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Catalytic methane decomposition (CMD) is a promising route for H2 production. In this paper, MOF-derived hierarchical carbon catalysts were prepared by the carbonization of ZIF-8 with additional carbon source and used for CMD. The effects of carbonization temperature, reaction temperature, and the kinds of additional carbon sources on the structure of derived carbon materials and their catalytic performances were studied. The results showed that the morphology and textural properties can be improved by varying the carbonization temperature and additional carbon source. The specific surface area of the ZIF-derived carbon can be significantly increased, and the hierarchical pore structure with improved pore size distribution can be obtained, which leads to good performances for CMD. Catalytic performance can be obviously enhanced by increasing the reaction temperature. The C950-FA prepared by carbonization of ZIF-8 with furfuryl alcohol as additional carbon source exhibits the highest initial conversion of methane (64%) and good stability at 890 °C. About 11% methane conversion was kept after 2750 min. This study provides a new route for the preparation of carbon material catalysts to achieve high-efficient conversion of methane. more...

Co-pyrolysis of coke bottle (CB) with sawdust/cellulose/lignin was conducted at 700 °C in this study, aiming to understand the potential influence of interactions of the volatiles of the varied origins on properties of the char. The results indicated that the interaction of volatiles from CB with that from biomass enhanced cross-polymerization of the volatiles, decreasing the formation of gases while enhanced the formation of both char and oil. The cross-interactions of the intermediates also diminished the formation of π-conjugated organics. In addition, the varied volatiles from the pyrolysis of cellulose, lignin, or sawdust interacted with that from CB and affected the properties of char in different ways. The char from the co-pyrolysis of sawdust/CB was more aliphatic, and had a higher oxygen content (7.3%) and higher polarity but lower thermal stability. Additionally, the thermal stability, crystallinity as well as the evolution of functionalities of char versus increasing temperature were also significantly affected by the cross-interactions of the volatiles. more...

Digital bioassays have attracted extensive attention in biomedical applications due to their ultrahigh sensitivity. However, traditional digital bioassays require numerous microchambers such as droplets or microwells, which restricts their application scope. Herein, we propose a microchamber-free flow cytometric method for the digital quantification of T4 polynucleotide kinase phosphatase (T4 PNKP) based on an unprecedented phenomenon that each T4 PNKP molecule-catalyzed reaction can be spatially self-confined on a single microbead, which ultimately enables the one-target-to-one-fluorescence-positive microbead digital signal transduction. The digital signal-readout mode can clearly detect T4 PNKP concentrations as low as 1.28 × 10-10 U/μL, making it most sensitive method to date. Significantly, T4 PNKP can be specifically distinguished from other phosphatases and nucleases in complex samples by digitally counting the fluorescence-positive microbeads, which cannot be realized by traditional bulk measurement-based methods. Taking advantage of the novel space-confined enzymatic feature of T4 PNKP, this digital mechanism can use T4 PNKP as the enzyme label to fabricate digital sensing systems toward various biomolecules such as digital enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Therefore, this work not only enlarges the toolbox for high-sensitivity biomolecule detection but also opens new gates to fabricate next-generation digital assays. more...

Little is known about the benefit-risk profile of second-generation androgen receptor inhibitors in older men with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. We aimed to examine the efficacy and safety of second-generation androgen receptor inhibitors in men aged 80 years or older with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.We searched for all randomised controlled clinical trials evaluating second-generation androgen receptor inhibitors in patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration before Aug 15, 2020, and pooled data from three trials that met the selection criteria. All three trials enrolled patients who were aged 18 years or older with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-1, castration-resistant prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) 2·0 μg/L or greater, PSA doubling time of 10 months or less, and no evidence of distant metastatic disease on conventional imaging per the investigator's assessment at the time of screening. All patients had histologically or cytologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the prostate without neuroendocrine differentiation or small-cell features. All patients who were randomly assigned to androgen receptor inhibitor or placebo groups in these trials were considered assessable and were included in this pooled analysis. We evaluated the effect of age on metastasis-free survival and overall survival across age groups (80 years vs ≥80 years) in the intention-to-treat population. Safety analyses were done in patients who received at least one dose of study treatment.Between Oct 14, 2013, and March 9, 2018, 4117 patients were assigned to androgen receptor inhibitor (apalutamide, enzalutamide, or daralutamide; n=2694) or placebo (n=1423) across three randomised trials. The median follow-up duration for metastasis-free survival was 18 months (IQR 11-26) and for overall survival was 44 months (32-55). In patients aged 80 years or older (n=1023), the estimated median metastasis-free survival was 40 months (95% CI 36-41) in the androgen receptor inhibitor groups and 22 months (18-29) in the placebo groups (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0·37 [95% CI 0·28-0·47]), and the median overall survival was 54 months (50-61) versus 49 months (43-58), respectively (adjusted HR 0·79 [0·64-0·98]). In patients younger than 80 years of age (n=3094), the estimated median metastasis-free survival was 41 months (95% CI 36-not estimable [NE]) in the androgen receptor inhibitor groups and 16 months (15-18) in the placebo groups (adjusted HR 0·31 [95% CI 0·27-0·35]), and the median overall survival was 74 months (74-NE) versus 61 months (56-NE), respectively (adjusted HR 0·69 [0·60-0·80]). In patients aged 80 years or older, grade 3 or worse adverse events were reported in 371 (55%) of 672 patients in the androgen receptor inhibitor groups and 140 (41%) of 344 patients in the placebo groups, compared with 878 (44%) of 2015 patients in the androgen receptor inhibitor groups and 321 (30%) of 1073 patients in the placebo groups among patients younger than 80 years. The most common grade 3-4 adverse events were hypertension (168 [8%] of 2015 patients aged80 years and 51 [8%] of 672 patients aged ≥80 years in the androgen receptor inhibitor groups vs 53 [5%] of 1073 patients aged80 years and 22 [6%] of 344 patients aged ≥80 years in the placebo groups) and fracture (61 [3%] and 36 [5%] in the androgen receptor inhibitor groups vs 15 [1%] and 11 [3%] in the placebo groups).The findings of this pooled analysis support the use of androgen receptor inhibitors in older men with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Incorporating geriatric assessment tools in the care of older adults with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer might help clinicians to offer individualised treatment to each patient.None. more...

Oxides with different crystal phases can have important effects on the configuration of surface atoms, which can further affect the distribution of hydrogenation sites and acidic sites as well as the competitions of these varied types of catalytic sites. This could be potentially used to tailor the distribution of the products. In this study, zirconium oxides with different crystal phases supported copper catalysts were prepared for the hydrogenation of the biomass-derived furfural, vanillin, etc. The results showed that both calcination temperature and Cu species affected the shift of zirconia from tetragonal phase to the monoclinic phase. Monoclinic zirconia supported copper catalyst can effectively catalyze the hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol via hydrogenation route due to its low amount of Bronsted acidic sites, although the surface area and the exposed metallic Cu surface area were much lower than the tetragonal zirconia supported copper catalyst. Zirconia with tetragonal or tetragonal/monoclinic phases supported copper catalysts contain abundant acidic sites and especially the Bronsted acidic sites, which catalyzed mainly the conversion of furfural via the acid-catalyzed routes such as the acetalization, rather than the hydrogenation. The acidic sites over the Cu/ZrO2 catalyst played more predominant roles than the hydrogenation sites in determining the conversion of the organics like furfural and vanillin. more...

Xia Han,1,&ast; Xiaotang Liang,2,&ast; Menghai Wu,1 Lijun Zhang,1 Honglei Jiang2 1Department of Cardiology, Jinan People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Laiwu, 271199, People’s Republic of China; 2Shandong Second Provincial General Hospital, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250000, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Honglei JiangShandong Second Provincial General Hospital, No. 4, Xingxi Street, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250000, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail jianghl_sd@21cn.comObjective: To evaluate the associations of genetic variants of the miR-217 gene with coronary artery disease (CAD) risk, as well as plasma level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).Methods: A case–control study with 498 CAD patients and 499 frequency-matched healthy controls was conducted to evaluate the associations of four tagSNPs of the miR-217 gene, including rs6724872, rs4999828, rs10206823, and rs41291177, with CAD risk and plasma level of VEGF.Results: SNP rs6724872 and rs4999828 were significantly associated with increased risk of CAD (P value was smaller than 0.05 even after Bonferroni multiple adjustment). Compared with the G allele, C allele of rs6724872 was significantly associated with 1.73-fold increased risk of CAD (95% CI: 1.25– 2.39; P = 0.001). While C allele of rs4999828 was significantly associated with 1.75-fold increased risk of CAD, compared with T allele (95% CI: 1.34– 2.29; P = 4 × 10− 5). Meanwhile, rs6724872 and rs4999828 were also significantly associated with higher level of VEGF (P < 0.001).Conclusion: These findings highlighted the important role of genetic variants of the miR-217 gene in the pathogenesis of CAD and potential targets for intervention.Keywords: coronary artery disease, miR-217, VEGF, genetic more...

Purpose The flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid composed of kerosene and ZnO-Al2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) is investigated. The flow occurs over complex surfaces with stretching and shrinking features. The base fluid is electrically conducting, and an external magnetic field is added so that the nanofluid and the electric field are in equilibrium. Irrotational flow with viscous dissipation effects is considered. Design/methodology/approach The governing equations of the system are formulated, and a similarity transformation is used to convert the system of equations into ordinary differential equations, which are solved numerically. The friction coefficient of the flow and the Nusselt number are calculated for a wide range of parameters, and the results are presented in graphical form. In addition, dual solutions of the problem were noticed to occur for a certain range of the unsteadiness parameter. A stability analysis has been performed and presented to elucidate the behavior of these dual solutions. Findings For the solution of the upper branch, the velocity and temperature profiles of the nanofluid are enhanced by increasing the magnetic field parameter M, but the same variables decrease in the solution of the lower branch. The same trend is detected for the velocity of the fluid with the suction parameter. The temperature of the nanofluid decreases in both branches of the solution by increasing the Prandtl number. Similarly, they decrease with the suction parameter. The temperature of the nanofluid slightly increases in both branches of the solution by increasing the Eckert number. With the stability analysis the authors performed, it was determined that the solution is stable in the upper branch, but unstable in the lower branch. Originality/value The kerosene nanofluid with hybrid Zinc/Aluminum-oxide is presented for the first time in the literature. more...

Through a simple solvothermal method, the bimetallic sulfide nanomaterial (Ni–Mo–S) was successfully grown on the surface of CeO2 to restrain the severe photogenerated electron–hole recombination of CeO2. The presence of a close contact interface between the 0D metal sulfide particles and the 2D CeO2 sheet is conducive to charge transfer. Meanwhile, the introduction of Ni–Mo–S nanoparticles on 2D CeO2 can accelerate surface electron mobility, which could obviously inhibit the combination of electrons and holes. Also, there are many unsaturation sites of metal sulfide introduced on the surface and low hydrogen evolution overpotential, which can serve as active sites for hydrogen evolution. In addition, the 2D structure of CeO2 can provide a support framework for the 0D Ni–Mo–S particles, thereby greatly reducing the recombination of useful electrons and holes. All of these advantages of photocatalysts discussed above make for the enhancement of photocatalyst catalytic performance, which equal to about 66 times compared with pure CeO2. Besides, a series of research tests were carried out from different angles to support the relevant results and proposed possible reaction mechanisms. more...

Pentanediols (1,2-pentanediol and 1,5-pentanediol) are important feedstock for synthesis of fine chemicals, production of which from the biomass-derived furfural or furfuryl alcohol (FA) has been considered as a sustainable route and attracted much interest. In this study, the catalysts with Ni–Fe as the metal sites and Mg–Al layered double hydroxides (LDH) as precursor of support were synthesized. The results showed that the presence of Fe in catalyst affected both the development of the pores of the catalyst and the catalytic behaviors of nickel species. A low Fe content facilitated formation of mesoporous structure, but the higher content destroyed the LDH structure, resulting in a decreased surface area. Fe could also react with metallic Ni to form NiFe alloy. This decreased the catalytic activity for the further hydrogenation of the furan ring in FA, and FA would thus have the chance to produce pentanediols via hydrogenolysis. The In-situ Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy characterization of hydrogenation of FA indicated that the alloying between Fe and Ni resulted in a weak adsorption of C C group in furan ring and moderate adsorption of C–O–C group, which suppressed the complete hydrogenation of FA while facilitated the ring-opening of FA to form the pentanediols. more...

For heterojunction composite photocatalyst, intimate contact interface is the key to the carrier transfer separation conditions. Due to the interface contact, the electron transfer rate between catalysts can be increased during photocatalytic hydrogen production, therefore, we design the close contact of 0D/2D heterojunction, which greatly enhanced the photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of the composite catalyst. The composite catalyst WO3/CoP was obtained by simple high temperature in situ synthesis. Moreover, it was proved by photoelectric chemistry and fluorescence tests that appropriate conduction band and valence band locations of WO3 and CoP provided a favorable way for thermodynamic electron transfer. In addition, fluorescence results showed that WO3 load effectively promoted photoelectron-hole transfer and increased electron lifetime. The formation of S-scheme heterojunctions can make more efficient use of useful photogenerated electrons and prevent the photogenerated electron-hole recombination of CoP itself, further promote the liveness of photocatalytic H2 evolution. Meanwhile, the study of Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) materials further promoted the application of MOFs derivatives in the field of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, and provided a reference for the rational design of composite catalysts for transition metal phosphide photocatalysts. more...

Microgravity and radiation exposure-induced bone damage is one of the most significant alterations in astronauts after long-term spaceflight. However, the underlying mechanism is still largely unknown. Recent ground-based simulation studies have suggested that this impairment is likely mediated by increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during spaceflight. The small Maf protein MafG is a basic-region leucine zipper-type transcription factor, and it globally contributes to regulation of antioxidant and metabolic networks. Our research investigated the role of MafG in the process of apoptosis induced by simulated microgravity and radiation in MC3T3-E1 cells. We found that simulated microgravity or radiation alone decreased MafG expression and elevated apoptosis in MC3T3-E1 cells, and combined simulated microgravity and radiation treatment aggravated apoptosis. Meanwhile, under normal conditions, increased ROS levels facilitated apoptosis and downregulated the expression of MafG in MC3T3-E1 cells. Overexpression of MafG decreased apoptosis induced by simulated microgravity and radiation. These findings provide new insight into the mechanism of bone damage induced by microgravity and radiation during space flight. more...

Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalic acid esters (PAEs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and nitrobenzenes (NBs). Most of them have carcinogenic, teratogenic, mutagenic and endocrine disrupting effects. Therefore, rapid and accurate determination of SVOCs in water is very important. As the most traditional pretreatment method, liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) has the advantages of wide extraction range, high extraction efficiency, simple operation and lower cost, which is very suitable for the simultaneous extraction of multiclass SVOCs. Dichloromethane has good solubility for most SVOCs, and is slightly soluble in water with low boiling point. It is a good broad-spectrum extractive solvent of organic compounds. But at present, there is no detection standard of SVOCs in water in China. In this study, three factors including nitrogen blowing temperature, pH of water sample and extraction time were optimized. It was aimed to establish a liquid-liquid extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the simultaneous determination of the 46 SVOCs in water. At first, the effect of nitrogen blowing temperature (30, 35, 40 ℃) was investigated. The results showed that under different nitrogen blowing temperature, the recoveries of the 46 SVOCs were slightly different, but the differences were not significant. Considering the recovery and concentration efficiency, the nitrogen blowing temperature was finally set at 35 ℃. Dichloromethane was selected as the LLE solvent of the SVOCs and its extraction efficiency was investigated. The recoveries of the 46 SVOCs were satisfactory for the determination. Then sample pH (neutral and alkaline condition) was investigated. Most of the SVOCs in this paper have no obvious acid-base property. The extraction effect of water sample under neutral conditions was the best and the most stable, and under alkaline condition, the recovery of each substance was generally low. Finally, extraction time (7, 10, 15 min) was studied. In a certain range, with the increase of extraction time, the recovery also increased, but when the time increased to 15 min, the recovery of some compounds increased or decreased, and the time-consuming was longer, the recovery of most substances could meet the requirements when the extraction time was set to 10 min. The optimized experimental conditions were determined as follows: under neutral conditions, the water sample was extracted by dichloromethane for three times, each extraction time was 10 min, and concentrated at the nitrogen blowing temperature of 35 ℃. GC-MS was used for detection, and internal standard method was used for quantitative analysis. The results showed that the linearity of the method was good in the range of 20-2000 μg/L, the correlation coefficients (r2) were no less than 0.9916, the limits of detection (LODs, S/N=3) ranged from 0.28 to 16.55 ng/L, and the limits of quantification (LOQs, S/N=10) ranged from 0.92 to 55.16 ng/L. The average recovery was 63.6%-125% at three spiked levels of 0.02, 0.2, 0.4 μg/L, with the relative standard deviations (n=6) ranging from 1.03% to 17.0%. This method was applied for the determination of 27 surface water samples in Jinan section of the Yellow River. The pollutants were mainly PAEs and PAHs, while NBs were not detected, only two kinds of OCPs were detected at some sites. The method is simple, universal, accurate and precise, and has low detection limit. It is suitable for the simultaneous determination of the 46 SVOCs in surface water and groundwater. more...

A discovery program targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) identified C-nucleoside 4 (RSV A2 EC50 = 530 nM) as a phenotypic screening lead targeting the RSV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Prodrug exploration resulted in the discovery of remdesivir (1, GS-5734) that is >30-fold more potent than 4 against RSV in HEp-2 and NHBE cells. Metabolism studies in vitro confirmed the rapid formation of the active triphosphate metabolite, 1-NTP, and in vivo studies in cynomolgus and African Green monkeys demonstrated a >10-fold higher lung tissue concentration of 1-NTP following molar normalized IV dosing of 1 compared to that of 4. A once daily 10 mg/kg IV administration of 1 in an African Green monkey RSV model demonstrated a >2-log10 reduction in the peak lung viral load. These early data following the discovery of 1 supported its potential as a novel treatment for RSV prior to its development for Ebola and approval for COVID-19 treatment. more...

Radiative lifetimes of 20 high-lying excited levels in neutral rhodium (Rh i) were measured using time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence technique, 17 of which are reported for the first time to our knowledge. These lifetimes were combined with theoretical branching fractions obtained from pseudo-relativistic Hartree–Fock calculations to deduce semi-empirical transition probabilities and oscillator strengths for 63 Rh i spectral lines. more...

Biomass and pig manure have distinct compositions and the co-pyrolysis of them has gained much attention. However, the influence of volatiles interaction on the properties of the char was still unclear. In this study, lignin was selected as the model component of biomass with pig manure for co-pyrolysis at 600 °C. The results indicate that volatiles from co-pyrolysis promoted re-condensation reaction, resulting in the higher char yield (48.0% in co-pyrolysis versus 31.0% in pyrolysis of single manure) and the formation of more aromatics in bio-oil. The co-pyrolysis also facilitated the dehydrogenation and dehydration reactions, which accounted for the elimination of oxygen and nitrogen contents and thus a higher carbon content (64.7% in the co-pyrolysis versus the averaged value of 46.4% from the pyrolysis of single feedstock), higher crystallinity and thermal stability of the char. The in-situ diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) characterization results demonstrated that the functionalities abundances of char with temperature was influenced by volatiles interaction via accelerating the carbonization reaction. In addition, the high heating value (HHV) of char was obviously improved by cross-interaction of volatiles during co-pyrolysis (24.4 MJ/Kg in co-pyrolysis versus averaged value of 15.1 MJ/Kg from single pyrolysis), implying that the co-pyrolysis enhanced the energy density of the resulting char. more...

Chemical dealloying is an emerging strategy that can be applied to synthesize porous materials. The structure morphologies of the active materials were precisely regulated by designing the various NaOH corrosion solutions. Three-dimensional micro–nanorods-like structure Ni75Cu25O bimetallic oxide with ultra-high electrochemical properties have been obtained, which used Al65Cu15Ni20 precursors through a dealumination strategy. Meanwhile, three-dimensional micro–nanorods-like structure Ni75Cu25O demonstrates an unusual extraordinary specific capacitance (16.96 F cm−2 at 10 mV s−1) and excellent cycling stability (100.8% retention after 5000 cycles at 10 mV s−1). Here, the transition bimetallic oxides by using the dealloying strategy can be applied to develop novel guidances and ideas for the generation of energy storage devices. more...

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations are common genetic alterations in myeloid disorders, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Epigenetic changes, including abnormal histone and DNA methylation, have been implicated in the pathogenic build-up of hematopoietic progenitors, but it is still unclear whether and how IDH mutations themselves affect hematopoiesis. Here, we show that IDH1-mutant mice develop myeloid dysplasia in that these animals exhibit anemia, ineffective erythropoiesis, and increased immature progenitors and erythroblasts. In erythroid cells of these mice, D-2-hydroxyglutarate, an aberrant metabolite produced by the mutant IDH1 enzyme, inhibits oxoglutarate dehydrogenase activity and diminishes succinyl–coenzyme A (CoA) production. This succinyl-CoA deficiency attenuates heme biosynthesis in IDH1-mutant hematopoietic cells, thus blocking erythroid differentiation at the late erythroblast stage and the erythroid commitment of hematopoietic stem cells, while the exogenous succinyl-CoA or 5-ALA rescues erythropoiesis in IDH1-mutant erythroid cells. Heme deficiency also impairs heme oxygenase-1 expression, which reduces levels of important heme catabolites such as biliverdin and bilirubin. These deficits result in accumulation of excessive reactive oxygen species that induce the cell death of IDH1-mutant erythroid cells. Our results clearly show the essential role of IDH1 in normal erythropoiesis and describe how its mutation leads to myeloid disorders. These data thus have important implications for the devising of new treatments for IDH-mutant tumors. more...

Hard carbon is considered to be one of the most promising anodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), but high cost and poor cycle stability limit the large-scale application for SIBs. Here, a new kind of low-cost sycamore fruit seed hard carbon was prepared by facile pyrolysis at different temperatures as anode for SIBs. With the large interlayer spacing, the reversible specific capacity of sycamore fruit seed carbonized at 1100 °C can reach 323 mAh g−1 at the current density of 0.1 C. When cycled at 0.4 C, the reversible specific capacity is 246.9 mAh g−1, following the capacity retention is 87.85% after 300 cycles. Moreover, we find although the different interlayer spacings (d002 ≥ 0.37 nm) of graphite crystallites of the obtained hard carbon beneficial for the Na+ storage, the smaller d002 limits the diffusion of Na+ inevitably, which affects their cycle stability. This research furnishes a competitive choice about anode materials for the industrialized SIBs. more...

Steam to carbon ratio (S/C) determines the availability of oxygen-containing species during steam reforming, which not only affect the amount of coke formed, but also might impact physicochemical properties of the coke generated. In this study, the effect of S/C on the coke formation in steam reforming of acetic acid was assessed. The results indicated that dissociative absorption of acetic acid generated the intermediates containing both C O and C C groups even at 100 °C. At low S/C, the insufficient ∗OH reacted with carbonaceous intermediates such as CHx to form more carbonyl species, leading to significant coking and lower gas yields. Sufficient ∗OH at high S/C facilitated transformation of the carbonyl-containing species into gases, minimizing coking. The varied amount of coke showed significant effect on the diffraction of metallic nickel phase, the particle size of Ni and the absorption for the Si–O–Si functional groups on spent catalysts. The coke formed at low S/C was more aromatic with high thermal stabilities, while the coke formed at high S/C was more aliphatic with low thermal stabilities. The involvement ∗OH species in coking process determined not only properties but also morphologies of the coke. The coke formed at low S/C showed bamboo-like, dendritic or twisted rope-like structure. While the higher S/C favored the generation of the carbon nanotubes with smooth outer surface. more...