Mineral-Mediated Epitaxial Growth of CoO Nanoparticles for Efficient Electrochemical HO Activation.

Solution-phase epitaxy is a versatile method to synthesize functional nanomaterials with customized properties, where supports play a central role as they not only serve as nucleation templates but also greatly affect the local electronic structures. However, developing functional supports remains a great challenge. Herein, inspired by the commonly observed epitaxy of minerals in the natural environment, we report using calcination-modified kaolinite as the support for the epitaxial growth of hexagonal CoO nanoparticles (-CoO NPs), which enables over 40 times higher mass-specific activity toward HO electrochemical activation than the counterpart without the support.

Facet Engineering Boosts Interfacial Compatibility of Inorganic-Polymer Composites.

The interfacial compatibility between inorganic particles and polymer is crucial for ensuring high performance of composites. Current efforts to improve interfacial compatibility preferentially rely on organic modification of inorganic particles, leading to their complex process, high costs, and short lifespans due to aging and decomposition of organic modifiers. However, the fabrication of inorganic particles free from organic modification that is highly compatible in polymer still remains a great challenge.

Separators Modified with Ultrathin Montmorillonite/Polymer Nanocoatings Achieve Dendrite-Free Lithium Deposition at High Current Densities.

Fatal dendritic growth in lithium metal batteries is closely related to the composition and thickness of the modified separator. Herein, an ultrathin nanocoating composed of monolayer montmorillonite (MMT), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) on a polypropylene separator is prepared. The MMT was exfoliated into monolayers (only 0.

Adjusted MnO oxygen vacancy for highly selective ORR production of HO.

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) the two-electron pathway is an important method of hydrogen peroxide (HO) production. This study demonstrates that MnO with different oxygen vacancies possesses great 2e ORR activity. The HO selectivity increased from 10% to 93% with increasing oxygen vacancy concentration by adjusting the reaction temperature and time.

Recent Progress on the Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions Pb(II) and Cu(II) from Wastewater.

With the processes of industrialization and urbanization, heavy metal ion pollution has become a thorny problem in water systems. Among the various technologies developed for the removal of heavy metal ions, the adsorption method is widely studied by researchers and various nanomaterials with good adsorption performances have been prepared during the past decades. In this paper, a variety of novel nanomaterials with excellent adsorption performances for Pb(II) and Cu(II) reported in recent years are reviewed, such as carbon-based materials, clay mineral materials, zero-valent iron and their derivatives, MOFs, nanocomposites, etc.

Intrinsically Decoupled Coordination Chemistries Enable Quasi-Eutectic Electrolytes with Fast Kinetics toward Enhanced Zinc-Ion Capacitors.

Eutectic electrolytes show potential beyond conventional low-concentration electrolytes (LCEs) in zinc (Zn)-ion capacitors (ZICs) yet suffer from high viscosity and sluggish kinetics. Herein, we originally propose a universal theory of intrinsically decoupling to address these issues, producing a novel electrolyte termed "quasi-eutectic" electrolyte (quasi-EE). Joint experimental and theoretical analyses confirm its unique solution coordination structure doped with near-LCE domains.

Halloysite-derived mesoporous silica with high ionic conductivity improves Li-S battery performance.

The slow Li transport rate in the thick sulfur cathode of the Li-S battery affects its capacity and cycling performance. Herein, Fe-doped highly ordered mesoporous silica material (Fe-HSBA-15) as a sulfur carrier of the Li-S battery shows high ion conductivity (1.10 mS cm) and Li transference number (0.

Integrating Structural and Thermodynamic Mechanisms for Methanol Intercalated Kaolinite Nanoclay: Experiments and Density Functional Theory Simulation.

Methanol intercalated kaolinite (Kaol) plays an important role in the intercalation, exfoliation, and organic modification of kaolinite nanoclay. However, the evolution of the layer structure of Kaol and its thermodynamic stability during the methanol intercalation process have not been clarified at the atomic level. Here, by combination of density functional theory (DFT) calculation and experimental characterizations, the interlayer bonding, structure evolution, and energetics from dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) intercalated Kaol to methanol intercalated Kaol were investigated.

Nanoclay-Modulated Interfacial Chemical Bond and Internal Electric Field at the Co O /TiO p-n Junction for Efficient Charge Separation.

To achieve a high separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers in semiconductors, constructing high-quality heterogeneous interfaces as charge flow highways is critical and challenging. This study successfully demonstrates an interfacial chemical bond and internal electric field (IEF) simultaneously modulated 0D/0D/1D-Co O /TiO /sepiolite composite catalyst by exploiting sepiolite surface-interfacial interactions to adjust the Co /Co ratio at the Co O /TiO heterointerface. In situ irradiation X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the interfacial Co OTi bond (compared to the Co OTi bond) plays a major role as an atomic-level charge transport channel at the p-n junction.

Interfacial Chemical Bond Modulation of Co(PO)-MoO Heterostructures for Alkaline Water/Seawater Splitting.

The development of a high current density with high energy conversion efficiency electrocatalyst is vital for large-scale industrial application of alkaline water splitting, particularly seawater splitting. Herein, we design a self-supporting Co(PO)-MoO/CoMoO/NF superaerophobic electrode with a three-dimensional structure for high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by a reasonable devise of possible "Co-O-Mo hybridization" on the interface. The "Co-O-Mo hybridization" interfaces induce charge transfer and generation of fresh oxygen vacancy active sites.

Expression and Analyses of and in Ulcerative Cutaneous Tuberculosis.

We explored the biological functions, signaling pathways, potential inflammation, and immune biomarkers involved in ulcerative cutaneous tuberculosis (UCT). -infected tissues from UCT patients and patients with noncutaneous tuberculous ulcers (NCTUs) were studied using transcriptomic analysis. Functional enrichment determined using the Gene Ontology database and enrichment of signaling pathways was ascertained using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database.

Contrasting Photochemical Activity of Two Sub-layers for Natural 2D Nanoclay with an Asymmetric Layer Structure.

The two-dimensional (2D) materials with asymmetric sub-layers have recently attracted tremendous interest in many fields, and investigating the structure-performance relationship of different sub-layers is critical but challenging. Herein, we report that natural kaolinite (Kaol) nanosheets with an asymmetric layer structure possess a contrasting photocatalytic activity on its Al-O and Si-O sub-layers. The experimental and theoretical results reveal that the ion isovalent structure of Fe and Al not only results in a high iron doping concentration in the Al-O sub-layer but also causes superb intrinsic photochemical activity of the Al-O sub-layer compared with the Si-O sub-layer.

Energetics, Interlayer Molecular Structures, and Hydration Mechanisms of Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO)-Kaolinite Nanoclay Guest-Host Interactions.

Two-dimensional (2D) kaolinite nanoclay is an important natural mineral with promising application potential, especially tuned with organic intercalates. However, thus far, the organics-kaolinite guest-host interactions, the atomic scale structures of organic intercalates under confinement, and molecular level mechanisms of hydration are rarely systematically explored using both experimental and computational methodologies. We integrated density functional theory with dispersion scheme (DFT-D) with various experimental methods to investigate the intercalation of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in kaolinite with and without hydration.

Surface modified halloysite nanotubes with different lumen diameters as drug carriers for cancer therapy.

Paclitaxel (PTX) is successfully loaded by surface modification of distearoyl phosphoethanolamine (DSPE) on halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) with different inner lumen diameters. Drug loading of DSPE-HNTs-PTX attains 18.44% of DSPE content with a nearly complete release (near 100%) achieved.

Utilization of iron tailings to prepare high-surface area mesoporous silica materials.

Iron tailings are fine, stable and complex materials, which are mainly composed of minerals and metal oxides. Residual silicon in iron tailings can be used to prepare mesoporous silica materials applied to energy storage, environmental protection and other fields. This paper reported a novel synthesis strategy from iron tailings to high-surface area hexagonally ordered mesoporous silica materials in an innovative non-hydrothermal system at room temperature.

Energetic Cost for Being "Redox-Site-Rich" in Pseudocapacitive Energy Storage with Nickel-Aluminum Layered Double Hydroxide Materials.

Defining the energetic landscape of pseudocapacitive materials such as transition metal layered double hydroxides (LDHs) upon redox-site enrichment is essential to harnessing their power for effective energy storage. Here, coupling acid solution calorimetry, XRD, and DRIFTS, we demonstrate that as the Ni/Al ratio increases, both as-made (hydrated) and dehydrated NiAl-LDH samples are less stable as evidenced by their enthalpies of formation. Moreover, the higher specific capacity at an intermediate Ni/Al ratio of 3 is enabled by effective water-LDH interactions, which energetically stabilize the excessive near-surface Ni redox sites, solvate intercalated carbonate ions, and fill the expanded vdW gap, paying for the "energetic cost" of being "redox-site-rich".

Triptonide inhibits metastasis potential of thyroid cancer cells via astrocyte elevated gene-1.

Background: Triptonide (TN) was recently proved to have anti-tumor effects. The current study explored whether TN inhibited thyroid cancer and the possible underlying mechanism.

Methods: MDA-T68 and BCPAP cells were treated by TN.

Interfacial Chemical-Bond-Modulated Charge Transfer of Heterostructures for Improving Photocatalytic Performance.

Interface engineering of heterostructured photocatalysts plays a very important role in the transfer and separation process of interfacial charge carriers, but how to regulate the transfer and separation of photogenerated charge carriers still is a huge challenge at the nanometric interface of heterostructures (HCs). Herein, we demonstrate that interfacial chemical bonds can effectively modulate photogenerated charge transfer in nanoclay-based HCs constructed by natural Kaolinite (Kaol) nanosheets and P25-TiO. Experimental results and density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that stable Al-O-Ti bonds form at the interfaces by interactions of the Al-OH groups of Kaol and (101) surfaces of anatase TiO.

Amino-functionalized hierarchical porous SiO-AlOOH composite nanosheets with enhanced adsorption performance.

Hierarchical porous SiO-AlOOH composite nanosheets (HPSA) with a three-dimensional (3D) structure were prepared from two-dimensional (2D) layered mineral kaolinite (A1SiO(OH)) via a template-free structural reorganization method. The obtained material was subjected to homogeneous and effective amino-functionalization by grafting it with (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane. Owing to the enhanced 3D hierarchical meso-macroporous structure containing highly dispersed protonated amino groups (NH), the as-prepared amino-functionalized HPSA (NH-HPSA) showed unique adsorption performance towards the congo red anionic dye.

Seeding Iron Trifluoride Nanoparticles on Reduced Graphite Oxide for Lithium-Ion Batteries with Enhanced Loading and Stability.

Development of electric vehicles and portable electronic devices during the past decade calls for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with enhanced energy density and higher stability. Integration of FeF phases and carbon structures leads to promising cathode materials for LIBs with high voltage, capacity, and power. In this study, FeF·0.

A nanoclay-induced defective g-CN photocatalyst for highly efficient catalytic reactions.

A nanoclay-induced defective graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) catalyst was successfully synthesized through intercalation and in situ calcination. The degradation time for Orange II dye using the as-synthesized g-C3N4/kaolinite (g-C3N4/Kaol) catalyst was only 10 min under visible light irradiation, which could be attributed to their special structures and synergistic effects.

Substitutional Doping for Aluminosilicate Mineral and Superior Water Splitting Performance.

Substitutional doping is a strategy in which atomic impurities are optionally added to a host material to promote its properties, while the geometric and electronic structure evolution of natural nanoclay mineral upon substitutional metal doping is still ambiguous. This paper first designed an efficient lanthanum (La) doping strategy for nanotubular clay (halloysite nanotube, HNT) through the dynamic equilibrium of a substitutional atom in the presence of saturated AlCl solution, and systematic characterization of the samples was performed. Further density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out to reveal the geometric and electronic structure evolution upon metal doping, as well as to verify the atom-level effect of the La doping.

Structure and Electronic Properties of Transition Metal Doped Kaolinite Nanoclay.

In this work, a series of transition metal (Cr, Mn, Fe, and Co) doped kaolinite nanoclays were investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The influence of metal doping on geometric structure and electronic structure of kaolinite was analyzed. The ferromagnetic (FM), antiferromagnetic (AFM), and nonmagnetic (NM) states of transition metal (TM) doped kaolinite structures were studied.

Perovskite LaFeO3/montmorillonite nanocomposites: synthesis, interface characteristics and enhanced photocatalytic activity.

Perovskite LaFeO3/montmorillonite nanocomposites (LaFeO3/MMT) have been successfully prepared via assembling LaFeO3 nanoparticles on the surface of montmorillonite with citric acid assisted sol-gel method. The results indicated that the uniform LaFeO3 nanoparticles were densely deposited onto the surface of montmorillonite, mainly ranging in diameter from 10 nm to 15 nm. The photocatalytic activity of LaFeO3/MMT was evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation, indicating that LaFeO3/MMT exhibited remarkable adsorption efficiency and excellent photocatalytic activity with the overall removal rate of RhB up to 99.

Carbon hybridized halloysite nanotubes for high-performance hydrogen storage capacities.

Hybrid nanotubes of carbon and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) with different carbon:HNTs ratio were hydrothermally synthesized from natural halloysite and sucrose. The samples display uniformly cylindrical hollow tubular structure with different morphologies. These hybrid nanotubes were concluded to be promising medium for physisorption-based hydrogen storage.