Based upon the (3,6)-connected metal-organic framework {Cu(L1)·2H(2)O·1.5DMF}(∞) (L1 = 5-(pyridin-4-yl)isophthalic acid) (SYSU, for Sun Yat-Sen University), iso-reticular {Cu(L2)·DMF}(∞) (L2 = 5-(pyridin-3-yl)isophthalic acid) (NJU-Bai7; NJU-Bai for Nanjing University Bai group) and {Cu(L3)·DMF·H(2)O}(∞) (L3 = 5-(pyrimidin-5-yl)isophthalic acid) (NJU-Bai8) were designed by shifting the coordination sites of ligands to fine-tune pore size and polarizing the inner surface with uncoordinated nitrogen atoms, respectively, with almost no changes in surface area or porosity. Compared with those of the prototype SYSU, both the adsorption enthalpy and selectivity of CO(2) for NJU-Bai7 and NJU-Bai8 have been greatly enhanced, which makes NJU-Bai7 and NJU-Bai8 good candidates for postcombustion CO(2) capture. Notably, the CO(2) adsorption enthalpy of NJU-Bai7 is the highest reported so far among the MOFs without any polarizing functional groups or open metal sites. Meanwhile, NJU-Bai8 exhibits high uptake of CO(2) and good CO(2)/CH(4) selectivity at high pressure, which are quite valuable characteristics in the purification of natural gases.

Quantifying the ecological patterns of loss of ecosystem function in extreme drought is important to understand the carbon exchange between the land and atmosphere. Rain-use efficiency [RUE; gross primary production (GPP)/precipitation] acts as a typical indicator of ecosystem function. In this study, a novel method based on maximum rain-use efficiency (RUE) was developed to detect losses of ecosystem function globally. Three global GPP datasets from the MODIS remote sensing data (MOD17), ground upscaling FLUXNET observations (MPI-BGC), and process-based model simulations (BESS), and a global gridded precipitation product (CRU) were used to develop annual global RUE datasets for 2001-2011. Large, well-known extreme drought events were detected, e.g. 2003 drought in Europe, 2002 and 2011 drought in the U.S., and 2010 drought in Russia. Our results show that extreme drought-induced loss of ecosystem function could impact 0.9% ± 0.1% of earth's vegetated land per year and was mainly distributed in semi-arid regions. The reduced carbon uptake caused by functional loss (0.14 ± 0.03 PgC/yr) could explain >70% of the interannual variation in GPP in drought-affected areas (p ≤ 0.001). Our results highlight the impact of ecosystem function loss in semi-arid regions with increasing precipitation variability and dry land expansion expected in the future.

In the area of catalysis, selective reduction of nitro compounds to amino compounds is a colossal challenge due to the existence of competitive reducible functional groups. Herein, an Fe-based catalyst FeSAs/Fe2O3ACs/N-doped polyhedral carbon (NPC) has been designed and synthesized. As we expected, compared with FeSAs and FeNPs, FeSAs/Fe2O3ACs/NPC shows excellent catalytic performance (turnover frequency up to 1923 h–1, calculated with nitrobenzene), chemoselectivity, and tolerance during the hydrogenation reaction of nitro compounds under room temperature because of the synergistic effects between FeSAs and Fe2O3ACs. The theoretical calculations show that FeSAs prefers to undergo hydrazine decomposition to generate hydrogen and the Fe2O3ACs surface is more active toward the nitrobenzene reduction to aniline.

Controlling the growth of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) at the micro-/nanoscopic scale will result in new physical properties and novel functions into the materials without changing the chemical identities and the characteristic features of the MOFs themselves. Herein, we report a facile approach to synthesize a series of MOFs [Co-MOF, Co x Ni y -MOFs (x and y represent the molar ratio of Co2+ and Ni2+ and x/y = 1:1, 1:5, 1:10, 1:15, and 1:20), and Ni-MOF] with a one-dimensional micro-/nanoscaled rod-like architecture. From Co-MOF to Co x Ni y -MOFs to Ni-MOF, the diameters of the rods turn to be spindly with the increase of Ni2+ content which will facilitate the supercapacitor performances. Interestingly, Co1Ni20-MOF exhibits a highest specific capacity of 597 F g–1 at 0.5 A g–1 and excellent cycle performance (retained 93.59% after 4000 cycles) among these MOF materials owing to its micro-/nanorod structure with a smaller diameter and the synergy effect between the optimum molar ratio of Co2+ and Ni2+.

No abstract

Quantifying the spatial pattern of large-scale forest biomass can provide a general picture of the carbon stocks within a region and is of great scientific and political importance. The combination of the advantages of remote sensing data and field survey data can reduce uncertainty as well as demonstrate the spatial distribution of forest biomass. In this study, the seventh national forest inventory statistics (for the period [2004][2005][2006][2007][2008] and the spatially explicit MODIS Land Cover Type product (MCD12C1) were used together to quantitatively estimate the spatially-explicit distribution of forest biomass in China (with a resolution of 0.05°, ~5600 m). Our study demonstrated that the calibrated forest cover proportion maps allow proportionate downscaling of regional forest biomass statistics to forest cover pixels to produce a relatively fine-resolution biomass map. The total stock of forest biomass in China was 11.9 Pg with an average of 76.3 Mg ha −1 during the study period; the high values were located in mountain ranges in northeast, southwest and southeast China and were strongly correlated with forest age and forest density. OPEN ACCESSForests 2014, 5 1268

An expanded 4,4-paddlewheel-connected porous MOF-505-type metal-organic framework (MOF), [Cu2(PDEB)(H2O)2]·xS (NJU-Bai12; NJU-Bai represents the Nanjing University Bai group and S represents noncoordinated solvent molecules) has been designed from a nanosized rectangular diisophthalate linker containing alkyne groups 5,5'-(1,4-phenylenedi-2,1-ethynediyl)bis(1,3-benzenecarboxylic acid). This MOF material possesses permanent microporosity with the highest Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of 3038 m(2)·g(-1) and the largest unsaturated total hydrogen storage capacity of 62.7 mg·g(-1) at 77 K and 20 bar among reported MOF-505 analogues. Additionally, NJU-Bai12 also exhibits excellent carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake capacity (23.83 and 19.85 mmol·g(-1) at 20 bar for 273 and 298 K, respectively) and selective gas adsorption properties with CO2/CH4 selectivity of 5.0 and CO2/N2 selectivity of 24.6 at room temperature.

Forests have been recognized to sequester a substantial amount of carbon (C) from the atmosphere. However, considerable uncertainty remains regarding the magnitude and time course of the C sink. Revealing the intrinsic relationship between forest age and C sink is crucial for reducing uncertainties in prediction of forest C sink potential. In this study, we developed a stepwise data assimilation approach to combine a process-based Terrestrial ECOsystem Regional model, observations from multiple sources, and stochastic sampling to inversely estimate carbon cycle parameters including carbon sink at different forest ages for evergreen needle-leaved forests in China. The new approach is effective to estimate age-dependent parameter of maximal light-use efficiency (R 2 = 0.99) and, accordingly, can quantify a relationship between forest age and the vegetation and soil C sinks. The estimated ecosystem C sink increases rapidly with age, peaks at 0.451 kg C m À2 yr À1 at age 22 years (ranging from 0.421 to 0.465 kg C m À2 yr À1 ), and gradually decreases thereafter. The dynamic patterns of C sinks in vegetation and soil are significantly different. C sink in vegetation first increases rapidly with age and then decreases. C sink in soil, however, increases continuously with age; it acts as a C source when the age is less than 20 years, after which it acts as a sink. For the evergreen needle-leaved forest, the highest C sink efficiency (i.e., C sink per unit net primary productivity) is approximately 60%, with age between 11 and 43 years. Overall, the inverse estimation of carbon cycle parameters can make reasonable estimates of age-dependent C sequestration in forests.