Adsorption Properties and Mechanisms of Methylene Blue by Modified Sphagnum Moss Bio-Based Adsorbents.

The abundant pore structure and carbon composition of sphagnum peat moss render it a bio-based adsorbent for efficient methylene blue removal from wastewater. By utilizing sphagnum moss sourced from Guizhou, China, as raw material, a cost-effective and highly efficient bio-based adsorbent material was prepared through chemical modification. The structure and performance of the modified sphagnum moss were characterized using SEM, EDS, FTIR, and TGA techniques.

Corrosion-controlled surface engineering improves the adhesion of materials for stable free-standing electrodes.

Directly anchoring active materials on porous conductive substrates is considered an effective strategy to obtain a high-activity electrode since the direct contact between active materials and substrates benefits charge transfer, and the presence of porous structures provides more active sites. However, due to the presence of strong stress and weak adhesion, active materials loaded on the substrate are very easy to peel off during assembly and use, which can greatly shorten the lifetime of use. Herein, an ultrasonic corrosion strategy is proposed to regulate the surface of a metal substrate.

AgO-decorated electrospun BiVO nanofibers with enhanced photocatalytic performance.

Semiconductor photocatalysts are emerging as tools for pollutant degradation in industrial wastewater, air purification, antibacterial applications, due to their use of visible light, which is abundant in sunlight. Here, we report a new type of p-n junction AgO/BiVO heterogeneous nanostructured photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic performance. P-type AgO nanoparticles were reduced and assembled on the surface of electrospun BiVO nanofibers using ultraviolet (UV) irradiation; this process hindered the recombination of localized photogenerated electron-hole pairs, and hence resulted in the enhanced photocatalytic activity of the BiVO/AgO nanocomposites.

Nonintrusive measurement of the liquid refractive index by using properties of the cuvette wall.

We present a method of nonintrusive measurement of the refractive index of a liquid in a glass cuvette, which uses some optical properties of the cuvette wall and the principle of total internal reflection. By coating a transmission-scattering paint layer on the outer surface of the cuvette, we transform an incident laser beam into a transmitted scattered light. When the transmitted scattered light reaches the interface between the container wall and the liquid inside, the light beams satisfying the condition of total internal reflection are reflected to the coating layer, automatically forming a circular dark pattern that is related to the refractive index of the liquid.

Stress-responsive gene ICE1 from Vitis amurensis increases cold tolerance in tobacco.

We report the identification of the inducer of CBF expression 1 (ICE1) from Vitis amurensis, an upstream transcription factor that regulates the transcription of CBF-like genes. The structure of the basic helix-loop-helix domain of VaICE1 is closely related to that of ICE1 in woody plants. This gene is strongly induced in leaves, roots, stems, and petioles by cold temperature.