Topical Ozone Accelerates Diabetic Wound Healing by Promoting Re-Epithelialization through the Activation of IGF1R-EGFR Signaling.

Ozonated oil increases the healing of chronic diabetic wounds, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated the effect of topical ozonated oil on wound healing in mice with diabetes with diet-induced obesity and further elucidated the role of EGFR and IGF1R signaling in diabetic wound healing. We found that topical ozonated oil accelerated wound healing; increased phosphorylation of IGF1R, EGFR, and VEGFR; and improved vascularization at the wound leading edge in mice with diabetes with diet-induced obesity. Exposure of normal epidermal keratinocytes to ozonated medium (20 µM for 2 hours daily) increased cell proliferation and migration distance by increasing phosphorylation of IGF1R and EGFR and downstream phosphoinositide 3-kinase, protein kinase B, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase. These findings shed light on the mechanism for topical ozone action in chronic wounds and support its potential therapeutic application.

Enhanced Photothermal Effect in Ultralow-Density Carbon Aerogels with Microporous Structures for Facile Optical Ignition Applications.

The exact mechanism responsible for the phenomenon known as photoignition with an enhanced photothermal effect in high-surface-area carbon with the addition of a metal catalyst is an open issue. Here, we report the first successful flash ignition of a pure carbon material in ambient air microporous carbon aerogels (CAs) with ultralow density and high surface area. Under flash exposure, the CAs show a strong local heat confinement effect near microporous structures (0.6-2 nm), and the graphite crystallite structures existing in single carbon nanoparticles (∼15 nm) are damaged. The local heat confinement effects are mainly derived from the low gaseous thermal conductivity in micropores and low solid thermal conductivity in low-density CAs. In addition, the limiting effects of the microporous structure on the vibration amplitude of free-state electrons in low-density CAs result in a dramatic increase in optical absorption. Numerical simulations of unsteady temperature fields of CAs with different densities and thicknesses are also performed, and the calculated maximum temperature of a 17 µm-thick 20 mg/cm3 CA bed is 1782 °C. CAs with higher density can also give rise to enhanced photothermal response and ignition with the addition of metal Fe nanoparticles. The metal catalyst increases both the light absorption capacity in the visible-light range and the heat accumulation capacity. These results are important for understanding the mechanism of flash ignition, especially the local high temperature and effects of metal catalyst in carbon materials during the photothermal process.

Biomass-Based Mechanically Strong and Electrically Conductive Polymer Aerogels and Their Application for Supercapacitors.

A novel biomass-based mechanically strong and electrically conductive polymer aerogel was fabricated from aniline and biodegradable pectin. The strong hydrogen bonding interactions between polyaniline (PANI) and pectin resulted in a defined structure and enhanced properties of the aerogel. All the resultant aerogels exhibited self-surppoted 3D nanoporous network structures with high surface areas (207-331m(2)/g) and hierarchical pores. The results from electrical conductivity measurements and compressive tests revealed that these aerogels also had favorable conductivities (0.002-0.1 S/m) and good compressive modulus (1.2-1.4 MPa). The aerogel further used as electrode for supercapacitors showed enhanced capacitive performance (184 F/g at 0.5 A/g). Over 74% of the initial capacitance was maintained after repeating 1000 cycles of the cylic voltammetry test, while the capacitance retention of PANI was only 57%. The improved electrochemical performance may be attributed to the combinative properties of good electrical conductivity, BET surface areas, and stable nanoporous structure of the aerogel. Thus, this aerogel shows great potential as electrode materials for supercapacitors.

Excellent Electromagnetic Absorption Capability of Ni/Carbon Based Conductive and Magnetic Foams Synthesized via a Green One Pot Route.

Electromagnetic microwave absorption materials have attracted a great deal of attention. Foams for the low density and tunable porosity are considered as ideal microwave absorbents, while with the requirement of improving their inherent electromagnetic properties. In this manuscript, an innovative, easy, and green method was presented to synthesize an electromagnetic functionalized Ni/carbon foam, in which the formation of Ni nanoparticles and carbon occurred simultaneously from an affordable alginate/Ni(2+) foam precursor. The resultant Ni/carbon foam had a low density (0.1 g/cm(-3)) and high Ni nanoparticles loading (42 wt %). These Ni nanoparticles with a diameter of about 50-100 nm were highly crystallized and evenly embedded in porous graphite carbon without aggregation. Also, the resultant foam had a high surface area (451 m(2) g(-1)) and porosity and showed a moderate conductivity (6 S/m) and significant magnetism. Due to these special characteristics, the Ni/carbon foam exhibited greatly enhanced microwave absorption ability. Only with 10 wt % of functional fillers being used in the test template, the Ni/carbon foam based composite could reach an effective absorption bandwidth (below -10 dB) of 4.5 GHz and the minimum reflection value of -45 dB at 13.3 GHz with a thickness of 2 mm, while the traditional carbon foam and nano-Ni powder both showed very weak microwave absorption (the minimum reflection value < -10 dB). This foam was demonstrated to be a lightweight, high performance, and low filler loading microwave absorbing material. Furthermore, the detailed absorption mechanism of the foam was investigated. The result showed that the derived strong dielectric loss, including conductivity loss, interface polarization loss, weak magnetic loss, and naoporosity, contributes a great electromagnetic absorption.