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In the post-COVID-19 era, extensive quantities of antipyretic drugs are being haphazardly released from households into the environment, which may pose potential risks to ecological systems and human health. Identification of the mobility behaviors of these compounds in the subsurface environment is crucial to understand the environmental fate of these common contaminants. The mobility properties of three broad-spectrum antipyretic drugs, including ibuprofen (IBF), indometacin (IMC), and acetaminophen (APAP), in porous soil media, were investigated in this study. The results showed that the mobility of the three drugs (the background electrolyte was Na+) through the soil column followed the order of APAP > IBF > IMC. The difference in the physicochemical characteristics of various antipyretic drugs (e.g., the molecular structure and hydrophobicity) could explain this trend. Unlike Na+, Ca2+ ions tended to serve as bridging agents by linking the soil grains and antipyretic molecules, leading to the relatively weak mobility behaviors of antipyretic drugs. Furthermore, for a given antipyretic drug, the antipyretic mobility was promoted when the background solution pH values were raised from 5.0 to 9.0. The phenomenon stemmed from the improved electrostatic repulsion between the dissociated species of antipyretic molecules and soil grains, as well as the weakened hydrophobic interactions between antipyretic drugs and soil organic matter. Furthermore, a two-site non-equilibrium transport model was used to estimate the mobility of antipyretic drugs. The results obtained from this work provide vital information illustrating the transport and retention of various antipyretic drugs in aquifers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing the low‐cost catalysts with excellent catalytic activities to replace the expensive ones for H2 evolution still faces great challenges. It is significant to design the new catalysts with the synergistic effect to improve the activities and decrease the cost of the applications. Herein, the novel nanocatalyst of graphene quantum dots loaded bimetallic nanoparticles (Pt‐Co/GQDs) has been synthesized for the H2 evolution from hydrolysis of amine borane (AB) for the first time. The result indicates that the Pt‐Co/GQDs nanocatalyst holds the better catalytic activities than Pt/GQDs, exhibiting the bimetallic synergies in the hydrolysis process. The synthesized catalyst has been characterized by various measurements, such as TEM, XPS, EDS, UV–Vis, and PL spectra. The effect of the catalyst on the hydrolysis of AB is investigated. It is demonstrated that the value of total turnover frequencies (TOFs) can arrive to 520 molH2·molPt−1·min−1 via the catalyst designing, which is very high in comparison with other reported catalysts. This work has developed an effective nanocatalyst with a lower cost which is never reported in the hydrolysis of AB, possessing both great significance and huge potential in the H2 evolution by hydrolysis of the hydrogen storage materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene (graphene) is a new type of two-dimensional inorganic nanomaterial developed in recent years. It can be used as an ideal inorganic nanofiller for the preparation of polymer nanocomposites because of its high mechanical strength, excellent electrical conductivity and plentiful availability (from graphite). In this review, the preparation methods of graphene/polymer nanocomposites, including solution blending, melt blending and in situ polymerization, are introduced in order to study the relationship between these methods and the final characteristics and properties. Each method has an influence on the final characteristics and properties of the nanocomposites. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed. In addition, a variety of nanocomposites with different properties, such as mechanical properties, electronic conductivity, thermal conductivity and thermal properties, are summarized comprehensively. The potential applications of these nanocomposites in conductive materials, electromagnetic shielding materials, photocatalytic materials and so on, are briefly presented. This review demonstrates that polymer/graphene nanocomposites exhibit superior comprehensive performance and will be applied in the fields of new materials and novel devices. Future research directions of the nanocomposites are also presented.

Polyacrylamide with improved tacticity and low molecular weight distribution was obtained via stereospecific atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using the mixture of Lewis acids Y(OTf)3 and AlCl3 in a certain ratio as stereospecific catalyst and chloroacetic acid/ Cu2O / N,N,N’,N’-tetramethylethylenediamine( TMEDA) as initiating system. The initiating system afforded persistently controlled ATRP of acrylamide with lower polydispersity index ranging from 1.12 to 1.35 as well as a moderate polymerization process. The participation of the mixture of Lewis acids Y(OTf)3 and AlCl3 as stereospecific catalyst in the stereospecific ATRP of acrylamide contributed optimal stereospecific PAM with the meso content 80%~83%. Polymerization kinetics displayed a living/controlled nature of the present polymerizations.

This paper proposes a new driving solution which adds a skew detection module under the original architecture of source driver to solve the phase skew caused by TCON or SOC instability in the initial state during panel power on, causing the source driver to lock this phase skew and possibly generate the lock signal, thereby causing the source driver to re‐lock and resulting in abnormal display. It can be proven that this driving solution can effectively solve the problems, while ensuring that the skew of different transmission differential pairs is within ± 0.5UI, to avoid the occurrence of abnormal display. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new class of fluorescent carbon materials, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have attracted tremendous attention due to their outstanding properties and potential applications in biological, optoelectronic, and energy-related fields. Herein, top-down and bottom-up strategies for the fabrication of GQDs, mainly containing oxidative cleavage, the hydrothermal or solvothermal method, the ultrasonic-assisted or microwave-assisted process, electrochemical oxidation, controllable synthesis, and carbonization from small molecules or polymers, are discussed. Different methods are presented in order to study their characteristics and their influence on the final properties of the GQDs. The respective advantages and disadvantages of the methods are introduced. With regard to some important or novel methods, the mechanisms are proposed for reference. Moreover, recent exciting progresses on the applications of GQD, such as sensors, bio-imaging, drug carriers, and solar cells are highlighted. Finally, a brief outlook is given, pointing out the issues still to be settled for further development. We believe that new preparation methods and properties of GQDs will be found, and GQDs will play more important roles in novel devices and various applications.

Background: A high concentration of CO2 will stagnate the development of the newly formed primordia of Hypsizygus marmoreus, hinder the development of the mushroom cap, thereby inhibiting the normal differentiation of the fruiting body. Moreover, in the previous experiment, our research group obtained the mutant strain HY68 of H. marmoreus, which can maintain normal fruiting under the condition of high concentration of CO2. Our study aimed to evaluate the CO2 tolerance ability of the mutant strain HY68, in comparison with the starting strain HY61 and the control strain HY62. We analyzed the mycelial growth of these strains under various conditions, including different temperatures, pH levels, carbon sources, and nitrogen sources, and measured the activity of the cellulose enzyme. Additionally, we identified and predicted β-glucosidase-related genes in HY68 and analyzed their gene and protein structures. Results: Our results indicate that HY68 showed superior CO2 tolerance compared to the other strains tested, with an optimal growth temperature of 25 °C and pH of 7, and maltose and beef paste as the ideal carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Enzyme activity assays revealed a positive correlation between β-glucosidase activity and CO2 tolerance, with Gene14147 identified as the most closely related gene to this activity. Inbred strains of HY68 showed trait segregation for CO2 tolerance. Conclusions: Both HY68 and its self-bred offspring could tolerate CO2 stress. The fruiting period of the strains resistant to CO2 stress was shorter than that of the strains not tolerant to CO2 stress. The activity of β-GC and the ability to tolerate CO2 were more closely related to the growth efficiency of fruiting bodies. This study lays the foundation for understanding how CO2 regulates the growth of edible fungi, which is conducive to the innovation of edible fungus breeding methods. The application of the new strain HY68 is beneficial to the research of energy-saving production in factory cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria still pose a clinical challenge. Although nanomaterials have been developed for antibacterial treatments, a systematic evaluation of the mechanisms and intervention models of antibacterial materials toward Gram-negative bacteria is still lacking. Herein, antibacterial quaternized carbon dots (QCDs) were synthesized via a one-step melting method using anhydrous citric acid and diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DDA). The QCDs exhibited effective broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and enhanced inhibitory ability towards Gram-negative bacteria. The antibacterial mechanism of the QCDs with respect to Gram-negative bacteria was investigated through the characterization of bacterial morphology changes, the absorption modes of the QCDs on bacteria, and the potential generation of reactive oxygen species by the QCDs. The QCDs showed low toxicity in different cells, and did not cause hemolysis. The QCDs were administered via intraperitoneal injection to treat acute peritonitis in mice infected with E. coli. Routine blood examination, magnetic resonance imaging, and pathological analysis were undertaken and it was found that, similar to the positive control group treated with gentamicin sulfate, the QCDs exhibited a therapeutic effect that eliminated infection and inflammation. This study explores a controllable synthetic strategy for the synthesis of active carbon dots with antibacterial activity, a material that is a promising candidate for new treatments of Gram-negative bacterial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]