Marine biofouling is a ubiquitous problem that accompanies human marine activities and marine industries. It exerts detrimental impacts on the economy, environment, ecology, and safety. ...Traditionally, mainstream approaches utilize metal ions to prevent biological contamination, but this also leads to environmental pollution and damage to the ecosystem. Efficient and environmentally friendly coatings are urgently needed to prevent marine devices from biofouling. Since nature is always the best teacher for humans, it offers us delightful thoughts on the research and development of high-efficiency, broad-spectrum and eco-friendly antifouling coatings. In this work, we focus on the research frontier of marine antifouling coatings from a bionic perspective. Enlightened by three distinctive dimensions of bionics: chemical molecule bionic, physiological mechanism bionic, and physical structure bionic, the research status of three main bioinspired strategies, which are natural antifoulants, bioinspired polymeric antifouling coatings, and biomimetic surface microtopographies, respectively, are demonstrated. The antifouling mechanisms are further interpreted based on biomimetic comprehension. The main fabrication methods and antifouling performances of these coatings are presented along with their advantages and drawbacks. Finally, the challenges are summarized, and future research prospects are proposed. It is believed that biomimetic antifouling strategies will contribute to the development of nontoxic antifouling techniques with exceptional repellency and stability.
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•A critical review of biomimetic surface coating for marine antifouling is provided.•The natural products and synthetic analogs for marine antifouling are summarized.•The bio-inspired polymeric coatings for marine antifouling are presented.•The biomimetic surface microtopography for marine antifouling is demonstrated.
Nanomaterial-incorporated surfaces with microstructures have been widely used for marine antifouling coatings, yet limited green antifouling coatings are currently available for sustainable ...application, given the potential environmental effects of nanomaterial-based nanofillers. Here, by using natural sourced nanomaterials (cellulose nanocrystals, CNCs) as nanofillers, a nanocomposite superhydrophobic coating was fabricated via a simple sol-gel synthesis method. Notably, CNCs were firstly applied in the marine antifouling realm to form uniform and stable coatings, which were condensed with hydroxyl groups of hydrolyzed tetrapropyl zirconate, 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, and methyltrimethoxysilane. The synthesized coatings gained a biomimetic microscopic ridge-like surface, where more CNCs contents contributed to finer microstructures. As a result of the influence of CNCs content on surface wettability and antifouling properties, the coating with CNCs accounting for 20 wt% of the total solid content (CNC20) delivered the best antifouling performance. Furthermore, 90-day marine field tests verified CNC20's excellent antifouling ability, reducing fouling by 82 % in comparison to the control group. Such a biomimicry study provides a novel strategy for the development of environmentally friendly coatings with CNCs nanofillers.
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Harmful algal blooms (HABs) from seawater have a severe threat to human health, aquaculture, and coastal nuclear power safety. Thus, it is highly desirable to explore environmentally friendly, ...efficient, and economic methods for controlling HABs. Herein, the arbutin-modified cellulose nanocrystals (AT-CNC) activated persulfate (PS), as a novel heterogeneous Fenton-like process, was proposed to remove Phaeocystis globosa (P. globosa) from seawater. The AT-CNC was synthesized via the surface modification of AT on CNC. The effects of AT dosage, CNC dosage, and PS dosage on the removal performance of P. globosa were investigated. With the addition of 530 mg/L AT-CNC (6 wt% AT/CNC of AT loading) and 120 mg/L PS, the removal percentage of chlorophyll a (Rc), optical density at 680 nm (Ro) and turbidity (Rt) reached 97.7%, 91.9% and 85.2% at 24 h. According to electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra and radical quenching tests, the predominant free radicals inactivating P. globosa were hydroxyl radicals (•OH). Additionally, the flocculation of the inactivated algae cells by AT-CNC was also critical for removing P. globosa. Moreover, a positive environmental impact was achieved in the AT–CNC–PS system due to the reduction of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon contents. Based on the excellent removal performance for P. globosa, we believe that the AT-CNC activated persulfate is a promising option for HABs control.
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•Arbutin-modified cellulose nanocrystals for removing P. globosa was prepared.•The AT-CNC activated persulfate was developed for the removal of P. globosa.•AT-CNC acts as activator for persulfate and flocculant for inactivated algal cells.•97.7% of Chl-a, 91.9% of OD680, and 85.2% of turbidity were reduced at 24 h.••OH dominates the inactivation process of P. globosa in the AT–CNC–PS system.
With increasing awareness about the ecological environment, increased attention has been paid to the application of eco-friendly materials in the field of marine antifouling. In this work, a novel ...coating having good mechanical strength and static marine antifouling characteristics was fabricated using cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) as the skeleton material, with in situ growth of SiO2 as the basic superhydrophobic material and introducing hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and 4-bromo2-(4-chlorophenyl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile (Econea) into the coating. Due to the high strength and rod structure of CNCs, the coating maintained super-hydrophobicity after 50 cycles of abrasion tests. Moreover, the addition of CTAB during the synthesis of SiO2 led to the hydrolysis and polycondensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate at the micellar interface. Econea was fully mixed with SiO2 nanoparticles, thus slowing down the rate of release of Econea. Meanwhile, the adhesion between the coating and the substrate reached 1.9 MPa, which can meet the application requirements for marine environments. The bioassay using bacteria (Escherichia coli) and diatoms (Nitzschia closterium) showed that the rate of inhibition of the coating on bacteria and diatoms could reach 99 and 90%, respectively, after immersion in artificial seawater for 28 days. This research provides a facile and promising fabricating solution of an eco-friendly CNC-based coating having strong antifouling characteristics suitable for marine environments.
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•The phosphorylated cellulose nanocrystals composite was used to clean oiled sand.•High oil removal efficiencies on the oiled sand were realized at seawater salinity.•The cleaning ...agent exhibited outstanding effects on both engine oil and crude oil.•The washing waste liquid achieved efficient oil/water separation by flocculation.•The cleaning agent is facile to prepare, environmentally friendly and low-cost.
Oil from offshore oil spills may be stranded on beaches and exist for decades, requiring appropriate cleaning agents to adequately remove it. Herein, a phosphorylated cellulose nanocrystals (PCNCs) −Tween80 composite cleaning agent was developed by adding trace amounts of nonionic surfactant Tween80. Through the synergistic interaction of various components, the cleaning agent exhibited high oil removal efficiencies for the oiled sand at 25 ℃ and sea salt concentration of 3.5 wt%. The difference among the oil removal efficiencies of cleaning agents containing different components was mainly attributed to variations in the interfacial tension and the zeta potential. The oil removal efficiencies of the cleaning agent for contaminated sand containing engine oil were 81.2 % and 91.4 % at the cleaning speeds of 150 rpm and 300 rpm, respectively. Surprisingly, the composite cleaning agent reached an oil removal efficiency of 89.9 % at just 150 rpm for the real-world polluted system of the sand contaminated with crude oil. At a relatively mild cleaning speed of 150 rpm, the cleaning effect exceeded those reported in most previous studies at 300 rpm. Furthermore, the washing wastewater achieved rapid and efficient oil/water separation under flocculation of using polyaluminum chloride, which was expected to significantly reduce the discharge of wastewater and avoid secondary pollution. This work has developed a PCNCs-based cleaning agent with advantages of high efficiency, environment-friendliness, convenient preparation, low cost, and low discharge of wastewater, which can efficiently remove oil from oiled sand.
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have had commercial success in displays and lighting. Compared to red and green OLEDs, blue OLEDs are still the bottleneck because the high-energy and long-lived ...triplet exciton in traditional blue OLEDs causes the short operational lifetime of the device. As a new type emitter, lanthanide complexes with a 5d–4f transition could have short excited-state lifetimes on the order of nanoseconds. To achieve a high-efficiency 5d–4f transition, we systematically tuned the steric and electronic effects of tripodal tris(pyrazolyl)borate ligands and drew a full picture of their Ce(III) complexes. Intriguingly, all of these complexes show bright blue emission with high photoluminescence quantum yields exceeding 95% and short decay lifetimes of 35–73 ns both in the solid powder and in dichloromethane solutions. Using the Ce(III) complex emitter, we show a blue OLED with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 14.1% and a maximum luminance of 33,160 cd m–2, and the specific electroluminescence mechanism of direct exciton formation on the Ce(III) ion with a near-unity exciton utilization efficiency is also confirmed. The discovered photoluminescence and electroluminescence property–structure relationships may shed new light on the rational design of highly efficient lanthanide-based blue emitters and their optoelectronic devices such as OLEDs.
Objective
Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS), a common oral mucosal disorder characterized by chronic, inflammatory, and ovoid ulcers, has a complex etiology. The purpose of the study was to ...investigate the specific dietary factors influencing the prevalence of RAS.
Methods
A total of 754 participants aged 18 to 59 years were enrolled in this descriptive cross-sectional study. An anonymous questionnaire was adopted to investigate the distribution of RAS, dietary factors, self-reported trigger factors, and therapeutic methods.
Results
Among all participants, the prevalence rate of RAS was 21.4%. Univariable analysis showed that fruit, dairy products, vegetables, and water, but not fried foods, fermented foods, spicy foods, and eggs, were preventive factors against RAS. After adjusting for age and sex, multivariable regression analysis suggested that fruit (adjusted odds ratio aOR = 0.430, 95% confidence interval CI = 0.218–0.847) and water (aOR = 0.294, 95% CI = 0.119–0.726) were protective factors against RAS.
Conclusion
This study found that the consumption of fruit and water was negatively associated with RAS. These results imply a potential adjunctive and complementary role of food in RAS treatment and some feasible means of RAS prevention.
Emerging pathological evidence suggests that there is an association between glymphatic dysfunction and the progression of Parkinson's Disease (PD). However, the clinical evidence of this association ...remains lacking.
In this study, the index for diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (ALPS-index) was calculated to evaluate glymphatic function.
Overall, 289 patients with PD were enrolled in the cross-sectional study. The ALPS-index was found to be negatively correlated with age, disease severity, and dyskinesia. In the longitudinal study, the information on a total of 95 PD patients with five-year follow-up examinations was collected from the Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative, 33 of which were classified into low ALPS-index group, and all others were classified into the mid-high ALPS-index group based on the first tertile of baseline ALPS-index. The results of longitudinal regression indicated that there was a significant main group effect on autonomic dysfunction as well as on daily living activities. In addition, the low ALPS-index group had faster deterioration in MDS-UPDRS part III and part II, Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test. Path analysis showed that ALPS-index acted as a significant mediator between tTau/ Aβ
and cognitive change in SDMT score at year 4 and year 5.
ALPS-index, an neuroimaging marker of glymphatic function, is correlated with PD disease severity, motor symptoms, and autonomic function, and is predictive of faster deterioration in motor symptoms and cognitive function. Additionally, glymphatic function may mediate the pathological role of toxic protein in cognitive decline. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Disordered polymer chain entanglements within all-polymer blends limit the formation of optimal donor-acceptor phase separation. Therefore, developing effective methods to regulate morphology ...evolution is crucial for achieving optimal morphological features in all-polymer organic solar cells (APSCs). In this study, two isomers, 4,5-difluorobenzo-c-1,2,5-thiadiazole (SF-1) and 5,6-difluorobenzo-c-1,2,5-thiadiazole (SF-2), were designed as solid additives based on the widely-used electron-deficient benzothiadiazole unit in nonfullerene acceptors. The incorporation of SF-1 or SF-2 into PM6:PY-DT blend induces stronger molecular packing via molecular interaction, leading to the formation of continuous interpenetrated networks with suitable phase-separation and vertical distribution. Furthermore, after treatment with SF-1 and SF-2, the exciton diffusion lengths for PY-DT films are extended to over 40 nm, favoring exciton diffusion and charge transport. The asymmetrical SF-2, characterized by an enhanced dipole moment, increases the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PM6:PY-DT-based device to 18.83% due to stronger electrostatic interactions. Moreover, a ternary device strategy boosts the PCE of SF-2-treated APSC to over 19%. This work not only demonstrates one of the best performances of APSCs but also offers an effective approach to manipulate the morphology of all-polymer blends using rational-designed solid additives.Disordered polymer chain entanglements within all-polymer blends limit the formation of optimal donor-acceptor phase separation. Therefore, developing effective methods to regulate morphology evolution is crucial for achieving optimal morphological features in all-polymer organic solar cells (APSCs). In this study, two isomers, 4,5-difluorobenzo-c-1,2,5-thiadiazole (SF-1) and 5,6-difluorobenzo-c-1,2,5-thiadiazole (SF-2), were designed as solid additives based on the widely-used electron-deficient benzothiadiazole unit in nonfullerene acceptors. The incorporation of SF-1 or SF-2 into PM6:PY-DT blend induces stronger molecular packing via molecular interaction, leading to the formation of continuous interpenetrated networks with suitable phase-separation and vertical distribution. Furthermore, after treatment with SF-1 and SF-2, the exciton diffusion lengths for PY-DT films are extended to over 40 nm, favoring exciton diffusion and charge transport. The asymmetrical SF-2, characterized by an enhanced dipole moment, increases the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PM6:PY-DT-based device to 18.83% due to stronger electrostatic interactions. Moreover, a ternary device strategy boosts the PCE of SF-2-treated APSC to over 19%. This work not only demonstrates one of the best performances of APSCs but also offers an effective approach to manipulate the morphology of all-polymer blends using rational-designed solid additives.
Eliminating errors in next-generation DNA sequencing has proved challenging. Here we present error-correction code (ECC) sequencing, a method to greatly improve sequencing accuracy by combining ...fluorogenic sequencing-by-synthesis (SBS) with an information theory-based error-correction algorithm. ECC embeds redundancy in sequencing reads by creating three orthogonal degenerate sequences, generated by alternate dual-base reactions. This is similar to encoding and decoding strategies that have proved effective in detecting and correcting errors in information communication and storage. We show that, when combined with a fluorogenic SBS chemistry with raw accuracy of 98.1%, ECC sequencing provides single-end, error-free sequences up to 200 bp. ECC approaches should enable accurate identification of extremely rare genomic variations in various applications in biology and medicine.
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