Demyelination and axonal damage are responsible for neurological deficits in demyelinating diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS), an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous ...system. However, the pathology of demyelination and axonal damage in MS is not fully understood. While immunologists have accumulated evidence, which is involved in many immunological events in these diseases, neuroscientists and anatomists have also investigated morphological changes of myelin in these diseases. In this chapter, a new concept of demyelination will be described.
Functionalization is an important way to breed new properties and applications for a material. This review presents an overview of the progresses in functionalized hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) ...nanomaterials. It begins with an introduction of h-BN structural features, physical and chemical properties, followed by an emphasis on the developments of BN functionalization strategies and its emerging properties/applications, and ends with the research perspectives. Different functionalization methods, including physical and chemical routes, are comprehensively described toward fabrication of various BN derivatives, hetero- and porous structures,
etc.
Novel properties of functionalized BN materials, such as high water solubility, excellent biocompatibility, tunable surface affinities, good processibility, adjustable band gaps,
etc.
, have guaranteed wide applications in biomedical, electronic, composite, environmental and "green" energy-related fields.
Chemical and physical functionalization of hexagonal boron nitride materials breeds new properties and applications.
Developing the next-generation high-energy density and safe batteries is of prime importance to meet the emerging demands in electronics, automobile industries and various energy storage systems. ...High-voltage lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and solid-state batteries (SSBs) are two main directions attracting increasing interest in recent years, due to their potential applications in the near future. In both kinds of batteries, the electrolytes play a pivotal role but also create several bottleneck problems. In this review, recent progress in designing electrolytes for high-voltage LIBs and SSBs is summarized. First, the solvents, additives, ionic liquids and superconcentrated salts strategies for constructing high-voltage liquid electrolytes are reviewed, and then the applications of inorganic solids, solid polymers, gels and ionic liquids in solid-state electrolytes are presented. Finally, the general design rules of the electrolytes and their current limitations and future prospects are briefly discussed.
Beyond-lithium-ion batteries are promising candidates for high-energy-density, low-cost and large-scale energy storage applications. However, the main challenge lies in the development of suitable ...electrode materials. Here, we demonstrate a new type of zero-strain cathode for reversible intercalation of beyond-Li
ions (Na
, K
, Zn
, Al
) through interface strain engineering of a 2D multilayered VOPO
-graphene heterostructure. In-situ characterization and theoretical calculations reveal a reversible intercalation mechanism of cations in the 2D multilayered heterostructure with a negligible volume change. When applied as cathodes in K
-ion batteries, we achieve a high specific capacity of 160 mA h g
and a large energy density of ~570 W h kg
, presenting the best reported performance to date. Moreover, the as-prepared 2D multilayered heterostructure can also be extended as cathodes for high-performance Na
, Zn
, and Al
-ion batteries. This work heralds a promising strategy to utilize strain engineering of 2D materials for advanced energy storage applications.
Heterogenous electrocatalysts based on transition metal sulfides (TMS) are being actively explored in renewable energy research because nanostructured forms support high intrinsic activities for both ...the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, it is described how researchers are working to improve the performance of TMS‐based materials by manipulating their internal and external nanoarchitectures. A general introduction to the water‐splitting reaction is initially provided to explain the most important parameters in accessing the catalytic performance of nanomaterials catalysts. Later, the general synthetic methods used to prepare TMS‐based materials are explained in order to delve into the various strategies being used to achieve higher electrocatalytic performance in the HER. Complementary strategies can be used to increase the OER performance of TMS, resulting in bifunctional water‐splitting electrocatalysts for both the HER and the OER. Finally, the current challenges and future opportunities of TMS materials in the context of water splitting are summarized. The aim herein is to provide insights gathered in the process of studying TMS, and describe valuable guidelines for engineering other kinds of nanomaterial catalysts for energy conversion and storage technologies.
Heterogenous electrocatalysts based on transition metal sulfides (TMS) are being actively explored in renewable energy research because nanostructured forms support high intrinsic activities for both the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction. Ways to improve the performance of TMS‐based materials by manipulating their internal and external nanoarchitectures are described.
A general and facile strategy for the synthesis of a large family of monometallic (Co, Ni) and bimetallic (Co‐Ni, Co‐Cu and Co‐Zn) hydroxide nanocones (NCs) intercalated with DS ions is demonstrated. ...The basal spacing of the NCs can be varied by adjusting the intercalated DS amount. Especially, electrochemical characterizations reveal that bimetallic Co‐Ni hydroxide NCs have a higher specific capacitance than their monometallic counterpart. These results suggest the importance of rational designing layered hydroxide NCs with tuned transition‐metal composition for high‐performance energy storage devices.
Today many aspects of science and technology are progressing into the nanoscale realm where surfaces and interfaces are intrinsically important in determining properties and performances of materials ...and devices. One familiar phenomenon in which interfacial interactions play a major role is the wetting of solids. In this work we use a facile one-step plasma method to control the wettability of boron nitride (BN) nanostructure films via covalent chemical functionalization, while their surface morphology remains intact. By tailoring the concentration of grafted hydroxyl groups, superhydrophilic, hydrophilic, and hydrophobic patterns are created on the initially superhydrophobic BN nanosheet and nanotube films. Moreover, by introducing a gradient of the functional groups, directional liquid spreading toward increasing OH content is achieved on the films. The resulting insights are meant to illustrate great potentials of this method to tailor wettability of ceramic films, control liquid flow patterns for engineering applications such as microfluidics and biosensing, and improve the interfacial contact and adhesion in nanocomposite materials.
High‐quality ultrathin single‐crystalline SnSe2 flakes are synthesized under atmospheric‐pressure chemical vapor deposition for the first time. A high‐performance photodetector based on the ...individual SnSe2 flake demonstrates a high photoresponsivity of 1.1 × 103 A W−1, a high EQE of 2.61 × 105%, and superb detectivity of 1.01 × 1010 Jones, combined with fast rise and decay times of 14.5 and 8.1 ms, respectively.
Low efficiency, short lifetimes, and limited kinds of catalysts are still three fundamental shortcomings that have plagued electrochemical water splitting. Herein, we rationally synthesized a ...cost-effective Co3S4@MoS2 hetero-structured catalyst that has proven to be a highly active and stable bifunctional catalyst for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in an alkaline environment. The heterostructure was obtained via a first hydrothermal approach to obtain hollow Co3S4 nanoboxes based on the ionic exchange reaction between Fe(CN)63− of Co-Fe Prussian blue analogue (PBA) and S2− at 120 °C, and the subsequent in situ growth of MoS2 nanosheets on the surface of Co3S4 nanoboxes at an elevated temperature of 200 °C. The synergistic effects between the active and stable HER catalyst of MoS2 and the efficient OER catalyst of Co3S4, as well as the morphological superiority of hollow and core-shell structures, endow Co3S4@MoS2 with remarkable electrocatalytic performance and robust durability toward overall water splitting. As a result, the designed non-noble electrocatalyst of Co3S4@MoS2 exhibits a low overpotential of 280 mV for OER and 136 mV for HER at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in an alkaline solution. Meanwhile, a low cell voltage of 1.58 V is achieved by using the heterostructure as both anode and cathode catalysts. This work paves the way to the design and construction of other prominent electrocatalysts for overall water splitting.
Herein, we rationally synthesized a cost-effective Co3S4@MoS2 hetero-structured catalyst that has proven to be a highly active and stable bifunctional catalyst for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in an alkaline environment. Display omitted
•Co3S4@MoS2 is prepared by using a two-step temperature-raising hydrothermal reaction process.•Co3S4@MoS2 is a core-shell, hollow cubic heterostructure with strong interfacial coupling.•Co3S4@MoS2 shows outstanding electrocatalytic activity and stability for overall water splitting.
The regulation of anions and cations at the atomic scale is of great significance in membrane-based separation technologies. Ionic transport regulation techniques could also play a crucial role in ...developing high-performance alkali metal batteries such as alkali metal-sulfur and alkali metal-selenium batteries, which suffer from the non-uniform transport of alkali metal ions (e.g., Li
or Na
) and detrimental shuttling effect of polysulfide/polyselenide anions. These drawbacks could cause unfavourable growth of alkali metal depositions at the metal electrode and irreversible consumption of cathode active materials, leading to capacity decay and short cycling life. Herein, we propose the use of a polypropylene separator coated with negatively charged Ti
O
nanosheets with Ti atomic vacancies to tackle these issues. In particular, we demonstrate that the electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged Ti
O
nanosheets and polysulfide/polyselenide anions reduce the shuttling effect. Moreover, the Ti
O
-coated separator regulates the migration of alkali ions ensuring a homogeneous ion flux and the Ti vacancies, acting as sub-nanometric pores, promote fast alkali-ion diffusion.
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