Ionic liquids (ILs) are environmentally friendly solvents that have been used to extract valuable compounds from coal and biomass. In this work, eight methylimidazolium-based ionic liquids were selected based on their different capabilities of interactions with solutes. ζ-Potential characterization was used as a descriptor to reveal the type of interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonding, π−π interaction, and dispersion force) between the chosen ILs and coal particles. Consequently, the different interactions with certain strengths between the selected cations/anions and coal particles provide unprecedented selectivity of ILs in coal extraction. For aromatic-rich bituminous coal, the ILs associated with Cl − preferably extracted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In contrast, for the same cations, BF 4 − and SbF 6 − anions did not show significant PAH extraction for bituminous coal. On the other hand, for oxygen-rich subbituminous coal, the fatty acids (FAs) with more than 20 carbon atoms were found to be rich in the extracts from the ILs associated with Cl − , whereas the same C 4 mim + cation with BF 4 − , PF 6 − , and SbF 6 − anions extracted unique tricyclic diterpanes. As such, this study provides systematic experimental results demonstrating that ILs may be custom designed to extract targeted compounds from coal or other complex feedstock such as lignocellulosic biomass.

Thermal tolerance is a key physiological trait that often varies among populations and species, and can be a key determinant of current and future geographic distributions. The cellular basis for organismal differences in thermal tolerance is an active area of research, with chemical constituents of the cytosol and cell membrane likely playing important roles in maintaining cell function at low temperatures. For freeze‐avoiding organisms, the abundance and makeup of sugars and related molecules depress the freezing point, reducing the risk of ice formation. At less extreme temperatures, remodeling of membrane lipids can help maintain fluidity (and function) at cold temperatures. We have found striking differences in critical thermal minima (CTmin) of worker bumble bees reared in common‐garden conditions from queens collected at low and high latitudes. We compared metabolomic and lipidomic signatures of these bees to identify key molecules that likely underlie differences in cold tolerance. PCA analyses of GC‐MS data for aqueous abdominal extracts revealed clear separation of low and high latitude populations and reveal higher levels of several key molecules, including L‐proline, in the high latitude population. Lipid extractions and subsequent GC‐MS reveals variation in fatty acid composition of nutrients (triacylglycerols) and of cellular membranes, for which phospholipid composition is also critical for function at low temperatures. This broad spectrum approach to metabolomics and lipidomics allows us to compare a wide range of metabolites between bees differing in cold tolerance, facilitating ongoing research on the mechanistic basis for this physiological trait linked to the ecology of diverse organisms.Support or Funding InformationThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DEB‐1457659 and RII Track 2‐1826834. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

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Coal-derived carbon nanofibers (CCNFs) have been recently found to be a promising and low-cost electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors. However, the knowledge gap still exists between holistic understanding of coal precursors derived from different solvents and resulting CCNFs’ properties, prohibiting further optimization of their electrochemical performance. In this paper, assisted by laser desorption/ionization (LDI) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) technologies, a systematic study was performed to holistically characterize mass distribution and chemical composition of coal precursors derived from various ionic liquids (ILs) as extractants. Sequentially, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the differences in chemical properties of various coal products significantly affected the surface oxygen concentrations and certain species distributions on the CCNFs, which, in turn, determined the electrochemical performances of CCNFs as electrode materials. We report that the CCNF that was produced by an oxygen-rich coal fragment from C6mimCl ionic liquid extraction showed the highest concentrations of quinone and ester groups on the surface. Consequentially, C6mimCl-CCNF achieved the highest specific capacitance and lowest ion diffusion resistance. Finally, a symmetric carbon/carbon supercapacitor fabricated with such CCNF as electrode delivered an energy density of 21.1 Wh/kg at the power density of 0.6 kW/kg, which is comparable to commercial active carbon supercapacitors.