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Cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soils has emerged as a significant concern, particularly due to its potential impact on plant-based food. Soil pH reductions can exacerbate Cd mobility, leading to excessive accumulation in crops. While liming has been demonstrated as an effective method to mitigate Cd accumulation in rice grains in acid soils of southern China, its efficacy in remediating acid soils in northern China remains unclear. In this study, a multi-year field experiment was conducted on farmland impacted by zinc ore smelting at coordinates of 33.92° N 112.46° E to investigate the use of limestone for controlling Cd accumulation in wheat and maize grains. The results indicated that applying 7.5 t ha−1 of limestone significantly raised the soil pH from 4.5 to 6.8 as anticipated. Different rates of limestone application (2.25, 4.45, and 7.50 t ha−1) reduced Cd bioavailability in the soil by 20–54%, and Cd accumulation in wheat grains by 5–38% and maize grains by 21–63%, without yield penalty. The remediation effects were sustained for at least 27 months, highlighting limestone as a promising ameliorant for smelting-affected farmland in northern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations (GCMC) and molecular dynamics simulations (MD) were used to construct models of activated carbon with hydroxyl-modified hexachlorobenzene basic unit contents of 0%, 12.5%, 25%, 35% and 50%. The mechanism of adsorption of carbon disulfide (CS2) by hydroxyl-modified activated carbon was then studied. It is found that the introduction of hydroxyl functional groups will improve the adsorption capacity of activated carbon for carbon disulfide. As far as the simulation results are concerned, the activated carbon model containing 25% hydroxyl modified activated carbon basic units has the best adsorption performance for carbon disulfide molecules at 318 K and atmospheric pressure. At the same time, the changes in the porosity, accessible surface area of the solvent, ultimate diameter and maximum pore diameter of the activated carbon model also led to great differences in the diffusion coefficient of carbon disulfide molecules in different hydroxyl-modified activated carbons. However, the same adsorption heat and temperature had little effect on the adsorption of carbon disulfide molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the special surface effects, small size effects, quantum effects, and macroscopic quantum tunne ling effects, nanoparticles (NPs) are crucial for the advancement of agricultural research, food science, nanotechnology, biomedicine, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to compile and organize the research on the interaction between NPs and plants conducted domestically and abroad during the past 20 years, so as to offer a theoretical foundation for the cooperative development of plant production and nanotechnology. The Web of Science (WOS) core collection database and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) full-text database were used in this study as data retrieval sources, and the knowledge graph of the pertinent literature in the area of NPs-plant interactions from 2000 to 2022 was visualized and analyzed using the bibliometric tools of CiteSpace and VOSviewer. Results indicated that the research on the interaction of NPs and plants at home and abroad shows a J-shaped growth and is currently in a rapid growth stage. The publication volume and annual growth rate of English literature is significantly higher than those of Chinese literature ( P<0.05). International interest and research in this field precede do- mestic research, and the research in the field of NPs-plant interaction in our country has made a significant contribution to the world (ranked second), but there is a lack of influential research, which needs to be further improved. In terms of NPs types, nano-Ag, nano-Au, nano-ZnO and nano-CuO are received the most attention both at home and abroad; in terms of plant species, maize and rice have been studied more extensively. Compared with international collaborations, most domestic scholars are independent authors and the collaborations are relatively loose and need to be further strengthened. Through the keyword extraction and spatio-temporal emergence analysis, future research hotspots are mainly focused on the following three aspects: (1) negative effects of NPs on plants and risk assessment of their ecological and environmental safety; (2) positive effects of NPs on plants and reduction of nanoparticle toxicity for better use in agricultural production activities; (3) plant-mediated green synthesis of NPs, thus promoting nanotechnology development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zwitterionic hydrogels exhibit great potential in biomedical applications due to their antifouling properties and biocompatibility. However, the single-network structure of pure zwitterionic hydrogels leads to a low toughness and strength, limiting their application in biomedical fields. In this work, a high entanglement sulfobetaine methacrylate-dopamine hydrogel (SBMA-DA-PE) with low cross-linker content and high monomer concentration is prepared by using a dopamine oxidative radical polymerization method. Compared to a regular zwitterionic hydrogel, the SBMA-DA-PE hydrogel exhibits a 5-fold increase in tensile fracture stress and a 10-fold increase in compressive fracture stress. The SBMA-DA-PE hydrogel possesses excellent mechanical properties (the maximum compressive stress ≥4.85 MPa, the maximum compressive strain ≥90%). Besides, the non-covalent interactions between catechol or ortho-quinones within the SBMA-DA-PE hydrogel, combined with strong intermolecular electrostatic interactions, endow the SBMA-DA-PE hydrogel with great self-healing capabilities and fatigue resistance. The SBMA-DA-PE hydrogel demonstrates low swellability and possesses good antifouling properties. Furthermore, the good printability and conductivity of the tough SBMA-DA-PE hydrogel endows it with new possibilities for developing biological 3D scaffolds and electronic devices. Overall, this work provides new insights into the preparation of zwitterionic hydrogels with high mechanical strength and multi-functionality for biomedical applications., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)