Significantly Enhanced Energy-Saving H2 Production Coupled with Urea Oxidation by Low- and Non-Pt Anchored on NiS-Based Conductive Nanofibers.

Rational designing electrocatalysts is of great significance for realizing high-efficiency H2 production in the water splitting process. Generally, reducing the usage of precious metals and developing low-potential nucleophiles oxidation reaction to replace anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are efficient strategies to promote H2 generation. Here, NiS-coated nickel-carbon nanofibers (NiS@Ni-CNFs) are prepared for low-content Pt deposition (Pt-NiS@Ni-CNFs) to attain the alkaline HER catalyst. Due to the reconfiguration of NiS phase and synergistic effect between Pt and nickel sulfides, the Pt-NiS@Ni-CNFs catalyst shows a high mass activity of 2.74-fold of benchmark Pt/C sample. In addition, the NiS@Ni-CNFs catalyst performs a superior urea oxidation reaction (UOR) activity with the potential of 1.366 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) at 10 mA cm-2 , which demonstrates the great potential in the replacement of OER. Thus, a urea-assisted water splitting electrolyzer of Pt-NiS@Ni-CNFs (cathode)||NiS@Ni-CNFs (anode) is constructed to exhibit small voltages of 1.44 and 1.65 V to reach 10 and 100 mA cm-2 , which is much lower than its overall water splitting process, and presents a 6.5-fold hydrogen production rate enhancement. This work offers great opportunity to design new catalysts toward urea-assisted water splitting with significantly promoted hydrogen productivity and reduced energy consumption.

Mn-Doped Zn Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Porous N-Doped Carbon Composite as a High-Performance Nonprecious Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction and Aqueous/Flexible Zinc-Air Batteries.

Developing low-cost, efficient, and stable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts is crucial for the commercialization of energy conversion devices such as metal-air batteries. In this study, we report a Mn-doped Zn metal-organic framework-derived porous N-doped carbon composite (30-ZnMn-NC) as a high-performance ORR catalyst. 30-ZnMn-NC exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity, demonstrating a kinetic current density of 9.58 mA cm-2 (0.8 V) and a half-wave potential of 0.83 V, surpassing the benchmark Pt/C and most of the recently reported non-noble metal-based catalysts. Moreover, the assembled zinc-air battery with 30-ZnMn-NC demonstrates high peak power densities of 207 and 66.3 mW cm-2 in liquid and flexible batteries, respectively, highlighting its potential for practical applications. The excellent electrocatalytic activity of 30-ZnMn-NC is attributed to its unique porous structure, the strong electronic interaction between metal Zn/Mn and adjacent N-doped carbon, as well as the bimetallic Mn/Zn-N active sites, which synergistically promote faster reaction kinetics. This work offers a controllable design strategy for efficient electrocatalysts with porous structures and bimetallic active sites, which can significantly enhance the performance of energy conversion devices.

[Stilbene glucoside inhibits ultraviolet radiation B-induced photoaging in human skin fibroblasts].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of tetrahydroxy stilbene-2-O-ß-D-glucoside (TSG) on stress-induced premature senescence of human skin fibroblasts (HSF) exposed to ultraviolet radiation B (UVB) and its possible mechanism. METHODS: HSFs were repeatedly exposed to UVB at a subcytotoxic level. TSG treatment (0.02, 0.10 and 0.50 mmol/L) was given immediately after each irradiation. The HSFs were divided into six groups:blank control group, model group, UVB+0.02 mmol/L TSG group, UVB+0.10 mmol/L TSG group, UVB+0.50 mmol/L TSG and TSG group (0.50 mmol/L). Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to evaluate the proliferative activity of cells; senescence-associated-ß-galactosidase (SA-ß-gal) staining was performed to estimate the degree of premature senescence in cells; TBA method and WST-1 method were used to detect intracellular malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities; and ELISA was applied to quantify the secretion level of matrix metalloproteinase1 (MMP-1) in cultured supernatant. RESULTS: Compared with the blank control group, the proliferative activity and SOD level in the model group decreased (P<0.05), while the percentage of SA-ß-gal-positive cells, MDA and MMP-1 levels increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the proliferative activity and SOD level increased in UVB+TSG groups (all P<0.05), and the percentage of SA-ß-gal-positive cells, MDA and MMP-1 levels decreased (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: TSG can inhibit UVB-induced premature senescence of HSF, which may be related to the inhibition of oxidative stress and high expression of MMP-1.

Highly Active and Stable Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst Based on Ir-Incorporated Partially Oxidized Ru Aerogel under Industrial-Level Current Density.

The realization of large-scale industrial application of alkaline water electrolysis for hydrogen generation is severely hampered by the cost of electricity. Therefore, it is currently necessary to synthesize highly efficient electrocatalysts with excellent stability and low overpotential under an industrial-level current density. Herein, Ir-incorporated in partially oxidized Ru aerogel has been designed and synthesized via a simple in situ reduction strategy and subsequent oxidation process. The electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the optimized Ru98 Ir2 -350 electrocatalyst exhibits outstanding hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance in an alkaline environment (1 M KOH). Especially, at the large current density of 1000 mA cm-2 , the overpotential is as low as 121 mV, far exceeding the benchmark Pt/C catalyst. Moreover, the Ru98 Ir2 -350 catalyst also displays excellent stability over 1500 h at 1000 mA cm-2 , denoting its industrial applicability. This work provides an efficient route for developing highly active and ultra-stable electrocatalysts for hydrogen generation under industrial-level current density.

Template synthesis of two-dimensional ternary nickel-cobalt-nitrogen co-doped porous carbon film: Promoting the conductivity and more active sites for oxygen reduction.

Rational design of a stable, highly active non-precious metal-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is vitally important for industrial application of fuel cells technology. As a potential alternative of Pt/C catalyst, two-dimensional (2D) porous carbon materials are widely investigated due to the highly accessible surface area and active sites, wherein carbon films doped with a plurality of metals and non-metal elements are rarely reported due to an uncontrollable synthesis process. Here, a bi-metallic (NiCo alloy nanoparticles) and nonmetallic (N) co-doped porous carbon film (Ni-Co-N@CF) is fabricated by a simple controllable and scalable strategy comprising the synthesis of NiCo alloy nanoparticles, modification of organic molecules, and high-temperature carbonization process. The optimized Ni-Co-N@CF catalyst shows an excellent ORR electrocatalytic activity with a larger electrochemically active surface area (2.31 m2 g-1), a higher half-wave potential (0.86 V) and a lower diffusion limited current density (-4.43 mA cm-2) than all the prepared control catalysts. Moreover, the designated catalyst also exhibits high durability and superior methanol tolerance in alkaline media, significantly better than the commercial Pt/C (20 wt%). The superior ORR performance is attributed to the synergetic interactions of ternary doping of Ni/Co/N in the 2D film skeleton, which not only greatly enhances conductivity but also provides more Co-N active sites.