Lithium–sulfur batteries are regarded as promising candidates for energy storage devices due to their high theoretical energy density. Various approaches are proposed to break through the obstacles ...that are preventing Li–S batteries from realizing practical application. Recently, the importance of the strong chemical interaction between polar materials and polysulfides is recognized by researchers to improve the performance of Li–S batteries, especially with respect to the shuttle effect. Polar materials, unlike nonpolar materials, exhibit strong interactions with polysulfides without any modification or doping because of their intrinsic polarity, absorbing the polar polysulfides and thus suppressing the notorious shuttle effect. The recent advances on polar materials for Li–S batteries are reviewed here, especially the chemical polar–polar interaction effects toward immobilizing dissolved polysulfides, and the relationship between the intrinsic properties of the polar materials and the electrochemical performance of the Li–S batteries are discussed. Polar materials, including polar inorganics in the cathode and polar organics as binder for the Li–S batteries are respectively described. Finally, future directions and prospects for the polar materials used in Li–S batteries are also proposed.
The importance of the strong chemical interaction between polar materials and polysulfides is recognized by researchers to improve the performance of the lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries, especially with respect to the shuttle effect. Herein, recent advances in polar materials for Li–S batteries are reviewed, including polar inorganics in the cathode and polar organics as binders.
Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are interesting as one of the alternative metal-ion battery systems to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to the abundance and low cost of potassium. We have herein ...investigated Sn4P3/C composite as a novel anode material for PIBs. The electrode delivered a reversible capacity of 384.8 mA h g–1 at 50 mA g–1 and a good rate capability of 221.9 mA h g–1, even at 1 A g–1. Its electrochemical performance is better than any anode material reported so far for PIBs. It was also found that the Sn4P3/C electrode displays a discharge potential plateau of 0.1 V in PIBs, slightly higher than for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) (0.01 V), and well above the plating potential of metal. This diminishes the formation of dendrites during cycling, and thus Sn4P3 is a relatively safe anode material, especially for application in large-scale energy storage, where large amounts of electrode materials are used. Furthermore, a possible reaction mechanism of the Sn4P3/C composite as PIB anode is proposed. This work may open up a new avenue for further development of alloy-based anodes with high capacity and long cycle life for PIBs.
Aqueous monovalent‐ion batteries have been rapidly developed recently as promising energy storage devices in large‐scale energy storage systems owing to their fast charging capability and high power ...densities. In recent years, Prussian blue analogues, polyanion‐type compounds, and layered oxides have been widely developed as cathodes for aqueous monovalent‐ion batteries because of their low cost and high theoretical capacity. Furthermore, many design strategies have been proposed to expand their electrochemical stability window by reducing the amount of free water molecules and introducing an electrolyte addictive. This review highlights the advantages and drawbacks of cathode and anode materials, and summarizes the correlations between the various strategies and the electrochemical performance in terms of structural engineering, morphology control, elemental compositions, and interfacial design. Finally, this review can offer rational principles and potential future directions in the design of aqueous monovalent‐ion batteries.
The aqueous monovalent‐ion batteries have gained tremendous attention from the scientific community due to their fast charging capability, resulting from the outstanding ionic conductivity of aqueous electrolytes (twice as high as for organic electrolytes), and the smaller hydrated ionic radius and lower hydration free energy of monovalent ions compared with those of multivalent ions.
Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) have attracted tremendous attention due to their low cost, fast ionic conductivity in electrolyte, and high operating voltage. Research on PIBs is still in its infancy, ...however, and achieving a general understanding of the drawbacks of each component and proposing research strategies for overcoming these problems are crucial for the exploration of suitable electrode materials/electrolytes and the establishment of electrode/cell assembly technologies for further development of PIBs. In this review, we summarize our current understanding in this field, classify and highlight the design strategies for addressing the key issues in the research on PIBs, and propose possible pathways for the future development of PIBs toward practical applications. The strategies and perspectives summarized in this review aim to provide practical guidance for an increasing number of researchers to explore next-generation and high-performance PIBs, and the methodology may also be applicable to developing other energy storage systems.
Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are promising candidates for scalable energy storage devices due to their low cost, high operating voltage and fast ionic conductivity in electrolyte. However, the ...research progress of PIBs still faces great challenges due to the lack of suitable hosts for reversible depotassiation/potassiation of large size K+, thus leading to low reversible capacity and poor cycling stability and rate capability. Herein, we have rationally designed a new necklace-like V3S4/carbon composite composed of V3S4 microspheres encapsulated in N-doped carbon nanofibers (V3S4@NCNFs) as an advanced anode for PIBs. Benefiting from the remarkable ion/electronic conductivity, fast electron transport, structural integrity upon cycling, and significant pseudocapacitance contributions, the V3S4@NCNF electrodes exhibit a high reversible capacity of 445 mA h g−1 after 300 cycles at 0.2 A g−1, a prolonged cycling stability of 245 mA h g−1 capacity retention over 1000 cycles at 2 A g−1, and an excellent rate performance of 249/202 mA h g−1 at 5/10 A g−1, which are superior to those of most reported anode materials for PIBs.
In this work, BiOBr and BiOBr/ZnO were produced by using a simple hydrothermal method, and then were modified by a short-time low temperature plasma treatment using the gas of argon mixed with 3% ...hydrogen in pulsed mode with the fixed cycle discharge times. The related morphological, crystal, chemical, optical and photocatalytic properties were investigated. A three-dimensional flower-like structure of pure BiOBr and layered ultrathin nanosheets structure of BiOBr/ZnO can be observed. And the plasma treatment process at the discharge power of 100 W would not affect their basic morphologies. However, the changes in the surface chemical bonding has been identified, which indicates the presence of strong electronic interactions and strong chemical bonds caused by the plasma modification. The photodegradation rate has been greatly improved by mixing BiOBr with ZnO since the heterojunction structure was built during the hydrothermal process. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity can be further improved after the plasma treatment, it is attributed to the higher photogenerated carrier separation rate and narrow band gap due to the defects generated by the surface plasma effects.
•3D flower-like structure of BiOBr and layered ultrathin nanosheets of BiOBr/ZnO were obtained.•BiOBr-ZnO heterojunction structure was built by a simple hydrothermal method.•Surface defects were generated by the short time plasma process.•Photocatalytic activity was obviously improved by the heterojunction structure and plasma modification.
Potassium‐ion batteries are promising for low‐cost and large‐scale energy storage applications, but the major obstacle to their application is the lack of safe and effective electrolytes. A ...phosphate‐based fire retardant such as triethyl phosphate is now shown to work as a single solvent with potassium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide at 0.9 m, in contrast to previous Li and Na systems where phosphates cannot work at low concentrations. This electrolyte is optimized at 2 m, where it exhibits the advantages of low cost, low viscosity, and high conductivity, as well as the formation of a uniform and robust salt‐derived solid‐electrolyte interphase layer, leading to non‐dendritic K‐metal plating/stripping with Coulombic efficiency of 99.6 % and a highly reversible graphite anode.
A phosphate‐based fire retardant such as triethyl phosphate (TEP) is shown to work as a single solvent with potassium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (KFSI). This electrolyte forms a uniform and robust salt‐derived solid‐electrolyte interphase layer, leading to non‐dendritic K‐metal plating/stripping with Coulombic efficiency of 99.6 % with a highly reversible graphite anode.
CBP and p300 are homologous proteins exhibiting remarkable structural and functional similarity. Both proteins function as acetyltransferase and coactivator, underscoring their significant roles in ...cellular processes. The function of histone acetyltransferases is to facilitate the release of DNA from nucleosomes and act as transcriptional co-activators to promote gene transcription. Transcription factors recruit CBP/p300 by co-condensation and induce transcriptional bursting. Disruption of CBP or p300 functions is associated with different diseases, especially cancer, which can result from either loss of function or gain of function. CBP and p300 are multidomain proteins containing HAT (histone acetyltransferase) and BRD (bromodomain) domains, which perform acetyltransferase activity and maintenance of HAT signaling, respectively. Inhibitors targeting HAT and BRD have been explored for decades, and some BRD inhibitors have been evaluated in clinical trials for treating hematologic malignancies or advanced solid tumors. Here, we review the development and application of CBP/p300 inhibitors. Several inhibitors have been evaluated in vivo, exhibiting notable potency but limited selectivity. Exploring these inhibitors emphasizes the promise of targeting CBP and p300 with small molecules in cancer therapy.
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•CBP/p300 dysregulation correlates with diverse diseases, especially cancer, arising from loss or gain of function mutations.•Inhibitors designed to target the HAT and bromodomain BRDdomains of CBP/p300 have undergone significant development.•In vivo evaluation of some inhibitors shows considerable potency, but achieving specificity remains a persistent challenge.•Clinical trial studies highlight the potential of CBP/p300 as promising targets for small molecule-based cancer therapeies.
The expression of Programmed cell Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1) is observed in many malignant tumors and is associated with poor prognosis including Gastric Cancer (GC). The relationship between PD-L1 ...expression and prognosis, however, is controversial in GC. This paper purports to use a meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between PD-L1 expression and prognosis in GC. For this study, the following databases were searched for articles published from June 2003 until February 2017: PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. The baseline information extracted were: authors, year of publication, country where the study was performed, study design, sample size, follow-up time, baseline characteristics of the study population, pathologic data, overall survival (OS). A total of 15 eligible studies covering 3291 patients were selected for a meta-analysis based on specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. The analysis showed that the expression level of PD-L1 was associated with the overall survival in GC (Hazard Ratio, HR = 1.46, 95%CI = 1.08-1.98, P = 0.01, random-effect). In addition to the above, subgroup analysis showed that GC patients with deeper tumor infiltration, positive lymph-node metastasis, positive venous invasion, Epstein-Barr virus infection positive (EBV+), Microsatellite Instability (MSI) are more likely to expression PD-L1. The results of this meta-analysis suggest that GC patients, specifically EBV+ and MSI, may be prime candidates for PD-1 directed therapy. These findings support anti-PD-L1/PD-1 antibodies as a kind of immunotherapy which is promising for GC.
Ureolytic microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a promising green technique for addressing a variety of environmental and architectural concerns. However, the dynamics of MICP ...especially at the microscopic level remains relatively unexplored. In this work, by applying a bacterial tracking technique, the growth dynamics of micrometer-sized calcium carbonate precipitates induced by Sporosarcina pasteurii were studied at a single-cell resolution. The growth of micrometer-scale precipitates and the occurrence and dissolution of many unstable submicrometer calcium carbonate particles were observed in the precipitation process. More interestingly, we observed that micrometer-sized precipitated crystals did not grow on negatively charged cell surfaces nor on other tested polystyrene microspheres with different negatively charged surface modifications, indicating that a negatively charged surface was not a sufficient property for nucleating the growth of precipitates in the MICP process under the conditions used in this study. Our observations imply that the frequently cited model of bacterial cell surfaces as nucleation sites for precipitates during MICP is oversimplified. In addition, additional growth of calcium carbonates was observed on old precipitates collected from previous runs. The presence of bacterial cells was also shown to affect both morphologies and crystalline structures of precipitates, and both calcite and vaterite precipitates were found when cells physically coexisted with precipitates. This study provides new insights into the regulation of MICP through dynamic control of precipitation.
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