长江荆江河段河势控制工程建设实践与思考

为应对三峡水库蓄水后清水下泄对下游河段特别是荆江河段造成的不利影响，于2007~2011年，在荆江河段先后实施了两个河势控制应急工程项目。两个项目除采用干砌石护坡、水下抛石护坡等传统护岸技术外，还采用了土工格栅护坡、钢丝网石垫护坡、软体排护脚、混凝土铰链排等护岸工程新技术。通过工程的实施，确定了护岸脚槽的合理顶高程，检验了护岸工程新技术在荆江河段治理中的适用性。详细介绍了传统与新技术在护岸工程中的实施情况，可供同类工程参考。     

Experimental study on the permeability and self-healing capacity of geosynthetic clay liners in heavy metal solutions

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs), which have a very low permeability to water and a considerably high self-healing capacity, are widely used in liner systems of landfills. In this study, a series of experimental tests were carried out under complex conditions on typical commercial GCLs from China. In particular, the effects of pH values and lead ions (Pb²⁺) were tested in addition to other factors. The swelling properties of natural bentonite encapsulated between geotextile components in the GCLs were tested first. The swelling capacity was reduced rapidly at pH values < 3 and concentrations of Pb²⁺ >40 mM. Permeability tests on GCLs with different concentrations of lead ions were then performed by using the self-developed multi-link flexible wall permeameter, and data showed that increases in lead ion concentrations greatly improved the permeability. Finally, self-healing capacity tests were conducted on needle-punched GCLs under different levels of damage. Results showed that the GCLs have a good self-healing capacity with small diameter damage holes (2 mm, close to three times the original aperture), but with a damage aperture larger than 15% of the sample area, the self-healing capacity could not prevent leakage; hence, in certain situations it will be necessary to repair the damage to meet the anti-seepage requirement.     

Enhanced hydrogen generation from Al-water reaction mediated by metal salts

Hydrogen generation by the reaction of micrometer-aluminum powder with water at room temperature is hard to proceed due to the inhibition of alumina layer. In this study, a novel strategy of metal salts mediated Al-water reaction was proposed for more efficient and practical hydrogen generation. The effects of metal salt composition and dosage, and water injection rate and volume on hydrogen generation were investigated. The hydrogen yield of 230.0 mL was achieved in the Al/Ni/Cu/H₂O system within 600 s under the following conditions: 0.24 g aluminum with the molar ratio of Al, Ni and Cu at 10:1:1 and 2 mL water at the injection rate of 2 mL/min, which was equivalent to 70.4% of the theoretical hydrogen yield. Based on the morphology, element composition, crystal structure and electrochemical test results of the obtained composites after reaction, the mechanism of hydrogen production by metal salts mediated Al-water reaction was proposed.     

Experiments and insights of desalination by a freezing/thawing method at low subcooling

Desalination by freezing/thawing method was a very important method to obtain fresh water from sea water. In this work, desalination by freezing/thawing method was conducted with initial sodium chloride of 3.5 wt% in consideration of stirring speed, freezing time and subcooling. The subcooling ranged from 1.2 K to 4 K. The optimum conditions for desalination in this work were stirring speed of 200 r·min^-1, freezing time of 120 min, and subcooling of 3 K. The results also showed that sodium chloride cannot be effectively removed by once freezing/thawing process. The maximum removal efficiency of sodium chloride was 64.3%. Two major reasons resulting in the impurity of obtained melted water by freezing/thawing method were proposed. The first reason was the inevitable adhesion of salt solution to the surface of ice, which could be removed easily by distilled water flushing. The second reason was that salt solution was heterogeneously wrapped in the accumulated ice, which was difficult to be removed by distilled water flushing. The liquid flushing method was proposed to verify the conjecture, and the results were in accordance with the two reasons mentioned above. Additional method, such as multiple flushing liquid method, was suggested to be used during the freezing/thawing process for effectively removing sodium chloride, and obtaining fresh water.     

Highly active sites of low spin FeⅡN4species:The identification and the ORR performance

Over recent years,catalytic materials of Fe-N-C species have been recognized being active for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR).However,the identification of active site remains challenging as it generally involves a pyrolysis process and mixed components being obtained.Herein Fe₃C/C and Fe₂N/C samples were synthesized by temperature programmed reduction of Fe precursors in 15%CH₄/H₂and pure NH₃,respectively.By acid leaching of Fe₂N/C sample,only single sites of FeN₄species were presented,providing an ideal model for identification of catalytic functions of the single sites of FeN₄in ORR.A correlation was conducted between the concentration of Fe^ⅡN₄in low spin state by Mossbauer spectra and the kinetic current density at 0.8 V in alkaline media,and such a structure-performance correlation assures the catalytic roles of low spin Fe^ⅡN₄ species as highly active sites for the ORR.     

First-principles study on the dissolution and diffusion behavior of hydrogen in carbide precipitates

To understand the hydrogen (H) behavior in the carbide precipitates, the dissolution and diffusion properties of interstitial H in the transition metal carbide (TMC; TM = Hf, Nb, Ta, Ti, V, and Zr) were studied by first-principles calculations. In these carbides, it can be seen that H tends to occupy the trigonal site (tri2-site) surrounded by three transition metal atoms and one carbon atom rather than the face center (fc-site) and the body center (bc-site) which with the larger space. We found that the bonding interaction between H atom and the nearest-neighbor (1NN) carbon atom is the dominant influence on the stability of H dissolution. Besides, we obtained the temperature-dependent solubility and diffusion coefficients of H in TMC and pure vanadium through Sievert's law and transition state theory. Compared with pure vanadium, H shows the worse solubility in TMC, and it is more difficult for hydrogen to migrate in TMC, but segregate toward the interface. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that, the diffusion barrier and the H solution energy show a linear relationship for transition metal carbides in the same period. These results can help us deepen the understanding of H behavior in vanadium alloys strengthened by carbide precipitates, and furtherly providing the theoretical guidance for the design of alloys with excellent performance.     

Evolution of microstructure,optical, and magnetic properties in multiferroic CuFe1-xSnxO2 (x = 0–0.05)

Evolution of the microstructure, optical, and magnetic properties have been investigated systematically in multiferroic CuFe_1-xSn_xO₂ (x?=?0–0.05) ceramics. Substitution of Sn⁴⁺ for Fe³⁺ results in expansion of CuFeO₂ lattice, and reduces the density of the material, but the metal oxidation states are unchanged. Observation of the optical properties shows that the value of the direct optical band gap (E_g) decreases with increasing Sn doping level, and that the CuFe_1-xSn_xO₂ (x?=?0–0.04) series with values >?3.1?eV. Magnetic susceptibility measurements show that Sn⁴⁺ doping decreases the Curie-Weiss temperature, i.e. weakens the strength of the antiferromagnetic interaction between high-spin Fe³⁺ ions, but does not affect the stability of the antiferromagnetic phase, and all samples undergo successive magnetic transitions at about T_N1 =?15?K and T_N2 =?11?K. However, magnetization curves show that changes occur in the magnetic interactions and both ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism co-exist in the Sn⁴⁺-doped samples. The maximum value of the saturation magnetization of 1.8?emu·g^?1 was observed for the x?=?0.03 sample in a 2.5?kOe field. The changes in the magnetic behavior are closely related to the lattice distortion and charge compensation, which are discussed in detail in this work.