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In this paper, ultralong ZnO nanowires were prepared on the surfaces of nickel foams and zinc foils by a hydrothermal method. The photocatalytic activities of ZnO nanowires grown on nickel foams have been tested by the degradation of Rhodamine B solution and using ZnO nanowires grown on zinc foils as the reference. The results indicate that the photocatalytic performance of ZnO nanowires grown on nickel foams is better than those grown on zinc foils. The results are mainly due to the fact that nickel foam is a three-dimensional scaffold structure, which provides large surface area for ZnO nanowire growth. More importantly, the photocatalytic circulation experiments indicate that ZnO nanowires grown on nickel foams are stable and reusable. In addition, the photocatalytic reaction rates can be enhanced by the use of multi-layer of nickel foams with ZnO nanowires grown on their surfaces.

Mg-based materials are very promising candidates for hydrogen storage. In this paper, the graphene supported Ni was introduced to the Mg90Al10 system by hydrogenation synthesis (HS) and mechanical milling (MM). The 80 wt%Ni@Gn catalyst was synthesized by a facile chemical reduction method. The microstructures of the catalyst and composite show that Ni nanoparticles are well supported on the surface of graphene and they are dispersed uniformly on the surface of MgH2 particles. After heating to 450 °C and holding at 340 °C for 2 h subsequently under 2.0 MPa hydrogen pressure, all the samples are almost completely hydrogenated. According to the temperature programmed desorption test, the Mg90Al10-8(80 wt%Ni@Gn) composite could desorb 5.85 wt% H2 which comes up to 96% of the theoretical hydrogen storage capacity. Moreover, it shows the optimal hydriding/dehydriding performance, absorbing 5.11 wt% hydrogen within 400 s at 523 K, and desorbing 5.81 wt% hydrogen within 1800 s at 573 K.

Considering the fact that large surface areas and fast electron transport properties of photoanodes play an essential role in determining dye sensitized solar cell efficiency. A centrifugation-assisted method was designed to fabricate nanoparticle decorated hierarchical nanowire arrays. The hierarchical nanostructure arrays enable the fast charge transport properties of the photoanode. At the same time, the nanoparticles and the hierarchical nanostructures work together to guarantee the large surface areas of the photoanodes. During the fabrication process, TiO2 hierarchical nanowire arrays were firstly fabricated on fluorine doped tin oxide substrates via a hydrothermal method and then nanoparticles were deposited subsequently in the interval spaces among the neighboring nanostructures. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to characterize the morphology and structure of the obtained products, respectively. The results show that the nanoparticles do deposit in the interval spaces among the hierarchical nanowires forming a hybrid structure composed of anatase and rutile TiO2. The obtained nanoparticle decorated hierarchical nanowire arrays have been successfully applied in dye sensitized solar cells. A power conversion efficiency of 5.52% was achieved with the photoanode film thickness of about 20 µm.

A novel embedded Mg-based hydrogen storage nanocomposite was prepared by mechanical milling of hydriding combustion synthesized (HCS) Mg-based hydride and hydrogen permissive/oxygen prohibitive polymer. The Mg-based hydride was mechanically milled with tetrahydrofuran solution of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) under argon atmosphere. It is determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis that the average grain size of all the milled nanocomposites become smaller and the nanocomposites exhibit a good air-stable property. The microstructures of the nanocomposites obtained by Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analyses show that Mg95Ni5 particles embedded by PMMA have a diameter of smaller than 100 nm, approximately. The nanocomposites show the optimal hydriding/dehydriding properties, requiring 60 min to absorb 3.37 wt.% hydrogen at low temperature of 473 K, and desorbing as high as 1.02 wt.% hydrogen within 120 min at the same temperature. The onset dehydriding temperature of the composites is about 373 K, which is 150 K lower than that of HCS products Mg95Ni5.

Purpose To investigate the condylar morphology after closed treatment of unilateral intracapsular condylar fracture in children and adolescents through three-dimensional evaluation and to explore the influence of age, types of fracture, follow-up period, treatment methods, and concomitant fractures on the treatment effectiveness. Materials and methods The medical records of patients who underwent closed treatment for condylar fractures from January 2006 to December 2018 were reviewed. The fractured sides were included in the study group and the opposite healthy joints were included in the control group. The height of articular eminence, depth of glenoid fossa, length & width & thickness of condylar process, length & width of the ramus, and deviation of pogonion were measured three-dimensionally. Results 31 participants were included in the study. The length of condylar process was 2.10±3.77 mm (P=0.004) shorter, the depth of glenoid fossa was 1.09±2.13 mm (P=0.040) shallower, and the length of ramus was 1.55±2.49 mm (P=0.002) longer in fractured side than the ones in healthy side after closed treatment. The pogonion deviated 0.48±1.7 mm to the fractured side, but no statistical significance was found (P=0.129). Conclusions Children had great growth potential to compensate the shortening of condylar process after intracapsular condylar fracture, so closed treatment could be an effective therapy for young children and adolescents.

This study investigated the effect of different specific surface area micronized zinc oxide (ZnO) on growth performance, zinc (Zn) tissue content, jejunal morphology, jejunal antioxidative status, and intestinal mucosa barrier-related gene expression in meat ducks. A total of 480 one-day-old Cherry Valley ducks were randomly divided into 4 dietary treatments, which each had 12 replicates; therefore, each replicate consisted of 10 ducks. Experimental diets included the basal diet supplemented with ZnSO4 (control group) and 3 different treatments of specific surface area micronized ZnO, in which the specific surface area was either 11.30 m2/g (S-mZnO), 20.90 m2/g (M-mZnO), or 34.02 m2/g (L-mZnO). The amount of Zn extra supplementation in the 4 diets was 120 mg/kg of diet. The experiment lasted for 35 D. The results showed that supplementation of M-mZnO significantly increased (P0.05) the BW (35 D), the BW gain (14 to 35 and 1 to 35 D), the jejunal crypt depth, and mRNA expression of zonula occludens-3, mucin 2, and secretory immunoglobulin A of ducks, while the feed-to-gain ratio (14 to 35 and 1 to 35 D) significantly decreased (P0.05) when compared to the control and the other 2 supplementation groups. Furthermore, compared with control group, the hepatic Zn content and the jejunal superoxide dismutase activity in the 3 micronized ZnO groups were significantly increased (P0.05), and the Zn content in the pancreas tended to increase (P = 0.051). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that M-mZnO as a dietary supplement can improve the growth performance of meat ducks by increasing the Zn tissue content and improving intestinal morphology, antioxidative status, and physical, chemical, and immunological barrier function.

The filtration characteristics of untreated sewage sludge, thermal alkaline pretreated and anaerobic fermented sewage sludge were investigated in the process of fatty acids production. The filtration resistance, viscosity, particle size, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and soluble microbial products (SMP) were determined to identify the filtration characteristics of the sewage sludge. The results indicated that thermal alkaline pretreatment significantly increased the filtration resistance and viscosity of the sewage sludge, while anaerobic fermentation decreased the filtration resistance. The particle size of the sewage sludge decreased after pretreatment and fermentation. Moreover, the EPS concentration in the sludge sharply decreased after thermal alkaline pretreatment and then increased after the following fermentation. The mechanism of the increase of sludge filtration resistance after pretreatment could be attributed to the release of EPS from the microbial cells of the sludge. The degradation and conversion of SMP into volatile fatty acids could explain the decrease in the filtration resistance after fermentation.