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Inorganic superionic conductor holds great promise for high-performance all-solid-state lithium batteries. However, the ionic conductivity of traditional inorganic solid electrolytes (ISEs) is always unsatisfactory owing to the grain boundary resistance and large thickness. Here, a 13 μm-thick laminar framework with ~ 1.3 nm interlayer channels is fabricated by self-assembling rigid, hydrophilic vermiculite (Vr) nanosheets. Then, Li 0.33 La 0.557 TiO 3 (LLTO) precursors are impregnated in interlayer channels and afterwards in-situ sintered to large-size, oriented, and defect-free LLTO crystal. We demonstrate that the confinement effect permits ordered arrangement of LLTO crystal along the c-axis (the fastest Li + transfer direction), permitting the resultant 15 μm-thick Vr-LLTO electrolyte an ionic conductivity of 8.22×10 -5 S cm -1 and conductance of 87.2 mS at 30 o C. These values are several times' higher than that of traditional LLTO-based electrolytes. Moreover, Vr-LLTO electrolyte has a compressive modulus of 1.24 GPa. Excellent cycling performance is demonstrated with all-solid-state Li/LiFePO 4 battery.

Phosphorus, an essential macroelement for plant growth and development, is a major limiting factor for sustainable crop yield. The Rho of plant (ROP) GTPase is involved in regulating multiple signal transduction processes in plants, but potentially including the phosphate deficiency signaling pathway remains unknown. Here, we identified that the rop6 mutant exhibited a dramatic tolerant phenotype under Pi-deficient conditions, with higher phosphate accumulation and lower anthocyanin content. In contrast, the rop6 mutant was more sensitive to arsenate (As(V)) toxicity, the analog of Pi. Immunoblot analysis displayed that the ROP6 protein was rapidly degraded through ubiquitin/26S proteasome pathway under Pi-deficient conditions. In addition, pull-down assay using GST-RIC1 demonstrated that the ROP6 activity was decreased obviously under Pi-deficient conditions. Strikingly, protein-protein interaction and two-voltage clamping assays demonstrated that ROP6 physically interacted with and inhibited the key phosphate uptake transporters PHT1;1 and PHT1;4 in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, genetic analysis showed that ROP6 functioned upstream of PHT1;1 and PHT1;4. Thus, we conclude that GTPase ROP6 modulates the uptake of phosphate by inhibiting the activities of PHT1;1 and PHT1;4 in Arabidopsis.

The development of thin solid-state electrolytes with high ionic conductivity and mechanical strength is essential for high-performance all-solid-state lithium batteries. Although Inorganic solid electrolytes (ISEs) possess high ionic conductivity, fabricating thin and mechanically stable ISEs is still challenging. Herein, Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) nanosheets with lateral size of 3–5 μm and thickness of ~4.5 nm were prepared, and then self-assembled into thin, defect-free, and freestanding LLZO laminar ISE (LLISE). Compared to LLZO pellet (>200 μm) obtained by cold-pressing method, LLISE with a thickness of 12 μm attains an almost 10-times higher ionic conductivity of 1.30 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 30 °C because of the short Li-ion diffusion distance. Importantly, this thin thickness gives high ionic conductance (0.17 S at 30 °C) and energy density of 340 Wh kg−1, ranking one of the highest values among reported solid-state electrolytes. Meanwhile, the compressive strength of LLISE with a thickness of 20 μm (LLISE-20) reaches 3.2 Gpa. The Li symmetrical cell assembled with LLISE-20 can work over 1500 h without obvious polarization under a current density of 0.2 mA cm−2 at 60 °C. The LFP/Li cell exhibits superior cycling stability of 143.2 mAh g−1 at 0.5C and 60 °C after 200 cycles with low capacity decay of 0.05% per cycle.

Background: To study the effects of Tristetraprolin (TTP) on Doxorubicin (DOX)-induced experimental kidney injury (KI). Methods: DOX was used to induce kidney injury in Balb/c male mice (in vivo) and in human kidney proximal tubular epithelial cell line (HK-2) and normal rat kidney epithelial cell line (NRK-52E) (in vitro). Body weight of the animal groups under investigation were recorded daily throughout the experimental period. Histological changes were observed using Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and levels of blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and serum cystatin C in KI mice, and ROS, MDA, LDH and SOD in cells were detected using the corresponding kits. Meanwhile, intracellular levels of oxidative stress were assessed using 2, 7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCF-DA) fluorescent staining. TTP and Kim-1 expression levels were measured by immunohistochemistry and western blot. The TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 levels were evaluated by ELISA. Expressions of IL-13, STAT6, p-STAT6, Bcl-2, Bax, cleaved-caspase3 were detected via western blot, respectively. CCK-8 was conducted for analyzing cell viability, and cells apoptosis were assessed by DAPI staining and flow cytometry. Results: DOX treatment decreased body weight and aggravated renal injury without changes in water and food intake. DOX significantly reduced TTP expression, stimulated IL-13/STAT6 pathway and elevated the levels of several factors related to renal injury, including inflammatory response, oxidative stress and cell apoptosis, which were significantly restored by the treatment of overexpression TTP in vitro. Conclusion: Overexpression of TTP significantly reduces DOX-induced adverse outcomes so as to prevent renal injury. Inhibition of IL-13/STAT6 pathway may be the functional mechanism under TTP in experimental KI.

The reaction kinetics of the Fe(II)-induced catalytic oxidation of S(IV) in a concentration range of 10–6 M ≤ [Fe(II)] ≤ 1 M was studied. The S(IV) catalytic oxidation reaction order for O2 and HSO3– was found to be 0 and 1 in this iron concentration range. The reaction order toward Fe(II) was 1 for 10–6 M ≤ [Fe(II)] ≤ 10–4 M, 0 for 10–4 M < [Fe(II)] ≤ 10–2 M, and −0.2 for 10–2 M ≤ [Fe(II)] ≤ 1 M. At 30–50 °C the activation energy values were low but increased after an increase in the ionic strength. The ionic strength had a negative influence on the reaction rate constant in the iron concentration range. By analyzing the radical mechanisms and reaction kinetic results, a simplified model for the Fe(II)-induced catalytic oxidation of S(IV), which enables a better analysis and elucidation of the experimental results, is proposed.

A process for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) with simultaneous polymeric ferric sulfate (PFS) production was investigated, using a ferrous sulfate (FeSO 4 ) solution as the absorbent, sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) in flue gas as the raw material and sodium chlorate (NaClO 3 ) as the oxidant. The results indicate that SO 2 removal efficiency in a packed column could be maintained at a high level, with an average value of more than 95% during experiments. Liquid PFS that met established quality standard was produced simultaneously. Meanwhile, the solid PFS by-products would be obtained in a spray-drying column due to the high temperature inlet flue gas and its quality parameters were determined. The liquid and solid PFS by-products were used to treat three types of wastewater, and it is found that two types of synthesized PFS were close or better than commercially available solid PFS for chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and the performance of liquid PFS was found to be superior to that of solid PFS.

The strong electron-accepting ability of transition metal ions enables them to catalyze the oxidation of S(IV) to S(VI) in solution. This reaction has been applied in many fields, such as flue gas desulfurization, hydrometallurgy, atmospheric chemistry, and chemical engineering. To understand the characteristics of the catalysis, this paper reviews the status of research on this reaction in the different fields. This work aims to promote the mutual appreciation of research results among different fields, and reports on the progress in studies on the reaction.