Emerging Trends in CdS-Based Nanoheterostructures: From Type-II and Z-Scheme toward S-Scheme Photocatalytic H2 Production.

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) based heterojunctions, including type-II, Z-scheme, and S-scheme systems emerged as promising materials for augmenting photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) generation from water splitting. This review offers an exclusive highlight of their fundamental principles, synthesis routes, charge transfer mechanisms, and performance properties in improving H2 production. We overview the crucial roles of Type-II heterojunctions in enhancing charge separation, Z-scheme heterojunctions in promoting redox potentials to reduce electron-hole (e-/h+) pairs recombination, and S-scheme heterojunctions in combining the merits of both type-II and Z-scheme frameworks to obtain highly efficient H2 production. The importance of this review is demonstrated by its thorough comparison of these three configurations, presenting valuable insights into their special contributions and capability for augmenting photocatalytic H2 activity. Additionally, key challenges and prospects in the practical applications of CdS-based heterojunctions are addressed, which provides a comprehensive route for emerging research in achieving sustainable energy goals.

Interlayer Potassium Single-Atom-Coordinated g-C3N4 for Significantly Boosted Visible Light Photocatalytic H2 Production.

In recent years, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has attracted considerable attention because it includes earth-abundant carbon and nitrogen elements and exhibits good chemical and thermal stability owing to the strong covalent interaction in its conjugated layer structure. However, bulk g-C3N4 has some disadvantages of low specific surface area, poor light absorption, rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers, and insufficient active sites, which hinder its practical applications. In this study, we design and synthesize potassium single-atom (K SAs)-doped g-C3N4 porous nanosheets (CM-KX, where X represents the mass of KHP added) via supramolecular self-assembling and chemical cross-linking copolymerization strategies. The results show that the utilization of supramolecules as precursors can produce g-C3N4 nanosheets with reduced thickness, increased surface area, and abundant mesopores. In addition, the intercalation of K atoms within the g-C3N4 nitrogen pots through the formation of K-N bonds results in the reduction of the band gap and expansion of the visible-light absorption range. The optimized K-doped CM-K12 nanosheets achieve a specific surface area of 127 m2 g-1, which is 11.4 times larger than that of the pristine g-C3N4 nanosheets. Furthermore, the optimal CM-K12 sample exhibits the maximum H2 production rate of 127.78 µmol h-1 under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm), which is nearly 23 times higher than that of bare g-C3N4. This significant improvement of photocatalytic activity is attributed to the synergistic effects of the mesoporous structure and K SAs doping, which effectively increase the specific surface area, improve the visible-light absorption capacity, and facilitate the separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Besides, the optimal sample shows good chemical stability for 20 h in the recycling experiments. Density functional theory calculations confirm that the introduction of K SAs significantly boosts the adsorption energy for water and decreases the activation energy barrier for the reduction of water to hydrogen.

Clinical applications and perspectives of circulating tumor DNA in gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, largely due to inadequate screening methods, late diagnosis, and limited treatment options. Liquid biopsy has emerged as a promising non-invasive approach for cancer screening and prognosis by detecting circulating tumor components like circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in the blood. Numerous gastric cancer-specific ctDNA biomarkers have now been identified. CtDNA analysis provides insight into genetic and epigenetic alterations in tumors, holding promise for predicting treatment response and prognosis in gastric cancer patients. This review summarizes current research on ctDNA biology and detection technologies, while highlighting clinical applications of ctDNA for gastric cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and guiding treatment decisions. Current challenges and future perspectives for ctDNA analysis are also discussed.

[Effects of Biochar on Antibiotic Environmental Behaviors in Soil: A Meta-analysis].

Biochar, as a soil amendment for synergizing the reduction of pollution and carbon emissions, shows great potential and future prospects in controlling antibiotic contamination. In order to research the effects of biochar on antibiotic behaviors in soil systematically, a Meta-analysis was conducted based on 20 studies published from 2011 to 2021. The results showed that the adsorption and degradation of antibiotics in the soil were significantly affected by the application rate and property of biochar. A 2% biochar application dose seemed to be the highest effect size (ES) of 0.19 on adsorption, while there was a significant effect (ES=0.23) on the degradation when the application rate was 5%. The specific surface area, polarity, stability, and aromaticity of biochar could increase the partition coefficient significantly, and the ES was 0.11, 0.13, 0.09, and 0.18, respectively, whereas the effects of antibiotic transport on the dose and property of biochar were insignificant. Biochar also indirectly controlled antibiotic behavior by altering the soil environment. However, the response of the coupling mechanism in antibiotic behaviors on biochar application into soil is still unclear. Moreover, the long-term and negative effects of biochar application in the field are still lacking basic data.

Hierarchically hollow N-doped carbon-cobalt nanoparticle heterointerface for efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis.

The rational design and fabrication of high-performance and durable bifunctional non-noble-metal electrocatalysts for both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are still a great challenge in the practical applications of rechargeable zinc-air (Zn-air) batteries. Herein, we report a simple yet robust route to synthesize cobalt nanoparticles rooted in the hierarchically hollow nitrogen-doped carbon frameworks (Co@HNCs). This strategy employs the pyrolysis of nanostructured hollow Co-based metal-organic framework (ZIF-67) precursors produced by selective linker cleaving with pyrazino(2,3-f)(1,10)phenanthroline-2,3-dicarboxylic acid molecules (H2PPDA). The designed hierarchically architecture is favorable for the accessibility of the active sites in the catalyst, which affords enhanced bifunctional performance for ORR and OER. Moreover, when used as a cathode in liquid and all-solid-state Zn-air batteries, the resultant Co@HNCs delivers high efficiency and outstanding durability, even outperforming the benchmark Pt/C + RuO2. This work provides a feasible design avenue to achieve advanced dual-phasic oxygen electrocatalyst and promotes the development of rechargeable Zn-air batteries.