China in Africa

LIU Zhongmin and ZHU Wenliang, at the CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics have developed a metal-modified H-ZSM-5 zeolite which showed excellent selectivity for preparing aromatics by coupling methanol and carbon monoxide. China has abundant coal reserves and is a major global producer of methanol. The aromatization mechanism proceeds via a carbonyl intermediate, which reacts with olefin to form a cyclopentenone intermediate, followed by dehydration to an aromatic hydrocarbon.

CAS news release, September 21, 2018

Electrocooling can be achieved by the Peltier effect with appropriate materials.Using poly(Ni-ett) thin-film devices, a temperature difference of > 40 degrees Celsius was achieved, allowing for electrocooling of organic thermoelectric devices. It is predicted that ultra-thin devices of this type of material can achieve large temperature difference electrocooling with a heat flux density exceeding 500 W cm-2 in flexible solid-state refrigeration.

CAS news release, September 20, 2018

The China Association for S&T (CAST) held a World Conference on Science Literacy in Beijing which was attended by over 1,000 scientists and representatives from 38 countries and regions, as well as 23 international scientific organizations and 58 national scientific institutes. The final declarationcalled for working together to close the gap in scientific literacy between different countries, and build a coordinated working mechanism to improve global scientific literacy and fulfill the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. According to CAST, the number of dedicated science museums in China grew from 280 in 2006 to 409 in 2014. The number of museums with science and technology sections grew from 239 in 2006 to 724 in 2014.

CAS news release, September 20, 2018

The plan involves several botanical gardens throughout China and is first implemented as a test point in Shanghai Botanical Garden, which offers a test base during the 2018 World Artificial Intelligence Competition. Visitors can obtain knowledge about plants by using the image recognition functions of an AI-based software system.

JST Japan China news, September 19, 2018

The Institute of Aerospace Information Research has opened “virtual ground stations” in Mongolia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Thailand, Venezuela and Belgium. In these 10 countries, the institute’s self-developed virtual ground stations receive near-real time data from China’s remote satellite ground stations which support satellites such as the HJ-1A, HJ-1B, Landsat-8 and Proba-V which have played an important role in ecological environment monitoring and disaster alleviation. The data can be received without actually installing a satellite reception antenna. China’s remote sensing satellite ground stations cover 70% of all land in Asia, and China’s data transmission network and big data real-time processing technology is advanced.

Xinhuanet, Sept. 18, 2018

Beijing recently held a symposium on child nutrition and health, and experts agreed that nutritional deficiencies still exist, and the obesity rate continues to rise. Nationwide data are now covered in a public database which include information on average height, weight, blood lipids and nutritional intake data based on daily menus. The constitution of children such as upper and lower limb force, etc. is also collected. Nurseries can create menus using the platforms, and parents can obtain suggestions for daily/weekly nutritional balance and exercise of their children.

Japan JST China news, September 18, 2018

At the World AI Conference 2018 in Shanghai, several technology giants announced to establish AI-related centers in Shanghai. Thus, Amazon Web Services, the cloud services platform of Amazon, will establish the Amazon Web Services AI Research Institute here, to conduct multi-language natural language processing research centered on Mandarin Chinese and provide an open source deep learning ecosystem to help Chinese customers launch AI and machine learning applications. Microsoft announced to establish Microsoft Research Asia-Shanghai and the Microsoft-INESA AI Innovation Center here. Alibaba and Baidu also announced plans to establish AI innovation centers in Shanghai. Baidu will establish its Shanghai innovation center, developing over 110 AI projects, and the Sense Time Group, a Chinese AI company, is developing its new supercomputing center in Shanghai.

CAS news release, September 18, 2018

The group of MA Mingming research group of the University of Science and Technology of China have coated sodium polyacrylate (PAAS) with a polymetacrylate (PMA) waterproof layer forming a PMA-PAAS with a core-shell hydrogel fiber (MAPAH fiber). In the MAPAH fiber, the PAAS crystalline region and the amorphous region coexist and can undergo rapid reversible interconversion, so that the MAPAH fiber exhibits excellent mechanical properties, electrical conductivity, and freeze resistance. MAPAH fibers have high tensile strength (5.6 MPa) and large elongation at break (1200%) and can be quickly recovered after extensive stretching. The PAAS hydrogel acts as a conductive core (conductivity 2 S m-1), and the PMA layer acts as a waterproof and insulating coating, making the MAPAH fiber an elastic wire with high stretchability. MAPAH fiber also maintains the arrangement and orientation of the polymer chains by gel spinning. As a high performance and low cost elastic stretchable conductive hydrogel fiber, MAPAH fibers will be used to develop stretchable electronic devices in textile materials.

CAS news release, Sept. 12, 2019

China’s unmanned submersible Hailong 11000 („Sea Dragon“) has recently set a record by diving 5,630 m during tests in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Carried by the Chinese research vessel Dayang Yihao, or Ocean No.1, the submersible has also completed a series of tasks underwater for 13 hours, including a 4-hour observation. The submersible is a Chinese-developed remotely-operated vehicle able to work at a maximum depth of 11,000 meters below sea level. It will complete an 11,000-meter deep sea test by around 2020.

CAS news release, September 11, 2018

A team around CAS Academician LIU Zhongmin at CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics has developed a ZnAlOx & H-ZSM-5 catalyst, a nano-spinel structured ZnAlOx oxide mixed with nano-H-ZSM-5a zeolite of a high silicon-to-aluminum ratio. This catalyst provided 73.9 % selectivity for aromatics formation from carbon dioxide hydrogenation, with only 0.4 % selectivity from methane. Mechanism studies showed that carbon dioxide is hydrogenated on ZnAlOx to form dimethyl ether and methanol, which diffuse into the pores of the molecular sieve to form olefins, which in turn form aromatic hydrocarbons. Compared to carbon monoxide hydrogenation, carbon dioxide hydrogenation leads to more formate species on the surface of ZnAlOx, leaving less metal active sites. These factors all contribute to the formation of aromatics with high unsaturation.

CAS news release, September 10, 2018

The group around FAN Xiaopeng at Shenzhen’s CAS Advanced Technology Research Institute has analyzed the track and transactions of over 15000 taxis in Shenzhen’s Nanshan district for a better understanding of traffic related to urban business. 50-60 % of business came from consumers within 5 kilometers, which proposes a classification model for Shenzhen business activities: long-term stable, sporadic burst, day and night cycles. The investigation based on big data was confirmed by the Shenzhen Retail Business Association from data for three consecutive years. Thus, big data can be used to understand future needs in road networks and real estate use.

CAS news release, September 10, 2018

Lithium-sulfur batteries have a high specific capacity (1675 mA h g-1) and energy density (2600 Wh kg-1). However, the poor conductivity of the Li polysulfides (Li2Sn, 4 ≤ n ≤ 8) formed seriously restricts practical applications. ZHANG Junping’s group has now reported laponite as a clay mineral super-electrolyte lithium battery separator. It has a unique lamellar structure and a large specific surface. In lithium-sulfur batteries, laponite inhibits a polysulfide shuttle and increases Li+ conductivity and Li+ transfer. The resulting battery is excellent in cycle stability, performance, and inhibition of self-discharge. The formation of polysulfides is effectively inhibited by forming a Li-S bond and a Li···O bond between the polysulfide and the O active site of the clay mineral. The clay separator can be prepared by a simple coating method and exhibits excellent performance in both LiFePO4 and lithium sulfur batteries.

CAS news release, September 10, 2018

The entire vehicle is completely made-up from composite materials, and relies on an automatic driving system which is claimed to have achieved the highest automation level in the world.

Japan China news release, September 10, 2018

Located in the Tengger Desert near Zhongwei City, Ningxia Province, a photovoltaic industrial park is being built relying on the advantages of abundant sunshine and wide space. Companies have started to produce solar panels, a photovoltaic power station and other equipment, generating an entire industrial chain for a “silicon valley” in the desert.

Xinhuanet news, September 7, 2018

Due to full coverage by the Beidu satellite system, more and more farms in China use driverless tractors for agricultural work. The example in this photo in from Ninxia Hui Province near the Yellow River where according to local survey by agricultural engineers, the error of the work of agricultural machines equipped with Beidu positioning technology was less than 5 cm per 2000 meters, which was more accurate than working by human hands. In recent years, 19 new agricultural machinery cooperatives here introduced intelligent agricultural equipment such as plant protection drones and unmanned tractors to modernize agricultural operations.

JST China news, Sept. 9, 2018

Autonomous farming in Ninxia Hui Province, Xinhua news