A bibliometric and visual analysis of epigenetic research publications for Alzheimer's disease (2013-2023).

Background: Currently, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is progressively rising, particularly in developed nations. There is an escalating focus on the onset and progression of AD. A mounting body of research indicates that epigenetics significantly contributes to AD and holds substantial promise as a novel therapeutic target for its treatment. Objective: The objective of this article is to present the AD areas of research interest, comprehend the contextual framework of the subject research, and investigate the prospective direction for future research development. Methods: ln Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC), we searched documents by specific subject terms and their corresponding free words. VOSviewer, CiteSpace and Scimago Graphica were used to perform statistical analysis on measurement metrics such as the number of published papers, national cooperative networks, publishing countries, institutions, authors, co-cited journals, keywords, and visualize networks of related content elements. Results: We selected 1,530 articles from WOSCC from January 2013 to June 2023 about epigenetics of AD. Based on visual analysis, we could get that China and United States were the countries with the most research in this field. Bennett DA was the most contributed and prestigious scientist. The top 3 cited journals were Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Neurobiology of Aging and Molecular Neurobiology. According to the analysis of keywords and the frequency of citations, ncRNAs, transcription factor, genome, histone modification, blood DNA methylation, acetylation, biomarkers were hot research directions in AD today. Conclusion: According to bibliometric analysis, epigenetic research in AD was a promising research direction, and epigenetics had the potential to be used as AD biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

KB3H8·NH3B3H7 Complex as a Potential Solid-State Electrolyte with Excellent Stability against K Metal.

All-solid-state potassium batteries are promising candidates in the fields of large-scale energy storage owing to their intrinsic safety, stability, and cost-effectiveness. However, a suitable solid-state electrolyte with high ionic conductivity and favorable interfacial stability is a major challenge for the design and development of these batteries. Herein, we report the synthesis of new KB3H8·nNH3B3H7 (n = 0.5 and 1) complexes to develop suitable solid-state K-ion conductors for batteries. Both the complexes undergo a reversible phase transition below the thermal decomposition temperature. The optimal KB3H8·NH3B3H7 delivers a solid-state K-ion conductivity of 1.3 × 10-4 S cm-1 at 55 °C with an activation energy of 0.44 eV after a transition from a monoclinic to an orthorhombic phase, which is the highest value of K borohydrides reported to date and places KB3H8·NH3B3H7 among the leading solid-state K-ion conductors. Moreover, KB3H8·NH3B3H7 reveals a K-ion transference number of nearly 0.93, an electrochemical stability window of 1.2 to 3.5 V vs K+/K, a good capability of K dendrite suppression, and a remarkable stability against the K metal anode due to the formation of the stable interface. These performances make KB3H8·NH3B3H7 a promising electrolyte for all-solid-state potassium batteries.

K3 SbS4 as a Potassium Superionic Conductor with Low Activation Energy for K-S Batteries.

Solid-state K-ion conducting electrolytes are key elements to address the current problems in K secondary batteries. Here, we report a sulfide-based K-ion conductor K3 SbS4 with a low-activation energy of 0.27 eV. W-doped K3-x Sb1-x Wx S4 (x=0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10 and 0.12) compounds were also explored for increasing vacancy concentrations and improving ionic conductivity. Among them, K2.92 Sb0.92 W0.08 S4 exhibits the highest conductivity of 1.4×10-4  S cm-1 at 40 °C, which is among the best reported potassium-ion conductors at ambient temperature. In addition, K2.92 Sb0.92 W0.08 S4 is electrochemically stable with long-chained potassium polysulfide of K2 Sx . A room-temperature solid potassium-sulfur (K-S) battery system has therefore been successfully demonstrated, which is the first K-S battery prototype using non-commercial inorganic-based electrolyte to block the polysulfide shuttle.

Antiperovskite K3OI for K-Ion Solid State Electrolyte.

Discovering new K-ion solid-state electrolytes is crucial for the emerging K-batteries to improve energy density, cycle life, and safety. Here, we present a combined experimental and theoretical study of antiperovskite K3OI as a K-ion solid-state electrolyte. A solid-solid phase transition at approximately 240 °C induces an increase in ionic conductivity by 2 orders of magnitude. Anion disorder in the I-O sublattice is found to be a potential mechanism for the observed phase transition. The Ba-doped K3OI sample K2.9Ba0.05OI achieves 3.5 mS cm-1 after the phase transition with a low activation energy of 0.36 eV. Stable cycling of K/K2.9Ba0.05OI/K symmetric cells are observed with a low overpotential of 50 mV at 0.5 mA/cm2 at 270 °C. This study not only reports K3OI as a promising K-ion solid-state electrolyte that is compatible with reactive K metal but also improves the understanding of alkali antiperovskite solid-state electrolytes in general.

Antiperovskite Superionic Conductors: A Critical Review.

Antiperovskites of composition M3AB (M = Li, Na, K; A = O; B = Cl, Br, I, NO2, etc.) have recently been investigated as solid-state electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries. Inspired by the impressive ionic conductivities of Li3OCl0.5Br0.5 and Na3OBH4 as high as 10-3 S/cm at room temperature, many variants of antiperovskite-based Li-ion and Na-ion conductors have been reported, and K-ion antiperovskites are emerging. These materials exhibit low melting points and thus have the advantages of easy processing into films and intimate contacts with electrodes. However, there are also issues in interpreting the stellar materials and reproducing their high ionic conductivities. Therefore, we think a critical review can be useful for summarizing the current results, pointing out the potential issues, and discussing best practices for future research. In this critical review, we first overview the reported compositions, structural stabilities, and ionic conductivities of antiperovskites. We then discuss the different conduction mechanisms that have been proposed, including the partial melting of cations and the paddlewheel mechanism for cluster anions. We close by reviewing the use of antiperovskites in batteries and suggest some practices for the community to consider.

Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Investigation of Thermally Stable Halide Perovskite Solar Cells via Post-Treatment.

Long-term thermal stability is one limiting factor that impedes the commercialization of the perovskite solar cell. Inspired by our prior results from machine learning, we discover that coating a thin layer of 4,4'-dibromotriphenylamine (DBTPA) on top of a CH3NH3PbI3 layer can improve the stability of resultant solar cells. The passivated devices kept 96% of the original power conversion efficiency for 1000 h at 85 °C in a N2 atmosphere without encapsulation. Near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to investigate the evolution of the composition and evaluate thermal and moisture stability by in situ studies. A comparison between pristine MAPbI3 films and DBTPA-treated films shows that the DBTPA treatment suppresses the escape of iodide and methylamine up to 150 °C under 5 mbar humidity. Furthermore, we have used attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared and XPS to probe the interactions between DBTPA and MAPbI3 surfaces. The results prove that DBTPA coordinates with the perovskite by Lewis acid-base and cation-π interaction. Compared with the 19.9% efficiency of the pristine sample, the champion efficiency of the passivated sample reaches 20.6%. Our results reveal DBTPA as a new post-treating molecule that leads not only to the improvement of the photovoltaic efficiency but also thermal and moisture stability.

Superoxide-Based K-O2 Batteries: Highly Reversible Oxygen Redox Solves Challenges in Air Electrodes.

In the past 20 years, research in metal-O2 batteries has been one of the most exciting interdisciplinary fields of electrochemistry, energy storage, materials chemistry, and surface science. The mechanisms of oxygen reduction and evolution play a key role in understanding and controlling these batteries. With intensive efforts from many prominent research groups, it becomes clear that the instability of superoxide in the presence of Li ions (Li+) and Na ions (Na+) is the fundamental root cause for the poor stability, reversibility, and energy efficiency in aprotic Li-O2 and Na-O2 batteries. Stabilizing superoxide with large K ions (K+) provides a simple but elegant solution. Superoxide-based K-O2 batteries, invented in 2013, adopt the one-electron redox process of O2/potassium superoxide (KO2). Despite being the youngest metal-O2 technology, K-O2 is the most promising rechargeable metal-air battery with the combined advantages of low costs, high energy efficiencies, abundant elements, and good energy densities. However, the development of the K-O2 battery has been overshadowed by Li-O2 and Na-O2 batteries because one might think K-O2 is just an analogous extension. Moreover, due to the lower specific energy and the high reactivity of K metal, K-O2 is often underestimated and deemed unsuitable for practical applications. The objective of this Perspective is to highlight the unique advantages of K-O2 chemistry and to clarify the misconceptions prompted by the name "superoxide" and the judgment bias based on the claimed theoretical specific energies. We will also discuss the current challenges and our perspectives on how to overcome them.

Anchoring an Artificial Protective Layer To Stabilize Potassium Metal Anode in Rechargeable K-O2 Batteries.

Rechargeable potassium batteries, including the potassium-oxygen (K-O2) battery, are deemed as promising low-cost energy storage solutions. Nevertheless, the chemical stability of the K metal anode remains problematic and hinders their development. In the K-O2 battery, the electrolyte and dissolved oxygen tend to be reduced on the K metal anode, which consumes the active material continuously. Herein, an artificial protective layer is engineered on the K metal anode via a one-step method to mitigate side reactions induced by the solvent and reactive oxygen species. The chemical reaction between K and SbF3 leads to an inorganic composite layer that consists of KF, Sb, and KSb xF y on the surface. This in situ synthesized layer effectively prevents K anode corrosion while maintaining good K+ ionic conductivity in K-O2 batteries. Protection from O2 and moisture also ensures battery safety. Improved anode life span and cycling performance (>30 days) are further demonstrated. This work introduces a novel strategy to stabilize the K anode for rechargeable potassium metal batteries.

Hypervalent iodine mediated alkene difunctionalization of vinylphenols: diastereoselective synthesis of substituted indoles and indolizines.

A hypervalent iodine mediated alkene difunctionalization reaction of vinylphenols has been developed. The chemistry is applicable to a wide range of substitutions on both the alkene and nucleophile substrates, enabling the rapid synthesis of 3-substituted indoles and 2-substituted indolizines in good yields and high diastereoselectivities under metal-free conditions.