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Perovskite CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) nanocrystals with advantages of high quantum yield, narrow emission peaks, and tunable fluorescence are considered as the next generation of light‐emitting sources. However, fluorescence degradation due to the poor stability of perovskite nanocrystals in moisture, high temperature, and illumination remains one of the greatest challenges in their further development. In this work, a fully dense coating strategy is proposed to improve the overall stability of perovskite nanocrystals, especially under high‐density laser irradiation. A mesoporous silica SiO2 layer is introduced to construct a stable coating for isolating the perovskite from external environment. To eliminate the pores of the CsPbX3@SiO2, an inorganic glass is also employed via solution‐combustion technique to generate a fully compact encapsulation for further stability promotion. The as‐prepared nanocrystal‐in‐glass composite exhibits efficient and stable fluorescence performance in luminous efficiency, chromaticity, and long‐term reliability in the conditions of thermal shock, humidity, and blue laser irradiation. With the integration of red/green/blue emitting nanocrystals, the color gamut of the white laser lighting source covers 134% of the National Television Standards Committee standard, providing exciting opportunity for high performance laser‐driven white light generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cervical cancer (CC) is a common gynaecological malignant tumour with a high mortality rate. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a critical role in tumour occurrence and development. This study aimed to investigate the function and molecular basis of hsa_circ_0009189 (circSAMD11) in CC development. RNA levels were determined by qRT‐PCR, and protein expression was measured by western blot. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis were detected by Cell Counting Kit‐8 (CCK‐8), colony formation, Transwell and flow cytometry assays. The relationship between miR‐503 and circSAMD11/SOX4 was validated via dual‐luciferase reporter assay, RIP or RNA pull‐down assay. Xenograft assay was conducted to test tumour growth in vivo. CircSAMD11 and SOX4 levels were elevated, while miR‐503 level was reduced in CC tissues and cells. Knockdown of circSAMD11 suppressed CC cell proliferation, migration and invasion and accelerated apoptosis. CircSAMD11 was localised in cytoplasm and directly targeted miR‐503. Also, circSAMD11 sponged miR‐503 to modulate SOX4 expression. Additionally, circSAMD11 regulated CC progression via absorbing miR‐503 or modulating SOX4. Besides, depletion of circSAMD11 hindered tumorigenesis in vivo. CircSAMD11 contributed to CC progression by regulating miR‐503/SOX4 signalling and activating Wnt/β‐catenin pathway, which provides a promising therapeutic target for cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescent detection is a new spectroscopic measurement for ions sensing due to the advantages of real‐time determination with high selectivity, accuracy, and low cost. However, chemosensors based on fluorescent detection are usually determined by absolute intensity from a monochromatic emission signal, which is easy to be fluctuated by the external environment, especially for Fe3+ detection in complex fluids. Herein, we rationally design a dual‐emission Eu3+: CDs@ZIF‐8 to construct a ratiometric fluorescent sensor with self‐calibrating ability for Fe3+ determination. High efficient carbon dots (CDs) are embedded in europium ions (Eu3+)‐doped MOF by simple stirring preparation at room temperature. The label‐free ratiometric fluorescent probe (ICDs@ZIF‐8/IEu) exhibits simultaneous blue and red emission under the same excitation at 365 nm. Remarkably, Eu3+: CDs@ZIF‐8 displays the superiority of high selectivity to Fe3+, which shows ratiometric fluorescence characteristics (I0/I) in a range of 0‐6 μmol\L with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.897 μmol\L. Besides, the CDs‐MOF nanocomposite holds good aqueous dispersibility and low cytotoxicity, which shows great potential applications in medical aid including biological detection and clinical diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphological control is a fundamental challenge of nanomaterial development. Commonly, hierarchical nanostructures cannot be induced by a single driving force, but obtained through balancing multiple driving forces. Here, a feasible strategy is reported based on the synergistic effect of proton and acid anion, leading to the morphological variation of vanadium oxide from nanowire, bundle, to hierarchical nanoflower (HNF). Protons can only induce the formation of nanowire through reducing the pH value ≤ 2. However, acid anions with strong coordination ability, e.g., phosphate radicals, can also participate in morphological regulation at high concentration. Through coordinating with exposed vanadium ions, the enrichment of phosphate radicals at ledge and kink changes the growth directions, giving rise to the advanced structures of bundle and HNF. The lithium ion batteries using HNF as a cathode achieve a 30% improved initial discharge specific capacity of 436.23 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.1 A g−1, reaching the theoretical maximum value of vanadium oxide based on insertion/desertion of three lithium ions, in addition to strong cyclic stability at 1 A g−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By combining the spectroscopic quality of a crystalline phase with the outstanding thermal and chemical stability of the matrix glass, nanocrystal‐in‐glass composites (NGCs) exhibit excellent optical properties. However, strong interfacial diffusion occurs during high‐temperature encapsulation, leading to the erosion of the nanocrystals and detrimental effects on the final performance. The control of interfacial diffusion has so far relied on intuition and experience, with the underlying physical mechanisms remaining largely unknown. In this study, through atomistic simulations and experimental verification, we have developed atomic models of NGCs, revealing the dynamic characteristics of the interface and elucidating how the glass structure can regulate the interface diffusion. Finally, we demonstrate how a tunable interface can be achieved through compositional adjustments of the glass matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational design and fabrication of multicolor fluorescent sources represent one of the significant challenges in the development of high‐performance solid‐state lighting, tunable coherent lasing, and full‐color display technologies. However, generation of simultaneous multicolor emission, especially white light generation with a wide color gamut is usually beyond the ability of a single material. Heterogeneous structures made by combinations of red, green, and blue emission building blocks are bulky, inefficient, complicated, and costly. Here reported is a bottom‐up strategy to generate simultaneous multicolor emission with continuous tunability in a single monolithic material based on the "nanocrystals‐in‐glass composite" (NGC) architecture. In this approach, a self‐sustained low‐temperature solution combustion process enables homogeneous solvent dispersion and eventually stable immobilization of multiple nanocrystals in transparent matrix. With transparency of up to 80%, further demonstrated is drawing of fiber from the melt of these combustion‐processed NGC materials. The optical spectra of the as‐drawn glass fiber can be precisely tuned and clustering is effectively suppressed. Moreover, the NGC materials exhibit remarkable anti‐thermal quenching behavior at temperatures of up to 200 °C. The bottom‐up strategy for NGC provides a versatile platform for the fabrication of high‐performance multifunctional fiber‐based devices for advanced applications in lasers, illumination, displaying, and biophotonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare earth (RE) ions‐doped luminescent nanocrystals (NCs) with numerous unique advantages have attracted tremendous interest for the wide applications from science to engineering, yet suffering from the shortcoming of thermal quenching coming from surface organic ligands. We propose utilizing a facile acid‐base reaction to remove surface organic ligands introduced choosing carboxylic acids as stabilizing agent and weaken thermal quenching. The results showed that the acid‐base reaction displayed an outstanding cleaning effect. After acid‐treatment, most surface organic ligands were removed, and there was no influence on crystal structure and morphology of as‐prepared β‐NaYF4:Er3+ NCs. Meanwhile, with no surface organic ligands capping, β‐NaYF4:Er3+ NCs preferred brighter emission after thermal treatment, including up‐conversion (UC), near‐infrared (NIR), and mid‐infrared (MIR) emission. When calcined the acid‐treated β‐NaYF4:Er3+ NCs in different atmosphere, such as oxygen and reducing atmosphere (15%H2 + 85%N2), an unexpected enhancement of all emission bands in Er3+ was determined under phase transformation temperature, especially in oxygen atmosphere. Furthermore, all the fluorescence lifetimes of Er3+ also exhibited obvious extension. Our results supposed that the β‐NaYF4:Er3+ NCs have promising applications in safety ink, and the acid‐treatment by diluted hydrochloric acid is a general approach to remove deleterious organic ligands on NC surface further to weaken thermal quenching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illustration of ferroptosis therapy for the treatment of kidney cancer using Fe/Ni-LDH. GPX4: glutathione peroxidase 4, GSH: reduced glutathione, GSSG: oxidized glutathione, LOOH: lipid hydroperoxide, LOH: lipid alcohol. [Display omitted] • A general and facile method was proposed for synthesizing Fe/Ni-LDH to achieve apoptosis-enhanced and ferroptosis-involved cancer nanotherapy. • The Fe/Ni-LDH exhibited great ROS-generating catalytic activity for chemo-dynamic therapy, resulting in the apoptosis-induced cell death pathway, intracellular oxidative damage, and LPO accumulation to promote ferroptosis-involved cancer cell death. • The KEGG pathway enrichment and GSEA analyses of transcriptome sequencing indicated that ferroptosis was involved in Fe/Ni-LDH anti-tumor therapy. Nanocatalysts provide a platform for developing anti-tumor strategies by activating intratumoral chemical catalysis to produce highly toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the biological effect of nanocatalysts on tumor cells, which is pivotal for effective nanotherapy treatment, remains poorly understood. Herein, we present a general and facile method of synthesizing Fe/Ni-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) for enhanced apoptosis- and ferroptosis-induced cancer nano-therapy, as well as a potential mechanism underlying the anti-tumor effect based on transcriptome sequencing. An analysis of the chemical structure suggests that the Fe atoms interact strongly with the Ni atoms in Fe/Ni-LDH. Compared with Fe-OH and Ni-OH, Fe/Ni-LDH exhibited significantly better ROS-catalytic activity, with a V max of 5.015 × 10−2 μM·s−1, and generated massive amounts of •OH and O 2 •− radicals, enabling outstanding chemo-dynamic therapy. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments indicated a robust apoptosis-induced cell death pathway, increased intracellular oxidative stress, and accumulation of lipid peroxide (LPO), promoting ferroptosis-involved cancer-cell death, which was further confirmed by transcriptome sequencing. The Fe/Ni-LDH biocatalyst not only provides a robust nanoplatform for tumor suppression but also encourages further exploration and applications of nanobiocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocrystals with combined properties of magnetic and fluorescence are considered as “multifunctional materials” or “smart materials” which have promising biological applications including dual-modal imaging, biological research, targeted drug delivery, clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. Utilizing a green hydrothermal method, magnetic nanocrystals Ni-doped ZnAl 2 O 4 with broadband emission at ∼1200 nm have been developed as a new type of multifunctional material. The obtained ultrasmall nanocrystals in sub-10 nm range are more easily for body clearance and less toxicity in theory. Ni ions are demonstrated distribute homogeneously in +2 valance state, which provides ferromagnetism in the diamagnetic matrix of ZnAl 2 O 4 . Under the excitation of 670 nm, the whole broad emission band centered at 1200 nm fully covers the second near-infrared window (1.1–1.4 μm). These ultrasmall Ni-doped ZnAl 2 O 4 nanocrystals with magnetic-fluorescent multifunctionality open a door to more efficient and safer biological probes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent nanocrystal-in-glass composite (NGC) comprising functional nanocrystals in transparent inorganic glass creates a new bridging from nano/microscale structure to multifunctional macroscale devices with advanced optical properties. In this review, we outline the key scientific advances in the development of transparent NGC, from the perspectives of fundamental design principles, new synthetic strategies and their substantial progress in advanced optical applications. To generate desired transparent NGC materials, we start with the design principles to describe the transformation process from nano/micro to macro, providing an in-depth insight into the structure-property relationship and the underlying problem in particle binding and network reconstruction in the composite materials. Emerging techniques based on the "top-down" or "bottom-up" strategies have advanced the ability to fabricate nanocomposites with controllable composition, phases, fraction, morphology, spatial distribution, and orientation. We also provide an overview of recent advances in optical applications, including solid-state lighting, high-performance lasers, optical data storage, and fluorescence sensing. The remaining scientific challenges, for example, the important trade-off between functional performance and chemical compatibility when bridging the nanocrystals to transparent NGC and their devices, are also highlighted. Addressing these questions will provide a clear pathway to design and manufacture multifunctional inorganic materials based on these NGC materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Mono-dispersed ZnS: Mn nanocrystals were synthesized by a hydrothermal route. [•] Photoluminescence of nanocrystals were studied by steady and transient state spectra. [•] A novel energy transfer mechanism of ZnS: Mn nanocrystals was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Monodisperse Cu 3 P nanoplates in situ grown on reduced graphene oxide (rGO). • Cu 3 P/rGO composite possessed a good overpotential for HER. • A low overpotentials of 144 mV at current density of 10 mA cm−2 was obtained. The monodisperse Cu 3 P nanoplate/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite was obtained by in situ growing Cu 3 P on the surface of rGO via the hydrophobic interaction in the colloidal solution. The monodisperse Cu 3 P nanoplates is about 55 nm due to the modification of hexadecylamine. The composite structure not only offered more catalytic active sites by Cu 3 P nanoplates, but also facilitated rapid electron transfer due to rGO for water splitting. The Cu 3 P/rGO showed a high hydrogen evolution reaction efficiency, which yielded low overpotentials of 144 mV at current density of 10 mA cm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapidly increasing energy crisis and environment pollution, the development of renewable and clean energy sources has become indispensable. To this end, electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a crucial role in advanced energy conversion and storage technologies such as water splitting and rechargeable metal-air batteries. Considerable efforts have been devoted to exploit non-precious metal catalysts for replacing the catalysts based on precious metals such as iridium (Ir) and ruthenium (Ru). However, a clear understanding of the OER mechanism of electrocatalysts is vital for the directional synthesis of high-performance electrocatalysts. In this review, the recent perspectives on OER mechanisms of non-precious metal-based catalysts are presented, which includes electron transfer, defect/vacancy, and electronic-configuration regulation structures. The construction strategies of electrocatalysts and fundamental mechanisms for enhancing the catalytic activity are discussed. Furthermore, the catalysts that can be beneficial for water splitting and metal-air batteries are introduced. Besides, an overview of past developments and future challenges is presented. Image 1 • Progress in OER catalytic mechanism and application is shown. • Techniques for identifying catalyst structures are discussed. • Challenges and future opportunities of OER catalysts are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applications of trivalent rare earth (RE3+)‐doped light sources in solid‐state laser technology, optical communications, biolabeling, and solar energy management have stimulated a growing demand for broadband emission with flexible tunability and high efficiency. Codoping is a conventional strategy for manipulating the photoluminescence of active RE3+ ions. However, energy transfer between sensitizers and activators usually induces nonradiative migration depletion that brings detrimental luminescent quenching. Here, a transparent framework is employed to assemble ordered RE3+‐doped emitters to extend the emission spectral range by extracting photons from a variety of RE3+ ions with sequential energy gradient. To block migration‐mediated depletion between different RE3+ ions, a nanoscopic heterogeneous architecture is constructed to spatially confine the RE3+ clusters via a "nanocrystals‐in‐glass composite" (NGC) structure. This bottom‐up strategy endows the obtained RE3+‐doped NGC with high emission intensity (nearly one order of magnitude enhancement) and broadband near‐infrared emission from 1300 to 1600 nm, which covers nearly the whole low‐loss optical communication window. Most crucially, NGC is a versatile approach to design tunable broadband emission for the potential applications in high‐performance photonic devices, which also provides new opportunities for engineering multifunctional materials by integration and manipulation of diverse functional building units in a nanoscopic region. A tunable broadband emission is demonstrated by assembly of ordered rare‐earth‐doped emitters with sequential energy gradient. Migration‐mediated energy quenching has been successfully suppressed by nanoscopic heterogeneous structures constructed in transparent nanocrystals‐in‐glass composites. This assembly strategy highlights the possibility to fabricate multifunctional materials by linking different building units with photonic, magnetic, and electronic properties in a transparent framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional near-infrared luminescent phosphors activated by transition metal elements or rare earth activators were already widely reported. In this work, we develop a self-activated near-infrared luminescent phosphor with a typical double perovskite structure, which exhibits an emission at 650–750 nm under excitation at 365 nm. The origin of the desired luminescence in (Ca,Sr)LaMgTaO 6 compounds is attributed to the oxygen vacancies defects, oxygen interstitial defects and substitution defects and antioccupation defects. Thermal quenching of photoluminescence is undesirable with an integrated emission loss of 30–50% at 150 °C, which needs to be improved. This new series of near-infrared luminescent materials have potential applications in agricultural cultivations and bio-imaging materials. More importantly, we demonstrate a strategy by self-activation to realize near-infrared light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare earth doped mid-infrared (MIR) fluorescent sources have been widely investigated due to their various potential applications in the fields of communication, chemical detecting, medical surgery and so forth. However, with emission wavelength extended to MIR, multiphonon relaxation process that strongly quenched the MIR emission is one of the greatest challenges for such practical applications. In our design, we have described a controllable gas-aided annealing strategy to modulate the phase, crystal size, morphology and fluorescent performance of a material simultaneously. Uniform and monodispersed Er3+-doped La2O2S and La2O2SO4 nanocrystals with a similar lattice structure, crystallinity, diameter and morphology have been introduced to investigate the impact of multiphonon relaxation on luminescence performance. Detailed spectroscopic evolutions in the region of MIR, near-infrared (NIR), visible upconversion (UC) and their corresponding decay times provide insight investigation into the fluorescent mechanism caused by multiphonon relaxation. A possible energy transfer model has also been established. Our results present direct observation and mechanistic investigation of fluorescent evolution in multiphonon relaxation process, which is conductive to design MIR fluorescent materials in the future. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first investigation on MIR fluorescent performance of La2O2S nanocrystals, which may find various applications in many photoelectronic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pursuit of high‐resolution and advanced anti‐forgery technology has stimulated a growing demand for anti‐counterfeiting and encryption strategies with real‐time response and high security. Polarized patterns taking the advantage of high security, rapid response, simple operation, and great selectivity enable real‐time and non‐invasive detection by monitoring in different polarization directions. Here, a new strategy to design and fabricate the polarized CsPbBr3 quantum dot (QD) line arrays by femtosecond (fs) laser writing in a transparent glass matrix is proposed. The obtained line array structures endow isotropic CsPbBr3 QDs with macroscopic polarized emission with a polarization degree up to 0.189. Through programable design, the authors have created 2D and 3D polarized luminescent patterns made up of vertical and horizontal lines inside the glass for polarization‐sensitive optical anti‐counterfeiting patterns. The CsPbBr3 QD line arrays used in anti‐counterfeiting can be well maintained in the water environment. The successful demonstration of the laser writing CsPbBr3 QD polarization structures in glass highlights the versatility of anti‐counterfeiting and encryption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ce3+–Tb3+–Eu3+ triply doped Ba3KPO4(SO4)2 phosphors were synthesized and extensively studied. The luminescence properties, concentration effect and energy transfer (ET) mechanism of phosphors were studied in detail using the photoluminescence spectra and decay curves. The luminescent color of Ce3+–Tb3+–Eu3+ triply doped Ba3KPO4(SO4)2 phosphors can be tuned by adjusting the ET between different dopants. Spectroscopy studies demonstrate that Tb3+ acts as a bridge via Ce3+–Tb3+–Eu3+ ET in Ba3KPO4(SO4)2. The combined effects of energy-transfer on the emission color of Ce3+–Tb3+–Eu3+ show that the newly synthesized Ba3KPO4(SO4)2:Ce3+/Tb3+/Eu3+ phosphors can be used as a potential color converter with a large color gamut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to obtain a pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis method with high enzymatic digestibility at low enzyme loading from reed. Meanwhile, the three major components of reed were separated to be high-value utilized. The combination of liquid hot water–ammonia/oxygen pretreatment and non-ionic surfactants-enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis was studied to solve the problem of non-separation of hemicellulose and lignin in the pretreatment of single-step ammonia/oxygen method. The promoting effect and mechanism of non-ionic surfactants on enzymatic hydrolysis were also explored. Under the optimal conditions, 86.74% of glucan was retained and 65.48% of lignin was dissolved for high-value utilization. The addition of polyethylene glycol increased the enzymatic digestibility of pretreated reed to 97.13% at 9 filter paper units/g–solid. Therefore, this LHW–NH 3 ·H 2 O/O 2 pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis adding PEG 6000 method is a low-cost, green, and highly efficient method for fermentable sugar, hemicellulose, and modified lignin production. [Display omitted] • LHW–NH 3 ·H 2 O/O 2 pretreatment is a low-cost, green, and highly efficient method. • Enzymatic digestibility could reach to 97.13%, and 83.11% of glucan was retained. • Low enzyme loading (9 FPU/g–PSs) was used and 40% of cellulase can be saved. • The three components of reed were effectively separated to be high-value utilized. • PEG 6000 can maintain effective enzyme concentration and cellulase activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an analog of graphite, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been the hotspot in the materials science for its unique electronic structure. With medium band gap as well as thermal and chemical stability in ambient environment, it becomes one of the most promising photocatalytic materials. Intensive investigation has been focus on its photocatalytic performance for various reactions to date. What is more, controllable modulation of its electronic structure via doping or chemical functionalization is available. In addition, considerable attention has been paid on its photoelectronic application, such as light emitting device, photocathode, optical sensor, etc. Based on the electronic properties and pathway to modulate its electronic structure, in this review, we highlight the applications of g-C3N4 ranging from photocatalytic to photoelectronic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yb3+/Tm3+-codoped NaYF4 nanocrystals with different phases (cubic α and hexagonal β) and morphologies (nanoparticles, nanorods, nanoplates) have been controllably fabricated by a convenient hydrothermal synthesis technique. Up-conversion emission peaks were observed at λ=450, 475, 645, and 700 nm, which were assigned to the 1D2-3F4, 1G4-3H6, 1G4-3F4, and 3F2-3H6 transitions of Tm3+ ions, respectively. By using a homemade detection system, the anisotropic polarized emission properties of individual NaYF4:Yb, Tm nanorods and nanoplates were investigated. The results indicated that the polarization emission ratio, ρ, of the 1G4-3F4 emission of individual NaYF4:Yb,Tm nanorods was 0.18, whereas the anisotropic polarization emission of individual NaYF4:Yb,Tm nanoplates could be neglected; this indicated that the size and morphology of the nanocrystal played an important role in the polarized emission properties. Investigation into the mechanism indicated that the dielectric mismatch was not the predominant mechanism for the polarized emission of individual NaYF4:Yb,Tm nanorods. The as-prepared NaYF4:Yb,Tm nanocrystals, with controllable morphology and anisotropic polarized emission properties, are expected to be widely applied as polarized light resources, bio-labels, photodetectors, and so forth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel self-luminescence of double provskite BaLaMgTaO 6 phosphor has been developed. • The luminescent property of BaLaMgTaO6 was investigated. • The origin of the luminescence in BaLaMgTaO 6 compound was study. • The investigation result provides a platform for modeling a new near-infrared phosphor. BaLaMgTaO 6 is an excellent phosphor host with very interesting properties. In this research, we have synthesized a new near-infrared emitting BaLaMgTaO 6 phosphor. Upon ultraviolet-light excitation (365 nm), the BaLaMgTaO 6 host displays a broad emission ranging from 650 to 750 nm. The as-prepared samples were characterized and analyzed with temperature-dependent and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL), as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Through the experimental design, we determined that the luminescence observed in the BaLaMgTaO 6 compound can be attributed to the presence of multiple defects. These findings suggest that this material could serve as a promising platform for modeling new near-infrared phosphors and be utilized in the field of solid-state lighting. A table of contents entry. We report a novel self-activated near-infrared luminescence of BaLaMgTaO6 phosphor. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An OpenFOAM-based multi-physics implicit coupling code with turbulence considerations for LFR was developed. • Code-to-code verification was carried out by simulating the typical benchmark cases for an XADS fuel pin channel including steady state and three accident transients. The thermal-hydraulics and safety analysis of Lead-based Fast Reactor (LFR) have drawn great attentions in recent years. By employing an implicit coupling strategy, a new multi-physics coupling code for safety analysis of LFR, was developed based on OpenFOAM. Point kinetics and fuel pin heat conduction modules were coupled to CFD module with turbulence consideration. Verifications were conducted by steady state and Beam Trip (BT), Beam Over Power (BOP) and Transient Over Power (TOP) accidents transient simulations in a single fuel pin channel of LFR. Results simulated by new coupling code proposed in this paper agree well with the ones provided by a safety analysis platform HC-PK-CFD based on ANSYS FLUENT. It demonstrated the feasibility and accuracy of implicit coupling strategy developed in this paper, as well as the capability of new program to perform multi-physics coupling simulations involved in thermal-hydraulics and safety analysis of LFR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, in order to obtain high concentration bioethanol, reed pretreated with liquid hot water and ammonia oxygen (LHW-NH 3 ·H 2 O/O 2) was used as the substrate for fermentation. Enzymatic hydrolysis becomes difficult by the ineffective lignin adsorption and the decline in cellulase activity. It is worth noting that even under low enzyme loading (9 FPU/g pretreated solid), this study was able to maintain a higher glucan conversion rate (97.60%). In addition, under high solid loading conditions, the combined effect of PEG 6000 and rhamnolipids increased ethanol yield (78.40%) and ethanol concentration (71.5 g/L). The combined LHW-NH 3 ·H 2 O/O 2 pretreatment with fed-batch semi-simultaneous saccharification and fermentation technique may be utilized to industrialize the production of bioethanol from reed since we concentrated on the maximum exploitation of biomass resources and reduction in energy consumption. [Display omitted] • LHW–NH 3 ·H 2 O/O 2 pretreatment is a cheap, eco-friendly, and effective technique. • With the help of surfactant, enzyme loading (9 FPU/g-PSs) decreased by 40%. • The maximum glucan conversion could reach 97.60%. • The main components of reed were isolated and put to high-value uses. • Two surfactants work together to produce high bioethanol concentration and yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) has been restricted in some optoelectronics fields due to its narrow tunable emission region. In order to engineer the optical properties, herein we combine Eu3+:Y2O3 nanocrystals with g‐C3N4to control its electronic structure. Surprisingly, with the increasing concentration of Eu3+:Y2O3 nanocrystals, the photoluminescence of Eu3+:Y2O3/g‐C3N4 (EYCN) showed a continuous red shift in comparison with pure g‐C3N4 from blue to green. In EYCN composites, the Eu3+:Y2O3 nanocrystals as electron donors, can improve the degree of electron delocalization and narrow the bandgap. Importantly, the EYCN composites not only maintain the intrinsic blue‐green emission of g‐C3N4, but also introduce the red light of Eu3+ ions. Based on the EYCN composites, white light‐emitting diode (WLED) were fabricated with a Commission International de L'Eclairage value of (0.3631, 0.3560). This work proposes a new kind of luminescent g‐C3N4‐based composites, which is expected to broaden its applications in optoelectronics field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent glass ceramics (GCs) consisting of an homogeneous glass phase and a well‐dispersed crystal phase are considered as ideal optical gain materials potentially applied in optoelectronic devices due to the combination of facile processability of glass and the intense crystal field of nanocrystals. Here, a heat‐induced nanocrystal‐in‐glass method is employed to integrate the active ions Tm3+ into Bi2Te4O11 nanocrystals with an intense crystal field to realize an enhanced microlaser output. This strategy endows the efficient tellurate GC microcavity laser operating at ≈2 µm. Compared with the laser properties of as‐prepared glass microcavities, the pump threshold (260 µW) is as low as less than a quarter and the slope efficiency (0.0296%) is 5.5 times higher. Furthermore, by carefully engineering the heat treatment temperature and duration, the crystal size and distribution can be precisely controlled. Thus, the Rayleigh scattering loss that is detrimental to quality (Q) factor is effectively suppressed and the GC microcavities with high Q factors up to 105 are successfully obtained. This work provides useful insight on the development of optical functional materials and expands the practical applications of GC microcavities in various optoelectronic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy (DCAN) is a common and serious complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), is manifested by nerve fiber injury in the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve of the autonomic nervous system, and causes hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, silent myocardial infarction, and sudden death. Our previous study observed that P2X3 receptor in superior cervical ganglia in rat was associated with sympathetic neuropathy caused by myocardial ischemia. However, whether the P2X3 receptor is involved in the diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of this research was explored the effect of P2X3 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) on information transmission of sympathetic nerve induced by DCAN. Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats were randomly divided into four groups: Control, DM, DM treated with P2X3 shRNA and DM treated with scramble shRNA. Blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability were measured in each group. The expression of P2X3 in stellate ganglion (SG) was detected by immunohistochemistry, western blotting and QPCR. Results showed that P2X3 shRNA alleviated blood pressure and heart rate, improved heart rate variability, decreased the up-regulated expression levels of P2X3, interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha in stellate ganglion (SG) of diabetic rats. P2X3 shRNA also reduced the incremental concentration of serum epinephrine and the phosphorylation level of extracellular regulated protein kinases1/2 in diabetic rats. These results indicated that P2X3 shRNA could decrease sympathetic activity via inhibiting P2X3 receptor in the SG to alleviate DCAN. Highlights • Diabetes mellitus increased the sympathoexcitatory activity. • P2X3 shRNA alleviated blood pressure and heart rate, improved heart rate variability. • P2X3 shRNA decreased the elevated P2X3, IL-1β and TNF-α in SG of diabetic rats. • P2X3 shRNA reduced the incremental concentration of serum epinephrine of DM rats. • P2X3 shRNA reduced the phosphorylation level of ERK1/2 in the diabetic rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance to study the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of Lead-based Fast Reactor. In these years, the computational fluid dynamics method has become an attractive way in thermal-hydraulic and safety simulations of liquid metal cooled reactors. In order to investigate thermal-hydraulic characteristics of single-phase natural circulation flow in liquid metal cooled reactors, a self-developed CFD code was developed in this paper. The new code was proposed based on the two-phase compressible model, including liquid and vapor governing equations and a series of auxiliary models. The commercial CFD software ANSYS FLUENT was used to verify and validate the new code by comparing their simulation results under a typical heat driven cavity flow case. The comparison showed that the results simulated by the new code had good agreement with the ones calculated by ANSYS FLUENT. Furthermore, by coupling the above CFD model with the fuel pin heat transfer model, the application was conducted based on a full-scale reactor steady-state simulation of a natural circulation driven LBE-cooled fast reactor. From the results, it can be concluded that the new code can simulate and evaluate thermal-hydraulic behaviors of the LBE-cooled reactor well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocrystallized glass ceramics (NGCs) are important optical materials, but few studies have focused on their laser actions. Here, by precipitation of NaYF4 nanocrystals enriched with Er3+ ions in an oxide glass matrix, great enhancement of the luminescence properties for the NGC microspheres is realized. By carefully matching the refractive index of the glass matrix with that of the NaYF4 nanocrystals and controlling the size and distribution of the precipitated nanocrystals, the absorption and Rayleigh scattering losses that are harmful to quality (Q) factors are efficiently suppressed. As a result, the NGC microsphere cavities present ultrahigh Q factors up to 106 (@ 1610 nm), which is slightly lower than that of the microsphere cavities made by precursor glass. Moreover, single mode whispering gallery modes (WGMs) lasing from the NGC microsphere cavities for the first time is successfully realized. Compared with the microsphere cavity based on glass, the NGC microsphere cavity exhibits large enhancement of the pumping efficiency by more than 7 times and a decrease in the threshold by more than 2.5 times. The results demonstrated here suggest a novel method for improving the laser output performances of microcavities, which may have potential applications in areas of photonics and optical communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]