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3D dendritic WSe2 on conductive carbon nanofiber mats (d-WSe2/CFM) was designed and synthesized by a diffusion-controlled CVD method. The d-WSe2/CFM was directly used as a cathode for the HER. The substantially improved HER performance is ascribed to the novel 3D structure with effectively exposed edge sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Catalytic hydroconversion of C18 fatty acids with different hydrogen donors (H-donors) was carried out in a fixed bed reactor to intensify the selectivity for preparing renewable diesel through advanced hydrodeoxygenation technology. Two types of H-donors, condensed aromatics and hydroxyl compounds, were investigated and found that the H-donors had little influence on the yields of C15 and C16 hydrocarbons but significant for C17 and C18 hydrocarbons. Condensed aromatics have a positive effect on the yields of C17 and C18 hydrocarbons. Alcohols significantly enhance the selectivity for C18 hydrocarbon and suppress the selectivity for C17 hydrocarbon. The yield of C18 hydrocarbon is nearly doubled with 5wt% ethanol. A multi-step mechanism is proposed to elucidate the phenomena. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Hydrotreating of C18 fatty acids for biofuel production was investigated with dodecane as solvent in a fixed bed reactor. The effects of temperature (300°C–375°C), pressure (2MPa–8MPa), WHSV (4h−1–18h−1) and hydrogen to oil ratio (500NmL/mL–1000NmL/mL) on the oxygen removal reaction pathways of hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), decarbonylation/decarboxylation (DCO/DCO2) as well as α/β-C scission and isomerization reactions to form the C15–C18 hydrocarbons were systemically evaluated. For all experiments the same commercial Ni–W supported on modified SiO2–Al2O3 by NTY zeolite catalyst was used. The hydrotreating temperature is the most dominant operating parameter that affects the catalyst performance. The HDO to DCO/DCO2 ratio increases with decreasing temperature and/or increasing pressure. Low temperature and high WHSV will promote the isomerization reaction to cause more iso-paraffins in the products. The conversion of C18 fatty acids and/or product yield is little affected by the H2/oil ratio. Moreover, the concentration of C18 fatty acids in dodecane has a significant effect on the conversion of C18 fatty acids and C18 yield (HDO reaction), which decreases with the concentration of C18 fatty acids. Adsorbed hydrogen to fatty acid ratio has significant effect on deoxygenation pathways including C–O scission and C–C scission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: AlCl3-promoted MCM-41-supported platinum catalysts with different Al–Pt interaction sequences were prepared for tetralin hydrogenation under sulfur-containing condition. Platinum dispersion and acidity of the catalysts were improved by the introduction of aluminum. The aluminum-containing catalysts have similar acidity. Al–Pt interaction leads to the formation of electron-deficient platinum (Ptδ+). A great improvement in sulfur-tolerance was observed on the catalyst that aluminum is grafted after the supporting of platinum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Ir x Ru1−x O2/Ti electrodes (x =0–1) were prepared by thermal decomposition of non-aqueous solutions of H2IrCl6 and RuCl3. The surface morphology and microstructure of the Ir x Ru1−x O2 coatings were characterized by XRD and SEM. The electrochemical characterization of the surface was carried out in a 0.5molL−1 H2SO4 solution. The Ir x Ru1−x O2 coating with x =0.5 showed a minimal nanocrystalline particle size and a maximum surface charge (q*). The electrochemical behaviors of the Ir x Ru1−x O2 coatings for oxidation of N2O4 were determined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), the open circuit potential (OCP) and Tafel plot in 1.7molL−1 N2O4/HNO3 solutions. The open-circuit potential (E ocp) in N2O4/HNO3 solution was about 1.18V and it was almost independent of the surface composition. Cyclic voltammetry showed a broad wave feature at 1.4–1.8V in the anodic scan, which was attributed to the oxidation of NO2 derived from N2O4 to NO2 +. The redox couple of NO2/NO2 + showed a quasi-reversible behavior and the process was under diffusion control. The electrocatalytic activities of various Ir x Ru1−x O2 coatings for oxidation of N2O4 were evaluated by potentiostatic polarization curves under the quasi-steady state conditions. The Ru0.5Ir0.5O2 coating showed the lowest Tafel slope, 35.7mV, in the low current densities, indicating that this coating had the highest electrocatalytic activity. The experiments of electrochemical synthesis of N2O5 from N2O4 in nitric acid also indicated that the Ru0.5Ir0.5O2 coating had the best electrocatalytic performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Electrochemical synthesis of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) by oxidation of dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) in a plate-and-frame electrolyzer was investigated. As the separator, different porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes were tested in this process and the effects of hydrophilicity and of hydrophobicity on the electrolysis were discussed. The transport of N2O4 and water from catholyte to anolyte through membrane occurred in the electrolysis, especially at the end of the electrolysis. The water transport had a much more effect on the electrolysis than that of the N2O4 diffusion. The hydrophobic PTFE membranes had better performance on control of water transport from catholyte to anolyte than that of the hydrophilic ones. Hydrophobicity can increase the chemical yield of N2O5. The membranes with a low hydrophobic surface were preferred. All the hydrophobic PTFE membranes with low resistance have the specific energy of 1.1–1.5kWhkg−1 N2O5. The current efficiency of 67.3–80.2% and chemical yield of 58.9–60.9% were achieved in production of N2O5. The technique of replacing the catholyte with fresh nitric acid can minimize the transport of N2O4 and water to a great extent, it can further improve the chemical yield and reduce the specific energy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The copper-based catalyst is considered to be the only catalyst for electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction to produce a variety of hydrocarbons, but its low selectivity and low current density to C2 products restrict its development. Herein, a core-shell xZnO@yCu2O catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction was fabricated via a two-step route. The high selectivity of C2 products of 49.8% on ZnO@4Cu2O (ethylene 33.5%, ethanol 16.3%) with an excellent total current density of 140.1 mA cm−2 was achieved over this core-shell structure catalyst in a flow cell, in which the C2 selectivity was twice that of Cu2O. The high electrochemical activity for ECR to C2 products was attributed to the synergetic effects of the ZnO core and Cu2O shell, which not only enhanced the selectivity of the coordinating electron, improved the HER overpotential, and fastened the electron transfer, but also promoted the multielectron involved kinetics for ethylene and ethanol production. This work provides some new insights into the design of highly efficient Cu-based electrocatalysts for enhancing the selectivity of electrochemical CO2 reduction to produce high-value C2 products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical activated-CFP supported nano-Pt electrode was designed for degrading concentrated HNO 3. The influence of pre-thermal treatment of the activated-CFP on the electrodeposition of Pt was investigated, indicating that the decrease in surface oxygen content is beneficial to the electrodeposition of Pt nanoparticles. The nano-Pt/activated-CFP was directly used as a highly reactive electrode for electroreduction of HNO 3 , showing a high current density for the formation of ammonia ions. This study will provide a possibility for the electrochemical treatment of concentrated HNO 3 with the formation of low- and non-toxic byproducts. Unlabelled Image • The influence of pre-thermal treatment on the electrodeposition of Pt was investigated. • The Pt/activated-CFP was applied to the electrocatalytic reduction of concentrated HNO 3. • It shows a high reactivity towards the formation of ammonia ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• EDTA-2K-dervied carbons employed to activate persulfate for sulfamethoxazole removal. • Up to 99.5% removal of 50 mg/L sulfamethoxazole was obtained within 120 min. • Surface area, conductivity, defects and heteroatoms contributed in the process. Nitrogen-doped porous carbons prepared from ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid dipotassium salt (EDTA-2K) were employed in combination with sodium persulfate (PS) for the catalytic removal of sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Almost complete removal (99.5%) of SMX was obtained with the optimum carbon prepared at 800 °C (NC800), which was attributed to its high surface area, good electrical conductivity, rich defects as well as doped carbonyl and nitrogen groups. The reaction mechanism was proposed to be a combination of both radical and non-radical pathways. OH, SO 4 −, O 2 − and 1O 2 as reactive oxidative species were involved in the reaction process based on quenching tests and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements, while the non-radical pathway between PS and SMX with the assistance of NC800 also made a significant contribution as indicated from PS decomposition tests and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) analysis. Adsorption played an important role in the reaction process, and this point was emphasized when interpreting the effects of quenchers and pH values. For potential practical applications of the NC800/PS system, experiments concerning catalyst stability, the catalytic removal of three other organic contaminants and SMX removal in real water matrices were also conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop robust and highly active bifunctional electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting in acidic media is still a great challenge for proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. Herein, a self-assembled IrCo x nanorings (NRs) with bracelet-like architecture is fabricated as a bifunctional high-efficient overall water splitting electrocatalyst by a facile, controllable and surfactant-free strategy. The unique nanoring architecture enriches in abundant homointerface and strong synergistic electronic interaction between Ir and Co. The optimized IrCo 0.14 NRs exhibits remarkable electrocatalytic performance with a low overpotential of 16 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 278 mV for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at 10 mA cm−2 in 0.1 M HClO 4 , respectively, significantly outperforming the commercial Pt/C, Ir/C and reported Ir-based catalysts. As both anode and cathode, a cell voltage of only 1.53 V to reach 10 mA cm−2 is obtained for overall water splitting and no obvious activity loses after a long-term electrolysis for 14 h. Combined with a PV cell, this catalyst also shows excellent water splitting performance with a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 12.8%. This work provides further insights on designing promising and efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for clean energy electrochemical conversion in the future. Image 1 • Bracelet-like IrCo x nanorings (NRs) assembled by alloy nanoparticles are fabricated. • The homointerface and alloy effects of IrCo x NRs boost the catalytic performance. • IrCo 0.14 NR catalyst exhibits superior HER and OER performance in acidic media. • IrCo 0.14 NR enables stable water splitting in acidic media for 14 h at 10 mA cm−2. • IrCo 0.14 NR also exhibits excellent solar-driven overall water splitting performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly active and stable γ-Al 2 O 3 -supported nickel nanoparticles catalyst (prepared by atomic layer deposition, ALD) was employed for the hydro-conversion of oleic acid to aviation-fuel-range-alkanes. The activity evaluation and characterization results suggested that this process is a structure-sensitive one for which step sites are more active than terrace sites. Ni(ALD)/Al 2 O 3 catalyst enriched in Ni step sites thus presented high deoxygenation and hydrogenolysis activity. Additionally, Ni(ALD)/Al 2 O 3 catalyst displayed high stability with only 6.5% drop in conversion after 10 h run owing to the development of strong metal-support interactions. After regeneration, the catalytic activity was recovered completely. Unlabelled Image • Ni(ALD)/Al 2 O 3 has been developed for the hydro-conversion of oleic acid to AFRAs. • Hydro-conversion of oleic acid to AFRAs is a structure-sensitive reaction. • Ni(ALD)/Al 2 O 3 is highly active and stable for the hydro-conversion of oleic acid. • High activity is derived from the high Ni dispersion and proportion of step sites. • High catalytic stability is attributed to the strong metal-support interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ni/ZSM-5 nanosheet catalysts with different Si/Al ratios were modified by chemical liquid deposition (CLD) of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) to tailor their acid spatial distribution. Their catalytic performance was evaluated with the hydroconversion of oleic acid to aviation-fuel-range-alkanes (AFRAs) at different reaction temperatures and H 2 pressures. The modified catalysts inherit the nanosheet structure with decreased external Brønsted acid concentration, especially the strong one. External Brønsted acid sites mainly favor the cracking of the deoxygenated products (C 17 /C 18). Internal Brønsted acid sites mainly enhance the isomerization of the linear AFRAs. And the catalytic activity of the external Brønsted acid sites was more sensitive to reaction temperature than that of the internal ones. The deoxygenation and cracking reactions were also more sensitive to H 2 pressure compared to the isomerization reaction. High AFRA selectivity of 51.4% as well as high iso/n -alkanes ratio of 1.7 were achieved at 250 °C and 10 bar over NS200(1). Image 1 • CLD tailors external acid sites with similar pore structures and Ni distributions. • External B acid sites mainly favor the cracking of the deoxygenated products. • Internal B acid sites mainly enhance the isomerization of the linear AFRAs. • Cracking reaction is more sensitive to temperature and pressure than isomerization. • A high AFRA selectivity of 51.4% with high iso/n -alkanes ratio of 1.7 is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hollow Silicalite-1 and ZSM-5 zeolites with hierarchical porous shells have been synthesized by using a dissolution-recrystallization method. The morphology, structure, and acidity of these zeolites supported Pt catalysts were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, MAS-SSNMR, FE-SEM, FE-TEM, N2-BET, XPS, NH3-TPD, and CO pulse chemisorption. Compared to the conventional ZSM-5 supported Pt catalyst, the special structure in hollow ZSM-5 zeolite significantly promotes the dispersion of metallic Pt and the synergistic effect between metal active sites and acid sites. These boost the catalytic activity, selectivity of guaiacol hydrodeoxygenation toward cycloalkanes and long-term stability over the Pt/hollow ZSM-5 catalyst combined with improved mass transfer of products and reactants derived from the hierarchical hollow porous structure. Moreover, the Pt/hollow ZSM-5 catalyst exhibits excellent low temperature catalytic activity to completely transform guaiacol into cycloalkanes with the cyclohexane selectivity of more than 93% at 220 °C, suggesting that hollow ZSM-5 zeolite is a promising support for upgrading of bio-oils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germination is an environmentally friendly process with no use of additives, during which only water spraying is done to activate endogenous enzymes for modification. Furthermore, it could induce bioactive phenolics accumulation. Controlling endogenous enzymes' activity is essential to alleviate granular disruption, crystallinity loss, double helices' dissociation, and molecular degradation of cereal and pseudo-cereal starch. Post-treatments (e.g. thermal and high-pressure technology) make it possible for damaged starch to reassemble towards well-packed structure. These contribute to alleviated loss of solubility and pasting viscosity, improved swelling power, or enhanced resistant starch formation. Cereal or pseudo-cereal flour (except that with robust structure) modified by early germination is more applicable to produce products with desirable texture and taste. Besides shortening duration, germination under abiotic stress is promising to mitigate starch damage for better utilization in staple foods., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Developing low-cost and highly efficient electrocatalysts toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of vital significance for electrochemical water splitting. Herein, we fabricate a heterostructure NiS/Ni(OH) x electrocatalyst (Ni-S-n) with regenerative oxygen vacancies via electro-deposition on nickel foam (NF) followed by a facile NaBH 4 reduction. The resulting Ni-S-5 catalyst with appropriate amount of oxygen vacancies (O vs ) exhibits extraordinary activity for alkaline OER with overpotential of 142 mV and 248 mV to reach the current density of 10 mA cm -2 and 100 mA cm -2 , respectively. This catalyst also shows remarkable durability with 40 h. After the stability test, the excellent OER performance is well recovered by regenerating the surface oxygen vacancies (O vs ) significantly with additional NaBH 4 reduction. The Ni-S-5 catalyst still displays good activity even after repeating it three times (180 h). The surface oxygen vacancies act as vital active sites for OER. A mechanism of O vs species transformation and regeneration based on the Ni-S-5 catalyst is proposed, which provides a new direction for exploring ultrastable and efficient OER electrocatalysts with renewable active species., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Exploring the electrocatalysts with high intrinsic activity and stability for both anode and cathode to tolerate the extremely acidic condition in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) is crucial for widespread industrial application. Herein, we constructed the bifunctional IrCo x nanoalloys with abundant metal vacancies via the combination of chemical reduction and electrochemical treatment for overall water splitting. The developed IrCo 0.13 exhibits ultra-low overpotentials of 238 mV for OER and 18.6 mV for HER at 10 mA cm -2 in 0.1 M HClO 4 , and achieves the exceptional stability of 1000 h for OER and 100 h for HER at 10 mA cm -2 . Further, the cell voltage is only 1.68 V to reach a high current density of 1 A cm -2 in PEMWE with IrCo 0.13 as the both cathode and anode catalytic layer, and it shows excellent corrosion resistance in acidic environment, evidenced by 415 h stable operation at 1 A cm -2 . The strong electronic interactions in the Ir-Co atomic heterostructure and the in-situ generation of Co vacancies by electrochemical oxidation synergistically contribute to the enhanced activity and stability via optimizing the electronic structure of adjacent Ir active sites, enhancing the conductivity and electrochemical active surface area of the catalyst, accelerating charge transfer and kinetics. This work provides a new perspective for designing bifunctional catalysts for practical application in PEMWE., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Comparative studies were conducted on physicochemical and technological properties of two black wheat (BW) varieties (cultivated in Shanxi Agricultural University) and their noodle-making potential. Whole-grain BW noodles showed acceptable cooking loss (≤10%) and strong antioxidant capacity. However, their textural quality remains to be enhanced. Regarding refined flour (RF) of the two BW varieties, Yunhei 14207 showed more anthocyanins, brighter color, and greater thermal stability (as reflected by the higher pasting temperature). 16W16 resulted in greater gluten content and better gluten quality of flour and higher dough stability, which contributed to the lower cooking loss and stronger tensile property of noodles. RF noodles of Yunhei 14207 displayed brighter appearance, although they had weaker tensile property. The stronger gluten network in noodles of 16W16 protected phenolics from release and degradation during drying, cooking, and steaming. Despite phenolics loss, RF noodles of Yunhei 14207 showed antioxidant capacity up to 14.97 mg TE/100 g. This research would promote understanding of characteristics of BW varieties. Considering the stronger gluten network of 16W16, its fortification in common wheat noodles at high proportion (>50%) may be promising to develop antioxidant noodles with further improved sensory quality., (© 2023 Institute of Food Technologists.)

Oven roasting (OR) could induce hierarchical structural changes in starch, which is fundamental for altering the pasting and hydration properties of cereal flour. OR makes proteins denatured and peptide chains unraveled or rearranged. OR could alter compositions of cereal lipids and minerals. Although OR may degrade phenolics, their release from bound forms is predominant when mild/moderate conditions are exerted. Hence, some OR-modified cereals even exhibit many physiological functions, such as anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory activity. Furthermore, these minor components interplay with starch/protein via physical entrapment, non-covalent interactions, or cross-linking. The structural changes and interactions modulate functionalities of OR-modified cereal flour, its dough/batter property, and related staple food quality. Compared with hydrothermal or high-pressure thermal treatments, proper OR even induces greater enhancement in technological quality and bioactive compounds release. Given the simple operation and low cost, it is worth utilizing OR for the development of sensory-appealing healthy staple foods., (© 2023 Institute of Food Technologists.)

Blue wheat starch was modified by heat-moisture treatment (HMT) with varying moisture contents (MCs). Changes in physicochemical properties were evaluated on the basis of its multi-scale structure. Following HMTs with MC below 30 %, the starch remained brighter and presented total phenolics content up to 0.20 mg/g. As treating MC increased, structural disruptions became more pronounced, which were characterized by crystallinity loss, lamellae's loosening, hydrogen bonding breakage, and debranching. Furthermore, HMTs decreased the proportion of external A chains of amylopectin. Concomitantly, modified starches showed progressively increased transition temperatures but decreased enthalpy values. Despite the swelling power decrease, HMTs with MC of 15 % showed markedly higher peak viscosity than control, as a result of the more compact semi-crystalline lamellae and homogenous electron distribution. Besides, all HMT-starches showed lowered breakdown and setback. This novel modified starch would be promising ingredients for modulating the viscoelasticity of healthy anti-staling staple foods., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the pathogenic gene variant in a family with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by using whole-exome sequencing and to explore the relationship between the gene variant and clinical phenotype., Methods: Peripheral blood was collected from a family with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted. The possible pathogenic genes were detected by whole-exome sequencing, and the variant was verified by Sanger sequencing. Functional change in the variant was predicted by bioinformatics software. Clinical data of the family members are analysed simultaneously., Results: The proband carries a novel heterozygous nonsense variant of MYBPC3:c.2731G > T (p.E911X). The analysis of amino acid conservation suggests that the variation is highly conserved. The three-dimensional protein structure shows that the variant in MYBPC3 results in the incompleteness of the fibronectintype-III2 (p872-967) domain and deletion of Ig-like C2-type 6 (p971-1065) and fibronectin type-III 3 and Ig-like C2-type 7 (p1181-1274) domains, in which p1253-1268 is predicted to have a transmembrane helix structure. Clinical data indicate that the phenotypes of variant carriers with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are diverse, suggesting the functional damages to the protein of MYBPC3., Conclusion: The phenotypes of variant carriers with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy caused by the novel variant in MYBPC3: c.2731G > T (p.E911X) exhibit variable severity and clinical manifestations. Whole-exome sequencing can be used to comprehensive screen hypertrophic cardiomyopathy genes and provide a strong basis for early screening and accurate diagnosis and treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in children.

Compared with three major cereals, underutilized cereals (UCs) are those with less use but having abundant bioactive components and better functionalities after proper processing. As a productive and energy-efficient technology, extrusion has been used for UC modification to improve its technological and nutritional quality. Extrusion could induce structural and quantitative changes in chemical components of UC flour, the degree of which is affected by extrusion intensity. Based on the predominant component (starch), functionalities of extruded underutilized cereal flour (EUCF) and potential mechanisms are reviewed. Considering bioactive compounds, it also summarizes the physiological functions of EUCF. EUCF incorporation could modulate the dough rheological behavior and starchy foods quality. Controlling extrusion intensity or incorporation level of EUCF is vital to achieve sensory-appealing and nutritious products. This paper gives comprehensive information of EUCF to promote its utilization in novel staple foods., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Previous work has demonstrated that slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) can promote growth and nutrient enrichment of buckwheat sprouts. In this study, iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis of SAEW-induced buckwheat sprouts was conducted to explore its mechanism of action. The results showed that 11, 10 and 14 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) related to energy metabolism, oxidative stress and flavonoid biosynthesis accumulated upwards and downwards, respectively, in SAEW-treated buckwheat. Bioinformatics analysis revealed 118 GO categories were in relation to molecular function. In the SAEW group, a total of 9 DEPs (5 up-regulated) were mapped to 10 significantly enriched KEGG pathways. SAEW induced flavonoid enrichment by modulating zymoproteins (e.g. phenylalanine ammonialyase and flavonol synthase) in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway. qRT-PCR results had consistency with abundance levels of their corresponding proteins. These findings are likely to reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying the biochemical enrichment of buckwheat sprouts by SAEW., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cereals, one of the starch sources, have a tremendous and steady production worldwide. Starchy foods constitute the major part of daily calorie intake for humans. As a simple and green modification approach, heat-moisture treatment (HMT) could change the granular surface characteristics and size, crystalline and helical structure, as well as molecular organization of cereal starch. The changing degree is contingent on HMT parameters and botanical origin. Based on the hierarchical structure, this paper reviews functionalities of heat-moisture modified cereal starch (HMCS) reported in latest years. The functionality of HMCS could be affected by co-existing non-starch ingredients through non-covalent/covalent interactions, depolymerization or simply attachment/encapsulation. Besides, it summarizes the modulation of HMCS in dough rheology and final food products' quality. Selecting proper HMT conditions is crucial for achieving nutritious products with desirable sensory and storage quality. This review gives a systematic understanding about HMCS for the better utilization in food industry., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Ferric oxides and (oxy)hydroxides, although plentiful and low-cost, are rarely considered for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) owing to the too high spin state (e g filling ca. 2.0) suppressing the bonding strength with reaction intermediates. Now, a facile adsorption-oxidation strategy is used to anchor Fe III atomically on an ultrathin TiO 2 nanobelt to synergistically lower the spin state (e g filling ca. 1.08) to enhance the adsorption with oxygen-containing intermediates and improve the electro-conductibility for lower ohmic loss. The electronic structure of the catalyst is predicted by DFT calculation and perfectly confirmed by experimental results. The catalyst exhibits superior performance for OER with overpotential 270 mV @10 mA cm -2 and 376 mV @100 mA cm -2 in alkaline solution, which is much better than IrO 2 /C and RuO 2 /C and is the best iron-based OER catalyst free of active metals such as Ni, Co, or precious metals., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

As a new class of metal-nitrogen-carbon (M-N-C) material with 3 D microstructure, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are used to synthesize highly active electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction, as substitutes for commercial Pt/C in anion exchange membrane fuel cells. However, to form an effective catalyst layer (CL), the relationship between the microstructure of the ZIF-derived catalyst and the fuel cell performance must be investigated. In this work, a hierarchically porous CL based on the carbon black (CB)-controlled synthesis of a Co-based ZIF (denoted as ZIF-CB-700) is constructed to optimize the triple-phase boundary (TPB) and mass transfer. The power density at 40 °C of ZIF-CB-700 (95.4 mW cm -2 ) as cathode catalyst is about 4 times higher than that of the catalyst synthesized in the absence of CB and is comparable to that of the commercial 60 % Pt/C catalyst (112.0 mW cm -2 ). Both online and offline measurements suggest that the morphology and microstructure of the CL is crucial to form an active TPB region, dominating the fuel cell performance rather than only the high catalyst activity., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Fe-doped transition metal (oxy)hydroxides are regarded as the most efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts in alkaline conditions. The incorporation of Fe effectively enhances the OER activity of Co-/Ni-based materials, but the corresponding role of Fe in Co-based (oxy)hydroxide materials still remains unresolved. Herein, α-Co 1-m Fe m (OH) x is synthesized and systematically engineered to study the effect of Fe content on the morphology, crystalline structure, electronic structure, and OER activity. As the Fe content is changed, the basic crystalline phase of α-Co 1-m Fe m (OH) x is consistent whereas the micromorphology changes. Much smaller and thinner nanoplates with more edge/defect sites are fabricated because of increased Fe incorporation. When the Fe content is more than 0.1, twin nanoparticles emerge at the edge/defect sites of the sister nanoplate. Additionally, the OER activity of α-Co 1-m Fe m (OH) x against Fe content can be plotted as a volcano curve. These data thus support a hypothesis that the edge/defect sites in α-Co 1-m Fe m (OH) x are responsible for the OER performance. The incorporation of Fe leads to not only the accelerated intrinsic reactivity of each active site, which is attributed to the strong electronic interaction between Co and Fe but also changes the number of edge/defect sites., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are promising power sources for automobiles and portable electronic devices. Its commercialization depends on the anodes with high activity, low Pt content, and especially high stability towards methanol oxidation. Herein, a self-supported Pt nanoflakes and amorphous Ni(OH) 2 on nickel foam composite electrode (Pt-doped Ni(OH) 2 , Pt content: 1.5 wt%) with rich defects was fabricated via a facile and low cost galvanic deposition method. This composite anode exhibits enhanced activity and stability for methanol oxidation in alkaline media, which mainly come from the synergistic effects between Pt nanoflakes and amorphous Ni(OH) 2 on Ni foam substrate and defect engineering. During a typical methanol oxidation process over Pt-doped Ni(OH) 2 : Pt nanoflakes act as the active sites; amorphous Ni(OH) 2 promotes the poison removal; Ni foam provides high electric conductivity and large area; defects sites contribute to the enhanced activity and stability. This work suggests that this self-supported and defect-enriched Pt-doped Ni(OH) 2 composite catalyst is an alternative to commercial Pt-based electrocatalyst for low temperature DMFCs., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Mesoporous hollow W18O49 spheres were fabricated by a facile solvent-induced assembly method using anhydrous WCl6 as a precursor and CH3COOH as a solvent. This unique structure exhibited remarkably enhanced photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic performance than other morphologies like urchin and nanowire due to the simultaneous enhancement in light harvesting, surface area and adsorption capability.

Nitrated HTPB (NHTPB) is a potential energetic binder to replace the conventional inert binder, HTPB, for the composite solid propellants and plastic bonded explosives (PBXs). The thermal stability of the NHTPB sample with 10% double bonds converted to dinitrate ester group (10% NHTPB) was evaluated by high-pressure differential scanning calorimeter (PDSC) measurement. The influences of pressure (0.1, 2.5 and 5.0 MPa) and the heating rate (4, 6, 8 and 10 degrees C min(-1)) on the DSC behavior of the 10% NHTPB sample were investigated. The decomposition temperature of this compound decreased with the increase of pressure, meanwhile, increased as the heating rate increasing. The thermal decomposition at 150-250 degrees C followed a first-order law. The kinetic parameters and thermodynamic parameters for the 10% NHTPB sample at 150-250 degrees C under ambient pressure were obtained from the DSC data by non-isothermal methods proposed by ASTM E698 and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa. The critical temperature for this compound was estimated at about 154 degrees C.