In this work, a "brick" size miniature mass spectrometer (28 cm × 21 cm × 16 cm) was developed and characterized, which was enabled by the development of a new frequency scanning technique. Different from the conventional voltage scanning method or the digital waveforms used on a digital ion trap, a sinusoidal frequency scanning technique was developed to drive the linear ion trap of the brick mass spectrometer (BMS). Both an in-vacuum plasma ionization source and an electrospray ionization source were coupled with this BMS for the analyses of volatile and nonvolatile samples. Stability diagram, sensitivity, mass resolution, and mass range of the BMS were explored. This new frequency scanning technique could not only reduce the size and power consumption of a miniature mass spectrometer but also improve its analytical performances, especially in terms of mass range and resolution. Analogous to the development of cell phones, this BMS would be an important step from "brick" mass spectrometer to "cell" mass spectrometer.

Previously, a miniature mass spectrometer driven by a sinusoidal frequency scanning technique, named as Brick mass spectrometer, was developed in our lab ( Jiang et al. Anal. Chem. 2017 , 89 , 5578 ). The frequency scanning technique enabled miniaturized electronics and broader mass range, but it was also limited in reduced mass resolution and sensitivity due to a relatively low operating radio frequency (rf) voltage in comparison with the conventional voltage scanning technique. To improve performances of the Brick mass spectrometer, a quadrupole enhanced dipolar resonance ejection (QE-dipolar resonance ejection) method was proposed in this work. After optimization, mass resolution and sensitivity of the Brick mass spectrometer could be improved by no less than 2 times, and space charge effects within the ion trap could also be reduced. Furthermore, this QE-dipolar resonance ejection method is effective at elevated pressures, which would potentially allow us to further miniaturize the Brick mass spectrometer by operating it at higher pressures. This method is also applicable to any ion trap operated in either frequency scanning mode or voltage scanning mode and operated in either miniaturized instruments or benchtop instruments.

Steam explosion is the most promising technology to replace conventional acid hydrolysis of lignocellulose for biomass pretreatment. In this paper, a new screw-steam-explosive extruder was designed and explored for xylose production and lignocellulose biorefinery at the pilot scale. We investigated the effect of different chemicals on xylose yield in the screw-steam-explosive extrusion process, and the xylose production process was optimized as followings: After pre-impregnation with sulfuric acid at 80 °C for 3 h, corncob was treated at 1.55 MPa with 9 mg sulfuric acid/g dry corncob (DC) for 5.5 min, followed by countercurrent extraction (3 recycles), decoloration (activated carbon dosage 0.07 g/g sugar, 75 °C for 40 min), and ion exchange (2 batches). Using this process, 3.575 kg of crystal xylose was produced from 22 kg corncob, almost 90 % of hemicellulose was released as monomeric sugar, and only a small amount of by-products was released (formic acid, acetic acid, fural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and phenolic compounds were 0.17, 1.14, 0.53, 0.19, and 1.75 g/100 g DC, respectively). All results indicated that the screw-steam-explosive extrusion provides a more effective way to convert hemicellulose into xylose and could be an alternative method to traditional sulfuric acid hydrolysis process for lignocellulose biorefinery.

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) crystallites in the enamel dissolve during dental caries although little is known about the structural-chemical relationships that control the dynamic demineralisation process. For the first time this work investigated the in situ evolution of nano-scale morphology and the spatial distribution of ultrastructural HAp crystallites of human enamel during demineralisation in simulated caries. Advanced synchrotron SAXS and WAXS techniques showed that the heterogeneous evolution of crystallites (size, preferred orientation and degree of alignment) could be attributed to crystallographic-orientation-dependent anisotropic dissolution. Hence we propose a novel conceptual schematic diagram to describe the demineralisation process. These findings have important implications for understanding the detailed mechanisms of enamel demineralisation and provide insight into potential enamel remineralisation that could restore structural integrity and function.

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