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The production of hydrogen fuel by solar-driven photocatalytic water splitting is an attractive solution to overcome the environmental and energy problems with traditional fossil fuels. The strategies to improve the capacity of photocatalytic hydrogen production include enhancing the light absorption of materials and using co-catalysts to reduce the efficiency of electron–hole recombination. Here, we report a Schottky heterojunction photocatalyst composed of subphthalocyanine (SubPc) and Ti3C2Tx MXene, which can effectively separate photogenerated charges. The outstanding ability of SubPc to absorb visible light and the ability of Ti3C2Tx MXene to capture photogenerated electrons were applied to improve the photocatalytic hydrogen-production performance of the SubPc/Ti3C2Tx composite. Two types of SubPcs (SubPc-Cl and SubPc-OPh) were hybridized with Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets. The hydrogen evolution of SubPc/Ti3C2Tx with different mass ratios was experimentally investigated, and it was found that the optimized SubPc-Cl/Ti3C2Tx exhibited the best H2-production rate of 105 μmol g−1 h−1. Our findings provide a new design approach and promising strategy to develop low-cost photocatalysts for future solar-driven sustainable energy-conversion systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interface engineering to enhance carrier extraction and transfer capability, as well as controlling the morphology and defects of perovskite films, remains an imperative challenge in perovskite photovoltaics. Herein, we introduce an innovative method utilizing an oxidized derivative of Nb2CTx MXene to regulate the interface between the electron transport layer (ETL) and perovskite. The oxidation of Nb2CTx results in the formation of a hybrid structure comprising Nb2CTx and Nb2O5. This oxidized derivative (namely O–Nb2C) provides better energy level alignment and facilitated carrier extraction, leading to optimized charge transfer and reduced electron–hole recombination. Moreover, O–Nb2C conducts more surface functional groups associated with the enhancement of surface free energy. This enhancement is presumed to promote the homogeneous nucleation of the perovskite precursor, resulting in improved crystallization of perovskite films with less trap density. Consequently, the perovskite solar cell (PSC) with the O–Nb2C regulation delivers a boost in power conversion efficiency (PCE) to 23.20%, surpassing the baseline PCE of 20.51% based on SnO2, and demonstrates a minimal PCE decay of less than 15% after 1500 hours of storage. This work presents a robust method of interfacial engineering utilizing MXene derivatives for high-performance PSCs, thereby further expanding the applications of MXenes in photovoltaic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of exploiting the inexhaustible solar energy-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) to generate hydrogen energy, a sustainable clean energy source, to solve problems such as fossil fuel-induced greenhouse gas emissions is believed to be a feasible strategy. However, photocatalytic HER is inefficient due to insufficient light trapping capability and low charge separation efficiency of the single semiconductor material employed. Therefore, it remains a great challenge to achieve fast and efficient photocatalytic HER. In this work, a novel ternary Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx photocatalyst with an organic–inorganic heterojunction structure has been designed by employing a stepwise deposition process for efficient solar energy conversion to hydrogen. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx organic–inorganic heterojunction photocatalysts for HER was significantly improved compared with that of single Chl@Ti3C2Tx and Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx. The improvement of the photocatalytic performance of Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx compared to Chl@Ti3C2Tx and Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx is attributed to the construction of the Chl–Cu2O organic–inorganic heterojunction structure in Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx, which extends the absorption range of the spectra and dramatically enhances the separation efficiency of the photogenerated carriers in Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Series arc fault is the main cause of electrical fire in low-voltage distribution system. A fast and accurate detection system can reduce the risk of fire effectively. In this paper, series arc experiment is carried out for different kinds of electrical load. The time-domain current is analyzed by Morlet wavelet. Then, the multiscale wavelet coefficients are expressed as the coefficient matrix. In order to meet the data dimension requirements of neural networks, a color domain transformation method is used to transform the feature matrix into an image. A regularization method based on gamma transform is proposed for small sample data sets. The results showed that the proposed regularization method improved the validation set accuracy of ResNet50 from 66.67% to 96.53%. The overfitting problem of neural network was solved. In addition, this method fused fault features of 64 different scales, and provided a valuable manually labeled arc fault dataset. Compared with the threshold detection method, this method was more objective. The use of image features increased intuitiveness and generality. Compared with other typical lightweight networks, this method had the best detection performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composites composed of a chlorophyll‐a derivative and Ti3C2Tx MXene recently showed promising results as photocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Herein, this type of composites is prepared by using a layered Ti3C2Tx material via an HCl@LiF etching technique, instead of the previously adopted HF etching technique. The performance of H2 evolution, therefore, showed a fourfold increase in this photocatalytic system, compared with the reported data in our previous works. The underlying reason for such a large improvement of the chlorophyll‐MXene photocatalyst performance would be attributed to a more suitable surface chemistry, higher conductivity, fewer defects, higher surface area, and larger interlayer space of Ti3C2Tx introduced by the Li+ ions from LiF in the etching process. Herein, it is revealed that the preparation method of MXenes used as the cocatalysts is key to improve the H2 evolution efficiency in photocatalytic water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Z‐scheme process is a photoinduced electron‐transfer pathway in natural oxygenic photosynthesis involving electron transport from photosystem II (PSII) to photosystem I (PSI). Inspired by the interesting Z‐scheme process, herein a photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) employing chlorophyll (Chl) derivatives, Chl‐1 and Chl‐2, on the surface of Ti3C2Tx MXene with two‐dimensional accordion‐like morphology, forming Chl‐1@Chl‐2@Ti3C2Tx composite, is demonstrated. Due to the frontier molecular orbital energy alignments of Chl‐1 and Chl‐2, sublayer Chl‐1 is a simulation of PSI, whereas upper layer Chl‐2 is equivalent to PSII, and the resultant electron transport can take place from Chl‐2 to Chl‐1. Under the illumination of visible light (>420 nm), the HER performance of Chl‐1@Chl‐2@Ti3C2Tx photocatalyst was found to be as high as 143 μmol h−1 gcat−1, which was substantially higher than that of photocatalysts of either Chl‐1@Ti3C2Tx (20 μmol h−1 g−1) or Chl‐2@Ti3C2Tx (15 μmol h−1 g−1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of exploiting the inexhaustible solar energy-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) to generate hydrogen energy, a sustainable clean energy source, to solve problems such as fossil fuel-induced greenhouse gas emissions is believed to be a feasible strategy. However, photocatalytic HER is inefficient due to insufficient light trapping capability and low charge separation efficiency of the single semiconductor material employed. Therefore, it remains a great challenge to achieve fast and efficient photocatalytic HER. In this work, a novel ternary Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx photocatalyst with an organic–inorganic heterojunction structure has been designed by employing a stepwise deposition process for efficient solar energy conversion to hydrogen. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx organic–inorganic heterojunction photocatalysts for HER was significantly improved compared with that of single Chl@Ti3C2Tx and Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx. The improvement of the photocatalytic performance of Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx compared to Chl@Ti3C2Tx and Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx is attributed to the construction of the Chl–Cu2O organic–inorganic heterojunction structure in Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx, which extends the absorption range of the spectra and dramatically enhances the separation efficiency of the photogenerated carriers in Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exosomes are nanovesicles secreted by cells, which play a crucial role in various pathological processes. Exosomes have shown great promise as tumor biomarkers because of the abundant secretion during tumor formation. The development of a convenient, efficient, and cost-effective method for simultaneously enriching and detecting exosomes is of utmost importance for both basic research and clinical applications. In this study, an aptamer-functionalized magnetic Ti 3 C 2 composite material (Fe 3 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 @PEI@DSP@aptamer@FAM-ssDNA) is prepared for the simultaneous enrichment and detection of exosomes. CD63 aptamers are utilized to recognize and capture the exosomes, followed by magnetic separation. The exosomes are then released by cleaving the disulfide bonds of DSP. Compared to traditional methods, Fe 3 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 @PEI@DSP@aptamer@FAM-ssDNA exhibited superior efficiency in enriching exosomes while preserving their structural and functional integrity. Detection of exosome concentration is achieved through the fluorescence quenching of Ti 3 C 2 and the competitive binding between the exosomes and a fluorescently labeled probe. This method exhibited a low detection limit of 4.21 × 10 4 particles mL -1 , a number that is comparable to the state-of-the-art method in the detection of exosomes. The present study demonstrates a method of simultaneous enrichment and detection of exosomes with a high sensitivity, accuracy, specificity, and cost-effectiveness providing significant potential for clinical research and diagnosis., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Aqueous manganese ion batteries hold potential for stationary storage applications owing to their merits in cost, energy density, and environmental sustainability. However, the formidable challenge is the instability of metallic manganese (Mn) anodes in aqueous electrolytes due to severe hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which is more serious than the commonly studied Zn metal anodes. Moreover, the mechanism of HER side reactions has remained unclear. Herein, we design a series of Mn-P alloying anodes by precisely regulating their energy band structures to mitigate the HER issue. It is found that the serious HER primarily originates from the spontaneous Mn-H2O reaction driven by the excessively high HOMO energy level of Mn, rather than electrocatalytic water splitting. Owing to a reduced HOMO energy level and enhanced electron escape work function, the MnP anode achieves an evidently enhanced cycle durability (over 1000 hours at a high current density of 5 mA cm-2). The MnP||AgVO full cell with an N/P ratio of 4 exhibits better rate capability and extended cycle life (7000 cycles) with minimal capacity degradation than the cell using metallic Mn anode (less than 100 cycles). This study provides a practical approach for developing highly durable aqueous Mn ion batteries., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

In the realm of photovoltaic research, 2D transition metal carbides (MXenes) have gained significant interest due to their exceptional photoelectric capabilities. However, the instability of MXenes due to oxidation has a direct impact on their practical applications. In this work, the oxidation process of Nb 2 CT x MXene in aqueous systems is methodically simulated at the atomic level and nanosecond timescales, which elucidates the structural variations influenced by the synergistic effects of water and dissolved oxygen, predicting a transition from metal to semiconductor with 44% C atoms replaced by O atoms in Nb 2 CT x . Moreover, Nb 2 CT x with varying oxidation degrees is utilized as electron transport layers (ETLs) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Favorable energy level alignments with superior electron transfer capability are achieved by controlled oxidation. By further exploring the composites of Nb 2 CT x to its derivatives, the strong interaction of the nano-composites is demonstrated to be more effective for electron transport, thus the corresponding PSC achieves a better performance with long-term stability compared with the widely used ETLs like SnO 2 . This work unravels the oxidation dynamics of Nb 2 CT x and provides a promising approach to designing ETL by exploiting MXenes to their derivatives for photovoltaic technologies., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene, a new family of 2D materials, has been successfully used as an ideal co-catalyst for enhancing photocatalytic activity due to its excellent physicochemical properties. Bacteriochlorophyll (BChl), one of the most abundant photosynthetically active pigments, has been studied in the field of artificial photosynthesis due to its constant and efficient absorption of solar energy and conversion of the excitation energy into chemical energy. In this work, five BChl-a derivatives with a range of different side chain groups in the C17 substituent were prepared and deposited on the Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene surface by a solvent evaporation process to form BChl-n@Ti 3 C 2 T x (n = 1∼5) composite photocatalysts, which were used for the visible light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in an aqueous solution. Among the five BChls investigated, BChl-5 possessing a quaternary ammonium terminal showed the best performance and BChl-5@Ti 3 C 2 T x composite exhibited an excellent hydrogen production activity of as high as 51 μmol/h/g cat . This is primarily attributed to the excellent photophysical and photochemical properties provided by the self-aggregation of BChl-5 in the BChl-5@Ti 3 C 2 T x composite and the outstanding charge transport capability of the 2D Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene. At the same time, the fast carrier separation and transfer capability between BChl-5 and Ti 3 C 2 T x provides reliable charge transport for photocatalytic HER., 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 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hydrogen energy is an abundant, clean, sustainable and environmentally friendly renewable energy source. Therefore, the production of hydrogen by photocatalytically splitting water on semiconductors has been considered in recent years as a promising and sustainable strategy for converting solar energy into chemical energy to replace conventional energy sources and to solve the growing problem of environmental pollution and the global energy crisis. However, highly efficient solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production remains a huge challenge due to the poor visible light response of available photocatalytic materials and the low efficiency of separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. In the present work, organic heterojunction structures based on bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) and chlorophyll (Chl) molecules were introduced and used for solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production from water under visible light. Also, noble metal-free photocatalyst was successfully constructed on Ti 3 C 2 T x nanosheets by simple successive deposition of Chl and BChl, which was used for the photocatalytic splitting water to hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The results show that the optimal BChl@Chl@Ti 3 C 2 T x composite has a high HER performance with 114 μmol/h/g cat , which is much higher than the BChl@Ti 3 C 2 T x and Chl@Ti 3 C 2 T x composites., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The Z-scheme process is a photoinduced electron-transfer pathway in natural oxygenic photosynthesis involving electron transport from photosystem II (PSII) to photosystem I (PSI). Inspired by the interesting Z-scheme process, herein a photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) employing chlorophyll (Chl) derivatives, Chl-1 and Chl-2, on the surface of Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene with two-dimensional accordion-like morphology, forming Chl-1@Chl-2@Ti 3 C 2 T x composite, is demonstrated. Due to the frontier molecular orbital energy alignments of Chl-1 and Chl-2, sublayer Chl-1 is a simulation of PSI, whereas upper layer Chl-2 is equivalent to PSII, and the resultant electron transport can take place from Chl-2 to Chl-1. Under the illumination of visible light (>420 nm), the HER performance of Chl-1@Chl-2@Ti 3 C 2 T x photocatalyst was found to be as high as 143 μmol h -1  g cat -1 , which was substantially higher than that of photocatalysts of either Chl-1@Ti 3 C 2 T x (20 μmol h -1  g -1 ) or Chl-2@Ti 3 C 2 T x (15 μmol h -1  g -1 )., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)