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Incorporating cultural aspects into science education has recently been stressed in many non-Western societies. However, Chinese traditional cultures are rarely discussed in Chinese science classrooms. Hence, a teaching intervention integrating Confucian ecological ethics and education for sustainable development in secondary chemistry classrooms was designed, implemented online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and analyzed. It focuses on discussing aspects of Confucian ecological ethics in the context of a lesson plan on the socio-scientific issue of plastic use. Sixty-five 10th-grade students from an urban key public high school in Beijing voluntarily attended this research. Based on the analysis of their feedback it is suggested that Confucian ecological ethics can improve students’ environmental awareness. Most students acknowledged that Confucian ecological ethics could promote Chinese sustainability-oriented chemistry education with a value-oriented approach.

Harnessing solar energy by photocatalytically converting oxygen and water into high-value-added H2O2 is a promising way of alleviating both environmental and energy issues. It is worth noting that suppressing detrimental side reactions, such as the generation of •O2−, is a critical approach to enhancing H2O2 production. Herein, a 2-fold interpenetrating 3D uranium-organic framework (YTU-W-1) was developed and introduced for photocatalytic H2O2 production. The material demonstrates a different photocatalytic mechanism when employing uranyl as an initiator, as compared with the conventional semiconductor photocatalytic pathway involving photo-generated charge carriers. Benefiting from the strong hydrogen abstraction effect of the U≡O• and the direct one-step oxygen reduction pathway, YTU-W-1 exhibits enhanced photocatalytic performance for H2O2 production with yield efficiency of 221 µmol h−1 g−1. Furthermore, YTU-W-1 displays a high H2O2 selectivity of 68%, confirmed by rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) measurement. DFT calculations were used to elucidate the critical role of uranyl in the photocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction for H2O2 production. This research introduces an innovative approach to photo driven H2O2 production, underscoring the potential for heterogeneous catalysts to engage in photocatalytic reactions independently of photo-generated charge carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by Chinese double carbon policy, logistics companies should ensure both environmental preservation and fluency in the last-mile delivery. With the objective of minimizing the total distribution distance, a model for location of mobile recharge stations and the route planning is formulated, which considers some constraints such as load, power and service capacity of recharge stations. Subsequently, a two-stage algorithm is proposed. The genetic algorithm is used to generate the initial routing plans in the first stage, and the RSI algorithm is designed to locate recharge stations and adjust routing plans in the second stage. Tested by the CVRP benchmark cases, the results show that the average increasing rate of travel distances caused by visiting recharge station is less than 5%. Compared with PSO and SA, the results between the proposed algorithm and the other two algorithms are respectively -4.04% and -3.65%. Also, the adaptability of the model is verified through the sensitivity analysis with the main model parameters such as power consumption rate. Therefore, the mode is feasible if logistics companies can afford to use exclusive mobile recharge stations and accept the increase of travel distances which is less than 8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of adsorbent materials for effective capture of radioactive iodomethane (CH3I) from the off-gas of used nuclear fuel reprocessing, remains a significant and challenging line of research because currently state-of-art adsorbents still suffer from low binding affinity with CH3I. Here, we proposed a brand-new adsorption topological structure by developing a 2D interdigitated layered framework, named SCU-20, featuring slide-like channel with multiple active sites for CH3I capture. The responsive rotating-adaptive aperture of SCU-20 enables the optimal utilization of all active sites within the pore for highly selective recognition and capture of CH3I. A record-breaking CH3I uptake capacity of 1.84 g/g was achieved under static sorption conditions with saturated CH3I vapor. Both experimental and theoretical findings demonstrated that the exceptional uptake of SCU-20 towards CH3I can be attributed to the confined physical electrostatic adsorption of F sites, coupled with the chemical nitrogen methylation reaction with uncoordinated N atoms of pyrazine. Moreover, dynamic CH3I uptake capacity potentially allows for the capture of CH3I in simulated real-world off gas reprocessing conditions. This study highlights the potential of SCU-20 as a promising candidate for efficient capture of iodine species and contributes to the development of effective solutions for radioactive iodine remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing performance demand from the display market, it has become ever more important to realize wide color gamut requirement. In this paper, we fabricated a series of pTSF green devices, the optimal devices which exhibit excellent performance in the range of CIEx 0.17‐0.22, with the central color point meeting Adobe's green light requirements, showing the advantages in wide color gamut. Additionally, they have comparable performance to existing phosphporescent devices under DCI‐P3 light color, showing the advantages of High Performance and High Color Purity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For exploring novel natural product-derived herbicides, 16 novel α-campholenic aldehyde-based 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazole-thioether compounds were designed, synthesized, and characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, ESI-MS and elemental analysis. The preliminary bioassay showed that, at 100 µg/mL, most of the target compounds displayed significant inhibition activity against root-growth of rape(Brassica campestris L.), with inhibition rates of 85.0%～98.2%(A-class activity level), much better than that of the positive control flumioxazin. In addition, an effective and reasonable 3D-QSAR model was established by CoMFA method in SYBYL-X 2.1.1 software. It was found that, the steric field was the major factor towards the herbicidal activity of the target compounds against B. campestris L., and the introduction of bulky groups into m- and p-position of the benzene ring was favourable to increase the herbicidal activity. This kind of title compounds deserved further study as potential leading compounds for the discovery and development of novel herbicidal agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the complexities of achieving rapid response speed in OLED displays, particularly focusing on the challenges introduced by driving circuits and inherent capacitance. The proposed measurement system offers an innovative approach to evaluating response times and matching of RGB OLEDs at the device level, presenting a cost‐effective strategy for image quality issues resolution, especially at lower brightness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility of aqueous zinc-ion batteries for large-scale energy storage is hindered by the inherent challenges of Zn anode. Drawing inspiration from cellular mechanisms governing metal ion and nutrient transport, erythritol is introduced, a zincophilic additive, into the ZnSO 4 electrolyte. This innovation stabilizes the Zn anode via chelation interactions between polysaccharides and Zn 2+ . Experimental tests in conjunction with theoretical calculation results verified that the erythritol additive can simultaneously regulate the solvation structure of hydrated Zn 2+ and reconstruct the hydrogen bond network within the solution environment. Additionally, erythritol molecules preferentially adsorb onto the Zn anode, forming a dynamic protective layer. These modifications significantly mitigate undesirable side reactions, thus enhancing the Zn 2+ transport and deposition behavior. Consequently, there is a notable increase in cumulative capacity, reaching 6000 mA h cm⁻ 2 at a current density of 5 mA cm -2 . Specifically, a high average coulombic efficiency of 99.72% and long cycling stability of >500 cycles are obtained at 2 mA cm -2 and 1 mA h cm -2 . Furthermore, full batteries comprised of MnO 2 cathode and Zn anode in an erythritol-containing electrolyte deliver superior capacity retention. This work provides a strategy to promote the performance of Zn anodes toward practical applications., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The ankle-foot prosthesis aims to compensate for the missing motor functions by fitting the motion characteristics of the human ankle, which contributes to enabling the lower-limb amputees to take care of themselves and improve mobility in daily life. To address the problems of poor bionic motion of the ankle-foot prosthesis and the lack of natural interaction among the patient, prosthesis, and the environment, we developed a complex reverse-rolling conjugate joint based on the human ankle-foot structure and motion characteristics, the rolling joint was used to simulate the rolling-sliding characteristics of the knee joint. Meanwhile, we established a segmental dynamics model of the prosthesis in the stance phase, and the prosthetic structure parameters were obtained with the optimal prosthetic structure dimensions and driving force. In addition, a carbon fiber energy-storage foot was designed based on the human foot profile, and the dynamic response of its elastic strain energy at different thicknesses was simulated and analyzed. Finally, we integrated a bionic ankle-foot prosthesis and experiments were conducted to verify the bionic nature of the prosthetic joint motion and the energy-storage characteristics of the carbon fiber prosthetic foot. The proposed ankle-foot prosthesis provides ambulation support to assist amputees in returning to social life normally and has the potential to help improve clinical viability to reduce medical rehabilitation costs., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In the field of robotic hands, finger force coordination is usually achieved by complex mechanical structures and control systems. This study presents the design of a novel transmission system inspired from the physiological concept of force synergies, aiming to simplify the control of multifingered robotic hands. To this end, we collected human finger force data during six isometric grasping tasks, and force synergies (i.e. the synergy weightings and the corresponding activation coefficients) were extracted from the concatenated force data to explore their potential for force modulation. We then implemented two force synergies with a cable-driven transmission mechanism consisting of two spring-loaded sliders and five V-shaped bars. Specifically, we used fixed synergy weightings to determine the stiffness of the compression springs, and the displacements of sliders were determined by time-varying activation coefficients. The derived transmission system was then used to drive a five-finger robotic hand named SYN hand. We also designed a motion encoder to selectively activate desired fingers, making it possible for two motors to empower a variety of hand postures. Experiments on the prototype demonstrate successful grasp of a wide range of objects in everyday life, and the finger force distribution of SYN hand can approximate that of human hand during six typical tasks. To our best knowledge, this study shows the first attempt to mechanically implement force synergies for finger force modulation in a robotic hand. In comparison to state-of-the-art robotic hands with similar functionality, the proposed hand can distribute humanlike force ratios on the fingers by simple position control, rather than resorting to additional force sensors or complex control strategies. The outcome of this study may provide alternatives for the design of novel anthropomorphic robotic hands, and thus show application prospects in the field of hand prostheses and exoskeletons., (© 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd.)