Enabling the Transport Dynamics and Interfacial Stability of Porous Si Anode Via Rigid and Flexible Carbon Encapsulation for High-Energy Lithium Storage.

The stable electrode/electrolyte interface and fast electron/ion transport channel play important roles in boosting the rate performance and cycling life of lithium-ion batteries. Herein, a porous silicon/carbon composite (pSi@PC@MC) is presented by integrating hollow porous silicon (pSi) with pitch-derived carbon (PC) and dopamine-derived mesoporous carbon (MC), employing microporous zeolite as the silicon source. The finite element simulation first reveals the stress release effect of rigid and flexible carbon encapsulation on the hollow Si anode for lithium-ion storage.

Processing Solid Hydrogels into Hollow Structures by Infrared Laser Light for Highly-Efficient Drug Loading and Controlled Release.

Hollow hydrogels, characterized by their three-dimensional networks akin to biological tissues, are extensively utilized in artificial blood vessels, drug delivery, and nerve conduits due to their superior biocompatibility and fluid-transportation capacity. Nonetheless, the fabrication of hollow hydrogels presents significant challenges, including intricate steps, costly equipment, and structural instability. Consequently, refining the preparation techniques for hollow hydrogels remains paramount to surmounting the limitations of conventional methods.

Efficient Electrosynthesis of Valuable para-Benzoquinone from Aqueous Phenol on NiRu Hybrid Catalysts.

Electrocatalytic oxidation of aqueous phenol to para-benzoquinone (p-BQ) offers a sustainable approach for both pollutant abatement and value-added chemicals production. However, achieving high phenol conversion and p-BQ yield under neutral conditions remains challenging. Herein, we report a Ni(OH)-supported Ru nanoparticles (NiRu) hybrid electrocatalyst, which exhibits a superior phenol conversion of 96.

Deep Neural Network Enhanced Mesoscopic Thermodynamic Model for Unlocking the Electrode/Electrolyte Interface.

Structure and properties of the electrode/electrolyte interface significantly influence the electrochemical processes of energy storage and conversion, yet the challenge lies in accurate description of both molecular characteristics and external field effects. Here, we develop a mesoscopic thermodynamic model that calculates the thermodynamic properties of electrolytes based on chemical potential, and its efficiency is enhanced by a deep neural network. The deep neural network enhanced mesoscopic thermodynamic (DeepMT) model effectively bridges the gap between micro-level characteristics of ions and macro-level effects of external field, enabling precise presentation of ion density distributions over complex conditions.

Green-Light-Triggered and Self-Calibrated Cascade Release of Nitric Oxide and Carbon Monoxide for Synergistic Glaucoma Therapy.

Glaucoma is an optic degenerative neuropathy that is driven by a vicious cycle of oxidative stress and mechanical stress. Current clinical treatments aim exclusively at alleviating mechanical stress by reducing the intraocular pressure (IOP). With the unattended oxidative stress, recurrence and deterioration of mechanical stress are inevitable.

Oxygen and Electron Storage Effects in W-Modified Ceria Catalysts for Ammonia Conversion.

Tungsten-modified CeO is an excellent catalyst for the catalytic conversion of ammonia. However, the geometric and electronic properties of this catalyst and the detailed reaction mechanisms are not well understood. In this work, the potential configurations of various monomer tungsten oxides supported on the CeO(111) surface (WO(x = 0-4)/CeO(111)) are systematically studied and their relative stabilities are evaluated by using on-site Coulomb interaction corrected density functional theory calculations.

Embryonic 6:2 Fluorotelomer Alcohol Exposure Disrupts the Blood‒Brain Barrier by Causing Endothelial‒to‒Mesenchymal Transition in the Male Mice.

6:2 Fluorotelomer alcohol (6:2 FTOH) is a raw material used in the manufacture of short-chain poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances. Our previous study revealed that gestational exposure to 6:2 FTOH can impair blood‒brain barrier (BBB) function in offspring, accompanied by anxiety-like behavior and learning memory deficits. The aim of this study was to further investigate the specific mechanism by which maternal exposure to 6:2 FTOH resulted in impaired BBB function in offspring mice.

Microscopic Origin of Surfactant Irritation: An Experimental and Computational Study.

Surfactants, which are widely used in skin care products and cleansers, can cause skin irritation. The skin irritation potential of surfactants is fundamentally determined by their molecular structure and is directly related to their microscopic aggregation structure and specific interactions with the skin. The microscopic origin of the irritation of the surfactants remains unknown.

Coupling CO Electroreduction to CO with alkyne Alkoxycarbonylation.

The alkyne alkoxycarbonylation to α- or β-substituted acrylates was coupled with the electrocatalytic reduction of CO to CO. The CO-enriched gaseous mixture produced from the electrocatalytic reduction of CO was collected and directly used in the alkyne alkoxycarbonylation. The CO content was found to be critical to the process of carbonylation, and satisfying results were attained by using the gas mixture containing >15 vol % CO.

A New Bacterial Strain Producing Both of the Surfactin and Fengycin Lipopeptide Biosurfactant with Strong Emulsifications on Crude Oil.

A new lipopeptide-producing strain Cytobacillus sp. R3-1 was isolated from the production water of the Daqing oilfield in China and identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. The strain R3-1 is capable of simultaneously producing both of the surfactin and fengycin, the two major families of the lipopeptide biosurfactant.

Structure-based virtual screening of novel chitin synthase inhibitors for the control of Phytophthora sojae.

Background: Chitin synthase (CHS) is an important target for pesticide development as chitin biosynthesis is essential for the survival and reproduction of various organisms, such as oomycetes, fungi and insects. Small-molecule inhibitors of CHS have potential applications for the control of agricultural pests and diseases.

Results: In this study, exploiting the cryo-EM structures of PsChs1, the CHS indispensable to the sporangial production and virulence of soybean root rot pathogenic oomycete Phytophthora sojae, a virtual screening method combining by molecular docking, inhibitory activity measurement and biological activity determination was conducted, to identify novel small-molecule inhibitors of CHS.

Effects of trehalose and sodium alginate on microbially induced carbonate precipitation.

The process of altering the microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) by adding additives has been extensively studied. The impact of polysaccharides, as an important component of bacteria, still requires deeper exploration on MICP. This work thus focuses on two types of sugars, sodium alginate (SA) and trehalose (Tre), to explore their effects on biomineralization of carbonate induced by Bacillus pumilus Z6.

Impact of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in Catalysis.

Catalysis stands as an indispensable cornerstone of modern society, underpinning the production of over 80% of manufactured goods and driving over 90% of industrial chemical processes. As the demand for more efficient and sustainable processes grows, better catalysts are needed. Understanding the working principles of catalysts is key, and over the last 50 years, surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) has become essential.

Photo-Triggered Fluorescence Polyelectrolyte Nanoassemblies: Manipulate and Boost Singlet Oxygen in Photodynamic Therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a clinically approved therapeutic modality that has shown great potential for cancer treatment. However, there exist two major problems hindering PDT applications: the nonspecific phototoxicity requiring patients to stay in dark post-PDT, and the limited photodynamic efficiency. Herein, we report a photo-triggered porphyrin polyelectrolyte nanoassembling (photo-triggered PPN) strategy, in which porphyrin photosensitizer and photoswitchable energy accepter are assembled into polyelectrolyte micelles by a combined force of charge interaction and metal-ligand coordination.

Room-Temperature Single-Phase Synthesis of Semiconducting Metal-Covalent Organic Frameworks With Microenvironment-Tuned Photocatalytic Efficiency.

In order to improve the solubility of metallated monomers and product crystallinity, metal-covalent organic frameworks (MCOFs) are commonly prepared via high-temperature sol-vothermal synthesis. However, it hampers the direct extraction of crystallization evolution information. Exploring facile room-temperature strategies for both synthesizing MCOFs and exploiting the crystallinity mechanism is extremely desired.

Asymmetric Photoinduced Excited-State Nazarov Reaction.

We report herein the first asymmetric photoinduced excited-state Nazarov reaction of non-aromatic dicyclic divinyl ketones by using hydrogen-bonding catalysis. The enantioselectivity of photoinduced electrocyclization is highly dependent on the structural features of the substrate and its interaction with chiral catalysts. For the simple dicyclic divinyl ketone substrates, there is no discernible selectivity of the hydrogen bond coordination between the thiourea and carbonyl groups of the substrates in the ground state.

Switchable Topologically Chiral [2]Catenane as Multiple Resonance Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitter for Efficient Circularly Polarized Electroluminescence.

Aiming at the fabrication of circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs) with high dissymmetry factors (g) and color purity through the employment of novel chiral source, topologically chiral [2]catenanes were first utilized as the key chiral skeleton to construct novel multi-resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) emitters. Impressively, the efficient chirality induction and unique switchable feature of topologically chiral [2]catenane not only lead to a high |g| value up to 1.6×10 but also facilitate in situ dynamic switching of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL).

Photochemically Triggered and Autonomous Oscillatory pH-Modulated Transient Assembly/Disassembly of DNA Microdroplet Coacervates.

The assembly of pH-responsive DNA-based, phase-separated microdroplets (MDs) coacervates, consisting of frameworks composed of Y-shaped nucleic acid modules crosslinked by pH-responsive strands, is introduced. The phase-separated MDs reveal dynamic pH-stimulated switchable or oscillatory transient depletion and reformation. In one system, a photoisomerizable merocyanine/spiropyran photoacid is used for the light-induced pH switchable modulation of the reaction medium between the values pH=6.