There are plentiful ways to synthesize sulfidized nanoscale zerovalent iron (S-nZVI), and this study investigated the influence of sulfur reagents (Na 2 S, Na 2 S 2 O 3 , Na 2 S 2 O 4 ) and sulfidation sequence (co-sulfidation and post-sulfidation method) on the physicochemical properties, reactivity, and long-term performance of S-nZVI in simulated groundwater. The results suggested that the co-sulfidized nZVI (S-nZVI co ) has higher reactivity (∼2-fold) than S-nZVI post due to the stronger electron transfer capacity, deriving from the higher content of Fe 0 and reductive sulfur species. However, during aging, the reactivity of S-nZVI co would be lost more rapidly than S-nZVI post , due to the faster corrosion of Fe 0 and more oxidation of reductive sulfur species. S-nZVI post has the superior long-term performance with the degradation rate of trichloroethylene (TCE) remained at 30%∼60% even after 90 d of aging. Sulfur precursors can control the selectivity of S-nZVI by affecting the sulfur speciation on the particle surface. The proportion of reductive sulfur species on S-nZVI post synthesized by Na 2 S was higher than S-nZVI post synthesized by Na 2 S 2 O 3 or Na 2 S 2 O 4 , resulting in a higher selectivity of the former S-nZVI post than the latter S-nZVI post . In addition, sulfidation procedures and sulfur precursors did not affect the degradation pathway of TCE. Nevertheless, the degradation product distribution can be affected by the different physicochemical transformation of various types of S-nZVI with the aging time. These results indicated that sulfur reagents and sulfidation procedures have crucial effects on the reactivity and long-term performance of S-nZVI, which can be designed for the specific application scenarios.
Co-vulcanization of natural rubber (NR) and high-moduli Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG) is promising while the reduction in crystallinity of crosslinked EUG is adverse for developing high-performance materials. Proposed herein is a novel method to prepare high-strength and high-stretchability NR/EUG vulcanizates with rapid vulcanization of EUG into slightly crosslinked particles, followed by further vulcanization of NR to form crosslinked matrix network. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are employed to facilitate the vulcanization of EUG during its blending with NR. The two-step vulcanization results in vulcanizates exhibiting superior mechanical properties under shear, tensile, and compressive conditions, significantly exceeding those of vulcanizates prepared by traditional processing methods. The reinforcement mechanism is elucidated by controlling thermomechanical coupling conditions and is supported by comprehensive structural characterizations. It is suggested that the EUG crystalline regions, maintained through the special processing method, work in conjunction with the stress-induced crystallization of the matrix to enhance the vulcanizates, nearly doubling the deformation stress at 800 % strain. The crystalline regions can mediate the deformation stress during shear and compression and weaken nonlinear rheological behavior. The established structure-performance relationship is guidable for preparing high-performance NR/EUG blend vulcanizates.