World’s first carbon fiber metro train in Qingdao

http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0110/c90000-20264742.html

The world’s first carbon fiber metro train named “CETROVO 1.0 Carbon Star Express began passenger service on the Metro Line 1 of Qingdao, Shandong Province. The debut of the carbon fiber metro train marks a groundbreaking upgrade in China’s metro train lightweight technology. The carbon fiber metro train is approximately 11 percent lighter, with operational energy consumption reduced by 7 percent. And each train can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 130 tons annually, the CCTV report noted.

The key load-bearing structures of the carbon fiber metro train, such as the car body and bogie frame, are made from carbon fiber composite materials. And this design offers multiple technical advantages, including being lighter and more energy-efficient, having higher strength, better environmental adaptability, and lower operation and maintenance costs throughout its life cycle.

Carbon fiber has advantages such as being lightweight, high-strength, fatigue-resistant, and corrosion-resistant. Its strength is more than five times that of steel, while its weight is less than a quarter of steel, making it an excellent material for lightweight rail vehicles, The use of carbon fiber materials not only enhances the strength of the car body, providing greater impact resistance and extending the structural lifespan, but also improves the vehicles’ vibration reduction and isolation, resulting in smoother operation, reduced noise, and a more comfortable ride.

The Qingdao Metro Line 1 spans approximately 60 kilometers and has 41 stations. It serves as a major north-south backbone line in Qingdao.

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Qingdao operates an advanced 3D city map for smart urban management

https://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0530/c98649-20322033.html

A platform on real-scene 3D modeling of the city of Qingdao was launched in March 2021 under the leadership of the Qingdao Institute of Survey and Mapping

Qingdao’s varied topography – marked by hilly terrain and dramatic elevation changes – necessitated the use of oblique aerial imaging to capture raw imagery and build an accurate 3D model. The project team deployed manned fixed-wing aircraft equipped with 150-megapixel, five-lens oblique aerial cameras. The aerial survey covered the entire urban area, achieving a ground resolution of 15 centimeters and maintaining more than 70 percent image overlap to maximize accuracy.

In March 2022, following expert review, the project was officially launched for citywide application. Today, the platform covers Qingdao’s entire land area – 11,000 square kilometers – as well as 800 kilometers of coastline, 49 bays, and seven inhabited islands.

The 3D simulation platform has been shared with over 60 municipal departments. It supports more than 100 key functions, including disaster prevention and mitigation, urban planning, social governance, and urban renewal. The platform also underpins over 70 digital government service applications and records nearly 100 million uses annually. As an example, at the bureau’s headquarters, staff members examined two versions of a digital model for a former mining site in Qingdao’s West Coast New Area. The comparison revealed tangible signs of ecological restoration – more vegetation and a gentler slope. Qingdao is home to 898 legacy mine sites. In the past, inspecting these sites required a full month of on-the-ground efforts. Now, with the help of the 3D model, the same work takes just five days.

Since 2023, the city has carried out annual temporal updates to the city-scale 3D simulation platform, enabling it to track urban changes with precision and support data-driven lysis and evidence-based planning.

Sustainable energy harvesting from acidic wastewater through a COF-stabilized aramid nanofiber composite membrane

http://english.qibebt.cas.cn/ne/rp/202504/t20250407_909473.html

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.4c18730

A research team from the CAS Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) has introduced a novel membrane design that mimics biological protein channels to enhance proton transport for efficient energy harvesting. Inspired by the ClC-ec1 antiporter found in Escherichia coli, which facilitates the movement of chloride (Cl⁻) and protons, the researchers developed a hybrid membrane composed of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) integrated with aramid nanofibers (ANFs). This ANF/COF composite forms a robust hydrogen-bonding network and features amide groups that selectively bind to Cl⁻ ions, significantly lowering the energy barrier for proton conduction.

In acidic environments, adding just 0.1% Cl⁻ ions (relative to protons) increased the membrane’s proton permeation rate threefold, reaching 9.8 mol m⁻² h⁻¹ for the efficient migration of H⁺ ions. Under simulated acidic wastewater conditions, the ANF/COF membrane achieved an output power density of 434.8 W m⁻²—one of the highest reported to date for osmotic energy generation. It also showed structural stability over 9,000 minutes (~150 hours) of operation in highly acidic media.

A biomimetic membrane allows lithium ion separation by electrodialysis

http://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/chem/202504/t20250427_1042154.shtml

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59188-1

A research team led by Prof. GAO Jun from the CAS Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) , in collaboration with researchers from Qingdao University, has developed an innovative membrane that mimics biological ion channels to achieve highly selective lithium ion separation from complex brines. Lithium, which is essential for batteries and clean energy technologies, is often found in low concentrations alongside high levels of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium ions.

Inspired by biological ion channels, the team designed a sulfonic acid-functionalized covalent organic framework (COF)—r-TpPa-SO₃H. The membrane’s randomly oriented nanocrystalline structure creates ultra-narrow, winding channels that can differentiate ions based on size and hydration energy. This unique structure enables an unconventional reverse-sieving mechanism that allows the selective passage of Na⁺, K⁺, and even divalent ions like Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ under an electric field while effectively blocking hydrated Li⁺ ions.

In laboratory tests, the membrane demonstrated remarkable Na⁺/Li⁺ and K⁺/Li⁺ selectivity, comparable to that of biological ion channels. Its performance remained stable in complex solutions, including real salt-lake brines. Under electrodialysis conditions, the membrane consistently removed major interfering ions, resulting in a lithium-enriched solution ready for downstream processing.

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