Resting state functional connectome in breast cancer patients with fear of cancer recurrence.

This study aimed to investigate network-level brain functional changes in breast cancer patients and their relationship with fear of cancer recurrence (FCR). Resting-state functional MRI was collected from 43 patients with breast cancer and 40 healthy controls (HCs). Graph theory analyses, whole-brain voxel-wise functional connectivity strength (FCS) analyses and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analyses were performed to identify connection alterations in breast cancer patients. Correlations between brain functional connections (i.e. FCS and FC) and FCR level were assessed to further reveal the neural mechanisms of FCR in breast cancer patients. Graph theory analyses indicated a decreased clustering coefficient in breast cancer patients compared to HCs (P = 0.04). Patients with breast cancer exhibited significantly higher FCS in both higher-order function networks (frontoparietal, default mode, and dorsal attention systems) and primary somatomotor networks. Among the hyperconnected regions in breast cancer, the left inferior frontal operculum demonstrated a significant positive correlation with FCR. Our findings suggest that breast cancer patients exhibit less segregation of brain function, and the left inferior frontal operculum is a key region associated with FCR. This study offers insights into the neural mechanisms of FCR in breast cancer patients at the level of brain connectome.

Highly Potent Transparent Passive Cooling Coating via Microphase-Separated Hydrogel Combining Radiative and Evaporative Cooling.

Transparent passive cooling materials can cool targets environmentally without interfering with light transmission or visual information reception. They play a prominent role in solar cells and flexible display cooling. However, achieving potent transparent cooling remains challenging, because light transmission is accompanied by thermal energy. Here we propose to realize effective passive cooling in transparent materials via a microscale phase separation hydrogel film. The poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) hydrogel presents light transmittance of >96% and infrared emissivity as high as 95%. The microphase-separated structure affords a higher enthalpy of evaporation. The film is highly adhesive. In field applications, it reduces temperatures by 9.14 °C compared to those with uncovered photovoltaic panels and 7.68 °C compared to those for bare flexible light-emitting diode screens. Simulations indicate that energy savings of 32.76-51.65 MJ m-2 year-1 can be achieved in typical tropical monsoon climates and temperate continental climates. We expect this work to contribute to energy-efficient materials and a carbon-neutral society.

The mechanism of intrinsic peroxidase (POD)-like activity of attapulgite.

Natural attapulgite (ATP) is a promising substitute for existing artificial nanozymes due to its intrinsic enzymatic activity. However, the active center of ATP's inherent enzymatic activity has not yet been revealed, which limits its further design and activity optimization. Studying the active center of mineral materials can be extremely challenging due to their complexity. Here, we demonstrated that Fe is the primary element in ATP responsible for peroxidase (POD)-like activity through theoretical speculation and experimental verification. More importantly, we found that the ratio of Fe2+/Fe3+ is responsible for the district POD-like activity of ATP from different regions with the same Fe content. Additionally, three facile strategies, including grinding, heat treatment, and acid treatment, were demonstrated to increase the relative Fe content and thus optimize the POD-like activity of ATP. Finally, ATP was used to detect the concentration of H2O2, enabling the detection of low concentrations (0.11-1.76 mM) of H2O2. This study serves as a novel reference for the future design and performance optimization of nanozymes that are based on ATP and clay minerals.

3D-MASNet: 3D mixed-scale asymmetric convolutional segmentation network for 6-month-old infant brain MR images.

Precise segmentation of infant brain magnetic resonance (MR) images into gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are essential for studying neuroanatomical hallmarks of early brain development. However, for 6-month-old infants, the extremely low-intensity contrast caused by inherent myelination hinders accurate tissue segmentation. Existing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) based segmentation models for this task generally employ single-scale symmetric convolutions, which are inefficient for encoding the isointense tissue boundaries in baby brain images. Here, we propose a 3D mixed-scale asymmetric convolutional segmentation network (3D-MASNet) framework for brain MR images of 6-month-old infants. We replaced the traditional convolutional layer of an existing to-be-trained network with a 3D mixed-scale convolution block consisting of asymmetric kernels (MixACB) during the training phase and then equivalently converted it into the original network. Five canonical CNN segmentation models were evaluated using both T1- and T2-weighted images of 23 6-month-old infants from iSeg-2019 datasets, which contained manual labels as ground truth. MixACB significantly enhanced the average accuracy of all five models and obtained the most considerable improvement in the fully convolutional network model (CC-3D-FCN) and the highest performance in the Dense U-Net model. This approach further obtained Dice coefficient accuracies of 0.931, 0.912, and 0.961 in GM, WM, and CSF, respectively, ranking first among 30 teams on the validation dataset of the iSeg-2019 Grand Challenge. Thus, the proposed 3D-MASNet can improve the accuracy of existing CNNs-based segmentation models as a plug-and-play solution that offers a promising technique for future infant brain MRI studies.

Biomineralized Piezoelectrically Active Scaffolds for Inducing Osteogenic Differentiation.

There is an endogenous electric field in living organisms, which plays a vital role in the development and regeneration of bone tissue. Therefore, self-powered piezoelectric material for bone repair has become hot research in recent years. However, the current piezoelectric materials for tissue regeneration still have the shortcomings of lack of biological activity and three-dimensional structure. Here, we proposed a three-dimensional polyurethane foam (PUF) scaffold coated with piezoelectric poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) and modified by a calcium phosphate (CaP) mineralized coating. The preferred scaffold has an open circuit voltage and short circuit current output of 5 V and 200 nA. Combining the physical and chemical properties of the CaP coating, the piezoelectric signal of PVDF-HFP and the three-dimensional structure of PUF, the scaffold exhibits superior promotion of cell osteogenic differentiation and ectopic bone formation in vivo. The mechanism is attributed to an increase in intracellular Ca2+ levels in response to chemical and piezoelectric stimulation with the material. This research not only paves the way for the application of piezoelectric scaffolds to stimulate osteoblasts differentiation in situ, but also lays the foundation for the clinical treatment of long-term osteoporosis.

Utilizing Cationic Vacancies and Spontaneous Polarization on Cathode to Enhance Zinc-Ion Storage and Inhibit Dendrite Growth in Zinc-Ion Batteries.

High energy density and intrinsic safety are the central pursuits in developing rechargeable Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). The capacity and stability of nickel cobalt oxide (NCO) cathode are unsatisfactory because of its semiconductor character. Herein, we propose a built-in electric field (BEF) approach by synergizing cationic vacancies and ferroelectric spontaneous polarization on cathode side to facilitate electron adsorption and suppress zinc dendrite growth on the anode side. Concretely, NCO with cationic vacancies was constructed to expand lattice spacing for enhanced zinc-ion storage. Heterojunction with BEF leads to the Heterojunction//Zn cell exhibiting a capacity of 170.3 mAh g-1 at 400 mA g-1 and delivering a competitive capacity retention of 83.3 % over 3000 cycles at 2 A g-1 . We conclude the role of spontaneous polarization in suppressing zinc dendrite growth dynamics, which is conducive to developing high-capacity and high-safety batteries via tailoring defective materials with ferroelectric polarization on the cathode.

Fluoxetine inhibited the activation of A1 reactive astrocyte in a mouse model of major depressive disorder through astrocytic 5-HT2BR/ß-arrestin2 pathway.

BACKGROUND: Fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, has been reported to directly bind with 5-HT2B receptor (5-HT2BR), but the precise mechanisms, whereby fluoxetine confers the anti-depressive actions via 5-HT2BR is not fully understood. Although neuroinflammation-induced A1 astrocytes are involved in neurodegenerative diseases, the role of A1 astrocyte in the pathogenesis and treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) remains unclear. METHODS: Mice were subjected to chronic mild stress (CMS) for 6 weeks and subsequently treated with fluoxetine for 4 weeks. The depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviors and the activation of A1 reactive astrocyte in hippocampus and cortex of mice were measured. Primary astrocytes were stimulated with A1 cocktail (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1α and C1q), activated (LPS) microglia-conditioned medium (MCM) or IL-6 for 24 h and the expression of A1-special and A2-special markers were determined using RT-qPCR and western blot. The role of 5-HT2BR in the effects of fluoxetine on A1 reactive astrocyte was measured using 5-HT2BR inhibitor and siRNA in vitro and AAVs in vivo. The functions of downstream signaling Gq protein and ß-arrestins in the effects of fluoxetine on the activation of A1 astrocyte were determined using pharmacological inhibitor and genetic knockout, respectively. RESULTS: In this study, we found that fluoxetine inhibited the activation of A1 reactive astrocyte and reduced the abnormal behaviors in CMS mice, as well as ameliorated A1 astrocyte reactivity under three different stimulators in primary astrocytes. We also showed that astrocytic 5-HT2BR was required in the inhibitory effects of fluoxetine on A1 reactive astrocyte in MDD in vivo and in vitro. We further found that the functions of fluoxetine in the activation of A1 astrocyte were independent of either Gq protein or ß-arrestin1 in vitro. ß-arrestin2 pathway was the downstream signaling of astrocytic 5-HT2BR mediated the inhibitory effects of fluoxetine on A1 astrocyte reactivity in primary astrocytes and CMS mice, as well as the improved roles of fluoxetine in behavioral impairments of CMS mice. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that fluoxetine restricts reactive A1 astrocyte via astrocytic 5-HT2BR/ß-arrestin2 pathway in a mouse model of MDD and provide a novel therapeutic avenue for MDD.

Piezocatalytic and Photocatalytic Hydrogen Peroxide Evolution of Sulfide Solid Solution Nano-Branches from Pure Water and Air.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) as a useful chemical has a wide range of applications, and the development of efficient semiconducting materials for H2 O2 production is deemed as a promising strategy to realize the energy conversion. In this paper, Cdx Zn1-x S (x = 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, 1) nano-branches are fabricated and the piezocatalytic and photocatalytic H2 O2 evolution performance are studied. Under ultrasound condition, the H2 O2 yield of as-synthesized solid solutions is all higher than those of pristine ZnS and CdS, and optimal evolution rate achieves 21.9 µmol g-1 h-1 for Cd0.5 Zn0.5 S without any sacrificial agent, while it is increased to 151.6 µmol g-1 h-1 under visible light irradiation. The piezo/photoelectrochemical tests, piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), and computational simulation reveal that the nano-branch structure benefits the mechanical energy conversion more, favoring the H2 O2 evolution for Cd0.5 Zn0.5 S, and a higher concentration of charge carriers is generated in photocatalysis. The active radical trapping and in situ electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments demonstrate that both of the H2 O2 generation pathways are originated from oxygen reduction by the sequential two-step single-electron reaction. This work opens a door for promoting the H2 O2 production from nanostructure and solid solution design.

Synergetic Piezo-Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution on Cdx Zn1-x S Solid-Solution 1D Nanorods.

Conversion of solar and mechanical vibration energies for catalytic water splitting into H2 has gained substantial attention recently. However, the sluggish charge separation and inefficient energy utilization in photocatalytic and piezocatalytic processes severely restrict the catalytic activity. In this paper, efficient piezo-photocatalytic H2 evolution from water splitting is realized via simultaneously converting solar and vibration energy over one-dimensional (1D) nanorod-structured Cdx Zn1-x S (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1) solid solutions. Under combined visible light and ultrasound irradiation, Cd0.4 Zn0.6 S 1D nanorods deliver a prominently synergetic piezo-photocatalytic H2 yield rate of 4.45 mmol g-1  h-1 , far exceeding that under sole ultrasound or illumination. The consumedly promoted catalytic activity of Cd0.4 Zn0.6 S is attributed to strengthened charge separation by piezo-potential as disclosed by light-assisted scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPFM), increased strain sensitivity, and desirable optimization between piezoelectricity and visible-light response due to the formation of 1D configuration and solid solution. Metal and metal oxide depositions disclose that reduction and oxidation reactions separately occur at the tips and lateral edges of the Cd0.4 Zn0.6 S nanorods, in which the spatially separated reactive sites also contribute to super catalytic activity. This work is expected to inspire a new design strategy of coupled catalysis reactions for efficient renewable fuel production.

Modulation of peritumoral fibroblasts with a membrane-tethered tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) for the elimination of cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Peritumoral fibroblasts are key components of the tumor microenvironment. Through remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and secretion of pro-tumorigenic cytokines, peritumoral fibroblasts foster an immunosuppressive milieu conducive to tumor cell proliferation. In this study, we investigated if peritumoral fibroblasts could be therapeutically engineered to elicit an anti-cancer response by abolishing the proteolytic activities of membrane-bound metalloproteinases involved in ECM modulation. METHODS: A high affinity, glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase (TIMP) named "T1PrαTACE" was created for dual inhibition of MT1-MMP and TACE. T1PrαTACE was expressed in fibroblasts and its effects on cancer cell proliferation investigated in 3D co-culture models. RESULTS: T1PrαTACE abrogated the activities of MT1-MMP and TACE in host fibroblasts. As a GPI protein, T1PrαTACE could spontaneously detach from the plasma membrane of the fibroblast to co-localize with MT1-MMP and TACE on neighboring cancer cells. In a 3D co-culture model, T1PrαTACE promoted adherence between the cancer cells and surrounding fibroblasts, which led to an attenuation in tumor development. CONCLUSION: Peritumoral fibroblasts can be modulated with the TIMP for the elimination of cancer cells. As a novel anti-tumor strategy, our approach could potentially be used in combination with conventional chemo- and immunotherapies for a more effective cancer therapy.

Enzyme-Mimetic Molecular Selective Catalysis via Single Zr Atom Catalysis in Chelated Cage Embedded in a Flexible Piezoelectrical Matrix.

The molecularly selective catalysis in enzyme is central to life. However, their functioning mechanism remains elusive. We propose here that the synergistic effects from (i) effective orbital hybridizing and energy gap decreasing via chelating on single Zr atom as the catalytic center, (ii) selective supramolecular encapsulation in the cage, and (iii) piezoelectrical field motivation are able to achieve the enzyme-mimetic molecular selective high performance catalysis. Metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs) are added into a piezoelectrical polymer matrix to achieve the composite structure where ultrasonic treatment motivates redox reactions in the MOP-guest complex. Encapsulated and chelated guest such as Rhodamine B (RhB) is effectively converted with ratios higher than 90 % after 100 min. In comparison, molecules inefficient in either cage encapsulation or chelating with the Zr center can not be converted. This study first proposes a synergistic plot for enzyme-mimetic catalyst realization and is expected to inspire new mentality in efficient catalyst designing.

High-performance composite separators based on the synergy of vermiculite and laponite for lithium-ion batteries.

The electrochemical performance and safe operation of the separator plays an important role in lithium-ion batteries. The introduction of inorganic nanoparticles into the separators with organic matter as the matrix effectively improves the thermal stability and wettability of the composite separators, but it also blocks some pores and adversely affects the electrochemical performance. Herein, vermiculite and laponite nanoparticles are introduced into a poly(vinylidene fluoride) matrix to prepare organic-inorganic composite separators for lithium-ion batteries and the synergistic effect of the two inorganic nanofillers is explored. By adding the same amount of the two nanoparticles into the polymer matrix, the prepared separator has the highest ionic conductivity (0.72 mS cm-1) at room temperature and the lowest interfacial impedance (283 Ω). It has an initial discharge capacity of 161.2 mA h g-1 at a rate of 0.5C, a coulombic efficiency of 99.5% after 100 cycles, and a high capacity retention rate of 98.4%, which shows excellent rate performance. The results show that the two clay nanoparticles exert their respective advantages and exhibit a synergistic enhancement effect on the battery performance, which inspires new ideas for the preparation of new organic-inorganic composite separators.

H2O2 generation enhancement by ultrasonic nebulisation with a zinc layer for spray disinfection.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, microbial pollution has gained increasing attention as a threat to human health. Consequently, many research efforts are being devoted to the development of efficient disinfection methods. In this context, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) stands out as a green and broad-spectrum disinfectant, which can be produced and sprayed in the air directly by cavitation in ultrasonic nebulisation. However, the yield of H2O2 obtained by ultrasonic nebulisation is too low to satisfy the requirements for disinfection by spraying and needs to be improved to achieve efficient disinfection of the air and objects. Herein, we report the introduction of a zinc layer into an ultrasonic nebuliser to improve the production of H2O2 and generate additional Zn2+ by self-corrosion, achieving good disinfecting performance. Specifically, a zinc layer was assembled on the oscillator plate of a commercial ultrasonic nebuliser, resulting in a 21-fold increase in the yield of H2O2 and the production of 4.75 µg/mL Zn2+ in the spraying droplets. When the generated water mist was used to treat a bottle polluted with Escherichia coli for 30 min, the sterilisation rate reached 93.53%. This ultrasonic nebulisation using a functional zinc layer successfully enhanced the production of H2O2 while generating Zn2+, providing a platform for the development of new methodologies of spray disinfection.

Mortar Designed from Red Mud with Iron Tailings and Moulded by 3D Printing.

A specific mortar material (abbreviated as RFT) was designed from industrial solid wastes, such as red mud, fly ash, and iron tailings. It was mainly developed for 3D printing in this work. Mechanical properties, microstructure and heavy metal leaching properties were discussed. The RFT composed of 15% red mud, 45% iron tailings, 9% fly ash, 30% cement, and 1% FDN water reducing agent attained good mechanical properties. Hydration products including Ca(OH)2, ettringite and C-S-H gel were found in RFT through SEM observation. Iron tailings mainly acted as fine aggregates in RFT, and they were wrapped by the C-S-H gels, producing a strong bonding effect between aggregates and cementitious matrix. The leaching toxicity test results proved that the developed RFT mortar materials were environmentally acceptable. Finally, RFT was subjected to a 3D printing test to verify its feasibility as 3D printable construction material.

Chemically Bonded α-Fe2 O3 /Bi4 MO8 Cl Dot-on-Plate Z-Scheme Junction with Strong Internal Electric Field for Selective Photo-oxidation of Aromatic Alcohols.

Inferior contact interface and low charge transfer efficiency seriously restrict the performance of heterojunctions. Herein, chemically bonded α-Fe2 O3 /Bi4 MO8 Cl (M=Nb, Ta) dot-on-plate Z-scheme junctions with strong internal electric field are crafted by an in situ growth route. Experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that the internal electric field provides a powerful driving force for vectorial migration of photocharges between Bi4 MO8 Cl and α-Fe2 O3 , and the interfacial Fe-O bond not only serves as an atomic-level charge flow highway but also lowers the charge transfer energy barrier, thereby accelerating Z-scheme charge transfer and realizing effective spatial charge separation. Impressively, α-Fe2 O3 /Bi4 MO8 Cl manifests a significantly improved photocatalytic activity for selective oxidation of aromatic alcohols into aldehydes (Con. ≥92 %, Sel. ≥96 %), with a performance improvement of one to two orders of magnitude. This work presents atomic-level insight into interfacial charge flow steering.

Orthogonal Charge Transfer by Precise Positioning of Silver Single Atoms and Clusters on Carbon Nitride for Efficient Piezocatalytic Pure Water Splitting.

Developing efficient piezocatalytic systems for two-electron water splitting (TEWS) with producing H2 and H2 O2 shows great promise to meet the industrial demand. Herein, Ag single atoms (SAs) and clusters are co-anchored on carbon nitride (AgSA+C -CN) to serve as the multifunctional sites for efficient TEWS. The Ag SAs enhance the in-plane piezoelectric polarization of CN that is intimately modulated by the atomic coordination induced charge redistribution, and Ag clusters afford strong interfacial electric field to remarkably promote the out-of-plane migration of piezoelectrons from CN. Moreover, AgSA+C -CN yields a larger piezoresistive effect that elevates carrier mobility under strain. Consequently, a superior H2 and H2 O2 evolution rate of 7.90 mmol g-1 h-1 and 5.84 mmol g-1 h-1 is delivered by AgSA+C -CN, respectively, far exceeding that of the previously reported piezocatalysts. This work not only presents the SAs decoration as an available polarization enhancement strategy, but also sheds light on the superiority of multi-sites engineering in piezocatalysis.

Alterations in resting-state global brain connectivity in bipolar I disorder patients with prior suicide attempt.

BACKGROUND: Bipolar I disorder (BD-I) is associated with a high risk of suicide attempt; however, the neural circuit dysfunction that confers suicidal vulnerability in individuals with this disorder remains largely unknown. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) allows non-invasive mapping of brain functional connectivity. The current study used an unbiased voxel-based graph theory analysis of rs-fMRI to investigate the intrinsic brain networks of BD-I patients with and without suicide attempt. METHODS: A total of 30 BD-I patients with suicide attempt (attempter group), 82 patients without suicide attempt (non-attempter group), and 67 healthy controls underwent rs-fMRI scan, and then global brain connectivity (GBC) was computed as the sum of connections of each voxel with all other gray matter voxels in the brain. RESULTS: Compared with the non-attempter group, we found regional differences in GBC values in emotion-encoding circuits, including the left superior temporal gyrus, bilateral insula/rolandic operculum, and right precuneus (PCu)/cuneus in the bipolar disorder (BD) attempter group, and these disrupted hub-like regions displayed fair to good power in distinguishing attempters from non-attempters among BD-I patients. GBC values of the right PCu/cuneus were positively correlated with illness duration and education in the attempter group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that abnormal connectivity patterns in emotion-encoding circuits are associated with the increasing risk of vulnerability to suicide attempt in BD patients, and global dysconnectivity across these emotion-encoding circuits might serve as potential biomarkers for classification of suicide attempt in BD patients.

Metabolically healthy obesity increases the prevalence of stroke in adults aged 40 years or older: Result from the China National Stroke Screening survey.

Debate over the cardio-cerebrovascular risk associated with metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) continues. In this study we investigated the association of MHO with the risk of stroke among 221,114 individuals aged 40 years or older based on data from the China National Stroke Screening and Prevention Project (CNSSPP), a nationally representative cross-sectional study, during 2014 to 2015. Different metabolic health and obesity phenotypes were defined according to the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria, where obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥28 kg/m2. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for stroke risk associated with different metabolically healthy phenotypes. BMI was used to estimate the mediation effect for metabolic abnormalities to stroke. Compared with the metabolically healthy non-obesity (MHNO) group, individuals with MHO (adjusted OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.10,1.33), metabolically unhealthy non-obesity (MUNO) (adjusted OR:1.41, 95% CI: 1.36,1.46), or metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) (adjusted OR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.61,1.80) were found to have an increased risk of stroke. The findings were confirmed robustly by various sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses. Furthermore, obesity and metabolic abnormalities had an additive interaction for stroke risk with an attributable proportion (AP) of 14.0% in females. BMI played a partial mediating role with the proportion of the effect (PE) at 11.1% in the relationship between metabolic abnormalities and stroke. This study strengthens the evidence that management and interventions in the MHO population may contribute to the primary prevention of stroke.

Photocatalysis Enhanced by External Fields.

The efficient conversion of solar energy by means of photocatalysis shows huge potential to relieve the ongoing energy crisis and increasing environmental pollution. However, unsatisfactory conversion efficiency still hinders its practical application. The introduction of external fields can remarkably enhance the photocatalytic performance of semiconductors from the inside out. This review focuses on recent advances in the application of diverse external fields, including microwaves, mechanical stress, temperature gradient, electric field, magnetic field, and coupled fields, to boost photocatalytic reactions, for applications in, for example, contaminant degradation, water splitting, CO2 reduction, and bacterial inactivation. The relevant reinforcement mechanisms of photoabsorption, the transport and separation of photoinduced charges, and adsorption of reagents by the external fields are highlighted. Finally, the challenges and outlook for the development of external-field-enhanced photocatalysis are presented.

Synergistic Polarization Engineering on Bulk and Surface for Boosting CO2 Photoreduction.

Sluggish charge kinetics and low CO2 affinity seriously inhibit CO2 photoreduction. Herein, the synchronous promotion of charge separation and CO2 affinity of Bi4 Ti3 O12 is realized by coupling corona poling and surface I-grafting. Corona poling enhances ferroelectric polarization of Bi4 Ti3 O12 by aligning the domains direction, which profoundly promotes charge transfer along opposite directions across bulk. Surface I-grafting forms a surface local electric field for further separating charge carriers and provides abundant active sites to enhance CO2 adsorption. The two modifications cooperatively further increase the ferroelectric polarization of Bi4 Ti3 O12 , which maximize the separation efficiency of photogenerated charges, resulting in an enhanced CO production rate of 15.1 µmol g-1 h-1 (nearly 9 times) with no sacrificial agents or cocatalysts. This work discloses that ferroelectric polarization and surface ion grafting can promote CO2 photoreduction in a synergistic way.