Graphene-skinned alumina fiber fabricated through metalloid-catalytic graphene CVD growth on nonmetallic substrate and its mass production.

Graphene growth on widely used dielectrics/insulators via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a strategy toward transfer-free applications of CVD graphene for the realization of advanced composite materials. Here, we develop graphene-skinned alumina fibers/fabrics (GAFs/GAFFs) through graphene CVD growth on commercial alumina fibers/fabrics (AFs/AFFs). We reveal a vapor-surface-solid growth model on a non-metallic substrate, which is distinct from the well-established vapor-solid model on conventional non-catalytic non-metallic substrates, but bears a closer resemblance to that observed on catalytic metallic substrates. The metalloid-catalytic growth of graphene on AFs/AFFs resulted in reduced growth temperature (~200 °C lower) and accelerated growth rate (~3.4 times faster) compared to that obtained on a representative non-metallic counterpart, quartz fiber. The fabricated GAFF features a wide-range tunable electrical conductivity (1-15000 Ω sq-1), high tensile strength (>1.5 GPa), lightweight, flexibility, and a hierarchical macrostructure. These attributes are inherited from both graphene and AFF, making GAFF promising for various applications including electrical heating and electromagnetic interference shielding. Beyond laboratory level preparation, the stable mass production of large-scale GAFF has been achieved through a home-made roll-to-roll system with capacity of 468-93600 m2/year depending on product specifications, providing foundations for the subsequent industrialization of this material, enabling its widespread adoption in various industries.

Effects of tea infusion on selenium uptake in grapevine.

Increased selenium (Se) content in fruits can supply Se in human body, but the effects of teas on the Se uptake in fruit trees are unknown. The effects of infusions of four teas (green, black, dark, and white) on the Se uptake of grapevine were studied to promote the Se uptake in fruit trees in this study. However, only black tea infusion increased the biomass, photosynthetic pigment content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, peroxidase (POD) activity, and soluble protein content of grapevine. Except for white tea infusion, other tea infusions also increased the catalase (CAT) activity of grapevine. Furthermore, the tea infusions increased the activities of adenosine triphosphate sulfurase (ATPS) and adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate reductase (APR), and decreased the activities of serine acetyltransferase (SAT) and selenocysteine methyltransferase (SMT). Only the dark and white tea infusions increased the shoot total Se content by 86.53% and 23.32%, respectively (compared with the control), and also increased the shoot inorganic Se content and shoot organic Se content. Notably, four tea infusions decreased the organic Se proportion and increased the inorganic Se proportion in grapevine. Correlation and grey relational analyses showed that the root total Se content, ATPS activity, and ARP activity were closely associated with the shoot total Se content. The principal component and cluster analyses also showed that the ATPS activity, APR activity, root total Se content, and shoot total Se content were classified into one category. These findings show that black tea infusion can promote grapevine growth, while dark and white tea infusions can promote the Se uptake in grapevine.

Multispecies-coadsorption-induced rapid preparation of graphene glass fiber fabric and applications in flexible pressure sensor.

Direct chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of graphene on dielectric/insulating materials is a promising strategy for subsequent transfer-free applications of graphene. However, graphene growth on noncatalytic substrates is faced with thorny issues, especially the limited growth rate, which severely hinders mass production and practical applications. Herein, graphene glass fiber fabric (GGFF) is developed by graphene CVD growth on glass fiber fabric. Dichloromethane is applied as a carbon precursor to accelerate graphene growth, which has a low decomposition energy barrier, and more importantly, the produced high-electronegativity Cl radical can enhance adsorption of active carbon species by Cl-CH2 coadsorption and facilitate H detachment from graphene edges. Consequently, the growth rate is increased by ~3 orders of magnitude and carbon utilization by ~960-fold, compared with conventional methane precursor. The advantageous hierarchical conductive configuration of lightweight, flexible GGFF makes it an ultrasensitive pressure sensor for human motion and physiological monitoring, such as pulse and vocal signals.

Overcoming the Incompatibility Between Electrical Conductivity and Electromagnetic Transmissivity: A Graphene Glass Fiber Fabric Design Strategy.

Conventional conductive materials such as metals are crucial functional components of conductive systems in diverse electronic instruments. However, their severe intrinsic impedance mismatch with air dielectric causes strong reflection of incident electromagnetic waves, and the resulting low electromagnetic transmissivity typically interferes with surrounding electromagnetic signal communications in modern multifunction-integrated instruments. Herein, graphene glass fiber fabric (GGFF) that merges intrinsic electrical and electromagnetic properties of graphene with dielectric attributes and highly porous macrostructure of glass fiber fabric (GFF) is innovatively developed. Using a novel decoupling chemical vapor deposition growth strategy, high-quality and layer-limited graphene is prepared on noncatalytic nonmetallic GFF in a controlled manner; this is pivotal to realizing GGFF with the desired compatibility among high conductivity, low electromagnetic reflectivity, and high electromagnetic transmissivity. At the same sheet resistance over a wide range of values (250-3000 Ω·sq-1), the GGFF exhibits significantly lower electromagnetic reflectivity (by 0.42-0.51) and higher transmissivity (by 0.27-0.62) than those of its metal-based conductive counterpart (CuGFF). The material design strategy reported herein provides a constructive solution to eliminate the incompatibility between electrical conductivity and electromagnetic transmissivity faced by conventional conductive materials, spotlighting the applicability of GGFF in electric heating scenarios in radar, antenna, and stealth systems.

Potential Role of GLP-1 Based Therapeutics in Coronary Artery Disease.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), an incretin hormone primarily secreted by intestinal L cells, regulates glucose metabolism by increasing insulin synthesis and secretion, decreasing plasma glucagon levels, reducing food intake, and slowing gastric emptying. This has led to the development of GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists as a treatment for diabetes and obesity. In addition to being present in beta cells, GLP-1R has also been identified in blood vessels and the heart, suggesting that GLP-1R agonists may have an impact on cardiovascular health. There is now substantial evidence supporting GLP-1's protective effects on the cardiovascular system. This review summarizes the current research on GLP-1-based therapy for coronary artery disease (CAD) by examining its protective effects against inflammation and ischemia/reperfusion injury and analyzing clinical trials on GLP-1-based therapies for CAD. Although results from various studies were inconsistent, the challenge of transitioning GLP-1-based therapies from the laboratory to the clinical setting remains. Further well-designed and high-quality studies are necessary to determine the efficacy and safety of GLP-1 for patients with CAD.

Scalable Fabrication of Dual-Function Fabric for Zero-Energy Thermal Environmental Management through Multiband, Synergistic, and Asymmetric Optical Modulations.

Solar heating and radiative cooling techniques have been proposed for passive space thermal management to reduce the global energy burden. However, the currently used single-function envelope/coating materials can only achieve static temperature regulation, presenting limited energy savings and poor adaption to dynamic environments. In this study, a sandwich-structured fabric, composed of vertical graphene, graphene glass fiber fabric, and polyacrylonitrile nanofibers is developed, with heating and cooling functions integrated through multiband, synergistic, (solar spectrum and mid-infrared ranges) and asymmetric optical modulations on two sides of the fabric. The dual-function fabric demonstrates high adaption to the dynamic environment and superior performance in a zero-energy-input temperature regulation. Furthermore, it demonstrates ≈15.5 and ≈31.1 MJ m-2 y-1 higher annual energy savings compared to those of their cooling-only and heating-only counterparts, corresponding to ≈173.7 MT reduction in the global CO2 emission. The fabric exhibits high scalability for batch manufacturing with commercially abundant raw materials and facile technologies, providing a favorable guarantee of its mass production and use.

Graphene Infrared Radiation Management Targeting Photothermal Conversion for Electric-Energy-Free Crude Oil Collection.

Graphene has been widely used as a solar absorber for its broad-band absorption. However, targeting a higher photothermal efficiency, the intrinsic infrared radiation loss of graphene requires to be further reduced. Herein, band structure engineering is performed to modulate graphene infrared radiation. Nitrogen-doped vertical graphene is grown on quartz foam (NVGQF) by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. Under the premise of keeping high solar absorption (250-2500 nm), graphitic nitrogen doping effectively modulates the infrared emissivity (2.5-25 µm) of NVGQF from 0.96 to 0.68, reducing the radiation loss by ∼31%. Based on the excellent photothermal properties of NVGQF, a temperature-gradient-driven crude oil collecting raft is designed, where the crude oil flows along the collecting path driven by the viscosity gradient without any external electric energy input. Compared with a nondoped vertical graphene quartz foam raft, the NVGQF raft with a superior photothermal efficiency shows a significantly enhanced crude oil collecting efficiency by three times. The advances in this work suggest broad radiation-managed application platforms for graphene materials, such as seawater desalination and personal or building thermal management.

Complementary Chemical Vapor Deposition Fabrication for Large-Area Uniform Graphene Glass Fiber Fabric.

The lightweight, flexible, high-performance electrothermal material is in high demand in object thermal management. Graphene glass fiber fabric (GGFF) is characterized by excellent electrical conductivity, light weight, and high flexibility, showing superiorities as an electrothermal material. However, the traditional single-carbon-precursor chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene growth strategy commonly suffers from the severe thickness nonuniformity of the large-sized graphene film along the gas-flowing direction. Herein, a complementary CVD graphene growth strategy based on the simultaneous introduction of high- and low-decomposition-energy-barrier mixed carbon precursors is developed. In this way, the large-area uniform GGFF with a dramatically decreased nonuniformity coefficient is fabricated (0.260 in 40 cm × 4 cm). GGFF-based heater presents a widely tunable temperature range (20-170 °C) at low working voltage (<10 V) and uniform large-area heating temperature (171.4 ± 3.6 °C in 20 cm × 15 cm), which realizes remarkable anti/deicing performances under the low energy consumption (fast ice melting rate of 79 s mm-1 under a low energy consumption of 0.066 kWh mm-1 m-2 ). The large-area uniform GGFF possesses substantial advantages for applications in thermal management, and the complementary CVD fabrication strategy shows reliable scalability and universality, which can be extended to the synthesis of various materials.

Ultra-Broadband Strong Electromagnetic Interference Shielding with Ferromagnetic Graphene Quartz Fabric.

Flexible electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials with ultrahigh shielding effectiveness (SE) are highly desirable for high-speed electronic devices to attenuate radiated emissions. For hindering interference of their internal or external EMI fields, however, a metallic enclosure suffers from relatively low SE, band-limited anti-EMI responses, poor corrosion resistance, and non-adaptability to the complex geometry of a given circuit. Here, a broadband, strong EMI shielding response fabric is demonstrated based on a highly structured ferromagnetic graphene quartz fiber (FGQF) via a modulation-doped chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth process. The precise control of the graphitic N-doping configuration endows graphene coatings on specifically designable quartz fabric weave with both high conductivity (3906 S cm-1 ) and high magnetic responsiveness (a saturation magnetization of ≈0.14 emu g-1 under 300 K), thus attaining synergistic effect of EMI shielding and electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption for broadband anti-EMI technology. The large-scale durable FGQF exhibits extraordinary EMI SE of ≈107 dB over a broadband frequency (1-18 GHz), by configuring ≈20 nm-thick graphene coatings on a millimeter-thick quartz fabric. This work enables the potential for development of an industrial-scale, flexible, lightweight, durable, and ultra-broadband strong shielding material in advanced applications of flexible anti-electronic reconnaissance, antiradiation, and stealthy technologies.

Flexible Full-Surface Conformal Encapsulation for Each Fiber in Graphene Glass Fiber Fabric against Thermal Oxidation.

Encapsulation for carbon-based electronic devices against oxidation can enhance their long-term working stability. Graphene glass fiber fabric (GGFF), as an advanced flexible electrothermal material, also struggles with graphene oxidation. The flexible, full-surface, conformal encapsulation for each fiber in the large-area fabric puts forward high requirements for encapsulating materials and techniques. Herein, the nanometer-thick h-BN layer was in situ grown on cambered surfaces of each fiber in GGFF with the chemical vapor deposition method. Stable heating duration (500 °C) of h-BN-encapsulated GGFF (h-BN/GGFF) was increased by 1 order of magnitude without compromising the electrothermal performances and flexibility. Theoretical simulations revealed that the enhanced oxidation resistance of h-BN/GGFF was attributed to the decreased interaction and adsorption life of oxygen. The proposed flexible, full-surface, conformal encapsulation technique targeting the fiber-shaped graphene electrothermal device is scalable and can be extended to the other carbon materials, even devices with intricate shapes, which will promote the development of flexible electronics.

Dual-Emitter Graphene Glass Fiber Fabric for Radiant Heating.

Radiant heating, as a significant thermal management technique, is best known for its high thermal effect, media-free operation, good penetration, and compatibility for different heated shapes. To promote sustainable development in this area, developing advanced infrared radiation material is in high demand. In this work, a lightweight, flexible dual-emitter infrared electrothermal material, graphene glass fiber (GGF), is developed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, with both graphene and glass fiber as the radiation elements. Large-area GGF fabric (GGFF) exhibits wavelength-independent high infrared emissivity (0.92) and thermal radiation efficiency (79.4%), as well as ultrafast electrothermal response (190.7 °C s-1 at 9.30 W cm-2) and uniform heating temperature. The superior radiant heating capability of GGFF to traditional alloy heating wires can achieve 33.3% energy saving. GGF can promote the development of efficient and energy-saving heat management technology.

Effects of reciprocal grafting on cadmium accumulation in post-grafting generations of two ecotypes of Solanum photeinocarpum.

Farmland and mining ecotypes of the potential cadmium (Cd)-hyperaccumulator Solanum photeinocarpum were collected to study the effects of reciprocal grafting on the growth of, and Cd accumulation in, the post-grafting generations. The post generations of the following plant materials were evaluated in a pot experiment: the un-grafted farmland ecotype, grafted plants with the farmland ecotype as the scion or the rootstock, the un-grafted mining ecotype, and grafted plants with the mining ecotype as the scion or the rootstock. The results showed that reciprocal grafting increased the biomass, the activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase, and the soluble protein content in the post-grafting generations of both ecotypes S. photeinocarpum. Reciprocal grafting also increased the Cd content in, and amount of Cd extracted by, the post-grafting generations of both ecotypes S. photeinocarpum as a result of lower soil pH and higher soil available Cd concentrations. Additionally, grafting affected the DNA methylation levels by inducing hypermethylation or demethylation in the post-grafting generation. Therefore, reciprocal grafting can enhance the Cd accumulation (phytoremediation) capacity of post-grafting generations of both ecotypes S. photeinocarpum by affecting DNA methylation levels.

Massive Growth of Graphene Quartz Fiber as a Multifunctional Electrode.

Quartz fiber, a widely used reinforcer with high tensile strength and excellent heat resistance, can have more attractive electrical applications such as electromagnetic interference shielding, static dissipation, and strain sensing if it becomes conductive. Many attempts have been made to increase the electrical conductivity of quartz fiber by surface coating of conductive polymers or plating of metal films, but suffers from sacrificing flexibility and causing heavy metal pollution. Here we designed and massively produced a hybrid structure of graphene quartz fiber (GQF) by a forced-flow chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, which combines the excellent conductivity of graphene and the extraordinary properties of quartz fiber. The as-fabricated flexible GQF exhibited high sensitivity, fast response (<0.5 s) and good durability (∼5000 cycles) to organic solvent vapor, suitable as a real-time biomimetic gas sensor. Furthermore, the massively produced GQFs can be knitted into meter-scale fabrics with tunable conductivity (sheet resistances of 0.2-10 kΩ/sq) and superior electrothermal conversion efficiency (up to 980 °C within a few seconds at 24 V), thus propelling its promising application in industrial electric heaters. We expect this hybrid GQF material will greatly expand the applications of traditional quartz fiber into an infusive multifunctional regime.

Effects of live Myriophyllum aquaticum and its straw on cadmium accumulation in Nasturtium officinale.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the allelopathy of living Myriophyllum aquaticum and its straw has the same effects; two pot experiments were conducted to study the effects of intercropping using M. aquaticum and its straw on the growth and cadmium (Cd) accumulation of Nasturtium officinale. Different planting ratios (1:3, 2:2 and 3:1) of N. officinale and M. aquaticum led to an increase in the biomass of both plant species and increased the Cd content in roots and shoots of N. officinale, but led to a reduction in the Cd content in roots and shoots of M. aquaticum. When the intercropping ratio of N. officinale and M. aquaticum was 3:1, the Cd amount in whole plants reached the maximum of 293.96 µg pot-1. Mulching the straw of M. aquaticum roots on the soil surface increased the biomass of N. officinale, but mulching the straw of M. aquaticum stems and leaves led to a decrease. Mulching the straw of roots, stems and leaves of M. aquaticum reduced Cd content and amounts in roots and shoots of N. officinale. Intercropping with M. aquaticum can improve the Cd uptake ability of N. officinale, but mulching M. aquaticum straw can reduce its Cd uptake ability.