Hydrothermal technologies are broadly defined as chemical and physical transformations in high-temperature (200–600 °C), high-pressure (5–40 MPa) liquid or supercritical water. This thermochemical means of reforming biomass may have energetic advantages, since, when water is heated at high pressures a phase change to steam is avoided which avoids large enthalpic energy penalties. Biological chemicals undergo a range of reactions, including dehydration and decarboxylation reactions, which are influenced by the temperature, pressure, concentration, and presence of homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysts. Several biomass hydrothermal conversion processes are in development or demonstration. Liquefaction processes are generally lower temperature (200–400 °C) reactions which produce liquid products, often called “bio-oil” or “bio-crude”. Gasification processes generally take place at higher temperatures (400–700 °C) and can produce methane or hydrogen gases in high yields.

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Thermochemical biofuel production in hydrothermal media: A review of sub- and supercritical water technologies

A fundamental understanding of the luminescence of Au–thiolate nanoclusters (NCs), such as the origin of emission and the size effect in luminescence, is pivotal to the development of efficient synthesis routes for highly luminescent Au NCs. This paper reports an interesting finding of Au(I)–thiolate complexes: strong luminescence emission by the mechanism of aggregation-induced emission (AIE). The AIE property of the complexes was then used to develop a simple one-pot synthesis of highly luminescent Au–thiolate NCs with a quantum yield of ∼15%. Our key strategy was to induce the controlled aggregation of Au(I)–thiolate complexes on in situ generated Au(0) cores to form Au(0)@Au(I)–thiolate core–shell NCs where strong luminescence was generated by the AIE of Au(I)–thiolate complexes on the NC surface. We were able to extend the synthetic strategy to other thiolate ligands with added functionalities (in the form of custom-designed peptides). The discovery (e.g., identifying the source of emission and the s...

From Aggregation-Induced Emission of Au(I)–Thiolate Complexes to Ultrabright Au(0)@Au(I)–Thiolate Core–Shell Nanoclusters

Inorganic species in geologic fluids: Correlations among standard molal thermodynamic properties of aqueous ions and hydroxide complexes

Two of the greatest challenges facing the 21st century involve providing sustainable supplies of clean water and energy, two highly interrelated resources, at affordable costs. Membrane technology is expected to continue to dominate the water purifica- tion technologies owing to its energy efficiency. However, there is a need for improved membranes that have higher flux, are more selective, are less prone to various types of fouling, and are more resistant to the chemical environment, especially chlorine, of these processes. This article summarizes the nature of the global water problem and reviews the state of the art of membrane technology. Existing deficiencies of current membranes and the opportunities to resolve them with innovative polymer chemistry and physics are identified. Extensive background is provided to help the reader understand the fundamental issues involved. V C 2010 Wiley Periodi- cals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 1685-1718, 2010

Water Purification by Membranes: The Role of Polymer Science

We provide a new fit for the microwave complex dielectric constant of water in the salinity range between 0-40 ppt using two Debye relaxation wavelengths. For pure water, the fit is based on laboratory measurements in the temperature range between -20/spl deg/C and +40/spl deg/C including supercooled water and for frequencies up to 500 GHz. For sea water, our fit is valid for temperatures between -2/spl deg/C and +29/spl deg/C and for frequencies up to at least 90 GHz. At low frequencies, our new model is a modified version of the Klein-Swift model. We compare the results of the new fit with various other models and provide a validation using an extensive analysis of brightness temperatures from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager.

/pdf/the-complex-dielectric-constant-of-pure-and-sea-water-from-kbtsn5o4iw.pdf

The complex dielectric constant of pure and sea water from microwave satellite observations

Experimental values of the dielectric constant of water suggest that, for temperatures greater than 400 K, the integral in the Kirkwood dielectric‐constant equation, which involves the intermolecular potential function, is a simpler function of temperature and pressure than of temperature and density An equation has been fitted to values of this integral calculated from experimental values of the dielectric constant for temperatures from 23815 K to 82315 K and to pressures of approximately 500 MPa for temperatures greater than 273 K The equation of e thus has explicit variables T, ρ, p and gives a good representation of the available experimental results The quality of representation of the experimental results has been compared to that of previous correlations of the dielectric constant The new equation is applicable through wider regions of independent variables than the previous equations and is capable of sufficient accuracy to provide values of Debye–Huckel limiting law slopes which are as accurate as the experimental results allow Values of Debye‐Huckel limiting‐law slopes are tabulated

The Dielectric Constant of Water and Debye‐Hückel Limiting Law Slopes

https://support.olisystems.com/documents/papers/mse-2002fluidphaseeq141.pdf

A speciation-based model for mixed-solvent electrolyte systems

Computation of dielectric constants of solvent mixtures and electrolyte solutions

Electrolyte solutions: from thermodynamic and transport property models to the simulation of industrial processes

Modeling phase equilibria and speciation in mixed-solvent electrolyte systems: II. Liquid–liquid equilibria and properties of associating electrolyte solutions☆

Peiming Wang

Papers

The Dielectric Constant of Water and Debye‐Hückel Limiting Law Slopes

A speciation-based model for mixed-solvent electrolyte systems

Computation of dielectric constants of solvent mixtures and electrolyte solutions

Electrolyte solutions: from thermodynamic and transport property models to the simulation of industrial processes

Modeling phase equilibria and speciation in mixed-solvent electrolyte systems: II. Liquid–liquid equilibria and properties of associating electrolyte solutions☆