Metal Phosphide Anodes in Sodium-Ion Batteries: Latest Applications and Progress.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), as the next-generation high-performance electrochemical energy storage devices, have attracted widespread attention due to their cost-effectiveness and wide geographical distribution of sodium. As a crucial component of the structure of SIBs, the anode material plays a crucial role in determining its electrochemical performance. Significantly, metal phosphide exhibits remarkable application prospects as an anode material for SIBs because of its low redox potential and high theoretical capacity. However, due to volume expansion limitations and other factors, the rate and cycling performance of metal phosphides have gradually declined. To address these challenges, various viable solutions have been explored. In this paper, the recent research progress of metal phosphide materials for SIBs is systematically reviewed, including the synthesis strategy of metal phosphide, the storage mechanism of sodium ions, and the application of metal phosphide in electrochemical aspects. In addition, future challenges and opportunities based on current developments are presented.

Modeling the optical properties of transparent and absorbing dielectrics by means of symbolic regression.

In this contribution we explore the possibilities and limitations of symbolic regression as an alternative to the approaches currently used to characterize the dispersive behavior of a given material. To this end, we make use of genetic programming to retrieve, from either ellipsometric or spectral data, closed-form expressions that model the optical properties of the materials studied. In a first stage we consider transparent dielectrics for our numerical experiments. Next we increase the complexity of the problem and consider absorbing dielectrics, which not only require the use of complex functions to model their dielectric function, but also imply a supplementary constraint imposed by the verification of the causality principle.

Development of Recombinant High-Density Lipoprotein Platform with Innate Adipose Tissue-Targeting Abilities for Regional Fat Reduction.

As an escalating public health issue, obesity and overweight conditions are predispositions to various diseases and are exacerbated by concurrent chronic inflammation. Nonetheless, extant antiobesity pharmaceuticals (quercetin, capsaicin, catecholamine, etc.) manifest constrained efficacy alongside systemic toxic effects. Effective therapeutic approaches that selectively target adipose tissue, thereby enhancing local energy expenditure, surmounting the limitations of prevailing antiobesity modalities are highly expected. In this context, we developed a temperature-sensitive hydrogel loaded with recombinant high-density lipoprotein (rHDL) to achieve targeted delivery of resveratrol, an adipose browning activator, to adipose tissue. rHDL exhibits self-regulation on fat cell metabolism and demonstrates natural targeting toward scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI), which is highly expressed by fat cells, thereby achieving a synergistic effect for the treatment of obesity. Additionally, the dispersion of rHDL@Res in temperature-sensitive hydrogels, coupled with the regulation of their degradation and drug release rate, facilitated sustainable drug release at local adipose tissues over an extended period. Following 24 days' treatment regimen, obese mice exhibited improved metabolic status, resulting in a reduction of 68.2% of their inguinal white adipose tissue (ingWAT). Specifically, rHDL@Res/gel facilitated the conversion of fatty acids to phospholipids (PA, PC), expediting fat mobilization, mitigating triglyceride accumulation, and therefore facilitating adipose tissue reduction. Furthermore, rHDL@Res/gel demonstrated efficacy in attenuating obesity-induced inflammation and fostering angiogenesis in ingWAT. Collectively, this engineered local fat reduction platform demonstrated heightened effectiveness and safety through simultaneously targeting adipocytes, promoting WAT browning, regulating lipid metabolism, and controlling inflammation, showing promise for adipose-targeted therapy.

A comprehensive review of various carbonaceous materials for anodes in lithium-ion batteries.

With the advent of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the selection and application of electrode materials have been the subject of much discussion and study. Among them, graphite has been widely investigated for use as electrode materials in LIBs due to its abundant resources, low cost, safety and electrochemical diversity. While it is commonly recognized that conventional graphite materials utilized for commercial purposes have a limited theoretical capacity, there has been a steady emergence of new and improved carbonaceous materials for use as anodes in light of the progressive development of LIBs. In this paper, the latest research progress of various carbon materials in LIBs is systematically and comprehensively reviewed. Firstly, the rocking chair charging and discharging mechanism of LIBs is briefly introduced in this paper, using graphite anodes as an example. After that, the general categories of carbonaceous materials are highlighted, and the recent research on the recent progress of various carbonaceous materials (graphite-based, amorphous carbon-based, and nanocarbon-based) used in LIB anodes is presented separately based on the classification of the structural morphology, emphasizing the influence of the morphology and structure of carbon-based materials on the electrochemical performance of the batteries. Finally, the current challenges of carbonaceous materials in LIB applications and the future development of other novel carbonaceous materials are envisioned.

Strategies to mitigate the shuttle effect in room temperature sodium-sulfur batteries: improving cathode materials.

Room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries (RT-Na/S batteries) with high reversible capacity (1675 mA h g-1) and excellent energy density (1274 W h kg-1) based on abundant resources of the metal Na have become a research hotspot recently. However, the intermediate product sodium polysulfides (NaPSs) generated during the charge-discharge process are easily dissolved in the ether electrolyte and transferred from the sulfur cathode to the metallic sodium surface, resulting in rapid capacity decay (shuttle effect), which seriously affects the practical application of RT-Na/S batteries. Herein, the mechanism and recent research progress in suppressing the shuttle effect of the sulfur cathode in RT-Na/S batteries are summarized. Strategies such as carbon-based materials physically fixing NaPSs, polar materials absorbing NaPSs to reduce their dissolution, and catalytic materials accelerating the transformation of NaPSs into final products are provided. Challenges and insights into high-performance sulfur electrodes for optimizing RT-Na/S batteries are discussed.

Review of metal oxides as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries with a stable circulation capacity, high energy density and good safety are widely used in automobiles, mobile phones, manufacturing and other fields. MOs due to their large theoretical capacity, simple processing and abundant reserves, and used as anode materials for LIBs, have attracted much attention. Three electrochemical mechanisms of MOs are reviewed in this paper. In addition, research progress of MOs and prospects for their further applications in LIBs are summarized.

MoP2/C@rGO synthesised by phosphating the molybdenum-based metal organic framework and GO coating with excellent lithium ion storage performance.

With a high specific capacity, MoP2 has been identified as an ideal electrode material for LIBs. However, the specific capacity is negatively affected due to its poor conductivity and severe volume expansion during insertion and extraction of Li+. In this paper, MoP2-C synthesized by using a Mo-MOF as a precursor, with the generation of C, can effectively solve the agglomeration problem in the synthesis process and alleviate serious volume changes during cycling. Due to the lack of carbon sources provided by a Mo-MOF, the conductivity of MoP2-C cannot be greatly improved. Therefore, rGO and PPy are added to improve the conductivity of MoP2 and further increase the stability of the structure. Compared with MoP2/C and MoP2/C@PPy, MoP2/C@rGO exhibits the highest initial discharge specific capacity of 1208 mA h g-1 at a current density of 100 mA g-1 and rate performances of 830, 750, 630, 550, and 430 mA h g-1 with the current density increasing from 100 mA g-1 to 2000 mA g-1. Notably, the specific capacity remains at 640 mA h g-1 at a current density of 100 mA g-1 after 100 cycles. Followed by 200 cycles at a current density of 2000 mA h g-1, the specific capacity remains at 395 mA h g-1 with a capacity retention rate of 80%.

Yi-nao-jie-yu Prescription Exerts a Positive Effect on Neurogenesis by Regulating Notch Signals in the Hippocampus of Post-stroke Depression Rats.

Post-stroke depression (PSD) is one of the most frequent complications of stroke. The Yi-nao-jie-yu prescription (YNJYP) is an herbal prescription widely used as a therapeutic agent against PSD in traditional Chinese medicine. Disruption of adult neurogenesis has attracted attention as a potential cause of cognitive pathophysiology in neurological and psychiatric disorders. The Notch signaling pathway plays an important role in neurogenesis. This study investigated the effects of YNJYP on adult neurogenesis and explored its underlying molecular mechanism in a rat model of PSD that is established by middle cerebral artery occlusion and accompanied by chronic immobilization stress for 1 week. At 2, 4, and 8 weeks, depression-like behavior was evaluated by a forced swim test (FST) and sucrose consumption test (SCT). Neurogenesis was observed by double immunofluorescence staining. Notch signals were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The results show that, at 4 weeks, the immobility time in the FST for rats in the PSD group increased and the sucrose preference in the SCT decreased compared with that in the stroke group. Therefore, YNJYP decreased the immobility time and increased the sucrose preference of the PSD rats. Further, PSD interfered with neurogenesis and decreased the differentiation toward neurons of newly born cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus, and increased the differentiation toward astrocytes, effects that were reversed by YNJYP, particularly at 4 weeks. At 2 weeks, compared with the stroke group, expression of target gene Hes5 mRNA transcripts in the PSD group decreased, but increased after treatment with YNJYP. At 4 weeks, compared with the stroke group, the expression of Notch receptor Notch1 mRNA transcripts in the PSD group decreased, but also increased after treatment with YNJYP. Overall, this study indicated that disturbed nerve regeneration, including the increased numbers of astrocytes and decrease numbers of neurons, is a mechanism of PSD, and Notch signaling genes dynamically regulate neurogenesis. Moreover, YNJYP can relieve depressive behavior in PSD rats, and exerts a positive effect on neurogenesis by dynamically regulating the expression of Notch signaling genes.