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Tin selenite (SnSe) has attracted significant attention due to its record thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT = 2.6 at 923 K) of its single crystal. However, the polycrystalline SnSe processes considerably less ZTs (⩽1.1). In this study, we investigate the thermoelectric properties of Ag-doped polycrystalline SnSe, which was synthesized via zone melting and hot pressing. By comparing our results and previous reports of Ag-doped single crystals and polycrystals, we determine that the high texturing degree is essential for achieving good thermoelectric performance in polycrystalline SnSe. The zone-melted Sn 0.99 Ag 0.02 Se shows better thermoelectric performance than the Ag-doped SnSe single crystal in the entire temperature range, exhibiting a peak ZT of 1.3 at 793 K.

Since microplastics (MPs) bring the potential risks to human health when plastics are ingested, more needs to be known about the presence and abundance of human ingestion of MPs. To address these issues, we reviewed 108 publications in Web of Science concerning abundances, sources, and analytical methods of MPs in human daily intake including fish, salt, drinking water, beverages, package food, and other food. The results demonstrate that aquatic food products (fish and bivalves) present a wide range of 0–10.5 items/g for bivalves and 0–20 items/individual for fish. Salt data in literatures present a concentration of 0–13,629 particles/kg. Drinking water is also a pathway of MPs exposure to human, presenting a concentration range from 0 to 61 particles/L for tap water and 0 to 6292 MPs/L for bottled water. Besides, MPs have been found in beverages, package food, sugar, honey, vegetables, and fruits. Therefore, human intake of MPs via ingestion is a nonnegligible exposure route.

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A Cerium(IV)‐promoted phosphinoylation‐nitratation of alkenes is established under mild conditions. In this process, Ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) acts as a cheap phosphorus‐radical initiator, as well as a nitrate donor. Various β‐nitrooxyphosphonates are delivered in high yield in a one‐pot manner.magnified image

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Atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) have a wide range of industrial applications, generally exhibiting either filamentary or diffuse (i.e. glow) discharges. The focus of this investigation is on the formation mechanisms of the discharge current pulse width, on the order of tens of microseconds, accompanied by a light source formation, which is called a light source (LS) mode in air DBDs at atmospheric pressure. From a macroscopic point of view, the characteristics of the discharge current in the LS mode are similar with those of the glow mode. The optical and electrical characteristics of air DBDs at atmospheric pressure are investigated in the transition from the filamentary mode to the LS mode by measuring the optical emission spectroscopy and electrical signals. It is shown that in the manual increasing voltage stage, the vibrational temperature almost never changes and the gas temperature, electron temperature, dielectric capacitance, gas voltage (V g ) and discharge power (P ) increase with an increase in the applied voltage. In the automatic decreasing voltage stage, all of these parameters, except V g and P , increase with a decrease in the voltage. But, when the voltage decreases to a minimum value corresponding to the LS mode, P reaches a maximum value. In this paper, the variations of these parameters are analyzed and discussed in detail. The formation of the LS mode originates from the secondary electrons. The formation mechanisms of the secondary electrons are also discussed.

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