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Chromium is a harmful contaminant showing mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. Therefore, detection of chromium requires the development of low-cost and high-sensitivity sensors. Herein, blue-fluorescent carbon quantum dots were synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method from alkali-soluble Poria cocos polysaccharide, which is green source, cheap and easy to obtain, and has no pharmacological activity due to low water solubility. These carbon quantum dots exhibit good fluorescence stability, water solubility, anti-interference and low cytotoxicity, and can be specifically combined with the detection of Cr(VI) to form a non-fluorescent complex that causes fluorescence quenching, so they can be used as a label-free nanosensor. High-sensitivity detection of Cr(VI) is achieved through internal filtering and static quenching effects. The fluorescence quenching degree of CDs fluorescent probe showed a good linear relationship with Cr(VI) concentration in the range of 1–100 μM. The linear equation was F0/F = 0.9942 + 0.01472[Cr(VI)] (R2 = 0.9922), and the detection limit can be as low as 0.25 μM (S/N = 3), which has been successfully applied to Cr(VI) detection in actual water samples herein.

The convergence of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Internet of Vehicular (IoV) integrated with fog computing, known as software-defined vehicle network-based fog computing (SDV-F), has recently been established to take advantage of both paradigms and efficiently control the wireless networks. SDV-F tackles numerous problems, such as scalability, load-balancing, energy consumption, and security. It lags, however, in providing a promising approach to enable ultra-reliable and delay-sensitive applications with high vehicle mobility over SDV-F. We propose ARTNet, an AI-based Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) framework for resource distribution and optimized communication using the SDV-F architecture. ARTNet offers ultra-reliable and low-latency communications, particularly in highly dynamic environments, which is still a challenge in IoV. ARTNet is composed of intelligent agents/controllers, to make decisions intelligently about i) maximizing resource utilization at the fog layer, and ii) minimizing the average end-to-end delay of time-critical IoV applications. Moreover, ARTNet is designed to assign a task to fog nodes based on their states. Our experimental results show that considering a dynamic IoV environment, ARTNet can efficiently distribute the fog layer tasks while minimizing the delay.

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction (CO2R) presents a promising route to establish zero-emission carbon cycle and store intermittent renewable energy into chemical fuels for steady energy supply. Methanol is an ideal energy carrier as alternative fuels and one of the most important commodity chemicals. Nevertheless, methanol is currently mainly produced from fossil-based syngas, the production of which yields tremendous carbon emission globally. Direct CO2R towards methanol poses great potential to shift the paradigm of methanol production. In this perspective, we focus our discussions on producing methanol from electrochemical CO2R, using metallomacrocyclic molecules as the model catalysts. We discuss the motivation of having methanol as the sole CO2R product, the documented application of metallomacrocyclic catalysts for CO2R, and recent advance in catalyzing CO2 to methanol with cobalt phthalocyanine-based catalysts. We attempt to understand the key factors in determining the activity, selectivity, and stability of electrocatalytic CO2-to-methanol conversion, and to draw mechanistic insights from existing observations. Finally, we identify the challenges hindering methanol electrosynthesis directly from CO2 and some intriguing directions worthy of further investigation and exploration.

Recently, flexible robotic systems are developed to enhance minimally invasive interventions on internal organs located in confined areas of human body. These surgical devices are designed to navigate anatomical pathways via single-port access, such as natural orifices or minimal incisions and intraluminal interventions. With improved precision, spatial flexibility and dexterity, the robotic technology can enhance surgery such that minimally invasive flexible access would become a faster, safer, and more convenient method for intra-body interventions without multiple or wide incisions. However, a lot of works are still required for global acceptance of existing flexible robotic surgical platforms. This review provides extended insights on the design details of two types of flexible robotic systems used for endoscopic and endovascular procedures. As of today, several prototypes of both platforms have been proposed; however, their global acceptability and applicability remains very low. To address these, we present an extensive review on design constraints and control methods which are vital for safer, faster, and better operation of the flexible robotic systems in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Finally, research trends of flexible robotic systems and their clinical application status in MIS are discussed along with some of the technical and technological challenges hindering their prominence.

In this work, a covalent organic framework (COF), which is constructed by the building blocks of [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)porphinato]copper(II) (CuTAPP) and p-benzaldehyde, is employed to integrate with TiO2 for the purpose of establishing a Z-scheme hybrid. Within the system, isonicotinic acid performs the role of a bridge that connects the two components through a coordination bond. Further photocatalytic application reveals the hybrid framework is able to catalyze CO2 conversion under simulated solar light, resulting in CO production rate of 50.5 μmol g−1 h−1, about 9.9 and 24.5 times that of COF and pristine TiO2, respectively. The ameliorated catalytic performance owes much to the porphyrin block acting as photosensitizer that augments the light absorbance, and the establishment of Z-scheme system between the inorganic and organic components that enhances the separation of the carriers. In addition, the chemical bridge also ensures a steady usage and stable charge delivery in the catalysis. Our study sheds light on the development of versatile approaches to covalently incorporate COFs with inorganic semiconductors.

In this paper, we considered a time-optimal control problem for a new type of linear parameter varying (LPV) system which is obtained through data identification in the process of dealing with actual problems. The addition of non-linear terms is compensation for the method that does not require linear expansion at the equilibrium point. Since the objective function is the terminal time which is an implicit function concerning decision variables, it is a non-standard optimal control problem with uncertain terminal time. To find the global optimal solution to this problem, firstly, the control parameterization method is used to transform it into a nonlinear optimization problem of parameter selection, and then the modifed particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is combined to solve the equivalent nonlinear programming problem. Numerical examples are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

The operational stability of organic (opto)electronic devices largely depends on the intrinsic stability of organic materials on service. For organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials, a key pa...

While serious stability issues impede the commercialization of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), two-dimensional (2D) perovskites based on fluorinated bulky cations have emerged as more intrinsically stable materials. However, the influence of fluorination degree of the bulky aromatic cation on the performance of resulting PSCs has not been scrutinized. Here, 2D perovskites (FxPEA)2PbI4 (x = 1, 2, 3, 5) are grown in situ on the surface of the three-dimensional (3D) perovskite and demonstrate effective passivation of the surface defects of 3D perovskite. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the optimized devices were boosted from 20.75% for the control device to 21.09%, 22.06%, 22.74% and 21.86% for 2D/3D devices treated with 4-fluorophenethylamine iodide, 3,5-difluorophenylethylamine iodide, 2,4,5-trifluoroethylphenylethylamine iodide, and 1,2,3,4,5-pentafluorophenylethylamine iodide, respectively. We firstly reported two unexplored RP-type layered perovskites with F2PEAI and F3PEAI as bulky cations. The combined experimental and theoretical analysis revealed the reasons behind the various morphology, device performances, dynamic behavior, and humidity stability. The best performing F5PEAI-treated device retaining 95.0% of its initial PCE under ambient atmosphere (with RH of 60% ± 5%) without encapsulation for 300 h storage. This work provides useful guidance for selecting fluorinated bulky cations with different molecular electronic properties, which will play an essential role in further improving the performance/stability of PSCs for the sake of further commercialization.

A visible-light-induced chemoselective reactions of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones with alkylboronic acids in the presence of air (O2) and N2 atmosphere was developed under transition-metal free conditions, providing 3-alkylquinoxalin-2(1H)-ones and 3,4-dihydroquinoxalin-2(1H)-ones, respectively. The overall strategy accommodates a broad scope of substituted quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones and alkylboronic acids with good to excellent product yields.

Hierarchical microstructures of electrode materials for supercapacitors have attracted strong attention owing to the enlarged surface area, fast charge transportation and enhanced volume expansion. All these advantages of hierarchical structures are available for facilitating the electrochemical performances and stability of electrode materials for advanced supercapacitors. However, few reports focused on the development of transition metal-based homogeneous 2D/1D hierarchical structures use the same material. Herein, the ZnCo-LDH with 3D hierarchical microstructure was self-assembled with 1D nanoneedles and 2D nanosheets that in situ synthesized on Ni foam through a simple and effective strategy. The optimal sample (ZnCo-LDH-2) exhibited the ultra-high specific capacitance of 3871.2 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 and excellent cycle life span (capacitance retention of 87.5% after 6000 cycles at 5 A g−1). Particularly, the current density was as high as 100 A g−1, the specific capacitance of ZnCo-LDH-2 still remained 1526 F g−1. Moreover, the symmetric supercapacitor (SSC) fabricated with ZnCo-LDH-2 showed the maximum energy density of 40.3 Wh kg−1 and power density of 15.08 kW kg−1.

Oxygenated organic molecules (OOMs) are the crucial intermediates linking volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) in the atmosphere, but comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of OOMs and their formation from VOCs is still missing. Ambient observations of OOMs using recently developed mass spectrometry techniques are still limited, especially in polluted urban atmospheres where VOCs and oxidants are extremely variable and complex. Here, we investigate OOMs, measured by a nitrate-ion-based chemical ionization mass spectrometer at Nanjing in eastern China, through performing positive matrix factorization on binned mass spectra (binPMF). The binPMF analysis reveals three factors about anthropogenic VOC (AVOC) daytime chemistry, three isoprene-related factors, three factors about biogenic VOC (BVOC) nighttime chemistry, and three factors about nitrated phenols. All factors are influenced by NOx in different ways and to different extents. Over 1000 non-nitro molecules have been identified and then reconstructed from the selected solution of binPMF, and about 72 % of the total signals are contributed by nitrogen-containing OOMs, mostly regarded as organic nitrates formed through peroxy radicals terminated by nitric oxide or nitrate-radical-initiated oxidations. Moreover, multi-nitrates account for about 24 % of the total signals, indicating the significant presence of multiple generations, especially for isoprene (e.g., C5H10O8N2 and C5H9O10N3). Additionally, the distribution of OOM concentration on the carbon number confirms their precursors are driven by AVOCs mixed with enhanced BVOCs during summer. Our results highlight the decisive role of NOx in OOM formation in densely populated areas, and we encourage more studies on the dramatic interactions between anthropogenic and biogenic emissions.

Although TiO2 is a wide band gap semiconductor, it demonstrates photodegradation activity under visible light irradiation after dye sensitization. Compared with esterification between the surface hydroxyl group of TiO2 and the carboxylic group of dyes, electrostatic interaction between TiO2 and dye shows better photosensitized performance. In this work, Bi/Al co-doping anatase titania (Ti1-xBi2x/3Al2x/3O2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.3)) is designed to enhance the electrostatic interaction. The effect of Al ions is to enhance the solubility of Bi3+ into titania nanocrystals. A new band gap is generated after high concentration of Bi element doping, which not only promotes the absorption of visible light, but also improves the utilization of photogenerated carriers. Based on the results of transmission electron microscopy, light absorption, photodegradation activity and density functional theory calculations, it is found that bismuth dopant is the electron capture site. It first accumulates electrons through photocatalytic degradation reaction to enhance electrostatic adsorption between the catalyst and the positively charged dye molecules, and finally realizes high-efficiency photosensitization degradation of Rhodamine B. In addition, the sensitized titania has excellent photodegradation recyclability.

In alumina-based catalysts the properties of the alumina support directly influence the structure (size, morphology, orientation, etc.) of the resulting active phase and ultimately determine the performance of the final catalysts. This paper presents a facile and efficient method for γ-Al2O3 to simultaneously expose {111} facets with strong acidity and {110} facets with moderate basicity. It is shown that the metal oxides NiOx and MoOx can be selectively deposited and subsequently sulfided on the respective facets to form a NiS2-MoS2/Al2O3 catalyst with substantially enhanced activity for thio-etherification reaction. By cooperative action of the active sites on the newly exposed facets, the catalyst is shown to have superior activity over a conventional NiMoS/Al2O3 catalyst in the thio-etherification reaction between ethanethiol and isoamylene (2-methyl-2-butene) to yield ethylamyl thioethers. Our findings show that tuning the physicochemical properties via crystal facet engineering and inducing cooperative catalysis via preferential deposition of active metals open a novel avenue for the rational design and synthesis of high performance catalysts.

The influence of different precipitate-dislocation interactions, namely dislocation shearing and bypassing mechanisms, on PLC bands and the resultant surface roughness in AlMgScZr alloy was investigated. Three-dimensional surface roughness was quantitatively measured by confocal microscopy. We find that the introduction of shearable precipitates increases the stress amplitude, decreases the PLC bands number and surface roughness. However, the stress amplitude decreases, the PLC bands number and surface roughness increase with shearable precipitates turning to nonshearable precipitates. By analyzing the precipitation strengthening mechanisms quantitatively, the influence of precipitates on PLC bands and the resultant surface roughness was explored. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that the shearable precipitates can decrease the surface roughness by decreasing the number of PLC bands, which is instructive for designing structural materials with desirable mechanical property and surface quality.

Non-noble-metal-based electrocatalysts with superior oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity to platinum (Pt) are highly desirable but their fabrications are challenging and thus impeding their applications in metal-air batteries and fuel cells. Here, we report a facile molten salt assisted two-step pyrolysis strategy to construct carbon nanosheets matrix with uniformly dispersed Fe3N/Fe nanoparticles and abundant nitrogen-coordinated Fe single atom moieties (Fe@FeSA-N-C). Thermal exfoliation and etching effect of molten salt contribute to the formation of carbon nanosheets with high porosity, large surface area and abundant uniformly immobilized active sites. Aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) image, X-ray absorption fine spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicate the generation of Fe (mainly Fe3N/Fe) and FeSA-N-C moieties, which account for the catalytic activity for ORR. Further study on modulating the crystal structure and composition of Fe3N/Fe nanoparticles reveals that proper chemical environment of Fe in Fe3N/Fe notably optimizes the ORR activity. Consequently, the presence of abundant FeSA-N-C moieties, and potential synergies of Fe3N/Fe nanoparticles and carbon shells, markedly promote the reaction kinetics. The as-developed Fe@FeSA-N-C-900 electrocatalyst displays superior ORR performance with a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.83 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a diffusion limited current density of 5.6 mA cm−2. In addition, a rechargeable Zn-air battery device assembled by the Fe@FeSA-N-C-900 possesses remarkably stable performance with a small voltage gap without obvious voltage loss after 500 h of operation. The facile synthesis strategy for the high-performance composites represents another viable avenue to stable and low-cost electrocatalysts for ORR catalysis.

The kinematics of the heald frame of a rotary dobby with two different modulator types are analyzed and compared. Kinematic mathematical models of the modulator main shaft, cam unit, and heald frame driven by the rotary dobby with a cam-slider modulator and a cam-link modulator were constructed based on two different cam contours derived from measured points on the conjugate cams of the two modulators. The motion characteristics of the two modulators and a null modulator, the cam unit, and the motion transmission unit are analyzed. The purpose of the present study was to establish the kinematic models, investigate the motion characteristics, and analyze their differences. At the same time, a calculation method for each motion transmission process was established and numerical models were developed. The results demonstrated that the two different modulators produce almost the same heald frame motion characteristics. Despite that both modulator types can be adapted to the requirements of a loom, the cam-link modulator can produce a more stable and reliable motion.

Diamide compounds such as chlorantraniliprole, a famous anthranilic diamide insecticide targeting the insect ryanodine receptor (RyR), have received continuous attention in pesticide research during the past 15 years owing to their excellent insecticidal potentials. With the aim of discovering new heterocyclic pesticides used for crop protection, based on the structural information of compound M from the reported pharmacophore-based virtual screening for RyR insecticides and diamide compound, a series of new heterocyclic mono-, di-, and tri-amide derivatives containing piperazine moiety have been synthesized in this paper. The new compounds were identified and confirmed by melting point, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HRMS. Compound M was firstly validated for insecticidal activities, and the new synthesized compounds were all made comprehensive insecticidal evaluations against diamondback moth and oriental armyworm. The bioassay results showed that some of the compounds exhibit favorable insecticidal potentials, particularly some novel piperazine-containing heterocyclic mono-/di-/tri-amide derivatives such as 8g, 14a, 15a, 15g, 15i, 15j, 15k, 15l, and 15m could be used as new insecticidal leading structures for further study (e.g., towards diamondback moth, 15i-15m LC50: 0.0022−0.0081 mg/L). The structure-activity relationships of the compounds discussed in detail provide useful guidance for further design and development of new insecticides.

The system detection efficiency of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors ( SNSPD ) has rapidly improved in recent years. In this study, we fabricated NbN, WSi and MoSi ultra-thin films, which are widely used for SNSPD fabrication, employing magnetron sputtering. We characterized the films in the presence of a magnetic field to study the upper critical magnetic field Hc2 and the anisotropy. According to the results obtained in our experiments, we calculated the coherence length and diffusion coefficient of these films. The knowledge of these parameters will guide the modelling and the interpretation of the different features observed in SNSPD made out of NbN, WSi and MoSi.

Regulating the coordination environment of metal–Nx species by replacing N with low electronegativity atoms is an approach of tuning the electrocatalytic performance of metal-based sites. However, such effects on the enhancement of photocatalytic H2 evolution over semiconductors are not discussed yet. Herein, we designed and prepared Co-based cocatalysts with controlled coordination environment via calcination Co/ZIF-8 loaded with triphenylphosphine followed by a sulfurization treatment. It was then used as cocatalyst to modify CdS. The effects of the coordination environment of Co atoms on the H2 evolution activity of CdS were discussed. The obtained Co was co-stabilized by N, P, and S atoms and embedded in graphitic carbon (denoted as Co-NxPS/C). Experimental results indicated that the Co-NxPS/C exhibited high activity in enhancing H2 evolution of CdS with a value of 1260 μmol after 5 h irradiation. The simultaneous replacement of N with P and S atoms in N-stabilized Co embedded in carbon could enhance light harvesting, accelerate the transfer of photogenerated electrons from CdS to carbon with increased electrons accumulation ability and conductivity, improve charge separation efficiency, and enhance proton reduction kinetics. It is believed that the results of this study could promote the development of other high performance MOF-derived atomically dispersed cocatalysts to increase photocatalytic H2 evolution.

In this paper, based on a bidirectional parallel multi-branch feature pyramid network (BPMFPN), a novel one-stage object detector called BPMFPN Det is proposed for real-time detection of ground multi-scale targets by swarm unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). First, the bidirectional parallel multi-branch convolution modules are used to construct the feature pyramid to enhance the feature expression abilities of different scale feature layers. Next, the feature pyramid is integrated into the single-stage object detection framework to ensure real-time performance. In order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, experiments are conducted on four datasets. For the PASCAL VOC dataset, the proposed algorithm achieves the mean average precision (mAP) of 85.4 on the VOC 2007 test set. With regard to the detection in optical remote sensing (DIOR) dataset, the proposed algorithm achieves 73.9 mAP. For vehicle detection in aerial imagery (VEDAI) dataset, the detection accuracy of small land vehicle (slv) targets reaches 97.4 mAP. For unmanned aerial vehicle detection and tracking (UAVDT) dataset, the proposed BPMFPN Det achieves the mAP of 48.75. Compared with the previous state-of-the-art methods, the results obtained by the proposed algorithm are more competitive. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can effectively solve the problem of real-time detection of ground multi-scale targets in aerial images of swarm UAVs.

Channeling carbon dioxide The separation of gas molecules with physisorbents can be challenging because there is often a tradeoff between capacity and selectivity. Zhou et al. report a template-free hydrothermal synthesis of the one-dimensional channel zeolite mordenite, in which some silicon was replaced by iron. Rather than forming a powder that requires further shaping, this mechanically stable material self-assembled into monoliths. Iron atoms bound in tetrahedral zeolite sites narrowed the channels and enabled the size-exclusion separation of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) over nitrogen (N 2 ) and methane. High CO 2 uptake and highly efficient CO 2 –N 2 separation was demonstrated for both dry and humid conditions. Science , aax5776, this issue p. 315

The ground pressure distributes significant variation in underground mining near fault. Fault reactivation is an important factor to induce the rock burst. Therefore, characterizing geological settings in mining areas by the geological information can improve the accuracy of simulation. To investigate the characteristic of mining stress evolution and reactivation of the F16 reverse fault during the retreat Mining-Induced s in Yima coalfield, a three-dimensional digital elevation model based on GIS platform was applied. The 3D geological model includes three working faces, and F16 fault was constructed by AutoCAD software. Then, the 3D geological model was imported into the FLAC3D code to simulate the potential of mining-induced fault reactivation. The simulation results illustrate that the footwall of F16 fault is a high stress concentration area. Affected by F16 fault and the huge thick gravel rock in the roof, the coal seam near the fault accumulates a large amount of elastic strain energy, which increases the potential of rock burst hazards in the process of mining.

Polymer derived silicon oxycarbide ceramic materials and silicon carbide whiskers reinforced ceramic composite are prepared through digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing technology in the present work. A new type of UV-curable preceramic polymer is firstly synthesized and then two types of photopolymer resins with and without SiC whiskers as reinforcement are prepared. Due to the high curing rate and good fluidity of the resins, they are applied in DLP 3D printing and various 3D objects with complicated structures and high printing resolution have been printed. The derived ceramic materials show amorphous microstructure and there is no apparent porosity and cracking throughout the whole sample surface of the ceramic materials and the SiC whiskers are uniformly embedded in the ceramic matrix and remain intact and unaffected during the pyrolysis process. The SiC whiskers reduced the shrinkage and mass loss. More importantly, it significantly improves the mechanical performance of the derived ceramic materials in which the compressive strength increases from 77.5 ± 10.2 MPa to 98.4 ± 12.3 MPa. Benefiting from the easiness of the fabrication, high printing resolution and excellent mechanical performance, the derived ceramic materials have great potential applications in various areas.

The highly thermal stability precipitates strengthen creep resistance for alloys, which require precipitates to resist coarsen at elevated temperature. In the Mg-RE-Zn (Ag) series alloys, the key strengthening phase - γ’’ phase, remains its single-unit-cell height throughout aging process. The origin of such extremely thermal stability of γ’’ phase is still unclear. By using the first-principles calculations, it is found that the formation of γ’’ phase introduces compressive strain to its surrounding α-Mg lattice and simultaneously alter charge distribution of α-Mg lattice near the α-Mg/γ’’ hetero-interface. These two variations over α-Mg lattice lead to lower vacancy formation energies and migration energy barriers for solute atoms near the α-Mg/γ’’ hetero-interface in comparison with that of bulk condition. Consequently, the variations facilitate rapid diffusion of solute atoms near the γ’’ phase and promote nucleation rate of other γ’’ plates around it. On the basis of ledge-thickening model, the origin of nucleation/growth of γ’’ phase with single-unit-cell height was explained. Thermodynamically and kinetically, the solute atoms are not apt to migrate into the nearest basal plane adjacent to the γ’’ phase. Moreover, the lower aging temperature (∼200 °C) and almost completely coherent α-Mg/γ’’ hetero-interface lead to the ledges are extremely hard to nucleate on the hetero-interface. Therefore, γ’’ plates maintain single-unit-cell height throughout aging process.

There has been a great challenge in developing highly efficient electromagnetic microwave absorbers with strong absorbility, wide effective absorbing bandwidth and lightweight to solve the increasingly severe electromagnetic pollution. Here, we unveil the great potential of highly ordered mesoporous carbon coated graphene composites in the application of microwave absorption. The ordered mesoporous carbon composites possess well-defined spherical mesopores that are uniformly distributed on graphene surfaces and with uniform diameters of ∼20 nm (graphene@mesoporous carbon, abbreviated as G/MC). This renders the nanocomposites with high BET surface areas of up to 316 m2 g−1. Impressively, the G/MC nanosheets carbonized at 900 °C (G/MC-900) exhibit an outstanding microwave absorbility, with a maximum reflection loss (RL) of −66.1 dB and an exceptionally broad effective absorbing bandwidth (EAB) of 8.2 GHz (RL

Background: In recent years, the disease outbreak caused by Vibrio harveyi upset the booming development of the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) farming industry. Genomic selection (GS) is a powerful method to improve the traits of interest, which has been proved in livestock and some fishes. Besides, the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array is an efficient genotyping platform that can be used for genetic studies. To improve V. harveyi resistance in C. semilaevis, we firstly constructed a reference group of 1,572 individuals and investigated accuracies of four genomic methods (genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP), weighted GBLUP, BayesB, and BayesC) at predicting the genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) using five-fold cross-validation and SNPs varying from 0.5 k to 500 k. Then, an SNP array was developed using the Affymetrix Axiom technology, and its accuracy in genotyping was evaluated by comparing SNPs generated by the array and by the re-sequencing technology. Finally, we selected 44 candidates as the parents of 23 families of C. semilaevis to evaluate the feasibility of the SNP array for GS.Results: all genomic methods outperformed the pedigree-based BLUP (ABLUP) when at least 50 k SNPs used for prediction, of which GBLUP resulted in better estimation than ABLUP when more than 1 k SNPs used. A 38 k SNP array, “Solechip No.1”, was developed with an average of 10.5 kb inter-spacing between two adjacent SNPs. The SNPs generated by the array and by the re-sequencing reached an average consistency of 94.8 %, of which 79.3 % of loci had a more than 90 % of the consistency. The survival rates of these 23 offspring families had a correlation of 0.706 with the family GEBVs (mid-parental GEBVs), and the average survival rate of the top five families in GEBVs (79.1 %) is higher than the bottom five families (58.1 %).Conclusion: GS is an efficient method to improve the V. harveyi resistance in C. semilaevis, and the SNP array “Solechip No.1” is a convenient and reliable tool for the Chinses tongue sole selective breeding practice.

In this work, we propose a lattice Boltzmann method to model the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) conduction phenomenon in dielectric liquids. To incorporate the effect of the source term appeared in the charge conservation equations, some unified force terms that can be implemented locally are delicately designed in the charge evolution equations. We further validate the present model against some analytical solutions as well as experimental data for several problems, and a good agreement is obtained. Then it is used to study the fluid circulation in a square cavity generated by EHD conduction phenomenon, and the numerical results indicate that the geometric scale and the difference in the mobilities of the positive and negative charges could play an important role in studying EHD conduction phenomenon. Further, to analyze the characteristics of the EHD conduction mechanisms in the ohmic and saturation regimes, the influences of the conduction number W 0 as well as the parameter β , which is related to Onsager effect, are also investigated, and the numerical results fit well with previous work.

Sweet cherry is one of the most popular fresh fruits in the world. Previously, we isolated a soilborne dark septate endophyte (DSE) strain, S16, which promoted the growth of Gisela 5 sweet cherry rootstock. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism of the effect of S16 on the growth of sweet cherry. In this study, the physiological parameters and transcript profiles of sweet cherry roots were analyzed under S16 treatment compared with a control to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the effect of this strain on sweet cherry growth. After inoculation with S16, sweet cherry seedlings exhibited more vigorous growth. Moreover, we identified 4249 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between S16-treated plants and the control. Many of the DEGs are involved in pathways related to plant growth, such as cellular metabolic and plant hormone pathways. Additionally, some genes involved in nitrate regulation were also enriched; and these genes may be involved in the regulation of nitrate uptake in plants. Physiological index detection demonstrated that S16 could improve the nitrate assimilation of sweet cherry via NO3− transporters. This RNA-seq dataset provides comprehensive insight into the transcriptomic landscape to reveal the molecular mechanisms whereby the DSE influences the growth of sweet cherry.

Tunable mid-infrared emission is highly applicable in the fields of molecular spectroscopy and atmospheric monitoring. Recent studies have demonstrated that external electric fields can induce non-zero optical bandgaps of up to 250 meV in graphene materials, thereby paving the way for mid-infrared emissions (3–14 μm) to be realized. Graphene foam (GF) possesses a unique highly porous microstructure, which allows intense reflection or scattering of incident photons and gives rise to efficient interband optical absorption. Enhanced electron–phonon coupling enables free electrons in the conduction band to relax non-radiatively to the 1s-state. Mid-infrared emission is generated owing to electron–hole recombination. In this work, we demonstrate the induction of widely tunable (2.9–8.6 μm) mid-infrared emission in GF by modulated visible laser diode (LD) light with modulation frequencies ranging from 1.5 to 0.5 kHz. The peak emission wavelength correlates with the modulation frequency and is independent of the wavelength of LD light of visible range, whereas the emission intensity is related to the alternating intensity of the LD. Our findings indicate that GF is not only a novel mid-infrared emitting material, but one that promises bandgap flexibility for widely tunable mid-infrared sources.

Exploring highly efficient catalyst is the key for integration of photocatalysis and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. Herein, WC/Bi2WO6 nanocomposites were judiciously constructed by anchoring the non-noble metal plasmonic WC nanocrystals onto the surface of ultrathin Bi2WO6 nanosheets to activate PMS for efficient photodegradation of bisphenol A (BPA). The prepared WC/Bi2WO6 nanocomposites possess abundant heterojunction interface, resulting in excellent photoabsorption capability, interfacial charge transfer dynamics, and charge carrier concentration. As expected, WC/Bi2WO6 nanocomposites exhibit superior catalytic activity and stability in PMS activation toward BPA degradation with removal efficiency of 97.4%, which is higher than that of Bi2WO6. The content of WC nanocrystals are critical to tune the catalytic activity of the nanocomposites. The intermediates and degradation pathways were determined through LC-MS/MS analysis. Finally, the reaction mechanism was systematically elucidated based on the active species detection, charge transfer dynamics, and band structures. The desirable photocatalytic performances can be ascribed to the constructional heterojunction between the WC nanocrystals and Bi2WO6 nanosheets, which can efficiently enhance the photoabsorption capability, heighten the interfacial charge transfer ability, and ameliorate the charge carrier concentration. This study provides some insights to construct highly efficient photocatalyst modification with non-noble metal based plasmonic materials for environmental remediation.

Lithium metal is one of the most promising anode materials for next-generation electrochemical energy storage due to low electrochemical potential and high specific capacity. However, large volume change and uncontrollable formation of lithium dendrite during cycling severely hinder the practical application of rechargeable Li metal batteries. Herein, we report a hierarchically porous Cu covered with lithiophilic CuxO (HPCu-CuxO) via femtosecond laser strategy in about 2 min as current collector for high-performance Li metal batteries. With precisely tunable pore volume and depth as well as lithiophilic CuxO interphase, the HPCu-CuxO not only guides homogeneous Li nucleation, resulting in a smooth and dendrite-free lithium surface, but also provides space to alleviate the volume expansion of Li metal anode, achieving excellent structure stability. Consequently, highly stable Coulombic efficiency and ultra-low overpotential of 15 mV even up to 1000 h were achieved at the current density of 1 mA cm−2. Moreover, the resultant Li@HPCu-CuxO//LiFePO4 full battery delivered outstanding cycle stability and rate capability. These results offer a pathway toward high-energy-density and safe rechargeable Li metal batteries.

Conjugated polymers have attracted considerable attention for thermoelectric applications in recent years due to their plentiful resources, diverse structures, mechanical flexibility, and low thermal conductivity. Herein, we demonstrate a new strategy of modulating charge carrier concentration of chemical-doped polymer films by modifying the substrate with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). The SAM with a trifluoromethyl terminal group is found to accumulate holes in the polymer thin films, while the SAM with an amino terminal group tends to donate electrons to the polymer films. Thermoelectric thin films of conjugated donor-acceptor copolymer exhibit high power factors of 55.6-61.0 μW m-1 K-2 on SAMs with polar terminal groups. These power factors are 49% higher than that on the SAM with the nonpolar terminal group and 3 times higher than that on pristine substrate. The high power factor is ascribed to the modulated charge carrier concentration and improved charge carrier mobility as induced by SAMs.

Bioaerosols containing pathogenic microorganisms have posed a great threat to human and animal health. Effective monitoring of bioaerosols containing pathogenic viruses and bacteria is of great significance to prevent and control infectious diseases. This Feature summarizes recent advances on bioaerosol collection and detection based on microfluidic chips. Besides, the challenges and trends for bioaerosol collection and detection were also discussed.

Barrier islands are dynamic environments that experience gradual change from waves, tides, and currents, and rapid change from extreme storms. These islands are expected to change drastically over the coming century due to accelerated sea-level rise and changes in frequency and intensity of storm events. The dynamic nature of barrier islands coupled with the importance of these environments make it critical for natural resource managers to understand how habitats on barrier islands are changing or may change over time to determine when and where management actions may be needed. In this study, we applied a habitat change assessment framework, which included exploring areal coverage and distribution changes and change component analysis. Change component analysis, which breaks differences into net gain/loss and allocation difference (i.e., habitat oscillation), has not previously been used to study barrier island habitat evolution. Here, we demonstrate the approach using habitat predictions from a geomorphic modeling effort on Dauphin Island, Alabama (USA). We explored differences of habitat predictions for potential island configurations with and without a beach and dune restoration action under future conditions related to sea level and storminess. We found a potential linkage between landward migration of barrier islands and exchange, an output of change component analysis. The hypothesis may be tested to explore whether this linkage applies over space and time and whether the approach is applicable to monitoring landward migration of coastal wetlands. Collectively, our results highlight the utility of change component analysis for monitoring and quantifying barrier island habitat change and migration.

Incorporating a nanophase into a matrix is an effective approach to improve thermoelectric (TE) properties of bulk TE materials. In this study, graphene nanosheets were introduced into a Cu3SbSe4 matrix and graphene/Cu3SbSe4 composites were prepared by ball milling and rapid hot-press sintering. Microstructure and thermoelectric transport properties of graphene/Cu3SbSe4 composites were analyzed. It was found that the graphene distributed uniformly in the form of layers at the grain boundaries of Cu3SbSe4 matrix. The electrical conductivity of graphene/Cu3SbSe4 composites increased significantly while the Seebeck coefficient decreased with the increasing content of graphene. The thermal conductivity was effectively depressed due to the enhancement of phonon scattering. The maximum thermoelectric dimensionless figure of merit was 0.75 for 2.00% graphene/Cu3SbSe4 composite at 650 K, which was 3.85 times higher than that of pure Cu3SbSe4.

Transition metal alloy electrocatalysts have sparked intense interest for their use in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, there is almost no corresponding research on the alloy active sites. In this study, CoNi alloy nanoparticles embedded in bamboo-like N-doped carbon nanotubes (CoNi-NCTs) as catalysts constructed by a facile pyrolysis of Prussian blue analogs were investigated. The density functional theory calculation reveals that the oxygen molecules are more easily adsorbed on the Ni sites in these catalysts, while the Co sites favor the formation of OOH⋆ intermediates during ORR. In addition, the cooperation of the CoNi alloys with the N-doped carbon benefits electron transfer and promotes electrocatalytic activity. The optimized CoNi-NCT shows remarkable ORR catalytic activity with an half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.83 V, an onset potential (Eonset) of 0.97 V, and superior durability, all of which surpass the commercial Pt/C catalysts. The assembled zinc-air battery delivers a small charge/discharge voltage gap of 0.86 V at 10 mA cm−2, a high-power density of 167 mW cm−2, and good stability (running stably over 900 cycles).

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZBs) have been considered as one of the most promising large-scale energy storage systems, owing to the advantages of raw material abundance, low cost, and eco-friendliness. However, the severe growth of Zn dendrites leads to poor stability and low Coulombic efficiency of AZBs. Herein, to effectively inhibit the growth of Zn dendrites, a new strategy has been proposed, i.e., tuning the surface energy of the Zn anode. This strategy can be achieved by in situ doping of Sn heteroatoms in the lattice of metallic Zn via codeposition of Sn and Zn with a small amount of the SnCl2 electrolyte additive. Density functional theory calculations have suggested that Sn heteroatom doping can sharply decrease the surface free energy of the Zn anode. As a consequence, driven by the locally strong electric field, metallic Sn tends to deposit at the tips of the Zn anode, thus decreases the surface energy and growth of Zn at the tips, resulting in a dendrite-free Zn anode. The positive effect of the SnCl2 additive has been demonstrated in both the Zn∥Zn symmetric battery and the Zn/LFP and Zn/HATN full cell. This novel strategy can light a new way to suppress Zn dendrites for long life span Zn-ion batteries.

This study examined the basic regulatory effects and clinical value of metalloproteinase-14 and extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer in diabetic retinopathy. Seventy-four patients with diabetic retinopathy (study group/diabetic retinopathy (DR) group) and 48 healthy people (control group) were included in this study. Venous blood of subjects in the two groups was collected and the plasma levels of EMMPRIN, MMP-14, VEGF, and MMP-9 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The value of applying plasma EMMPRIN and MMP-14 for predicting the prognosis of DR was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve with a 1-year follow-up. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured in high-glucose conditions. EMMPRIN and MMP-14 mRNA levels were determined by RT-qPCR, EMMPRIN and MMP-14 protein levels were determined by Western blotting, apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry, and the level of angiogenesis was recorded. The levels of EMMPRIN and MMP-14 in the DR group were increased compared with those in the control group. Plasma EMMPRIN was positively correlated with plasma MMP-9 and plasma VEGF, and its area under the curve (AUC) for predicting 1-year adverse outcome of DR was 0.676. Plasma MMP-14 was also positively correlated with plasma MMP-9 and plasma VEGF, and its AUC for predicting 1-year adverse outcome of DR was 0.650. EMMPRIN and MMP-14 were upregulated in high-glucose-induced HUVECs. Downregulation of EMMPRIN resulted in downregulation of MMP-14, and downregulation of MMP-14 and EMMPRIN resulted in decreased apoptosis and angiogenesis of HUVECs. These findings suggest that EMMPRIN promotes endothelial cell apoptosis and angiogenesis in DR through MMP-14, and that plasma EMMPRIN and MMP-14 can help predict the short-term prognosis of DR.

Heavy ion-induced electrical degradations and mechanisms of high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) were investigated in this article. AlGaN/GaN HEMTs were irradiated by 800-MeV Bi ions with total fluence of $5.23\times 10^{{10}}$ ions/cm2. The results show that the saturation current decreased by 13.1%, the threshold voltage negatively shifted by 0.21 V, the peak transconductance decreased by 26.6%, the reverse gate-leakage current increased much more than 16 times, and forward gate-leakage current increased more than three times. Furthermore, all electrical performances experienced partial recovery after room temperature annealing (RTA) and 175 °C thermal annealing except gate-leakage current. To further explore the mechanism of gate-leakage degradation, AlGaN/GaN heterojunction wafers were exposed to 1400-MeV Ta ions with fluence of $6.86\times107$ ions/cm2, and characterized by conductive atomic force microscope (CAFM) before and after the irradiation. The results show that the leakage current significantly increased in AlGaN material areas after the irradiation. Comparing the increase in gate leakage of the AlGaN/GaN heterojunction and AlGaN/GaN HEMT induced by heavy ions irradiation, it can be seen that the gate-leakage current of AlGaN/GaN HEMT after heavy irradiation almost entirely was caused by latent tracks. The mechanism for the irreversible increase in gate leakage after heavy ions irradiation could be attributed to the latent tracks along the ion trajectories through the heterojunction.

The development of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is partially limited by the poor kinetics of methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) at the anode side. It was reported that the interaction between Pt and CeO2 enhances the electrocatalytic performance of Pt catalyst for MOR. In this work, a hybrid material (CeO2–C) composed of CeO2 and carbon was successfully prepared by a simple hydrothermal method followed by calcination in inert atmosphere. The hierarchically porous nanostructure and especially good electronic conductivity of CeO2–C make it an excellent support for Pt particles for application in electrocatalytic process. TEM investigation reveals that triple-phase interface of Pt, carbon and CeO2 forms in Pt/CeO2–C catalyst. Performance of the as-prepared catalyst for MOR was studied in alkaline medium. The Pt/CeO2–C catalyst shows superior catalytic performance for MOR compared with Pt/CeO2 and the physical mixture of Pt/CeO2 and acetylene black (Pt/CeO2+C). The significantly improved performance can be attributed to the synergetic effect between Pt particles and CeO2–C support, and the better conductivity of CeO2–C. This study provides a possible method to expand the application potential of CeO2 materials in MOR, and may also be used in other electrocatalytic process.

Recently, favipiravir, as a broad-spectrum antiviral drug, has gain more attention because it might be a candidate to remedy the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To improve its poor permeability and tabletability, four multicomponent crystals of favipiravir (FPV) were prepared by a slow evaporation or liquid-assisted grinding method, including three cocrystals (FPV-theophylline, 1:1;FPV-saccharin, 1:1;FPV-5-fluorouracil, 1:1) and one salt (FPV-piperazine, 2:1). All of the crystal structures were solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Interestingly, FPV-theophylline has a crystal structure similar to that of FPV, leading to similar properties, such as solubility, permeability, and tabletability. Except for FPV-theophylline, all of the other multicomponent crystals exhibit an enhanced permeability and tabletability. Our studies provide a new insight in overcoming the shortcomings of the important antiviral drug FPV. ©

Homopolar inductor machine (HIM) has been applied in the field of flywheel energy storage system (FESS) due to its merits of simple structure, brushless exciting, and low idling losses. The rotor of HIM not only plays the role of energy conversion but also serves as a flywheel to store kinetic energy, which is different from other electrical machines used in FESS. Meanwhile, the HIM usually operates at high speed to improve the power density and storage energy. To obtain good performance and high reliability, the design and optimization of HIM should consider multiphysics, including storage energy, electromagnetic performance, rotor stress and dynamics, and so on. However, the existing researches mainly focus on the analysis of electromagnetic performance and lack multidisciplinary design. To solve this problem, a multidisciplinary design method of HIM is proposed and investigated. First, the operation principle of HIM is illustrated, and the multidisciplinary design method is proposed. Then, the storage energy, electromagnetic performance (including no-load air-gap flux density, saliency ratio, torque, and electromagnetic power), rotor stress, and modal of HIM are deeply analyzed according to the proposed design flow. Finally, a prototype of HIM is manufactured and tested. The results calculated by finite-element analysis are validated by experiments. The design method proposed in this article provides a straightforward procedure for the multidisciplinary design of HIM.

keV-energy Na+ ions are scattered from clean and water covered Cu(1 1 0) surfaces in grazing incidence. For both surfaces the pronounced Na° fractions decrease with incident energy. In particular, the lower Na° fraction has been observed for the water covered Cu(1 1 0) surface. The simple calculations using rate equation are presented to compare with the experimental data. The calculation is in agreement with the experimental data. It indicates that the water covered Cu(1 1 0) surface has the slightly higher work function due to water molecules dissociation and forming hydroxyl groups, so that the neutral fraction on water covered Cu(1 1 0) is lower than that on the clean surface.

Flexible energy storage is the bottleneck for a variety of advanced electronic devices, and transition metal sulfides are regarded as an ideal candidate for this application due to their high capacitance, versatile microstructures, and low cost. However, to render this family of materials with high mechanical flexibility while maintaining their favorable electrochemical properties is especially challenging. Herein, we report a CNT@NiCo2S4 hybrid film, in which bunches of ultrathin NiCo2S4 nanosheet are firmly and uniformly anchored on a 3D CNT network. This material possesses tunable microstructures, high mechanical flexibility, good conductivity as well as lightweight, making it readily deployable in a flexible supercapacitor. Significantly, the asymmetric flexible supercapacitor based on this material possesses a high voltage output (1.8 V), a high energy/power density (59.5/34.5 Wh kg−1 at 900/18000 W kg−1), outstanding cycling stability (80.64% capacity retention after 10000 cycles), and excellent mechanical flexibility to withstand various deformations, all without sacrificing its performance. Moreover, this strategy has the potential to be extended to other metal sulfides or other carbon-substrates, which opens new avenues for the facile design and manipulation of flexible functional materials for future energy storage.

Two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D COFs) featuring periodic frameworks, extended π-conjugation and layered stacking structures, have emerged as a promising class of materials for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Nevertheless, the layer-by-layer assembly in 2D COFs is not stable during the photocatalytic cycling in water, causing disordered stacking and declined activity. Here, we report an innovative strategy to stabilize the ordered arrangement of layered structures in 2D COFs for hydrogen evolution. Polyethylene glycol is filled up in the mesopore channels of a β-ketoenamine-linked COF containing benzothiadiazole moiety. This unique feature suppresses the dislocation of neighbouring layers and retains the columnar π-orbital arrays to facilitate free charge transport. The hydrogen evolution rate is therefore remarkably promoted under visible irradiation compared with that of the pristine COF. This study provides a general post-functionalization strategy for 2D COFs to enhance photocatalytic performances., Two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks are expected to boost photocatalytic H2 evolution from water splitting, but are not stable in photocatalysis. Here, authors demonstrate that photocatalytic performances can be enhanced by stabilizing layered stacking via a polymer-infiltration strategy.

A porous structure is usually designed to balance impedance matching and attenuation capability of carbon-based microwave absorber, which has been investigated to be an effective way to obtain high microwave absorbing performance, such as strong absorbing capacity and wide effective absorbing bandwidth. Hitherto, there is little known about the suitable value of surface area for such porous structure. In this paper, macroporous C/Co composites were successfully fabricated via in situ carbonization of ZIF-67@SiO2 precursors and subsequent removal of the SiO2 with diameter of ~60 nm, and the BET (Brunauer- Emmett-Teller) surface area is optimized by adding amount of SiO2. When the BET surface area is ~340 m2g−1, the obtained macroporous C/Co composite shows the best microwave absorbing performance, and the maximum (RL reflection loss) is −56.2 dB with ultra-wide EAB (effective absorbing bandwidth) of 9.0 GHz (9.0–18.0 GHz) at ultralow filler loading of only 10 wt%.

A pulsed laser has been effectively applied in dose rate effects simulation for its stable pulse output, low cost, simple operation, and lack of ionizing risks for users. The conversion factor (CF) was proposed to describe the equivalence between the responses generated by pulsed laser and pulsed ionizing radiation (e.g., $\gamma $ -ray). Previously, the peak photocurrent was commonly used to calculate the CF and establish the equivalent relationship. But there are a number of shortcomings such as narrow effective equivalent range, inadequate information of waveform, as well as low accuracy of simulations. In this article, an improved method for obtaining the CF by using the charge collection as the equivalent factor is proposed, which considers not only the peak photocurrent but also the temporal information of the waveform. The advantages of the proposed method are proved both in theory and in experiments, including broader equivalent range and higher simulation accuracy.

Glutamine synthetase (GS) plays an important role in nitrogen (N) metabolism in cucumber. In this study, we cloned and sequenced the CsGS1 gene, and analyzed the expression patterns and subcellular localization of the GS1 protein in response to different N conditions in order to determine its role in low-nitrogen (LN) tolerance. CsGS1 was abundantly expressed in the leaves of the low N-requiring cultivar D0328, while the high N-requiring cultivar D0422 showed similar expression levels across different tissues including leaves, shoots and roots. Furthermore, the GS1 protein was primarily localized in the cytoplasm of plant cells. Both cultivars were then transformed with the CsGS1 coding sequence or antisense sequence via Agrobacterium tumefaciens in order to overexpress and silence GS1 expression, respectively. Overexpression of CsGS1 significantly improved LN tolerance and photosynthetic parameters, and increased chlorophyll b content, biomass, plant height, root length, N accumulation and GS activity under LN condition compared to the control. CsGS1 silencing on the other hand significantly reduced the above indices. Taken together, CsGS1 is crucial for maintaining N metabolism in cucumber plants during N deprivation, and is a promising target for generating novel transgenic breeds with increasing nitrogen utilization efficiency.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) technology is considered to be a promising approach for solar-driven hydrogen production with zero emissions. Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) is a kind of photocatalytic material with strong photoactivity in the visible light region and appropriate band gap for PEC water splitting. However, the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency (STH) of BiVO4 is far away from the 10% target needed for practical application due to its poor charge separation ability. Therefore, this review attempts to summarize the strategies for improving the photocurrent density and especially hydrogen production of BiVO4 materials through PEC techniques in the last three years, such as doping nonmetal and metal elements, depositing noble metals, constructing heterojunctions, coupling with carbon and metal-organic framework (MOF) materials to further enhance the PEC performance of BiVO4 photoanode. This review aims to serve as a general guideline to fabricate highly efficient BiVO4-based materials for PEC water splitting.

Protein-based nanoparticles with tailored properties by using different functional proteins as building blocks have many actual and potential applications in biomedicine, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. In this study, we demonstrated a facile and efficient way to synthesize protein-based nanoparticles by taking advantage of photoinitiated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization-induced self-assembly by using multi-RAFT modified bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a macro-RAFT agent. The growth of the PHPMA chains results in the increase of the hydrophobicity of the star BSA-PHPMA conjugates, and when reaching the critical aggregation concentration in aqueous solution, they will aggregate into nanoparticles via the hydrophobic interaction of PHPMA. The generated nanoparticles also showed excellent encapsulation ability toward both hydrophobic and hydrophilic components, and as a proof of concept, after loading cancer drug DOX or biomacromolecule DNA, the protease-mediated release of the encapsulants was demonstrated. It is anticipated that the described method may open up new opportunities for designing a variety of protein-polymer self-assembled nanostructures tailored to specific applications.