Breaking the Ru-O-Ru Symmetry of a RuO2 Catalyst for Sustainable Acidic Water Oxidation.

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis is a highly promising hydrogen production technique for sustainable energy supply, however, achieving a highly active and durable catalyst for acidic water oxidation still remains a formidable challenge. Herein, we propose a local microenvironment regulation strategy for precisely tuning In-RuO2 /graphene (In-RuO2 /G) catalyst with intrinsic electrochemical activity and stability to boost acidic water oxidation. The In-RuO2 /G displays robust acid oxygen evolution reaction performance with a mass activity of 671 A gcat -1 at 1.5 V, an overpotential of 187 mV at 10 mA cm-2 , and long-lasting stability of 350 h at 100 mA cm-2 , which arises from the asymmetric Ru-O-In local structure interactions. Further, it is unraveled theoretically that the asymmetric Ru-O-In structure breaks the thermodynamic activity limit of the traditional adsorption evolution mechanism which significantly weakens the formation energy barrier of OOH*, thus inducing a new rate-determining step of OH* absorption. Therefore, this strategy showcases the immense potential for constructing high-performance acidic catalysts for water electrolyzers.

A review on the use of extracellular vesicles for the delivery of drugs and biological therapeutics.

INTRODUCTION: Exosomes, a type of extracellular vesicles, are effective tools for delivering small-molecule drugs and biological therapeutics into cells and tissues. Surface modifications with targeting ligands ensure precise delivery to specific cells, minimizing accumulation in healthy organs and reducing the side effects. This is a rapidly growing area in drug delivery research and this review aims to comprehensively discuss the recent advances in the field. AREA COVERED: Recent studies have presented compelling evidence supporting the application of exosomes as efficient delivery vehicles that escape endosome trapping, achieving effective in vivo delivery in animal models. This review provides a systemic discussion on the exosome-based delivery technology, with topics covering exosome purification, surface modification, and targeted delivery of various cargos ranging from siRNAs, miRNAs, and proteins, to small molecule drugs. EXPERT OPINION: Exosome-based gene and drug delivery has low toxicity and low immunogenicity. Surface modifications of the exosomes can effectively avoid endosome trapping and increase delivery efficiency. This exciting technology can be applied to improve the treatments for a wide variety of diseases.