ORR electrocatalytic activity.

  18. The Use of an Edible Mushroom-Derived Renewable Carbon Material as a Highly Stable Electrocatalyst towards Four-Electron Oxygen Reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Chaozhong; Sun, Lingtao; Liao, Wenli; Li, Zhongbin

    2015-12-23

    The development of highly stable and efficient electrocatalysts for sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is exceedingly significant for the commercialization of fuel cells but remains a challenge. We here synthesize a new nitrogen-doped biocarbon composite material (N-BC@CNP-900) as a nitrogen-containing carbon-based electrocatalyst for the ORR via facile all-solid-state multi-step pyrolysis of bioprotein-enriched enoki mushroom as a starting material, and inexpensive carbon nanoparticles as the inserting matrix and conducting agent at controlled temperatures. Results show that the N-BC@CNP-900 catalyst exhibits the best ORR electrocatalytic activity with an onset potential of 0.94 V ( versus reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE) and high stability. Meanwhile, this catalyst significantly exhibits good selectivity of the four-electron reaction pathway in an alkaline electrolyte. It is notable that pyridinic- and graphtic-nitrogen groups that play a key role in the enhancement of the ORR activity may be the catalytically active structures for the ORR. We further propose that the pyridinic-nitrogen species can mainly stabilize the ORR activity and the graphitic-nitrogen species can largely enhance the ORR activity. Besides, the addition of carbon support also plays an important role in the pyrolysis process, promoting the ORR electrocatalytic activity.

  19. The economic implications of carbon cycle uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, Steven J.; Edmonds, James A.

    2006-01-01

    This paper examines the implications of uncertainty in the carbon cycle for the cost of stabilizing carbon dioxide concentrations. Using a state of the art integrated assessment model, we find that uncertainty in our understanding of the carbon cycle has significant implications for the costs of a climate stabilization policy, with cost differences denominated in trillions of dollars. Uncertainty in the carbon cycle is equivalent to a change in concentration target of up to 100 ppmv. The impact of carbon cycle uncertainties are smaller than those for climate sensitivity, and broadly comparable to the effect of uncertainty in technology availability

  20. Temperature sensitivity differences with depth and season between carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling enzyme activities in an ombrotrophic peatland system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steinweg, J. M.; Kostka, J. E.; Hanson, P. J.; Schadt, C. W.

    2017-12-01

    Northern peatlands have large amounts of soil organic matter due to reduced decomposition. Breakdown of organic matter is initially mediated by extracellular enzymes, the activity of which may be controlled by temperature, moisture, and substrate availability, all of which vary seasonally throughout the year and with depth. In typical soils the majority of the microbial biomass and decomposition occurs within the top 30cm due to reduced organic matter inputs in the subsurface however peatlands by their very nature contain large amounts of organic matter throughout their depth profile. We hypothesized that potential enzyme activity would be greatest at the surface of the peat due to a larger microbial biomass compared to 40cm and 175cm below the surface and that temperature sensitivity would be greatest at the surface during winter but lowest during the summer due to high temperatures and enzyme efficiency. Peat samples were collected in February, July, and August 2012 from the DOE Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change project at Marcell Experimental Forest S1 bog. We measured potential activity of hydrolytic enzymes involved in three different nutrient cycles: beta-glucosidase (carbon), leucine amino peptidase (nitrogen), and phosphatase (phosphorus) at 15 temperature points ranging from 3°C to 65°C. Enzyme activity decreased with depth as expected but there was no concurrent change in activation energy (Ea). The reduction in enzyme activity with depth indicates a smaller pool which coincided with a decreased microbial biomass. Differences in enzyme activity with depth also mirrored the changes in peat composition from the acrotelm to the catotelm. Season did play a role in temperature sensitivity with Ea of β-glucosidase and phosphatase being the lowest in August as expected but leucine amino peptidase (a nitrogen acquiring enzyme) Ea was not influenced by season. As temperatures rise, especially in winter months, enzymatic

  1. Oxygen and carbon dioxide sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Fan (Inventor); Pearton, Stephen John (Inventor)

    2012-01-01

    A high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) capable of performing as a CO.sub.2 or O.sub.2 sensor is disclosed, hi one implementation, a polymer solar cell can be connected to the HEMT for use in an infrared detection system. In a second implementation, a selective recognition layer can be provided on a gate region of the HEMT. For carbon dioxide sensing, the selective recognition layer can be, in one example, PEI/starch. For oxygen sensing, the selective recognition layer can be, in one example, indium zinc oxide (IZO). In one application, the HEMTs can be used for the detection of carbon dioxide and oxygen in exhaled breath or blood.

  2. Synergistic effect of Nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon/graphene with enhanced catalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kong, Dewang; Yuan, Wenjing; Li, Cun; Song, Jiming; Xie, Anjian, E-mail: anjx@163.com; Shen, Yuhua, E-mail: s_yuhua@163.com

    2017-01-30

    Graphical abstract: This work demonstrates an example for turning rubbish into valuable products and addresses the disposal issue of waste biomass simultaneously for environment clean. And the typical sample exhibits excellent catalytic performance toward ORR, which is similar to that of commercial Pt/C. - Highlights: • This work demonstrates an example for turning rubbish into valuable products and addresses the disposal issue of waste biomass. • The HPC/RGO composite not only prevents the aggregation of RGO, but also takes advantage of the synergy between them. • This method was accessible, without using any activator, which is an effective strategy for the large scale application of FCs. - Abstract: Developing efficient and economical catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is important to promote the commercialization of fuel cells. Here, we report a simple and environmentally friendly method to prepare nitrogen (N) –doped hierarchical porous carbon (HPC)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) composites by reusing waste biomass (pomelo peel) coupled with graphene oxide (GO). This method is green, low-cost and without using any acid or alkali activator. The typical sample (N-HPC/RGO-1) contains 5.96 at.% nitrogen and larger BET surface area (1194 m{sup 2}/g). Electrochemical measurements show that N-HPC/RGO-1 exhibits not only a relatively positive onset potential and high current density, but also considerable methanol tolerance and long-term durability in alkaline media as well as in acidic media. The electron transfer number is close to 4, which means that it is mostly via a four-electron pathway toward ORR. The excellent catalytic performance of N-HPC/RGO-1 is due to the synergistic effect of the inherent interwoven network structure of HPC, the good electrical conductivity of RGO, and the heteroatom doping for the composite. More importantly, this work demonstrates a good example for turning discarded rubbish into valuable functional products and

  3. Investigations into detonations of coal dust suspensions in oxygen-nitrogen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Edwards, D.; Fearnley, P.; Nettleton, M.

    1987-03-01

    The effect of particle size (practically monodispersed), volatile content and composition of gaseous oxygen-nitrogen mixtures on initiating flame acceleration rates in coal dust suspensions is investigated experimentally. Description is given of apparatus, material used and experiments carried out. The authors discusses: microwave interferograms, pressure oscillograms for various oxygen-nitrogen mixtures; development of ionization front speed in relation to distance from diaphragm; effect of composition on shock wave advance rates. It is concluded that: microwave interferometry can successfully be used in recording initiation of coal dust suspension detonations; ignition of confined coal dust suspensions by shock waves originated by detonation front in stoichiometric oxyacetylene mixtures can be explained by heating of coal particles in shock compression stream to ignition temperature (1000 K) by combined convection and radiation heat transfer. 16 refs.

  4. Hypoxia Tolerance and Metabolic Suppression in Oxygen Minimum Zone Euphausiids: Implications for Ocean Deoxygenation and Biogeochemical Cycles

    KAUST Repository

    Seibel, Brad A.

    2016-08-10

    The effects of regional variations in oxygen and temperature levels with depth were assessed for the metabolism and hypoxia tolerance of dominant euphausiid species. The physiological strategies employed by these species facilitate prediction of changing vertical distributions with expanding oxygen minimum zones and inform estimates of the contribution of vertically migrating species to biogeochemical cycles. The migrating species from the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), Euphausia eximia and Nematoscelis gracilis, tolerate a Partial Pressure (PO2) of 0.8 kPa at 10 °C (∼15 µM O2) for at least 12 h without mortality, while the California Current species, Nematoscelis difficilis, is incapable of surviving even 2.4 kPa PO2 (∼32 µM O2) for more than 3 h at that temperature. Euphausia diomedeae from the Red Sea migrates into an intermediate oxygen minimum zone, but one in which the temperature at depth remains near 22 °C. Euphausia diomedeae survived 1.6 kPa PO2 (∼22 µM O2) at 22 °C for the duration of six hour respiration experiments. Critical oxygen partial pressures were estimated for each species, and, for E. eximia, measured via oxygen consumption (2.1 kPa, 10 °C, n = 2) and lactate accumulation (1.1 kPa, 10 °C). A primary mechanism facilitating low oxygen tolerance is an ability to dramatically reduce energy expenditure during daytime forays into low oxygen waters. The ETP and Red Sea species reduced aerobic metabolism by more than 50% during exposure to hypoxia. Anaerobic glycolytic energy production, as indicated by whole-animal lactate accumulation, contributed only modestly to the energy deficit. Thus, the total metabolic rate was suppressed by ∼49–64%. Metabolic suppression during diel migrations to depth reduces the metabolic contribution of these species to vertical carbon and nitrogen flux (i.e., the biological pump) by an equivalent amount. Growing evidence suggests that metabolic suppression is a widespread strategy among migrating

  5. Adsorption/desorption of low concentration of carbonyl sulfide by impregnated activated carbon under micro-oxygen conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Xueqian; Qiu, Juan; Ning, Ping; Ren, Xiaoguang; Li, Ziyan; Yin, Zaifei; Chen, Wei; Liu, Wei

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Carbonyl sulfide can be catalytic oxidized by micro-oxygen in the off-gas. ► How to use the trace oxygen for the oxidation of carbonyl sulfide was a challenge. ► The SO 4 2− species in the adsorbent sample were generated by a catalytic oxidation process. - Abstract: Activated carbon modified with different impregnants has been studied for COS removal efficiency under micro-oxygen conditions. Activated carbon modified with Cu(NO 3 ) 2 –CoPcS–KOH (denoted as Cu–Co–KW) is found to have markedly enhanced adsorption purification ability. In the adsorption purification process, the reaction temperature, oxygen concentration, and relative humidity of the gas are determined to be three crucial factors. A breakthrough of 43.34 mg COS/g adsorbent at 60 °S and 30% relative humidity with 1.0% oxygen is shown in Cu–Co–KW for removing COS. The structures of the activated carbon samples are characterized using nitrogen adsorption, and their surface chemical structures are analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Modification of Cu(NO 3 ) 2 –CoPcS–KOH appears to improve the COS removal capacity significantly, during which, SO 4 2− is presumably formed, strongly adsorbed, and present in the micropores ranging from 0.7 to 1.5 nm. TPD is used to identify the products containing sulfur species on the carbon surface, where SO 2 and COS are detected in the effluent gas generated from exhausted Cu–Co–KW (denoted Cu–Co–KWE). According to the current study results, the activated carbon impregnated with Cu(NO 3 ) 2 –CoPcS–KOH promises a good candidate for COS adsorbent, with the purified gas meeting requirements for desirable chemical feed stocks.

  6. Adsorption/desorption of low concentration of carbonyl sulfide by impregnated activated carbon under micro-oxygen conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Xueqian, E-mail: wxqian3000@yahoo.com.cn [Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093 (China); Qiu, Juan; Ning, Ping; Ren, Xiaoguang; Li, Ziyan; Yin, Zaifei; Chen, Wei; Liu, Wei [Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093 (China)

    2012-08-30

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Carbonyl sulfide can be catalytic oxidized by micro-oxygen in the off-gas. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer How to use the trace oxygen for the oxidation of carbonyl sulfide was a challenge. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} species in the adsorbent sample were generated by a catalytic oxidation process. - Abstract: Activated carbon modified with different impregnants has been studied for COS removal efficiency under micro-oxygen conditions. Activated carbon modified with Cu(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}-CoPcS-KOH (denoted as Cu-Co-KW) is found to have markedly enhanced adsorption purification ability. In the adsorption purification process, the reaction temperature, oxygen concentration, and relative humidity of the gas are determined to be three crucial factors. A breakthrough of 43.34 mg COS/g adsorbent at 60 Degree-Sign S and 30% relative humidity with 1.0% oxygen is shown in Cu-Co-KW for removing COS. The structures of the activated carbon samples are characterized using nitrogen adsorption, and their surface chemical structures are analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Modification of Cu(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}-CoPcS-KOH appears to improve the COS removal capacity significantly, during which, SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} is presumably formed, strongly adsorbed, and present in the micropores ranging from 0.7 to 1.5 nm. TPD is used to identify the products containing sulfur species on the carbon surface, where SO{sub 2} and COS are detected in the effluent gas generated from exhausted Cu-Co-KW (denoted Cu-Co-KWE). According to the current study results, the activated carbon impregnated with Cu(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}-CoPcS-KOH promises a good candidate for COS adsorbent, with the purified gas meeting requirements for desirable chemical feed stocks.

  7. The response of heterotrophic activity and carbon cycling to nitrogen additions and warming in two tropical soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniela F. Cusack; Margaret S. Torn; William H. McDowell; Whendee L. Silver

    2010-01-01

    Nitrogen (N) deposition is projected to increase significantly in tropical regions in the coming decades, where changes in climate are also expected. Additional N and warming each have the potential to alter soil carbon (C) storage via changes in microbial activity and decomposition, but little is known about the combined effects of these global change factors in...

  8. Nitrogen-doped amorphous carbon-silicon core-shell structures for high-power supercapacitor electrodes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tali, S A Safiabadi; Soleimani-Amiri, S; Sanaee, Z; Mohajerzadeh, S

    2017-02-10

    We report successful deposition of nitrogen-doped amorphous carbon films to realize high-power core-shell supercapacitor electrodes. A catalyst-free method is proposed to deposit large-area stable, highly conformal and highly conductive nitrogen-doped amorphous carbon (a-C:N) films by means of a direct-current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique (DC-PECVD). This approach exploits C 2 H 2 and N 2 gases as the sources of carbon and nitrogen constituents and can be applied to various micro and nanostructures. Although as-deposited a-C:N films have a porous surface, their porosity can be significantly improved through a modification process consisting of Ni-assisted annealing and etching steps. The electrochemical analyses demonstrated the superior performance of the modified a-C:N as a supercapacitor active material, where specific capacitance densities as high as 42 F/g and 8.5 mF/cm 2 (45 F/cm 3 ) on silicon microrod arrays were achieved. Furthermore, this supercapacitor electrode showed less than 6% degradation of capacitance over 5000 cycles of a galvanostatic charge-discharge test. It also exhibited a relatively high energy density of 2.3 × 10 3  Wh/m 3 (8.3 × 10 6  J/m 3 ) and ultra-high power density of 2.6 × 10 8  W/m 3 which is among the highest reported values.

  9. An Integrated Tool for Calculating and Reducing Institution Carbon and Nitrogen Footprints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galloway, James N.; Castner, Elizabeth A.; Andrews, Jennifer; Leary, Neil; Aber, John D.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract The development of nitrogen footprint tools has allowed a range of entities to calculate and reduce their contribution to nitrogen pollution, but these tools represent just one aspect of environmental pollution. For example, institutions have been calculating their carbon footprints to track and manage their greenhouse gas emissions for over a decade. This article introduces an integrated tool that institutions can use to calculate, track, and manage their nitrogen and carbon footprints together. It presents the methodology for the combined tool, describes several metrics for comparing institution nitrogen and carbon footprint results, and discusses management strategies that reduce both the nitrogen and carbon footprints. The data requirements for the two tools overlap substantially, although integrating the two tools does necessitate the calculation of the carbon footprint of food. Comparison results for five institutions suggest that the institution nitrogen and carbon footprints correlate strongly, especially in the utilities and food sectors. Scenario analyses indicate benefits to both footprints from a range of utilities and food footprint reduction strategies. Integrating these two footprints into a single tool will account for a broader range of environmental impacts, reduce data entry and analysis, and promote integrated management of institutional sustainability. PMID:29350217

  10. Litter Controls Earthworm-Mediated Carbon and Nitrogen Transformations in Soil from Temperate Riparian Buffers

    OpenAIRE

    Maria Kernecker; Joann K. Whalen; Robert L. Bradley

    2014-01-01

    Nutrient cycling in riparian buffers is partly influenced by decomposition of crop, grass, and native tree species litter. Nonnative earthworms in riparian soils in southern Quebec are expected to speed the processes of litter decomposition and nitrogen (N) mineralization, increasing carbon (C) and N losses in gaseous forms or via leachate. A 5-month microcosm experiment evaluated the effect of Aporrectodea turgida on the decomposition of 3 litter types (deciduous leaves, reed canarygrass, an...

  11. Thermal and chemical durability of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Hao; Zhang Yong; Li Ruying; Sun Xueliang; Abou-Rachid, Hakima

    2012-01-01

    Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (CN x tubes) with nitrogen content of 7.6 at.% are synthesized on carbon papers. Thermal and chemical stability of the nanotubes are investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. The results indicate that the nitrogen can be firmly kept in the nanotubes after annealing at 300 °C in air. Under an argon atmosphere, the nitrogen would not release until 670 °C, and half of the nitrogen incorporated is released after annealing at 700 °C for 30 min. Chemical stability investigation indicates that the nitrogen incorporated in the nanotubes is very stable under the thermal and acid environment comparable to working condition of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Profile of the nitrogen species inside the nanotubes reveals that graphite-like nitrogen releases slower than any other kind of nitrogen in the nanotubes during the chemical stability measurement. These CN x tubes synthesized by this simple chemical vapor deposition method are expected to be suitable for many applications, such as PEM fuel cells that work under both thermal and corrosive conditions and some other mild thermal environments.

  12. Diversified cropping systems support greater microbial cycling and retention of carbon and nitrogen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    King, Alison E.; Hofmockel, Kirsten S.

    2017-03-01

    Diversifying biologically simple cropping systems often entails altering other management practices, such as tillage regime or nitrogen (N) source. We hypothesized that the interaction of crop rotation, N source, and tillage in diversified cropping systems would promote microbially-mediated soil C and N cycling while attenuating inorganic N pools. We studied a cropping systems trial in its 10th year in Iowa, USA, which tested a 2-yr cropping system of corn (Zea mays L.)/soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] managed with conventional fertilizer N inputs and conservation tillage, a 3-yr cropping system of corn/soybean/small grain + red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), and a 4-yr cropping system of corn/soybean/small grain + alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)/alfalfa. Three year and 4-yr cropping systems were managed with composted manure, reduced N fertilizer inputs, and periodic moldboard ploughing. We assayed soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and N (MBN), soil extractable NH4 and NO3, gross proteolytic activity of native soil, and potential activity of six hydrolytic enzymes eight times during the growing season. At the 0-20cm depth, native protease activity in the 4-yr cropping system was greater than in the 2-yr cropping system by a factor of 7.9, whereas dissolved inorganic N pools did not differ between cropping systems (P = 0.292). At the 0-20cm depth, MBC and MBN the 4-yr cropping system exceeded those in the 2-yr cropping system by factors of 1.51 and 1.57. Our findings suggest that diversified crop cropping systems, even when periodically moldboard ploughed, support higher levels of microbial biomass, greater production of bioavailable N from SOM, and a deeper microbially active layer than less diverse cropping systems.

  13. Effect of oxygen breathing on micro oxygen bubbles in nitrogen-depleted rat adipose tissue at sea level and 25 kPa altitude exposures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Randsoe, Thomas; Hyldegaard, Ole

    2012-01-01

    The standard treatment of altitude decompression sickness (aDCS) caused by nitrogen bubble formation is oxygen breathing and recompression. However, micro air bubbles (containing 79% nitrogen), injected into adipose tissue, grow and stabilize at 25 kPa regardless of continued oxygen breathing...... at 101.3 kPa (sea level) or at 25 kPa altitude exposures during continued oxygen breathing. In keeping with previous observations and bubble kinetic models, we hypothesize that oxygen breathing may contribute to oxygen bubble growth at altitude. Anesthetized rats were exposed to 3 h of oxygen...... prebreathing at 101.3 kPa (sea level). Micro oxygen bubbles of 500-800 nl were then injected into the exposed abdominal adipose tissue. The oxygen bubbles were studied for up to 3.5 h during continued oxygen breathing at either 101.3 or 25 kPa ambient pressures. At 101.3 kPa, all bubbles shrank consistently...

  14. In Situ High-Level Nitrogen Doping into Carbon Nanospheres and Boosting of Capacitive Charge Storage in Both Anode and Cathode for a High-Energy 4.5 V Full-Carbon Lithium-Ion Capacitor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Fei; Liu, Xiaoyan; Wu, Hao Bin; Wang, Lijie; Gao, Jihui; Li, Hexing; Lu, Yunfeng

    2018-05-02

    To circumvent the imbalances of electrochemical kinetics and capacity between Li + storage anodes and capacitive cathodes for lithium-ion capacitors (LICs), we herein demonstrate an efficient solution by boosting the capacitive charge-storage contributions of carbon electrodes to construct a high-performance LIC. Such a strategy is achieved by the in situ and high-level doping of nitrogen atoms into carbon nanospheres (ANCS), which increases the carbon defects and active sites, inducing more rapidly capacitive charge-storage contributions for both Li + storage anodes and PF 6 - storage cathodes. High-level nitrogen-doping-induced capacitive enhancement is successfully evidenced by the construction of a symmetric supercapacitor using commercial organic electrolytes. Coupling a pre-lithiated ANCS anode with a fresh ANCS cathode enables a full-carbon LIC with a high operating voltage of 4.5 V and high energy and power densities thereof. The assembled LIC device delivers high energy densities of 206.7 and 115.4 Wh kg -1 at power densities of 0.225 and 22.5 kW kg -1 , respectively, as well as an unprecedented high-power cycling stability with only 0.0013% capacitance decay per cycle within 10 000 cycles at a high power output of 9 kW kg -1 .

  15. The carbon-nitrogen balance of the nodule and its regulation under elevated carbon dioxide concentration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Libault, Marc

    2014-01-01

    Legumes have developed a unique way to interact with bacteria: in addition to preventing infection from pathogenic bacteria like any other plant, legumes also developed a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with one gender of soil bacteria: rhizobium. This interaction leads to the development of a new root organ, the nodule, where the differentiated bacteria fix for the plant the atmospheric dinitrogen (atmN2). In exchange, the symbiont will benefit from a permanent source of carbon compounds, products of the photosynthesis. The substantial amounts of fixed carbon dioxide dedicated to the symbiont imposed to the plant a tight regulation of the nodulation process to balance carbon and nitrogen incomes and outcomes. Climate change including the increase of the concentration of the atmospheric carbon dioxide is going to modify the rates of plant photosynthesis, the balance between nitrogen and carbon, and, as a consequence, the regulatory mechanisms of the nodulation process. This review focuses on the regulatory mechanisms controlling carbon/nitrogen balances in the context of legume nodulation and discusses how the change in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration could affect nodulation efficiency.

  16. Sputtering of solid nitrogen and oxygen by keV hydrogen ions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ellegaard, O.; Schou, Jørgen; Stenum, B.

    1994-01-01

    Electronic sputtering of solid nitrogen and oxygen by keV hydrogen ions has been studied at two low-temperature setups. The yield of the sputtered particles has been determined in the energy regime 4-10 keV for H+, H-2+ and H-3+ ions. The yield for oxygen is more than a factor of two larger than...... that for nitrogen. The energy distributions of the sputtered N2 and O2 molecules were measured for hydrogen ions in this energy regime as well. The yields from both solids turn out to depend on the sum of the stopping power of all atoms in the ion. The yield increases as a quadratic function of the stopping power...

  17. Improvement of Taihu water quality by the technology of immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Zhengkui; Zhang Weidong; Zhu Jiating; Pu Peimin; Hu Weipin; Hu Chunhua; Chen Baojun; Li Bo; Cheng Xiaoying; Zhang Shengzhao; Fan Yunqi

    2002-01-01

    Experimental studies were carried out on the purification of eutrophic Taihu Lake water by dynamic experiment using immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria (INCB). The results showed that the eutrophic water of Taihu Lake can be purified effectively as it passes through the experimental reactor into which some immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria were put. The removal efficiencies for Total N (TN), NH 4 + -N with immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria were 72.4% and 85.6%, respectively. It was found that the immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria also have purificatory effect on eutrophic water of Taihu Lake at winter temperature (7 degree C), and that the removal efficiencies for Total N (TN), NH 4 + -N were 55.6%, and 58.9%, respectively. The removal efficiencies for TN and NH 4 + -N depend on the time the water stays in the experimental reactor

  18. Nitrogen and triple oxygen isotopes in near-road air samples using chemical conversion and thermal decomposition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smirnoff, Anna; Savard, Martine M; Vet, Robert; Simard, Marie-Christine

    2012-12-15

    The determination of triple oxygen (δ(18)O and δ(17)O) and nitrogen isotopes (δ(15)N) is important when investigating the sources and atmospheric paths of nitrate and nitrite. To fully understand the atmospheric contribution into the terrestrial nitrogen cycle, it is crucial to determine the δ(15)N values of oxidised and reduced nitrogen species in precipitation and dry deposition. In an attempt to further develop non-biotic methods and avoid expensive modifications of the gas-equilibration system, we have combined and modified sample preparation procedures and analytical setups used by other researchers. We first chemically converted NO(3)(-) and NH(4)(+) into NO(2)(-) and then into N(2)O. Subsequently, the resulting gas was decomposed into N(2) and O(2) and analyzed by isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) using a pre-concentration system equipped with a gold reduction furnace. The δ(17)O, δ(18)O and δ(15)N values of nitrate and nitrite samples were acquired simultaneously in one run using a single analytical system. Most importantly, the entire spectrum of δ(17)O, δ(18)O and/or δ(15)N values was determined from atmospheric nitrate, nitric oxide, ammonia and ammonium. The obtained isotopic values for air and precipitation samples were in good agreement with those from previous studies. We have further advanced chemical approaches to sample preparation and isotope analyses of nitrogen-bearing compounds. The proposed methods are inexpensive and easily adaptable to a wide range of laboratory conditions. This will substantially contribute to further studies on sources and pathways of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium in terrestrial nitrogen cycling. Copyright © 2012 Crown in the right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  19. Carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of the carbonate facies

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The Vindhyan sedimentary succession in central India spans a wide time bracket from the Paleopro- terozoic to the Neoproterozoic period.Chronostratigraphic significance of stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of the carbonate phase in Vindhyan sediments has been discussed in some recent studies.However,the ...

  20. Short term effects of two experimantal eutrophication on carbon and nitrogen cycling in two types of wet grassland

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Picek, T.; Kaštovská, E.; Edwards, K.; Zemanová, K.; Dušek, Jiří

    9 /suppl./, - (2008), s. 1-8 ISSN 1585-8553 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA526/06/0276 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520 Keywords : Carbon * Eutrophication * Gas emissions * Microbial processes * Nitrogen * Wet meadows Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 0.898, year: 2008

  1. Textural, surface, thermal and sorption properties of the functionalized activated carbons and carbon nanotubes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nowicki Piotr

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Two series of functionalised carbonaceous adsorbents were prepared by means of oxidation and nitrogenation of commercially available activated carbon and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The effect of nitrogen and oxygen incorporation on the textural, surface, thermal and sorption properties of the adsorbents prepared was tested. The materials were characterized by elemental analysis, low-temperature nitrogen sorption, thermogravimetric study and determination of the surface oxygen groups content. Sorptive properties of the materials obtained were characterized by the adsorption of methylene and alkali blue 6B as well as copper(II ions. The final products were nitrogen- and oxygen-enriched mesoporous adsorbents of medium-developed surface area, showing highly diverse N and O-heteroatom contents and acidic-basic character of the surface. The results obtained in our study have proved that through a suitable choice of the modification procedure of commercial adsorbents it is possible to produce materials with high sorption capacity towards organic dyes as well as copper(II ions.

  2. Study on combustion characteristics of dimethyl ether under the moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution condition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Yinhu; Lu, Tianfeng; Lu, Xiaofeng; Wang, Quanhai; Huang, Xiaomei; Peng, Shini; Yang, Dong; Ji, Xuanyu; Song, Yangfan

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Oxygen content in the flame base increased due to the prolonged ignition delay time. • Flow field in the furnace affected thermal/chemical structure of the flame partially. • Preheating and dilution facilitated moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution regime. • Dominant pollutant formation ways of dimethyl ether in hot dilution were clarified. • Preheating and dilution reduced nitrogen oxide emission of dimethyl ether. - Abstract: Experiments and numerical simulations were conducted in this paper to study the combustion behavior of dimethyl ether in the moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution regime, in terms of thermal/chemical structure and chemical kinetics associated with nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions. Several co-flow temperatures and oxygen concentrations were involved in the experiments to investigate their impacts on the flame behavior systematically. The results show that in the moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution regime, oxygen concentrations in the flame base slightly increased because of the prolonged ignition delay time of the reactant mixture due to oxidizer dilution, which changed the local combustion process and composition considerably. The oxidation rates of hydrocarbons were significantly depressed in the moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution regime, such that a fraction of unburned hydrocarbons at the furnace outlet were recirculated into the outer annulus of the furnace, which changed the local radial profiles of carbon monoxide, methane, and hydrogen partially. Moreover, with the increment in co-flow temperature or oxygen mole fraction, flame temperature, and hydroxyl radical, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen mole fractions across the reaction zone increased gradually. For the dimethyl ether-moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution flame, temperature homogeneity was improved at higher co-flow temperature or lower oxygen mole fraction. The carbon monoxide emission depended on the levels of temperature and

  3. Porous carbon supported Fe-N-C composite as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline and acidic media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Baichen; Huang, Binbin; Lin, Cheng; Ye, Jianshan; Ouyang, Liuzhang

    2017-07-01

    In recent years, non-precious metal electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have attracted tremendous attention due to their high catalytic activity, long-term stability and excellent methanol tolerance. Herein, the porous carbon supported Fe-N-C catalysts for ORR were synthesized by direct pyrolysis of ferric chloride, 6-Chloropyridazin-3-amine and carbon black. Variation of pyrolysis temperature during the synthesis process leads to the difference in ORR catalytic activity. High pyrolysis temperature is beneficial to the formation of the "N-Fe" active sites and high electrical conductivity, but the excessive temperature will cause the decomposition of nitrogen-containing active sites, which are revealed by Raman, TGA and XPS. A series of synthesis and characterization experiments with/without nitrogen or iron in carbon black indicate that the coordination of iron and nitrogen plays a crucial role in achieving excellent ORR performances. Electrochemical test results show that the catalyst pyrolyzed at 800 °C (Fe-N-C-800) exhibits excellent ORR catalytic activity, better methanol tolerance and higher stability compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst in both alkaline and acidic conditions.

  4. Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Dots as A New Substrate for Sensitive Glucose Determination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanxu Ji

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Nitrogen-doped carbon dots are introduced as a novel substrate suitable for enzyme immobilization in electrochemical detection metods. Nitrogen-doped carbon dots are easily synthesised from polyacrylamide in just one step. With the help of the amino group on chitosan, glucose oxidase is immobilized on nitrogen-doped carbon dots-modified carbon glassy electrodes by amino-carboxyl reactions. The nitrogen-induced charge delocalization at nitrogen-doped carbon dots can enhance the electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of O2. The specific amino-carboxyl reaction provides strong and stable immobilization of GOx on electrodes. The developed biosensor responds efficiently to the presence of glucose in serum samples over the concentration range from 1 to 12 mM with a detection limit of 0.25 mM. This novel biosensor has good reproducibility and stability, and is highly selective for glucose determination under physiological conditions. These results indicate that N-doped quantum dots represent a novel candidate material for the construction of electrochemical biosensors.

  5. [Simulation of carbon cycle in Qianyanzhou artificial masson pine forest ecosystem and sensitivity analysis of model parameters].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yuan; Zhang, Na; Yu, Gui-rui

    2010-07-01

    By using modified carbon-water cycle model EPPML (ecosystem productivity process model for landscape), the carbon absorption and respiration in Qianyanzhou artificial masson pine forest ecosystem in 2003 and 2004 were simulated, and the sensitivity of the model parameters was analyzed. The results showed that EPPML could effectively simulate the carbon cycle process of this ecosystem. The simulated annual values and the seasonal variations of gross primary productivity (GPP), net ecosystem productivity (NEP), and ecosystem respiration (Re) not only fitted well with the measured data, but also reflected the major impacts of extreme weather on carbon flows. The artificial masson pine forest ecosystem in Qianyanzhou was a strong carbon sink in both 2003 and 2004. Due to the coupling of high temperature and severe drought in the growth season in 2003, the carbon absorption in 2003 was lower than that in 2004. The annual NEP in 2003 and 2004 was 481.8 and 516.6 g C x m(-2) x a(-1), respectively. The key climatic factors giving important impacts on the seasonal variations of carbon cycle were solar radiation during early growth season, drought during peak growth season, and precipitation during post-peak growth season. Autotrophic respiration (Ra) and net primary productivity (NPP) had the similar seasonal variations. Soil heterotrophic respiration (Rh) was mainly affected by soil temperature at yearly scale, and by soil water content at monthly scale. During wet growth season, the higher the soil water content, the lower the Rh was; during dry growth season, the higher the precipitation during the earlier two months, the higher the Rh was. The maximum RuBP carboxylation rate at 25 degrees C (Vm25), specific leaf area (SLA), maximum leaf nitrogen content (LNm), average leaf nitrogen content (LN), and conversion coefficient of biomass to carbon (C/B) had the greatest influence on annual NEP. Different carbon cycle process could have different responses to sensitive

  6. Oxygen-assisted multipass cutting of carbon fiber reinforced plastics with ultra-short laser pulses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kononenko, T. V.; Komlenok, M. S.; Konov, V. I. [Natural Sciences Center, General Physics Institute, Vavilov str. 38, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation); National Research Nuclear University, “MEPhI,” Kashirskoye shosse 31, 115409 Moscow (Russian Federation); Freitag, C. [Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Strahlwerkzeuge (IFSW), Pfaffenwaldring 43, 70569 Stuttgart (Germany); GSaME Graduate School of Excellence Advanced Manufacturing Engineering, Nobelstrasse 12, 70569 Stuttgart (Germany); Onuseit, V.; Weber, R.; Graf, T. [Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Strahlwerkzeuge (IFSW), Pfaffenwaldring 43, 70569 Stuttgart (Germany)

    2014-03-14

    Deep multipass cutting of bidirectional and unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) with picosecond laser pulses was investigated in different static atmospheres as well as with the assistance of an oxygen or nitrogen gas flow. The ablation rate was determined as a function of the kerf depth and the resulting heat affected zone was measured. An assisting oxygen gas flow is found to significantly increase the cutting productivity, but only in deep kerfs where the diminished evaporative ablation due to the reduced laser fluence reaching the bottom of the kerf does not dominate the contribution of reactive etching anymore. Oxygen-supported cutting was shown to also solve the problem that occurs when cutting the CFRP parallel to the fiber orientation where a strong deformation and widening of the kerf, which temporarily slows down the process speed, is revealed to be typical for processing in standard air atmospheres.

  7. Oxygen-assisted multipass cutting of carbon fiber reinforced plastics with ultra-short laser pulses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kononenko, T. V.; Komlenok, M. S.; Konov, V. I.; Freitag, C.; Onuseit, V.; Weber, R.; Graf, T.

    2014-01-01

    Deep multipass cutting of bidirectional and unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) with picosecond laser pulses was investigated in different static atmospheres as well as with the assistance of an oxygen or nitrogen gas flow. The ablation rate was determined as a function of the kerf depth and the resulting heat affected zone was measured. An assisting oxygen gas flow is found to significantly increase the cutting productivity, but only in deep kerfs where the diminished evaporative ablation due to the reduced laser fluence reaching the bottom of the kerf does not dominate the contribution of reactive etching anymore. Oxygen-supported cutting was shown to also solve the problem that occurs when cutting the CFRP parallel to the fiber orientation where a strong deformation and widening of the kerf, which temporarily slows down the process speed, is revealed to be typical for processing in standard air atmospheres

  8. Change in gene abundance in the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle with temperature and nitrogen addition in Antarctic soils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Jaejoon; Yeom, Jinki; Kim, Jisun; Han, Jiwon; Lim, Hyoun Soo; Park, Hyun; Hyun, Seunghun; Park, Woojun

    2011-12-01

    The microbial community (bacterial, archaeal, and fungi) and eight genes involved in the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle (nifH, nitrogen fixation; bacterial and archaeal amoA, ammonia oxidation; narG, nitrate reduction; nirS, nirK, nitrite reduction; norB, nitric oxide reduction; and nosZ, nitrous oxide reduction) were quantitatively assessed in this study, via real-time PCR with DNA extracted from three Antarctic soils. Interestingly, AOB amoA was found to be more abundant than AOA amoA in Antarctic soils. The results of microcosm studies revealed that the fungal and archaeal communities were diminished in response to warming temperatures (10 °C) and that the archaeal community was less sensitive to nitrogen addition, which suggests that those two communities are well-adapted to colder temperatures. AOA amoA and norB genes were reduced with warming temperatures. The abundance of only the nifH and nirK genes increased with both warming and the addition of nitrogen. NirS-type denitrifying bacteria outnumbered NirK-type denitrifiers regardless of the treatment used. Interestingly, dramatic increases in both NirS and NirK-types denitrifiers were observed with nitrogen addition. NirK types increase with warming, but NirS-type denitrifiers tend to be less sensitive to warming. Our findings indicated that the Antarctic microbial nitrogen cycle could be dramatically altered by temperature and nitrogen, and that warming may be detrimental to the ammonia-oxidizing archaeal community. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to investigate genes associated with each process of the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle in an Antarctic terrestrial soil environment. Copyright © 2011 Institut Pasteur. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  9. A one-step carbonization route towards nitrogen-doped porous carbon hollow spheres with ultrahigh nitrogen content for CO 2 adsorption

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Yu

    2015-01-01

    © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015. Nitrogen doped porous carbon hollow spheres (N-PCHSs) with an ultrahigh nitrogen content of 15.9 wt% and a high surface area of 775 m2 g-1 were prepared using Melamine-formaldehyde nanospheres as hard templates and nitrogen sources. The N-PCHSs were completely characterized and were found to exhibit considerable CO2 adsorption performance (4.42 mmol g-1).

  10. Influence of nitrogen surface functionalities on the catalytic activity of activated carbon in low temperature SCR of NOx with NH3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szymanski, Grzegorz S.; Grzybek, Teresa; Papp, Helmut

    2004-01-01

    The reduction of nitrogen oxide with ammonia was studied using carbon catalysts with chemically modified surfaces. Carbon samples with different surface chemistry were obtained from commercial activated carbon D43/1 (CarboTech, Essen, Germany) by chemical modification involving oxidation with conc. nitric acid (DOx) (1); high temperature treatment (=1000K) under vacuum (DHT) (2); or in ammonia (DHTN, DOxN) (3). Additionally, a portion of the DOx sample was promoted with iron(III) ions (DOxFe). The catalytic tests were performed in a microreactor at a temperature range of 413-573K. The carbon sample annealed under vacuum (DHT) showed the lowest activity. The formation of surface acidic surface oxides by nitric acid treatment (DOx) enhanced the catalytic activity only slightly. However, as can be expected, subsequent promotion of the DOx sample with iron(III) ions increased drastically its catalytic activity. However, this was accompanied by some loss of selectivity, i.e. formation of N 2 O as side product. This effect can be avoided using ammonia-treated carbons which demonstrated reasonable activity with simultaneous high selectivity. The most active and selective among them was the sample that was first oxidized with nitric acid and then heated in an ammonia stream (DOxN). A correlation between catalytic activity and surface nitrogen content was observed. Surface nitrogen species seem to play an important role in catalytic selective reduction of nitrogen oxide with ammonia, possibly facilitating NO 2 formation (a reaction intermediate) as a result of easier chemisorption of oxygen and nitrogen oxide

  11. Interactions between nitrogen deposition, land cover conversion, and climate change determine the contemporary carbon balance of Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Churkina, G.; Zaehle, S.; Hughes, J.; Viovy, N.; Chen, Y.; Jung, M.; Heumann, B. W.; Ramankutty, N.; Heimann, M.; Jones, C.

    2010-09-01

    European ecosystems are thought to take up large amounts of carbon, but neither the rate nor the contributions of the underlying processes are well known. In the second half of the 20th century, carbon dioxide concentrations have risen by more that 100 ppm, atmospheric nitrogen deposition has more than doubled, and European mean temperatures were increasing by 0.02 °C yr-1. The extents of forest and grasslands have increased with the respective rates of 5800 km2 yr-1 and 1100 km2 yr-1 as agricultural land has been abandoned at a rate of 7000 km2 yr-1. In this study, we analyze the responses of European land ecosystems to the aforementioned environmental changes using results from four process-based ecosystem models: BIOME-BGC, JULES, ORCHIDEE, and O-CN. The models suggest that European ecosystems sequester carbon at a rate of 56 TgC yr-1 (mean of four models for 1951-2000) with strong interannual variability (±88 TgC yr-1, average across models) and substantial inter-model uncertainty (±39 TgC yr-1). Decadal budgets suggest that there has been a continuous increase in the mean net carbon storage of ecosystems from 85 TgC yr-1 in 1980s to 108 TgC yr-1 in 1990s, and to 114 TgC yr-1 in 2000-2007. The physiological effect of rising CO2 in combination with nitrogen deposition and forest re-growth have been identified as the important explanatory factors for this net carbon storage. Changes in the growth of woody vegetation are suggested as an important contributor to the European carbon sink. Simulated ecosystem responses were more consistent for the two models accounting for terrestrial carbon-nitrogen dynamics than for the two models which only accounted for carbon cycling and the effects of land cover change. Studies of the interactions of carbon-nitrogen dynamics with land use changes are needed to further improve the quantitative understanding of the driving forces of the European land carbon balance.

  12. The nuclear fuel cycle versus the carbon cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ewing, R.C.

    2005-01-01

    Nuclear power provides approximately 17% of the world's electricity, which is equivalent to a reduction in carbon emissions of ∼0.5 gigatonnes (Gt) of C/yr. This is a modest reduction as compared with global emissions of carbon, ∼7 Gt C/yr. Most analyses suggest that in order to have a significant and timely impact on carbon emissions, carbon-free sources, such as nuclear power, would have to expand total production of energy by factors of three to ten by 2050. A three-fold increase in nuclear power capacity would result in a projected reduction in carbon emissions of 1 to 2 Gt C/yr, depending on the type of carbon-based energy source that is displaced. This three-fold increase utilizing present nuclear technologies would result in 25,000 metric tonnes (t) of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) per year, containing over 200 t of plutonium. This is compared to a present global inventory of approximately 280,000 t of SNF and >1,700 t of Pu. A nuclear weapon can be fashioned from as little as 5 kg of 239 Pu. However, there is considerable technological flexibility in the nuclear fuel cycle. There are three types of nuclear fuel cycles that might be utilized for the increased production of energy: open, closed, or a symbiotic combination of different types of reactor (such as, thermal and fast neutron reactors). The neutron energy spectrum has a significant effect on the fission product yield, and the consumption of long-lived actinides, by fission, is best achieved by fast neutrons. Within each cycle, the volume and composition of the high-level nuclear waste and fissile material depend on the type of nuclear fuel, the amount of burn-up, the extent of radionuclide separation during reprocessing, and the types of materials used to immobilize different radionuclides. As an example, a 232 Th-based fuel cycle can be used to breed fissile 233 U with minimum production of Pu. In this paper, I will contrast the production of excess carbon in the form of CO 2 from fossil fuels with

  13. Fabrication of flexible hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber films for application in binder-free supercapacitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Kaibing; Yao, Yiyuan; Yang, Xiuwen; Chen, Zhenhua; Li, Min

    2016-01-01

    Hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber (HPNCNF) films were prepared via a simple electrospinning process, in which polyacrylonitrile and silicone surfactants were adopted as carbon source and porogen, respectively, followed by a thermal treatment. The morphology, chemical composition, and porosity of the HPNCNFs were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption–desorption experiments. The as-prepared HPNCNFs with a specific surface area of 656 m"2 g"−"1, a hierarchical pore structure, and a nitrogen content of 8.1 at% showed a specific capacitance of 289 F g"−"1 in a 6 mol L"−"1 KOH aqueous solution with excellent cycle durability, making HPNCNF films a promising electrode material for a future application in supercapacitors. - Highlights: • HPNCNF films are prepared by electrospinning followed by thermal treatment. • Silicone surfactants are adopted as porogen to prepare HPNCNF films. • The HPNCNF films show a specific capacitance of 289 F g"−"1 at a current density of 0.2 A g"−"1.

  14. Using Oxygen and Carbon Isotopic Signatures in Order to Infer Climatic and Dietary Information in Roman Edessa, Greece

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael, Dimitra-Ermioni; Dotsika, Elissavet

    2017-12-01

    Even though many isotopic studies have been conducted on ancient populations from Greece for the purpose of dietary reconstruction; mostly through carbon and nitrogen isotopic signals of bone collagen, less attention has been given to the utility of apatite signatures (oxygen and carbon) as dietary and palaeoenvironmental tools. Moreover, until recently the isotopic signal of tooth enamel for both the purposes of environmental and dietary reconstructions has been rarely assessed in ancient Greek societies. Therefore, the present study aims to provide with novel isotopic information regarding Edessa; a town in Northern Greece, during the Roman period. The current study primarily aims to explore the possible differentiation between the present climatic conditions in Edessa in relation to those occurring at the Roman period. Secondly, this study aims to reveal the significant utility of enamel isotopic signatures (carbon and oxygen) in palaeoenvironmental and palaeodietary studies regarding ancient human remains. The isotopic analyses have been conducted at the Stable Isotope and Radiocarbon Unit of INN, NCSR “Demokritos”. The population of Roman Edessa (2nd-4th c. AD) consists of 22 individuals, providing with 19 bone samples and 16 enamel ones. The mean enamel oxygen value is at -7.7 ±1.1 %0, the bone apatite mean oxygen value at -9.2 ±1.9 %0, and finally the mean carbon enamel value is at -11.7 ±1.2 %0. Oxygen values probably indicate that Edessa had a cooler climate during the Roman times in relation to present conditions, even though more research should be carried out in order to be more certain. In addition, the possible existence of non-local individuals has been revealed through the oxygen teeth enamel-bone apatite spacing. Finally, the carbon enamel signature has pointed out possible differentiations between the adult and the juvenile diet. Based on Edessa’s findings, the stated study strongly encourages the enamel oxygen and carbon isotopic signals

  15. Synthesis of polybenzoxazine based nitrogen-rich porous carbons for carbon dioxide capture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Liu; Wang, Jianlong; Feng, Chong; Sun, Yahui; Li, Kaixi

    2015-04-01

    Nitrogen-rich porous carbons (NPCs) were synthesized from 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene, urea, and formaldehyde based on benzoxazine chemistry by a soft-templating method with KOH chemical activation. They possess high surface areas of 856.8-1257.8 m2 g-1, a large pore volume of 0.15-0.65 cm3 g-1, tunable pore structure, high nitrogen content (5.21-5.32 wt%), and high char yields. The amount of the soft-templating agent F127 has multiple influences on the textural and chemical properties of the carbons, affecting the surface area and pore structure, impacting the compositions of nitrogen species and resulting in an improvement of the CO2 capture performance. At 1 bar, high CO2 uptake of 4.02 and 6.35 mmol g-1 at 25 and 0 °C was achieved for the sample NPC-2 with a molar ratio of F127 : urea = 0.010 : 1. This can be attributed to its well-developed micropore structure and abundant pyridinic nitrogen, pyrrolic nitrogen and pyridonic nitrogen functionalities. The sample NPC-2 also exhibits a remarkable selectivity for CO2/N2 separation and a fast adsorption/desorption rate and can be easily regenerated. This suggests that the polybenzoxazine-based NPCs are desirable for CO2 capture because of possessing a high micropore surface area, a large micropore volume, appropriate pore size distribution, and a large number of basic nitrogen functionalities.Nitrogen-rich porous carbons (NPCs) were synthesized from 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene, urea, and formaldehyde based on benzoxazine chemistry by a soft-templating method with KOH chemical activation. They possess high surface areas of 856.8-1257.8 m2 g-1, a large pore volume of 0.15-0.65 cm3 g-1, tunable pore structure, high nitrogen content (5.21-5.32 wt%), and high char yields. The amount of the soft-templating agent F127 has multiple influences on the textural and chemical properties of the carbons, affecting the surface area and pore structure, impacting the compositions of nitrogen species and resulting in an improvement of the

  16. Mathematical modeling of simultaneous carbon-nitrogen-sulfur removal from industrial wastewater.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Xi-Jun; Chen, Chuan; Wang, Ai-Jie; Ni, Bing-Jie; Guo, Wan-Qian; Yuan, Ye; Huang, Cong; Zhou, Xu; Wu, Dong-Hai; Lee, Duu-Jong; Ren, Nan-Qi

    2017-01-05

    A mathematical model of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur removal (C-N-S) from industrial wastewater was constructed considering the interactions of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (SOB), nitrate-reducing bacteria (NRB), facultative bacteria (FB), and methane producing archaea (MPA). For the kinetic network, the bioconversion of C-N by heterotrophic denitrifiers (NO 3 - →NO 2 - →N 2 ), and that of C-S by SRB (SO 4 2- →S 2- ) and SOB (S 2- →S 0 ) was proposed and calibrated based on batch experimental data. The model closely predicted the profiles of nitrate, nitrite, sulfate, sulfide, lactate, acetate, methane and oxygen under both anaerobic and micro-aerobic conditions. The best-fit kinetic parameters had small 95% confidence regions with mean values approximately at the center. The model was further validated using independent data sets generated under different operating conditions. This work was the first successful mathematical modeling of simultaneous C-N-S removal from industrial wastewater and more importantly, the proposed model was proven feasible to simulate other relevant processes, such as sulfate-reducing, sulfide-oxidizing process (SR-SO) and denitrifying sulfide removal (DSR) process. The model developed is expected to enhance our ability to predict the treatment of carbon-nitrogen-sulfur contaminated industrial wastewater. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Hong; Wu, Tao

    2017-01-01

    The present invention is a structure, method of making and method of use for a novel macroscopic hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped, nano-porous carbon membrane (HNDCMs) with asymmetric and hierarchical pore architecture that can be produced

  18. Description, calibration and sensitivity analysis of the local ecosystem submodel of a global model of carbon and nitrogen cycling and the water balance in the terrestrial biosphere

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kercher, J.R. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Chambers, J.Q. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)]|[California Univ., Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Biological Sciences

    1995-10-01

    We have developed a geographically-distributed ecosystem model for the carbon, nitrogen, and water dynamics of the terrestrial biosphere TERRA. The local ecosystem model of TERRA consists of coupled, modified versions of TEM and DAYTRANS. The ecosystem model in each grid cell calculates water fluxes of evaporation, transpiration, and runoff; carbon fluxes of gross primary productivity, litterfall, and plant and soil respiration; and nitrogen fluxes of vegetation uptake, litterfall, mineralization, immobilization, and system loss. The state variables are soil water content; carbon in live vegetation; carbon in soil; nitrogen in live vegetation; organic nitrogen in soil and fitter; available inorganic nitrogen aggregating nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia; and a variable for allocation. Carbon and nitrogen dynamics are calibrated to specific sites in 17 vegetation types. Eight parameters are determined during calibration for each of the 17 vegetation types. At calibration, the annual average values of carbon in vegetation C, show site differences that derive from the vegetation-type specific parameters and intersite variation in climate and soils. From calibration, we recover the average C{sub v} of forests, woodlands, savannas, grasslands, shrublands, and tundra that were used to develop the model initially. The timing of the phases of the annual variation is driven by temperature and light in the high latitude and moist temperate zones. The dry temperate zones are driven by temperature, precipitation, and light. In the tropics, precipitation is the key variable in annual variation. The seasonal responses are even more clearly demonstrated in net primary production and show the same controlling factors.

  19. Synthesis and capacitance properties of N-doped porous carbon/NiO nanosheet composites using coal-based polyaniline as carbon and nitrogen source

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaoqin; Li, Qiaoqin; Zhang, Yong; Yang, Yufei; Cao, Zhi; Xiong, Shanxin

    2018-06-01

    A novel synthesis approach of N-doped porous carbon (NPC)/NiO composites possessing some honeycomb-shaped nanoporous carbon and plentiful NiO nanosheets is exploited. First NPC/Ni composites are achieved with NPC yield of 52.9% through a catalytic pyrolysis method, using coal-based polyaniline particles prepared by an in-situ polymerization method as a carbon and nitrogen source, and nickel particles as a catalyst, respectively. Next NPC/NiO composites are achieved unexpectedly with plentiful NiO nanosheets and N content of 1.00 wt% after a liquid oxidation process. In NPC/NiO composites, porous carbon mainly presents in the amorphous state, while the incorporated nitrogen mainly presents in the form of pyrrolic N (92.9 at.%) and oxidized N (7.1 at.%). Plentiful NiO nanosheets are embedded in the pores or on the NPC surface. 33.3 at.% Ni2O3 components exist in the surface of NiO nanosheets. NPC/NiO composites possess not only rich micropores, but also significant mesopores and nanoscale macropores. The BET specific surface area, BET average pore width and BJH adsorption average pore diameter are 627.5 m2/g, 2.0 nm and 5.1 nm, respectively. NPC/NiO composites demonstrate a high specific capacitance of 404.1 F/g at 1 A/g, and a good cycling stability maintaining high specific capacitance of 212.4 F/g (84.3% of the initial capacitance) at 5 A/g after 5000 cycles of charge and discharge, attributed to some honeycomb-shaped nanopores of carbon and large specific surface area of NiO nanosheets, and the synergistic effects between electric double-layer capacitance of NPC and pseudocapacitance of NiO. This study may provide a novel approach for the value-added applications of low-rank coal.

  20. Parameterization of Nitrogen Limitation for a Dynamic Ecohydrological Model: a Case Study from the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bastola, S.; Bras, R. L.

    2017-12-01

    Feedbacks between vegetation and the soil nutrient cycle are important in ecosystems where nitrogen limits plant growth, and consequently influences the carbon balance in the plant-soil system. However, many biosphere models do not include such feedbacks, because interactions between carbon and the nitrogen cycle can be complex, and remain poorly understood. In this study we coupled a nitrogen cycle model with an eco-hydrological model by using the concept of carbon cost economics. This concept accounts for different "costs" to the plant of acquiring nitrogen via different pathways. This study builds on tRIBS-VEGGIE, a spatially explicit hydrological model coupled with a model of photosynthesis, stomatal resistance, and energy balance, by combining it with a model of nitrogen recycling. Driven by climate and spatially explicit data of soils, vegetation and topography, the model (referred to as tRIBS-VEGGIE-CN) simulates the dynamics of carbon and nitrogen in the soil-plant system; the dynamics of vegetation; and different components of the hydrological cycle. The tRIBS-VEGGIE-CN is applied in a humid tropical watershed at the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory (LCZO). The region is characterized by high availability and cycling of nitrogen, high soil respiration rates, and large carbon stocks.We drive the model under contemporary CO2 and hydro-climatic forcing and compare results to a simulation under doubling CO2 and a range of future climate scenarios. The results with parameterization of nitrogen limitation based on carbon cost economics show that the carbon cost of the acquisition of nitrogen is 14% of the net primary productivity (NPP) and the N uptake cost for different pathways vary over a large range depending on leaf nitrogen content, turnover rates of carbon in soil and nitrogen cycling processes. Moreover, the N fertilization simulation experiment shows that the application of N fertilizer does not significantly change the simulated NPP. Furthermore, an