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Co–N–C is a promising oxygen electrochemical catalyst due to its high stability and good durability. However, due to the limited adsorption ability improvement for oxygen-containing intermediates, it usually exhibits inadequate catalytic activity with 2-electron pathway and high selectivity of hydrogen peroxide. Herein, the adsorption of Co–N–C to these intermediates is modulated by constructing heterostructures using transition metals and their derivatives based on d-band theory. The heterostructured nanobelts with MoC core and pomegranate-like carbon shell consisting of Co nanoparticles and N dopant (MoC/Co–N–C) are engineered to successfully modulate the d band center of active Co–N–C sites, resulting in a remarkably enhanced electrocatalysis performance. The optimally performing MoC/Co–N–C exhibits outstanding bi-catalytic activity and stability for the oxygen electrochemistry, featuring a high wave-half potential of 0.865 V for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and low overpotential of 370 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at 10 mA cm−2. The zinc air batteries with the MoC/Co–N–C catalyst demonstrate a large power density of 180 mW cm−2 and a long cycling lifespan (2000 cycles). The density functional theory calculations with Hubbard correction (DFT + U) reveal the electron transferring from Co to Mo atoms that effectively modulate the d band center of the active Co sites and achieve optimum adsorption ability with “single site double adsorption” mode.

The development of non-precious based oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with outstanding catalytic performance is desirable but still a grand challenge for practical Al-air battery. Herein, we report a vulcanization-assisted pyrolysis strategy for creating zeolitic imidazolate framework-derived catalysts with a N, S co-doped carbon support and highly exposed ZnS and Zn-Nx sites. The trithiocyanuric acid (TCA) is found not only to introduce S into the carbon derived from ZIF-8 and ZnS to adjust the electronic structure of carbon matrix during the pyrolysis, but also result in a shrinkage of carbon framework with a hierarchical porous structure. Such an architecture boosts abundant active sites exposed and accelerates remote mass transportation. As a result, the optimized 3.5ZnS/NSC-NaCl-900 delivers an impressive enhanced performance toward ORR in alkaline medium with a high half-wave potential of 0.905 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode), which is superior to most of non-precious metal-based catalysts. Density functional theory calculations unveil that the ZnS in 3.5ZnS/NSC-NaCl-900 can effectively lower the Gibbs energy barrier of crucial steps and therefore promotes the reaction kinetics. Furthermore, 3.5ZnS/NSC-NaCl-900 also displays greater power density and specific capacity than Pt/C in Al-air batteries.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increasingly used as delivery vehicles for drugs and bioactive molecules, which usually require intravascular administration. The endothelial cells covering the inner surface of blood vessels are susceptible to the shear stress of blood flow. Few studies demonstrate the interplay of red blood cell-derived EVs (RBCEVs) and endothelial cells. Thus, the phagocytosis of EVs by vascular endothelial cells during blood flow needs to be elucidated. In this study, red blood cell-derived extracellular vesicles (RBCEVs) were constructed to investigate endothelial cell phagocytosis in vitro and animal models. Results showed that low magnitude shear stress including low shear stress (LSS) and oscillatory shear stress (OSS) could promote the uptake of RBCEVs by endothelial cells in vitro. In addition, in zebrafish and mouse models, RBCEVs tend to be internalized by endothelial cells under LSS or OSS. Moreover, RBCEVs are easily engulfed by endothelial cells in atherosclerotic plaques exposed to LSS or OSS. In terms of mechanism, oxidative stress induced by LSS is part of the reason for the increased uptake of endothelial cells. Overall, this study shows that vascular endothelial cells can easily engulf EVs in areas of low magnitude shear stress, which will provide a theoretical basis for the development and utilization of EVs-based nano-drug delivery systems in vivo., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • We recently reported that endothelial cells were amateur phagocytic cells for RBCEVs engulfment. • Low magnitude shear stress (LSS and OSS) can increase the uptake of RBCEVs by endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo. • ROS induced by low magnitude shear stress acts as an accelerator to enhance endothelial cells uptake of RBCEVs.

Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) have been widely used for efficient conversion of CO2 into valuable fuels and chemicals utilizing clean and renewable alternative energy sources. However, the scarcity of highly active cathode materials prevents their use in real-world applications. Herein, a hetero-structured double perovskite/Ruddlesden–Popper perovskite (DP/RP-P) composites with exsolved Fe-Cu bimetallic nanoparticles are developed via in-situ reduction treatment of Sr2Fe1.25Cu0.25Mo0.5O6-σ (SFCuM) perovskite at high temperatures. The LSGM-electrolyte-supported SOEC with the composite perovskites as cathode demonstrates excellent electrochemical performance in CO2 electrolysis. At an operating temperature of 800 °C and an applied potential of 1.4 V, the current density towards CO2 electrolysis can be as high as 1.7 A cm–2, while the CO production and Faradaic efficiency can be achieved to about 12.8 ml min–1 cm–2 and 95.2%, respectively. These results indicate that the hetero-structured DP/RP-SFCuM composites with exsolved Fe–Cu bimetallic nanoparticles are promising CO2 electrolysis electrocatalysts for high-performance SOECs. Our research therefore highlights the potential for developing extremely efficient electrocatalysts for CO2 electrolysis and utilizations.

Conversion of methane into liquid alcohol such as ethanol at low temperature in a straight, selective and low energy consumption process remains a topic of intense scientific research but a great challenge. In this work, CuFe2O4/CNT composite is successfully synthesized via a facile co-reduction method and used as catalysts to selectively oxidize methane. At a low temperature of 150 °C, methane is directly converted to ethanol in a single process on the as-prepared CuFe2O4/CNT composite with high selectivity. A mechanism is also proposed for the significant methane selective oxidation performance of the CuFe2O4/CNT composite catalysts.

Single-atomic site catalysts have drawn considerable attention because of their maximum atom-utilization efficiency and excellent catalytic activity. In this work, a highly active single-atomic Pt site photocatalyst was synthesized through employing defective TiO2 nanosheets as solid support for photocatalytic water splitting. It indicated that the surface oxygen vacancies on defective TiO2 nanosheets could effectively stabilize the single-atomic Pt sites through constructing a three-center Ti–Pt–Ti structure. The Ti–Pt–Ti structure can hold the stability of isolated single-atomic Pt sites and facilitate the separation and transfer of photoinduced charge carriers, thereby greatly improving the photocatalytic H2 evolution. Notably, our synthesized photocatalyst exhibited a remarkably enhanced H2 evolution performance, and the H2 production rate is up to 13460.7 μmol·h−1·g−1, which is up to around 29.0 and 4.7 times higher than those of TiO2 nanosheets and Pt nanoparticles-TiO2. In addition, a plausible enhanced reaction mechanism was also proposed combining with photo-electrochemical characterizations and density functional theory (DFT) calculation results. Ultimately, it is believed that this work highlights the benefits of a single-site catalyst and paves the way to rationally design the highly active and stable single-atomic site photocatalysts on metal oxide support.

Unrestrained inflammation is harmful to tissue repair and regeneration. Immune cell membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles have been proven to show promise as inflammation targets and multitargeted inflammation controls in the treatment of severe inflammation. Prevention and early intervention of inflammation can reduce the risk of irreversible tissue damage and loss of function, but no cell membrane-camouflaged nanotechnology has been reported to achieve stage-specific treatment in these conditions. In this study, we investigated the prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy of fibroblast membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles for topical treatment of early inflammation (early pulpitis as the model) with the help of in-depth bioinformatics and molecular biology investigations in vitro and in vivo. Nanoparticles have been proven to act as sentinels to detect and competitively neutralize invasive Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (E. coli LPS) with resident fibroblasts to effectively inhibit the activation of intricate signaling pathways. Moreover, nanoparticles can alleviate the secretion of multiple inflammatory cytokines to achieve multitargeted anti-inflammatory effects, attenuating inflammatory conditions in the early stage. Our work verified the feasibility of fibroblast membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles for inflammation treatment in the early stage, which widens the potential cell types for inflammation regulation.

Background Intimal hyperplasia caused by vascular injury is an important pathological process of many vascular diseases, especially occlusive vascular disease. In recent years, Nano-drug delivery system has attracted a wide attention as a novel treatment strategy, but there are still some challenges such as high clearance rate and insufficient targeting. Results In this study, we report a biomimetic ROS-responsive MM@PCM/RAP nanoparticle coated with macrophage membrane. The macrophage membrane with the innate “homing” capacity can superiorly regulate the recruitment of MM@PCM/RAP to inflammatory lesion to enhance target efficacy, and can also disguise MM@PCM/RAP nanoparticle as the autologous cell to avoid clearance by the immune system. In addition, MM@PCM/RAP can effectively improve the solubility of rapamycin and respond to the high concentration level of ROS accumulated in pathological lesion for controlling local cargo release, thereby increasing drug availability and reducing toxic side effects. Conclusions Our findings validate that the rational design, biomimetic nanoparticles MM@PCM/RAP, can effectively inhibit the pathological process of intimal injury with excellent biocompatibility. Graphical Abstract

The realization of large-scale H2 production from electrocatalytic water splitting is severely impeded by the kinetically sluggish and economically less viable anodic oxygen evolution reaction. Here, an efficient strategy was established for the concurrent H2 production and oxidative alcohols refining into value-added formate by utilizing self-supported Ni2 P-CoP bifunctional electrocatalysts. Benefiting from high intrinsic activity, abundant active sites, and synergistic promoting effects of bimetallic phosphides, the constructed two-electrode electrolyzer required a cell voltage of around 1.3 V to achieve 10 mA cm-2 , which is more than 200 mV lower than that of pure water splitting. Moreover, simultaneous productions of H2 with near-unity conversion efficiency and formate at high faradaic efficiencies of 99.8 and 89.6 % oxidatively produced from methanol and glycerol, respectively, were achieved with excellent durability. This work presents a general and economic approach toward the fabrication of cost-effective electrocatalysts for energy-efficient and profitable large-scale renewable energy integration.

The ever-increasing concern for adverse climate changes has propelled worldwide research on the reduction of CO2 emission. In this regard, CO2 electroreduction (CER) to formate is one of the promising approaches to converting CO2 to a useful product. However, to achieve a high production rate of formate, the existing catalysts for CER fall short of expectation in maintaining the high formate selectivity and activity over a wide potential window. Through this study, we report that Bi2O3 nanosheets (NSs) grown on carbon nanofiber (CNF) with inherent hydrophobicity achieve a peak formate current density of 102.1 mA cm-2 and high formate Faradaic efficiency of >93% over a very wide potential window of 1000 mV. To the best of our knowledge, this outperforms all the relevant achievements reported so far. In addition, the Bi2O3 NSs on CNF demonstrate a good antiflooding capability when operating in a flow cell system and can deliver a current density of 300 mA cm-2. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that the hydrophobic carbon surface can repel water molecules to form a robust solid-liquid-gas triple-phase boundary and a concentrated CO2 layer; both can boost CER activity with the local high concentration of CO2 and through inhibiting the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by reducing proton contacts. This water-repelling effect also increases the local pH at the catalyst surface, thus inhibiting HER further. More significantly, the concept and methodology of this hydrophobic engineering could be broadly applicable to other formate-producing materials from CER.

Porous boron-bearing Fe-nitrogen doped carbon electrocatalysts (Fe-BNC) are prepared by pyrolysis treatment of Fe/B co-doped zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs). The as-obtained Fe-BNC catalysts with a high surface area (1300 m2 g−1) favor a 4-electron reduction pathway for efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The Fe-BNC catalysts demonstrate a half-wave potential of ∼0.85 V vs RHE comparable to that of Pt/C catalyst and high stability in 0.1 M KOH. The dopant of little boron and iron into nitrogen-doped carbon results in the high surface area, enhanced surface polarities, electronic properties and exposing more active sites to introduce a synergistic effect for enhanced ORR performance. Moreover, Fe-BNC electrocatalysts used as air cathode for Al-air batteries exhibit a high peak power density of 195.2 mw cm−2 and excellent stability even after discharging for 24 h at room temperature, revealing an excellent performance in application of metal-air batteries and other energy converting devices.

Hydrogen production in the microfluidic alkaline membraneless electrolyzer (μAME) marks a new paradigm in sustainable energy technology. One challenge in this field is implementing a bifunctional c...

Background Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is associated with a very poor prognosis, and the treatment of which remains a serious clinical challenge. Methods RNA-seq, qPCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry were employed to identify and confirm the high expression of indolethylamine N-methyltransferase (INMT) in CRPC and the clinical relevance. Chip assay was used to identify Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase (SMYD3) as a major epigenetic regulator of INMT. LC-MS/MS were used to identify new substrates of INMT methylation in CRPC tissues. Gene knockdown/overexpression, MTT and mouse cancer models were used to examine the role of INMT as well as the anticancer efficacy of INMT inhibitor N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), the SMYD3 inhibitor BCl-12, the selenium compounds methaneseleninic acid (MSA) and Se-(Methyl)selenocysteine hydrochloride (MSC), and the newly identified endogenous INMT substrate Bis(7)-tacrine. Results We found that the expression of INMT was highly increased in CRPC and was correlated with poor prognosis of clinical prostate cancer (PCa). INMT promoted PCa castration resistance via detoxification of anticancer metabolites. Knockdown of INMT or treatment with INMT inhibitor N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) significantly suppressed CRPC development. Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase SMYD3 was a major epigenetic regulator of INMT expression, treatment with SMYD3 inhibitor BCl-121 suppressed INMT expression and inhibits CRPC development. Importantly, INMT knockdown significantly increased the anticancer effect of the exogenous selenium compounds methaneseleninic acid (MSA) and Se-(Methyl)selenocysteine hydrochloride (MSC) as well as the endogenous metabolite Bis(7)-tacrine. Conclusions Our study suggests that INMT drives PCa castration resistance through detoxification of anticancer metabolites, targeting INMT or its regulator SMYD3 or/and its methylation metabolites represents an effective therapeutic avenue for CRPC treatment.

A La0.5Sr0.5Fe0.9Mo0.1O3-δ-CeO2 (LSFM-CeO2) composite was prepared by impregnating CeO2 into porous La0.5Sr0.5Fe0.9Mo0.1O3-δ perovskite and was used as an anode material for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The maximum power densities of the BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.2O3-δ (BZCY) electrolyte-supported single cell with LSFM-CeO2 as the anode reached 291 mW cm−2 and 190 mW cm−2 in hydrogen and ethane fuel at 750 °C, respectively, which are significantly higher than those of a single cell with only LSFM as the anode. Additionally, the ethylene selectivity and ethylene yield from ethane for the fuel cell at 750 °C were as high as 93.4% and 37.1%, respectively. The single cell also showed negligible degradation in performance and no carbon deposition during continuous operation for 22 h under an ethane fuel atmosphere. The improved electrochemical performance due to the impregnation of CeO2 can be a result of enhanced electronic and ionic conductivity, abundant active sites, and a broad three-phase interface in the resultant composite anode. The LSFM-CeO2 composite is believed to be a promising anode material for proton-conducting SOFCs for co-producing electricity and high-value chemicals from hydrocarbon fuels.

The Co-based electrocatalyst is among the most promising candidates for electrochemical oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). However, the intrinsic active sites and detailed mechanism of this catalyst remains unclear. We combine experimental evidence and a theoretical study to show that electrogenerated Co3+ and Co4+ species act as chemical oxidants but with distinct roles in selective HMF oxidation. It is found that Co3+ is only capable of oxidizing formyl group to produce carboxylate while Co4+ is required for the initial oxidation of hydroxyl group with significantly faster kinetics. As a result, the product distribution shows explicit dependence on the Co oxidation states and selective production of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (HMFCA) and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) are achieved by tuning the applied potential. This work offers essential mechanistic insight on Co-catalyzed organic oxidation reactions and might guide the design of more efficient electrocatalysts.

The adverse effects of global warming and climate change have driven the exploration of feasible routes for CO2 capture, storage, conversion and utilization. The processes related to CO2 conversion in high-temperature electrochemical devices (HTEDs) using dense ceramic membranes are particularly appealing due to the simultaneous realization of highly efficient CO2 conversion and value-added chemical production as well as the generation of electricity and storage of renewable energy in some cases. Currently, most studies are focused on the two processes, CO2 electrolysis and H2O/CO2 co-electrolysis in oxygen-conducting solid oxide electrolysis cell (O-SOEC) reactors. Less attention has been paid to other meaningful CO2-conversion-related processes in HTEDs and systematic summary and analysis are currently not available. This review will fill the gap and classify the CO2-conversion-related processes in HTEDs reported in recent years into four types according to the related reactions, including assisted CO2 reduction to CO, H2O and CO2 co-conversion, dry reforming of methane and CO2 hydrogenation. Firstly, an overview of the fundamentals of HTED processes is presented, and then the related mechanism and research progress of each type of reactions in different HTEDs are elucidated and concluded accordingly. The remaining major technical issues are also briefly introduced. Lastly, the main challenges and feasible solutions as well as the future prospects of HTEDs for CO2-conversion-related processes are also discussed in this review.

Developing efficient electrocatalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECR) to fuels and chemicals with high product faradaic efficiency (FE) and current density is desirable but remains challeng...

The development of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is partially limited by the poor kinetics of methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) at the anode side. It was reported that the interaction between Pt and CeO2 enhances the electrocatalytic performance of Pt catalyst for MOR. In this work, a hybrid material (CeO2–C) composed of CeO2 and carbon was successfully prepared by a simple hydrothermal method followed by calcination in inert atmosphere. The hierarchically porous nanostructure and especially good electronic conductivity of CeO2–C make it an excellent support for Pt particles for application in electrocatalytic process. TEM investigation reveals that triple-phase interface of Pt, carbon and CeO2 forms in Pt/CeO2–C catalyst. Performance of the as-prepared catalyst for MOR was studied in alkaline medium. The Pt/CeO2–C catalyst shows superior catalytic performance for MOR compared with Pt/CeO2 and the physical mixture of Pt/CeO2 and acetylene black (Pt/CeO2+C). The significantly improved performance can be attributed to the synergetic effect between Pt particles and CeO2–C support, and the better conductivity of CeO2–C. This study provides a possible method to expand the application potential of CeO2 materials in MOR, and may also be used in other electrocatalytic process.

Cl−-induced corrosion is one ineluctable problem we face when metals and alloys are exposed to marine environment. Herein, we give a mini review covering the aspects of combating Cl−-induced corrosion from the perspective of surface chemistry. Firstly, the interaction of Cl− with oxide surface is briefly reviewed. Then, we highlight some recent strategies for repelling, blocking and capturing Cl− by using surface chemistry control and surface modification via self-assembling at molecular levels.

Chemokines are important regulators of the immune system, inducing specific cellular responses by binding to receptors on immune cells. In SLE patients, decreased expression of CCL2 on mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) prevents inhibition of B-cell proliferation, causing the characteristic autoimmune phenotype. Nevertheless, the intrinsic role of CCL2 on B-cell autoimmunity is unknown. In this study using Ccl2 KO mice, we found that CCL2 deficiency enhanced BCR signaling by upregulating the phosphorylation of the MST1-mTORC1-STAT1 axis, which led to reduced marginal zone (MZ) B cells and increased germinal center (GC) B cells. The abnormal differentiation of MZ and GC B cells were rescued by in vivo inhibition of mTORC1. Additionally, the inhibition of MST1-mTORC1-STAT1 with specific inhibitors in vitro also rescued the BCR signaling upon antigenic stimulation. The deficiency of CCL2 also enhanced the early activation of B cells including B-cell spreading, clustering and signalosome recruitment by upregulating the DOCK8-WASP-actin axis. Our study has revealed the intrinsic role and underlying molecular mechanism of CCL2 in BCR signaling, B-cell differentiation, and humoral response.

Non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane is a potential route to produce more valuable chemical feedstock propene. Understanding of the catalytic origin is essential for high performance catalysts design. Herein, the detailed mechanisms for non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane catalysed by silica supported vanadium are systematically studied to elucidate a possible reaction network, in which the stepwise dissociative C-H bond activation is consistently most favourable. Consequently, stepwise dissociative C-H bond activation is used to investigate the d2–d8 transition metal-catalysed non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane. Frontier orbital analysis reveals that non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane originates from the interaction between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of propane and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the catalysts, indicating that the smaller the gap between the HOMO and LUMO, the higher the reaction activity. Moreover, the largest energy barriers for these reactions correlate with the LUMOcatalyst–HOMOpropane gap. A lower LUMOcatalyst–HOMOpropane gap leads to a lower reaction barrier and higher activity of the catalyst. This study provides a new strategy of theoretical catalyst design for non-oxidative propane dehydrogenation by modulating the gap between the HOMO of propane and the LUMO of catalysts.

The development of single-atom catalysts anchored on two-dimensional (2D) conductive matrix with well exposed active sites has great significance in electrocatalytic energy storage yet remains challenging. Inspired by the power of biomolecular self-assembly in making delicate nanostructures, we report a novel template-free folic acid (FA) self-assembly strategy to achieve the facile preparation of ultrathin N-doped carbon nanosheet confining single-metal-atom catalysts (M-N-C SAC, M = Co, Ni, Zn, Fe). The 2D association of FA is developed for the first time via the ribbon-like H bonding pattern and metal-FA coordination in a mixed solvent. A tunable metal loading content of the catalysts is facilely realized through a pH-tuned FA partial dissociation chemistry. As a proof of demonstration, Co-N-C SAC shows an excellent performance for lean electrolyte lithium-sulfur battery. Our findinging suggest a new and potentially scalable route for facile fabrication of M-N-C SACs for broad energy storage applications.

Ethanol is the active ingredient in alcoholic beverages. As ethanol consumption increases from zero to very high, it is still unknown which metabolites are present at different times and which are essential to normal functioning. In this article, we used an intermittent-access 20% ethanol drinking paradigm to make Wistar male rats voluntarily drink large amounts of ethanol for 10, 20, 30, and 50 days, respectively. A hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance approach was used to investigate the time-dependent neurochemical metabolites spectra in the hippocampus, striatum, nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex. Multivariate pattern recognition techniques were used to analyze the hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra data. Metabolic profiling was obtained, differentiating the ethanol-treated and control rats. The ethanol-affected metabolites disrupted processes associated with neurotransmitters, oxidative stress, energy metabolism and amino acids. Together, our findings demonstrate broad, dynamic, and time-dependent endogenous metabolic alterations in rats treated with ethanol.

GeSn complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices have attracted much attention for future VLSI technology nodes due to high carrier mobility. However, Fermi-level pinning in metal/n-GeSn...

Biomolecules with a broad range of structure and heteroatom-containing groups offer a great opportunity for rational design of promising electrocatalysts via versatile chemistry. In this study, uniform folic acid–Co nanotubes (FA–Co NTs) were hydrothermally prepared as sacrificial templates for highly porous Co and N co-doped carbon nanotubes (Co–N/CNTs) with well-controlled size and morphology. The formation mechanism of FA–Co NTs was investigated and FA–Co-hydrazine coordination interaction together with the H-bond interaction between FA molecules was characterized to be the driving force for growth of one-dimensional nanotubes. Such distinct metal–ligand interaction afforded the resultant CNTs rich Co–Nx sites, hierarchically porous structure and Co nanoparticle-embedded conductive network, thus an overall good electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction. Electrochemical tests showed that Co–N/CNTs-900 promoted an efficient 4e− ORR process with an onset potential of 0.908 V vs. RHE, a limiting current density of 5.66 mA cm−2 at 0.6 V and a H2O2 yield lower than 5%, comparable to that of 20% Pt/C catalyst. Moreover, the catalyst revealed very high stability upon continuous operation and remarkable tolerance to methanol.

Numerous scientists are in the pursuit of energy storage materials with high energy and high power density by assembly of electrochemically active materials into conductive scaffolds, owing to the emerging need for next-generation energy storage devices. In this architectures, the active materials bonded to the conductive scaffold can provide a robust and free-standing structure, which is crucial to the fabrication of materials with high gravimetric capacity. Thus, hierarchical copper-cobalt-nickel ternary oxide (CuCoNi-oxide) nanowire arrays grown from copper foam were successfully fabricated as free-standing anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). CuCoNi-oxide nanowire arrays could provide more active sites owing to the hyperbranched structure, leading to a better specific capacity of 1191 mAh/g, cycle performance of 73% retention in comparison to CuO nanowire structure, which exhibited a specific capacity of 1029 mAh/g and capacity retention of 43%, respectively.

Maize is one of the three major crops worldwide based on its yield and quality. Starch is crucial to both the yield and quality of maize as it accounts more than 60% of the seed weight, and its structure influences the quality of the crop. Starch synthase I (SSI) contributes to the majority of the starch synthase activity in the maize endosperm. An in-depth understanding of the starch synthesis regulatory mechanism would provide opportunities for improving the yield and quality of maize. In this study, ZmPLATZ2, a plant AT-rich sequence and zinc-binding protein (PLATZ) transcription factor related to starch synthesis, was selected based on co-expression analysis. The semiquantitative RT-PCR and qRT-PCR assays revealed that ZmPLATZ2 had a high expression in the endosperm, and reached the peak at 12 days after pollination (DAP). Different treatments demonstrated that ZmPLATZ2 was downregulated by the presence of sucrose. Subsequent transactivation and subcellular localization analyses showed that ZmPLATZ2 was localized in the nuclei without transactivation. Yeast one-hybrid and transient expression in maize endosperm indicated that ZmPLATZ2 could bind to the promoters of ZmSSI, ZmISA1, and ZmISA2 and increase their gene expression. After ZmPLATZ2 overexpression in rice, four starch synthesis genes were significantly upregulated in the transgenic plant, including the OsSSI gene. In vitro DAP-seq data showed that ZmPLATZ2 could bind to the CAAAAAAA element. In conclusion, our data support that ZmPLATZ2 binds to the CAAAAAAA element in the ZmSSI promoter and mediates the Glu signal pathway.

Tumor immunotherapy as a promising method for tumor treatment received tremendous attention. However, the problem of low clinical response rate still needs to be solved, especially in the poorly immunogenic tumors. The enhancement of tumor antigens presentation can effectively activate dendritic cells (DCs) and improve the tumor immunotherapy. In this work, TAK-243 as an inhibitor of the ubiquitin activating enzyme (UAE), was fabricated into cationic lipid-assisted nanoparticle (CLANTAK-243). The obtained CLANTAK-243 could act as an effective tumor immunotherapy enhancer to promote the maturation of DCs as well as antigen presentation, which obviously stimulated the T cells activation and proliferation. Such CLANTAK-243 injected intravenously could well trigger immune response to tumor cells in vivo. Importantly, mice treated with CLANTAK-243 could obtain a long immune memory effect to protect themselves from re-challenged tumor cells. Therefore, this work presented an effective immunotherapy strategy for poorly immunogenic tumor.

The intracellular NADPH insufficient supply is the main bottleneck to the synthesis of chiral alcohols by asymmetric reduction with whole-cell catalysis. Herein, we provide a novel strategy to strengthen intracellular NADPH supply through introducing an NADP+-dependent glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapB from Bacillus subtilis 168) into the Embden-Meyerhof pathway and a NAD kinase (yfjB from E. coli MG1655) to further enhance the NADP(H) pool. A recombinant E. coli (E. coli BL21 (DE3)/pETDuet-1-gapB-yueD&pET28a-yfjB) was constructed to co-express gapB and yfjB with a carbonyl reductase gene yueD together. The result showed that the intracellular NADPH amount increased by 134.4% with the strategy. To the model reaction (asymmetric reduction of acetophenone to S-phenyl ethanol), the yield was 3.7-fold with this strategy compared to the control. This provides a technological route for strengthening the intracellular NADPH supply in E. coli for biocatalysis and biosynthesis.

Developing an electrically conductive and corrosion-resistant coating is essential for metal bipolar plates of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Although enhanced corrosion resistance was seen for Cr coated stainless steel (Cr/SS) bipolar plates, they experience a quick decrease of through-plane electrical conductivity due to the formation of a porous and low-conductive corrosion product layer at the plate surface, thus leading to an increase in interfacial contact resistance (ICR). To tackle this issue, the multilayer Cr coatings were deposited using the magnetron sputtering with a remote inductively coupled oxygen plasma (O-ICP) in the present study. After the O-ICP treatment, a Cr oxide layer (CrO*) is formed on the specimen surface. The CrO*/Cr/SS has a remarkably lower stable corrosion rate (iss) than that of the native Cr oxides (CrOn/Cr/SS). Compared with CrOn/Cr/SS, the excellent performance of CrO*/Cr/SS is attributed to a denser and thicker surface layer of CrO* with Cr being oxidized to its highest valence state, Cr (VI). More importantly, the through-plane electrical conductivity of the specimens treated by the optimized O-ICP decreases much slowly than CrOn/Cr/SS and thus, the increament of ICR of CrO*/Cr/SS after the potentiostatic polarization test is considerably smaller than that of CrOn/Cr/SS, which is benefited from the reduced iss that mitigates the deposition of corrosion products and hinders further oxidation of Cr coating. Therefore, CrO*/Cr/SS proves to be a well balanced trade-off between corrosion resistance and through-plane electrical conductivity. The results of this study demonstrate that O-ICP treatment on a conductive metal coating is an effective strategy to improve the corrosion resistance and suppress the increase of ICR over the long-term polarization. The technique reported herein exhibits its promising potential application in preparing corrosion resistant and electrically conductive coatings on metal bipolar plates to be used in PEMFCs.