Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are highly regarded as the next‐generation energy‐storage devices because of their ultrahigh theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg−1. Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile ...(SPAN) is considered a promising sulfur cathode to substitute carbon/sulfur (C/S) composites to afford higher Coulombic efficiency, improved cycling stability, and potential high‐energy‐density Li–SPAN batteries. However, the instability of the Li‐metal anode threatens the performances of Li–SPAN batteries bringing limited lifespan and safety hazards. Li‐metal can react with most kinds of electrolyte to generate a protective solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), electrolyte regulation is a widely accepted strategy to protect Li‐metal anodes in rechargeable batteries. Herein, the basic principles and current challenges of Li–SPAN batteries are addressed. Recent advances on electrolyte regulation towards stable Li‐metal anodes in Li–SPAN batteries are summarized to suggest design strategies of solvents, lithium salts, additives, and gel electrolyte. Finally, prospects for future electrolyte design and Li anode protection in Li–SPAN batteries are discussed.
Increased attention SPAN: Recent advances in electrolyte regulation towards stable lithium‐metal anodes for Li‐sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) batteries are summarized to afford design strategies of solvents, lithium salts, additives, and gel electrolyte.
The lignin‐first strategy has emerged as one of the most powerful approaches for generating novel platform chemicals from lignin by efficient depolymerization of native lignin. Because of the ...emergence of this novel depolymerization method and the definition of viable platform chemicals, future focus will soon shift towards innovative downstream processing strategies. Very recently, many interesting approaches have emerged that describe the production of valuable products across the whole value chain, including bulk and fine chemical building blocks, and several concrete examples have been developed for the production of polymers, pharmaceutically relevant compounds, or fuels. This Minireview provides an overview of these recent advances. After a short summary of catalytic systems for obtaining aromatic monomers, a comprehensive discussion on their separation and applications is given. This Minireview will fill the gap in biorefinery between deriving high yields of lignin monomers and tapping into their potential for making valuable consumer products.
Worry about it later: The lignin‐first strategy is a powerful approach for generating platform chemicals by efficient depolymerization of lignin. Recent progress has been made in developing innovative downstream processing strategies to afford bulk and fine chemical building blocks, polymers, pharmaceutically relevant compounds, and fuels. This Minireview provides an overview of these recent advances.
Activation of the phagocytosis of macrophages to tumor cells is an attractive strategy for cancer immunotherapy, but the effectiveness is limited by the fact that many tumor cells express an ...increased level of anti‐phagocytic signals (e.g., CD47 molecules) on their surface. To promote phagocytosis of macrophages, a pro‐phagocytic nanoparticle (SNPACALR&aCD47) that concurrently carries CD47 antibody (aCD47) and a pro‐phagocytic molecule calreticulin (CALR) is constructed to simultaneously modulate the phagocytic signals of macrophages. SNPACALR&aCD47 can achieve targeted delivery to tumor cells by specifically binding to the cell‐surface CD47 and block the CD47‐SIRPα pathway to inhibit the “don't eat me” signal. Tumor cell‐targeted delivery increases the exposure of recombinant CALR on the cell surface and stimulates an “eat me” signal. Simultaneous modulation of the two signals enhances the phagocytosis of 4T1 tumor cells by macrophages, which leads to significantly improved anti‐tumor efficacy in vivo. The findings demonstrate that the concurrent blockade of anti‐phagocytic signals and activation of pro‐phagocytic signals can be effective in macrophage‐mediated cancer immunotherapy.
The phagocytosis of tumor cells by macrophages requires both the coordinated disruption of “don't eat me” signals and simultaneous activation of “eat me” signals. Herein, a nanoparticle‐enabled strategy is proposed to concurrently modulate the cell surface levels of calreticulin (CALR) and CD47 to improve macrophage phagocytosis for improved cancer immunotherapy.
We propose a multiscale computational model to couple molecular dynamics and peridynamics. The multiscale coupling model is based on a previously developed multiscale micromorphic molecular dynamics ...(MMMD) theory, which has three dynamics equations at three different scales, namely, microscale, mesoscale, and macroscale. In the proposed multiscale coupling approach, we divide the simulation domain into atomistic region and macroscale region. Molecular dynamics is used to simulate atom motions in atomistic region, and peridynamics is used to simulate macroscale material point motions in macroscale region, and both methods are nonlocal particle methods. A transition zone is introduced as a messenger to pass the information between the two regions or scales. We employ the “supercell” developed in the MMMD theory as the transition element, which is named as the adaptive multiscale element due to its ability of passing information from different scales, because the adaptive multiscale element can realize both top-down and bottom-up communications. We introduce the Cauchy–Born rule based stress evaluation into state-based peridynamics formulation to formulate atomistic-enriched constitutive relations. To mitigate the issue of wave reflection on the interface, a filter is constructed by switching on and off the MMMD dynamic equations at different scales. Benchmark tests of one-dimensional (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) wave propagations from atomistic region to macro region are presented. The mechanical wave can transit through the interface smoothly without spurious wave deflections, and the filtering process is proven to be efficient.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most malignant tumors with a low survival rate. The therapeutic effect of chemotherapy and immunotherapy for PDAC is disappointing due to the ...presence of dense tumor stroma and immunosuppressive cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Herein, a tumor‐penetrating nanoparticle is reported to modulate the deep microenvironment of PDAC for improved chemoimmunotherapy. The tumor pH‐sensitive polymer is synthesized by conjugating N,N‐dipentylethyl moieties and monomethoxylpoly(ethylene glycol) onto PAMAM dendrimer, into whose cavity a hydrophobic gemcitabine (Gem) prodrug is accommodated. They self‐assemble into nanoparticles (denoted as SPN@Pro‐Gem) with the size around 120 nm at neutral pH, but switch into small particles (≈8 nm) at tumor site to facilitate deep delivery of Gem into the tumor parenchyma. In addition to killing cancer cells that resided deeply in the tumor tissue, SPN@Pro‐Gem could modulate the TME by reducing the abundance of tumor‐associated macrophages and myeloid‐derived suppressor cells as well as upregulating the expression level of PD‐L1 of tumor cells. This collectively facilitates the infiltration of cytotoxic T cells into the tumors and renders checkpoint inhibitors more effective in previously unresponsive PDAC models. This study reveals a promising strategy for improving the chemoimmunotherapy of pancreatic cancer.
A tumor penetrating nanomedicine SPN@Pro‐Gem is designed for deep tumor delivery of gemcitabine prodrug (Pro‐Gem) through tumor pH‐sensitive size switching. The SPN@Pro‐Gem not only potentiates chemotherapy of Gem, but also reduces the infiltration of immunosuppressive cells and upregulates PD‐L1 expression on tumor cells. Combining SPN@Pro‐Gem with anti‐PD‐1 antibody improves the chemoimmunotherapy of pancreatic cancer.
Biomass materials are of great interest in high‐energy rechargeable batteries due to their appealing merits of sustainability, environmental benefits, and more importantly, structural/compositional ...versatilities, abundant functional groups and many other unique physicochemical properties. In this perspective, we provide both overview and prospect on the contributions of biomass‐derived ecomaterials to battery component engineering including binders, separators, polymer electrolytes, electrode hosts, and functional interlayers, and so forth toward high‐stable lithium–ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries, lithium–oxygen batteries, and solid state lithium metal batteries. Furthermore, based on the multifunctionalities of bio‐based materials, the design protocols for battery components with desired properties are highlighted. This perspective affords fresh inspiration on the rational designs of biomass‐based materials for advanced lithium‐based batteries, as well as the sustainable development of advanced energy storage devices.
Biomass Derived EcoMaterials with special properties and functionalities render great promise in advanced rechargeable lithium batteries. We summarize the recent progresses of bio‐based ecomaterials in addressing critical problems in lithium battery systems, and offer some perspectives for promoting the greenness and sustainability of energy devices.
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•The basic principles and developments of hydrothermal pretreatment are reviewed.•The ultrastructural alterations during hydrothermal pretreatment are discussed.•The effects of ...hydrothermal pretreatment on bioethanol production are addressed.•The prospects for future developments are proposed and discussed.
In recent years, visualization and characterization of lignocellulose at different scales elucidate the modifications of its ultrastructural and chemical features during hydrothermal pretreatment which include degradation and dissolving of hemicelluloses, swelling and partial hydrolysis of cellulose, melting and redepositing a part of lignin in the surface. As a result, cell walls are swollen, deformed and de-laminated from the adjacent layer, lead to a range of revealed droplets that appear on and within cell walls. Moreover, the certain extent morphological changes significantly promote the downstream processing steps, especially for enzymatic hydrolysis and anaerobic fermentation to bioethanol by increasing the contact area with enzymes. However, the formation of pseudo-lignin hinders the accessibility of cellulase to cellulose, which decreases the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis. This review is intended to bridge the gap between the microstructure studies and value-added applications of lignocellulose while inspiring more research prospects to enhance the hydrothermal pretreatment process.
Microwave pyrolysis (MP) has emerged as a promising technique to valorize agricultural wastes (AW) into biofuels, comprising biochar, bio-oil, and syngas. To fill the research gap, we review the ...state-of-the-art MP conversion of AW into value-added biofuels, including the influence of feedstock composition, new reactor designs, operating conditions, catalytic applications, and reaction mechanisms. The techno-economic and environmental impacts are discussed together with key implications for future development. Microwave valorization of AW to biofuels represents an economically viable cum environmentally-benign approach by virtue of (i) high availability of AW, (ii) scalable process, (iii) great potentiality for continuous operation, and (iv) thermochemical process with positive energy ratio. For continuous MP, the microwave heating distribution, products yield, and reactor design have not yet fully explored due to the limited understanding on microwave propagation pattern, materials handling, and varying feedstock compositions. The utilization of AW as biofuels feedstock offers several environmental advantages in terms of improved biomass utilization, enhanced carbon sequestration, and lower sulphur emission. The toxicity of bio-oil can be reduced by adding metal oxide catalysts (CaO, CuO, MgO, and NiO) to lessen its content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The process of continuous MP can be optimized by coupling shaftless auger and multiple magnetron to improve the quality of the biofuel, and uniformity of microwave heating. It is envisaged that continuous conversion of AW to biofuels is a sustainable, low carbon footprint, and alternative energy generation route, provided that the appropriate catalyst, effective condenser, and self-purging condition are chosen.
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•Review on applications, new designs of microwave pyrolysis of agricultural wastes.•Agricultural wastes show environmental advantages as a sustainable feedstock.•Microwave pyrolysis produce biochar, bio-oil, and syngas as value-added biofuels.•It is scalable, able to run in continuous operation with positive energy ratio.•A potential fast approach for sustainable low carbon footprint biofuel production.
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