Search

Vitiligo is the most common cause of depigmentation worldwide, with immunosuppressive treatments often being inefficient and prone to recurrence, making it essential to identify new therapeutic targets. Periplakin (PPL) has been identified and confirmed as a key factor in vitiligo-related depigmentation. Based on this, a series of selective PPL agonists, specifically benzenesulfonamides, have been developed. Among these, compound I-3exhibits superior efficacy compared to ruxolitinib, the only FDA-approved treatment for vitiligo. I-3has been shown to increase cAMP levels by regulating PPL, which enhances MITF expression, a key transcription factor in melanin biosynthesis. Additionally, I-3promotes melanin production by regulating tryptophan metabolism. In summary, PPL is a promising drug target, and I-3has strong potential for future treatment of vitiligo due to its high selectivity and favorable druggability.

Dark-field microscopy (DFM) imaging based on plasmonic metal nanoparticles has garnered significant attention. Here, we exploit the susceptibility of MnO2to reduction to modulate the local dielectric environment of an Au nanoparticle core through the etching/antietching effects of specific targets on the encapsulated MnO2shell. The presence of d-penicillamine promotes MnO2etching, while the chelation of d-penicillamine with Cu2+effectively inhibits this etching. By recording the Cu2+-induced color shift of scattered light from orange to bright green at the single-particle level and performing the statistical analysis of the green-to-red (G/R) values in DFM images, we achieved quantitative determination of Cu2+with a wide linear range (0.1–10 μM) and a low limit of detection (4.55 nM). With the facile and reliable Cu2+assay in real-world samples exemplifying the practicality of the single-particle nanoplasmonic imaging method, this work may inspire future DFM-based investigations of nanoshell etching inhibition processes.

Soot particles, coming from the incomplete combustion of fossil or biomass fuels, feature a core–shell structure with inner elemental carbon (EC) and outer organic carbon (OC). Both EC and OC are known to be photoactive under solar radiation. However, research on their coupling effect during photochemical aging remains limited. This study examines how the optical properties and oxidative potential (OP) of wood, coal, and diesel soot particles with varying EC and OC levels are affected by exposure to visible light. Wood soot, which has the highest OC content, showed the most significant changes in both optical properties and OP, indicating its highest sensitivity to visible light aging. Molecular composition analysis revealed that the reduction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and methyl-PAHs primarily affects the optical properties, while oxygenated PAHs play a major role in OP. Combined with the results from reactive oxygen species detection, it is suggested that EC initiates photoreactions by generating superoxide anions, while OC undergoes compositional changes that result in subsequent atmospheric effects. These findings enhance our understanding of the photochemical aging process of soot particles and their implications for climate and health.

Transdermal drug delivery systems are highly appealing as a convenient drug delivery manner applicable to a wide variety of drugs. While most delivery relies on only passive diffusion and suffers low transdermal efficiencies. Ultrasound motivation promotes drug transdermal penetration but still calls for improvement, because only a thin proportion of the ultrasound energy is applied on the drug delivery patch and most ultrasound energy is wasted in deeper portions of biotissues. In this work, we develop a transdermal patch for enhanced drug delivery. The combination of microsized air pockets and the piezoelectric soft structure enable the conversion of an intended proportion of ultrasound energy into electric energy. The intensified drug flow and synergistic ultrasound pressure and electric field function simultaneously to enhance drug transdermal delivery. The delivery efficacy is related to the power of the ultrasound motivation, the size of the microscopic air pockets, and the chemical structure of the drug molecules. The temperature of the patch within the delivery process remains in the safe range, and the mild temperature elevation causes color changes of the thermochromic patch, used to indicate effective ultrasound–patch matching. A model delivery patch for pain release is constructed, and animal experiments indicate that the drug blood concentrations are 100% higher than the delivery using only ultrasound and even more remarkably enhanced when compared to only electric-field-motivated delivery or static delivery without external motivations.

• RGO itself can act as a standalone metal-free thermal-assisted photocatalyst. • RGO photo-to-thermal effect facilitates photocatalytic reduction of CO 2. • Thermal-assisted effect combined with heterojunction for efficient CO 2 reduction. • S-scheme heterojunction in RGO/H-CN facilitate efficient electron transfer. Carbon dioxide (CO 2) can be reduced to high-value fuels using the photocatalysis (PC) technique, which holds immense potential for tackling environmental issues and energy crises. The construction of metal-free photocatalyst capable of utilizing infrared light to execute thermal-assisted photocatalysis (TPC) remains a challenge. In this study, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) with full-spectrum absorption was used as a thermal-assisted photocatalyst in CO 2 reduction. It exhibited higher CO 2 reduction efficiency under the visible and infrared irradiation than the sole visible irradiation. RGO-5 (GO treated at 120 °C for 5 h) presented the highest defect density and C-OH/C-O-C content, leading to the best PC and TPC efficiencies. RGO was further engineered with HCl protonated g-C 3 N 4 (H-CN) to obtain two-dimensional heterojunction RGO/H-CN, which demonstrated the S-scheme charge transfer process. Owing to the synergistic effect of heterojunction and thermal assistance, RGO/H-CN exhibited better CO 2 reduction efficiencies in both PC and TPC than RGO. The largest yields of CO and CH 4 were achieved in 15% RGO/H-CN. This research provides new insights for applying RGO as thermal-assisted heterojunction photocatalyst for efficient CO 2 reduction. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D-printed Porous Titanium Alloy Implants (pTi), owing to their biologically inertness and relatively smooth surface morphology, adversely affect the biological functions of surrounding cells. To address the challenges, constructing a bioinspired interface that mimics the hierarchical structure of bone tissue can enhance the cellular functions of cells. In this context, Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles (HMSNs), renowned for their unique physicochemical properties and superior biocompatibility, offer a promising direction for this research. In this research, the initially synthesized HMSNs were used to construct a “hollow-mesoporous-macroporous” hierarchical bioinspired coating on the pTi surface through the Layer-by-Layer technique. Simultaneously, diverse morphologies of coatings were established by adjusting the deposition strategy of PDDA/HMSNs on the pTi surface (pTi-HMSN-2, pTi-HMSN-4, pTi-HMSN-6). A range of techniques were employed to investigate the physicochemical properties and regulation of cellular biological functions of the diverse HMSN coating strategies. Notably, the pTi-HMSN-4 and pTi-HMSN-6 groups exhibited the uniform coatings, leading to a substantial enhancement in surface roughness and hydrophilicity. Meantime, the coating constructed strategy of pTi-HMSN-4 possessed commendable stability. Based on the aforementioned findings, both pTi-HMSN-4 and pTi-HMSN-6 facilitated the adhesion, spreading, and pseudopodia extension of BMSCs, which led to a notable upsurge in the expression levels of vinculin protein in BMSCs. Comprehensive analysis indicates that the coating, when PDDA/HMSNs are deposited four times, possesses favorable overall performance. The research will provide a solid theoretical basis for the translation of HMSN bioinspired coatings for orthopedic implants.

Despite its prevalence in experiments, the influence of complex strain on material properties remains understudied due to the lack of effective simulation methods. Here, the effects of bending, rippling, and bubbling on the ferroelectric domains are investigated in an In2Se3monolayer by density functional theory and deep learning molecular dynamics simulations. Since the ferroelectric switching barrier can be increased (decreased) by tensile (compressive) strain, automatic polarization reversal occurs in α-In2Se3with a strain gradient when it is subjected to bending, rippling, or bubbling deformations to create localized ferroelectric domains with varying sizes. The switching dynamics depends on the magnitude of curvature and temperature, following an Arrhenius-style relationship. This study not only provides a promising solution for cross-scale studies using deep learning but also reveals the potential to manipulate local polarization in ferroelectric materials through strain engineering.

Free-piston linear generators (FPLGs) without a crank mechanism are promising to be used in hybrid vehicles due to their unique operation characteristics. However, the FPLG currently still faces challenges in the start-up and piston control. In this article, the start-up and operation process of FPLG are analyzed deeply and the improved thrust control strategies for the linear electric machine are presented accordingly. First, the mechanism that the vibration center shifts under the general constant thrust resonance starting method is revealed, considering the asymmetric potential energy caused by nonlinear compression spring effect in the combustion chamber. Then, a compensation thrust iteratively adjusted by the vibration offset is added to stabilize the swing center during start-up. Next, the coupling effect between the dead centers under single-stroke independent thrust control method is analyzed by modeling the piston motion from the aspect of energy flow. Accordingly, an improved thrust control method for coupling suppression is presented to enhance the accuracy and robustness of piston motion. Finally, the performance of the proposed method is verified by controlling a permanent-magnet linear synchronous machine in experiments and simulations.

Free-piston linear generator (FPLG) is considered as a potential technology in the field of hybrid vehicles due to its unique operation characteristics. However, the special structure of no crank-link also leads to the difficulty of piston control. In the presence of frequent combustion variations, the stable operation of FPLG is the biggest challenge it currently faces. In this respect, this article presents a robust piston control method by progressively updating thrust-position trajectory (PUT-PT) of permanent-magnet linear synchronous machine (PMLSM) in FPLG. According to the target points and desired speed, the required motor thrust is obtained based on the energy balance relationship. The calculation of thrust is repeated with a certain position interval in the whole target stroke, so as to obtain the updating thrust-position trajectory. A high-order fast terminal sliding-mode load force observer (HOFTSM-LFO) is designed to estimate the combustion work of an engine based on thermodynamics. Finally, a thrust compensation mechanism is added to the control scheme to counteract modeling errors to maintain high-precision dead centers positions. A sufficient theoretical analysis is provided with an emphasis on thrust calculation and observer design. The performance of the PUT-PT is successfully verified on an 18 kW PMLSM motion platform and a simulated single-cylinder FPLG.

The knowledge of the chemical composition of brown carbon (BrC) is limited to the categories of components or parts of specific organic components. In this paper, the light-absorbing properties and molecular compositions of lipid-soluble organic components in fine particulate matter of Beijing from 2016 to 2018, characterized by an ultraviolet–visible spectrometer and gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry, respectively, were combined to untargetedly screen the key BrC molecules by a partial least squares regression model for the first time. A total of 421 molecules were obtained, where 61 molecules were identified qualitatively and 22 molecules quantitatively. To the best of our knowledge, 11 molecules were newly identified BrC species. These qualitative molecules included polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with higher ambient concentrations and mass absorbing efficiencies (MAEs), as well as oxygen- and nitrogen-containing aromatic components with relatively lower concentrations and MAEs. The absorption contribution at 365 nm of quantified BrC species to lipid-soluble BrC during heating seasons was 39.1 ± 17.0%, which was about 5 times as high as previous studies. These results help establish a complete BrC molecular database and provide data support for better evaluating the climate effect of atmospheric carbonaceous aerosols and formulating air pollution control strategies.

The analytical model of a novel axial reluctance resolver based on finite element method and winding function method is proposed in this paper. The developed resolver is composed of a rotor with half-wave magnetic-bands and a stator with parallel teeth, which can simplify the manufacturing process and convenient for mass production. The anti-interference of the sinusoidal distributed winding configuration is verified using winding function method, and the results of the proposed method under constant and sinusoidal distributed winding configurations are compared with the finite element method in terms of accuracy and computation costs. Additionally, the robustness of the half-wave resolver in the case of axial offset is illustrated and verified with theoretical explanation and numerical simulation. The accuracy of the proposed resolver under healthy and offset conditions are compared and summarized. Compared with the traditional resolver, the half-wave axial reluctance resolver has simpler processing, higher precision and stronger anti-interference. Finally, the results of simulation and the theoretical analysis verified the success of design and analysis processing.

It is known that there are semiconductor oxides involved in mineral dust, which have photocatalytic properties. However, soot particles contained in carbonaceous aerosol and their photoactivity under sunlight are rarely realized. In this study, reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as superoxide anions and hydroxyl radicals were generated upon visible-light irradiation of soot particles, and the production activity was consistent with the carbonaceous core content, indicating that the atmospheric soot particles can serve as a potential photocatalyst. The increase of oxygen-containing functional groups, environmentally persistent free radicals, oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and the oxidative potential (OP) of soot after irradiation confirmed the occurrence of visible-light-triggered photocatalytic oxidation of the soot itself. The mechanism analyses suggested that the carbonaceous core caused the production of ROS, which subsequently oxidize the extractable organic species on the soot surface. It is oxidized organic extracts that are responsible for the enhancements of the OP, cell mortality, and intracellular ROS generation. These new findings shed light on both the photocatalytic role of the soot and the importance of ROS during the photochemical self-oxidation of soot triggered by visible light and will promote a more comprehensive understanding of both the atmospheric chemical behavior and health effects of soot particles.

The rapid growth in the storage scale of wide-area distributed file systems (DFS) calls for fast and scalable metadata management. Metadata replication is the widely used technique for improving the performance and scalability of metadata management. Because of the POSIX requirement of file systems, many existing metadata management techniques utilize a costly design for the sake of metadata consistency, leading to unacceptable performance overhead. We propose a new metadata consistency maintenance method (ICCG), which includes an incremental consistency guaranteed directory tree synchronization (ICGDT) and a causal consistency guaranteed replica index synchronization (CCGRI), to ensure system performance without sacrificing metadata consistency. ICGDT uses a flexible consistency scheme based on the state of files and directories maintained through the conflict state tree to provide an incremental consistency for metadata, which satisfies both metadata consistency and performance requirements. CCGRI ensures low latency and consistent access to data by establishing a causal consistency for replica indexes through multi-version extent trees and logical time. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods. Compared with the strong consistency policies widely used in modern DFSes, our methods significantly improve the system performance. For example, in file creation, ICCG can improve the performance of directory tree operations by at least 36.4 times.

Direct Z-scheme heterojunctions can exhibit enhanced redox capacity in redox reactions compared to conventional heterojunctions. In this study, BiOI/Bi2O3Z-scheme heterojunctions were synthesized by a facile co-precipitation and calcination method using BiOI as a precursor, and its photocatalytic activity was investigated by degrading tetracycline antibiotics in aqueous environment. Under visible light, the degradation efficiency of tetracycline reached 80.01 % and the photocatalytic degradation rate constant reached 0.0116 min−1when the molar ratio of Bi and I in BiOI/Bi2O3composites was 1:1, which were 2.8 and 4.8 times higher than that of pristine BiOI (0.0041 min−1) and Bi2O3(0.0024 min−1), respectively. The heterojunctions exposed excellent stability that maintained at 78.80 % after four cyclic tests. The ascendant photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the formation of direct Z-scheme heterojunctions, which improves the separation and transfer efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs, and ·O2-is the main active substance in the degradation process. This research provides a green and convenient method for preparing photocatalytic heterojunctions, which is conducive to promoting the development of photocatalytic degradation of refractory pollutants under visible light.

Environmental health research aims to identify environmental conditions suitable for the healthy living and reproduction of human beings. Through the interdisciplinary research bridging environmental sciences and health/medical sciences, the impacts of physical, chemical, and biological environmental factors on human health are investigated. This includes identifying environmental factors detrimental to human health, evaluating human exposure characteristics to environmental factors, clarifying causal relationships between environmental exposure and health effects, analyzing the underlying biochemical mechanisms, linking environmental factors to the onset and progression of diseases, establishing exposure-response relationships, and determining effect thresholds. Ultimately, the results of environmental health research can serve as a scientific basis for formulating environmental management strategies and guiding prevention and intervention measures at both the public and individual levels. This paper summarizes the recent advances and future perspectives of environmental health research in China, as reported by a group of Chinese scientists who recently attended a workshop in Hainan, China. While it is not intended to provide a comprehensive review of this expansive field, it offers a glimpse into the significant progress made in understanding the health impacts of environmental factors over the past decade. Looking ahead, it is imperative not only to sustain efforts in studying the health effects of traditional environmental pollution, but also to prioritize research on the health impacts of emerging pollutants and climate change.

• GO or rGO can be used as sole photocatalyst for Cr(Ⅵ) reduction under visible light. • UV-irradiation modified the structure and improved photocatalytic activity of GO. • 1h-irradiated GO exhibits good repeatability and the highest photocatalytic efficiency. • Defect density and sp2 domains are the key factors for photocatalytic activity of GO. Graphene oxide (GO), a new and promising material, has been widely used as a co-catalyst in photocatalytic reactions; however, its capacity as a sole photocatalyst has rarely been investigated. In this study, ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation was used as a modification method to obtain reduced GO (rGO) samples. The samples were used as photocatalysts to examine their visible light photocatalytic activity toward hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) removal. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis spectrophotometry, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy were applied to interpret the surface and structure changes with UV irradiation. The oxygen-containing functional groups (OFGs) on the GO surface were reduced to defective carbons and π-conjugated C=C (sp2 domains) under UV light; this led to a decrease in the interlayer distance between GO sheets, GO fragmentation, and increased disorder on the GO surface. The restoration of sp2 domains led to a narrower band gap of GO, which favored the rGO excitation by visible light to generate electron-hole pairs. The rGO pre-irradiated with UV for 1h (rGO-1), possessing the highest defect density and electron generation efficiency, exhibited the best Cr(VI) reduction efficiency, which was about three times that of the GO sample; moreover, it outperformed most of the reported GO-based nanomaterials. In addition, low pH and the addition of citric acid as a hole scavenger could further improve the photocatalytic activity. This study proves that GO or rGO can be used as a sole photocatalyst under visible light to remove environmental pollutants such as heavy-metal ions, and it paves the way for the development of this kind of material and its UV-irradiation modification for further applications. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensively farmed crops used to experience numerous environmental stresses. Among these, shade and drought significantly influence the morpho-physiological and biochemical attributes of plants. However, the interactive effect of shade and drought on the growth and development of soybean under dense cropping systems has not been reported yet. This study investigated the interactive effect of PEG-induced osmotic stress and shade on soybean seedlings. The soybean cultivar viz., C-103 was subjected to PEG-induced osmotic stress from polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG-6000) under shading and non-shading conditions. PEG-induced osmotic stress significantly reduced the relative water contents, morphological parameters, carbohydrates and chlorophyll contents under both light environments. A significant increase was observed in osmoprotectants, reactive oxygen species and antioxidant enzymes in soybean seedlings. Henceforth, the findings revealed that, seedlings grown under non-shading conditions produced more malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide contents as compared to the shade-treated plants when subjected to PEG-induced osmotic stress. Likewise, the shaded plants accumulated more sugars and proline than non-shaded ones under drought stress. Moreover, it was found that non-shaded grown plants were more sensitive to PEG-induced osmotic stress than those exposed to shading conditions, which suggested that shade could boost the protective mechanisms against osmotic stress or at least would not exaggerate the adverse effects of PEG-induced osmotic stress in soybean seedlings.

Measuring the chemical composition of individual atmospheric aerosol particles can provide direct evidence of their heterogeneous reactions and mixing states in the atmosphere. In this study, micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to measure the chemical composition of 1200 individual atmospheric particles in 11 samples collected in Beijing air. (NH4)2SO4, NH4NO3, various minerals, carbonaceous species (soot and organics), and NaNO3were identified in the measured particles according to their characteristic Raman peaks. These species represented the main components of aerosol particles. In individual particles, NH4NO3and (NH4)2SO4either existed separately or were internally mixed. Possible reaction pathways of CaCO3particles in the atmosphere were proposed based on the results of this study and laboratory simulations on heterogeneous reactions in the literature. CaCO3reacted with N- and S-containing (nitrogen- and sulfur-containing) acidic gases to produce Ca(NO3)2and CaSO4. Ca(NO3)2further reacted with S-containing acidic gases and oxidants to produce CaSO4. Of the soot-containing particles, 23% were internal mixtures of soot and inorganic material. Of the organics-containing particles, 57% were internal mixtures of organic and inorganic materials. Micro-Raman spectroscopy directly identified functional groups and molecules in individual atmospheric particles under normal ambient conditions, rendering it a powerful tool for measuring the chemical composition of individual atmospheric particles with a diameter of ≥1.0 μm.

To ensure reliability and facilitate the strain engineering of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs), it is significant to understand their flexibility thoroughly. In this study, single-crystalline ZnO NWs with rich axial pyramidal I (π1) and prismatic stacking faults (SFs) are synthesized by a metal oxidation method. Bending properties of the as-synthesized ZnO NWs are investigated at the atomic scale using an in situhigh-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) technique. It is revealed that the SF-rich structures can foster multiple inelastic deformation mechanisms near room temperature, including active axial SFs’ migration, deformation twinning and detwinning process in the NWs with growth π1SFs, and prevalent nucleation and slip of perfect dislocations with a continuous increased bending strain, leading to tremendous bending strains up to 20% of the NWs. Our results record ultralarge bending deformations and provide insights into the deformation mechanisms of single-crystalline ZnO NWs with rich axial SFs.

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) ferroelectrics are core candidates for the development of next-generation non-volatile storage devices, which rely highly on ferroelectric stability and feasible approaches to manipulate the ferroelectric polarization and domain. Here, based on density functional theory calculations, we demonstrate that the bending deformation can not only manipulate the polarization direction and domain size of AgBiP2Se6monolayers but also significantly improve the ferroelectric stability. The ordered polarization in the bent AgBiP2Se6monolayers can be well maintained at a temperature of 200 K in molecular dynamics simulations; by contrast, it is broken at only 100 K for their freestanding counterparts. These phenomena can be attributed to synergic effects from the asymmetric strain energy induced by a strain gradient and a reduced migration barrier of Ag ions from convex to concave surfaces. More interestingly, a ferroelectric bubble can be induced in the monolayer under biaxial compression strain. This mechano-ferroelectric coupling represents a new mechanism and feasible route towards stabilization and polarization flip in 2D ferroelectrics.

Electric field tuning of magnetism is highly desirable for nanoelectronics, but volatility in electron spin manipulation presents a major challenge that needs urgent resolution. Here, we show by first-principles calculations that magnetism of metal porphyrazine (MPz) molecules can be effectively tuned by switching ferroelectric polarization of an adjacent In2Se3monolayer. The magnetic moments of TiPz and VPz (MnPz, FePz, and CoPz) decrease (increase) at one polarization but remain unchanged at reversed polarization. This intriguing phenomenon stems from distinct metal d-orbital occupation caused by electron transfer and energy-level shift associated with the polarization switch of the In2Se3monolayer. Moreover, the ferroelectric switch also tunes the underlying electronic properties, producing a metallic, half-metallic, or semiconducting state depending on polarization. These findings of robust ferroelectric tuning of magnetism and related electronic properties in MPz-adsorbed In2Se3hold great promise for innovative design and implementation in advanced magnetic memory storage, sensor, and spintronic devices.

Modifications of the physicochemical properties and oxidative potential (OP) of soot due to visible-light irradiation and its underlying mechanisms during atmospheric aging have not been elucidated. In this study, two types of soot obtained using different air/fuel ratios (A/F) were aged under visible light with or without ozone (O3) at an atmospherically relevant level in an environmental chamber. Physicochemical characteristics and OP of aged soot were systematically measured using the dithiothreitol (DTT) assay (OPDTT). Regardless of the presence of O3, visible light markedly promoted oxidation of soot, which led to consumption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, formation of oxygen-containing functional groups, and enhancement of OPDTTvalues. Compared to low-A/F soot, high-A/F soot contained more elemental carbon but less organic carbon and was more sensitive to visible light by exhibiting greater changes. It was proposed that elemental carbon in soot under visible-light irradiation initiated an inside-to-outside oxidation pathway, where reactive oxygen species played an important role. This study clarified the solar irradiation-triggered self-oxidation process in soot, which is important to its atmospheric and health effects.

Nanometer-thick transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted increasing research interest because of their exotic physical properties, but their high-yield and large-scale synthesis remains a challenge for their practical device applications. In this study, we realize the high-yield synthesis of nanometer-thick single-crystalline Mo(Te1–xSx)2plates by a facile chemical vapor deposition method. Adding S powders in the precursors can result in the products varying from well-faceted MoTe2hexagonal plates to irregular Mo(Te1–xSx)2plates with randomly stacked nanometer-thick layer steps. Moreover, their lateral dimension increases from several μm for binary MoTe2to several tens of μm for ternary Mo(Te1–xSx)2. More interestingly, such irregular Mo(Te1–xSx)2plates can form few layers by ultrasonic exfoliation. Our detailed electron microscopy analyses show that three kinds of S forms influence the ternary growth. In particular, elemental S8intercalations play an important role in the growth and exfoliation of ultrathin Mo(Te1–xSx)2plates. This study enriches the fundamental understanding of zero-valent intercalation in TMDs and provides a new insight into secure high-yield nanometer-thick TMDs, which is critical for practical applications.