Accordion-Structured Hydrogel Battery Capable of Maintaining Ion Gradients for Extended Periods.

Inspired by the electric eel, biomimetic, biocompatible energy storage, and power generation technologies show promise for applications in portable and wearable electronic devices by mimicking the electric cell tandem structure of the electric eel and utilizing ionic gradients between hydrogel compartments to generate electricity. Previously, inspired by the unique morphology of the torpedo fish, an artificial flexible power source that can output a large current was introduced. This power source uses a hydrogel-infused paper hybrid to create, accordionize, and reconfigure arbitrary-sized gel films in series and parallel, and the power output of the flexible battery was significantly enhanced.

Direct Electrolysis of Municipal Reclaimed Water for Efficient Hydrogen Production Using a Bifunctional Non-Noble-Metal Catalyst.

Water electrolysis for green H production traditionally requires a stable supply of renewable electricity and pure water. However, spatial separation of renewables and water resources as well as water scarcity per capita in China necessitate unconventional water resources for electrolysis. Reclaimed water produced from municipal wastewater treatment plants is widely distributed with quality improved significantly in recent years, which may be a promising alternative to feedstock.

Coupling methanol oxidation with CO reduction: A feasible pathway to achieve carbon neutralization.

The energy consumption of up to 90 % of the total power input in the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) slows down the implementation of electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CORR) to generate valuable chemicals. Herein, we present an alternative strategy that utilizes methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) to replace OER. The iron single atom anchored on nitrogen-doped carbon support (Fe-N-C) use as the cathode catalyst (CORR), low-loading platinum supported on the composites of tungsten phosphide and multiwalled carbon nanotube (Pt-WP/MWCNT) use as the anode catalyst (MOR).

Co-utilization of wastewater sludge and heavy metals for single-atom electrocatalytic reduction of gaseous CO.

Synergetic management of waste activated sludge, heavy metals (HMs) and CO for their valorization and cyclic utilization is rarely reported. Herein, we employed sludge-derived extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and HMs in wastewater to fabricate a gas diffusion electrode (GDE) for electrochemical CO reduction. This approach atomically dispersed Ni at each nanofiber of the GDE.

The roles of typical emerging pollutants on NO emissions during biological nitrogen removal from wastewater.

NO as a potent greenhouse gas often generates in the biological nitrogen removal (BNR) processes during wastewater treatment, which makes BNR become an important greenhouse gas emission source. The emerging pollutants (EPs) are ubiquitous in wastewater and they have shown to influence the BNR processes. However, the deep discussion on potential impacts of EPs on NO emissions during BNR is rare.

A Hybrid Soft Sensor Model for Measuring the Oxygen Content in Boiler Flue Gas.

As an indispensable component of coal-fired power plants, boilers play a crucial role in converting water into high-pressure steam. The oxygen content in the flue gas is a crucial indicator, which indicates the state of combustion within the boiler. The oxygen content not only affects the thermal efficiency of the boiler and the energy utilization of the generator unit, but also has adverse impacts on the environment.

Artificial Soil-Like Material Enhances CO Bio-Valorization into Chemicals in Gas Fermentation.

Gas fermentation offers a carbon-neutral route for producing industrial feedstocks using autotrophic microbes to convert carbon dioxide (CO) in waste gases, such as industrial emissions and biogas, into valuable chemicals or biofuels. However, slow microbial metabolism owing to low gaseous solubility causes significant challenges in gas fermentation. Although chemical or genetic manipulations have been explored to improve gas fermentation, they are either nonsustainable or complex.

Bi Nanosheets on Porous Carbon Cloth Composites for Ultrastable Flexible Nickel-Bismuth Batteries.

The use of bismuth (Bi) as an anode material in nickel-metal batteries has gained significant attention due to its highly reversible redox reaction and suitable operating conditions. However, the cycling stability and flexibility of nickel-bismuth (Ni//Bi) batteries need to be further improved. This paper employs a facile electrodeposition technique to prepare Bi nanosheets uniformly grown on a porous carbon cloth (PCC), denoted as Bi-PCC electrodes.

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.

Evolutionary analysis and lineage designation of SARS-CoV-2 genomes.

The pandemic due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has caused immense global disruption. With the rapid accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences, however, thousands of genomic variants of SARS-CoV-2 are now publicly available. To improve the tracing of the viral genomes' evolution during the development of the pandemic, we analyzed single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in 121,618 high-quality SARS-CoV-2 genomes.

Dynamic evolution and reversibility of single-atom Ni(II) active site in 1T-MoS electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution.

1T-MoS and single-atom modified analogues represent a highly promising class of low-cost catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the role of single atoms, either as active species or promoters, remains vague despite its essentiality toward more efficient HER. In this work, we report the unambiguous identification of Ni single atom as key active sites in the basal plane of 1T-MoS (Ni@1T-MoS) that result in efficient HER performance.

Size-Dependent Nickel-Based Electrocatalysts for Selective CO Reduction.

Closing the anthropogenic carbon cycle by converting CO into reusable chemicals is an attractive solution to mitigate rising concentrations of CO in the atmosphere. Herein, we prepared Ni metal catalysts ranging in size from single atoms to over 100 nm and distributed them across N-doped carbon substrates which were obtained from converted zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF). The results show variance in CO reduction performance with variance in Ni metal size.

Photo/Bio-Electrochemical Systems for Environmental Remediation and Energy Harvesting.

Water and energy systems are interdependent: water is utilized in each stage of energy production, and energy is required to extract, treat, and deliver water for many uses. However, energy and water systems are usually developed and managed independently. In the quest to develop environmentally friendly and energy-efficient solutions for water and energy issues, photoelectrochemical (PEC) energy conversion and microbial electrochemical (MEC) systems show profound potential for addressing environmental remediation problems and harvesting energy simultaneously.

Mannich Base as Corrosion Inhibitors for N80 Steel in a CO₂ Saturated Solution Containing 3 wt % NaCl.

In this paper, a corrosion inhibitor containing nitrogen atoms and a conjugated π bond was synthesised, and its final product synthesised by the optimal conditions of the orthogonal test results is named multi-mannich base (MBT). The corrosion inhibition effect on the N80 steel sheet of the corrosion inhibitor was evaluated in a CO₂ saturated solution containing 3 wt % NaCl; the corrosion rate was 0.0446 mm/a and the corrosion inhibition rate was 90.

Solar Thermo-coupled Electrochemical Oxidation of Aniline in Wastewater for the Complete Mineralization Beyond an Anodic Passivation Film.

Herein, we report the solar thermal electrochemical process (STEP) aniline oxidation in wastewater for totally solving the two key obstacles of the huge energy consumption and passivation film in the electrochemical treatment. The process, fully driven by solar energy without input of any other energies, sustainably serves as an efficient thermoelectrochemical oxidation of aniline by the control of the thermochemical and electrochemical coordination. The thermocoupled electrochemical oxidation of aniline achieved a fast rate and high efficiency for the full minimization of aniline to CO with the stability of the electrode and without formation of polyaniline (PAN) passivation film.

Functional study on baculovirus anti-apoptosis genes.

Apoptosis of bollworm cell line Hz-AM1 can be delayed by transient expression of AcNPV (Autographa californica Nuclear Polihedrosis Virus) p35 gene. Acp35Z, a p35 inactivated AcNPV by inserting with LacZ gene, cannot replicate in Hz-AM1 cells. However, the replication can be rescued by co-transfection with a plasmid containing AcNPV p35 gene.