NHC-mediated photocatalytic deoxygenation of alcohols for the synthesis of internal alkynes via a Csp3-Csp coupling reaction.

NHC-mediated deoxygenation of alcohols under photocatalytic conditions is described. The process provides various alkyl radicals, which can react with 1-bromoalkyne via Csp3-Csp coupling to afford internal alkynes in moderate to good yields. The method offers a new and convenient approach to synthesize internal alkynes.

Supercapacitive performance of C-axis preferentially oriented TiO2 nanotube arrays decorated with MoO3 nanoparticles.

Highly ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNTAs) have received great attention owing to their high surface area, stability and direct transport pathways. The TNTAs, modified with other materials exhibiting enhanced conductivity and capacitance have been considered to be promising anode materials for supercapacitors. In this work, MoO3/carbon@different crystallography-oriented TiO2 nanotube arrays (CTNTAs) were synthesized by an anodizing method and electrochemical deposition. The structure and morphology of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrochemical performance was tested by cyclic voltammogram (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GDC) tests. The results indicated that MoO3/carbon@(004) preferentially oriented TiO2 nanotube array electrodes have the advantages of combining p-TNTAs and MoO3 nanoparticles and exhibit high electrochemical performance and cycling stability. The highest specific capacitance of the MoO3-p-CTNTA electrode achieved is 194 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1.

KHCO3 Chemical-Activated Hydrothermal Porous Carbon Derived from Sugarcane bagasse for Supercapacitor Applications.

The reuse of waste biomass resources had become a hot topic in the sustainable development of human society. Biomass was an ideal precursor for preparing porous carbon. However, due to the complexity of biomass composition and microstructure, the quality reproducibility of biomass porous carbon was poor. Therefore, it was of great significance to develop a reliable method for preparing porous carbon from biomass. In this paper, the activated hydrothermal porous carbon was prepared by a combination of hydrothermal carbonization treatment and KHCO3 mild activation. The hydrothermal carbonization treatment could complete the morphology adjustment and iron doping of the carbon in one step, and the mild activation of KHCO3 could activate the porous carbon while maintaining the spherical morphology. Fe-modified porous carbon with carbon ball/nanosheet structure prepared from bagasse exhibited a high surface area (2169.8 m2/g), which facilitated ion/electrolyte diffusion and increased accessibility between surface area and electrolyte ions. Therefore, bagasse derived activated porous carbon had good specific capacitance (315.2 F/g at 1 A/g) and good cycle stability, with a capacitance loss of only 5.8 % after 5000 charge-discharge cycles, and the Na2SO4-based device showed the maximum energy density of 13.02 Wh/kg. This study showed that the combination of hydrothermal treatment and mild activation provided an effective way for the conversion of waste biomass into high-performance electrode materials.

Identification of Salt-Stress-Responding Genes by Weighted Gene Correlation Network Analysis and Association Analysis in Wheat Leaves.

The leaf is not only the main site of photosynthesis, but also an important organ reflecting plant salt tolerance. Discovery of salt-stress-responding genes in the leaf is of great significance for the molecular improvement of salt tolerance in wheat varieties. In this study, transcriptome sequencing was conducted on the leaves of salt-tolerant wheat germplasm CH7034 seedlings at 0, 1, 6, 24, and 48 h after NaCl treatment. Based on weighted gene correlation network analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under salt stress, 12 co-expression modules were obtained, of which, 9 modules containing 4029 DEGs were related to the salt stress time-course. These DEGs were submitted to the Wheat Union database, and a total of 904,588 SNPs were retrieved from 114 wheat germplasms, distributed on 21 wheat chromosomes. Using the R language package and GAPIT program, association analysis was performed between 904,588 SNPs and leaf salt injury index of 114 wheat germplasms. The results showed that 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 15 DEGs were associated with salt tolerance. Then, nine candidate genes, including four genes (TaBAM, TaPGDH, TaGluTR, and TaAAP) encoding enzymes as well as five genes (TaB12D, TaS40, TaPPR, TaJAZ, and TaWRKY) encoding functional proteins, were identified by converting salt tolerance-related SNPs into Kompetitive Allele-Specifc PCR (KASP) markers for validation. Finally, interaction network prediction was performed on TaBAM and TaAAP, both belonging to the Turquoise module. Our results will contribute to a further understanding of the salt stress response mechanism in plant leaves and provide candidate genes and molecular markers for improving salt-tolerant wheat varieties.

In situ synthesis of Mn3O4 on Ni foam/graphene substrate as a newly self-supported electrode for high supercapacitive performance.

A newly self-supported electrode composed of Mn3O4 on Ni foam/graphene (NF/graphene/Mn3O4) was synthesized in situ by electrodeposition, and was used as a supercapacitor electrode for the first time. An ultrahigh specific capacitance of 630 Fg-1 can be achieved at a current density of 0.5 Ag-1. The maximum energy density of 94.4 Wh kg-1 can be achieved, and the capacitance retention can be maintained about 97% after 20,000 cycles at 10 Ag-1. The electrochemical properties, including specific capacitance, energy density and cycling performance, were better than those in previous reports on Mn3O4-graphene electrodes. Such an outstanding property may be attributed to its unique characteristics, such as self-supported structure, favorable electric conductivity and cellular-like porous morphology.