High‐entropy alloys (HEAs) are expected to function well as electrocatalytic materials, owing to their widely adjustable composition and unique physical and chemical properties. Recently, HEA ...catalysts are extensively studied in the field of electrocatalysis; this motivated the authors to investigate the relationship between the structure and composition of HEAs and their electrocatalytic performance. In this review, the latest advances in HEA electrocatalysts are systematically summarized, with special focus on nitrogen fixation, the carbon cycle, water splitting, and fuel cells; in addition, by combining this with the characterization and analysis of HEA microstructures, rational design strategies for optimizing HEA electrocatalysts, including controllable preparation, component regulation, strain engineering, defect engineering, and theoretical prediction are proposed. Moreover, the existing issues and future trends of HEAs are predicted, which will help further develop these high‐entropy materials.
In this review, the latest advances in high‐entropy alloy (HEA) electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy storage and conversion are systematically summarized. Moreover, combining the characterization and analysis of HEA microstructures, rational design strategies are proposed for optimizing HEAs electrocatalysts, covering controllable preparation, component regulation, strain engineering, defect engineering, and theoretical prediction.
The reasonable design of electrode materials for rechargeable batteries plays an important role in promoting the development of renewable energy technology. With the in‐depth understanding of the ...mechanisms underlying electrode reactions and the rapid development of advanced technology, the performance of batteries has significantly been optimized through the introduction of defect engineering on electrode materials. A large number of coordination unsaturated sites can be exposed by defect construction in electrode materials, which play a crucial role in electrochemical reactions. Herein, recent advances regarding defect engineering in electrode materials for rechargeable batteries are systematically summarized, with a special focus on the application of metal‐ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries, and metal–air batteries. The defects can not only effectively promote ion diffusion and charge transfer but also provide more storage/adsorption/active sites for guest ions and intermediate species, thus improving the performance of batteries. Moreover, the existing challenges and future development prospects are forecast, and the electrode materials are further optimized through defect engineering to promote the development of the battery industry.
Recent advances regarding defect engineering on electrode materials for rechargeable batteries are systematically summarized, with a special focus on application in metal‐ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries, and metal–air batteries. The defects can not only promote diffusion of ions and charge transfer, but also maintain structural stability and provide more energy storage/adsorption/active sites, thus improving the performance of the batteries.
The commercialization of fuel cells, such as proton exchange membrane fuel cells and direct methanol/formic acid fuel cells, is hampered by their poor stability, high cost, fuel crossover, and the ...sluggish kinetics of platinum (Pt) and Pt‐based electrocatalysts for both the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the anodic hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) or small molecule oxidation reaction (SMOR). Thus far, the exploitation of active and stable electrocatalysts has been the most promising strategy to improve the performance of fuel cells. Accordingly, increasing attention is being devoted to modulating the surface/interface electronic structure of electrocatalysts and optimizing the adsorption energy of intermediate species by defect engineering to enhance their catalytic performance. Defect engineering is introduced in terms of defect definition, classification, characterization, construction, and understanding. Subsequently, the latest advances in defective electrocatalysts for ORR and HOR/SMOR in fuel cells are scientifically and systematically summarized. Furthermore, the structure–activity relationships between defect engineering and electrocatalytic ability are further illustrated by coupling experimental results and theoretical calculations. With a deeper understanding of these complex relationships, the integration of defective electrocatalysts into single fuel‐cell systems is also discussed. Finally, the potential challenges and prospects of defective electrocatalysts are further proposed, covering controllable preparation, in situ characterization, and commercial applications.
The latest advances in the development of fuel‐cell electrocatalysts by defect engineering are systematically introduced. Such defects modulate electronic structure and improve electrical conductivity, consequently enhancing the activities of electrocatalysts.
The vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) is one of the promising large-scale energy storage technologies. The electrode is one of the key components of the VRFB, and its design has an important effect ...on its electrochemical redox kinetics and battery performance. The ideal VRFB electrode material has high catalytic activity, good conductivity, and high stability. Carbon-based electrodes are the most commonly used electrode materials for VRFBs. However, its reaction kinetics and catalytic active sites are low. This paper summarizes the methods of carbon-based electrode modification of the electrochemical performance in VRFBs. Three representative methods including metal/metal oxide modification, nonmetal atom modification, and defect engineering for graphite felt in VRFBs are generally reviewed. First, metal and metal oxides have high catalytic activity, which can enhance the chemical reaction process of vanadium ions and greatly improve the reversibility of the redox reaction of vanadium ions. Then, nonmetal atom modification can generally improve the hydrophilicity of carbon-based electrodes, enhance the adsorption/desorption capacity of vanadium ions, and improve the reaction kinetics. Moreover, defect engineering can lead to the formation of the micropore structure on the surface and increase the specific surface area of the material, thus generating more redox reaction active sites. Finally, the development direction of electrode modification in VRFBs is prospected, and it is expected that this review will provide useful insights into the development of VRFBs.
Black phosphorus (BP) has recently aroused researchers’ great interest as promising anode material for sodium-ion battery (SIB), owing to its high theoretical capacity (2596 mAh g–1) and good ...electric conductivity (about 300 S m–1). However, the large volume variation during electrochemical cycling makes it difficult to use for practical applications. Herein, the reversible performance of BP in SIB is significantly enhanced by bridging covalently functionalized BP on graphene. The enhanced interaction between the chemical functionalized BP and graphene improves the stability of BP during long-cycle running of SIB. The bridging reduces the surface energy and increases thickness of BP available for enlarging the channel between BP nanosheet and graphene. The enlarged channel stores more sodium ions for improving cycle performance. Significantly, two types of phosphorus–carbon bond are first detected during experimental analysis. Benefiting from the strategy, the BP-based SIB anode exhibits 1472 mAh g–1 specific capacity at 0.1 A g–1 in the 50th cycle and 650 mAh g–1 at 1 A g–1 after 200 cycles.
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•Prenatal iAs, tAs, DMA exposure was inversely associated with child neurodevelopment.•Adverse effects of arsenic exposure on neurodevelopment were found in low arsenic area.•1st ...trimester might be the potential critical window for arsenic-related effect.
There is limited evidence on the effects of arsenic species and metabolic capacity on child neurodevelopment, particularly at low levels. Further, little is known about the critical window of exposure.
To estimate the associations of arsenic exposure and arsenic metabolism in different pregnancy periods with neurodevelopment of two-year-old children.
Concentrations of arsenobetaine (AsB), arsenite, arsenate, monomethyl arsenic acid (MMA), and dimethyl arsenic acid (DMA) in urine samples collected in three trimesters from 1006 mothers were measured using HPLC − ICPMS. Inorganic arsenic (iAs) was calculated as the sum of arsenite and arsenate. Total arsenic (tAs) was calculated as the sum of iAs, MMA and DMA. Child neurodevelopment was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.
The geometric mean (GM) of SG-adjusted tAs in the first, second, third trimester was 16.37, 12.94, 13.04 μg/L, respectively. The mental development index (MDI) score was inversely associated with iAs and tAs. Compared to the 1st quartile, the MDI score decreased 0.43 (95%CI: −4.22, 3.36) for the 2nd, 6.50 (95%CI: −11.73, −1.27) for the 3rd, 5.42 (95%CI: −10.74, −0.10) for the 4th quartiles of iAs, and decreased 4.03 (95%CI: −7.90, −0.15) in the 4th quartile of tAs. In trimester-specific models, negative associations of DMA −1.94 (95%CI: −3.18, −0.71) and tAs −1.61 (95%CI: −3.02, −0.20) with the psychomotor development index (PDI) were only observed in 1st trimester.
Our study found inverse associations between prenatal arsenic exposure, especially in early pregnancy, and neurodevelopment of children at two years old, even at low exposure levels.
Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) are widely applied in energy storage systems (e.g., wind energy, solar energy), while the poor activity of commonly used carbon-based electrode limits their ...large-scale application. In this study, the graphene modified carbon felt (G/CF) with a large area of 20 cm × 20 cm has been successfully prepared by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) strategy, achieving outstanding electrocatalytic redox reversibility of the VRFBs. The decorating graphene can provide abundant active sites for the vanadium redox reactions. Compared with the pristine carbon felt (CF) electrode, the G/CF composite electrode possesses more defective sites on surface, which enhances activity toward VO
2+
/VO
2
+
couple and electrochemical performances. For instance, such G/CF electrode delivered remarkable voltage efficiency (VE) of 88.4% and energy efficiency (EE) of 86.4% at 100 mA·cm
−2
, much higher than CF electrode by 2.1% and 3.78%, respectively. The long-term cycling stability of G/CF electrode was further investigated and a high retention value of 47.6% can be achieved over 600 cycles. It is demonstrated that this work develops a promising and effective strategy to synthesize the large size of carbon electrode with high performances for the next-generation VRFBs.
The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway is well-known for its important role in cancer growth, proliferation and migration. The activation of PI3K pathway is always connected with ...endocrine resistance and poor prognosis in cancers. Alpelisib, a selective inhibitor of PI3K, has been demonstrated to be effective in combination with endocrine therapy in HR+ PIK3CA-mutated advanced breast cancer in preclinical and clinical trials. Recently, the synergistic effects of alpelisib combined with targeted agents have been widely reported in PIK3CA-mutated cancer cells, such as breast, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), cervical, liver, pancreatic and lung cancer. However, previous reviews mainly focused on the pharmacological activities of alpelisib in breast cancer. The synergistic therapeutic potential of alpelisib in other cancers has not yet been well reviewed. In this review, an extensive study of related literatures (published until December 20, 2022) regarding the anti-cancer functions and synergistic effects of alpelisib was carried out through the databases. Useful information was extracted. We summarized the preclinical and clinical studies of alpelisib in combination with targeted anti-cancer agents in cancer treatment (excluding breast cancer). The combinations of alpelisib and other targeted agents significantly improved the therapeutic efficacy both in preclinical and clinical studies. Unfortunately, synergistic therapies still could not effectively avoid the possible toxicities and adverse events during treatment. Finally, some prospects for the combination studies in cancer treatment were provided in the paper. Taken together, this review provided valuable information for alpelisib in preclinical and clinical applications.
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•The synergistic therapeutic potential of alpelisib in other cancers (excluding breast cancer) has not yet been reviewed•The synergistic effects of alpelisib in other cancers have been extensively identified in preclinical and clinical trials.•The incidence of drug-induced adverse effects of alpelisib is still a serious problem during cancer treatment.
The latest applications of plasma in energy storage and conversion are summarized here, including using it as the preparation and modification technology of the various electrocatalysts and the usage ...of it as the synthesis technology directly. Also, the challenges and outlook of plasma technology in energy storage and conversion were summarized, and the solutions and prospected its development in the future were present.
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Electrochemical reactions were widely used in energy storage and conversion devices. The development of low-cost, highly efficient and stable electrocatalyst is essential to a large-scale application of energy storage and conversion devices. Recently, emerging plasma technology has been employed as one of the practical ways to synthesize and modify electrocatalysts due to its unique property. In this review, we summarized the latest applications of plasma in energy storage and conversion, including using it as the preparation and modification technology of the various electrocatalysts and the usage of it as the synthesis technology directly. Firstly, we presented the definition and types of plasma reactors and their respective characteristics. Then, these applications of plasma technology in many essential electrode reactions including carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR), nitrogen fixation, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) were introduced. Finally, the challenges and outlook of plasma technology in energy storage and conversion were summarized, and the solutions and prospected its development in the future were present. Through reviewing the related aspects, readers can have a deeper understanding of the application prospects of plasma in electrocatalysis.
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•Yubei-Tangbei structural model: fault-propagation-folds as back-thrusts.•New Cherchen Fault model: a breakthrough trishear fault propagation fold.•Southern Tarim Basin ...fold-and-thrust belts inherited a sequential evolution process.•Four important evolution stages are identified from growth strata and unconformities.
The Yubei-Tangbei area in the southern Tarim Basin is one of the best-preserved Early Paleozoic northeast-southwest trending fold-and-thrust belts within this basin. This area is crucial for the exploration of primary hydrocarbon reservoirs in northwestern China. In this study, we constructed the structural geometric morphology of the Yubei-Tangbei area using geophysical logs, drilling, and recent two- and three-dimensional (2-D and 3-D) seismic data. The Early Paleozoic fault-propagation folds, the Tangnan triangle zone, fault-detachment folds, and trishear fault-propagation folds developed with the detachment of the Middle Cambrian gypsum–salt layer. According to a detailed chronostratigraphic framework, the growth strata in the Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian layer formed by onlapping the back limb of the asymmetric fault-propagation folds, which therefore defines the timing of deformations. The changes in kink band hinges and amplitudes in the Permian–Carboniferous and Cenozoic folding strata suggest that the evolution of the fold-and-thrust belts followed a sequential evolution process rather than a simultaneous one. Above the pre-existing Precambrian basement structure, the Yubei-Tangbei fold-and-thrust belts can be divided into four tectonic evolution stages: Late Cambrian, Late Ordovician to Early Carboniferous, Carboniferous to Permian, and Cenozoic. The northwestern-verging Cherchen Fault is part of the piedmont fold-and-thrust system of the southern Tarim foreland basin. We interpreted its strata as a breakthrough trishear fault-propagation fold that developed in three phases: Mid–Late Ordovician, Silurian to Middle Devonian, and Triassic to present. These tectonic events are responses of the Altyn-Tagh and Kunlun collisional orogenic belts and the Indian-Eurasian collision. The inherited deformation and structural modification in the southern Tarim Basin may be an indicator of the growth and evolution of peripheral orogens.
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