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This report was aimed to investigate smart chitosan-daptomycin nanoparticles (CTS-DAP NPs) prepared by a simple ionic gelation method and to document their bacteriostatic activity towards infections. The particle size of optimal CTS-DAP NPs was 146.3 ± 0.09 nm, with narrow polydispersity index and zeta potential of 24.87 ± 1.06 mV. The drug loading efficiency of CTS-DAP NPs was 60.8%, and their in vitro drug release behavior exhibited that DAP could be released sustainedly. Zone of inhibition (ZOI) test, which was used to determine the activity of CTS-DAP NPs against S. aureus, showed the inhibitory zone diameter increased from 11.7 to 15.06 mm along with increased DAP dose from 1.25 to 10 μg loaded in CTS-DAP NPs. Taken together, the CTS-DAP NPs may provide a reliable approach to inhibit bacterial infections.

Meso-Ni@HZSM-5 bi-functional catalysts were successfully post-encapsulated with about 3–7 nm Ni nanoparticles within HZSM-5 crystals, which exhibited significantly efficient conversion activity (67.4 g[palmitic acid] g[Ni]−1 h−1) of palmitic acid and 100% selectivity of hydrocarbons with the outstanding stability during recycling application, compared to the impregnated Ni/HZSM-5 catalyst (14.0 g[palmitic acid] g[Ni]−1 h−1).

Background. Gliomas are the most common and most malignant primary tumors of the adult central nervous system, but their etiology and pathogenesis remain unclear. This study was aimed at investigating the expression and function of lncRNA PDCD4-AS1 in glioma and elucidating the mechanism by which PDCD4-AS1 regulates the biological features of glioma. Method. The expression of PDCD4-AS1 was determined by bioinformatic analysis and qRT-PCR assay. PDCD4-AS1 was knocked down in glioma cells using siRNA transfection. The functional analysis of cells was conducted using CCK-8 proliferation, cell migration, and invasion assays, as well as cell cycle analysis. An in vivo tumorigenesis assay was performed to investigate the role of PDCD4-AS1 knockdown in glioma tumor growth. We performed bioinformatic analysis, RNA pull-down, and luciferase reporter assays to investigate the downstream targets of PDCD4-AS1. A rescue experiment was then performed to confirm the regulating mechanism. Results. PDCD4-AS1 was found to be significantly upregulated in glioma patients’ tumor tissues and cell lines. The silencing of PDCD4-AS1 inhibited glioma cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and induced cell cycle arrest. In vivo experiments showed that silencing PDCD4-AS1 inhibited glioma tumor growth. An investigation of the underlying mechanism suggested that PDCD4-AS1 positively regulated METTL7B expression by sponging miR-30b-3. Both the knockdown of miR-30b-3p and the overexpression of METTL7B could, respectively, reverse the malignant phenotype of cells affected by silencing PDCD4-AS1. Conclusion. These results demonstrate that PDCD4-AS1 exerted an oncogenic role by regulating the miR-30b-3p/METTL7B axis.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common type of primary liver cancer. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been demonstrated to be a crucial player in multiple cancers. However, a large number of circRNAs remain to be explored. Our study focused on investigating hsa_circ_0004018 in HCC. Firstly, we conducted quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) to find that circ_0004018 was down-regulated in HCC cells. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the protein levels of phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) and related factors of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. From the results of functional assays, we found that overexpression of circ_0004018 significantly inhibited the proliferative and migratory capacities of HCC cells. The regulatory mechanism of circ_0004018 in HCC was determined by RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), RNA pull-down, and luciferase reporter assays, thereby we knew that circ_0004018 regulated PTEN by sequestering microRNA-1197 (miR-1197) to modulate PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Finally, rescue assays verified that circ_0004018 participated in modulation of cell proliferation and migration in HCC via sponging miR-1197 and regulating PTEN. In conclusion, circ_0004018 suppresses the proliferation and migration of HCC cells via sponging miR-1197 to inactivate the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Abbreviations: HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; circRNAs: Circular RNAs; PTEN: Phosphatase and tensin homologue; miR-1197: microRNA-1197; ceRNA: competitive endogenous RNA; ATCC: American Type Culture Collection; EMEM: Eagle���s Minimum Essential Medium; RT-qPCR: Quantitative real-time PCR; EdU: 5-ethynyl-20-deoxyuridine; FISH: Fluorescent in situ hybridization; RIP: RNA immunoprecipitation; 3��-UTR: 3��-untranslated region; Wt: wild-type; Mut; mutant type; gDNA: genomic DNA; Act D: Actinomycin D; PI3K: phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase; AKT: protein kinase; lncRNAs: long non-coding RNAs

Hematite (α-Fe2O3) is a promising photoanode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, the severe charge recombination and sluggish water oxidation kinetics extremely limit its use in photo-hydrogen conversion. Herein, a co-activation strategy is proposed, namely through phosphorus (P) doping and the loading of CoAl-layered double hydroxides (CoAl-LDHs) cocatalysts. Unexpectedly, the integrated system, CoAl-LDHs/P-Fe2O3 photoanode, exhibits an outstanding photocurrent density of 1.56 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE), under AM 1.5 G, which is 2.6 times of pure α-Fe2O3. Systematic studies reveal that the remarkable PEC performance is attributed to accelerated surface OER kinetics and enhanced carrier separation efficiency. This work provides a feasible strategy to enhance the PEC performance of hematite photoanodes.

Failure of atmospheric plasma sprayed (APS) yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coatings is complicated. Therefore, determining the microstructural changes that occur in the top coat during thermal cycling is beneficial to figure out the dominant failure mechanism in thermal barrier coatings. In this study, thermal cycling tests were conducted on YSZ coatings sprayed by APS. For comparison, coatings with the same spray parameters were held at 1100 °C for 25 h. Areas of interest in the cross-sections of the coatings were chosen prior to thermal cycling, in which ex-situ observation and analysis were performed via scanning electron microscope and electron backscatter diffraction. Residual stress values of coatings with different thermal cycling times were measured by X-ray diffraction. The growth of quasi-columnar crystals, which were related to a depletion in Al and an increase in stress, was observed. During thermal loading, the vertical cracks propagate comparatively easier leading to the spallation. The residual stress varies continually during the thermal cycling test and the changes are divided into several stages. The monoclinic phase transformation tends to occurred inside grains, creating compressive stress inside the coating, which improve the longevity of the coating.

Background: Pain and cartilage destruction caused by osteoarthritis (OA) is a major challenge in clinical treatment. Traditional intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) can relieve the disease, but limited by the difficulty of long-term maintenance of efficacy. Methods: In this study, an injectable and self-healing hydrogel was synthesized by in situ crosslinking of N-carboxyethyl chitosan (N-chitosan), adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH), and hyaluronic acid–aldehyde (HA-ALD). Results: This supramolecular hydrogel sustains good biocompatibility for chondrocytes. Intra-articular injection of this novel hydrogel can significantly alleviate the local inflammation microenvironment in knee joints, through inhibiting the inflammatory cytokines (such as TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-17) in the synovial fluid and cartilage at 2- and even 12-weeks post-injection. Histological and behavioral test indicated that hydrogel injection protected cartilage destruction and relieved pain in OA rats, in comparison to HA injection. Conclusion: This kind of novel hydrogel, which is superior to the traditional HA injection, reveals a great potential for the treatment of OA.

In current work, novel functionalized carbon dots have been designed and synthesized by covalently linking dopamine to the surface of S,N co-doped carbon dots (DA-S,N-CDs) for the selective detection of Fe3+ and Fe2+ in water. The as-synthesized DA-S,N-CDs emit blue fluorescence peaked at 470 nm and exhibit excitation-dependent tunable emissions. The tolerance towards pH, salt, and UV irradiation of synthesized carbon dots reveals excellent stability. Upon exposure to Fe3+ or Fe2+, the fluorescence of DA-S,N-CDs was selectively quenched, while other competitive cations did not change significantly. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the fluorescence intensity of DA-S,N-CDs showed a good linear relationship with the concentrations of Fe3+ and Fe2+ (5 - 200 μM for Fe3+ and 5 - 300 μM for Fe2+), and the limit of detection was 2.86 and 2.06 μM, respectively. Furthermore, considering the excellent stability and anti-interference, DA-S,N-CDs have been successfully used for the detection of Fe3+ and Fe2+ in environmental water.

In the present research, a glycosyl cross-linking coordination chelate flame retardant was designed to enhance durable flame retardancy of cotton fabrics. It was a halogen-free, non-formaldehyde boron acid and phytic acid ammonium salt synergistic flame-retardant system. The flame retardancy and durability of flame retardants prepared by different saccharides were investigated. Results showed that raffinose was the best cross-linking reagent compared with the other monosaccharides and oligosaccharides. The raffinose as cross-linking reagent prepared glycosyl cross-linking boron acid and ammonium salt of phytic acid flame retardant (r-GBAP) (100 g/L) can obtain the shortest char length of 56 mm and the largest limiting oxygen index (LOI) value of 37.4%. A lower r-GBAP concentration can get good flame retardancy, due to adopt the three curing cycles process. FTIR, XPS, LOI, TG and SEM testing and characterization techniques were used to analyze and research the flame retardancy, durability, thermal oxidation stability and flame-retardant mechanisms of r-GBAP and the treated cotton fibers.

A series of Ni/HZSM-5 and Ni/HIM-5 bi-functional catalysts were synthesized and applied to the aqueous-phase hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenol. The Ni dispersibility and particle sizes were shown to be directly related to the porosity and crystal sizes of the parent zeolites, which further influenced the catalytic performances. The large pores and small crystal sizes of the parent zeolites were beneficial for dispersing Ni and forming small Ni particles, and the corresponding Ni/zeolite catalyst exhibited a higher phenol conversion and selectivity towards hydrocarbons. Importantly, the Ni/HIM-5 bi-functional catalyst exhibited a high activity (98.3%) and high selectivity for hydrocarbons (98.8%) when heated at 220°C for 1 h and is thus a new potential catalyst for the HDO of phenolics to form hydrocarbons in the aqueous phase.

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) were prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). SEM–EBSD–Raman spectroscopy evaluated the relationship between the crystallinity, stresses, and cracks in YSZ coatings. Cracks were more likely to form in locations having poor crystallinity, due to the tensile stresses. Analysis between the formation of cracks and stresses shows that transgranular cracks are more likely created in areas with poor crystallinity. Moreover, intergranular cracks are more likely to occur around columnar grains, because the tensile stresses of columnar grains are greater than those of equiaxed grains. Resultantly, the formation and propagation of cracks can be controlled by controlling the cooling rate and grain shape.

Silk is a kind of textile with Chinese characteristics and widely used in clothing, decoration, military and medical fields. Recently, fragrances have been applied to silk to relieve anxiety and stress. However, the problems of too strong aroma and short scent lasting time seriously restrict the development of aromatic silk. Herein, Cationic nanoparticles encapsulating with linalool were prepared to prolong the scent lasting time. The fragrance-loaded nanoparticles are tightly attached to the silk by electrostatic interaction between cationic nanoparticles and anionic silk. Besides, the cationic nanoparticles could slow the release rate of linalool, thus extending the fragrance retention time. Subsequently, fragrant silk has been proven to have an effect of relieving stress. Therefore, this fragrance-loaded cationic nanoparticles-added silk has potential application value.

Xihuang pill (XHP), a traditional Chinese herbal formula, has been clinically used as an adjuvant therapy against triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) via inhibiting cancer cell invasion and proliferation, as well as promoting cancer cell apoptosis. However, its anti-TNBC bio-active ingredients and possible mechanisms are still unclear. Herein, the hub bio-active compounds and underlying mechanisms of XHP against TNBC were systematically elucidated by integrating systems pharmacology approach and in vitro proteomics analysis. Using systems pharmacology analysis and molecular docking evaluation, 28 bio-active compounds and 10 potential therapeutic targets of XHP were identified. Functional analysis showed that the core therapeutic targets against TNBC were mainly involved in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT signaling pathway to prevent cancer cell proliferation and angiogenesis, as well as to enhance cancer cell apoptosis. The in vitro proteomics analysis identified 153 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), including HASP90AA1, AKT1, and EGFR, which were also identified as therapeutic targets against TNBC through systems pharmacology analysis. Protein function analysis showed that the DEPs were mainly involved in PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, which was consistent with the result of systems pharmacology, suggesting the reliability of systems pharmacology analysis. Taken together, these findings uncover the underlying mechanism of XHP against TNBC, and provide a scientific method for the rational development of traditional Chinese medicine., Graphical_abstract

With two independent pore systems (intralayer sinusoidal channels and interlayer supercages) and external 12 membered-ring (MR) cups, H-MCM-49 was selected as the acidic support for upgrading palmi...

It is challenging to selectively upgrade phenolic compounds to aromatics because of much weaker adsorption of hydroxyl compared to that of phenyl upon Ni catalysts. With 10% Ni loading in theory, three Ni catalysts with different Ni nanoparticle sizes were prepared with the wet impregnation method on SiO2 and Silicalite-1 and with the in situ encapsulation method (Silicalite-1). On the basis of the results, we proposed a general rule concerning temperature-dependent selectivity control on phenol hydroconversion over Ni catalysts. As well as benzene saturation in consecutive mode, hydrogenation of phenyl ring was more dramatically inhibited at elevated temperature via decreased adsorption of benzene rings than that of hydroxyl to selectively favor hydrogenolysis over hydrogenation in parallel mode. Among three Ni catalysts, Ni@Silicalite-1 with 3–5 nm Ni nanoparticle sizes encapsulated imposed the restricted adsorption conformation of phenol via end-up mode within channels of Silicalite-1 zeolite to furthe...

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), YSZ-Al2O3, and YSZ-Al2O3/YSZ coatings were fabricated by plasma spraying. Their microstructures were investigated using scanning electron microscope equipped with electron backscatter diffraction attachments. Their thermal shock resistances were measured by water quenching method. YSZ–Al2O3/YSZ coatings exhibited the highest thermal shock resistance. Furthermore, the factors influencing thermal shock resistance of these coatings were analyzed in detail. YSZ–Al2O3 coatings exhibited the lowest thermal shock resistance because of the significant coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between the ceramic layer and the metal substrate. In contrast, the YSZ layer deposited between the YSZ–Al2O3 layer and the metal substrate could relieve the CTE mismatch between the YSZ–Al2O3 layer and the metal substrate because the CTE of the YSZ coating is between those of the YSZ–Al2O3 coating and metal substrate. Moreover, it was found that layered peeling and bulk peeling were major failure forms of YSZ coatings and YSZ–Al2O3 coatings, respectively. The YSZ–Al2O3/YSZ coating exhibited better thermal shock resistance than the YSZ coating due to some small vertical cracks and dense structure.

BackgroundA growing body of evidence suggests that immune cell infiltration in cancer is closely related to clinical outcomes. However, there is still a lack of research on papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).MethodsBased on single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (SSGSEA) algorithm and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) tool, the infiltration level of immune cell and key modules and genes associated with the level of immune cell infiltration were identified using PTC gene expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. In addition, the co-expression network and protein-protein interactions network analysis were used to identify the hub genes. Moreover, the immunological and clinical characteristics of these hub genes were verified in TCGA and GSE35570 datasets and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Finally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of hub genes.ResultsActivated B cell, activated dendritic cell, CD56bright natural killer cell, CD56dim natural killer cell, Eosinophil, Gamma delta T cell, Immature dendritic cell, Macrophage, Mast cell, Monocyte, Natural killer cell, Neutrophil and Type 17 T helper cell were significantly changed between PTC and adjacent normal groups. WGCNA results showed that the black model had the highest correlation with the infiltration level of activated dendritic cells. We found 14 hub genes whose expression correlated to the infiltration level of activated dendritic cells in both TCGA and GSE35570 datasets. After validation in the TCGA dataset, the expression level of only 5 genes (C1QA, HCK, HLA-DRA, ITGB2 and TYROBP) in 14 hub genes were differentially expressed between PTC and adjacent normal groups. Meanwhile, the expression levels of these 5 hub genes were successfully validated in GSE35570 dataset. Quantitative real-time PCR results showed the expression of these 4 hub genes (except C1QA) was consistent with the results in TCGA and GSE35570 dataset. Finally, these 4 hub genes had diagnostic value to distinguish PTC and adjacent normal controls.ConclusionsHCK, HLA-DRA, ITGB2 and TYROBP may be key diagnostic biomarkers and immunotherapy targets in PTC.

Background Exogenous nerve growth factor (NGF) can induce osteogenic precursor cell differentiation and promote fracture healing. However, the molecular mechanism by which NGF induces osteogenesis is not well understood. BMP-2 has good osteogenic efficacy and is one of the most osteogenic-inducing growth factors known. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether NGF induces osteogenic differentiation of mouse embryonic osteogenic precursor cell line MC3T3-E1 by BMP-2 and search further mechanisms of NGF on BMP-2. Methods MC3T3-E1 cells were treated with NGF at a concentration gradient for indicated times, after which the cell viability was measured by CCK-8 kit. Osteogenic differentiation was detected with quantification of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity also visualized with ALP staining. The transcription and expression of relevant genes were detected by qPCR and western blotting, respectively. NGF’s effect on BMP2 was studied with qPCR and luciferase reporter assay. The phosphorylation of Smads was probed with specific antibodies by western blotting, and the location of Smads was observed through immunofluorescence. Results We found that NGF promoted proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1, increased the expression level of BMP-2, as well as the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of Smad1/5/8. However, neutralization of BMP-2 with si-BMP-2 or BMP-2 signal inhibitors reversed NGF induced phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of Smad1/5/8, as well as the expression of Runx2, type I collagen, osteocalcin and osteopontin. In addition, si-BMP-2 abrogated NGF-induced ALP activity. Conclusion NGF induced osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells through BMP-2/Smads pathway and induction of Runx2. Our study would provide a theoretical basis for clinical treatment of fractures using NGF.

Herein, Ag/In

This paper reports a one-dimensional (1D) TiO2 nanostructure with significantly enhanced conductivity. Anatase TiO2 with a 1D nanostructure was successfully prepared by the electrostatic spinning method, and the effect of calcination temperature on its electrochemical performance was studied. The samples prepared at different calcining temperatures (400, 450, and 480°C) were analyzed by physical and electrochemical methods to identify the optimal heat-treatment conditions. Temperature was found to be another important factor influencing the electrochemical performance of 1D materials besides their structure and morphology. The anatase TiO2 calcined at 450°C had a discharge capacity of 192.8 mA h g–1 at 0.2 C with over 96% capacity retention after 100 cycles. The improved lithium-ion intercalation properties of the rod-shaped TiO2 might be attributed to the relatively large specific surface area, short transport distance of the 1D structure, and freedom for the volume change accompanying lithium-ion intercalation.

A major challenge when performing scanning electron microscopy and X-ray analysis on many ceramic materials is their electrical insulation properties, which leads to buildup of the surface charge and reduced contrast in the secondary electron image. A new procedure was established to quantitatively determine the neutral state values, E1 and E2 , of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) ceramics using the Duane-Hunt limit (EDHL ) of Bremsstrahlung, in order to eliminate this charge effect. Thirty-eight EDHL values were linearly fitted with the last portion of X-ray spectra acquired under the incident energy, E0 , from 0.35 to 5.0 kV. According to the distribution of EDHL , two piecewise linear fitting was first employed with a breakpoint of 1.0 kV. Consequently, two intersection points of 0.54 and 2.48 kV, which correspond to E1 and E2 for YAG ceramics, were directly determined using a theoretical curve (EDHL = E0 ). As a result, the high-resolution images of the YAG ceramic grain structure were successfully obtained using the calculated E1 and E2 values.

With a growing demand for clean and renewable energy associated with water splitting, regenerative fuel cells, metal-air batteries, etc., exploring an efficient and cost-effective electrocatalyst with superior durability for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great significance. In this study, a unique CoOx embedded nanoflower microstructure (Co0.6-PyNa) has been synthesized via an extremely facile one-step, highly scalable aqueous method under mild conditions, by using Co(COOH)2 as the precursor and pyrrole as the structure-directing agent. The Co0.6-PyNa exhibits the excellent electrocatalytic activity toward OER in 1 M KOH solution with an overpotential of as low as 299 mV and a small Tafel slope of 67 mV dec−1, which is comparable to the commercial RuO2, along with superior operational stability to RuO2. The high OER catalytic performance of Co0.6-PyNa has been reasoned to originate from the exposure of abundant CoOx active species uniformly dispersed on the nanoflakes due to its high specific surface area and the intrinsic extraordinarily high activity of CoOx active species. This work provides a promising strategy to fabricate efficient, stable and low-cost OER electrocatalyst, which is expected to promote the development of OER-related energy storage and conversion technologies.

To improve the ablation resistance of ZrC coating, MoSi2 incorporated ZrC composite coatings were fabricated by vacuum plasma spray. The ablation resistance of the composite coatings was evaluated using a plasma jet with a heat flux of 1.94 MW/m2. The phase compositions and microstructures of the coatings before and after ablation were investigated, and the ablation mechanisms and effect of MoSi2 were analyzed based on thermal dynamics and microstructure changes. Results showed that MoSi2 addition could improve the ablation resistance of ZrC coating by means of decreasing the surface temperature and changing the microstructure of the oxidation layer. Si derived from the decomposition of MoSi2, which occurred within coating, was beneficial to maintain the thickness and integrity of the SiO2 layer and reduce the oxygen pressure beneath. The thickness of the SiO2 layer was related to the formation rate (Vf) and the consumption rate (Vc) of SiO2. The diffusion of Si was in favor of increasing the value of Vf. MoSi2 could be one choice to improve the ablation resistance of the ZrC coating.

Enhancing the properties of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) by doping with rare earth elements has been a hot topic for a while. La2O3 and Y2O3 co-doped ZrO2 (La-YSZ) TBCs and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) TBCs were deposited by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS), and the comprehensive effects of La3+ on the microstructure and property were investigated. The thermal conductivity and microstructure were investigated and were compared with YSZ. The recrystallized fraction components of all TBCs were quantified. It is clearly found that the component of &ldquo, recrystallized&rdquo, and &ldquo, deformed&rdquo, grains for La-YSZ TBCs is much higher than that for YSZ TBCs. This could be due to La3+ doping enlarging the lattice parameter of YSZ and thus increasing the melting index, which in turns leads to the smaller grain size of La-YSZ TBCs. As a result, the thermal conductivities of La-YSZ TBCs were distinctly lower than those of YSZ TBCs.

Enhancing the properties of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) by doping with rare earth elements has been a hot topic for a while. La2O3 and Y2O3 co-doped ZrO2 (La-YSZ) TBCs and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) TBCs were deposited by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS), and the comprehensive effects of La3+ on the microstructure and property were investigated. The thermal conductivity and microstructure were investigated and were compared with YSZ. The recrystallized fraction components of all TBCs were quantified. It is clearly found that the component of “recrystallized” and “deformed” grains for La-YSZ TBCs is much higher than that for YSZ TBCs. This could be due to La3+ doping enlarging the lattice parameter of YSZ and thus increasing the melting index, which in turns leads to the smaller grain size of La-YSZ TBCs. As a result, the thermal conductivities of La-YSZ TBCs were distinctly lower than those of YSZ TBCs.