Month: April 2024

http://en.people.cn/n3/2024/0426/c90000-20162287.html https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07343-x Huishing Peng and colleagues from Fudan University in Shanghai have developed a strategy for designing channel structures in electrodes to incorporate polymer gel electrolytes and to form intimate and stable interfaces for high-performance wearable batteries. As a demonstration, multiple electrode fibres were rotated together to form aligned channels, while the surface of each electrode fibre was designed with networked channels. The monomer solution was effectively infiltrated first along the aligned channels and then into the networked channels. The monomers were then polymerized to produce a gel electrolyte and form intimate and stable interfaces with the electrodes. The team managed to fabricate fiber lithium-ion batteries with lengths of several kilometers and a high energy density that can effectively provide power for electrical devices like drones. They have established a pilot production line and achieved a production capacity of 300 watt-hours per hour, which is equivalent to the battery produced per hour capable of charging 20 mobile phones simultaneously. The concept shows promise for applications in firefighting and space exploration.

https://english.news.cn/20240425/331ce62ba74e40908b35e26e89657fd5/c.html The NeuCyber Array BMI System, a brain-machine interface (BMI) system, was unveiled at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum)  in Beijing. A video demonstration showed how  a monkey with its hands restrained and soft electrode filaments implanted in its brain, controlled an isolated robotic arm and grasped a strawberry by simply using its “thoughts.” The BMI is intended to serve as the “information highway” for the brain, facilitating communication with external devices and providing cutting-edge technologies in human-machine interaction and hybrid intelligence. It is composed of three major components — high-throughput flexible microelectrode array, a thousand-channel high-speed neural signal acquisition system, and a generative neural decoding algorithm based on a feedforward control mechanism. The electrodes determine the quality of the recorded brain signals and the accuracy of “brain control”. The BMI System makes use of a large number of extremely thin electrode contacts on a thin electrode thread to enhance signal capture ability.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07342-y https://www.cas.cn/syky/202404/t20240425_5012616.shtml Hydroformylation reaction catalyze the conversion of olefins to aldehydes under carbon monoxide and hydrogen atmosphere, an important way to utilize olefins in high value-added conversion. Globally, more than 10 million tons of olefins are converted at high value through this reaction pathway each year, and rhodium-catalyzed propylene hydroformylation accounts for more than 70% of all olefin hydroformylation capacity. The product of this process, n-butyraldehyde, is usually further converted to n-butanol and 2-ethylhexanol. Both are basic chemical raw materials for the production of bulk household products such as plasticizers, detergents, paints and pharmaceuticals. However, rhodium molecular catalysts are in the same phase as the raw materials and products, so catalyst separation and recycling after the reaction is accompanied by rhodium loss. A team of researchers from the CAS Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry, in cooperation with Sinosynthesis Oil Technology Co., has realized the production of n-butyraldehyde from the hydroformylation of propylene  with ultra-high regioselectivity by using a multiphase rhodium-molecular sieve-loaded catalyst system, with more than 99% regioselectivity. The catalytic performance results surpass all multiphase catalysts and almost all homogeneous catalysts reported so far.

http://j.people.com.cn/n3/2024/0411/c95952-20155847.html According to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Tianjin Branch, construction of the Kengli 10-2 Oil Field Phase 1 and Kengli 10-1 Oil Field A54 Well Block Development Project began on April 10 at three construction sites in Tianjin and Qingdao City. As a result, the 100-million-ton large oil field “Kendri 10-2” has entered the development and construction phase. The oil field is located in the southern waters of the Bohai Sea, about 245 km from Tianjin, with an average water depth of about 15.7 meters. It is a large-scale petrographic oil and gas field discovered by China Sea Oil in the Laizhou Bay depression in 2021, with proven crude oil reserves of over 100 million tons. The project includes one new central platform and two unmanned wellhead platforms to be built in the “Kengri 10-2 oil field,” seven new subsea pipelines and four subsea cables to be laid, and will be an important project to achieve production capacity of 40 million tons of oil and gas and 3 million tons of heavy oil in the Bohai Sea oil field in 25 years The project will be an important project to achieve the production capacity of 40 million tons of oil and gas and 3 million tons of heavy oil in the Bohai Sea field in 25 years. The project’s CEPC platform module is currently the largest module in the Bohai field, with a floating weight of approximately 20,000 tons, which is close to the loading limit of a floating vessel.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2024/0422/c90000-20159675.html According to the China National Nuclear Corporation, mass production of carbon-14 isotopes was achieved using a commercial nuclear reactor. Domestic production will break an import dependency on carbon-14 isotopes, and has significance for agriculture, chemistry, medicine and biography in the country, sectors that widely use the element in detecting helicobacter pylori and pharmacokinetics research. The carbon-14 isotope is produced by the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant in East China’s Zhejiang Province, which is operated by a CNNC subsidiary. According to Fan Shen, a representative from the power plant, China’s annual demand for carbon-14 isotope used in helicobacter pylori detection alone is around 40 Curies, the total demand of scientific research is around 100 Curies. Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant’s production capacity can fully meet the current domestic demand, and the final product of the carbon-14 isotope will be supplied to the market by the end of 2024. China’s eight top departments on June 2021 issued the mid- and long-term development plan for medical isotopes from 2021 to 2035, which stated to build an independent and stable medical isotope supply system. In 2020, the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant vowed to build China’s largest isotope production base by carrying out the development of related industries, according to CNNC. During the production of carbon-14, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant also launched the mass production preparation for other isotopes including the lutecium-117 and yttrium-90, further upgrading China’s supply capability of medical isotopes.