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•It is the first time to report visible light photodegradation of tetracycline (TC) over TiO2.•56.7% of TC was removed by TiO2 under visible (500 nm) light irradiation.•Different ...active species were found in TC degradation under different light irradiations.•UV and visible light irradiations generated different degradation products.
TiO2 is widely exploited as a photocatalyst to degrade antibiotic residues in water under UV irradiation, but it is inefficient for visible light photocatalysis due to its large band gap. Herein, it is the first time to report the photodegradation of tetracycline (TC) over TiO2 under visible light irradiation. 25.1% of removal efficiency for TC was achieved even under 700 nm light irradiation. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that O2− species, which were generated from photoexciting of a surface complex between TC molecules and TiO2, played a critical role in the visible light photocatalytic degradation of TC. In addition, it was found that the visible light photocatalytic degradation generated different active species and intermediate products from those under UV irradiation. N-doped TiO2 exhibited even better performance for visible-light photocatalytic degradation of TC with higher removal efficiency and larger mineralization rate, which followed different degradation-mechanism.
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•This is the first review article specifically on single component core-shell structured TiO2.•The synthesis approaches of single component core-shell TiO2 are evaluated.•The unique ...structures and promising applications of the material are discussed.•A perspective on single component core-shell structured TiO2 is provided.
TiO2 is the most important photocatalyst for numerous processes, but effective only under UV light irradiation due to its large band gap (3.0–3.2 eV). It is a long time goal to achieve visible light photocatalytic activity by tuning the band structure of TiO2. In recent years, the core-shell structured TiO2 has emerged as a novel material with enhanced visible light absorption and photocatalytic efficiency. It is generally recognized that core-shell structured materials are composite materials, namely, the core contains a component and the shell is comprised of another component. In contrast, the core-shell structured TiO2 is a single component core-shell structured material, in which the core and shell contain the same component but with different structures. As the first review for the single component core-shell structured TiO2, this article systemically evaluates the synthesis approaches of the novel core-shell TiO2 materials, discusses their unique structures, summarizes their applications, and provides a perspective for future research.
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Capacitive deionization (CDI), which is one of up-and-coming water treatment technologies, is based on ion electrostatic adsorption on electrode surface. Herein, three-dimensional ...channel-structured graphene (CSG), which was synthesized via exothermic reaction between liquid potassium and carbon monoxide gas, was demonstrated as an efficient electrode material for CDI. Namely, the CSG electrode exhibited a specific capacity of 207.4 F/g at 0.2 A/g in 1 M NaCl aqueous solution. In a batch-mode recycling system, the electrosorption capacity of CSG can achieve 5.70 and 9.60 mg/g at 1.5 V in 50 and 295 mg/l NaCl aqueous solutions, respectively. The excellent electrosorption capacity of CSG, especially under low saline concentration, can be attributed to the synergistic effect of its large surface area (711.9 m2/g), unique channel structure, and oxygen functional groups.
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•Hydrogen treatment of TiO2 can create a novel core-shell structure.•The core-shell structured TiO2 possesses the stable Ti3+ sites inside the core.•The stable Ti3+ inside the core is ...a critical factor for visible light photocatalysis.•The visible light photocatalytic efficiency is 400% larger for the core-shell structured TiO2 than for the pristine TiO2.
TiO2 is one of the most important photocatalysts, but it is inefficient for visible light photocatalysis due to its large band gap. Herein, the unique core-shell structured TiO2 photocatalyst was synthesized by a one-step hydrogen treatment at temperature of 400–600 °C. The novel catalyst exhibited excellent performance for visible light photocatalytic dye degradation at room temperature. Even under weak visible light (40 mW cm−2) illumination, its degradation efficiency for methylene blue dye was 400% higher than that of pristine TiO2. Such a large enhancement can be attributed to the stable Ti3+ centers inside the core for visible light photocatalytic activity and the disordered shell for dye adsorption.
Hydration is a critical step that determines the performance of cement-based materials. In this paper, the effect of GO on the hydration of cement was evaluated by XRD and FTIR. It was found that GO ...can remarkably accelerate the hydration rate of cement due to its catalytic behavior. This happened because the oxygen-containing functional groups of GO provide adsorption sites for both water molecules and cement components.
•GO can remarkably accelerate the hydration of cement.•GO can play a catalytic role in cement hydration.•Water molecules on GO constitute a water reservoir and water transport channels.
In black and white: The hydrogenation of TiO2 can extend its optical absorption into the visible and infrared region and change its color from white to black. Furthermore, the hydrogenated black TiO2 ...exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity for the splitting of water to yield H2.
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are essential factors that regulate tumor development and metastasis via diverse molecular mechanisms in a broad type of cancers. However, the pathological roles of ...lncRNAs in gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) remain largely unknown. Here we discovered a novel lncRNA termed lncRNA Highly expressed in GBC (lncRNA-HGBC) which was upregulated in GBC tissue and aimed to investigate its role and regulatory mechanism in the development and progression of GBC.
The expression level of lncRNA-HGBC in GBC tissue and different cell lines was determined by quantitative real-time PCR. The full length of lncRNA-HGBC was obtained by 5' and 3' rapid amplification of the cDNA ends (RACE). Cellular localization of lncRNA-HGBC was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assays and subcellular fractionation assay. In vitro and in vivo assays were preformed to explore the biological effects of lncRNA-HGBC in GBC cells. RNA pull-down assay, mass spectrometry, and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay were used to identify lncRNA-HGBC-interacting proteins. Dual luciferase reporter assays, AGO2-RIP, and MS2-RIP assays were performed to verify the interaction between lncRNA-HGBC and miR-502-3p.
We found that lncRNA-HGBC was upregulated in GBC and its upregulation could predict poor survival. Overexpression or knockdown of lncRNA-HGBC in GBC cell lines resulted in increased or decreased, respectively, cell proliferation and invasion in vitro and in xenografted tumors. LncRNA-HGBC specifically bound to RNA binding protein Hu Antigen R (HuR) that in turn stabilized lncRNA-HGBC. LncRNA-HGBC functioned as a competitive endogenous RNA to bind to miR-502-3p that inhibits target gene SET. Overexpression, knockdown or mutation of lncRNA-HGBC altered the inhibitory effects of miR-502-3p on SET expression and downstream activation of AKT. Clinically, lncRNA-HGBC expression was negatively correlated with miR-502-3p, but positively correlated with SET and HuR in GBC tissue.
Our study demonstrates that lncRNA-HGBC promotes GBC metastasis via activation of the miR-502-3p-SET-AKT cascade, pointing to lncRNA-HGBC as a new prognostic predictor and a therapeutic target.
Fast, mass, and low‐cost production of high‐quality graphene, which is alluring, remains a great challenge, even though some approaches have shown potential for mass synthesis of graphene. Very ...recently a great breakthrough was made by Tour and co‐workers (Nature 2020, 577, 647–651): in just a second, easily exfoliated and highly crystalline graphene was produced from abundant carbon‐containing species by cost‐effective flash Joule heating with a low energy input of 7.2 kJ per gram graphene. Such an ultrafast, economic, and scalable process for high‐quality graphene production can be considered as a milestone in the graphene field and is highlighted in this article.
Graphene synthesis in a flash: Despite more than 15 years of exploration, the efficient and low‐cost production of graphene, especially high‐quality graphene, remains a great challenge. Very recently, a breakthrough in the synthesis of graphene materials was reported by Tour et al. It realized a super‐fast synthesis of high‐quality graphene at low cost, showing a great potential for commercialization.
Thermo-photo catalysis, which is the catalysis with the participation of both thermal and photo energies, not only reduces the large energy consumption of thermal catalysis but also addresses the low ...efficiency of photocatalysis. As a whole greater than the sum of its parts, thermo-photo catalysis has been proven as an effective and promising technology to drive chemical reactions. In this review, we first clarify the definition (beyond photo-thermal catalysis and plasmonic catalysis), classification, and principles of thermo-photo catalysis and then reveal its superiority over individual thermal catalysis and photocatalysis. After elucidating the design principles and strategies toward highly efficient thermo-photo catalytic systems, an ample discussion on the synergetic effects of thermal and photo energies is provided from two perspectives, namely, the promotion of photocatalysis by thermal energy and the promotion of thermal catalysis by photo energy. Subsequently, state-of-the-art techniques applied to explore thermo-photo catalytic mechanisms are reviewed, followed by a summary on the broad applications of thermo-photo catalysis and its energy management toward industrialization. In the end, current challenges and potential research directions related to thermo-photo catalysis are outlined.
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