Label-Free Raman Probing of the Intrinsic Electric Field for High-Efficiency Screening of Electricity-Producing Bacteria at the Single-Cell Level.

The fabrication of high-performance microbial fuel cells requires the evaluation of the activity of electrochemically active bacteria. However, this is challenging because of the time-consuming nature of biofilm formation and the invasive nature of labeling. To address this issue, we developed a fast, label-free, single-cell Raman spectroscopic method.

How local electric field regulates C-C coupling at a single nanocavity in electrocatalytic CO reduction.

C-C coupling is of utmost importance in the electrocatalytic reduction of CO, as it governs the selectivity of diverse product formation. Nevertheless, the difficulties to directly observe C-C coupling pathways at a specific nanocavity hinder the advances in catalysts and electrolyzer design for efficient high-value hydrocarbon production. Here we develop a nano-confined Raman technology to elucidate the influence of the local electric field on the evolution of C-C coupling intermediates.

Intellectualized Visualization of Single-Particle Raman Spectra for Sensitive Detection and Simultaneous Multianalysis of Heavy Metal Ions.

Easy-to-use, reliable, and real-time methods for detecting heavy metal ion contamination are urgently required, which is a primary concern for water pollution control and human health. However, present methods for this aim are still unable to achieve simultaneous multianalysis for complex real sample detection. Herein, an intellectualized vision-based single-nanoparticle Raman imaging strategy combined with ion-responsive functional nucleic acids (FNAs) was proposed to address these issues.

Ultrasound sonochemical synthesis of amorphous SbS-graphene composites for sodium-ion batteries.

Different from traditional methods, ultrasound sonochemical synthesis can create very special reaction conditions by virtue of the effects of acoustic cavitation. The localized spots in the medium liquids can reach the temperature of ~5000 K, and the pressure of ~1000 bar with the treatment of ultrasonic irradiation. The extreme conditions make it possible to fabricate a series of nanostructured materials with peculiar properties.