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Abstract Two‐dimensional porous carbon nanosheets (PCNSs) are considered promising anodes for lithium‐ion batteries due to their synergetic features arising from both graphene and porous structures. Herein, using naturally abundant and biocompatible sodium humate (SH) as the precursor, PCNSs are prepared from the laboratory scale up to the kilogram scale by a method of a facile ice‐templating‐induced puzzle coupled with a carbonization strategy. Such obtained SH‐derived PCNSs (SH‐PCNSs) possess a hierarchical porous structure dominated by mesopores having a specific surface area (~127.19 2 g−1), pore volume (~0.134 cm3 g−1), sheet‐like morphology (~2.18 nm in thickness), and nitrogen/oxygen‐containing functional groups. Owing to these merits, the SH‐PCNSs present impressive Li‐ion storage characteristics, including high reversible capacity (1011 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1), excellent rate capability (465 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1), and superior cycle stability (76.8% capacitance retention after 1000 cycles at 5 A g−1). It is noted that the SH‐PCNSs prepared from the kilogram‐scale production procedure possess comparable electrochemical properties. Furthermore, coupling with a LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 cathode, the full cells deliver a high capacity of 167 mAh g−1 at 0.2 A g−1 and exhibit an outstanding energy density of 128.8 Wh kg−1, highlighting the practicability of this porous carbon nanosheets and the potential commercial opportunity of the scalable processing approach.

The diversified clean and high-value utilization of coal plays an important role in promoting the low-carbon sustainable development of China's coal industry, and the materialization of coal is one of the important ways to enhance the level of its clean and efficient utilization. In this study, lignite-based hard carbons (LHC) were prepared by high-temperature carbonization (1000−1600 ℃) method using Huating lignite as precursor, taking full advantage of lignite's aromatic ring structure, well-developed primary pores and abundant surface active groups. The formation mechanism and evolution behavior of graphite-like microcrystals and defect structures including amorphous carbon, nanopores, and surface functional groups in LHC was explored, while the influence of carbonization temperature on the microstructure of LHC was further revealed. The electrochemical performance of different LHC as anode for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) was also tested by galvanostatic charge/discharge, galvanostatic intermittent titration and cyclic voltammetry, the influence mechanism of microstructure on the electrochemical sodium storage performance of anode materials was explored, and the electrochemical sodium storage mechanism of LHC was eventually elucidated. The results show that graphite-like microcrystalline structure and defective structures such as amorphous carbon, nanopores, and oxygen/nitrogen-containing functional groups of LHC can be effectively regulated by adjusting the carbonization temperature. When the carbonization temperature was 1400 ℃, the LHC-1400 was rich in graphite-like microcrystals with reasonable layer spacing (0.371 nm), and also had appropriate amorphous carbon and nanopores with a specific surface area of 4.92 m2/g, and oxygen/nitrogen-containing functional groups including C—O, C=O, O—C=O, pyridinic-N, pyrrolic-N, graphitic-N. The LHC-1400 as anode for SIBs can deliver a high reversible capacity of 275 mAh/g, and has a reversible capacity of 111 mAh/g at a current density of 0.2 A/g with a capacity retention rate 96% after 200 cycles, which exhibits good rate performance and cycle stability. The excellent sodium storage performance of LHC is closely related to the functions and roles of their different microstructures. The graphite-like microcrystals with reasonable layer spacing in LHC can provide a transport channel for the rapid intercalation and de-intercalation of Na+ to provide capacity with intercalated sodium storage; the defect structures such as amorphous carbon, open nanopores, and oxygen/nitrogen-containing in LHC can provide sufficient active sites for Na+ storage to contribute capacity by adsorption, and a small amount of closed pores in LHC can provide sufficient space for the storage of Na+ and supply sodium storage capacity by pore filling. The “adsorption-insertion-filling” sodium storage methods in LHC are synergistic with each other to realize its efficient electrochemical energy storage.

Abstract Conventional bioinert bone grafts often have led to failure in osseointegration due to low bioactivity, thus much effort has been made up to date to find alternatives. Recently, MXene nanoparticles (NPs) have shown prominent results as a rising material by possessing an osteogenic potential to facilitate the bioactivity of bone grafts or scaffolds, which can be attributed to the unique repeating atomic structure of two carbon layers existing between three titanium layers. In this study, we produced MXene NPs-integrated the ternary nanofibrous matrices of poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone, PLCL) and collagen (Col) decorated with MXene NPs (i.e., PLCL/Col/MXene), as novel scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, via electrospinning to explore the potential benefits for the spontaneous osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts. The cultured cells on the physicochemical properties of the nanofibrous PLCL/Col/MXene-based materials revealed favorable interactions with the supportive matrices, highly suitable for the growth and survival of preosteoblasts. Furthermore, the combinatorial ternary material system of the PLCL/Col/MXene nanofibers obviously promoted spontaneous osteodifferentiation with positive cellular responses by providing effective microenvironments for osteogenesis. Therefore, our results suggest that the unprecedented biofunctional advantages of the MXene-integrated PLCL/Col nanofibrous matrices can be expanded to a wide range of strategies for the development of effective scaffolds in bone tissue regeneration. Graphical Abstract

The development of coal-based activated carbon for supercapacitors provides a robust and effective approach toward the clean and efficient use of coal, and it also offers high-quality and low-cost raw materials for energy storage devices. However, the one-step activation method for preparing coal-based activated carbon has problems, such as difficulty in introducing surface-functional groups and high KOH dosage. In our work, activated carbon was prepared through an effective strategy of oxidation and KOH activation with a low KOH content by employing coal-based carbon dots as raw material. The influence of temperature during the KOH activation of carbon dots on a specific surface area, pore structure, and various quantities and types of surface-functional groups, as well as on the electrochemical performance of supercapacitors, was systematically studied. The as-prepared sample, with the alkali–carbon ratio of 0.75, processes a large specific surface area (1207 m2 g−1) and abundant surface-functional groups, which may provide enormous active sites and high wettability, thus bringing in high specific capacitance and boosted electrochemical performances. The oxygen and nitrogen content of the activated carbon decreases while the carbon content increases, and the activation temperature also increases. The as-prepared activated carbon reaches the highest specific capacitance of 202.2 F g−1 in a 6 M KOH electrolyte at a current density of 10 A g−1. This study provides new insight into the design of high-performance activated carbon and new avenues for the application of coal-based carbon dots.

High-performance porous carbons derived from tea waste were prepared by hydrothermal treatment, combined together with KOH activation. The heat-treatment-processed materials possess an abundant hierarchical structure, with a large specific surface of 2235 m2 g−1 and wetting-complemental hydrophilicity for electrolytes. In a two-electrode system, the porous carbon electrodes’ built-in supercapacitor exhibited a high specific capacitance of 256 F g−1 at 0.05 A g−1, an excellent capacitance retention of 95.4% after 10,000 cycles, and a low leakage current of 0.014 mA. In our work, the collective results present that the precursor crafted from the tea waste can be a promising strategy to prepare valuable electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors, which offers a practical strategy to recycle biowastes into manufactured materials in energy storage applications.

Three-dimensional porous carbon is considered as an ideal electrode material for supercapacitors (SCs) applications owing to its good conductivity, developed pore structure, and excellent connectivity. Herein, using longan shell as precursor, 3-dimensional porous carbon with abundant and interconnected pores and moderate heteroatoms were obtained via simple carbonization and potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation treatment. The electrochemical performances of obtained 3-dimensional porous carbon were investigated as electrode materials in symmetric SCs with aqueous and solid electrolytes. The optimized material that is named after longan shell 3-dimensional porous carbon 800 (LSPC800) possesses high porosity (1.644 cm3 g−1) and N content (1.14 at %). In the three-electrode measurement, the LSPC800 displays an excellent capacitance value of 359 F g−1. Besides, the LSPC800 also achieves splendid specific capacitance (254 F g−1) in the two electrode system, while the fabricated SC employing 1 M Li2SO4 as electrolyte acquires ultrahigh power density (15930.38 W kg−1). Most importantly, LSPC800 electrodes are further applied into the SC adopting the KOH/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) gel electrolyte, which reaches up to an outstanding capacitance of 313 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1. In addition, for the all-solid-state SC, its rate capability at 50 A g−1 is 72.73% and retention at the 10,000th run is 93.64%. Evidently, this work is of great significance to the simple fabrication of 3-dimensional porous carbon and further opens up a way of improving the value-added utilization of biomass materials, as well as proving that the biomass porous carbons have immense potential for high-performance SCs application.

Following the coronavirus disease-2019 outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), there is an ongoing need to seek drugs that target COVID-19. First off, novel drugs have a long development cycle, high investment cost, and are high risk. Second, novel drugs must be evaluated for activity, efficacy, safety, and metabolic performance, contributing to the development cycle, investment cost, and risk. We searched the Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register (including PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO ICTRP, and medRxiv), Web of Science (Science Citation Index, Emerging Citation Index), and WHO COVID-19 Coronaviral Disease Global Literature to identify completed and ongoing studies as of February 20, 2024. We evaluated the pharmacological effects, in vivo and in vitro data of the 16 candidates in the paper. The difficulty of studying these candidates in clinical trials involving COVID-19 patients, dosage of repurposed drugs, etc. is discussed in detail. Ultimately, Metformin is more suitable for prophylactic administration or mildly ill patients; the combination of Oseltamivir, Tamoxifen, and Dexamethasone is suitable for moderately and severely ill patients; and more clinical trials are needed for Azvudine, Ribavirin, Colchicine, and Cepharanthine to demonstrate efficacy.

Abstract Medical care is a guarantee of people's daily life. Improving healthcare contributes to people's well-being. However, healthcare resources are characterized by uneven distribution. Financially well-off areas will have higher quality health care resources. Most of the medical resources are concentrated in public general hospitals, however, primary care institutions can hardly meet the growing needs of people. To solve this problem, Medical Union achieves efficient deployment of resources by integrating various medical institutions in the same area. In the process of logistics integration of the medical union, the scale of logistics distribution expands accordingly. Transportation vehicles have high operating costs and produce greenhouse gases in the process of distribution. The optimization of the driving path of logistics distribution vehicles can reduce the operating cost, fuel consumption and carbon emission. To solve this kind of decentralized and complex vehicle routing problem, this paper proposes a pollution routing problem model considering electrical vehicle usage, customer's soft time window expectation, open path and carbon cost. A modified Differential Search Algorithm with the comprehensive learning strategy and dynamic Cauchy variation strategy is advanced to solve the problem. Results show that the improved algorithm has good solving performance, and verifies the rationality of the proposed model, which will help to reduce carbon emissions and save the logistics and operating costs of medical devices.

Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is one of the main active components extracted from the Chinese medicinal herb Astragali and serves as a marker for assessing the herb’s quality. AS-IV is a tetracyclic triterpenoid saponin in the form of lanolin ester alcohol and exhibits various biological activities. This review article summarizes the chemical structure of AS-IV, its pharmacological effects, mechanism of action, applications, future prospects, potential weaknesses, and other unexplored biological activities, aiming at an overall analysis. Papers were retrieved from online electronic databases, such as PubMed, Web of Science, and CNKI, and data from studies conducted over the last 10 years on the pharmacological effects of AS—IV as well as its impact were collated. This review focuses on the pharmacological action of AS-IV, such as its anti-inflammatory effect, including suppressing inflammatory factors, increasing T and B lymphocyte proliferation, and inhibiting neutrophil adhesion-associated molecules; antioxidative stress, including scavenging reactive oxygen species, cellular scorching, and regulating mitochondrial gene mutations; neuroprotective effects, antifibrotic effects, and antitumor effects.