Search

A facile strategy has been developed to fabricate Ni3S2 nanoparticles wrapped with in situ generated N-doped graphene sheets (Ni3S2@N-G). In this strategy, the nitrogen and sulfur-containing resin is introduced as a sulfur source to form the Ni3S2 nanoparticles and to provide a source of nitrogen and carbon to grow a coating of N-doped graphene sheets on their surface. As an anode material in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), Ni3S2@N-G exhibits a highly improved reversible capacity, as well as an excellent cycling performance and rate performance. It delivers a discharge capacity of up to 809 mA h g−1 in the 150th cycle. With the successful synthesis of Ni3S2@N-G as a starting point, this facile strategy can be used to synthesize other metal sulfides/graphene sheets nanocomposites and will immensely extend its applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rational design of MnO2/3D porous graphene-like (PG) (denoted as 3D PG–Mn) composites and their fabrication via a simple and cost-effective redox process have been achieved for the first time. The 3D PG can provide a highly conductive structure in conjunction with a large surface area to support good contact between the MnO2 nanoparticles and effectively enhance the mechanical strength of the composite during volume changes as well as suppress the aggregation of MnO2 nanoparticles during Li ion insertion/extraction. As a result, the 3D PG–Mn composite with a content of 62.7 wt% MnO2 shows a highly stable capacity of up to 836 mA h g−1 after 200 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g−1 and reversible high rate charge–discharge performance. Such a highly stable 3D PG–Mn composite can be produced on a large-scale and might have even wider applications as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrode interface concentration polarization attributed to the contradiction between sluggish mass transfer process and rapid electrochemical reduction kinetics significantly restricts the practical application of Zn anode. Creating a moderate Zn ions transfer and reduction chemistry is essential for durable zinc‐ion batteries. In this work, this trade‐off effect is realized by selecting large‐size 4‐Aminomethyl cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (AMCA) molecule as the electrolyte additive. Intriguingly, AMCA molecules reorganize the Zn2+ solvation structure via the robust coordination with Zn2+ and reconstruct H‐bond networks, giving a pulled desolvation process. Meanwhile, AMCA enlarges the Zn2+ solvation size with a push force, confining the rapid electrochemical reduction kinetics. The balanced chemical environment is maintained via the moderate pull‐push interplay. Besides, AMCA can anchor on zinc surface to create a water‐poor microenvironment, fostering homogeneous Zn (002) deposition and effectively restricting water‐induced side‐reactions. Notably, the Zn||Zn symmetric cell with AMCA operates stably over 167 days at 20 mA cm−2. Moreover, the Zn||VOX full cell employed AMCA ensures outstanding capacity retention of 99.15% after 590 cycles at 2 A g−1, even with low N/P (4.3), lean electrolyte (50 µL mAh−1) and ultrathin Zn foil of 10 µm. This work reveals unique insights into the balanced interfacial chemistry design toward high‐performance zinc batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid electrochemical development of hydrogen evolution, the search for low‐cost and high activity electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution has received extensive attention. The fabrication of self‐supported Cu2S‐Cu3P nanowire (Cu2S‐Cu3P NW) arrays on a commercial copper foam by a liquid–solid reaction and subsequent phosphatation at low temperature is reported. The corresponding scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results indicate that the Cu2S‐Cu3P NW arrays have a dense nanowire (NW) structure with sulfur and phosphorous uniformly distributed on the surface of the nanowires. Interestingly, the Cu2S‐Cu3P NW arrays act as a hydrogen‐evolving cathode that when operated in 1.0 m KOH electrolyte only require a low overpotential of 158 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and show a small Tafel slope of 45 mV dec−1. The activity decrease is negligible after holding at −500 mA cm–2 for 75 h, which thus demonstrates excellent stability. This could be due to the structure of nanowire arrays and synergistic effects between S and P, which could increase the specific surface area, reduce the charge transfer resistance, facilitate mass diffusion and electron transfers, and increase the active sites. This work therefore provides a simple method to prepare low‐cost and self‐supported electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diatomic site catalysts (DAC) have better performance with higher metal content and more flexible active sites compared with single atomic site catalysts (SAC). Herein, the authors for the first time achieved Rh2 DAC on loose porous g‐C3N4 hollow nanospheres with N‐vacancies and applied to photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction, overcoming the current limitations of the low electron–hole recombination rate and prolong the lifetime of the photogenerated carrier. The high specific surface area of hollow nanosphere facilitates the uniform dispersion and anchoring of Rh2 diatomic pairs, while the N‐vacancies induce a stable 3N/Rh‐Rh/1N2C coordination between the carrier and Rh2 diatomic pairs. The local charges on the support framework with N vacancies tend to be transferred to Rh2 diatomic site by 3N/Rh‐Rh/1N2C bridge, which made the charge enriched Rh2 diatomic site become the active center of reaction, enhance charge separation efficiency of Rh2/HCNS‐Nv. Compared with Rh1 SAC, further Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation confirms that Rh2 DAC can effectively stabilize rate‐limiting intermediates CHO*, and well weaken the C─O bond strength in CH3O* species, promote the generation and separation of CH4, resulting in high CO2 reduction efficiency and CH4 electron selectivity of up to 91.65%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) significantly hinders the practical application of lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Herein, a high-entropy hydroxyphosphate (Co 0.29 Ni 0.15 Fe 0.33 Cu 0.16 Ca 3.9 (PO 4 ) 3 (OH), denoted as HE-CHP), was synthesized by metal cation exchange with calcium hydroxyphosphate (CHP) and then coated on polypropylene (PP) separators to suppress the shuttling of LiPSs. Density functional theory calculations indicated that the various introduced metal cations could effectively modulate the binding strength of soluble polysulfides and enhance the reaction kinetics of LiPSs conversion. As a result, LSBs using the HE-CHP@PP separator exhibited an excellent discharge capacity (1297 mAh g -1 under 0.2 C) and a slow capacity decay during long-term cycling (0.046 % per cycle at 2 C). At a sulfur loading of up to 6.5 mg cm -2 , the LSB with HE-CHP@PP separator displayed a discharge capacity of 5.8 mAh cm -2 . Notably, the CNT@S||Li Li-S pouch cell with HE-CHP modified separator delivered an initial energy density of 432 Wh kg -1 ., 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. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (ECO2RR) shows great potential to create high-value carbon-based chemicals, while designing advanced catalysts at the atomic level remains challenging. The ECO2RR performance is largely dependent on the catalyst microelectronic structure that can be effectively modulated through surface defect engineering. Here, we provide an atmosphere-assisted low-temperature calcination strategy to prepare a series of single-atomic Cu/ceria catalysts with varied oxygen vacancy concentrations for robust electrolytic reduction of CO2 to methane. The obtained Cu/ceria catalyst under H2 environment (Cu/ceria-H2) exhibits a methane Faraday efficiency (FECH4) of 70.03% with a turnover frequency (TOFCH4) of 9946.7 h-1 at an industrial-scale current density of 150 mA cm-2 in a flow cell. Detailed studies indicate the copious oxygen vacancies in the Cu/ceria-H2 are conducive to regulating the surface microelectronic structure with stabilized Cu+ active center. Furthermore, density functional theory calculations and operando ATR-SEIRAS demonstrate that the Cu/ceria-H2 can markedly enhance the activation of CO2, facilitate the adsorption of pivotal intermediates *COOH and *CO, thus ultimately enabling the high selectivity for CH4 production. This study presents deep insights into designing effective electrocatalysts for CO2 to CH4 conversion by controlling the surface microstructure via the reaction atmosphere., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The development of lithium-sulfur (Li─S) batteries has been hampered by the shuttling effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). An effective method to address this issue is to use an electrocatalyst to accelerate the catalytic conversion of LiPSs. In this study, heterogeneous MnP-MnO 2 nanoparticles are uniformly synthesized and embedded in porous carbon (MnP-MnO 2 /C) as core catalysts to improve the reaction kinetics of LiPSs. In situ characterization and density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that the MnP-MnO 2 heterostructure undergo surface sulfidation during the charge/discharge process, forming the MnS 2 phase. Surface sulfidation of the MnP-MnO 2 heterostructure catalyst significantly accelerated the SRR and Li 2 S activation, effectively inhibiting the LiPSs shuttling effect. Consequently, the MnP-MnO 2 /C@S cathode achieves outstanding rate performance (10 C, 500 mAh g -1 ) and ultrahigh cycling stability (0.017% decay rate per cycle for 2000 cycles at 5 C). A pouch cell with MnP-MnO 2 /C@S cathode delivers a high energy density of 429 Wh kg -1 . This study may provide a new approach to investigating the surface sulfidation of electrocatalysts, which is valuable for advancing high-energy-density Li-S batteries., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Zn-CO 2 batteries are excellent candidates for both electrical energy output and CO 2 utilization, whereas the main challenge is to design electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction reactions with high selectivity and low cost. Herein, the three-phase heterojunction Cu-based electrocatalyst (Cu/Cu 2 O-Sb 2 O 3 -15) is synthesized and evaluated for highly selective CO 2 reduction to CO, which shows the highest faradaic efficiency of 96.3% at -1.3 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, exceeding the previously reported best values for Cu-based materials. In situ spectroscopy and theoretical analysis indicate that the Sb incorporation into the three-phase heterojunction Cu/Cu 2 O-Sb 2 O 3 -15 nanomaterial promotes the formation of key * COOH intermediates compared with the normal Cu/Cu 2 O composites. Furthermore, the rechargeable aqueous Zn-CO 2 battery assembled with Cu/Cu 2 O-Sb 2 O 3 -15 as the cathode harvests a peak power density of 3.01 mW cm -2 as well as outstanding cycling stability of 417 cycles. This research provides fresh perspectives for designing advanced cathodic electrocatalysts for rechargeable Zn-CO 2 batteries with high-efficient electricity output together with CO 2 utilization., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Sleep quality leads to many healthy problems, which has caused global concern. Most studies have focused on the sleep quality in some large cities, ignoring the elderly in rural areas who may have more serious sleep problems. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the sleep status of the elderly in rural areas of Anhui Province and the influence of environmental factors on it. The data of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations for this study were obtained from the Dalhousie University atmospheric composition analysis group. The data of normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) in 2014 was produced and processed by remote sensing inversion on the basis of medium resolution satellite images. The 2686 individuals were selected from rural areas of Anhui Province by multi-stage stratified cluster sampling. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality. The independent, interactive, and mediating effects of CO 2 and green space on sleep quality were evaluated by generalized linear model, interaction model, and mediating effect model, respectively. In this study, we found that the prevalence of sleep disturbance in the elderly was 58.40%. In the univariate model, we found that the risk of sleep disturbance increased by 1.6% for each 1 μg/m 3 increase in concentrations of CO 2 , while decreased by 1.5% for every 0.1 increase in NDVI. In the interaction model, the negative correlation between green space and sleep quality decreased with concentrations of CO 2 increased. In addition, green space was a mediating factor between CO 2 and sleep quality in the mediating effect model., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Herein, we introduce a facile approach to synthesize a unique class of Pt-M (M = Ni, Co) catalysts with a nanoflower structure for boosting both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). By controlling the surface-active agents, we modified the functional groups surrounding the Pt atoms, tuned the alloying of Pt and the transition metals Ni and Co, and prepared two different kinds of nanodendrites. Their successful synthesis depends on the selection and amount of surfactants (hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)). Besides, by controlling reaction time, we also explored the forming procedures for Pt-Co globularia nanodendrite (Pt-Co GND) and Pt-Ni petalody nanodendrite (Pt-Ni PND). Our investigation highlights the importance of complex nanoarchitecture, which enables surface and interface modification to achieve excellent catalytic performance in fuel cell electrocatalysis. The characterization of the as-prepared catalysts reveals a high electrochemical surface area and mass activity (2041 mAmg Pt -1 and 950 mAmg Pt -1 for Pt-Co GND and Pt-Ni PND, respectively, for ORR). Furthermore, Pt-Co GND showed a high MOR activity, with a mass activity value recorded at 1615 mAmg Pt -1 which is far superior to that for Pt/C. Moreover, both catalysts retain high activity after accelerated durability tests (ADTs). The electron transfer number was calculated by performing the rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) measurements. Due to abundant active sites of Pt, both Pt-Co GND and Pt-Ni PND exhibit a 4e - pathway for ORR with electron transfer number of >3.95., 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 © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Air pollution and its negative effects on health of people have been a global concern. Many studies had found a strong association between air pollutants and risk of death, but few had focused on the effects of six pollutants and rural areas. Our study aimed to investigate the effects of six air pollutants (CO, NO 2 , O 3 , PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and SO 2 ) on non-accidental and respiratory deaths in rural areas of Anhui Province by adjusting for confounding factors, and to further clarify which populations were susceptible to death associated with air pollution. In the first phase of the analysis, the generalized additive models were combined with the distributed lag non-linear models to evaluate the individual effects of air pollution on death in each area. In the second stage, random-effects models were used to aggregate the associations between air pollutants and mortality risk in nine areas. Overall, six pollutants had the strongest effects on the risk of death on the lag 07 days. The associations between PM 2.5 and NO 2 and daily non-accidental deaths were strongest, with maximum RR (lag 07): 1.63 (1.37-1.88) and 1.67 (1.37-1.96). The maximum pooled effects of association between six air pollutants and RD were PM 2.5 , with RR (lag 07): 1.89 (1.45-2.34). PM 2.5 and PM 10 had significant differences between the elderly and the non-elderly with respectively, RRR: 1.22 (1.04-1.41) and 1.26 (1.11-1.42). In general, we found that six air pollutants were the important risk factors for deaths (deaths from respiratory disease and non-accidental) in rural areas of Anhui Province. PM 10 and PM 2.5 had a considerable impact on the elderly., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Three types of alkyl-ammonium with different branching chains and three complexants with different functional groups were used to prepare alkyl-ammonium or complexant intercalated montmorillonite nanocomposite (A-Mt or C-Mt). In addition, synergistic intercalated montmorillonite nanocomposites (A/C-Mt) with alkyl-ammonium along with complexant were also prepared. The adsorption performance of the various nanocomposites toward Zn 2+ and p-nitrophenol (PNP) from simulated binary wastewater containing both Zn 2+ and PNP were systematically investigated. Characterization of Mt nanocomposites showed that both alkyl-ammoniums and complexants were successfully intercalated into the interlayers of Mt. The surfactant loading amounts of the various nanocomposites were also determined and correlated with the resulting expansion of the interlayer spacing. It was found that intercalation of alkane (OTAC) and -SH (CSH) were conducive to the adsorption of Zn 2+ while -C 2 H 4 NH (TETA) and all alkyl-ammoniums were beneficial for PNP adsorption. The extent of adsorption was found to be controlled primarily by pH, i.e., the higher pH had a good effect on the adsorption of both Zn 2+ and PNP. The adsorption process of Zn 2+ onto Mt nanocomposites was more in line with the Freundlich model (R 2  = 0.99), while the Langmuir model described the adsorption of PNP well (R 2  = 0.99). The adsorption kinetics could be well described by the Elovich equation (R 2  = 0.98) and the double-constant model (R 2  = 0.89). Chemical adsorption was determined to be the dominant process between the contaminant and Mt nanocomposite surfaces., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study aimed to examine the effects of adding growth hormone (GH) into the in vitro maturation (IVM) culture medium of mouse oocytes on pregnancy outcomes. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were cultured in a medium with (GH group, 100 ng/mL) or without (Con group) GH. Thereafter, chromosome morphology, spindle morphology, and mitochondrial function were examined. Embryo development and blastocyst quality after in vitro fertilization were evaluated. After the embryo transfer, the implantation sites and pregnancy outcomes were evaluated. The oocyte maturation rate of the GH group (81.8 ± 9.6%) was compared to that of the Con group (81.3 ± 6.9%, P = 0.928). The proportion of morphologically abnormal spindles in GH-treated oocytes (7.1 ± 0.9%) was significantly lower than control oocytes (13.7 ± 1.3%, P = 0.032), whereas the proportion of morphologically abnormal chromosomes and mitochondrial distribution was similar between the groups. The mitochondrial membrane potential (P < 0.001) and ATP concentration (P < 0.001) in GH-exposed oocytes were higher than those in control oocytes. After fertilization, the blastocyst rate in the GH group (33.8 ± 13.2%) was significantly higher than the Con group (16.2 ± 2.0%, P = 0.003). In addition, inner cell mass (ICM) number (13.91 ± 3.48 vs. 7.00 ± 1.91, P < 0.001), total cell number (47.45 ± 8.39 vs. 37.71 ± 4.15, P = 0.007), and the ratio of ICM/total cell number (29.9 ± 8.2% vs. 18.6 ± 5.0%, P = 0.002) of blastocyst were all higher in GH group. The implantation rate (71.2 ± 1.9% vs. 39.4 ± 16.4%, P < 0.001) and litter size (8.50 ± 3.99 vs. 3.00 ± 1.22, P = 0.018) were significantly higher in the GH group. Although addition of GH into IVM culture medium does not improve oocyte maturation rate, it improves oocyte and embryo quality, which leads to better embryo development and pregnancy outcomes., (© 2021. Society for Reproductive Investigation.)

Objective: To investigate the bone repair and regeneration ability of biomimetic mineralized collagen bone graft material and autologous bone marrow in rabbit posterolateral spinal fusion model., Methods: Twenty-seven 20-week-old male New Zealand white rabbits ［weighing (5.0±0.5) kg］ were used to establish the posterolateral spinal fusion model of L 5 and L 6 segments by stripping the transverse process and exposing cancellous bone with electric burr. The rabbits were randomly divided into 3 groups, 9 in each group. Groups A, B, and C were implanted 1.5 mL autologous iliac bone, 1.5 mL (30 mm×10 mm×5 mm) biomimetic mineralized collagen bone graft material, and 1.5 mL (30 mm×10 mm×5 mm) biomimetic mineralized collagen bone graft material and autologous bone marrow in each bone defect. At 4, 8, and 12 weeks after operation, the apparent hardness of the bone grafting area was observed by manipulation method, in order to evaluate bone graft fusion effects. Three animals were sacrificed in each group at each time point, the vertebral body specimens were excised and the bone defect repair and fusion were observed by X-ray films, and three-dimensional CT examination was performed to evaluate whether new bone was formed in the body. HE staining was performed at each time point to observe the formation of new bone and the repair and fusion of bone defects., Results: The manipulation test showed that bone graft fusion was not found in all groups at 4 weeks after operation; 3 (50.0%), 2 (33.3%), and 4 (66.7%) of groups A, B, and C reached bone graft fusion at 8 weeks after operation; 5 (83.3%), 4 (66.7%), and 5 (83.3%) of groups A, B, and C reached bone graft fusion at 12 weeks after operation; the fusion rate of group C was similar to that of group A, and all higher than that of group B. X-ray film observation showed that the fusion rate of group C at 8 and 12 weeks after operation was higher than that of group B, similar to group A. Three-dimensional CT observation showed that the effect of bone fusion in group C was better than that in group B, which was close to group A. HE staining observation showed that large area of mature lamellar bone coverage appeared in the bone graft area of groups A, B, and C at 12 weeks after operation, the material was completely degraded, and the marginal boundary of the host bone disappeared and tightly combined., Conclusion: Biomimetic mineralized collagen bone graft material mixed with autologous bone marrow has good osteoinduction and osteogenesis guidance. Compared with biomimetic mineralized collagen bone graft material, it has better and faster osteogenesis effect, which is close to autologous bone transplantation.

microRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs of endogenous origin. They have been increasingly shown to have aberrant expression in a number of tumor types. miR-192, -194 and -215 have not been comprehensively investigated using a large number of cases in colorectal cancer (CRC). We extracted total RNA from 107 CRC tissues and three CRC cell lines. Following polyadenylation and reverse transcription, the expression levels of miR-192, -194 and -215 were determined for evaluation of the association between expression levels and clinicopathological characteristics by a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) method. Finally, we studied the impact of miR-194 on cell proliferation in HCT-116 cells by MTT assay. miR-192, -194 and -215 were significantly downregulated in CRC tissues (all p<0.001, paired t-test) and cancer cell lines (all p<0.05) compared to non-tumor counterparts. Moreover, the expression levels of miR-192, -194 and -215 were demonstrated to be associated with increased tumor sizes (p=0.027, p=0.018, and p=0.027, respectively; Mann-Whitney U test). Also, there were marked correlations among these miRNAs in CRC tissues (all p<0.001, Pearson's regression analysis). Furthermore, we found that the overexpression of miR-194 could significantly inhibit cell proliferation in HTC-116 cells. miR-192, -194 and -215 may be important biological markers as tumor suppressors in the carcinogenesis of CRC.