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The Li metal anode is considered one of the most potential anodes due to its highest theoretical specific capacity and the lowest redox potential. However, the scalable preparation of safe Li anodes remains a challenge. In the present study, a LiF-rich protection layer has been developed using self-driven chemical reactions between the Li

The exploration for low-cost bifunctional materials for highly efficient overall water splitting has drawn profound research attention. Here, we present a facile preparation of Mo–P dual-doped Co/o...

TiO2 nanostructures have been one of the most explored metal oxides photocatalysts to apply for environmental remediation. However, its wide band gap results in the underutilization of sunlight for degradation of pollutants. In order to overcome this handicap, the synthesis of TiO2-based composite has brought extraordinary materials. In this study, we design and prepare TiO2/Nb2O5 heterostructures with different molar ratios by using peroxotitanium and peroxoniobium complex as precursors in aqueous solution. The TiO2 exists in the form of anatase while Nb2O5 is amorphous in the composite, leading to a special crystalline TiO2/amorphous Nb2O5 heterostructures. In particular, Nb element is also doped and Ti3+ ions are formed in the TiO2 lattice, leading to a reduced band gap. The unique TiO2/0.25Nb2O5 (Ti:Nb = 2:1) heterostructures can effectively suppress the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes, and facilitate the charge transfer, resulting in the optimum photocatalytic performance. The nitrogen oxide removal efficiency by TiO2/0.25Nb2O5 is 77.23% in visible light, which is 3.8-folds and 7.0-folds higher than pure TiO2 and Nb2O5. Photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen by TiO2/0.25Nb2O5 is 90.6% in visible light, which is approximately 2.5-folds higher than pure TiO2 and Nb2O5.

Aim: In the late stage of atherosclerosis, the endothelial barrier of plaque is destroyed. The rapid deposition of oxidized lipids in the circulation leads to migration of numerous smooth muscle cells and macrophages, as well as foaming necrosis. The plaque progresses rapidly, and vulnerable plaques can easily induce adverse cardiovascular events. Here, we take the principle of gene editing to transfer the liver to express the LOX-1 receptor which is more sensitive to Ox-LDL by using AAV8 containing a liver-specific promoter. In this way, we want to explore whether the progress of advanced atherosclerosis and the stability of advanced plaque can be improved when the liver continues to clear Ox-LDL from the circulation. Methods and Results: In order to explore the effect of the physiological and continuous elimination of Ox-LDL through the liver on advanced atherosclerosis, we chose ApoE-/- mice in high-fat diet for 20 weeks. After 16 weeks of high-fat diet, the baseline group was sacrificed and the specimens were collected. The virus group and the control group were injected with the same amount of virus dilution and normal saline through the tail vein, and continued to feed until 20 weeks of high-fat diet, and then sacrificed to collect specimens. The results showed that LOX-1 was ectopically and functionally expressed in the liver as an Ox-LDL receptor, reducing the content of it in circulation. Compared with the control group, the degree of plaque progression in the virus group was significantly reduced, similar to the baseline group, the plaque necrosis core decreased, and the collagen fiber content increased. In addition, there are more contractile smooth muscle cells in the plaques of the virus group instead of synthetic ones, and the content of macrophages was also reduced. These data suggested that the virus group mice have greatly increased advanced plaque stability compared with the control group mice. Conclusions: Due to the destruction of endothelial barrier in advanced plaques, rapid deposition of Ox-LDL can result in fast plaque progression, increased necrotic cores, and decreased stability. Our research shows that the use of AAV8 through gene editing allows the liver to express LOX-1 receptors that are more sensitive to Ox-LDL, so that it can continue to bind Ox-LDL in the circulation and exploit the liver's strong lipid metabolism ability to physiologically clear Ox-LDL, which can inhibit the rapid progress of advanced plaque and increase the stability of plaque.

Large-size flexible biomass carbon membranes have been prepared by using inexhaustible chitosan (CS) as carbon source. The microstructure of carbon membranes depends on the pyrolysis temperature, and the resulting membrane has a porous honeycomb-like architecture with N-doping content of 6.3% after the pyrolysis at 1000 °C. The flexible carbon membranes can be directly used as self-standing electrodes for various batteries, that is, with no current collectors, organic binders, or additional conductive agents. The carbon membranes as anodes for potassium-ion batteries exhibit excellent rate performance and a stable reversible capacity of 146 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1 after 500 cycles, and its sodium-ion storage remains 236 mAh g−1 after 70 cycles. The kinetic analysis of carbon membranes in batteries shows that the surface-controlled mechanism plays a decisive role in the potassium/sodium storage because the honeycomb structure and high proportion of pyridine N-doping can improve the adsorption of K+/Na+ ions and the conductivity. In addition, the main reasons for the capacity degradation of the carbon membrane under long cycle and different current densities are discussed. The CS-derived flexible carbon membranes show a promising application as cost-effective, binder-free electrodes in flexible batteries.

Lithium-sulfur battery is one of the most promising candidates for next-generation energy storage systems, but the serious shuttle effect and sluggish reaction kinetics of polysulfides impair its practical applications. Herein, sulfur-deficient MoS

Transition metal nanostructures are widely regarded as important catalysts to replace the precious metal Pt for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water splitting. However, it is difficult to obtain uniform-sized and ultrafine metal nanograins through general high-temperature reduction and sintering processes. Herein, a novel method of chemical energy-driven lithiation is introduced to synthesize transition metal nanostructures. By taking advantage of the slow crystallization kinetics at room temperature, more surface and boundary defects can be generated and remained, which reduce the atomic coordination number and tune the electronic structure and adsorption free energy of the metals. The obtained Ni nanostructures therein exhibit excellent HER performance. In addition, the bimetal of Co and Ni shows better electrocatalytic kinetics than individual Ni and Co nanostructures, reaching 100 mA cm

Lithium-oxygen batteries (LOBs) have been extensively studied as an attractive secondary battery due to their ultra-high energy density. However, its high charging voltage, poor cycle stability, and low rate performance make its practical applications very limited. Since the positive electrode is the main reaction site of LOBs, improving the structure and catalytic activity of the cathode catalyst is the key method to improve the electrochemical performance. In this work, colored titanium dioxide nanoparticles were synthesized by calcination in argon. Raman and XPS confirmed the existence of more oxygen vacancies and Ti3+ in black TiO2 than gray one. HRTEM analysis also reveals the defective layers of 2–3 nm on the TiO2 surface. Due to the high electrical conductivity and good catalytic activity promoted by oxygen vacancies and Ti3+ ions, the black TiO2-based cathodes have good electrochemical activity and enhanced cycling stability for LOBs. Compared with the gray TiO2 (4.3 V), the black TiO2 nanoparticles show a low overpotential with the charge voltage of 3.7 V. The charging voltage significantly reduced approximately 600 mV, which reduces the battery's side reactions and polarization, and thus enhances the cycling performance of the battery. When the cut-off capacity is 500 mAh g−1, it can run for 108 cycles without significant change in terminal voltage, indicating that black TiO2 is an efficient catalyst for LOBs.

Transition metal oxides have shown an extraordinary potential for lithium-storage capability to date. However, it remains enormous challenge to gain high capacities, good rate performance and cyclability due to their inferior conductivity. To address this issue, oxygen vacancies (VOs) implanted ultrathin WO3 nanorods (the diameter around 5 nm and the length less than 100 nm) composed with reduced graphene oxide (namely WO3-x/rGO), were synthesized by proposing a logical design. For the sake of better showing the outcome of such configuration, holy nanosheets of pure WO3 anode were proposed to compare with nanorods WO3-x/rGO one in terms of electrochemical properties, and they were obtained via annealing H2WO4/rGO precursor in air and argon atmosphere with the same annealing ramp, respectively. By contrast, both electron paramagnetic resonance and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic characterizations demonstrate the existence of VOs in WO3-x/rGO composite. The generation of VOs together with the reserve of rGO, the conductivity of WO3-x/rGO anode is distinctly enhanced, which is then verified by the compared electrochemical performance in this work. It is clearly shown that the WO3-x/rGO nanocomposite displays a capacity of 745 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.1 A g−1 after 200 cycles and excellent cycling stability up to 1000 cycles with capacity of 428 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1. These findings exhibit that nanorods WO3-x/rGO nanocomposite is a promising candidate for high-performance Li-ion battery anode.

The development of highly efficient transition metal-based catalysts for overall water splitting is of extreme significance for promoting large-scale sustainable utilization of hydrogen energy and energy conversion. Herein, we report a novel 3D Ni3S2/Cu-NiCo LDH heterostructure nanosheet arrays grown on nickel foam as a promising bifunctional electrocatalyst for OER and HER. In this design, copper ions are firstly doped into NiCo LDH to tune the electronic structure and enhance the inherent activity of pristine LDH. Metallic Ni3S2 is then introduced to establish a coupling heterostructure interface with Cu-NiCo LDH to boost the conductivity and activity. The incorporation of Cu ions and Ni3S2 into NiCo LDH also creates more active sites through crystal structure disorder and interface defects. Moreover, the 3D hierarchical nanosheet arrays can accelerate the electrolyte diffusion, promote the rapid release of gas bubbles, and ensure fast electron/mass transport along with strong electrochemical stability. All these merits endow the materials with a superior overall water splitting ability in alkaline environment, showing the low overpotentials of 119 and 218 mV for OER and overpotentials of 156 and 304 mV for HER at 10 and 100 mA cm-2, respectively. Furthermore, the overall water electrolytic cell using Ni3S2/Cu-NiCo LDH as both electrodes can reach 100 mA cm-2 at 1.75 V with outstanding durability. This study provides new strategy and insights for the exploration of high activity non-noble metal catalysts for overall water splitting.

The introduction of a dual-functional interlayer into lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) provides many opportunities for restraining the "shuttle effect" and enhancing sluggish sulfur conversion kinetics. Tuning the band structure of the metal sulfide provides an opportunity to enhance its catalytic activity, which plays an important role in suppressing the "shuttle effect" of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) in LSBs. Here were present a Co9S8@MoS2 core-shell heterostructure anchored to a carbon nanofiber (Co9S8@MoS2/CNF), developed as an interlayer for suppressing the shuttle effect of LiPSs. The fabricated composite heterostructure is determined to be an effective alternative material that combines the synergistic relationship between chemisorption and electrochemical catalysis. We find that the band structure of the MoS2 shell can be effectively tuned by the Co9S8 core and that the Co9S8@MoS2/CNF can capture the LiPSs, providing excellent catalytic ability to convert LiPSs into Li2S2, with subsequent transformation from Li2S2 to Li2S. Importantly, high capacities of 1002 and 986 mAh g-1 can be retained after 50 cycles with high-sulfur loadings of 6 and 10 mg cm-2. Our results highlight the design of an atomic-scale heterostructure as a multifunctional interlayer providing a synergistic relationship between adsorption and catalysis. The net result is an effective retardation of the shuttling of LiPSs and an enhancement of the electrochemical redox reactions of LiPSs. This work shows great promise toward the development of practical applications of LSBs.

This paper presented the plasmonic Bi in-situ deposited on the surface of Bi2O2CO3 nanoplates forming plasma enhanced Bi/Bi2O2CO3 heterojunction photocatalyst through a facile one-pot solvothermal method by using methanol as both solvent and carbon source. The water splitting efficiency of the as-prepared Bi/Bi2O2CO3 heterojunction photocatalyst was much better than that of pure phase Bi2O2CO3 due to the Bi nanoparticles surface plasma resonance (SPR) effect for promoting light response and the charge carriers separation and transfer. The experimental results also showed that the H2O played an important role in the fabrication of Bi/Bi2O2CO3 heterojunction photocatalyst, furthermore, the content of Bi in Bi/Bi2O2CO3 changed with the variation of additional H2O which impacted photocatalytic activities. The method of semimetal in-situ deposition without reductants in this work also provided new perspectives into the rational design and facile synthesis of bismuth based semiconductor photocatalysts.

Application of the graphene-based composites in practice was hampered due to the lack of the controllable synthesis strategy. To solve the problem, we envisaged the organic nanodroplets as a nano-reaction environment to obtain the organic nanoframes by photo-polymerization, then to directly graphitize for the graphene-based materials. In such strategy, two-dimensional laminar matrix of graphene nanosheets (2DLMG) was obtained with millimeter-scale surface, which rendered the matrix high electron conductivity. Thanks to the confinement effect of the nanodroplets, the composited materials were homogeneously dispersed in the organic nanoframes. Then, the organic nanoframes converted directly to 2DLMG-based composites after calcination. In this paper, the transformation from organic nanoframes to 2DLMG has been revealed in detail by comprehensive analyses from SEM, XRD and XPS. To demonstrate the versatility of 2DLMG, the superiority in lithium ion battery has been indicated by the high specific capacity (565 mA h g−1), high cycling performance after 500 cycles and the 100% retention capacity in rate measurement. For the synthesis of the composites, Sn nanoparticles and γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were distributed in 2DLMG without the aggregation with high loading. The proposed organic molecule confinement reaction strategy was expected to point out a promising direction for the preparation of graphene-based materials.

The exploration for low-cost bifunctional materials for highly efficient overall water splitting has drawn profound research attention. Here, we present a facile preparation of Mo-P dual-doped Co/oxygen-deficient Co

Objective: Ox-LDL is the core factor in the development of atherosclerosis. However, there are few therapyaimed at eliminating Ox-LDL. Here in this study, we investigate whether the expression of the lectin-like oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor (LOX-1) in the liver could lead to the phagocytosis and degradationof circulating Ox-LDL and prevent the deposition of oxidized lipids in the vascular wall, thereby alleviatingthe progression of atherosclerosis.Methods: ApoE-/- mice were randomly divided into three groups, the control group,the AAV8-TBG-eGFP group and AAV8-TBG-LOX-1 group. In the viral group, mice received an injection of AAV8-TBG-LOX-1 (1.16×1011 virus genome (vg)/animal/100 μl). The mice in the control group and the AAV8-TBG-eGFP group received the same amount of sterile saline and AAV8-TBG-eGFP injections. The expression of LOX-1 in the liver was detected by immunofluorescent, Western blot and immunohistochemistry. The safety was assessed by H&E staining and blood biochemical analyses. The function of LOX-1 in the liver was detected by the co- localization of LOX-1 and Dil-Ox-LDL under laser scanning confocal microscope. The Ox-LDL in plasma was detected by ELISA. Changes in blood lipids were assessed through blood biochemical analysis. The pro- gression of atherosclerotic lesions was detected by oil red O（ORO） staining. And the expression of VCAM- 1 in endothelial cells and the extent of macrophages in plaques were detected by immunofluorescence staining. The protein expression in liver was assessed by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Results: The expression of LOX-1 was stable in liver within 4 weeks. Ectopically expressed LOX-1 in the liver phagocytosed and degraded Ox-LDL and reduced Ox-LDL in circulating plasma but did not have a significant effect on blood lipid levels. After the expression of LOX-1 in liver, Ox-LDL can be cleared by the liver, thereby reducing VCAM-1 expression in vascular endothelium and migration of macrophages in plaques, and eventually alleviating the progression of atherosclerosis. Hepatic LOX-1 expression may facilitate the metabolic clearance of Ox-LDL by upregulating the expression of ABCG5/G8. Conclusions: Ectopic liver-specific expression of LOX-1 alleviates the progression of atherosclerosis by clearing Ox-LDL in circulation.

Objective Oxidized Low-Density-Lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) is the core factor in the development of atherosclerosis. However, there are few therapies aimed at eliminating Ox-LDL. Here in this study, we investigate whether the ectopically expression of the lectin-like oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor (LOX-1) in the liver could lead to the elimination of circulating Ox-LDL and prevent the deposition in the vascular wall, thereby alleviating the progression of atherosclerosis. Methods Apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE−/−) mice were randomly divided into three groups, the control group, the AAV8-TBG-eGFP group (eGFP group) and AAV8-TBG-LOX-1 group (LOX-1 group). In the LOX-1 group, mice received an injection of virus dilution AAV8-TBG-LOX-1 (1.16 × 1011 virus genome (v.g)/animal/100 μl). The mice in the control group and eGFP group received the same amount of sterile saline and AAV8-TBG-eGFP virus dilution injections. The expression of LOX-1 in the liver was detected by immunofluorescent, western blot and immunohistochemistry. The safety of the virus was assessed by hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining, blood biochemical analyses and immunofluorescent. The function of LOX-1 in the liver was detected by the co-localization of LOX-1 and Dil-labeled Ox-LDL (Dil-Ox-LDL) under laser scanning confocal microscope. The extent of Ox-LDL in plasma was detected by ELISA. Changes in blood lipids were assessed through blood biochemical analysis. The progression of atherosclerotic lesions was detected by Oil red O staining. And the expression of Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in endothelial cells and the extent and migration of macrophages in atherosclerotic plaque were detected by immunofluorescence staining. The protein expression in liver was assessed by qRT-PCR and western blot. Results The expression of LOX-1 was stable in liver within 4 weeks. Ectopically expressed LOX-1 in the liver phagocytosed and degraded Ox-LDL and reduced Ox-LDL from circulation but did not have a significant effect on blood lipid levels. After the expression of LOX-1 in liver, Ox-LDL can be cleared by the hepatocytes, thereby reducing VCAM-1 expression in vascular endothelium and the migration of macrophages in plaques, and eventually alleviating the progression of atherosclerosis. Functional expression of LOX-1 in hepatocytes may facilitate the metabolic clearance of Ox-LDL by upregulating the expression of ATP-binding cassette G5 and G8 (ABCG5/G8), which is the primary neutral sterol transporter in hepatobiliary and transintestinal cholesterol excretion. Conclusion Ectopic liver-specific expression of LOX-1 receptor alleviates the progression of atherosclerosis by clearing Ox-LDL from circulation.

We present a precipitation-strengthening strategy to produce a strong and ductile alloy at a broad range of temperatures., High-entropy alloys (HEAs), as an emerging class of materials, have pointed a pathway in developing alloys with interesting property combinations. Although they are not exempted from the strength-ductility trade-off, they present a standing chance in overcoming this challenge. Here, we report results for a precipitation-strengthening strategy, by tuning composition to design a CoNiV-based face-centered cubic/B2 duplex HEA. This alloy sustains ultrahigh gigapascal-level tensile yield strengths and excellent ductility from cryogenic to elevated temperatures. The highest specific yield strength (~150.2 MPa·cm3/g) among reported ductile HEAs is obtained. The ability of the alloy presented here to sustain this excellent strength-ductility synergy over a wide temperature range is aided by multiple deformation mechanisms i.e., twins, stacking faults, dynamic strain aging, and dynamic recrystallization. Our results open the avenue for designing precipitation-strengthened lightweight HEAs with advanced strength-ductility combinations over a wide service temperature range.

Using polymer electrolytes with relatively high mechanical strength, enhanced safety, and excellent flexibility to replace the conventional liquid electrolytes is an effective strategy to curb the Li-dendrite growth in Li-metal batteries (LMBs). However, low ionic conductivity, unsatisfactory thermal stability, and narrow electrochemical window still hinder their applications. Here, we fabricate Li0.35La0.55TiO3 (LLTO) nanofiber-enabled poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-based composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs) with enhanced mechanical property and wide electrochemical window. The results show that 15 wt % of LLTO nanofibers synergize with PVDF, giving a flexible electrolyte membrane with significantly improved performance, such as high ionic conductivity (5.3 × 10-4 S cm-1), wide electrochemical window (5.1 V), high mechanical strength (stress 9.5 MPa, strain 341%), and good thermal stability (thermal degradation 410 °C). In addition, an all-solid-state Li-metal battery of sandwich-type LiFePO4/PVDF-CPE (15 wt % of LLTO)/Li delivers satisfactory cycling stability and outstanding rate performance. A reversible capacity of 121 mA h g-1 is delivered at 1 C after 100 cycles. This work exemplifies that the introduction of LLTO nanofibers can improve the electrochemical performances of PVDF-based CPEs used as electrolytes for all-solid-state LMBs.

A novel nitrogen and oxygen dual-doped porous carbon (NOPC) has been prepared from the aerial roots of ficus microcarpas through a facile carbonization and activation approach using KOH as the chemical activating agent. The obtained NOPC has very large specific surface area of 2294 m2 g−1 and high pore volume of 1.15 cm3 g−1. Thanks to the high specific surface area and the doping of nitrogen and oxygen, the prepared NOPC/S cathode with a sulfur content of 55.9% shows a high initial discharge capacity of 1338 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C and retains 1047 mA h g-1 after 200 cycles. What is more, the NOPC/S-62.9% cathode also remains high capacity of 1036 mA h g-1 and the coulomb efficiency remains 98.3% after 200 cycles. Taking into account of the low cost, green and sustainable development, NOPC/S composites show good prospects in the application of lithium-sulfur batteries.

Layered two-dimensional MoSe2 has raised much interest in lithium/sodium ion batteries (LIBs/SIBs) due to its unique structure and high theoretical capacity. In this work, we have fabricated MoSe2@carbon cloth (MoSe2@CC) composites through an in situ hydrothermal approach followed by an annealing treatment. The as-synthesized MoSe2@CC composites are constructed by MoSe2 nanoflowers anchored on CC network, which can be directly used as binder-free anodes for LIBs and SIBs. As an anode for LIBs, the MoSe2@CC performs excellent rate capacity (1337, 1092, 952, 831 and 749 mAh g−1 at current densities of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 A g−1) and super long-life cycling stability (638 mAh g−1 remains after 1200 cycles at 5 A g−1). As for SIBs, the MoSe2@CC electrode delivers a high initial discharge capacity of 839 mAh g−1 and excellent long-life cycling stability, retaining 202 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles. Kinetics results indicate that the Li+ and Na+ storages in MoSe2@CC are both dominated by surface-based pseudocapacitive process, which greatly improves the rate performance of LIBs/SIBs. The CC provides a conductive network and an excellent utilization rate of the active material MoSe2 to improve the electrochemical performance.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is an appealing technology due to its conspicuous advantages in the area of energy storage. However, many challenges remain, such as the design of cathode with high sulfur loading, suppression of shuttle effects, enhanced performance and large scale preparation. Here, we report a novel 3D free-standing nitrogen-doped porous carbon foam (PCF) obtained by carbonization of the natural melaleuca bark, and apply it as a binder-free current collector to host sulfur for Li-S cells. This study shows that the obtained N-doped PCF possesses sheet-like porous carbon structures, high specific surface area, and large pore volume. Taking advantage of these properties, the resulting PCF/S electrodes exhibit an initial discharge capacity of 1330 mAh g−1, good reversible capacity of 880 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 C and deliver an excellent cycling stability (over 250 cycles at 0.5 C with 0.14% capacity fading per cycle). In addition, the PCF/S electrodes with large areal mass loading of 6 mg cm−2 show a high areal capacity of 4.14 mAh cm−2, revealing a great potential for high energy Li-S batteries.

Porous carbon materials are considered as a promising sulfur host for lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. However, many porous carbon materials are prepared by complicated preparation processes, facing challenges including low yields, toxic chemicals, and high-energy consumption. In this work, a simple method is reported for the preparation of mesoporous carbon with a high surface area (2166 m2 g−1) and an ultra large pore volume (4.09 cm3 g−1) by the direct carbonization of an adipic acid and zinc powder mixture without further chemical/physical activation process. The mesoporous carbon is composed of nanosheets with abundant capsule-like nanopores of around 15 nm, exhibiting a hierarchically assembled flower-like structure. The porous carbon nanosheets (PCNSs) with a hierarchical structure are used as the host for sulfur to form a homogeneous composite (S/PCNS) through a conventional heat infiltration process. Excellent electrochemical performance is achieved with S/PCNS as the cathode of a Li–S battery. The S/PCNS composite with 62 wt% sulfur exhibits an initial discharge capacity of 1384 mA h g−1 and retains a reversible capacity of 657 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.2C rate. Remarkably, the S/PCNS composite exhibits a decay rate of only 0.046% per cycle within 500 cycles at 1C rate. The high surface area, large pore volume, and sheet-like two-dimensional (2D) structure of the micro/mesoporous carbon matrix render the sulfur-based cathode with superior electrochemical kinetics, rate capability, and long-life performance.

Ruthenium (Ru) single atoms were decorated on the surface of the graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) successfully in this work. By varieties of characterization, the existence of Ru single atoms and the defects (cyano groups) caused in the process of synthesis have been confirmed. The catalyst decorated by Ru atoms (Ru-CCN-0.05) had better absorption capacity and a wider absorption range of light than the catalyst with no Ru atoms loading on (Ru-CCN-0). Without the help of hole-scavengers, the rate of photocatalytic nitrogen fixation of Ru-CCN-0.05 in ultra-pure water was 2.26 mg L−1 gcat −1 h−1, 1.5 times that of bare g-C3N4.

TiO

Background Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are associated with the burden of premature deaths and huge medical costs globally. There is an increasing number of studies combining a multiple health behavior change (MHBC) intervention paradigm with eHealth approaches to jointly promote weight-related health behaviors among people with NCD; yet, a comprehensive summary of these studies is lacking. Objective This review aims to meta-analyze the effectiveness and systematically summarize the characteristics of the relevant intervention studies for improving the outcomes of physical activity, healthy diet, and weight among people with NCD. Methods Following PRISMA guidelines, 4 electronic databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus) were systematically searched to identify eligible articles based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Article selection, quality assessment, and data extraction were independently performed by 2 authors. The standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for 3 intervention outcomes (physical activity, healthy diet, and weight), and subsequent subgroup analyses were performed for gender, age, intervention duration, channel, and theory. Calculations were conducted, and figures were produced in SPSS 22 and Review Manager 5.3. Results Of the 664 original hits generated by the systematic searches, 15 eligible studies with moderate to high quality were included. No potential publication bias was detected using statistical analyses. Studies varied in intervention channel, intensity, and content. The meta-analysis revealed that the eHealth MHBC interventions significantly promoted physical activity (SMD 0.85, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.47, P=.008) and healthy diet (SMD 0.78, 95% CI 0.13 to 1.43, P=.02), but did not contribute to a healthy weight status (SMD –0.13, 95% CI= –0.47 to 0.20, P=.43) among people with NCDs, compared to the control conditions. Results from subgroup analysis indicated that theory-based interventions achieved greater effect than nontheory-based interventions in promoting physical activity, and interventions with traditional approaches (SMS, telephone) were more effective than those with modern internet-based approaches in promoting healthy diet. Conclusions The results of this review indicates that eHealth MHBC interventions achieve preliminary success in promoting physical activity and healthy diet behaviors among people with NCD. Future studies could improve the intervention design to achieve better intervention effectiveness. Trial Registration PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42019118629; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=118629

It is still challenging to design and synthesize highly efficient and noble-metal-free electrocatalysts for hydrogen/oxygen evolution reaction (HER/OER). Herein, we developed an in-situ phosphating Co@nitrogen-doping graphene to obtain N and P co-doped carbon-coated cobalt phosphide (CoP@N,P-C) that could be used for overall water splitting. The unique 3D porous structure of CoP@N,P-C is characterized by a large number of active catalytic sites. High wettability of catalyst in electrolyte solution facilitates the transfer of ions. The synergism between the CoP cores and N, P-C shells improves the total hydrolysis performance of the electrocatalyst during the HER and OER. At the current densities of 10 mA/cm2 (1 M of KOH), the HER overpotential recorded for the CoP@N,P-C is 113 mV, and the OER overpotential is 320 mV. The cell voltage of the CoP@N,P-C as bifunctional electrode for overall water splitting is 1.67 V (at 10 mA/cm2), which is close to that of the full noble-metal electrode (RuO2 || Pt/C, 1.58 V). The CoP@N, P-C bifunctional catalyst can be potentially used to replace noble-metal electrodes to realize water splitting.

The introduction of a dual-functional interlayer into lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) provides many opportunities for restraining the "shuttle effect" and enhancing sluggish sulfur conversion kinetics. Tuning the band structure of the metal sulfide provides an opportunity to enhance its catalytic activity, which plays an important role in suppressing the "shuttle effect" of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) in LSBs. Here were present a Co

Sn@Graphene composites as anode materials in Lithium-ion batteries have attracted intensive interest due to the inherent high capacity. On the other side, the high atomic ratio (Li4.4Sn) induces the pulverization of the electrode with cycling. Thus, suppressing pulverization by designing the structure of the materials is an essential key for improving cyclability. Applying the nanotechnologies such as electrospinning, soft/hard nano template strategy, surface modification, multi-step chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and so on has demonstrated the huge advantage on this aspect. These strategies are generally used for homogeneous dispersing Sn nanomaterials in graphene matrix or constructing the voids in the inner of the materials to obtain the mechanical buffer effect. Unfortunately, these processes induce huge energy consumption and complicated operation. To solve the issue, new nanotechnology for the composites by the bottom-up strategy (Organic Molecule Confinement Reaction (OMCR)) was shown in this report. A 3D organic nanoframes was synthesized as a graphene precursor by low energy nano emulsification and photopolymerization. SnO2 nanoparticles@3D organic nanoframes as the composites precursor were in-situ formed in the hydrothermal reaction. After the redox process by the calcination, the Sn nanoparticles with nanovoids (~100 nm, uniform size) were homogeneously dispersed in a Two-Dimensional Laminar Matrix of graphene nanosheets (2DLMG) by the in-situ patterning and confinement effect from the 3D organic nanoframes. The pulverization and crack of the composites were effectively suppressed, which was proved by the electrochemical testing. The Sn nanoparticles@2DLMG not delivered just the high cyclability during 200 cycles, but also firstly achieved a high specific capacity (539 mAh g−1) at the low loading Sn (19.58 wt%).

BACKGROUND Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are associated with the burden of premature deaths and huge medical costs globally. There is an increasing number of studies combining a multiple health behavior change (MHBC) intervention paradigm with eHealth approaches to jointly promote weight-related health behaviors among people with NCD; yet, a comprehensive summary of these studies is lacking. OBJECTIVE This review aims to meta-analyze the effectiveness and systematically summarize the characteristics of the relevant intervention studies for improving the outcomes of physical activity, healthy diet, and weight among people with NCD. METHODS Following PRISMA guidelines, 4 electronic databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus) were systematically searched to identify eligible articles based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Article selection, quality assessment, and data extraction were independently performed by 2 authors. The standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for 3 intervention outcomes (physical activity, healthy diet, and weight), and subsequent subgroup analyses were performed for gender, age, intervention duration, channel, and theory. Calculations were conducted, and figures were produced in SPSS 22 and Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS Of the 664 original hits generated by the systematic searches, 15 eligible studies with moderate to high quality were included. No potential publication bias was detected using statistical analyses. Studies varied in intervention channel, intensity, and content. The meta-analysis revealed that the eHealth MHBC interventions significantly promoted physical activity (SMD 0.85, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.47, P=.008) and healthy diet (SMD 0.78, 95% CI 0.13 to 1.43, P=.02), but did not contribute to a healthy weight status (SMD –0.13, 95% CI= –0.47 to 0.20, P=.43) among people with NCDs, compared to the control conditions. Results from subgroup analysis indicated that theory-based interventions achieved greater effect than nontheory-based interventions in promoting physical activity, and interventions with traditional approaches (SMS, telephone) were more effective than those with modern internet-based approaches in promoting healthy diet. CONCLUSIONS The results of this review indicates that eHealth MHBC interventions achieve preliminary success in promoting physical activity and healthy diet behaviors among people with NCD. Future studies could improve the intervention design to achieve better intervention effectiveness. CLINICALTRIAL PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42019118629; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=118629

This paper presented the plasmonic Bi in-situ deposited on the surface of Bi

Bramble-like NaVMoO6/C nanofibers with remarkable lithium-storage property are fabricated via a simple electrospinning method. The NaVMoO6 nanoparticles with average size of 84 nm are uniformly embedded into the carbon nanofibers at loading of 77.2 wt%. The unique architecture of the resulting nanocomposite has great advantages like enhanced surface-to-volume ratio, reduced ion transport lengths and strengthened electron transfer along the longitudinal direction. As a new-type anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), NaVMoO6/C composite demonstrates a stable capacity of 1013 and 682 mAh g−1 at the current density of 0.1 and 1 A g−1, respectively. Furthermore, the structure evolution mechanism during the first discharge process is carefully researched by ex-situ X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that the NaVMoO6 crystals begin to change after being embedded with a few equivalent Li+ when discharging to 2.2 V. With the continuous intercalation of Li+ ions, the main crystal form of the electrode is V2O5 at the potential of about 2.0 V. At low potential (≈ 1.2 V vs. Li/Li+), the formed V2O5 is transformed into LiVO2. In addition, the volume expansion of the NaVMoO6 particles is alleviated due to the confining effect of carbon nanofibers. Consequently, NaVMoO6/C nanofibers demonstrate a high reversible capacity even at high rate.

Transition metal phosphides are novel electrocatalysts that can be used to replace noble metals for the electrochemical production of hydrogen. In this work, N and P co-doped carbon-coated cobalt-doped molybdenum phosphide (CoMoP@N,P-C) nanoparticles are explored as electrocatalyst for overall water splitting. The presence of a unique three-dimensional (3D) porous structure in CoMoP@N,P-C offers abundant catalytic active sites for the penetration of the electrolyte solution, thereby facilitating the transfer of ions. In addition, cobalt doped into MoP increases the catalytic activity, and N and P co-doped carbon improves the electrical conductivity of the carbon matrix. Subsequently, the synergy between CoMoP cores and N, P-C shells enhances the total hydrolysis performance of the electrocatalyst in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) processes. At a current density of 10 mA/cm2 in 1 M KOH, HER and OER overpotential of the CoMoP@N, P-C are 152 mV and 296 mV, respectively. Moreover, the cell voltage of CoMoP@N, P-C as a bifunctional electrode for overall water splitting is 1.62 V (at 10 mA/cm2), which is close to that of the full noble-metal electrode (RuO2 || Pt/C, 1.58 V). Overall, the CoMoP@N, P-C bifunctional catalyst shows great potential for replacing noble-metal electrodes in water splitting applications.

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are favored due to their high energy densities. However, how to inhibit the growth of Li dendrites, slow down the volume expansion and realize the reversible utilization of Li anode are still big challenges for the practical feasibility. Herein, a pre-lithiated edge-enriched ultra-thin MoS2 embedded carbon nanofiber (PCNF/MoS2) framework was prepared as a protective layer to stablize Li metal anode, Mo and Li2S was in situ formed on the surface of Li foil by a facile spontaneous chemical reaction of MoS2 and Li. Among them, Mo significantly reduces the overvoltage of the Li nucleation, achieves homogeneous Li plating/stripping, guides Li deposition in the cavity of three-dimensional (3D) framework, and thus inhibits the Li dendrites growth. More importantly, Li2S, as an effective additive, facilitates uniform and robust solid electrolyte interface (SEI) formation with excellent chemical stability and high ionic conductivity, which successfully realizes stable Li anode. Thereafter, the PCNF/MoS2-Li composite anode exhibits excellent long cycle life over 750 h at 1 mA cm−2 with a capacity of 1 mAh cm−2 in the symmetrical cell. In addition, when the PCNF/MoS2-Li composite anodes were paired with LiFePO4 and LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathodes, the batteries delivered improved cycling stability and rate performance, providing a promising new avenue to achieve pratical LMBs.

The lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries involve intricate electrochemical processes containing the formation and conversion of polysulfides, in which the shuttle effect and slow reaction kinetics impair its practical performance. Exploring new electrocatalyst with strong catalytic ability can greatly accelerate the conversion of polysulfides in Li-S batteries. Herein, BiOI/carbon fibers (BiOI/CFs) core–shell composite has been prepared by a facile electrospinning combined with solvothermal method and used as a promising electrocatalyst. The BiOI nanosheets are cross-linked to form a porous three-dimensional network on the surface of carbon fibers. This architecture not only has the advantage of large aspect ratio, but also has a high specific surface area, which provides abundant active sites and ensures high electron/ion transfer for the electrocatalysis of lithium polysulfides. As expected, BiOI/CFs electrode presents a superior bidirectional oxidation–reduction ability for polysulfides. The first-principles calculations also prove the strong interaction between BiOI and polysulfides. Due to these advantages, BiOI/CFs can effectively inhibit the shuttle effect of polysulfides, and possesses excellent electrochemical performance in Li-S batteries. The specific capacity of the BiOI/CFs-S electrode is stable at 1020 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.2C and 598 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at 5C. This work provides new insights for the development of high-performance electrocatalysts for polysulfide conversion.

Core-shell structure of ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets attached on carbon microspheres (C@MoS2) are synthesized through a simple and rapid L-cysteine-assisted hydrothermal procedure. When used as a promising anode for lithium ion battery, the as-synthesized C@MoS2 core-shell microspheres electrodes exhibit high capacity (1333 mAh g−1 of the first cycle and 753 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles at 0.2 A g−1), excellent rate capability (a reversible capacity of 850 mAh g−1 when the current density returns from 1600 to initial 100 mA g−1), and long cycling stability (a reversible capacity of 737 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at a much higher current density of 1 A g−1). The superior electrochemical performances of C@MoS2 core-shell microstructures should be attributed to the purposely designed unique structures, in which the ultrathin 2D MoS2 nanosheets provide more lithium storage sites and shorter Li-ion diffusion length, and the micron-sized carbon microspheres maintain the structural integrity and improve the conductivity of active materials.