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Among biological fluids, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) not only protects and support brain, but also plays a pivotal role in intracerebral interaction of various nano-drug carriers. However, it is still uncertain how protein corona from CSF affects the targeting capability of functionalized nanoparticles (NPs). So, two types of polystyrene NPs, including PEGylated polystyrene NPs (PN) and transferrin (Tf)-modified PN (PT), were used to obtain protein corona-coated NPs, by incubating with CSF in vivo and in vitro. Strikingly, both the corona-coated NPs recovered in vivo and in vitro completely lost their active targeting characteristics towards bEnd.3 and C6 cells. Charge-, clathrin- and energy-mediated endocytosis contributed to the improved uptake efficiency of PT, whereas this enhancement in uptake of PT was disappeared after the formation of CSF protein corona. Moreover, serum albumin, which were found both in vivo and in vitro CSF corona, could mediate and facilitate the internalization of corona-coated NPs. Overall, these results have distinctly confirmed that the formation of CSF protein corona could cause the loss of active targeting specificity by shielding the targeting groups on the surface of polystyrene NPs and alter their cellular uptake by other non-specific internalization pathways.

Current olivine structure LiFePO4 possesses poor conductivity, which makes it unsuitable for unparalleled battery applications. This issue can be solved by improved design concepts of binder systems. Herein, an original waterborne binder polymer with efficient functional groups is designed and fabricated for LiFePO4 cathodes of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Compared to universal lithiated ionomer binders, the introduction of the zwitterionic structure of the ionomer enhances the ionic conductivity by nearly 100-fold. LiFePO4 cathodes assembled with limited 1.5 wt% lithiated zwitterionic ionomer (LZI) maintain markedly stable cycling performances with 95.62% retention at 1C after 250 cycles. Also, LZI-cathodes preserve good integrity structures after cycling, as confirmed by morphology analysis. In sum, LZI-cathodes look promising for potential applications in LIBs due to their numerous advantageous characteristics.

A promoting effect of hydroxyls on silicon surface to the decomposition of electrolyte is discovered by comparing the performance of silicon-hydroxyl (Si-OH) and silicon-alkyl (Si-C3H7) electrodes....

In a natural basin, the vegetation can change the slope convergence and affect the surface runoff. Vegetation height may vary in an area, showing a two-layer combination of high and low collocation. This study aimed to understand the effects of double-layer vegetation in different submerged states on flow resistance. Plantings of vegetation at different heights may control landslides and contribute to soil and water conservation. This study explored the water flow resistance characteristics of double-layer vegetation at different heights. A plastic bar was used to simulate rigid vegetation, and an indoor channel fixed bed experiment was used to simulate vegetation with different heights of 5 cm and 7 cm, 5 cm and 8 cm, 5 cm and 9 cm, and 5 cm and 10 cm. By analyzing the relationship between the Darcy–Weisbach resistance coefficient (f) and water depth (h), it was concluded that when the vegetation is in a non-submerged state, f and h satisfy f= 5.6427 h+ 0.0245. When the water depth just submerges the low vegetation, f changes abruptly, and f and h satisfy the relationship f= 3.4075 h + 0.0021. When the water depth is the same as the height of high vegetation, f attains the maximum value. In addition, the flow resistance f increases by 0.03 with a 1 cm increase in the vegetation height h. When the vegetation is completely submerged, f is negatively correlated with h.

Silicon is regarded as the next-generation alternative anode material of lithium–ion battery due to the highest theoretical specific capacity of 4200 mAh g−1. Nevertheless, the drastic volume expansion/shrink (~ 300%) during the lithiation/delithiation process and the poor electrical conductivity obstruct its commercial application. Herein, we report a novel design of litchi-structural Si@C nanoparticles (L-S Si@C) as long cycle life anode material for lithium–ion battery. The L-S Si@C with nanosized (~ 50 nm) SiC dispersed in the inner surface and ~ 6 wt% carbon layer covering the outer surface delivers a specific capacity of 1145 mAh g−1 in the initial cycle and maintains a specific capacity of 570 mAh g−1 after 300th cycling times, which can be attributed to the specially structurally stable L-S Si@C nanoparticles.

This study explored the effects of different particle sizes of rice straw biochar (RSB) on the methane emissions of pig manure/wheat straw aerobic composting experiments to provide a theoretical suggestion for biochar application. The experiments were conducted with a control group, powder (1 mm) group, and granular (4 mm-1 cm) group. Methane emissions increased by 56.84% in the powder group but decreased by 22.15% in the granular group during the aerobic composting. Methane was generated by methanogens and methanotrophs in the specific anaerobic micro-environment characterized by X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). The porosity of initial composting samples increased by 4.02% in the granular group but decreased by 3.88% in the powder group. RSB additives typically reduced the mcrA/pmoA ratio and increased the diversity of Bacteria and Archaea. Conclusively, granular biochar benefits to aerobic composting to alleviate the CH

The modification of targeting ligands on nanoparticles (NPs) is anticipated to enhance the delivery of therapeutics to diseased tissues. However, once exposed to the blood stream, NPs can immediately adsorb proteins to form the "protein corona," which may greatly hinder the targeting ligand from binding to its receptor. For brain-targeting delivery, nanotherapeutics must traverse the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to enter the brain parenchyma and then target the diseased cells. However, it remains elusive whether, apart from receptor recognition, the protein corona can affect other processes involved in BBB transcytosis, such as endocytosis, intracellular trafficking, and exocytosis. Furthermore, the targeting ability of NPs toward diseased cells after transcytosis remains unclear. Herein, transferrin (Tf), a brain-targeting ligand, was coupled to NPs to evaluate BBB transcytosis and brain tumor targeting ability. Different impacts of the in vitro and in vivo protein corona on receptor targeting, lysosomal escape, and BBB transcytosis were found. The in vitro protein corona abolished the Tf-mediated effects of the abovementioned processes, whereas the in vivo protein corona attenuated these effects. After crossing the BBB, Tf retained its targeting specificity towards brain tumor cells. Together, these results revealed that several bound apolipoproteins, especially apolipoprotein A-I, may help NPs traverse the BBB, thereby providing novel insights into the development of brain-targeted delivery.

The poor conductivity of olivine structure LiFePO4 led to inevitable hindered electrochemical performances and restricted their uses in Li-ion batteries. To overcome the problem, introduction of co...

The commercial application of silicon anodes in Li-ion batteries has been seriously hindered by their poor cycling stability because of their huge volume changes during cycling. In this paper a self-healing ionomer binder, as a crosslinked lithiated polymer, is designed and synthesized for Si/graphite anodes with a low binder content of 1.8 wt%. The self-healing ionomer binder can form hydrogen bonds with Si and graphite particles, which can effectively control the swelling of the electrodes and retain the integrity of the electrodes upon cycling. In addition, Li+ in molecule chains can shorten the pathway to the surface of active materials. After cycling, the thickness of the electrodes using a self-healing ionomer binder increases by only about 30%. The self-healing ionomer binder enables enhanced cycling retention and can be used as a significant potential candidate for Si/graphite anodes with a commercial areal capacity of 3 mA h cm−2.

Silicon is regarded as the next generation anode material for lithium-ion batteries because of its high specific capacity, low intercalation potential and abundant reserves. However, huge volume changes during the lithiation and delithiation processes and low electrical conductivity obstruct the practical applications of silicon anodes. In this study, a treble-shelled porous silicon (TS-P-Si) structure was synthesized via a three-step approach. The TS-P-Si anode delivered a capacity of 858.94 mA h g−1 and a capacity retention of 87.8% (753.99 mA h g−1) after being subjected to 400 cycles at a current density of 400 mA g−1. The good cycling performance was due to the unique structure of the inner silicon oxide layer, middle silver nano-particle layer and outer carbon layer, leading to a good conductivity and a decreased volume change of this silicon-based anode.

A novel sensing strategy for sensitive detection of mucin 1 protein (MUC1) based on deoxyribonuclease I-aided target recycling signal amplification was proposed. In this paper, in the absence of MUC1, the MUC1 aptamer is absorbed on the surface of graphene oxide (GO) via π-stacking interactions. This results in quenching of the fluorescent label and no fluorescence signal is observed. Upon adding MUC1, the probe sequences could be specifically recognized by MUC1, leading to an increase in the fluorescence intensity. The detection limit is as low as 10 pg mL−1, and a linear range from 50 pg mL−1 to 100 ng mL−1. The assay is specific and sensitive, and successfully applied to the determination of MUC1 in spiked human serum, urine and saliva. Importantly, the proposed aptasensing strategy has great potential in detecting various protein and even cancer cells.

Nano-sized silicon is a potential high energy density anode material for lithium ion batteries. However, the practical use of a nano-Si anode is still challenging due to its low coulombic efficiency, poor scalability and cycling stability. Herein, a Si/graphite/carbon (Si–G/C) composite with a core–shell structure was fabricated by a facile two-step chemical process, stirring–evaporating followed by heat treatment. The composite structure consists of a graphite core, coated first by silicon and then amorphous carbon, which was decomposed by pitch. The as-prepared Si–G/C composite anode demonstrates a first cycle capacity of about 650 mA h g−1, over 90% coulombic efficiency, and high capacity retention of 96.7% after 50 cycles. When paired with a commercial NCA cathode, superior cycling stability with more than 81% capacity retention was achieved for 1200 cycles. These results demonstrate that such a core–shell Si–G/C composite is a promising anode material for high energy Li-ion batteries.

This study establishes an optimal mathematical modelling to rationally describe the dynamic changes and spatial distribution of temperature and oxygen concentration in the aerobic composting process using coupling mass-heat-momentum transfer based on the microbial mechanism. Two different conditional composting experiments, namely continuous aeration and intermittent aeration, were performed to verify the proposed model. The results show that the model accurately predicted the dynamic changes in temperature (case I: R2 = 0.93, RMSE = 1.95 K; case II: R2 = 0.86, RMSE = 4.69 K) and oxygen concentration (case I: R2 = 0.90, RMSE = 1.26%; case II: R2 = 0.75, RMSE = 2.93%) in the central point of compost substrates. It also systematically simulated fluctuations in oxygen concentration caused by boundary conditions and the spatial distribution of the actual temperature and oxygen concentration. The proposed model exhibits good applicability in simulating the actual working conditions of aerobic composting process.

This study investigated the effects of biochar powder on oxygen supply efficiency and global warming potential (GWP) in the large-scale aerobic composting pattern which includes cyclical forced-turning with aeration at the bottom of composting tanks in China. A 55-day large-scale aerobic composting experiment was conducted in two different groups without and with 10% biochar powder addition (by weight). The results show that biochar powder improves the holding ability of oxygen, and the duration time (O2 >5%) is around 80%. The composting process with above pattern significantly reduce CH4 and N2O emissions compared to the static or turning-only styles. Considering the average GWP of the BC group was 19.82% lower than that of the CK group, it suggests that rational addition of biochar powder has the potential to reduce the energy consumption of turning, improve effectiveness of the oxygen supply, and reduce comprehensive greenhouse effects.