Capacitive deionization (CDI) represents a novel technology for the desalination and purification of seawater. Selecting the appropriate electrode material is crucial, with carbon electrodes frequently employed owing to their high specific surface area, extensive porous structure, and environmentally sustainable nature. This study presents a nitrogen-doped porous carbon, derived from household waste, which demonstrates outstanding electrochemical and desalination performance. The purified chitosan was mixed with a specific ratio of CaCO3 and carbonized at 800 °C to produce chitosan porous carbon (CPC-T). To verify the role of the templating agent, its performance was compared with chitosan porous carbon (CPC) prepared by direct carbonization. CPC-T possesses more mesoporous structures (31.25%), shortening ion transport pathways and significantly enhancing charge transfer rates. The nitrogen-rich doping (8.65 at%) provides numerous active sites and excellent conductivity, making it highly appropriate for capacitive deionization applications. Compared to CPC prepared without a templating agent, CPC-T has a higher specific capacitance (101.5 F g− 1 at a scan rate of 2 mV s− 1) and good cycling stability. The CDI cell made from it exhibits a salt adsorption capacity (SAC) of 25.8 mg g− 1 for 500 mg L− 1 NaCl solution at an applied voltage of 1.4 V, retaining 88% capacity after 50 adsorption–desorption cycles, demonstrating excellent desalination regeneration performance. Additionally, among different concentrations of salt solutions, the CPC-T material shows the best desalination performance for the test solution at a concentration of 500 mg L− 1. For different solute ions, the CDI cell with this material as the electrode exhibits excellent desalination performance for Ca2+, with a SAC value of up to 34.02 mg g− 1. This is a self-doped porous carbon material that significantly outperforms traditional carbon-based materials.

Polypropylene waste significantly contributes to environmental pollution due to its low biodegradability. Numerous experiments have shown that laser irradiation of polymers can lead to the conversion of laser-induced graphene (LIG). In this paper, the LIG formation process in polypropylene (PP), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and polypropylene/polydimethylsiloxane (PP/PDMS) systems in a vacuum environment was simulated using molecular dynamics. The LIG yields and carbon network sizes of the systems in oxygen and vacuum environments at different temperatures were analyzed to determine the optimal temperature for upgrading PP to LIG. It was observed in all three systems that the LIG structure was formed. The structure was composed not only of six-membered carbon rings, but also of five-membered and seven-membered rings, resulting in out-of-plane fluctuations and bending. A vacuum environment and high temperature promote LIG formation with high yield, large size, and minimal defects. The current study provides theoretical guidance for optimizing the laser graphene process for PP assisted with PDMS in a vacuum environment and helps to understand the mechanism underlying the conversion from polyolefins to graphene under CO2 laser at the atomic level.

This paper evaluates the effect of two kinds of recycled coarse aggregate with different sized particles on the performance of concrete. The test program is introduced, which investigated the compressive strength, axial compressive strength, the mass loss rate of concrete specimens after a freeze-thaw cycle and dynamic elasticity modulus change. The results show that the mechanical properties of the concrete decreased when it was prepared with recycled aggregate having the same size as that of the natural aggregates. The strength of the concrete with large-size recycled aggregate increased, and then decreased as the blend proportion rose above 50%. The strength of concrete incorporating oversized recycled aggregates exhibited a trend of rising and then falling with increasing mixing ratio. The 28-day compressive strength reached 45Mpa when the mixing amount was 50%. The durability of the large-size recycled aggregate was also found to improve compared with the freezing and thawing cycle experiments. These results provide a reference for research on the performance of recycled aggregate concrete.