Search

Pomelo is cultivated worldwide due to its unique taste. Most of the pomelo peel is discarded, thus, wasting the beneficial ingredients contained in it. In order to effectively utilize these ingredi...

Hydrogen production from electrocatalytic water splitting has aroused extensive attention in many fields recently. Fabrication of low-cost and high-efficiency electrocatalysts are still an urgent and challenging work. Porphyrins as visible-light photosensitizers have been extensively utilized in visible-light photocatalysts and photoelectronic materials. So, fabrication of novel porphyrin-based complexes will be benefited for high-efficiency hydrogen evolution and photoelectric response. Here a series of zirconium porphyrin-based coordination complexes were successfully fabricated via a facile two-step strategy. Due to the unique long chain-like structure and low charge-transfer resistance, the zirconium porphyrin-based coordination complexes displayed excellent electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction. The ZrTPP-PTA-1 showed a low overpotential of 60 mV at the current density 10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 87 mV dec−1 with an ultralow electron transfer resistance of 17.5 Ω. In addition, a quick photocurrent response occurred for these coordination complexes with a visible-light illumination. The photocurrent of the ZrTPP-OA-2 rised up to 2.5 μA under visible-light irradiation. With this pleasant result, these zirconium porphyrin-based coordination complexes have a great potential to become available alternative of current noble electrocatalysts for photoelectric application.

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the origin, transmission and communication of silk. However, this is still an unsolved mystery in archaeology. The identification of silk-producing species, especially silk produced by Bombyx mori (B. mori) and Antheraea pernyi (A. pernyi), is of key significance to address this challenge. In this study, two innovative methods, i.e. immunology and proteomics, were proposed and successfully established for the species identification of silks. ELISAs result demonstrated that the two prepared antibodies exhibited high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing B. mori and A. pernyi silk. No cross-reactivity with each other was observed. Moreover, biomarkers were obtained for Bombyx and Antheraea through proteomic analysis. It was also confirmed that the biomarkers were suitable for identifying the species that produced a given silk sample. Compared with conventional methods for distinguishing silk species, immunological and proteomics techniques used in tandem can provide intact information and have the potential to provide accurate and reliable information for species identification.

A novel high-efficiency composite photocatalyst, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are embedded onto out-surface surface of the TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs) with high percentage of photocatalytic reactive facets, was fabricated through an improved hydrothermal method. The characterization results showed that the CQDs was chemically adhered to out-surface of the TNTs through the C O and/or C O bonds formed between the CQDs and TNTs. The photocatalytic performance of as-prepared photocatalysts was evaluated to degrade methylene blue (MB) solution under the visible light. The as-prepared photocatalysts had a marvelous photocatalytic performance and the CQDs/TNTs-0.2 sample had the best photocatalytic performance with a decolorization rate of 91.3% and approximately 2 times more than that of pure TNTs for the high initial concentration of MB solution (30 mg/l) within 50 min under visible-light irradiation. The CQDs with excellent Up-Conversion Photoluminescence(UCPL)properties as co-catalysts can covert long wavelength light (>600 nm) absorbed from infrared light into visible light (

The Xinjiang region is a crossroad between the West and East on the Silk Road, where many exquisite hair textile relics in the Bronze Age were unearthed, therefore, it attracts the attention of scholars around the world. However, the limitation of information acquisition ability is still the main bottleneck to recognize the scientific value of ancient hair textile relics. In this study, paleoproteomics method was proposed to analyse the hair textile relics from Xiaohe and Shanpula cemetery in the Xinjiang region. To establish the databases of biomarkers and morphological features, five modern hair samples from representative animals (grey fox, raccoon dog, American mink, cape hare, and lamb) were selected and examined. Through searching the databases, the ancient hair textile samples from Xiaohe and Shanpula cemetery were all identified as wool. Ultimately, this work demonstrated the evidences supporting the existence of prosperous sheep husbandry, wool manufacture and cultural exchange along the Silk Road in the Bronze Age. The paleoproteomics, in combination with other methods, obtained more reliable and profound information from hair textile relics than ever before, and it goes without saying that they have bright prospects of being widely used in hair textile archaeology.

The process and mechanism of silk degradation is still a bewildering mystery in the investigation and conservation of cultural relics, which rely on the development of accurate and tailored analysis technologies. Here, two advanced approaches, proteomics and immunology, were developed for determining the deterioration behavior of historic silk fabrics and artificially aged samples from the molecular to the holistic level. The surface morphology and secondary structure of silk were destroyed during degradation. Subsequently, the proteomics and immunology analysis demonstrated a new degradation model differing from previous reports. First, the amorphous region and the looser crystalline regions were destroyed together, and the macromolecular chains were broken randomly. Then, the tight β-sheet blocks in the crystalline region were exposed and deteriorated, which expedited the degradation of tight β-sheet blocks and relatively loose blocks in the crystalline domain as well as the amorphous domain, ultimately yielding small molecule polypeptides. However, the deterioration process of ancient fabrics could be accelerated by poor burial conditions, thus showing distinct destructive characteristics. Overall, the results gave us a more comprehensive and profound understanding of the degradation process of ancient silk.

The identification of ancient wool is of great importance in archaeology. Despite lots of meaningful information can be achieved by conventional detection methods, that is, light and electron microscopy, spectroscopy, and chromatography, the efficacy is likely to be limited in the detection of ancient samples with contamination or severe degradation. In this work, an immunoassay was proposed and performed for the identification of ancient wool. First, a specific antibody, which has the benefits of low cost, easy operation, and extensive applicability, was developed directly through immunizing rabbits with complete antigen (keratin). Then, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a colloidal gold-labelled immunochromatographic strip (ICS) were developed to qualitatively identify the corresponding protein in ancient wool samples unearthed from Kazakhstan and China. The anti-keratin antibody exhibited high sensitivity and specificity for the identification of modern and ancient wool. The limit of detection (LOD) of the ELISA method was 10 ng/mL, and no cross-reactions with other interfering antigens have been noted. It is concluded that the immunoassays are reliable methods for the identification of ancient wool.