Global warming, environmental pollution, and an energy shortage in the current fossil fuel society may cause a severe ecological crisis. Storage and conversion of renewable, dispersive and ...non-perennial energy from the sun, wind, geothermal sources, water, or biomass could be a promising option to relieve this crisis. Carbon materials could be the most versatile platform materials applied in the field of modern energy storage and conversion. Conventional carbon materials produced from coal and petrochemical products are usually energy intensive or involve harsh synthetic conditions. It is highly desired to develop effective methods to produce carbon materials from renewable resources that have high performance and limited environmental impacts. In this regard, biochar, a bio-carbon with abundant surface functional groups and easily tuned porosity produced from biomass, may be a promising candidate as a sustainable carbon material. Recent studies have demonstrated that biochar-based materials show great application potential in energy storage and conversion because of their easily tuned surface chemistry and porosity. In this review, recent advances in the applications of biochar-based materials in various energy storage and conversion fields, including hydrogen storage and production, oxygen electrocatalysts, emerging fuel cell technology, supercapacitors, and lithium/sodium ion batteries, are summarized, highlighting the mechanisms and open questions in current energy applications. Finally, contemporary challenges and perspectives on how biochar-based materials will develop and, in particular, the fields in which the use of biochar-based materials could be expanded are discussed throughout the review. This review demonstrates significant potential for energy applications of biochar-based materials, and it is expected to inspire new discoveries to promote practical applications of biochar-based materials in more energy storage and conversion fields.
Biochar, a bio-carbon with abundant surface functional groups and easily tuned porosity produced from biomass, shows great application potential in energy storage and conversion. In this review, recent advances in the applications of biochar-based materials in various energy storage and conversion fields are summarized, highlighting the mechanisms and open questions in current energy applications.
A look at how biochar is formed in the biomass pyrolysis process is offered. Research points toward a biochear-based sustainable platform carbon material.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Abstract
Glucose electrolysis offers a prospect of value-added glucaric acid synthesis and energy-saving hydrogen production from the biomass-based platform molecules. Here we report that ...nanostructured NiFe oxide (NiFeO
x
) and nitride (NiFeN
x
) catalysts, synthesized from NiFe layered double hydroxide nanosheet arrays on three-dimensional Ni foams, demonstrate a high activity and selectivity towards anodic glucose oxidation. The electrolytic cell assembled with these two catalysts can deliver 100 mA cm
−2
at 1.39 V. A faradaic efficiency of 87% and glucaric acid yield of 83% are obtained from the glucose electrolysis, which takes place via a guluronic acid pathway evidenced by in-situ infrared spectroscopy. A rigorous process model combined with a techno-economic analysis shows that the electrochemical reduction of glucose produces glucaric acid at a 54% lower cost than the current chemical approach. This work suggests that glucose electrolysis is an energy-saving and cost-effective approach for H
2
production and biomass valorization.
Lignin valorization is considered an important part of the modern biorefinery scheme. The unique structure and composition of lignin may offer many effective routes to produce several bulk chemicals ...and functional materials. Thermochemical conversion of lignin to synthesize value-added functional materials has recently attracted a lot of attention. In this review, we have presented currently available approaches and strategies for the thermochemical conversion of lignin to functional carbon materials. The transformation behavior and mechanism of lignin during the thermochemical process (
e.g.
, pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization) are illuminated. The characteristics (structure and surface chemistry) of lignin-based functional carbon materials are summarized systematically. The advances in the functionalization of lignin-based carbon materials (surface functionality tuning and porosity tailoring) and the applications of lignin-based functional carbon materials in the fields of catalysis, energy storage, and pollutant removal are reviewed. Perspectives on how lignin-based functional materials would develop and, especially, in which fields the use of these functionalized materials could be expanded are discussed. This review clearly shows that a rational design of the functionalized lignin-based materials will lead to a rich family of hybrid functional carbon materials with various applications toward a green and sustainable future.
The naturally abundant lignin offers a sustainable platform for the synthesis of functional carbon materials which have been widely used in catalysis, energy storage, and pollutant removal.
The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalytic activity of a transition metal oxides/hydroxides based electrocatalyst is related to its pseudocapacitance at potentials lower than the OER standard ...potential. Thus, a well‐defined pseudocapacitance could be a great supplement to boost OER. Herein, a highly pseudocapacitive Ni‐Fe‐Co hydroxides/N‐doped carbon nanoplates (NiCoFe‐NC)‐based electrocatalyst is synthesized using a facile one‐pot solvothermal approach. The NiCoFe‐NC has a great pseudocapacitive performance with 1849 F g−1 specific capacitance and 31.5 Wh kg−1 energy density. This material also exhibits an excellent OER catalytic activity comparable to the benchmark RuO2 catalysts (an initiating overpotential of 160 mV and delivering 10 mA cm−2 current density at 250 mV, with a Tafel slope of 31 mV dec−1). The catalytic performance of the optimized NiCoFe‐NC catalyst could keep 24 h. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electrochemically active surface area, and other physicochemical and electrochemical analyses reveal that its great OER catalytic activity is ascribed to the Ni‐Co hydroxides with modular 2‐Dimensional layered structure, the synergistic interactions among the Fe(III) species and Ni, Co metal centers, and the improved hydrophily endowed by the incorporation of N‐doped carbon hydrogel. This work might provide a useful and general strategy to design and synthesize high‐performance metal (hydr)oxides OER electrocatalysts.
In this work, a highly pseudocapacitive Ni‐Fe‐Co hydroxides/N‐doped carbon nanoplates (NiCoFe‐NC)‐based electrocatalyst is synthesized via a facile one‐pot solvothermal approach. The as‐synthesized NiCoFe‐NC has an excellent pseudocapacitive performance, leading to high oxygen evolution reaction catalytic activity with an overpotential of 160 mV and delivering 10 mA cm−2 current density at 250 mV overpotential.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The development of high‐efficiency bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER) is critical for rechargeable metal–air batteries, a typical electrochemical ...energy storage and conversion technology. This work reports a general approach for the synthesis of Pd@PdO–Co3O4 nanocubes using the zeolite‐type metal–organic framework (MOF) as a template. The as‐synthesized materials exhibit a high electrocatalytic activity toward OER and ORR, which is comparable to those of commercial RuO2 and Pt/C electrocatalysts, while its cycle performance and stability are much higher than those of commercial RuO2 and Pt/C electrocatalysts. Various physicochemical characterizations and density functional theory calculations indicate that the favorable electrochemical performance of the Pd@PdO–Co3O4 nanocubes is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect between PdO and the robust hollow structure composed of interconnected crystalline Co3O4 nanocubes. This work establishes an efficient approach for the controlled design and synthesis of MOF‐templated hybrid nanomaterials, and provides a great potential for developing high‐performance electrocatalysts in energy storage and conversion.
This work reports a general approach to synthesize Pd@PdO‐Co3O4 nanocubes using the zeolite‐type metal–organic framework (MOF) as a template. The as‐synthesized material exhibits a high electrocatalytic activity toward Oxygen evolution and reduction reactions (OER and ORR). Synergistic effects between PdO and the robust hollow structure crystalline Co3O4 nanocubes are the main contributions to the catalyst's excellent performance.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The new and low-cost iron embedded carbon composites (Fe-BC-700) were prepared by a facile pyrolysis technology. The as-prepared material exhibited an extremely high removal efficiency of biphenol A ...in the presence of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Besides the sulfate radicals (SO4−) from the PMS activation, the inherent persistent free radicals (PFR) in biochar also played an important role in the degradation of BPA.
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•Fe-BC-700 with Fe0, abundant functional groups and nanofibers was facilely prepared.•The high removal efficiency of BPA depends on activation and non-activation factors.•The contribution of the different factors was quantified for the first time.
Activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade recalcitrant organic pollutants has attracted much attention, however, this process usually needs expensive or toxic catalysts. Herein, we prepared a Fe functionalized biochar composite that contain Fe0, porous carbon with abundant functional groups and nanofibers (Fe-BC-700) to activate PMS and efficiently remove bisphenol A (BPA). The contribution of different participants in the complicated system involving Fe species, carbon composites, and radicals and nonradicals were quantitatively investigated. Under optimal conditions (0.2 g/L PMS and 0.15 g/L catalyst), 20 mg/L of BPA can be completely removed in 5 min by Fe-BC-700. The effects including the activation of PMS by Fe species to produce sulfate radicals (SO4−), the electron transfer by the nanofiber-mesoporous carbon structure, and the inherent persistent free radicals (PFR) in biochar, were demonstrated to contribute to the high performance. A series of contrast experiments showed that PMS activated by Fe contributed to about 36% of BPA degradation, while the carbon composites, especially carbon nanofibers contributed to 17%, and the other 47% was ascribed to the adsorption of carbon composites (may further undergoing degradation). Meanwhile, the degradation by SO4− accounted for about 23% (by quenching experiments), while the nonradical pathway contributed to 30%. This work suggests that the non-activation factors in PMS/porous catalyst/pollutant system cannot be neglected.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
► Bio-char, a by-product of pyrolysis, can remove TC in wastewater effectively. ► Alkali modification could enhance the bio-char adsorption capacity. ► The TC adsorption is attributed mainly to π–π ...interactions and hydrogen bonding.
In this work, bio-char, a mass productive by-product of biomass fast pyrolysis, was adopted as an adsorbent to remove tetracycline (TC) from aqueous solution. To enhance the adsorption capacity, a simple modification of bio-char with acid and alkali was carried out. Bio-char samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm. The results show that the alkali treated bio-char possesses larger surface area than those of raw and acid treated bio-chars, and accordingly exhibits a more excellent adsorption performance (58.8mg/g) than the other two bio-chars and other adsorbents reported previously. The graphite-like structure of bio-char facilitates the formation of π–π interactions between ring structure in tetracycline molecule and graphite-like sheets. The surface area showed significant effects on TC adsorption as well as O-containing functional groups, whereas the initial pH of solution has small effects on TC adsorption under the experimental conditions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Exosomes are a subset of nano-sized extracellular vesicles originating from endosomes. Exosomes mediate cell-to-cell communication with their cargos, which includes mRNAs, miRNAs, lncRNAs, and ...circRNAs. Exosomal RNAs have cell specificity and reflect the conditions of their donor cells. Notably, their detection in biofluids can be used as a diagnostic marker for various diseases. Exosomal RNAs are ideal biomarkers because their surrounding membranes confer stability and they are detectable in almost all biofluids, which helps to reduce trauma and avoid invasive examinations. However, knowledge of exosomal biomarkers remains scarce. The present review summarizes the biogenesis, secretion, and uptake of exosomes, the current researches exploring exosomal mRNAs, miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of human diseases, as well as recent techniques of exosome isolation.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
DNA methylation is a form of epigenetic regulation, having pivotal parts in controlling cellular expansion and expression levels within genes. Although blood DNA methylation has been studied in ...humans and other species, its prominence in cattle is largely unknown. This study aimed to methodically probe the genomic methylation map of Xinjiang brown (XJB) cattle suffering from bovine respiratory disease (BRD), consequently widening cattle blood methylome ranges. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of the XJB blood was investigated through whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS). Many differentially methylated regions (DMRs) obtained by comparing the cases and controls groups were found within the CG, CHG, and CHH (where H is A, T, or C) sequences (16,765, 7502, and 2656, respectively), encompassing 4334 differentially methylated genes (DMGs). Furthermore, GO/KEGG analyses showed that some DMGs were involved within immune response pathways. Combining WGBS-Seq data and existing RNA-Seq data, we identified 71 significantly differentially methylated (DMGs) and expressed (DEGs) genes (
< 0.05). Next, complementary analyses identified nine DMGs (
,
,
,
,
,
,
, and
) that might be involved in the immune response of XJB cattle infected with respiratory diseases. Although further investigations are needed to confirm their exact implication in the involved immune processes, these genes could potentially be used for a marker-assisted selection of animals resistant to BRD. This study also provides new knowledge regarding epigenetic control for the bovine respiratory immune process.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
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