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The electrochemical manipulation of organic compounds offers a promising alternative for the synthesis of valuable organic materials under mild conditions. In this study, the MoO2@NiO heterostructure was successfully synthesized as an efficient thin-film electrode material for electrochemical ethanol oxidation, using amorphous Ni(OH)x nanosheets as the precursor. During electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation, this electrode exhibited a significantly reduced overpotential, achieving a value of only 1.41 V at a current density of 50 mA cm−2. Additionally, product analysis revealed that the heterojunction electrode demonstrated high faradaic efficiency (70%) and selectivity (80%) for acetaldehyde. The outstanding performance of this electrode can be attributed to the in situ transformation of MoO2 species during the catalytic process. In the electrolyte, MoO2 exists as MoO42− and undergoes a series of processes including precipitation, dissolution, and redeposition on the electrode surface. These processes lead to the formation of a novel molecular outer layer, significantly enhancing the activity and stability of the electrode material. This study provides valuable insights into the potential replacement of anodes in the electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol in aqueous solutions, thereby contributing to the development of more efficient and sustainable electrochemical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on hollow Co3O4 cubes synthesized via a self-sacrificing template method and their application as an anode material for reversible electrochemical lithium storage. The hollow Co3O4 cube with a porous hierarchical structure increases the contact surface, shortens the diffusion path of ion/electron, and improves its structure stability and collaborative electronic transmission. Due to their ultrathin subunits and hollow interior, the electrodes exhibit excellent electrochemical performance. Impressively, a high discharge specific capacity of 1600 mA h g−1 is obtained at 400 mA g−1 after 100 cycles. And a reversible specific capacity of 1032 mA h g−1 could still be maintained even at 1000 mA g−1 after 150 cycles. This implies the remarkable potential as an anode for lithium ion batteries. Thus, the hollow Co3O4 cube might give insights into transition-metal oxides as energy storage materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: NAC (NAM, ATAF, and CUC) transcription factor family, one of the important switches of transcription networks in plants, functions in plant growth, development, and stress resistance. Night lily ( Hemerocallis citrina ) is an important horticultural perennial monocot plant that has edible, medicinal, and ornamental values. However, the NAC gene family of night lily has not yet been analyzed systematically to date., Methods: Therefore, we conducted a genome-wide study of the HcNAC gene family and identified a total of 113 HcNAC members from the Hemerocallis citrina genome., Results: We found that 113 HcNAC genes were unevenly distributed on 11 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that they could be categorized into 16 instinct subgroups. Proteins clustering together exhibited similar conserved motifs and intron-exon structures. Collinearity analysis indicated that segmental and tandem duplication might contribute to the great expansion of the NAC gene family in night lily, whose relationship was closer with rice than Arabidopsis . Additionally, tissue-specific pattern analysis indicated that most HcNAC genes had relatively higher expression abundances in roots. RNA-Seq along with RT-qPCR results jointly showed HcNAC genes expressed differently under drought and salinity stresses. Interestingly, HcNAC35 was overexpressed in watermelon, and the stress resilience of transgenic lines was much higher than that of wild-type watermelon, which revealed its wide participation in abiotic stress response., Conclusion: In conclusion, our findings provide a new prospect for investigating the biological roles of NAC genes in night lily., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Cao, Wang, Ren, Jia, Liu, Yang, Yu, Guo, Hou, Xu, Li and Xing.)

Thermally insulating aerogels can now be prepared from ceramics, polymers, carbon, and metals and composites between them. However, it is still a great challenge to make aerogels with high strength and excellent deformability. We propose a design concept of hard cores and flexible chains that alternately construct the aerogel skeleton structure. The approach gives the designed SiO 2 aerogel excellent compressive (fracture strain 83.32%), tensile. and shear deformabilities, corresponding to maximum strengths of 22.15, 1.18, and 1.45 MPa, respectively. Also, the SiO 2 aerogel can stably perform 100 load-unload cycles at a 70% large compression strain, demonstrating an excellent resilient compressibility. In addition, the low density of 0.226 g/cm 3 , the high porosity of 88.7%, and the average pore size of 45.36 nm effectively inhibit heat conduction and heat convection, giving the SiO 2 aerogel outstanding thermal insulation properties [0.02845 W/(m·K) at 25 °C and 0.04895 W/(m·K) at 300 °C], and the large number of hydrophobic groups itself also gives it excellent hydrophobicity and hydrophobic stability (hydrophobic angle of 158.4° and saturated mass moisture absorption rate of about 0.327%). The successful practice of this concept has provided different insights into the preparation of high-strength aerogels with high deformability.