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Aromatic carboxylic acids (ACAs) may be as transformed key metabolites via gut microbiome for playing better pharmacological effects. However, it's rare to achieve high-specificity, high-sensitivity, and high-throughput detection simultaneously, especially, for tracing trace ACAs in gut microbiome. In this work, firstly, a novel dual-template and double-shelled molecularly imprinted 96-well microplates (DDMIPs) was designed and amplified signal for p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PBA) and 3,4,5-trimethoxycinnamic acid (TMA). Additionally, the DDMIPs and a stable isotope labeling derivatization (SILD) method combined with the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TQ MS) was firstly stepwise integrated, achieving high-effective, high-sensitive, and high-throughput study of gut microbiome metabolism. The whole strategy showed lower limits of detections (LODs) up to 1000 folds than the traditional method, and revealed a more real metabolism-time profile of PBA and TMA by 3-step signal amplification. The platform also laid the foundation for fast, simple, high-selective, high-effective, and high-throughput metabolism and pharmacological research.

Introduction The development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is closely tied with the immune system. C‐C motif chemokine ligands (CCL) were proved to lead to immune recruitment and training. Thus, we reckoned CCL2 to be the kernel of immune suppression in PDAC tissues. Methods We compared normal pancreatic tissues with PDAC tissues according to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and clinical samples. Flow cytometry was used to identify M‐MDSCs. We further demonstrated immune suppression of M‐MDSCs according to proliferation rates of CD8+ T cells/CD4+ T cells. Levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Arginase were also tested by flow cytometry, enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, and western blot analysis. We also analyzed the specific mechanisms by cluster analysis after CCL2 stimulating M‐MDSCs. Results We found that CCL2 highly increased in PDAC tissues. CCL2 is positively related to CD33 and CD14, markers of monocytic myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (M‐MDSCs). We have demonstrated that CCL2 recruited M‐MDSCs into PDAC tissues both in vitro and in vivo. M‐MDSCs recruitment is accompanied by sustained immune suppression. Furthermore, we have found that M‐MDSCs impeded T cell proliferation and produced high levels of ROS and Arginase, which can be enhanced by CCL2. Mechanistically, CCL2 stimulated M‐MDSCs led to a significant upregulation of genes, a large part of which accumulated in the mitogen‐activated protein kinase signaling pathway. Treatment of aloesin, MAPK signaling inhibitor, relieved the associated immunosuppressive phenotype induced by CCL2. Conclusions Our study indicates that PDAC cells produced CCL2, which promoted localized M‐MDSC recruitment and immune suppression, thereby promoting tumor progression., Our data indicate that CCL2 performs a significant role in PDAC progression by recruiting and activating M‐MDSCs. Targeting MDSCs is able to improve antitumoral immunological responses providing with potential applicability of immune‐based combination therapies against an extensive spectrum of solid tumors. These miscellaneous approaches might prove available for tumor therapeutics against solid carcinomas in which M‐MDSCs perform a major role in immune evasion of tumors. These results are promising and need further assessment of the M‐MDSCs‐targeting combination or vaccination approaches for the whole therapeutic capacity of these tactics in PDAC and other carcinomas, Highlights CCL2 is significantly upregulated in colon adenocarcinoma CCL2 influences M‐MDSC recruitment and functionality in colon adenocarcinoma CCL2 stimulates immune‐suppressive functions of M‐MDSC by activating MAPK signaling

As health improvement is paid increased attention, the research on small ruminant milk is becoming more prevalent. Studies have shown that the nutrient content in sheep milk is higher than goat and cow milk. This study aimed to explain the difference of Small-Tailed Han (STH) and DairyMeade (DM) milk through the untargeted metabolomics analyze with ultra-high-performance liquid tandem chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–Q-TOF–MS). The results showed that fat, protein, casein, solids of STH milk were higher than DM, but the lactose of it was lower than DM. The metabolomics analysis showed that 4904 annotated metabolites were identified and 68 significantly different metabolites between milks were detected. 47 metabolites in the STH were significantly higher than the DM and 21 metabolites were significantly lower than the DM. The significantly different metabolites were mainly enriched in glycerophospholipid metabolism, glycosyl phosphatidyl inositol (GPI)-anchor biosynthesis, regulation of autophagy, and purine metabolism. We hypothesized that the high level of phospholipids in STH milk may lead to higher fat content than DM milk; the high level of L-Carnitine would enhance the lipid metabolism and further lead to lower milk fat of DM milk. The high level of nucleotides and their derivatives in DM milk may be related with its high milk production performance. It demonstrated that the composition of the sheep milk changed with breeds. Furthermore, the interactions and metabolic pathways were analyzed to explore the mechanisms related to different lactation traits between two breeds. This study would provide theoretical basis for later dairy sheep breeding.

Compared to regular conjugated polymers, the random conjugated terpolymers are usually not beneficial to achieve highly efficient non-fullerene (NF)-based polymer solar cells (PSCs) due to their disordered chemical structures. In this work, we report two random terpolymer donors (PBNB80 and PBNB50) by tuning the molar ratio of electron-accepting units of 1,3-di(thiophen-2-yl)naphtho[2,3-c]thiophene-4,9-dione (NTD) and 1,3-bis(4-chlorothiophen-2-yl)-4H,8H-benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c']dithiophene-4,8-dione (Cl-BDD), at the same time, the parent polymers (PBNB100 and PBNB00) are also compared to study. These four polymer donors exhibit similar optical bandgaps and gradually deepen highest occupied molecular orbital levels. Importantly, aggregation and self-organization properties of the random terpolymer donors are optimized, which result in the better morphology and crystal coherence length after blending with NF acceptor of BO-4Cl. Particularly, a PBNB80:BO-4Cl blend forms an optimal nanoscale phase-separation morphology, thereby producing an outstanding power conversion efficiency of 16.0%, which is much higher than those (12.8% and 10.7%) of their parent binary polymer donor-based devices. This work demonstrates that rational using terpolymerization strategy to prepare random terpolymer is a very important method to achieve highly efficient NF-PSCs.

Piezochromic luminescent materials have shown great potential in advanced optoelectronic applications. However, most of luminescent materials usually undergo emission quenching under external stimuli. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time that the photoluminescence of carbon dots (CDs) confined within sodium hydroxide can be enhanced when high pressure is applied. They exhibit a 1.6-fold fluorescence enhancement compared with pristine CDs. Importantly, the enhanced fluorescence intensity can be retained after the release of pressure to ambient conditions. A combination of experimental analysis and theoretical simulations indicates that such an enhanced emission is mainly attributed to the strong confinement resulting from the sodium hydroxide matrix, which can separate the CDs spatially and restrict the nonradiative pathway. These results provide a rational strategy for manipulating the optical properties of CDs with enhanced and retainable photoluminescence (PL) performance, thus opening up a venue for designing luminescent CDs-based materials.

5.0 vol.% graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and aluminum powders were mixed to prepare GNPs/Al composites via high-energy ball milling (HEBM). The mixed powders were subjected to spark plasma sintering (SPS) and subsequent hot extrusion. The microstructure and mechanical properties of extruded composites were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and tensile tests. In the extruded composites, 5.0 vol.% GNPs were dispersed homogeneously and no serious GNP−Al interfacial reaction occurred. As a result, the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the extruded GNPs/Al composites reached 462 and 479 MPa, which were 62% and 60% higher than those of the extruded Al matrix, respectively. The enhanced mechanical properties were attributed to the effective load transfer capacity of dispersed GNPs. This demonstrated that it may be promising to introduce dispersed high-content GNPs via HEBM, SPS and hot extrusion techniques and GNP−Al interfacial reaction can be controlled.

Silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupa protein (SPP) is a high-quality source of animal protein with substantial nutritional benefits and health value. To develop an efficient extraction method for SPP that is environmentally friendly, we selected choline hydroxide ionic liquid (CH-IL) as the extraction solvent and performed orthogonal experiments to optimize the extraction conditions. We demonstrated that 3% CH-IL, a solid-to-liquid ratio (g/mL) of 1:30, an extraction temperature of 40 °C, and an extraction time of 1 h facilitated the most efficient extraction. Compared to the conventional alkali solubilization–acid precipitation method, the CH-IL extraction increased protein content by 12.14%. Protein structure analysis showed that the β-sheet content increased by 10.98% and that of disulfide bonds reduced by 16.4%. The processing properties of the CH-IL extracted protein showed that the solubility, emulsification, and foaming capacity were enhanced by 82.87%, 15.44%, and 18.97%, respectively. The physical properties of SPP remarkably improved relative to the increased stretching of the polypeptide chains. The findings of this study provide technical knowledge that will enhance the processing performance of pupal proteins.

In this work, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to investigate the mechanism of carbon corrosion on nitrogen-doped carbon support. Free energy diagrams were generated based on three proposed reaction pathways to evaluate corrosion mechanisms. The most energetically preferred mechanism on nitrogen-doped carbon was determined. The results show that the step of water dissociation to form #OH was the rate-determining step for gra-G-1N (graphene doped with graphitic N) and pyrr-G-1N (graphene doped with pyrrolic N). As for graphene doped with pyridinic N, the step of C#OC#O formation was critical. It was found that the control of nitrogen concentration was necessary for precisely designing optimized carbon materials. Abundance of nitrogen moieties aggravated the carbon corrosion. When the high potential was applied, specific types of graphitic N and pyridinic N were found to be favorable carbon modifications to improve carbon corrosion resistance. Moreover, the solvent effect was also investigated. The results provide theoretical insights and design guidelines to improve corrosion resistance in carbon support through material modification by inhibiting the adsorption of surface oxides (OH, O, and OOH).

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the major obstacles for clinical effective chemotherapy. In this study, the effects and possible mechanisms of aloe-emodin (AE) were investigated on reversing the adriamycin (ADR)-induced resistance of MCF-7/ADR cells. AE could significantly reverse the ADR resistance in MCF-7/ADR cells. The combination of AE (20 μM) and ADR had no effect on the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) level, but notably promoted the accumulation of ADR in drug-resistant cells. The efflux function of P-gp required ATP, but AE reduced the intracellular ATP level. AE played a reversal role might through inhibiting the efflux function of P-gp. The research result of energy metabolism pathways indicated that combination of AE and ADR could inhibit glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, glutamine metabolism, and related amino acid synthesis pathways. Moreover, we found AE not only reversed ADR-induced resistant but also induced autophagy as a defense mechanism. In addition, the combination of AE and ADR arrested G2/M cell cycle and induced apoptosis through DNA damage, ROS generation, caspase-3 activation. Our study indicated that AE could be a potential reversal agent to resensitize ADR resistant in tumor chemotherapy and inhibiting autophagy might be an effective strategy to further enhance the reversal activity of AE.

The boronate affinity-based oriented and double-shelled surface molecularly imprinted polymers on 96-well microplates (BDMIPs) were designed and applied to high-specific and high-throughput pharmacokinetic (PK) study of rutin and its metabolites from rat plasma without concentration and redissolution. It integrated the advantages of covalent effects-based boronate affinity, noncovalent effects of ethylene imine polymer (PEI) dendrimer, multiple cavities-based double-shelled layers, and multiparallel wells-based 96-well microplates. Furthermore, ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was used to accurately quantify targets. It showed lower limits of detection (LODs) up to 100-fold than the conventional method. And PKs of rutin and trace isoquercetin (IQC) were first reported at the same time. The platform can provide a fast, simple, low-cost, high-selective, high-effective, and high-throughput methodological reference for analysis of large-scale samples in the fields of agriculture and food.

Substituting hydrogen utilization for coke consumption is the main research field for the development of iron and steel manufacturing. Understanding the reaction kinetics of the reduction of hematite by hydrogen is essential for the rational utilization of hydrogen resources and the development of corresponding technologies. In the present study, the reduction process of Brazilian hematite with hydrogen (volume concentration from 10% to 25%) was conducted in a micro-fluidized bed at 600–800 °C. Results indicated that the external diffusion could be eliminated as the gas flow rate is higher than 400 mL/min (at NTP). The reaction rate of the reduction of hematite increased with increasing temperature and inlet H2 concentration. In order to analyze the multistep reaction kinetics, a multistep analysis method, which could be used to divide the reduction of hematite into three stages, was established and verified by various detections of reaction products. The reaction rates of Fe2O3→Fe3O4, as the conversion X is less than 0.11, and Fe3O4→FeO were controlled by phase boundary, and then progressively transformed into gas internal diffusion for FeO→Fe. The apparent activation energies of Fe2O3→Fe3O4, Fe3O4→FeO, and FeO→Fe were determined as 13.01–21.23 kJ/mol, 26.51 ± 0.56 kJ/mol, and 11.46 ± 0.10 kJ/mol, respectively.

An atom economical approach for the synthesis of α-carbolin-4-ones has been developed. This process was realized via a C–N bond cleavage/intramolecular amination cascade. During this process, one C–N and one C–C bond are cleaved and two C–N and two C–C bonds are formed. Mechanistic studies suggested a migrative N-cyclization process involving a carbene intermediate.

An efficient inexpensive cobalt(III)-catalyzed intermolecular amidation of N,N-dialkyl thiobenzamides with 1,4,2-dioxazol-5-ones via C-H bond activation is described. The reaction proceeds with high functional group tolerance under external oxidant free conditions, providing a straightforward approach for the direct modification of thioamide derivatives, which are prevalent organic motifs found in vital biological and pharmaceutical molecules.

Anthocyanin (cyanidin-3-O-glucose) is a natural water-soluble pigment with a robust antioxidant capacity. However, its poor stability and bioavailability limits its application as a functional food ingredient. This study explored the ability of the silkworm pupa protein-glucose (Spp-Glu) conjugate, developed under wet-heating conditions, to improve the thermal stability and antioxidant activity of cyanidin-3-O-glucose (C3G) at pH 3.0 and 6.8. The characterization experiments suggested that C3G complexed with the Spp-Glu conjugate could modify the protein's microenvironment and cause unfolding of the protein's secondary structures under varied pH conditions. Spectroscopic techniques further revealed the formation of complexes via hydrophobic interactions and static quenching processes when C3G was bound to Spp or Spp-Glu. The formation of these complexes effectively attenuated C3G degradation, thereby enhancing its stability under heat treatment over a range of pH values, and the experiments measuring antioxidant activity suggested that the Spp-Glu conjugate formed does not affect the efficacy of C3G after complexation. Therefore, our study suggests that Spp-Glu has the potential to effectively protect and deliver anthocyanins during industrial application for functional food formulation.

A central challenge in tissue engineering is obtaining a suitable cell type with a capable delivery vehicle to replace or repair damaged or diseased tissues with tissue mimics. Notably, for skeletal muscle tissue engineering, given the inadequate availability and regenerative capability of endogenous myogenic progenitor cells as well as the tumorigenic risks presented by the currently available pluri- and multipotent stem cells, seeking a safe regenerative cell source is urgently demanded. To conquer this problem, we previously established a novel reprogramming technology that can generate multipotent cells from dermal fibroblasts using a single protein, fibromodulin (FMOD). The yield FMOD-reprogrammed (FReP) cells exhibit exceeding myogenic capability without tumorigenic risk, making them a promising and safe cell source for skeletal muscle establishment. In addition to using the optimal cell for implantation, it is equally essential to maintain cellular localization and retention in the recipient tissue environment for critical-sized muscle tissue establishment. In this study, we demonstrate that the photopolymerizable methacrylated glycol chitosan (MeGC)/type I collagen (ColI)-hydrogel provides a desirable microenvironment for encapsulated FReP cell survival, spreading, extension, and formation of myotubes in the hydrogel three-dimensionally in vitro, without undesired osteogenic, chondrogenic, or tenogenic differentiation. Furthermore, gene profiling revealed a paired box 7 (PAX7) → myogenic factor 5 (MYF5) → myogenic determination 1 (MYOD1) → myogenin (MYOG) → myosin cassette elevation in the encapsulated FReP cells during myogenic differentiation, which is similar to that of the predominant driver of endogenous skeletal muscle regeneration, satellite cells. These findings constitute the evidence that the FReP cell-MeGC/ColI-hydrogel construct is a promising tissue engineering mimic for skeletal muscle generation in vitro, and thus possesses the extraordinary potential for further in vivo validation. IMPACT STATEMENT: The present study revealed the promising potential of methacrylated glycol chitosan (MeGC)/ColI-hydrogel-encapsulated fibromodulin-reprogrammed (FReP) cells for skeletal muscle tissue engineering. Moreover, the excellent biocompatibility of MeGC/ColI-hydrogel with FReP cells—a novel induced multipotent cell type that is generated through innovative protein-based technology—makes it a suitable cell delivery vehicle for FReP cell-based tissue engineering. The development of various photopolymerizable MeGC/ColI-hydrogel/FReP cell constructs may also shift the paradigm of regenerative medicine into a feasible, safe, and efficient procedure with controllable in situ cell delivery.

A covalently bonded three-dimensional [Ru(bpy)3]2+-cored metallosupramolecular polymer (MSP-CB[8]-c) has been prepared from a noncovalently bonded metallosupramolecular polymer (MSP-CB[8]-nc) throu...

Carbon corrosion-induced catalyst layer destruction is the primary reason to the performance decay of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this study, the accelerated stress test (AST) on carbon corrosion was conducted, and real-time CO2 evolution was measured in-situ by non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) analysis. The performance degradation was investigated by the reduction of the current density and the loss of electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) of Pt. The loss of catalyst layer porosity and increase of mass transport resistance were investigated by the visible reduction of porosity and thickness in the cathode catalyst layer (CCL). Further mechanical tensile tests showed that the elastic modulus of CCL remained unchanged initially, and then increased probably due to the compaction of CCL. In the final step, it decreased due to the complete failure of the material. Thus, carbon corrosion was proved to alter the mechanical strength of CCL.

Due to the high specific surface area of graphene, the effective incorporation of high-content graphene in metals is challenging. Here, aluminum composites with graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) content up to 5.0 vol% were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) of blended powders with various ball milling regimes and subsequent hot extrusion. The effects of GNP distribution state on the properties of GNP/Al composite were investigated. 5.0 vol% GNPs were uniformly dispersed in aluminum matrix by high-speed ball milling (HSBM) process, but with damage GNPs due to the too high energy input. By contrast, the wellstructured and dispersed GNPs in aluminum powders were obtained via shift-speed ball milling (SSBM). The clear GNP-Al interface in extruded SSBM composite was attributed to well-structured GNPs. As a result, the yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of composite produced by SSBM reached 279 and 303 MPa, which are 166% and 116% higher than those of monolithic Al. This demonstrated that it may be promising to introduce high-content GNPs with tailorable interface in Al alloys via modified ball milling technique and hot extrusion.

Background This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of apatinib with a low dose of 250 mg/d in the treatment of platinum‐resistant or platinum‐refractory ovarian cancer patients. Methods Patients with platinum‐resistant or platinum‐refractory ovarian carcinoma treated with 250 mg/d apatinib in our institution from November 2016 to December 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. The tumor response and progression were evaluated according to the standard by incorporating the levels of CA125 and Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.1. CTCAE 4.03 was used to evaluate adverse events (AEs). Results Fifty‐two eligible patients were enrolled in per‐protocol (PP) analysis and 65 patients (including 13 lost to follow‐up) were included in the intention‐to‐treat (ITT) analysis. In PP analysis, 18 patients (34.6%) had partial response (PR), 22 patients (42.3%) had stable disease (SD), and the disease control rate (DCR) was 61.5%. Median progression‐free survival (PFS) was 4.0 months (95% CI, 2.83‐5.17 m), and median overall survival (OS) was 25.33 months (95% CI, 17.74‐32.92 m). The objective response rate and DCR for patients in ITT analysis were 27.7% and 49.2%, respectively. The top three treatment‐related AEs were hypertension, hand‐foot syndrome, and leukopenia. Eight patients (15.4%) in PP population had grade 3 treatment‐related AEs. Previous chemotherapy lines, number of recurrences, and AEs did not affect the efficacy of apatinib. Age older than 60 was associated with higher rates of disease control and prolonged PFS (P, Apatinib 250 mg/day is a feasible treatment in patients with platinum‐resistant or platinum‐refractory EOC.

A series of hybrid anode materials for Li-ion battery were successfully prepared by mechanically mixing artificial graphite (AG) with fluorine-doped tin oxide/reduced graphene oxide (F-SnO2/rGO) obtained via hydrothermal treatment in a mass ratio of 1:3, 1:4, and 1:6 respectively (denoted as F-SnO2/rGO-xAG, x = 3, 4, 6). Compared with the widely used artificial graphite, all the F-SnO2/rGO-xAG hybrids delivered higher reversible capacity and exhibited superior electrochemical stability upon cycling. In the case of these hybrid materials, the F-SnO2/rGO-4AG hybrid maintained stable reversible specific capacities of 440 mAh g−1 at 500 mA g−1 with a high capacity retention of 96.28% after 500 cycles. Therefore, the outstanding electrochemical performance reveals that the hybrid materials possess great potential as anodes for high-performance Li-ion batteries.

An efficient and refined method for the separation of six aconitine‐type alkaloids from the alkaline prepared “Kusnezoff monkshood root” was established. It is the first study that two new lipo‐alkaloids were successfully isolated from refined sample by pH‐zone‐refining counter‐current chromatography rather than synthetic method. It was of interest that a great deal of lipo‐alkaloids was produced in crude extract from the alkalization of “Kusnezoff monkshood root.” A refined sample method was proposed to enrich two types of alkaloids by liquid–liquid extraction, i.e. lipo‐alkaloids and monoester‐diterpenoid alkaloids. The pH‐zone‐refining counter‐current chromatography was performed with an optimized two‐phase solvent system composed of n‐hexane‐ethyl acetate–methanol–water (3:5:4:5, v/v), where upper organic phase was added to 3 mmol/L triethylamine as a retainer and lower aqueous mobile phase was added to 3 mmol/L hydrochloric acid as an eluter. As a result, six aconitum alkaloids, including two lipo‐alkaloids (8‐lino‐14‐benzoylaconine, 8‐pal‐14‐benzoylaconine), three monoester‐diterpenoid alkaloids (14‐benzoylmesaconine, 14‐benzoylaconine, beyzoyldeoxyaconine), and one aconine alkaloid (neoline) were acquired from the plant at the same time. The anti‐inflammatory activities of the two new lipo‐alkaloids were compared to the six alkaloids in vitro, in cyclo‐oxygen‐ase‐2 inhibition assays. The separation mechanism of six alkaloids by pH‐zone‐refining counter‐current chromatography was illustrated.

Highly stretchable conductive polymer composites and highly sensitive flexible strain sensors have broad application prospects for wearable electronic devices such as human motion monitoring. In this paper, excellent stretchable and high conductive rubber composites based on room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber with carbon fiber (CF) and carbon black (CB) are prepared through the solution method and the ultrasonic dispersion technology. The morphology results show that CF and CB in the composites formed a 3D collaborative conductive network of bridge connection. Then, both the sensitive characteristic and strain-sensing mechanism of CF/CB-RTV silicone rubber sensors have been investigated, which exhibits excellent stretchability as high as 700% and has a good linear relationship with 0–375% strain range and the maximum gauge factor of 182. Also, it has been found that the composites with 12.5 wt% CB maintained good electrical conductivity in the case of large deformation. Finally, CF/CB-RTV conductive composites have been used for human motion monitoring with high sensitivity, and as flexible electrodes in LED bulbs, which still have significant brightness under the 300% strain of the composites with 12.5 wt% CB.

With the purpose of improving the backbone planarity and thus the charge transport property of the wide-band-gap ester-modified polymer, the covalent and noncovalent (F···S conformational lock) bac...

The multiple step reduction kinetics of Fe3O4 to Fe with CO was investigated to understand the reaction mechanism for the production of metallic iron from hematite. The experiments were carried out in a micro fluidized bed reaction analyzer at different temperatures and CO concentrations using mass spectrometer analysis to determine the composition of the off gas. The overall kinetic parameters were then investigated based on the conversion obtained as a function of the oxygen loss, which can be calculated from the concentrations of CO and CO2 in the off gas. According to the analysis of the activation energy, a transformation of the reaction mechanism was identified at the conversion of 0.1. Considering that the reduction involves reactions in series, i.e., Fe3O4→FeO→Fe, it could be concluded that the FeO→Fe step was only involved beyond this transfer point, while the Fe3O4→FeO step occurred during the entire lifetime of Fe3O4. Meanwhile, the reaction rate for the reduction of Fe3O4 to FeO was controlled by the phase boundary, whereas the reduction of FeO to Fe was controlled by the phase boundary and diffusion. The reaction rate of the overall reduction process was determined by FeO→Fe, and the rate increased with increasing temperature from 600 °C to 720 °C and then decreased at approximately 720 °C until it reached a minimum value, and then increased again from 760 °C to 800 °C. Furthermore, the apparent activation energies of Fe3O4→FeO at 600–800 °C, FeO→Fe at 600–720 °C, and FeO→Fe at 760–800 °C were determined to be 35.01 ± 3.53 kJ/mol, 42.83 ± 0.25 kJ/mol, and 14.27 ± 1.69 kJ/mol, respectively.

In the organic photovoltaic community, extensive efforts have been made in proposing resolutions for depressing Voc loss related to the molecular structures and optoelectronic properties of materials in bulk heterojunctions. Focusing on understanding the origin of aggregation-induced Voc loss and exploring the generality for material design, we used non-fullerene acceptors with various alkyl pendants in bulk heterojunctions and characterized the optoelectronic properties. As the alkyl pendants became longer from IT-4Cl-C6 to IT-4Cl-C10, the photovoltaic devices exhibited depressed Voc losses and improved power conversion efficiencies. This work expounds the structure activity relationship of alkyl pendant-dependent photovoltaic properties, suggesting a convincing guideline for non-fullerene acceptor design.