CoSe nanoparticles in-situ grown in 3D honeycomb carbon for high-performance lithium storage.

Although transition metal selenides are considered to be extremely promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), severe volume changes and low electronic conductivity are their huge and unavoidable challenges. To solve these problems, CoSe nanoparticles in-situ grown on the inner surface of every macropore of 3D honeycomb C is successfully synthesized by three simple steps: dense assembling of polystyrene spheres, calcination and gaseous selenylation. The sizes of CoSe and honeycomb pores are 10-15 nm and 190 nm, respectively. The content of CoSe is 72 wt%. This unique architecture guarantees high electrochemical activity, rapid reaction kinetics and excellent structural stability of CoSe, as identified by cycling and rate performance measurements, various electrochemical kinetics analyses and ex-situ characterization of the cycled electrode material. As a result, the CoSe@honeycomb C anode exhibits extraordinary cycling performance (823.5 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 0.5 A g-1, 610.1 mAh g-1 after 250 cycles at 2 A g-1, 247 mAh g-1 after 1500 cycles at 5 A g-1) and exceptional rate capability (261.9 mAh g-1 at 10 A g-1, 1491.4 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1), demonstrating that it is a potential anode material for high-performance LIBs.

Hierarchical hollow superstructure cobalt selenide bird nests for high-performance lithium storage.

The inferior cycling performance caused by large volume variation is the main problem that restricts the application of cobalt selenides in lithium-ion batteries. Herein, we synthesize raspberry-like Co-ethylene glycol precursor. It is further selenized into the hierarchical hollow superstructure CoSe2/CoSe bird nests that are assembled by the hollow nanosphere units of CoSe2 and CoSe nanocrystalline. CoSe2/CoSe bird nests achieve excellent cycling performance, high reversible capacity and satisfactory rate capability (1361 mAh/g at 1 A/g after 1000 cycles, 579 mAh/g at 2 A/g after 2000 cycles, 315 mAh/g at 5 A/g after 1000 cycles). Electrochemical kinetics analyses and ex-situ material characterization reveal that the surface capacitive behavior controls the electrochemical reaction, and the composite has low reaction impedance, fast and stable Li+ diffusion, and superior structural stability. The superior lithium storage performance is attributed to the unique superstructure bird nest. Large specific surface area, abundant hierarchical pores and the opening mouth result in high electrochemical activity, which induces high reversible capacity. The small hollow nanosphere units, the sufficiently thick hierarchical porous superstructure shell and the large hollow interior bring about the strong synergistic effect to improve cycling performance. The intimately coupling of CoSe2/CoSe nanocrystalline and the hollow nanosphere units guarantees high conductivity. This work has greatly enriched the understanding of structure design of high-performance cobalt selenide anodes.

[The mediating role of anxiety and depression for family members of ICU patients in perceived social support and fatigue].

To analyze the mediating role of anxiety and depression in perceived social support and fatigue in ICU patients' families, and to provide a theoretical evidence for alleviating their fatigue status. A total of 223 family members of ICU patients who received treatment at the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University from October 2020 to April 2021 were selected as the study subjects. The general data questionnaire, perceived social support scale (PSSS), generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7), patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) and fatigue assessment instrument (FAI) were used to conduct a survey. Among 223 family members of ICU patients, 155(69.51%) had fatigue problems. There were statistically significant differences in total fatigue scores of ICU patients' family members in terms of gender, age, education level, relationship with patients, residence, payment method and per capita monthly income (P<0.05). Anxiety, depression and fatigue were negatively correlated with perceived social support (r are -0.353, -0.276 and -0.416, respectively, all P<0.01). Depression and fatigue were positively correlated with anxiety (r are 0.808 and 0.703, respectively, all P<0.01), and fatigue was also positively correlated with depression (r= 0.665, P<0.01). Anxiety and depression had a partial mediating effect on perceived social support and fatigue, and the total indirect effect size was 52.64%. Comprehensive intervention on the level of social support, anxiety and depression is helpful to improve the fatigue status of ICU patients' family members.

Intimately coupled Mn3O4nanocrystalline@3D honeycomb hierarchical porous network scaffold carbon for high-performance cathode of aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

Herein, 3D honeycomb hierarchical porous network scaffold carbon is synthesized by a unique PVP-SiO2-boiling method with the boiling bubbles as soft template and SiO2nanospheres as hard template. Then MnO2nanosheets intimately grow on the carbon matrix and are further decomposed to Mn3O4nanocrystalline with size of 7-9 nm. The obtained Mn3O4nanocrystalline@3D honeycomb hierarchical porous network scaffold carbon has abundant mesopores and large specific surface area (92 m2g-1). When used as a cathode material for zinc-ion batteries, the synthesized composites exhibit high reversible capacity (546.2 mAh g-1at 0.5 A g-1), remarkable cycling stability (discharge capacity of 97.8 mAh g-1at 3 A g-1after 600 cycles) and superior rate capability (15.7 mAh g-1at 10 A g-1). The kinetics analyses indicate zinc storage mechanism includes diffusion process and capacitive process of Zn2+and H+ions, and the capacitive storage is dominant. The outstanding zinc storage performance benefits from the structural advantages. The unique carbon matrix improves electronic conductivity of Mn3O4, facilitates penetration of electrolyte, and well supports Mn3O4nanocrystalline. The small size and large specific surface area of Mn3O4nanocrystalline induce significant capacitive storage effect.

[Predictive value of complement and coagulation indicators in sepsis related acute kidney injury].

Objective: To explore the predictive value of complement and coagulation indicators in sepsis related acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods: Clinical data of 217 patients with sepsis admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Unit of Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University from January 2018 to June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were divided into sepsis with AKI group and without AKI group. Laboratory indicators of all patients were collected, including complement C3, complement C4, activated partial thrombin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), D-dimer, procalcitonin(PCT), etc. logistic regression analysis was used to explore the risk factors of sepsis related AKI. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the predictive value of independent risk factors. Results: Among 217 patients, 120 patients developed sepsis related AKI and 97 patients didn't. PCT, lactic acid, PT, APTT, INR and D-dimer in AKI patients were significantly higher than those without AKI (P<0.01). Complement C3 and complement C4 were significantly lower in AKI group (P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that blood pressure<90/60 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa)(OR=3.705, 95%CI 1.536-8.934,P=0.004), increased lactic acid (OR=1.479, 95%CI 1.089-2.008, P=0.012), decreased complement C3 (OR=0.027, 95%CI 0.005-0.152, P<0.001) and prolonged APTT (OR=1.090, 95%CI 1.047-1.137,P<0.001)were independent risk factors predicting AKI. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of these multivariates were 0.741 (95%CI 0.675-0.807), 0.798 (95%CI 0.732-0.864), 0.712 (95%CI 0.643-0.781) and 0.716 (95%CI 0.648-0.783) respectively. The relevant sensitivity was 57.5%, 80.8%, 87.5%, 59.2%, and the specificity was 90.7%, 75.3%, 51.5%, 77.3%, respectively. The AUC of the combined four indicators was 0.880 (95%CI 0.835-0.926) with the sensitivity 75.0% and the specificity 90.7%. Conclusion: The low level of complement C3 and prolonged APTT predict sepsis related AKI, and the predictive value can be enhanced if hypotension and hyperlactacidemia are added.

Enhanced conversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells based on bilayered nano-composite photoanode film consisting of TiO2 nanoparticles and nanofibers.

Novel TiO2 nanoparticles/nanofibers (NPs/NFs) bilayered nano-composite photoanode film for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was fabricated through the combination of spin-coating and electrospinning. The NPs and NFs layers have complementary roles. The underlaid spin-coated NPs layer provides the photoanode film with higher specific surface area for dye adsorption and improved adhesion to conductive glass substrate. The overlaid electrospun NFs layer endows the photoanode film with better dye-loading and light-harvesting capabilities due to its porous meshwork structure. And the NFs layer also offers larger pore volume, which can facilitate the electrolyte diffusion and the activity regeneration of dye sensitizers. As a result, the electron transport is accelerated while the charge recombination is suppressed. Ascribing to the synergic effect of the NPs and NFs layers, the TiO2 NPs/NFs-based DSSCs achieve a conversion efficiency of 4.46%, which is nearly 14% higher than that of the pure TiO2 NPs-based ones.

High-efficiency photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue using electrospun ZnO nanofibers as catalyst.

In this work, ZnO nanofibers (ZNFs) were successfully prepared via a simple electrospinning technique using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)2 2H2O) as precursors. The obtained ZNFs have an average diameter of ca. 95 nm and are composed of crystalline wurtzite phase. Methylene blue (MB) dye was used to investigate the photocatalytic performance of pure ZNFs. The study confirms that ZNFs have favorable catalytic activity, and the best degradation efficiency of MB can exceed 90% under UV light irradiation for 3 hours. In addition, we propose a possible photodegradation mechanism.