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The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is an attractive process for next‐generation ammonia synthesis; therefore, identifying a suitable catalyst for this reaction is critical. In recent years, transition‐metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and their Janus structures have gained significant attention because of their outstanding catalytic properties. However, the synthesis of Janus TMDs remains challenging, and exposing their active sites is difficult when using a low‐dimensional structure to improve the catalytic activity. To date, relatively little research has been conducted in this area. Herein, emerging Janus WSeS/WSe2 heterostructure nanowalls are systematically explored. These nanowalls are used as a nitrogen fixation catalyst in electrolytes. The nanowalls demonstrate a significant NH3 yield rate and Faradaic efficiency of 13.97 µg h‐mgcat−1 and 35.24% at −0.3 V in 0.1 m HCl, as well as 15.96 µg h‐mgcat−1 and 40.2% in 0.1 M Na2SO4. This study presents an in‐depth analysis of the properties of Janus WSeS/WSe2 heterostructure nanowalls and a conceptual framework for linking TMD‐based catalysts and the NRR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we create plasma-engineered-1T/2H 3D-hierarchical WSe2 nanoscrews derived from WOx 3D-hierarchical nanoscrews through a low-temperature plasma-assisted selenization process with controlled shapes grown using a glancing angle deposition (GLAD) system. Through a detailed investigation of chemical bonding in WSe2 by XPS and TEM, it was found that hybrids of 1T and 2H phases can be engineered, depending on substrate temperatures under plasma treatment. The GLAD system was exploited to achieve 1D nanostructures to enhance the surface-area-to-volume ratio compared to that of flat films, thus increasing the capacity for sensing applications. Here, WSe2 was chosen as the best sensing material for nitric oxide (NO) gas detection because of its p-type semiconducting properties and effective charge transfer with NO molecules. The performance of WSe2 nanoscrew gas sensors which was closely associated with 1T–2H phases was investigated where the barrier height decreased by the heterojunction of 1T/2H phases in WSe2 exhibiting the best sensing capability at a ratio of 0.41 between 1T and 2H phases was found. The plasma-engineered-1T/2H WSe2 3D-hierarchical nanoscrews exhibited a highly sensitive performance with a response over 40% at 60 ppb at room temperature with a detection limit of approximately ∼15 ppb. Finally, ∼100% response in air using the plasma-engineered-1T/2H WSe2 3D-hierarchical nanoscrews was demonstrated, proving their potential for application as next-generation high-performance gas sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, published in Advanced Energy Materials, discusses the design of electrocatalytic Janus WSeS/WSe2 heterostructure nanowall electrodes for nitrogen reduction. The researchers explore the use of these nanowalls as a nitrogen fixation catalyst in electrolytes. The nanowalls demonstrate high NH3 yield rates and Faradaic efficiency in different solutions. The authors of the article are listed as Yu‐Ren Peng, Shin‐Yi Tang, Tzi‐Yi Yang, Paul Albert Sino, Yuan‐Chun Chen, Mayur Chaudhary, Chieh‐Ting Chen, Ruei‐Hong Cyu, Chia‐Chen Chung, Bing‐Ni Gu, Ming‐Jing Liu, Che‐Hao Hsu, Hung‐Yi Huang, Ling Lee, Shu‐Chi Wu, Yu‐Yi Jen, You‐Song Cheng, Chi‐Chang Hu, Wen‐Chien Miao, Hao‐Chung Kuo, and Yu‐Lun Chueh. [Extracted from the article]

In this study, we report the fabrication of a flexible film-shaped resistive-type pressure sensor with high performance and versatile applications by sandwiching a polystyrene ball@reduced graphene-oxide (PS ball@rGO) core–shell nanomaterial film layer between two thin flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sheets. The preparation of materials and the fabrication processes of the sensor devices are simple, efficient, and economical. The detection limit of the PS ball@rGO-based pressure sensors can be as low as 3 Pa with a low energy consumption of ∼1 μW at a low bias voltage of 1 V; moreover, these sensors exhibit a short response time of 50 ms with a high sensitivity of 50.9 kPa−1 at 3–1000 Pa and high stability even after 20 000 loading–unloading cycles. In addition, different applications of our flexible sensor in detecting blood pulse, swallowing, skin pulling, and articular activities were demonstrated when the sensor was attached to the human body. Furthermore, by an efficient scalable fabrication process, a large-area integrated pressure sensor array was demonstrated, and it enabled patterning of the mapped spatial pressure distribution as well as large-area monitoring of body pressure, pulses, and human actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Escherichia coli OmpT, located in the outer membrane, has been characterized as a plasminogen activator, with the ability to hydrolyze protamine and block its entry. In this investigation, a complex of low molecular weight cationic peptides purified from human urine by a combination of membrane ultrafiltration and weak cation exchange chromatography was characterized. The impact of OmpT on E. coli resistance to urinary cationic peptides was investigated by testing ompT knockout strains. The ompT mutants were more susceptible to urinary cationic peptides than ompT strains, and this difference was abolished by complementation of the mutants with pUC19 carrying the ompT gene. The urinary protease inhibitor ulinastatin greatly decreased the resistance of the ompT strains. Overall, the data indicate that OmpT may help E. coli persist longer in the urinary tract by enabling it to resist the antimicrobial activity of urinary cationic peptides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, three-dimensional (3D) CoMoSe4 nanosheet arrays on network fibers of a carbon cloth denoted as CoMoSe4@C converted directly from CoMoO4 nanosheet arrays prepared by a hydrothermal process followed by the plasma-assisted selenization at a low temperature of 450 °C as an anode for sodium-ion battery (SIB) were demonstrated for the first time. With the plasma-assisted treatment on the selenization process, oxygen (O) atoms can be replaced by selenium (Se) atoms without the degradation on morphology at a low selenization temperature of 450 °C. Owing to the high specific surface area from the well-defined 3D structure, high electron conductivity, and bi-metal electrochemical activity, the superior performance with a large sodium-ion storage of 475 mA h g−1 under 0.5–3 V potential range at 0.1 A g−1 was accomplished by using this CoMoSe4@C as the electrode. Additionally, the capacity retention was well maintained over 80 % from the second cycle, exhibiting a satisfied capacity of 301 mA h g−1 even after 50 cycles. The work delivered a new approach to prepare a binary transition metallic selenide and definitely enriches the possibilities for promising anode materials in SIBs with high performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]