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The development of bifunctional electrocatalysts suitable for a wide pH range and seawater splitting under simulated industrial electrolysis conditions is expected to advance practical applications of clean hydrogen energy. Here, the study reports a built‐in electric field approach to assemble heterogeneous Ru nanoclusters (Ru NCs) anchored in P,O co‐doped NiFe layered double hydroxide bifunctional electrocatalysts (Ru NCs/P,O‐NiFe LDH) for overall water splitting. It is revealed that the BEF ensures electron enrichment via unidirectional electron transfer from P,O‐NiFe LDH to Ru nanoclusters due to the difference in the corresponding Fermi levels. The optimized Ru NCs/P,O‐NiFe LDH/NF shows excellent electrocatalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and overall water splitting in a wide pH range, as well as simulated seawater electrolysis under industry‐relevant conditions. The long‐term catalyst stability under high currents and industrial process temperatures is also demonstrated. Density functional theory calculations further confirm that the active sites at the BEF interface effectively reduce the energy barrier of water electrolysis, thereby facilitating the electrocatalytic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated the reactions of cyclic carbonates/trithiocarbonate and aromatic amines in the presence of a basic ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (BmimOAc), which produced various cyclic carbamates/dithiocarbonimidates in fairly good to excellent yields. The use of BmimOAc as catalyst here not only offers an effective approach to the synthesis of the target compounds, but also avoids the use of conventional toxic materials. By means of the reactions of cyclic carbonates and aromatic amines, 3-aryloxazolidin-2-ones, 3,3′-aryldioxazolidin-2-ones and 3-aryl[1,3]oxazinan-2-ones could be synthesized. NMR spectroscopy and DFT calculations revealed that both the cation and the anion of BmimOAc activate cooperatively the substrates in these reactions by means of inducing hydrogen bonding. In addition, condensation reactions of ethylene trithiocarbonate and aromatic amines also proceeded very well in the presence of the BmimOAc catalyst, which opened a hitherto unreported route to [1,3]dithiolan-2-ylidene-arylamine derivatives in a straightforward way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: N6-methyladenosine (m6A) participates in diverse physiological processes and contributes to many pathological conditions. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of retinal pigmental epithelial (RPE) cells plays an essential role in retinal-related diseases, and transforming growth factor β2 (TGF-β2) is known to induce EMT in vitro . However, the effect of TGF-β2 on m6A methylation in RPE cells is not yet known., Methods: RNA-seq and MeRIP-seq were performed to analyze changes at the mRNA and m6A levels after TGF-β2 treatment of human ARPE-19 cells. mRNA levels and total m6A levels were subsequently validated., Results: Sequencing revealed 929 differentially expressed genes and 7328 differentially methylated genes after TGF-β2 treatment. Conjoint analysis identified 290 genes related to microtubule cytoskeleton, focal adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, cell division, cell cycle, AGE-RAGE, PI3K-Akt and cGMP-PKG pathways. Further analysis revealed that 12 EMT-related genes were altered at the mRNA and m6A levels after TGF-β2 treatment ( CALD1 , CDH2 , FN1 , MMP2 , SPARC , KRT7 , CLDN3 , ELF3 , FGF1 , LOXL2 , SHROOM3 and TGFBI ). Moreover, the total m6A level was also reduced., Conclusions: This study revealed the transcriptional profiling of m6A modification induced by TGF-β2 in RPE cells. Novel connections were discovered between m6A modification and TGF-β2-induced EMT, suggesting that m6A may play crucial roles in the EMT process., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.)

Germanium (Ge) based nanomaterials are regarded as promising high-capacity anode materials for Na ion batteries, but suffer fast capacity fading problems caused by the alloying/de-alloying reactions of Na-Ge. Herein, we report a new method for preparing highly dispersed GeO 2 by using molecular-level ionic liquids (ILs) as carbon sources. In the obtained GeO 2 @C composite material, GeO 2 exhibits hollow spherical morphology and is uniformly distributed in the carbon matrix. The as-prepared GeO 2 @C exhibits improved Na ion storage performances including high reversible capacity (577 mA h g -1 at 0.1C), rate property (270 mA h g -1 at 3C), and high capacity retention (82.3% after 500 cycles). The improved electrochemical performance could be attributed to the unique nanostructure of GeO 2 @C, the synergistic effect between GeO 2 hollow spheres and the carbon matrix ensures the anode material effectively alleviates the volume expansion and the particle agglomeration problems., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)