Publications by authors named "Zhu-Jun Wang"

Article Synopsis
  • Diatomic catalysts (DACs) leverage the interactions between adjacent metal atoms to enhance the properties of single-atom catalysts (SACs), but their preparation and characterization pose challenges.
  • A new carbon nitride-supported Pd-DAC was developed, achieving a remarkable 92% yield in photocatalytic water-donating transfer hydrogenation of 4-vinylphenol, outperforming both Pd single atoms (47%) and nanoparticles (1%).
  • This study combines advanced imaging and machine learning to confirm the presence of dimeric Pd species and uses DFT simulations to explain the superior performance of Pd-DAC through improved substrate activation, offering a more sustainable alternative to traditional hydrogenation methods.
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  • Platinum oxides are essential for various catalytic reactions but typically break down at high temperatures, limiting their applications.
  • This study discovers a two-dimensional (2D) crystalline Pt oxide with impressive thermal stability at 1,200 K, characterized by a unique honeycomb lattice structure.
  • The findings improve our understanding of Pt oxides and suggest they can function effectively in high-temperature environments, potentially altering their catalytic application.
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The understanding of activated sludge microbial status and roles is imperative for improving and enhancing the performance of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In this study, we conducted a deep analysis of activated sludge microbial communities across five compartments (inflow, effluent, and aerobic, anoxic, anaerobic tanks) over temporal scales, employing high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons and metagenome data. Clearly discernible seasonal patterns, exhibiting cyclic variations, were observed in microbial diversity, assembly, co-occurrence network, and metabolic functions.

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Extremely large magnetoresistance (XMR) is highly applicable in spintronic devices such as magnetic sensors, magnetic memory, and hard drives. Typically, XMR is found in Weyl semimetals characterized by perfect electron-hole symmetry or exceptionally high electric conductivity and mobility. Our study explores this phenomenon in a recently developed graphene moiré system, which demonstrates XMR owing to its topological structure and high-quality crystal formation.

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  • Researchers are exploring one-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides to improve solar energy efficiency beyond traditional limits.
  • The study focuses on synthesizing single-crystalline WS ribbon arrays with specific shapes (chirality) and alignment (polarity) using an advanced manufacturing technique.
  • A strong photovoltaic effect was observed in a ribbon configuration, and combining around 1000 aligned ribbons significantly increased the overall photocurrent output.
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Within the family of two-dimensional dielectrics, rhombohedral boron nitride (rBN) is considerably promising owing to having not only the superior properties of hexagonal boron nitride-including low permittivity and dissipation, strong electrical insulation, good chemical stability, high thermal conductivity and atomic flatness without dangling bonds-but also useful optical nonlinearity and interfacial ferroelectricity originating from the broken in-plane and out-of-plane centrosymmetry. However, the preparation of large-sized single-crystal rBN layers remains a challenge, owing to the requisite unprecedented growth controls to coordinate the lattice orientation of each layer and the sliding vector of every interface. Here we report a facile methodology using bevel-edge epitaxy to prepare centimetre-sized single-crystal rBN layers with exact interlayer ABC stacking on a vicinal nickel surface.

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Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are widely used as important ingredients for other nitrogen-containing molecules. Here, we report the sustainable production of amino acids from biomass-derived hydroxy acids with high activity under visible-light irradiation and mild conditions, using atomic ruthenium-promoted cadmium sulfide (Ru/CdS). On a metal basis, the optimized Ru/CdS exhibits a maximal alanine formation rate of 26.

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In this Letter, we theoretically explore the physical properties of a new type of three-dimensional graphite moiré superlattice, the bulk alternating twisted graphite (ATG) system with homogeneous twist angle, which is grown by in situ chemical vapor decomposition method. Compared to twisted bilayer graphene (TBG), the bulk ATG system is bestowed with an additional wave vector degree of freedom due to the extra dimensionality. As a result, when the twist angle of bulk ATG is smaller than twice of the magic angle of TBG, there always exist "magic momenta" which host topological flat bands with vanishing in-plane Fermi velocities.

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Additive microfabrication processes based on localized electroplating enable the one-step deposition of micro-scale metal structures with outstanding performance, e.g., high electrical conductivity and mechanical strength.

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The nitrogen doping (N-doping) treatment for niobium superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities is one of the key enabling technologies that support the development of more efficient future large accelerators. However, the N-doping results have diverged due to a complex chemical profile under the nitrogen-doped surface. Particularly, under industrial-scale production conditions, it is difficult to understand the underlying mechanism thus hindering performance improvement.

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The atomic-thick anticorrosion coating for copper (Cu) electrodes is essential for the miniaturisation in the semiconductor industry. Graphene has long been expected to be the ultimate anticorrosion material, however, its real anticorrosion performance is still under great controversy. Specifically, strong electronic couplings can limit the interfacial diffusion of corrosive molecules, whereas they can also promote the surficial galvanic corrosion.

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The properties of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals materials can be tuned through nanostructuring or controlled layer stacking, where interlayer hybridization induces exotic electronic states and transport phenomena. Here we describe a viable approach and underlying mechanism for the assisted self-assembly of twisted layer graphene. The process, which can be implemented in standard chemical vapour deposition growth, is best described by analogy to origami and kirigami with paper.

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Understanding the atomistic mechanisms of non-equilibrium processes during solid-state synthesis, such as nucleation and grain structure formation of a layered oxide phase, is a critical challenge for developing promising cathode materials such as Ni-rich layered oxide for Li-ion batteries. In this study, we found that the aluminum oxide coating layer transforms into lithium aluminate as an intermediate, which has favorable low interfacial energies with the layered oxide to promote the nucleation of the latter. The fast and uniform nucleation and formation of the layered oxide phase at relatively low temperatures were evidenced using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction.

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Fe GeTe have proven to be of greatly intrigue. However, the underlying mechanism behind the varying Curie temperature (T ) values remains a puzzle. This study explores the atomic structure of Fe GeTe crystals exhibiting T values of 160, 210, and 230 K.

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Metal-organic framework catalysts bring new opportunities for CO electrocatalysis. Herein, we first conduct density-functional theory calculations and predict that Co-based porphyrin porous organic layers (Co-PPOLs) exhibit good activity for CO conversion because of the low *CO adsorption energy at Co-N sites, which facilitates *CO desorption and CO formation. Then, we prepare two-dimensional Co-PPOLs with exclusive Co-N sites through a facile surfactant-assisted bottom-up method.

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Objective: This study was to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status and the incidence and mortality of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

Methods: We compared the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), and the ASMR to ASIR ratio (MIR) at national and regional levels and studied the correlation between the MIR and the human development index (HDI) in 2012 and 2018.

Results: The highest ASIR was in North America in 2012 and in Australia in 2018, and the lowest ASIR was in Central and South Asia in both 2012 and 2018.

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Ciwujia injection is commonly used to treat cerebrovascular and central nervous system diseases in clinical practice. It can significantly improve blood lipid levels and endothelial cell function in patients with acute cerebral infarction and promote the proliferation of neural stem cells in cerebral ischemic brain tissues. The injection has also been reported to have good curative effects on cerebrovascular diseases, such as hypertension and cerebral infarction.

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The production of large-area twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) with controllable angles is a prerequisite for proceeding with its massive applications. However, most of the prevailing strategies to fabricate twisted bilayers face great challenges, where the transfer methods are easily stuck by interfacial contamination, and direct growth methods lack the flexibility in twist-angle design. Here we develop an effective strategy to grow centimetre-scale TBG with arbitrary twist angles (accuracy, <1.

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A metal-free photosensitized protocol for regioselective diamination of alkene feedstocks over a single step was developed based on the rationally designed bifunctional diamination reagent, thus affording a range of differentially protected 1,2-diamines in moderate to high yields. Mechanistic studies reveal that the reaction is initiated with a triplet-triplet energy transfer between thioxanthone catalyst and diamination reagent, followed by fragmentation to simultaneously generate long-lived iminyl radical and transient amidyl radical. The excellent regioselectivity presumably stems from the large reactivity difference between two different N-centered radical species.

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Objective: Methotrexate (MTX) can be safely administered to most patients but may cause severe toxicity in others. This study aimed to summarize the characteristics of high-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) chemotherapy and to evaluate whether the modified dose-adjustment program was able to improve the maintenance of sufficient MTX exposure levels while minimizing toxicities.

Methods: We evaluated 1172 cycles of high-dose MTX chemotherapy from 294 patients who were treated according to the CCCG-ALL-2015 protocol (clinical trial number: ChiCTR-IPR-14005706) and analyzed the data of actual MTX dosage, MTX concentration, toxicity, and prognosis.

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Confined nanospaces provide a new platform to promote catalytic reactions. However, the mechanism of catalytic enhancement in the nanospace still requires insightful exploration due to the lack of direct visualization. Here, we report investigations on the etching and growth of graphene in a two-dimensional (2D) confined space between graphene and a Cu substrate.

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Reported herein is a visible-light-induced, catalyst-free intramolecular cyclization of 4-phenylsulfonyl-2,3,5,6-tetrachloropyridine, leading to rapid assembly of a series of unprecedented benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-]pyridine 5,5-dioxide scaffolds under mild conditions. The rational introduction of a perchloropyridin-4-yl module significantly facilitated this photoinduced process and offers a versatile platform for broad structural variation. Mechanistic studies revealed that a newly identified charge-transfer complex with carbonate is crucial to this photoinduced process.

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The exciton binding energy, mechanical properties, and lattice thermal conductivity of monolayer BiIare investigated on the basis of first principle calculation. The excitation energy of monolayer BiIis predicted to be 1.02 eV, which is larger than that of bulk BiI(0.

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Reported herein is a visible-light-induced sulfonation of α-trifluoromethylstyrenes with sodium sulfinates, which provides a series of α-trifluoromethyl-β-sulfonyl tertiary alcohols. This new synthetic protocol is enabled by a charge-transfer complex between oxygen and sulfinates, featuring broad substrate scope and scalability. Excellent functional group compatibility and chemoselectivity render this method suitable for sulfonation of pharmaceutically relevant molecules.

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