Enhancing employees' duty orientation and moral potency: Dual mechanisms linking ethical psychological climate to ethically focused proactive behaviors

Based on social cognitive theory (SCT), we develop and test a model that links ethical psychological climate to ethically focused proactive behavior (i.e., ethical voice and ethical taking charge) via two distinct mechanisms (i.e., duty orientation and moral potency). Results from multi-wave field studies conducted in the United States, Turkey, France, Vietnam, and India demonstrate that an ethical psychological climate indirectly influences employees' ethical voice and ethical taking charge behaviors through the dual mechanisms of duty orientation and moral potency. Additionally, we find that individuals' moral attentiveness strengthened these mediating processes. Together, these findings suggest that ethical psychological climate is an important antecedent of ethically focused proactive behavior by stimulating individuals' sense of duty and enhancing their moral potency, particularly when employees are already highly attuned to moral issues.     

t-BuOK catalyzed bio-oil production from woody biomass under sub-critical water conditions

The substitution of fossil fuels and fossil-based products with biofuels and biomass-based products is indispensable for a sustainable society and a green environment. The liquefaction of biomass to produce biofuels under sub- and/or super-critical water conditions is one of the most promising methods that might allow this substitution. Here, for the first time, we report the results of the liquefaction of woody biomass under sub-critical water conditions at 250, 300, and 350 °C using potassium tert-butoxide (t-BuOK) as a catalyst. To compare and evaluate the catalytic performance of t-BuOK, the experiments were also performed under identical conditions using KOH as the catalyst. The product distributions obtained using either KOH or t-BuOK as the catalyst were very similar. The total oil yields increased and the solid residue yields decreased when either KOH or t-BuOK were used at reaction temperatures of 300 and 350 °C. The total bio-oil yields obtained at 300 °C with t-BuOK and KOH were 41.9 weight (%) and 43.0 weight (%), respectively, whereas the total bio-oil yield from the thermal run at 300 °C was approximately 24.0 weight (%). Although the O/C ratio of the raw material is 0.70, the O/C ratios of the light and heavy bio-oils obtained from the KOH catalytic run are 0.38 and 0.25, respectively. In addition, the O/C ratios for the light and heavy oils obtained from the t-BuOK catalyst are 0.41 and 0.26, respectively. We estimate that the heating values of the light and heavy bio-oils obtained by either catalytic run (t-BuOK or KOH) are approximately 24 MJ kg^?1 and 29 MJ kg^?1, respectively     

Supercritical fluid extraction of biofuels from biomass

A sustainable source of energy production can be provided using renewable resources. For instance, biomass is transformed into biofuels using several techniques such as supercritical fluid extraction, an effective thermochemical process. Here we review results on biofuels obtained from lignocellulosic and algal biomass using supercritical fluids. Biofuel yield and composition are controlled by operating conditions such as extraction temperature, pressure, biomass and solvent type, and the presence of catalysts. The extraction temperature is the major factor controlling biofuel yield. Biofuel yields can also be improved with the use of catalysts. Major compounds in biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass are phenols, catechols, guaiacols, syringols, syringaldehydes, syringyl acetone, acids, and esters. Most of these compounds are produced by lignin decomposition in lignocellulose. Furfural and derivatives are produced by the decomposition of cellulose and hemicellulose. Fatty acid alkyl esters are formed from lignin fragmentation by condensation of compounds bearing C–O or C=O. Prominent compounds in biofuels from algal biomass are saturated or unsaturated fatty acid alkyl esters.     

An investigation on the use of shredded waste PET bottles as aggregate in lightweight concrete

In this work, the utilization of shredded waste Poly-ethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle granules as a lightweight aggregate in mortar was investigated. Investigation was carried out on two groups of mortar samples, one made with only PET aggregates and, second made with PET and sand aggregates together. Additionally, blast-furnace slag was also used as the replacement of cement on mass basis at the replacement ratio of 50% to reduce the amount of cement used and provide savings. The water–binder (w/b) ratio and PET–binder (PET/b) ratio used in the mixtures were 0.45 and 0.50, respectively. The size of shredded PET granules used in the preparation of mortar mixtures were between 0 and 4 mm. The results of the laboratory study and testing carried out showed that mortar containing only PET aggregate, mortar containing PET and sand aggregate, and mortars modified with slag as cement replacement can be drop into structural lightweight concrete category in terms of unit weight and strength properties. Therefore, it was concluded that there is a potential for the use of shredded waste PET granules as aggregate in the production of structural lightweight concrete. The use of shredded waste PET granules due to its low unit weight reduces the unit weight of concrete which results in a reduction in the death weight of a structural concrete member of a building. Reduction in the death weight of a building will help to reduce the seismic risk of the building since the earthquake forces linearly dependant on the dead-weight. Furthermore, it was also concluded that the use of industrial wastes such as PET granules and blast-furnace slag in concrete provides some advantages, i.e., reduction in the use of natural resources, disposal of wastes, prevention of environmental pollution, and energy saving.