Mesophase Pitch-Derived Carbons with High Electronic and Ionic Conductivity Levels for Electric Double-Layer Capacitors

We develop a temperature-programmed pretreatment strategy for converting aliphatic-rich petroleum pitch into a mesophase framework, which can then be activated using KOH to produce high-performance carbons for electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs). In the pretreatment of pitch at an optimal temperature, both the temperature ramp and holding time influence the mesophase structure, which governs the pore structure and crystallinity of the resulting activated carbon. High carbon microporosity is beneficial to capacitance maximization but detrimental to ion transport. To resolve this problem, we develop a multistep ramp incorporating aliphatic species into the aromatic framework during mesophase formation. This incorporation process produces a mesophase framework that can be activated to form carbons with high crystallinity, thereby enhancing electronic conductivity and hierarchical porosity, which improves ionic conductivity. The resulting carbon electrode is used to assemble a symmetric EDLC, which exhibits a capacitance of 160 F g–1 and excellent high-rate retention in a propylene carbonate solution of N,N-diethyl-N-methylethanaminium tetrafluoroborate. The EDLC delivers a superior specific energy of 40 Wh kg–1 (based on the total carbon mass) within a voltage range of 0–2.7 V and sustained a high energy of 24 Wh kg–1 at a high power of 50 kW kg–1. The findings of this study demonstrate that incorporating aliphatic species into aromatic mesophase frameworks plays a crucial role in regulating the crystallinity and pore structure of pitch-derived carbons for charge storage

Potential Therapeutic Roles of Tanshinone IIA in Human Bladder Cancer Cells

Tanshinone IIA (Tan-IIA), one of the major lipophilic components isolated from the root of Salviae Miltiorrhizae, has been found to exhibit anticancer activity in various cancer cells. We have demonstrated that Tan-IIA induces apoptosis in several human cancer cells through caspase- and mitochondria-dependent pathways. Here we explored the anticancer effect of Tan-IIA in human bladder cancer cell lines. Our results showed that Tan-IIA caused bladder cancer cell death in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Tan-IIA induced apoptosis through the mitochondria-dependent pathway in these bladder cancer cells. Tan-IIA also suppressed the migration of bladder cancer cells as revealed by the wound healing and transwell assays. Finally, combination therapy of Tan-IIA with a lower dose of cisplatin successfully killed bladder cancer cells, suggesting that Tan-IIA can serve as a potential anti-cancer agent in bladder cancer

Bipolar membrane electrodialysis for mixed salt water treatment: Evaluation of parameters on process performance

In the present study, bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) process was employed as an alternative separation method to the distillation unit in the Solvay process for the synthetic soda ash production. The applicability of BMED was investigated by evaluating the effects of system parameters on process performance. Desalination ratio, salt based acid and base conversion ratio, flux, product purity, and energy consumption were defined as the process performance criteria for the BMED systems. Initial salt concentration, applied current and voltage, and initial acid and base concentrations were chosen as system parameters. The results of the study revealed that current/voltage and initial salt concentration are the most effective factors affecting all performance criteria. When all system parameters were considered, BMED provides the desalination ratio in between 90% and 98%, the acid and base conversion ratio of salt in between 60% and 80%, and the energy consumption in the range of 1.54-2.33 kWh/kg acid. Furthermore, the desalinated water can be reused as process water and the distillation unit waste problem can be resolved by the utilization of BMED system