Meso/Microporous Single-Atom Catalysts Featuring Curved Fe-N Sites Boost the Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity.

Zeolitic-imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are among the most efficient precursors for the synthesis of atomically dispersed Fe-N/C materials, which are promising catalysts for enhancing the performance of Zn-air batteries (ZABs) and proton exchange fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, existing ZIF-derived Fe-N/C electrocatalysts mostly consist of microporous materials, leading to insufficient mass transport and inadequate battery/cell performance. In this study, we synthesize an atomically dispersed meso/microporous Fe-N/C material with curved Fe-N active sites, denoted as FeSA-N/TC, through the pyrolysis of hemin-modified ZIF films on ZnO nanorods, obtained from the self-assembly reaction between Zn from ZnO hydrolysis and 2-methylimidazole.

Dietary patterns suggest that dark chocolate intake may have an inhibitory effect on oral cancer: a Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Previous studies reported that variations in dietary intake patterns substantially impact human health, specifically tumorigenesis. However, confounding factors in previous cohort studies have obscured the relationship between dietary differences and the risk of oral cancer (OC).

Materials And Methods: We developed an outcome dataset from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data on three OCs within the GAME-ON project, using GWAS-META merging.

Hierarchical NiCoSe Arrays Composed of Atomically Thin Nanosheets: Simultaneous Improvements in Thermodynamics and Kinetics for Electrocatalytic Water Splitting in Neutral Media.

The inefficiency of electrocatalysts for water splitting in neutral media stems from a comprehensive impact of poor intrinsic activity, a limited number of active sites, and inadequate mass transport. Herein, hierarchical ultrathin NiCoSe nanosheets are synthesized by the selenization of NiCoO porous nanoneedles. Theoretical and experimental investigations reveal that the intrinsic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity primarily originate from the NiCoSe, whereas the high oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance is related to the NiCoOOH due to the structural reconstruction.

Rapid microwave-assisted synthesis of NiP nanosheets from black phosphorus.

The high dielectric loss tangent value of black phosphorus nanosheets enables them to be selectively heated under microwave radiation to realize the surface reaction of BP with Ni to prepare thermodynamically unstable two-dimensional NiP.

SLOGAN: Handwriting Style Synthesis for Arbitrary-Length and Out-of-Vocabulary Text.

Large amounts of labeled data are urgently required for the training of robust text recognizers. However, collecting handwriting data of diverse styles, along with an immense lexicon, is considerably expensive. Although data synthesis is a promising way to relieve data hunger, two key issues of handwriting synthesis, namely, style representation and content embedding, remain unsolved.

UCP1 and AOX1a contribute to regulation of carbon and nitrogen metabolism and yield in Arabidopsis under low nitrogen stress.

Nitrogen (N) availability is a critical factor for plant development and crop yield, and it closely correlates to carbon (C) metabolism. Uncoupling protein (UCP) and alternative oxidase (AOX) exhibit a strong correlation with N and C metabolism. Here, we investigated the functions of UCP1 and AOX1a using their mutants and complementation lines in Arabidopsis adaptation to low N.

Reaction Behavior of Porous TiAl Intermetallics Fabricated by Thermal Explosion with Different Particle Sizes.

Porous TiAl intermetallics were prepared by the thermal explosion (TE) and space holder method with different particle sizes of Ti and Al powders, and their reaction behaviors were investigated. The results showed that with the increase in the particle size of the Ti and Al powders, the interfacial contact between the particles decreased, resulting in low interfacial energy and reaction activity, making the process difficult to initiate. Meanwhile, the heat flow rose from 358.

Ionothermal-Transformation Strategy to Synthesize Hierarchically Tubular Porous Single-Iron-Atom Catalysts for High-Performance Zinc-Air Batteries.

Inexpensive carbon-based nitrogen-coordinated iron single-atom catalysts (CN-FeSACs) have been recently demonstrated as the most promising platinum substitutions for boosting the sluggish oxygen electrode performance in fuel cells and metal-air batteries. However, it is still a great challenge to develop economical and effective CN-FeSACs satisfying the needs of high output power. Herein, an ionothermal-transformation strategy is proposed to synthesize hierarchically tubular porous CN-FeSACs with an ultrahigh special surface area of 2500 m g to host abundant single-atom iron sites with an attempt to simultaneously boost sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics and mass transport.

Removal of Al and Mg ions in wet-process phosphoric acid via the formation of aluminofluoride complexes.

With the decrease in the phosphate rock grade, the minor element ratios (MER) [(FeO wt% + AlO wt% + MgO wt%)/PO wt%] of wet-process phosphoric acid (WPA) exhibits a linear upward trend. This can lead to a huge challenge for the high-quality production of feed calcium phosphate salt (FCPS). In the present study, we proposed a novel and economical strategy to precipitate Al and Mg via the formation of aluminofluoride complexes (NaMgAlF·HO) with the anhydrous sodium sulfate (NaSO) and hydrofluoric acid (HF) as precipitation agents.

The Wear Behavior of the Laser Cladded Ti-Al-Si Composite Coatings on Ti-6Al-4V Alloy with Additional TiC.

In this study, the Ti-Al-Si + TiC ( = 0, 2, 6, 10 wt.%) composite coatings, each with a different content of TiC were fabricated on a Ti-6Al-4V alloy by laser surface cladding. The microstructure of the prepared coatings was analyzed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD).

Facile synthesis of iron oxide supported on porous nitrogen doped carbon for catalytic oxidation.

Iron oxide (FeO) supported on porous nitrogen doped carbon is synthesized by a facile pyrolysis method. SiO and NaNO are used as the template and activation agent respectively for porous structure generation and large specific surface area (SSA) creation. The obtained materials show superior catalytic oxidation ability and can activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) in a wide pH range (3-9) to degrade organic pollutants.

A palladium doped 1T-phase molybdenum disulfide-black phosphorene two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructure for visible-light enhanced electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

The electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a green chemistry route for sustainable energy production. Compared to 2H-phase molybdenum disulfide (MoS), the 1T-phase MoS (1T-MoS) has higher theoretical activity and faster charge transfer kinetics, but the HER performance of 1T-MoS is commonly hindered by limited active edge/defect as well as poor structural stability. Herein, we synthesize a well-defined 2D vdW heterostructure composed of Pd doped 1T-MoS and black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets via electrostatic self-assembly.

Enterovirus 71 induces autophagy in mice via mTOR inhibition and ERK pathway activation.

Aims: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the main viruses that cause hand-foot-mouth disease; however, its pathogenic mechanism remains unclear. This study characterized the relationship between EV71 infection and autophagy in vivo and explored the molecular mechanism underlying EV71-induced autophagy.

Materials And Methods: A mouse model of EV71 infection was prepared by intraperitoneally injecting one-day-old BALB/c suckling mice with 30 μL/g of EV71 virus stock solution for 3 days.

Carbon-Supported Single Metal Site Catalysts for Electrochemical CO Reduction to CO and Beyond.

The electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CO RR) is a promising strategy to achieve electrical-to-chemical energy storage while closing the global carbon cycle. The carbon-supported single-atom catalysts (SACs) have great potential for electrochemical CO RR due to their high efficiency and low cost. The metal centers' performance is related to the local coordination environment and the long-range electronic intercalation from the carbon substrates.

Easily Regenerated CuO/γ-AlO for Persulfate-Based Catalytic Oxidation: Insights into the Deactivation and Regeneration Mechanism.

In this work, γ-AlO-supported CuO (-CuO/AlO) materials are successfully synthesized using a novel impregnation-precipitation-decomposition method. The obtained -CuO/AlO catalyst shows excellent catalytic activities for bisphenol A (BPA) degradation with sodium persulfate (PDS) as an oxidant. Radical quenching tests and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies indicate that PDS activation is a combined mechanism involving both free radical and nonfree radical pathways.

Synergistic Effects of Black Phosphorus/Boron Nitride Nanosheets on Enhancing the Flame-Retardant Properties of Waterborne Polyurethane and Its Flame-Retardant Mechanism.

We applied black phosphorene (BP) and hexagonal boron nitride (BN) nanosheets as flame retardants to waterborne polyurethane to fabricate a novel black phosphorus/boron nitride/waterborne polyurethane composite material. The results demonstrated that the limiting oxygen index of the flame-retarded waterborne polyurethane composite increased from 21.7% for pure waterborne polyurethane to 33.

An efficient and environmentally friendly process for the reduction of SO by using waste phosphate mine tailings as adsorbent.

The emission of SO and the disposal of waste phosphate mine tailings are generally regarded as two major environmental issues in phosphorus chemical activities. In this paper, an environmentally friendly and efficient route for removing SO from phosphorus chemical processes by using waste phosphate mine tailings as adsorbent was proposed. It was indicated that the desulfurization performance of the waste phosphate mine tailings was better than that of its raw ore.

Butyllithium-Treated TiCT MXene with Excellent Pseudocapacitor Performance.

MXenes, a family of two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal carbide and nitride materials, are supposed to be promising pseudocapacitive materials because of their high electronic conductivity and hydrophilic surfaces. MXenes, prepared by removing the "A" elements of their corresponding MAX phases by hydrofluoric acid (HF) or LiF-HCl etching, possess abundant terminal groups like -F, -OH, and -O groups. It has been proven that the MXenes with fewer -F terminal groups and more -O groups showed a higher pseudocapacitor performance.

Review on Applications of Black Phosphorus in Catalysis.

As emerging non-metallic semiconductors, black phosphorus (BP) and few-layered BP (phosphorene) have exhibited unique physicochemical properties and promising application prospect for catalysis related fields. In this review, we first introduced the intriguing properties of BP, including high carrier mobility, a wide optical absorption range and tunable direct band gap. We then summarized the recent research progress about the applications of BP as catalysts, mainly focus on photocatalytic water splitting, photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and electrocatalytic H₂ and O₂ evolution.

Reversible intercalation and exfoliation of layered covalent triazine frameworks for enhanced lithium ion storage.

We report that layered covalent triazine frameworks (CTF-1) can be rapidly and reversibly intercalated with either an oxidizing or a non-oxidizing acid based on the acid-base driven mechanism. The obtained CTF-1 intercalated compounds can be readily reacted with nitronium ions and spontaneously exfoliated into 1-2 layered functionalized CTF-1 nanosheets (f-CTF-1) with a high yield of 42%. The f-CTF-1 shows a 2.

Partially Etched Ti AlC as a Promising High-Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery Anode.

MXenes, a family of two-dimensional transition-metal carbide and nitride materials, are thought to be promising materials in energy storage because of their high electronic conductivity, hydrophilic surfaces, and low diffusion barriers. MXenes are generally prepared by removing the "A" elements (A=Al, Si, Sn, etc.) from their corresponding MAX phases by using hydrofluoric acid (HF) and other etching agents, although these "A" elements usually have great volumetric and gravimetric capacities.

Rational Design of Fe/N/S-Doped Nanoporous Carbon Catalysts from Covalent Triazine Frameworks for Efficient Oxygen Reduction.

Porous organic polymers (POPs) are promising precursors for developing high performance transition metal-nitrogen-carbon (M/N/C) catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The rational design of POP precursors remain a great challenge, because of the elusive structural association between the sacrificial POPs and the final M/N/C catalysts. Based on covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs), we developed a series of S-doped Fe/N/C catalysts by selecting six different aromatic nitriles as building blocks.

High Yield Exfoliation of WS Crystals into 1-2 Layer Semiconducting Nanosheets and Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution from WS/CdS Nanorod Composites.

Monolayer WS has interesting properties as a direct bandgap semiconductor, photocatalyst, and electrocatalyst, but it is still a significant challenge to prepare this material in colloidal form by liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE). Here, we report the preparation of 1-2 layer semiconducting WS nanosheets in a yield of 18-22 wt % by a modified LPE method that involves preintercalation with substoichometric quantities of n-butyllithium. The exfoliated WS nanosheeets are n-type, have a bandgap of ∼1.

Microwave-assisted 1T to 2H phase reversion of MoS2 in solution: a fast route to processable dispersions of 2H-MoS2 nanosheets and nanocomposites.

Exfoliated molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has unique 2H phase and semiconductor properties and potential applications across a wide range of fields. However, the chemically exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets from Li x MoS2 have a 1T phase, and searching for a fast route to get processable 2H-MoS2 nanosheets and its nanocomposites is still an urgent task. This study reports on a simple, fast and efficient microwave strategy to achieve the 1T to 2H phase conversion of MoS2 and the successful preparation of processable 2H-MoS2 nanosheets and their nanocomposites.