Protein disulfide isomerase 1 is required for RodA assembling-based conidial hydrophobicity of Aspergillus fumigatus.

The hydrophobic layer of Aspergillus conidia, composed of RodA, plays a crucial role in conidia transfer and immune evasion. It self-assembles into hydrophobic rodlets through intramolecular disulfide bonds. However, the secretory process of RodA and its regulatory elements remain unknown. Since protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is essential for the secretion of many disulfide-bonded proteins, we investigated whether PDI is also involved in RodA secretion and assembly. By gene knockout and phenotypic analysis, we found that Pdi1, one of the four PDI-related proteins of Aspergillus fumigatus, determines the hydrophobicity and integrity of the rodlet layer of the conidia. Preservation of the thioredoxin-active domain of Pdi1 was sufficient to maintain conidial hydrophobicity, suggesting that Pdi1 mediates RodA assembly through its disulfide isomerase activity. In the absence of Pdi1, the disulfide mismatch of RodA in conidia may prevent its delivery from the inner to the outer layer of the cell wall for rodlet assembly. This was demonstrated using a strain expressing a key cysteine-mutated RodA. The dormant conidia of the Pdi1-deficient strain (Δpdi) elicited an immune response, suggesting that the defective conidia surface in the absence of Pdi1 exposes internal immunogenic sources. In conclusion, Pdi1 ensures the correct folding of RodA in the inner layer of conidia, facilitating its secretion into the outer layer of the cell wall and allowing self-assembly of the hydrophobic layer. This study has identified a regulatory element for conidia rodlet assembly.IMPORTANCEAspergillus fumigatus is the major cause of invasive aspergillosis, which is mainly transmitted by the inhalation of conidia. The spread of conidia is largely dependent on their hydrophobicity, which is primarily attributed to the self-assembly of the hydrophobic protein RodA on the cell wall. However, the mechanisms underlying RodA secretion and transport to the outermost layer of the cell wall are still unclear. Our study identified a critical role for Pdi1, a fungal protein disulfide isomerase found in regulating RodA secretion and assembly. Inhibition of Pdi1 prevents the formation of correct S-S bonds in the inner RodA, creating a barrier to RodA delivery and resulting in a defective hydrophobic layer. Our findings provided insight into the formation of the conidial hydrophobic layer and suggested potential drug targets to inhibit A. fumigatus infections by limiting conidial dispersal and altering their immune inertia.

Robust and Durable Superhydrophobic Coatings with Antipollution Flashover Performance via Silane-Modified Polyurea.

The inadequate hydrophobicity and the degradation in usage seriously hampered the applications of the existing antipollution flashover coatings. In this paper, a superhydrophobic polyurea coating with antipollution flashover ability was fabricated through chemically grafting the silica onto the chains of polyurea by utilizing silane coupling agent and hydrophobic modification. It is demonstrated that the coating exhibits outstanding antipollution flashover performances. Noteworthy, the surface pollution flashover voltage has been increased by 33.8% compared with the room temperature vulcanizing silicone rubber (RTV silicone rubber). In addition, the volume resistivity is above 1.0 × 1012 Ω·m, and the dielectric strength achieves to 28.85 kV/mm, which represents excellent insulating property. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic polyurea coating exhibits outstanding abrasion resistance, adhesion, acid-base resistance, and durability. As a result, it holds great promise for use in preventing pollution flashover in electrical insulators.

Substrate-Independent Superhydrophobic Coating Capable of Photothermal-Induced Repairability for Multiple Damages Fabricated via Simple Blade Coating.

Repairable superhydrophobic surfaces have promising application potential in many fields. However, so far, it is still a challenge to develop a superhydrophobic surface with repairability for multiple types of damage through a simple method. In this paper, a repairable superhydrophobic coating was obtained on various substrates by blade-coating mixtures of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) modified with dopamine (PDA) and octadecylamine (ODA). The obtained coating has a good liquid-repellent property with a water contact angle above 150° and a water sliding angle of ∼6° and possesses an excellent absorbance (∼97%) in the wavelength range of 250-2500 nm. Due to its high absorbance, the coating displays an outstanding photothermal effect with a temperature rise of ∼65 °C under irradiation by 1.0 kW/m2 of simulated sunlight. Furthermore, after being degraded by multiple stimuli, including plasma treatment, acid/alkali/oil immersion, sand impact, and the icing-thawing cycle, the coating can recover superhydrophobicity via sunlight irradiation, demonstrating the good photothermal-induced repairability of the coating. It can be expected that the good water-repellent property, photothermal effect, and repairability give this coating a promising prospect in practical applications.

Antireflection and radiative cooling difunctional coating design for silicon solar cells.

Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) as a zero-energy consumption cooling method has broad application potential. Common commercial crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell arrays suffer working efficiency loss due to the incident light loss and overheating. In this work, a radiative cooler with PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) film and embedded SiO2 microparticles was proposed to use in silicon solar cells. Both anti-reflection and radiative cooling performance can be improved through numerical parametric study. For the best performing of PDMS/SiO2 radiative cooler, the thickness of PDMS layer, volume fraction and radius of the embedded SiO2 particles have been determined as 55 µm, 8% and 500 nm, respectively. 94% of emissivity in first atmospheric window band (8-13 µm) for radiative cooling and 93.4% of solar transmittance at the crystalline silicon absorption band (0.3-1.1 µm) were achieved. We estimated that the PDMS/SiO2 radiative cooler can lower the temperature of a bare c-Si solar cell by 9.5°C, which can avoid 4.28% of efficiency loss. More incident light can enter and be utilized by silicon layer to enhance the efficiency of the solar cells. The proposed difunctional radiative cooling coating may become guidance for next generation encapsulation of crystalline silicon solar cells.

Fluorine-free preparation of a superhydrophobic coating with anti-icing properties, mechanical durability and self-cleaning effect.

Superhydrophobic materials have become a feasible choice to solve related difficult problems because of their excellent anti-icing, anti-corrosion, and self-cleaning characteristics. In this work, a superhydrophobic hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC)/SiO2 coating is prepared using an efficient, fluorine-free method for the anti-icing application of transmission line insulators and other similar material surfaces. The water contact angle (WCA) of the coating is 161°, and the slide angle (SA) is less than 1°. The coating maintains good hydrophobicity after mechanical durability tests. In the anti-icing performance tests, the start freezing time of a single droplet is delayed by 1366 s, and when the surface is not coated, the ice amount is more than twice that with the coating. Therefore, this work provides a straightforward and promising solution to solving high-cost and low-efficiency difficulties in the anti-icing problem of transmission line insulators and other similar material surfaces.

Activation-Assisted High-Concentration Phosphorus-Doping to Enhance the Electrochemical Performance of Cobalt Carbonate Hydroxide Hydrate.

P-doping into metal oxides has been demonstrated as a valid avenue to ameliorate electrochemical performance because it can tune the electronic structures and increase the active sites for an electrochemical reaction. However, it usually results in a low P-doping concentration via the commonly used gas phosphorization method. In this work, an activation-assisted P-doping strategy was explored to significantly raise the P-doping concentration in cobalt carbonate hydroxide hydrate (CCHH). The activation treatment increased active sites for electrochemical reaction and endowed the sample with a high P content in the subsequent gas phosphorization process, thereby greatly enhancing the conductivity of the sample. Therefore, the final CCHH-A-P electrode exhibited a high capacitance of 6.62 F cm-2 at 5 mA cm-2 and good cyclic stability. In addition, the CCHH-A-P//CC ASC with CCHH-A-P as the positive electrode and carbon cloth as the negative electrode provided a high energy density of 0.25 mWh cm-2 at 4 mW cm-2 as well as excellent cycling performance with capacitance retention of 91.2% after 20,000 cycles. Our work shows an effective strategy to acquire Co-based materials with high-concentration P-doping that holds great potential in boosting the electrochemical performance of electrode materials via P-doping technology.

Follow up of the prostate cancer treatment based on a novel sensing method for anti-prostate cancer drug (flutamide).

In this work, novel modified electrode (MXene/MIL-101(Cr)/GCE) are manufactured through simple layer-by-layer immobilization procedure. The fabricated electrochemical sensor was utilized for electrochemical sensing of flutamide in biological fluids. The immobilization of both MXene and metal-organic framework (MOF) materials on the electrode surface could improve the electrochemical performance of the modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) towards flutamide due to the synergic effects. The established sensor illustrated the significant sensing ability for the determination of flutamide. The influence of solution pH and volume ratio of MXene/MIL-101(Cr) on electrochemical performance of the modified GCE was researched and optimized. The sensor demonstrated a favorable detection limit of 0.009 µM and a linear range of 0.025-100 µM using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique. The suggested assay illustrated an excellent sensing efficiency towards flutamide in body fluids with recoveries ranging from 97.7% to 102.5%, which indicates its potential in real matrices. In addition, the MXene/MIL-101(Cr)/GCE was illustrated some advantages including simple preparation, good selectivity and reproducibility, and rapid flutamide detection.

A study of waterside microenvironmental factors and their effects on summer outdoor thermal comfort in a Cfa-climate campus.

Outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) studies explore outdoor subjects' responses to their thermal environment, usually evaluated using the neutral temperature (NT). This study investigated the influences of microenvironmental factors around a waterbody on thermal perceptions, using questionnaires and meteorological measurements at the Central Lake of Southwest University of Science and Technology (SWUST) in Mianyang. Microenvironmental factors included sky view factor (SVF) and distance from the lake (DFL). It was found that people felt most comfortable in the shade of trees although some volunteers voted artificial canopy as their preferred thermal adaptation element. In addition, a linear regression yielded an NT of 28.44 °C in Mianyang during the summer of 2022. There were NT variations among different measurement sites (e.g., on the east shore, it was 28.18 °C on the waterside, 27.11 °C away from the lake, and 25.53 °C far from the lake; while it was 27.57 °C under the tree crown, 25.11 °C on the lawn, and 29.13 °C in the square). This variation may be due to human adaptation towards microenvironmental factors and their effects on microclimate. The variation in thermal responses owing to microenvironmental differences (different NTs at various types of sites) might be a novel finding in the field of OTC. This study provides important directions for microenvironment design in the future for OTC improvement.

A study of the thermal comfort in urban mountain parks and its physical influencing factors.

Urban thermal comforts are increasingly holding people's attention due to global warming and urban heat islands. Urban parks can absorb sunlight radiation, which reduces air temperature, improving urban microclimates. Various factors in the park are confirmed to be effective in heat mitigation. However, there are few studies on thermal comfort in urban mountain parks, and mountain areas might cause peculiar climatic conditions owing to their particular landforms. To fill this gap in the research, this study explored thermal comfort in mountain parks and the environmental factors that would affect thermal comfort. A field measurement in the summertime (July & August) of 2018, it was found that trees, the river, and the area of parks could adjust the thermal comforts of mountain parks. Their effects varied throughout the day, and the impacts of trees were most pronounced at noon and late afternoon, while the influence of rivers and park areas was most pronounced at noon. Increasing the leaf area index by 1 point could result in decreases in physiological equivalent temperature, land surface temperature, and solar radiation level by 3.90 °C, 2.69 °C, and 270.10 W/m2, respectively. The findings have practical implications for future urban mountain park design works.

Development of Biodegradable Osteopromotive Citrate-Based Bone Putty.

The burden of bone fractures demands development of effective biomaterial solutions, while additional acute events such as noncompressible bleeding further motivate the search for multi-functional implants to avoid complications including osseous hemorrhage, infection, and nonunion. Bone wax has been widely used in orthopedic bleeding control due to its simplicity of use and conformation to irregular defects; however, its nondegradability results in impaired bone healing, risk of infection, and significant inflammatory responses. Herein, a class of intrinsically fluorescent, osteopromotive citrate-based polymer/hydroxyapatite (HA) composites (BPLP-Ser/HA) as a highly malleable press-fit putty is designed. BPLP-Ser/HA putty displays mechanics replicating early nonmineralized bone (initial moduli from ≈2-500 kPa), hydration induced mechanical strengthening in physiological conditions, tunable degradation rates (over 2 months), low swelling ratios (<10%), clotting and hemostatic sealing potential (resistant to blood pressure for >24 h) and significant adhesion to bone (≈350-550 kPa). Simultaneously, citrate's bioactive properties result in antimicrobial (≈100% and 55% inhibition of S. aureus and E. coli) and osteopromotive effects. Finally, BPLP-Ser/HA putty demonstrates in vivo regeneration in a critical-sized rat calvaria model equivalent to gold standard autograft. BPLP-Ser/HA putty represents a simple, off-the-shelf solution to the combined challenges of acute wound management and subsequent bone regeneration.

Eco-Friendly Fabrication of Transparent Superhydrophobic Coating with Excellent Mechanical Robustness, Chemical Stability, and Long-Term Outdoor Durability.

Surfaces that possess both superhydrophobicity and high transparency at the same time recently have attracted extensive attention in outdoor applications. However, fabrication and application of transparent superhydrophobic coating usually face following challenges: the micro-nano hierarchical structure required for superhydrophobicity usually leads to a decrease in the light transmittance due to its light trapping effect; fluorine-containing materials used in the preparation of superhydrophobic surfaces are potentially harmful to humans and the environment; and the superhydrophobic surface is easily destroyed by external factors. In this work, a transparent superhydrophobic coating was fabricated via an inexpensive and eco-friendly two-step method, that is, dipping glass substrate into the polydimethylsiloxane/SiO2 suspension followed by calcination treatment. The prepared coating showed superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 164° and a sliding angle less than 1.0°. In the visible light region with the wavelength range of 300-900 nm, the maximal transmittance of the superhydrophobic coating was ∼91.4%, which is higher than that of the untreated glass substrate (∼90.9%). Moreover, the coating can maintain superhydrophobicity and high transmittance after sandpaper abrasion, water flow impact, immersion in strong acid/alkaline solution, UV irradiation, and long-term outdoor exposure. We believing that the coating has huge potential value in outdoor applications.

Topical Application of Tranexamic Acid Can Reduce Postoperative Blood Loss in Calcaneal Fractures: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

The traditional lateral "L" approach is common for managing calcaneal fractures with a drawback of significant blood loss. Yet there are no prospective studies on the hemostatic effect of the topical use of tranexamic acid (TXA) in calcaneal fracture surgeries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of topical administration of TXA in reducing postoperative blood loss in calcaneal fractures. Forty participants were randomly distributed into the TXA group (n = 20) and the control group (n = 20). All participants underwent the same surgery via the lateral "L" approach. At the end of the operation, the surgical wound was irrigated with 80 mL 0.5 g/L TXA in the TXA group and 80 mL 0.9% sodium chloride in the control group, followed by the routine use of a drainage tube when closing the incision. Then, 20 mL 0.5 g/L TXA (TXA group) or 20 mL 0.9% sodium chloride solution (control group) was injected retrogradely into the wound through the drainage tube, which was clipped for 30 minutes thereafter. There were no significant differences in the baseline data between the 2 groups (p > .05). There was significantly less blood loss in the first 24 hours and total blood loss postoperation in the TXA group (p < .01). The surgical wounds healed well after surgery in both groups with no complication. We concluded that topical application of TXA in calcaneal fracture surgeries is a safe and useful method that can reduce postoperative blood loss.

Treatment of Osteosarcoma of the Talus With a 3D-Printed Talar Prosthesis.

A 31-year-old male was diagnosed with osteoblastic osteosarcoma of the talus. Limb-salvage surgery for talar osteosarcoma was performed by replacing the intact talus with a 3D-printed talar prosthesis made from medical-grade titanium. The prosthesis had 3 tunnels for simulating the ligaments around the talus. At the last follow-up, the functional and clinical outcomes were excellent. Our patient achieved 93% restoration of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society functional score as well as a Toronto Extremity Salvage Score of 93 points, and there was no local recurrence or distant metastasis. A 3D-printed talar prosthesis showed excellent functional and clinical outcomes for a patient with osteosarcoma of the talus. A 3D-printed implant is a feasible option for patients with osteosarcoma of the foot.

Loss of PTEN promotes formation of signaling-capable clathrin-coated pits.

Defective endocytosis and vesicular trafficking of signaling receptors has recently emerged as a multifaceted hallmark of malignant cells. Clathrin-coated pits (CCPs) display highly heterogeneous dynamics on the plasma membrane where they can take from 20 s to over 1 min to form cytosolic coated vesicles. Despite the large number of cargo molecules that traffic through CCPs, it is not well understood whether signaling receptors activated in cancer, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), are regulated through a specific subset of CCPs. The signaling lipid phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate [PI(3,4,5)P3], which is dephosphorylated by phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), is a potent tumorigenic signaling lipid. By using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and automated tracking and detection of CCPs, we found that EGF-bound EGFR and PTEN are enriched in a distinct subset of short-lived CCPs that correspond with clathrin-dependent EGF-induced signaling. We demonstrated that PTEN plays a role in the regulation of CCP dynamics. Furthermore, increased PI(3,4,5)P3 resulted in higher proportion of short-lived CCPs, an effect that recapitulates PTEN deletion. Altogether, our findings provide evidence for the existence of short-lived 'signaling-capable' CCPs.

Classification of Current Procedural Terminology Codes from Electronic Health Record Data Using Machine Learning.

BACKGROUND: Accurate anesthesiology procedure code data are essential to quality improvement, research, and reimbursement tasks within anesthesiology practices. Advanced data science techniques, including machine learning and natural language processing, offer opportunities to develop classification tools for Current Procedural Terminology codes across anesthesia procedures. METHODS: Models were created using a Train/Test dataset including 1,164,343 procedures from 16 academic and private hospitals. Five supervised machine learning models were created to classify anesthesiology Current Procedural Terminology codes, with accuracy defined as first choice classification matching the institutional-assigned code existing in the perioperative database. The two best performing models were further refined and tested on a Holdout dataset from a single institution distinct from Train/Test. A tunable confidence parameter was created to identify cases for which models were highly accurate, with the goal of at least 95% accuracy, above the reported 2018 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Baltimore, Maryland) fee-for-service accuracy. Actual submitted claim data from billing specialists were used as a reference standard. RESULTS: Support vector machine and neural network label-embedding attentive models were the best performing models, respectively, demonstrating overall accuracies of 87.9% and 84.2% (single best code), and 96.8% and 94.0% (within top three). Classification accuracy was 96.4% in 47.0% of cases using support vector machine and 94.4% in 62.2% of cases using label-embedding attentive model within the Train/Test dataset. In the Holdout dataset, respective classification accuracies were 93.1% in 58.0% of cases and 95.0% among 62.0%. The most important feature in model training was procedure text. CONCLUSIONS: Through application of machine learning and natural language processing techniques, highly accurate real-time models were created for anesthesiology Current Procedural Terminology code classification. The increased processing speed and a priori targeted accuracy of this classification approach may provide performance optimization and cost reduction for quality improvement, research, and reimbursement tasks reliant on anesthesiology procedure codes.

Genomic and transcriptome identification of fluconazole-resistant genes for Trichosporon asahii.

Trichosporon asahii infection is difficult to control clinically. This study identified a case with over 15 years of T. asahii infection-related systemic dissemination disease and conducted genome and transcriptome sequencing to identify fluconazole-resistant genes in fluconazole-resistant versus susceptible strains isolated from this patient's facial skin lesions. The data revealed mutations of the ergosterol biosynthetic pathway-related genes in the T. asahii genome of the fluconazole-resistant strain, that is, there were 36 novel mutations of the ERG11 gene, three point mutations (V458L, D457V, and D334S) in the ERG3, and a missense mutation (E349D) in ERG5 in the fluconazole-resistant strain of the T. asahii genome. To ensure that ERG11 is responsible for the fluconazole resistance, we thus simultaneously cultured the strains in vitro and cloned the ERG11 CDS sequences of both fluconazole-susceptible and -resistant strains into the Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These experiments confirmed that these mutations of ERG11 gene affected fluconazole resistance (> 64 µg/ml vs. <8 µg/ml of the MIC value between fluconazole-resistant and -susceptible strains) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In addition, expression of ergosterol biosynthesis pathway genes and drug transporter was upregulated in the fluconazole-resistant strain of T. asahii. Collectively, the fluconazole resistance in this female patient was associated with mutations of ERG11, ERG3, and ERG5 and the differential expression of drug transporter and fatty acid metabolic genes.

Controlled Growth of an Mo2C-Graphene Hybrid Film as an Electrode in Self-Powered Two-Sided Mo2C-Graphene/Sb2S0.42Se2.58/TiO2 Photodetectors.

The monotonic work function of graphene makes it difficult to meet the electrode requirements of every device with different band structures. Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides (TMCs), such as carbides in MXene, are considered good candidates for electrodes as a complement to graphene. Carbides in MXene have been used to make electrodes for use in devices such as lithium batteries. However, the small lateral size and thermal instability of carbides in MXene, synthesized by the chemically etching method, limit its application in optoelectronic devices. The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method provides a new way to obtain high-quality ultrathin TMCs without functional groups. However, the TMCs film prepared by the CVD method tends to grow vertically during the growth process, which is disadvantageous for its application in the transparent electrode. Herein, we prepared an ultrathin Mo2C-graphene (Mo2C-Gr) hybrid film by CVD to solve the above problem. The work function of Mo2C-Gr is between that of graphene and a pure Mo2C film. The Mo2C-Gr hybrid film was selected as a transparent hole-transporting layer to fabricate novel Mo2C-Gr/Sb2S0.42Se2.58/TiO2 two-sided photodetectors. The Mo2C-Gr/Sb2S0.42Se2.58/TiO2/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) device could detect light from both the FTO side and the Mo2C-Gr side. The device could realize a short response time (0.084 ms) and recovery time (0.100 ms). This work is believed to provide a powerful method for preparing Mo2C-graphene hybrid films and reveals its potential applications in optoelectronic devices.

Long Non-Coding RNA MALAT1 Interacts With miR-204 to Modulate Human Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion by Targeting CXCR4.

Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is involved in the development and progression of many types of tumors. An aberrant expression of MALAT1 was observed in many kinds of cancers. However, the exact effects and molecular mechanisms of MALAT1 in human hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HCCA) progression are still unknown. Here, we investigated the role of MALAT1 in human HCCA cell lines and clinical tumor samples in order to determine the function of this lncRNA. In our research, lncRNA-MALAT1 was specifically upregulated in HCCA tissues and cell lines, and was associated with pathological T stage, a larger tumor size, and perineural invasion. Knockdown of MALAT1 inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of human HCCA cell. In addition, chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) was involved in MALAT1 induced human HCCA growth, migration, and invasion. By using online tools and a series of mechanistic analysis, we also demonstrated that miR-204-dependent CXCR4 regulation was required in MALAT1 modulating HCCA cell growth, migration and invasion. Taken together, our data indicated that MALAT1 might play an oncogenic role in HCCA through miR-204-dependent CXCR4 regulation, and could be regarded as a therapeutic target in HCCA. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 3643-3653, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Small pyramidal textured ultrathin crystalline silicon solar cells with double-layer passivation.

Ultrathin crystalline silicon solar cells are a promising technology roadmap to achieve more cost effectiveness. However, experimental reports on ultrathin crystalline silicon cells with thickness less than 20 µm are rare. Here, we experimentally fabricate and investigate ultrathin monocrystalline silicon solar cells consisting of 16 µm-silicon base thickness and low-cost front random pyramidal texture with the feature size of 1-2 µm. The normalized light absorption is calculated to explain the measured external quantum efficiency. The achieved efficiency is 15.1% for the single-layer passivated textured solar cell. In addition, via double-layer passivation of Al2O3/SiNx, the efficiency is further increased to 16.4% for the best textured cell, which significantly improves the absolute efficiency with Δη = 1.3%.

A Novel Green TiO2 Photocatalyst with a Surface Charge-Transfer Complex of Ti and Hydrazine Groups.

The optical property of TiO2 plays an important role in its various and promising photocatalytic applications. Previous efforts in improving its optical properties include doping with various metal and/or non-metal elements, coupling with other colorful semiconductors or molecules, and hydrogenating to crystalline/disordered core/shell nanostructures. Here, we report a beautiful green TiO2 achieved by forming the charge-transfer complex of colorless hydrazine groups and surface Ti4+ , which extends the optical absorption into the near infrared region (≈1100 nm, 1.05 eV). It shows an enhanced photocatalytic performance in hydrogen generation under simulated sunlight, and degradation of organic pollution under visible light due to an impurity state (about 0.28 eV) resulting in fast electron-hole separation and injection of electrons from the ligand to the conduction band of TiO2 . This study demonstrates an alternative approach to tune the optical, impurity state and photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles and we believe this will spur a wide interest in related materials and applications.