Mining the Carbon Intermediates in Plastic Waste Upcycling for Constructing C-S Bond.

Postconsumer plastics are generally perceived as valueless with only a small portion of plastic waste being closed-loop recycled into similar products while most of them are discarded in landfills. Depositing plastic waste in landfills not only harms the environment but also signifies a substantial economic loss. Alternatively, constructing value-added chemical feedstocks via mining the waste-derived intermediate species as a carbon (C) source under mild electrochemical conditions is a sustainable strategy to realize the circular economy.

Cu Promoted the Dynamic Evolution of Ni-Based Catalysts for Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastic Upcycling.

Upcycling plastic wastes into value-added chemicals is a promising approach to put end-of-life plastic wastes back into their ecocycle. As one of the polyesters that is used daily, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste is employed here as the model substrate. Herein, a nickel (Ni)-based catalyst was prepared via electrochemically depositing copper (Cu) species on Ni foam (NiCu/NF).

Studies of Mycotoxins in Medicinal Plants Conducted Worldwide over the Last Decade: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Exposure Risk Assessment.

Background: Mycotoxins have been reported to be present in medicinal plants. With the growing usage of medicinal plants, contamination of mycotoxins has emerged as one of the biggest threats to global food hygiene and ecological environment, posing a severe threat to human health.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the mycotoxin prevalence and levels in medicinal plants and conduct a risk assessment by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Gut microbiota-based discovery of Houttuyniae Herba as a novel prebiotic of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron with anti-colitis activity.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) represents an inflammatory disease characterized by fluctuations in severity, posing substantial challenges in treatment. The gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of UC. This study sought to identify drugs specifically targeting the gut microbiota to mitigate UC.

Concentration-Dependent Photocatalytic Upcycling of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Plastic Waste.

Photocatalytic plastic waste upcycling into value-added feedstock is a promising way to mitigate the environmental issues caused by the nondegradable nature of plastic waste. Here, we developed a MoS/g-CN photocatalyst that can efficiently upcycle poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) into valuable organic chemicals. Interestingly, the conversion mechanism is concentration-dependent.

Lipidomics reveals the lipid metabolism disorders in Fructus Psoraleae-induced hepatotoxicity in rats with kidney-yin deficiency syndrome.

Fructus Psoraleae (FP), one of the important traditional Chinese medicines, is widely used in clinic and has been reported to be hepatotoxic. However, there is no report on the mechanism of FP-induced hepatotoxicity based on the theory of You Gu Wu Yun. In this study, plasma samples of rats with different kidney deficiency syndromes were investigated using a lipidomics approach based on UPLC/Q-TOF-MS technique.

Serum Lipidomic Analysis Reveals Biomarkers and Metabolic Pathways of Thyroid Dysfunction.

Abnormal thyroid hormone secretion is the most important feature of hypothyroidism and plays an important role in lipid metabolism. However, their connection has not been clearly established. This study aimed to identify the serum biomarkers and metabolic pathways associated with hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.

Selective NO Electroreduction to Ammonia on Isolated Ru Sites.

Nitrate and nitrite (NO) are widespread contaminants in industrial wastewater and groundwater. Sustainable ammonia (NH) production via NO electroreduction provides a prospective alternative to the energy-intensive industrialized Haber-Bosch process. However, selectively regulating the reaction pathway, which involves complicated electron/proton transfer, toward NH generation relies on the robust catalyst.

Zinc Single Atom Confinement Effects on Catalysis in 1T-Phase Molybdenum Disulfide.

Active sites are atomic sites within catalysts that drive reactions and are essential for catalysis. Spatially confining guest metals within active site microenvironments has been predicted to improve catalytic activity by altering the electronic states of active sites. Using the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) as a model reaction, we show that intercalating zinc single atoms between layers of 1T-MoS (Zn SAs/1T-MoS) enhances HER performance by decreasing the overpotential, charge transfer resistance, and kinetic barrier.

Curvature-Induced One-Dimensional Phonon Polaritons at Edges of Folded Boron Nitride Sheets.

Generation and manipulation of phonon polaritons are of paramount importance for understanding the interaction between an electromagnetic field and dielectric materials and furthering their application in mid-infrared optical communication. However, the formation of tunable one-dimensional phonon polaritons has been rarely realized in van der Waals layered structures. Here we report the discovery of curvature-induced phonon polaritons localized at the crease of folded hexagonal boron nitrides (-BNs) with a few atomic layers using monochromated electron energy-loss spectroscopy.

Bifunctional hydroformylation on heterogeneous Rh-WO pair site catalysts.

Metal-catalysed reactions are often hypothesized to proceed on bifunctional active sites, whereby colocalized reactive species facilitate distinct elementary steps in a catalytic cycle. Bifunctional active sites have been established on homogeneous binuclear organometallic catalysts. Empirical evidence exists for bifunctional active sites on supported metal catalysts, for example, at metal-oxide support interfaces.

Rapid screening of hepatotoxic components in Uncariae Ramulus Cum Uncis based on "component-target-pathway" network.

As a multi-base source traditional Chinese medicine, the hepatotoxicity of Uncariae Ramulus Cum Uncis (URCU) has been reported repeatedly in recent years. The lack of clarity of toxic components and toxicity mechanisms is a key issue that needs to be addressed. In this article, a "component-target-pathway" network strategy was established to firstly predicting the hepatotoxic components and the toxicity mechanism of URCU.