Hydrogen-Bond-Enhanced Photoreforming of Biomass Furans over a Urea-Incorporated Cu(II) Porphyrin Framework.

Solar-driven upgrading of biomass-derived 5-hydroxylmethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) holds great promise for sustainable production of bio-plastics and resins. However, the process is limited by poor selectivity and sluggish kinetics due to the vertical coordination of HMF at relatively strong metal sites. Here, we purposely developed a Cu(II) porphyrin framework featuring side-chain incorporated urea linkages, denoted as TBUPP-Cu MOF, to render HMF a weak hydrogen bond at the urea site and flat adsorption via π-π stacking with the benzene moiety.

Linkage Engineering in Covalent Organic Frameworks for Metal-Free Electrocatalytic CH Production from CO.

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CORR) to produce ethylene (CH) is conducive to sustainable development of energy and environment. At present, most electrocatalysts for CH production are limited to the heavy metal copper, meanwhile, achieving metal-free catalysis remains a challenge. Noted piperazine with sp N hybridization is beneficial to CO capture, but CORR performance and mechanism have been lacking.

Association between functional mitral regurgitation and recurrence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation following catheter ablation: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) on recurrence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) in patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation.

Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised 107 patients with PAF. The patients were divided into the FMR and non-FMR groups.

Spontaneous self-intercalation of copper atoms into transition metal dichalcogenides.

Intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted substantial interest due to their exciting electronic properties. Here, we report a unique approach where copper (Cu) atoms from bulk Cu solid intercalate spontaneously into van der Waals (vdW) gaps of group IV and V layered TMDs at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. This distinctive phenomenon is used to develop a strategy to synthesize Cu species-intercalated layered TMD compounds.

Facile and reversible digestion and regeneration of zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks.

The digestion/regeneration of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has important applications for catalysis, drug delivery, environmental decontamination, and energy storage, among other applications. However, research in this direction is limited and very challenging. Here, we develop a facile method to digest and regenerate a series of zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs) by bicarbonate or carbonate salts.

Three-Dimensional Hierarchical Constructs of MOF-on-Reduced Graphene Oxide for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

A three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical MOF-on-reduced graphene oxide (MOF-on-rGO) compartment was successfully synthesized through an in situ reduced and combined process. The unique properties of the MOF-on-rGO compartment combining the polarity and porous features of MOFs with the high conductivity of rGO make it an ideal candidate as a sulfur host in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. A high initial discharge capacity of 1250 mAh g at a current density of 0.

Carbon Encapsulated Hollow CoO Composites Derived from Reduced Graphene Oxide Wrapped Metal-Organic Frameworks with Enhanced Lithium Storage and Water Oxidation Properties.

Transition metal oxides have received great attention for boosting the performances for lithium-ion batteries and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here, hollow CoO nanoparticles encapsulated in reduced graphene oxide (rGO) ( h-CoO@rGO) were synthesized through a two-step annealing process of graphene oxide wrapped zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67@GO) precursors. By taking advantage of the enhanced conductivity, high dispersity, high surface area, and unique hollow morphology derived from the GO-wrapped protecting annealing strategy, the as-synthesized h-CoO@rGO composite not only exhibits a reversible capacity as high as 1154.

Tuning Electrochemical Properties of Li-Rich Layered Oxide Cathodes by Adjusting Co/Ni Ratios and Mechanism Investigation Using in situ X-ray Diffraction and Online Continuous Flow Differential Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry.

Owing to high specific capacity of ∼250 mA h g, lithium-rich layered oxide cathode materials (LiNi Co MnO) have been considered as one of the most promising candidates for the next-generation cathode materials of lithium ion batteries. However, the commercialization of this kind of cathode materials seriously restricted by voltage decay upon cycling though Li-rich materials with high cobalt content have been widely studied and show good capacity. This research successfully suppresses voltage decay upon cycling while maintaining high specific capacity with low Co/Ni ratio in Li-rich cathode materials.

Metal-Organic Frameworks for High Charge-Discharge Rates in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

We report a new method to promote the conductivities of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by 5 to 7 magnitudes, thus their potential in electrochemical applications can be fully revealed. This method combines the polarity and porosity advantages of MOFs with the conductive feature of conductive polymers, in this case, polypyrrole (ppy), to construct ppy-MOF compartments for the confinement of sulfur in Li-S batteries. The performances of these ppy-S-in-MOF electrodes exceed those of their MOF and ppy counterparts, especially at high charge-discharge rates.

Investigation of RNA interference suppression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in mouse model of atherosclerosis.

Objective: To investigate the effect of RNA interference of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 on atherosclerosis on atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-/- mouse.

Methods: ApoE-/- mouse strain and three cell lines (293T, NIH3T3 and Raw264.7) were used in the present study to investigate the effect of MMP-9 silencing by RNA interference.

Tailoring nanostructures in micrometer size germanium particles to improve their performance as an anode for lithium ion batteries.

A facile and scalable single-step approach is employed to synthesize a bulk germanium electrode, which consists of nanoscale Ge-grains in ∼5 μm porous powders. This three-dimensional Ge electrode exhibits superior specific capacity (∼1500 mA h g(-1)) and cyclic performance, attributed to its unique lithiation/delithiation processes.

Crystal habit-tuned nanoplate material of Li[Li1/3-2x/3NixMn2/3-x/3]O₂ for high-rate performance lithium-ion batteries.

A cathode for high-rate performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has been developed from a crystal habit-tuned nanoplate Li(Li(0.17)Ni(0.25)Mn(0.

A lossless compression method for medical image sequences using JPEG-LS and interframe coding.

Hospitals and medical centers produce an enormous amount of digital medical images every day, especially in the form of image sequences, which requires considerable storage space. One solution could be the application of lossless compression. Among available methods, JPEG-LS has excellent coding performance.