Investigation of UV Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Water Electrolyte: A New Insight for Wavelength-Selective Greenhouse

The optimization of the photoactive electrode based on TiO2 with a complex architecture for UV dyes along with water-based electrolyte has successfully allowed us (i) to obtain a photovoltaic efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cell with 1.45 times higher than the best efficiency reported for synthetic dye and 3 times for curcumin dye so far; (ii) transparency on the entire Photosynthetic Active Radiation domain; (iii) preserving high efficiency for lighting 1 sun (summer) and shading, especially for 60 mW/cm2, which represents the maximum illumination in the rest of the seasons. Our water-based dye-sensitized solar cells loaded with synthetic and natural UV dyes have revealed that the implementation of a dye-sensitized solar cell in autonomous greenhouses is a viable and inexpensive concept.

Ultralow-temperature-driven water-based sorption refrigeration enabled by low-cost zeolite-like porous aluminophosphate

Thermally driven water-based sorption refrigeration is considered a promising strategy to realize near-zero-carbon cooling applications by addressing the urgent global climate challenge caused by conventional chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants. However, developing cost-effective and high-performance water-sorption porous materials driven by low-temperature thermal energy is still a significant challenge. Here, we propose a zeolite-like aluminophosphate with SFO topology (EMM-8) for water-sorption-driven refrigeration. The EMM-8 is characterized by 12-membered ring channels with large accessible pore volume and exhibits high water uptake of 0.28 g·g−1 at P/P0 = 0.2, low-temperature regeneration of 65 °C, fast adsorption kinetics, remarkable hydrothermal stability, and scalable fabrication. Importantly, the water-sorption-based chiller with EMM-8 shows the potential of achieving a record coefficient of performance (COP) of 0.85 at an ultralow-driven temperature of 63 °C. The working performance makes EMM-8 a practical alternative to realize high-efficient ultra-low-temperature-driven refrigeration.

Biological Stability of Water-Based Cutting Fluids: Progress and Application

The application of cutting fluid in the field of engineering manufacturing has a history of hundreds of years, and it plays a vital role in the processing efficiency and surface quality of parts. Among them, water-based cutting fluid accounts for more than 90% of the consumption of cutting fluid. However, long-term recycling of water-based cutting fluid could easily cause deterioration, and the breeding of bacteria could cause the cutting fluid to fail, increase manufacturing costs, and even endanger the health of workers. Traditional bactericides could improve the biological stability of cutting fluids, but they are toxic to the environment and do not conform to the development trend of low-carbon manufacturing. Low-carbon manufacturing is inevitable and the direction of sustainable manufacturing. The use of nanomaterials, transition metal complexes, and physical sterilization methods on the bacterial cell membrane and genetic material could effectively solve this problem. In this article, the mechanism of action of additives and microbial metabolites was first analyzed. Then, the denaturation mechanism of traditional bactericides on the target protein and the effect of sterilization efficiency were summarized. Further, the mechanism of nanomaterials disrupting cell membrane potential was discussed. The effects of lipophilicity and the atomic number of transition metal complexes on cell membrane penetration were also summarized, and the effects of ultraviolet rays and ozone on the destruction of bacterial genetic material were reviewed. In other words, the bactericidal performance, hazard, degradability, and economics of various sterilization methods were comprehensively evaluated, and the potential development direction of improving the biological stability of cutting fluid was proposed.