Superhydrophobic surfaces have shown versatile applications in waterproofing, self‐cleaning, drag reduction, selective absorption, etc. The most convenient and universally applicable approach to ...forming superhydrophobic surfaces is by coating; however, currently, superhydrophobic, smart coatings with flexibility and multiple functions for wearable sensing electronics are not yet reported. Here, a highly flexible multifunctional smart coating is fabricated by spray‐coating multiwalled carbon nanotubes dispersed in a thermoplastic elastomer solution, followed by treatment with ethanol. The coatings not only endow various substrate materials with superhydrophobic surfaces, but can also respond to stretching, bending, and torsion—a property useful for flexible sensor applications. The coatings show superior sensitivity (gauge factor of 5.4–80), high resolution (1° of bending), a fast response time (<8 ms), a stable response over 5000 stretching–relaxing cycles, and wide sensing ranges (stretching: over 76%, bending: 0°–140°, torsion: 0–350 rad m−1). Moreover, multifunctional coatings with thicknesses of only 1 µm can be directly applied to clothing for full‐range and real‐time detection of human motions, which also show extreme repellency to water, acid, and alkali, which helps the sensors to work under wet and corrosive conditions.
A multifunctional, stretchable smart coating is fabricated by spray‐coating multiwalled carbon nanotubes dispersed in a thermoplastic elastomer solution, followed by treatment with ethanol. The coatings are superhydrophobic and piezoresistive, for water repellency and wearable strain‐sensor applications. The extreme repellency to water, UV, acid, and alkali characteristics of the coating endow highly sensitive and stable sensing performance under wet/corrosive conditions.
Although the selective synthesis of complicated supramolecular architectures has seen significant progress in recent years, the exploration of the properties of these complexes remains a fascinating ...challenge. Herein, a series of new supramolecular topologies, metalla2catenanes and Borromean ring assemblies, were constructed based on appropriate Cp*Rh building blocks and two rigid alkynyl pyridine ligands (
L1
,
L2
)
via
coordination-driven self-assembly. Interestingly, minor differences between the two rigid alkynyl pyridine ligands with/without organic substituents led to products with dramatically different topologies. Careful structural analysis showed that π-π stacking interactions play a crucial role in stabilizing these 2catenanes and Borromean ring assemblies, while also promoting nonradiative transitions and triggering photothermal conversion in both the solution and the solid states. These results were showcased through comparative studies of the NIR photothermal conversion efficiencies of the Borromean ring assemblies, 2catenanes and metallarectangles, which exhibited a wide range of photothermal conversion efficiencies (12.64-72.21%). The influence of the different Cp*Rh building blocks on the NIR photothermal conversion efficiencies of their assemblies was investigated. Good photothermal conversion properties of the assemblies were also found in the solid state. This study provides a new strategy to construct valuable half-sandwich-based NIR photothermal conversion materials while also providing promising candidates for the further development of materials science.
The selective synthesis of three kinds of supermolecular topologies, molecular Borromean ring, 2catenane and metallarectangle based on two alkynyl ligands is presented. Remarkably, the NIR photothermal conversion efficiency was found to improve as the π-π stacking increases.
In crystalline silicon (c‐Si) solar cells, the hole transport layer (HTL) made of high oxygen content MoOx (x > 2.85, H‐MoOx) evaporating from molybdenum trioxide is not ideal due to low optical ...bandgap and interface reaction effects. This limits the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability of c‐Si solar cells. To improve this, low oxygen content MoOx (x < 2.85, L‐MoOx) with a wide bandgap of 3.87 eV, deposited using molybdenum dioxide (MoO2), is explored and implemented. The c‐Si/SiOx (FGA, forming gas annealing)/L‐MoOx heterojunction has a low contact resistivity of ≈15.06 mΩ cm2, which is almost one order of magnitude lower than that of c‐Si/SiOx(FGA)/H‐MoOx heterojunction. Using L‐MoOx as the HTL, a c‐Si solar cell based on the SiOx passivation layer shows a fill factor of 84.38% and PCE of 21.75%, representing the highest efficiency for MoOx‐based p‐type c‐Si solar cells. Scanning transmission electron microscopy results show that the L‐MoOx HTL effectively enhances the stability of c‐Si solar cells when exposed to air by reducing Ag and Si element diffusion into MoOx. This successful preparation of efficient and stable MoOx HTL films, while preserving their field‐effect passivation ability, provides valuable insights into the development of high‐performance HTL.
A low‐cost, easy preparation, and wider bandgap energy low oxygen content MoOx film (O/Mo <2.85) is developed, which serves as a guarantee for further improving the performance of c‐Si solar cells with SiOx passivation layer.
Drought stress is one of the main environmental factors limiting plant growth and development. Plants adapt to changing soil moisture by modifying root architecture, inducing stomatal closure, and ...inhibiting shoot growth. The AP2/ERF transcription factor DREB2A plays a key role in maintaining plant growth in response to drought stress, but the molecular mechanism underlying this process remains to be elucidated. Here, it was found that overexpression of MdDREB2A positively regulated nitrogen utilisation by interacting with DRE cis-elements of the MdNIR1 promoter. Meanwhile, MdDREB2A could also directly bind to the promoter of MdSWEET12, which may enhance root development and nitrogen assimilation, ultimately promoting plant growth. Overall, this regulatory mechanism provides an idea for plants in coordinating with drought tolerance and nitrogen assimilation to maintain optimal plant growth and development under drought stress.
Abstract
Sclerostin negatively regulates bone formation by antagonizing Wnt signalling. An antibody targeting sclerostin for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis was approved by the U.S. Food ...and Drug Administration, with a boxed warning for cardiovascular risk. Here we demonstrate that sclerostin participates in protecting cardiovascular system and inhibiting bone formation via different loops. Loop3 deficiency by genetic truncation could maintain sclerostin’s protective effect on the cardiovascular system while attenuating its inhibitory effect on bone formation. We identify an aptamer, named aptscl56, which specifically targets sclerostin loop3 and use a modified aptscl56 version, called Apc001PE, as specific in vivo pharmacologic tool to validate the above effect of loop3. Apc001PE has no effect on aortic aneurysm and atherosclerotic development in
ApoE
−/−
mice and
hSOST
ki
.ApoE
−/−
mice with angiotensin II infusion. Apc001PE can promote bone formation in
hSOST
ki
mice and ovariectomy-induced osteoporotic rats. In summary, sclerostin loop3 cannot participate in protecting the cardiovascular system, but participates in inhibiting bone formation.
Bauxite residue is an alkaline solid waste produced during the extraction of alumina from bauxite, which causes serious environmental problems and safety risks. In this study, alkali and alumina were ...recovered from Bayer bauxite residue using a novel calcification-carbonisation process. This produced a non-hazardous and near-neutral residue (C-C residue), the properties of which facilitated its subsequent reuse. After the calcification-carbonisation treatment, 46.5% of the alumina was extracted and the Na2O content in the final residue (C-C residue) dropped to less than 0.3%. In addition, the feasibility of using C-C residue in the production of cement and the preparation of soil was analysed. The results showed that the chemical composition of C-C residue is very close to that of Portland cement clinker, which allows the dosage of bauxite residue in cement production to be increased. A comparison of the C-C residue with a general soil showed that the former performed well for many soil parameters, such as alkalinity and salinity, and has great potential for application in soil preparation. Thus, the calcification-carbonisation method, combined with cement production or soil preparation, is a sustainable process for completely reusing Bayer bauxite residue and facilitating bauxite waste minimisation.
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•A novel C-C process was proposed to recover alkali and alumina from Bayer bauxite residue.•Bauxite residue was transformed structurally into a near-neutral and nonhazardous residue.•The potential use of C-C residue was analysed based on a series of characteristic contrasts.•Extracting metals first and then reusing residue was proposed to realise zero discharge.
Scientific understanding of super typhoons (STYs) is essential for environmental and human-made disaster prevention. The interactive processes among the atmosphere, ocean, and surface waves have an ...intimate relationship within the STY system. This study chose STY Hinnamnor (2022) as an example and used multi-source data to investigate how it affected the upper ocean. First, Argo floats data at two positions were collected to investigate the variation of sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), isothermal layer depth (ILD), mixed layer depth (MLD), barrier layer thickness (BLT), and eddy viscosity (EV) during pre- and post-STY. The STY passed through two Argo floats; hence, the SST, ILD, and BLT significantly decreased post-STY, whereas the MLD and EV increased. The SSS decreased by 0.26 psu where the STY passed southwestward, whereas it increased by 0.11 psu where the STY began to move northward. Subsequently, the remote sensing data and re-analysis data were used to study the evolution of the SST, precipitation, runoff, and profiles of the upper ocean pre- and post-STY. The results reveal that intensive vertical mixing and upwelling occurred in the region where the direction of the STY movement switched. It also revealed that the runoff and heavy precipitation increased the water salinity in this area. In addition, the reanalysis data indicated that the significant wave height (SWH) and the mean wave period (MWP) near the cyclone center became longer than in other areas. The temporal evolution of the spectral peak period (SPP) demonstrated the generation of a swell zone on the right side of the typhoon track when the STY moved northward.
The dehydrogenase pathway and the succinylase pathway are involved in the synthesis of L-lysine in
. Despite the low contribution rate to L-lysine production, the dehydrogenase pathway is favorable ...for its simple steps and potential to increase the production of L-lysine. The effect of ammonium (NH
) concentration on L-lysine biosynthesis was investigated, and the results indicated that the biosynthesis of L-lysine can be promoted in a high NH
environment. In order to reduce the requirement of NH
, the nitrogen source regulatory protein AmtR was knocked out, resulting in an 8.5% increase in L-lysine production (i.e., 52.3 ± 4.31 g/L). Subsequently, the dehydrogenase pathway was upregulated by blocking or weakening the tetrahydrodipicolinate succinylase (DapD)-coding gene
and overexpressing the
gene to further enhance L-lysine biosynthesis. The final strain XQ-5-W4 could produce 189 ± 8.7 g/L L-lysine with the maximum specific rate (
) of 0.35 ± 0.05 g/(g·h) in a 5-L jar fermenter. The L-lysine titer and
achieved in this study is about 25.2% and 59.1% higher than that of the original strain without enhancement of dehydrogenase pathway, respectively. The results indicated that the dehydrogenase pathway could serve as a breakthrough point to reconstruct the diaminopimelic acid (DAP) pathway and promote L-lysine production.
Herein, a new Zn-MOF material, Zn(
)(
),
, was built successfully through a one-pot solvothermal method. The 3D MOF structure was determined by Single X-ray diffraction analysis, IR, and elemental ...analysis. A series of PXRD tests of
after being immersed in different solvents and pH solutions demonstrated the good stability of
. Interestingly, this material displayed high catalytic activity for the visible-light-driven hydrogen generation under the illumination of white LED in pure water or a mixture of DMF and H
O without additional photosensitizers and cocatalysts. Besides, the studies also showed that the catalytic activity changed constantly as well as the solvent ratio adjustment of DMF and H
O from 4:6 to 2:8. Additionally, the catalytic activity reached the best value (743 μmol g
h
) when the solvent ratio was 4:6. The heterogeneous nature and recyclability of the MOF catalyst, as well as several factors that affect the catalytic activity, were investigated and described in detail. Moreover, the photocatalytic mechanism for the hydrogen generation of
was also proposed based on the fluorescence spectra and UV-vis absorption.
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Four polyoxoniobate-based compounds, namely Cu(en)24Cu(en)2(H2O)VNb12V4O44·2.25H2O·3OH– (1), Cu(en)24Cu(en)2(H2O)3Cu(en)2(H2O)23{SiNb12Sb2O402}·25H2O (2), ...Cu(en)22Cu(en)2(H2O)24SiNb12V2O42·7H2O (3), and Cu(en)23{Cu(en)2H2V4Nb6O30}·12H2O (4) have been successfully synthesized and characterized by using FT-IR, XRD, and single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, etc. Out of the four compounds, compound 1 is based on a rare four V capped polyoxoniobate cluster VNb12V4O447−, Cu(en)22+, and Cu(en)2(H2O)2+ complexes, forming a 1-D chain structure with Cu complexes as bridges. Compound 2 contains a Keggin polyoxoniobate with double Sb caps, and forming a network structure based on Sb capped polyoxoniobates and copper complexes with two different large parallelogram channels. Compounds 3 and 4 have been reported previously by Wang et al1 and Hu et al2, respectively. In this work, we not only reported the syntheses, structures and characterizations of these compounds, but also we further investigated the catalytic properties of these four compounds for styrene epoxidation.
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