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The widespread application of laser diodes (LDs) in high-brightness lighting is limited by the insufficient heat dissipation of colour converters due to high-power laser irradiation. In this study, a novel MgO–YAG:Ce composite ceramic with excellent optical and thermal properties was fabricated by hot pressing. The thermal conductivity of the MgO–YAG:Ce composite ceramic is 14–21% higher than that of the Al2O3–YAG:Ce composite ceramic in the temperature range of 25–200 °C. When pumped by blue LDs with 1 W mm−2, the MgO–40 vol% YAG:Ce composite ceramic produces white light with a luminous efficacy of 292 lm W−1. Moreover, it exhibits a luminous saturation threshold of as high as 32.2 W mm−2 and a maximal luminous flux of 3979 lm. These results indicate that MgO–YAG:Ce composite ceramic is a promising phosphor converter for high-power laser-driven lighting.

Salvianolic acid A (SalA) is a water-soluble phenolic carboxylic acid extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza that has extensive pharmacological activities and plays an essential role in liver disease treatment. However, the mechanism of SalA in treating alcoholic liver disease (ALD) remains unclear. Here, we studied the protective effects of SalA on chronic ethanol-induced liver injury involving Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1)-mediated autophagy activation. The results showed that SalA pretreatment reduced the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), triglyceride (TG) and cholesterol (TC) in vivo and enhanced hepatic cell viability while mitigating apoptosis and hepatic steatosis in vitro. Furthermore, SalA protected against chronic ethanol-induced liver injury by restoring autophagosome–lysosome fusion, as indicated by the increased expression levels of LC3-II, cathepsin B, lysosomal-associated membrane protein 2 (LAMP-2), and RAB7 and the decreased expression of SQSTM1. More importantly, pretreatment with SalA significantly up-regulated the expression of SIRT1, an NAD+-dependent deacetylase. These increased levels of SIRT1 stimulated autophagy under conditions of chronic ethanol exposure. Interestingly, SIRT1 siRNA abrogated SalA-induced autophagosome–lysosome fusion. This finding indicates that the protective effects of SalA are associated with SIRT1 activation. Collectively, our study demonstrates that SalA pretreatment protects against chronic ethanol-induced liver injury via the SIRT1-mediated restoration of autophagosome–lysosome fusion.

We demonstrate a new defect mechanism of carbons for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). It is predicted by the first principles calculations that a type of 585 defect on graphene (G585) is more effective than N-doping for the ORR, and our experimental investigations show strong support to this theoretical prediction.

In our work, a convenient preparation route is reported for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped microporous carbon materials by direct carbonization of an amine functionalized aluminium-based metal–organic framework (MOF) compound, amino-MIL-53(Al). Through the pore distribution and pore volume calculations it was found that the carbon products possess narrow pore size, which is approximately 1 nm, and high microporous surface area and volume. The highest proportion of microporous contribution is 93% for surface area and 88% for pore volume. As metal-free electrocatalysts, these carbon products exhibit attractive capability for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline medium. The investigation shows that these nitrogen-doped microporous carbon materials have promising applications in fuel cells.

A novel porous aromatic framework based on tetra-(4-anilyl)-methane and cyanuric chloride has been designed and synthesized successfully, which possesses permanent porosity and high selectivity of CO2 towards CH4.

A new luminescent Zn-MOF has been synthesized under hydrothermal condition using a semi-rigid ligand H3pcoip (4-(2-carboxyphenoxy)isophthalic acid) is reported. The luminescence properties of 1 in methanol, ethanol, and water have been investigated. Interestingly, compound 1 has a unique response to methanol compared to ethanol and water. Moreover, 1 displays a turn-on switching property triggered by methanol solvent molecules and a high sensitivity towards methanol concentration as low as 2 × 10(-7) (V(MeOH)/V(total)) in ethanol solution. The results indicate that the Zn-MOF has potential application as a sensor for detecting methanol in ethanol solution with excellent selectivity and high sensitivity.

A novel 2D porous organic framework based on the nucleophilic substitution of cyanuric chloride has been designed and synthesized successfully, which possesses an ordered structure, permanent porosity and drug release ability towards ibuprofen.

A novel 3D metal-organic framework (MOF) with 2D rhombic channels was synthesized for selective adsorption of p-xylene from xylene isomers by acting as a molecular sieve.

Branched left-handed twisted mesoporous silica nanoribbons were prepared via a template method.