Heat-Localized and Salt-Resistant 3D Hierarchical Porous Ceramic Platform for Efficient Solar-Driven Interfacial Evaporation.

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) is a highly promising approach to achieve sustainable desalination and tackle the global freshwater crisis. Despite advancements in this field, achieving balanced thermal localization and salt resistance remains a challenge. Herein, the study presents a 3D hierarchical porous ceramic platform for SDIE applications. The utilized alumina foam ceramics (AFCs) exhibit remarkable corrosion resistance and chemical stability, ensuring a prolonged operational lifespan in seawater or brines. The millimeter-scale air-filled pores in AFCs prevent thermal losses through conduction with bulk water, resulting in heat-localized interfaces. The hydrophilic nature of macroporous AFC skeletons facilitates rapid water replenishment on the evaporating surface for effective salt-resistant desalination. Benefiting from its self-radiation adsorption and side-assisted evaporation capabilities, the AFC-based evaporators exhibit high indoor evaporation rates of 2.99 and 3.54 kg m-2 h-1 under one-sided and three-sided illumination under 1.0 sun, respectively. The AFC-based evaporator maintains a high evaporation rate of ≈2.77 kg m-2 h-1 throughout the 21-day long-term test. Furthermore, it achieves a daily water productivity of ≈10.44 kg m-2 in outdoor operations. This work demonstrates the potential of 3D hierarchical porous ceramics in addressing the trade-off between heat localization and salt resistance, and contributes to the development of durable solar steam generators.

Surface-Like Diffusion of Fast Ions in Framework Energy Materials for Li- and Na-Ion Batteries.

The rate performance, power density, and energy efficiency of electrochemical devices are often limited by ionic conductivities in electrolyte and electrode materials. Framework Prussian blue analogs and dense niobium oxides have been identified as high-rate electrodes for sodium- and lithium-ion batteries, respectively, yet the origin of the extremely high solid-state Na+/Li+ transport is not fully understood. Of critical importance is the fact that their ultra-low activation energy and anomalous pre-exponent factor cannot be satisfactorily rationalized from conventional theory of solid-state diffusion in the crystal lattice. Here, assisted by density-functional-theory calculations, we argued that the true origin is a unique surface-like diffusion mechanism of the intercalation ions. In a surface-like migration event, a mobile ion moves along the channel wall via a low coordination number and low migration barrier experiencing minimal steric hindrance. It is similar to surface diffusion in the conventional picture and contrasts with lattice diffusion from one interstitial/vacancy site to another one with high coordination number, crowded saddle-point geometry and high migration barrier. We found that the shifting from solid-state lattice diffusion to surface-like diffusion is determined by the size difference between the mobile ion and the diffusion channel, and a lowest migration energy barrier can be reached by mediating the channel size. The analogy to gas diffusion in molecular sieves shall be discussed. Additionally, the effects of defects and crystal water in Prussian blue analogs were also discussed for better understanding their rate performances in experimental scenarios.

Fullerene-like Niobovanadate Cage Built from {(Nb)V5 } Pentagon.

The striking aesthetic appeal of fullerene-like clusters has captured the interest of researchers. Nevertheless, the assembly of fullerene-like polyoxovadanadate (POV) cages remains a significant challenge due to the scarcity of suitable pentagonal motif. Herein, we have successfully synthesized the first fullerene-like all-inorganic POV cage, {(V2 O)V30 Nb12 O102 (H2 O)12 } (V30 Nb12 ), by introducing Nb into the POVs. V30 Nb12 is assembled by 12 heterometallic {(Nb)V5 } pentagons through sharing V centers with Ih symmetry, reminiscent of C60 . To our knowledge, the fullerene-like V30 Nb12 not only represents the highest-nuclearity POV cage but also stands as the first niobovanadate cluster. Notably, V30 Nb12 exhibits excellent solution stability, as confirmed by ESI-MS, FT-IR and UV/Vis spectra. As there is no protection organic ligand on its outer surface, V30 Nb12 can be further modified with Cu-complexes to form a fullerene-like cluster based zigzag chain (Cu-V30 Nb12 ).

A high-performance potassium metal battery using safe ionic liquid electrolyte.

Potassium secondary batteries are contenders of next-generation energy storage devices owing to the much higher abundance of potassium than lithium. However, safety issues and poor cycle life of K metal battery have been key bottlenecks. Here we report an ionic liquid electrolyte comprising 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride/AlCl3/KCl/potassium bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide for safe and high-performance batteries. The electrolyte is nonflammable and exhibits a high ionic conductivity of 13.1 mS cm-1 at room temperature. A 3.6-V battery with K anode and Prussian blue/reduced graphene oxide cathode delivers a high energy and power density of 381 and 1,350 W kg-1, respectively. The battery shows an excellent cycling stability over 820 cycles, retaining ∼89% of the original capacity with high Coulombic efficiencies of ∼99.9%. High cyclability is also achieved at elevated temperatures up to 60 °C. Uniquely, robust K, Al, F, and Cl-containing passivating interphases are afforded with this electrolyte, which is key to superior battery cycling performances.

Facile Synthesis of Co Nanoparticles Embedded in N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes/Graphitic Nanosheets as Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Electrocatalytic Water Splitting.

Developing robust and cost-effective electrocatalysts to boost hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs) and oxygen evolution reactions (OERs) is crucially important to electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, bifunctional electrocatalysts, by coupling Co nanoparticles and N-doped carbon nanotubes/graphitic nanosheets (Co@NCNTs/NG), were successfully synthesized via facile high-temperature pyrolysis and evaluated for water splitting. The morphology and particle size of products were influenced by the precursor type of the cobalt source (cobalt oxide or cobalt nitrate). The pyrolysis product prepared using cobalt oxide as a cobalt source (Co@NCNTs/NG-1) exhibited the smaller particle size and higher specific surface area than that of the pyrolysis products prepared using cobalt nitrate as a cobalt source (Co@NCNTs/NG-2). Notably, Co@NCNTs/NG-1 displayed much lower potential -0.222 V vs. RHE for HER and 1.547 V vs. RHE for OER at the benchmark current density of 10 mA cm-2 than that of Co@NCNTs/NG-2, which indicates the higher bifunctional catalytic activities of Co@NCNTs/NG-1. The water-splitting device using Co@NCNTs/NG-1 as both an anode and cathode demonstrated a potential of 1.92 V to attain 10 mA cm-2 with outstanding stability for 100 h. This work provides a facile pyrolysis strategy to explore highly efficient and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting.

Reactive Magnesium Nitride Additive: A Drop-in Solution for Lithium/Garnet Wetting in All-Solid-State Batteries.

Garnet oxides such as Li6.4 La3 Zr1.4 Ta0.6 O12 (LLZTO) are promising solid electrolyte materials for all-solid-state lithium-metal batteries because of high ionic conductivity, low electronic leakage, and wide electrochemical stability window. While LLZTO has been frequently discussed to be stable against lithium metal anode, it is challenging to achieve and maintain good solid-on-solid wetting at the metal/ceramic interface in both processing and extended electrochemical cycling. Here we address the challenge by a powder-form magnesium nitride additive, which reacts with the lithium metal anode to produce well-dispersed lithium nitride. The in situ formed lithium nitride promotes reactive wetting at the Li/LLZTO interface, which lowers interfacial resistance, increases critical current density (CCD), and improves cycling stability of the electrochemical cells. The additive recipe has been diversified to titanium nitride, zirconium nitride, tantalum nitride, and niobium nitride, thus supporting the general concept of reactive dispersion-plus-wetting. Such a design can be extended to other solid-state devices for better functioning and extended cycle life.

Excellent Li/Garnet Interface Wettability Achieved by Porous Hard Carbon Layer for Solid State Li Metal Battery.

Garnet-type Li6.4 La3 Zr1.4 Ta0.6 O12 (LLZTO) electrolyte is considered as a promising solid electrolyte because of its relatively high ionic conductivity and excellent electrochemical stability. The surface contamination layer and poor Li/LLZTO interface contact cause large interfacial resistance and quick Li dendrite growth. In this paper, a porous hard carbon layer is introduced by the carbonization of a mixed layer of phenolic resin and polyvinyl butyral on the LLZTO surface to improve Li/garnet interfacial wettability. The multi-level pore structure of the hard carbon interlayer provides capillary force and large specific surface area, which, together with the chemical activity of the carbon material with Li, promote the molten Li infiltration with garnet electrolyte. The Li/LLZTO interface delivers a low interfacial resistance of 4.7 Ω∙cm2 at 40 °C and a higher critical current density, which can achieve stable Li+ conduction for over 800 h under current densities of 0.1 and 0.2 mA∙cm-2 . The solid-state battery coupled with Li and LiFePO4 exhibits excellent rate and cycling performance, demonstrating the application feasibility of the hard carbon interlayer for a solid state Li metal battery.

Pt3Co/Co Composite Catalysts on Porous N-Doped Carbon Support Derived from ZIF-67 with Enhanced HER and ORR Activities.

The primary challenge for efficient H2 evolution and hydrogen energy conversion is to develop highly active and stable catalysts with simple and reliable preparation processes. In this regard, we have designed and synthesized a porous carbon-supported low-Pt alloy catalyst (Pt3Co/Co@C composite) using ZIF-67 as a template. It showed uniformly dispersed Pt3Co/Co on the porous carbon layer due to the confinement effect of the porous carbon layer. Pt3Co/Co@C demonstrated excellent activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction in the full pH range, with an overpotential of 187 mV in 0.5 M H2SO4 to attain 100 mA/cm2 as well as long-term stability. It also displayed superior mass activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at 0.85 V (vs RHE) compared to the commercial Pt/C. Furthermore, the Pt3Co/Co@C catalyst exclusively enabled a four-electron reaction process under ORR conditions without the competitive pathway to H2O2. The current work provides guidance for the design and facile synthesis of Pt-based catalysts with enhanced performance.

[Correlation between serum level of miRNA-106a expression with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with renal cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the expression of microRNA-106a(miR-106a) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients. METHODS: Serum samples of 64 patients with newly diagnosed RCC were collected as the study group, and serum samples of 40 healthy individuals were used as the control group. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to determine the expression level of miR-106a in each group. The correlation between miR-106a expression and clinicopathological characteristics of the patients was studied with single factor analysis and multiple Logistic regression model. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze its correlation with the prognosis of patients. RESULTS: Before surgery, compared with the control group (1.17± 0.58), RCC patients with high- (9.15± 0.96) and low-expression(3.45± 0.37) had increased expression of miR-106a. Postoperatively, the expression level of miR-106a in both groups of patients decreased to 1.53± 0.18 and 1.75± 0.21, respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) of the diagnostic value of serum miR-106a for RCC was 0.782 (95% CI: 0.661-0.902). With an optimal cutoff value of 0.531, the sensitivity was 78.10% and the specificity was 75.00%. Serum miR-106a level of RCC patients with TNM stage T3 or T4, clinical stage II or III, lymph node metastasis, and recurrence were significantly increased. The high expression of serum miR-106a in RCC patients has an independent relationship with the tumor TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. Of the 64 follow-up patients, 4 were lost and 30 had died. Among them, the median survival time of patients in the miR-106a high expression group was 30 months, which was significantly shorter than that of the low expression group (52 months). CONCLUSION: The serum level of miR-106a is elevated in RCC patients, and may be used as a molecular marker for the diagnosis of RCC. High serum expression of miR-106a is an independent predictor for tumor TNM stage and lymph node metastasis, as well as an independent predictor for poor prognosis of RCC patients.

Flower-like Hollow MoSe2 Nanospheres as Efficient Earth-Abundant Electrocatalysts for Nitrogen Reduction Reaction under Ambient Conditions.

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is a green and sustainable strategy for artificial nitrogen fixation but remains a significant challenge because of the lack of high-performance electrocatalysts. In this study, flower-like hollow MoSe2 nanospheres as efficient earth-abundant NRR electrocatalysts with a high faradaic efficiency of 14.2% and an ammonia yield of 11.2 µg h-1 mgcat.-1 at ambient conditions were prepared. Such excellent NRR activity can be attributed to the higher specific surface area, more active sites, and longer N2 retention time within the shells because of the design of the hollow structure. Density functional theory calculations were performed to further understand the catalytic mechanism involved. This work demonstrates the feasibility of transition-metal selenides as NRR electrocatalysts and suggests an electrocatalyst materials structure design for efficient electrochemical nitrogen fixation.

Effects of dietary myo-inositol on growth, antioxidative capacity, and nonspecific immunity in skin mucus of taimen Hucho taimen fry.

In this study, the effects of dietary myo-inositol on the skin mucosal immunity and growth of taimen (Hucho taimen) fry were determined. Triplicate groups of 500 fish (initial weight 5.58 ± 0.15 g) were fed different diets containing graded levels of myo-inositol (28.75, 127.83, 343.83, 565.81, and 738.15 mg kg-1) until satiation for 56 days. Thereafter, the nonspecific skin mucus immune parameters, antioxidative capacity, and growth performance were measured. The skin mucus protein and the activities of alkaline phosphatase were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in lysozyme activity among the treatments (P > 0.05). The antimicrobial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration of the skin mucus were increased significantly by myo-inositol supplementation (P < 0.05). The superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities were significantly elevated in the treatment groups (P < 0.05), whereas the malondialdehyde contents were significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Low-level myo-inositol (28.75 mg kg-1) led to a significantly lower weight gain, feed efficiency, condition factor, and survival rate compared with the other treatments (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary myo-inositol deficiency (28.75 mg kg-1) adversely affects the skin mucus immune parameters, antioxidative capacity, and growth performance of Hucho taimen fry.

Effect of N-carbamoylglutamate supplementation on the growth performance, antioxidant status and immune response of mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio) fed an arginine-deficient diet.

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary N-carbamoylglutamate (NCG) supplementation on the growth performance, antioxidant capability and immune responses of mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio) fed an arginine (Arg)-deficient diet. A total of 630 mirror carp (41.65 ±â€¯0.14 g) were fed diets (Arg 1.24% of the diet) that were supplemented with 0.50% Arg (control diet) or graded levels of NCG at 0 (Arg deficiency diet), 0.04%, 0.08%, 0.12%, 0.16% and 0.20% for 8 weeks. The results showed that, compared with the control diet, the Arg-deficient diet supplementation with 0 NCG (1) decreased the final body weight (FWB), the weight gain rate (WGR) or the protein efficiency ratio (PER) and increased the feed conversion ratio (FCR); (2) decreased the concentration of Arg and nitric oxide (NO) and the activity of total nitric oxide synthetase (T-NOS) in the plasma; (3) decreased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the proximal intestine (PI), catalase (CAT) in the PI and distal intestine (DI), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in PI and mid-intestine (MI) and increased the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the PI, MI and DI; and (4) decreased the activity of lysozyme in the plasma, increased the relative mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin1ß (IL-1ß) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) in the PI, MI and DI, and decreased the relative mRNA expression of interleukin 10 (IL-10) in the PI and MI, and transforming growth factor ß2 (TGF-ß2) in the PI, MI and DI. Compared with the Arg deficient-diet supplementation with 0 NCG, (1) 0.12% or 0.16% NCG increased the FBW, WGR and PER, and 0.16% NCG increased the FCR; (2) 0.08%-0.20% NCG increased the concentration of Arg, NO and the activity of T-NOS; (3) 0.08% NCG increased the activities of SOD in the PI and MI, and 0.12% NCG increased activities of CAT and GPx in the PI, MI and DI; and (4) 0.04%-0.20% NCG increased the activity of lysozyme, 0.04%-0.20% NCG decreased the relative mRNA expression of TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-8 in the PI and MI, and 0.04%-0.20% NCG increased the relative mRNA expression of IL-10 and TGF-ß2 in the PI and MI. The present results indicated that dietary 0.12% or 0.16% NCG improved the growth performance, feed utilization, intestinal antioxidant capacity and immune response of mirror carp fed an Arg-deficient diet.

Effects of traditional Chinese medicines on immunity and culturable gut microflora to Oncorhynchus masou.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary traditional Chinese medicines on the growth, immunity, and composition of culturable gut microflora in Oncorhynchus masou. Diets were formulated to contain no medicine (control), antitoxic decoction (A), general antiphlogistic decoction (B), or Herbae Artemisiae Capillariae decoction (C). Fish were manually fed twice daily till apparent satiation for 30 days. Compared with that in the control group, supplementation with the three kinds of Chinese herbal medicine enhanced fish growth significantly (P < 0.05). The activities of liver superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in the treatment groups were significantly higher compared with those in the control group (P < 0.05). The quantity of intestinal microflora was higher in the treatment groups compared with that in the control group. Moreover, there were some effects of dietary Chinese herbal medicine on the composition of intestinal microflora. Microflora of Pseudomonas sp., Psychrobacter sp., Microbacterium sp., Macrococcus sp., Burkholderia sp., and Arthrobacter sp. were found in the treatment groups, whereas there were none in the control group. There was a significant increase in their amounts in the treatment groups (P < 0.05). The three kinds of traditional Chinese medicines can improve the growth and immunity of Oncorhynchus masou and affect the quantity and composition of intestinal microflora.

Effects of the supplementation of vitamin D3 on the growth and vitamin D metabolites in juvenile Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii).

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the supplementation of vitamin D3 on the growth, vitamin D metabolites, and osteocalcin secretion in juvenile Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii). A 90-day growth trial was conducted with juvenile Siberian sturgeon (initial body weight 3.47 ± 0.14 g) fed seven isonitrogenous and isoenergetic practical diets (45% CP and 13% lipid) containing 60 (basal diet), 240, 450, 880, 1670, 3300, or 1.0 × 105 IU/kg feed (D60~D 1.0 × 105) vitamin D3. The results showed that weight gain and specific growth rate increased as the dietary vitamin D3 levels increased from 450 to 3300 IU/kg (P < 0.05). The fish fed with D1670 and D3300 diets had higher crude lipid and ash levels than the fish fed the D60 diet (P < 0.05). The fish fed D880, D1670, or D3300 diets had higher 25-OH-D3 and 1,25-(OH)2-D3 levels than the fish fed the D60 diet (P < 0.05). The fish fed D880, D1670, D3300, or D1.0 × 105 diets had higher osteocalcin levels than the fish fed the D60 diet (P < 0.05). Based on the broken line method analysis of weight gain and osteocalcin, the dietary vitamin D3 requirement of juvenile Siberian sturgeon was estimated to be 1683.30 and 1403.27 IU/kg per diet, respectively.

Ezrin protein overexpression predicts the poor prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas.

Ezrin, a member of the ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) protein family, plays an important role in tumor metastasis. Accumulating studies demonstrated that a high expression level of human ezrin has been correlated with numerous human malignancies. This study was aimed to explore the clinicopathological significance of ezrin protein expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC), and to further identify its role as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target of PDAC. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of ezrin protein was performed on 106 PDAC tissue samples and 37 adjacent and 21 normal pancreatic tissue samples. Additionally, localization of ezrin protein in Panc-1 PDAC cell line was observed using immunofluorescence (IF) staining. The correlation between ezrin overexpression and the clinicopathological features of PDAC was evaluated using Chi-square test, and differences in survival curves were analyzed using log-rank tests. In results, ezrin protein is widely distributed in the cytoplasm and membrane of PDAC cells by IHC and IF staining, but some cases showed a cell membrane staining pattern. The positive rate of ezrin protein expression was 82.1% (87/106) in PDAC, which was significantly higher than it in either adjacent pancreatic tissues (37.8%, 14/37) or normal pancreatic tissues (19.0%, 4/21). Overexpression of ezrin was closely related with larger tumor size, positive lymph node metastasis and advanced clinical stage. However, it was not correlated with patient age, gender, differentiation, Ki-67 expression index, and pancreas calcification point. Survival analysis showed that patients with ezrin high expression level had significantly lower overall survival rate than that with ezrin low expression level. Importantly, further analysis using a Cox proportional hazard regression model revealed that high ezrin expression emerged as a significant independent hazard factor for overall survival rates of patients with PDAC along with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. In conclusion, ezrin protein played an important role in the progression of PDAC, and the overexpression of ezrin protein might be a useful prognostic marker of PDAC.

Clinical implication of leucine zipper/EF hand-containing transmembrane-1 overexpression in the prognosis of triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease with higher rates of relapse and decreased overall survival in metastatic tumors. Due to its poor prognosis, it is necessary to identify effective biomarkers that are associated with tumor growth and metastasis. The leucine zipper/EF hand-containing transmembrane-1 (LETM1) protein, which is a mitochondrial inner membrane protein, can reduce mitochondrial biogenesis and ATP production. The expression levels of LETM1 were significantly increased in numerous human malignancies. However, the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic value of LETM1 overexpression in TNBC remains unclear. LETM1 protein was detected in 107 TNBC, 42 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and 65 adjacent non-tumor breast tissues using immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. Immunofluorescence (IF) staining was also performed to detect the localization of LETM1 protein in MCF-7 BC cells. The correlations between LETM1 overexpression and clinicopathological features of TNBC were evaluated using Chi-squared test and Fisher's exact tests. The survival rate was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. LETM1 protein showed cytoplasmic staining patterns in TNBC. The strongly positive rate of LETM1 in TNBC was 69.2% (74/107), which was significantly higher than in both DCIS 35.7% (15/42) and adjacent non-tumor tissues 12.3% (8/65). High-level expression of LETM1 was positively correlated with late clinical stage, poor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, disease-free survival (DFS) and 10-year overall survival (OS) rates in TNBC. Further analysis showed that high LETM1 expression along with clinical stage emerged as significant independent risk factors in patients with TNBC. In conclusion, LETM1 protein overexpression is associated with TNBC progression, and may be a potential biomarker for poor prognostic evaluation of TNBC.

Insights into the asymmetric heterogeneous catalysis in porous organic polymers: constructing a TADDOL-embedded chiral catalyst for studying the structure-activity relationship.

Construction of porous organic polymers (POPs) as asymmetric catalysts remains as an important but challenging task. Herein, we exploit the "bottom-up" strategy to facilely synthesize an α,α,α',α'-tetraaryl-1,3-dioxolane-4,5-dimethanol (TADDOL)-based chiral porous polymer (TADDOL-CPP) for highly efficient asymmetric catalysis. Constructed through the covalent linkages among the three-dimensional rigid monomers, TADDOL-CPP possesses hierarchical porous structure, high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, together with abundant and uniformly-distributed chiral sites. In the presence of [Ti(OiPr)4], TADDOL-CPP acts as a highly efficient and recyclable catalyst in the asymmetric addition of diethylzinc (Et2Zn) to aromatic aldehydes. Based on the direct observation of the key intermediates, the reaction mechanism has been revealed by solid-state (13)C magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy. In combination with the catalytic testing results, characterization on the working catalyst provides further information for understanding the structure-activity relationship. We suggest that the catalytic activity of TADDOL-CPP is largely affected by the structural rigidity, cooperative catalysis, local chiral environment, and hierarchical porous framework. We expect that the information obtained herein will benefit to the designed synthesis of robust POP catalysts toward practical applications.

Perspectives Toward Damage-Tolerant Nanostructure Ceramics.

Advanced ceramic materials and devices call for better reliability and damage tolerance. In addition to their strong bonding nature, there are examples demonstrating superior mechanical properties of nanostructure ceramics, such as damage-tolerant ceramic aerogels that can withstand high deformation without cracking and local plasticity in dense nanocrystalline ceramics. The recent progresses shall be reviewed in this perspective article. Three topics including highly elastic nano-fibrous ceramic aerogels, load-bearing nanoceramics with improved mechanical properties, and implementing machine learning-assisted simulations toolbox in understanding the relationship among structure, deformation mechanisms, and microstructure-properties shall be discussed. It is hoped that the perspectives present here can help the discovery, synthesis, and processing of future structural ceramic materials that are insensitive to processing flaws and local damages in service.

Polarizable Additive with Intermediate Chelation Strength for Stable Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are promising due to inherent safety, low cost, low toxicity, and high volumetric capacity. However, issues of dendrites and side reactions between zinc metal anode and the electrolyte need to be solved for extended storage and cycle life. Here, we proposed that an electrolyte additive with an intermediate chelation strength of zinc ion-strong enough to exclude water molecules from the zinc metal-electrolyte interface and not too strong to cause a significant energy barrier for zinc ion dissociation-can benefit the electrochemical stability by suppressing hydrogen evolution reaction, overpotential growth, and dendrite formation. Penta-sodium diethylene-triaminepentaacetic acid salt was selected for such a purpose. It has a suitable chelating ability in aqueous solutions to adjust solvation sheath and can be readily polarized under electrical loading conditions to further improve the passivation. Zn||Zn symmetric cells can be stably operated over 3500 h at 1 mA cm-2. Zn||NH4V4O10 full cells with the additive show great cycling stability with 84.6% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 1 A g-1. Since the additive not only reduces H2 evolution and corrosion but also modifies Zn2+ diffusion and deposition, highlyreversible Zn electrodes can be achieved as verified by the experimental results. Our work offers a practical approach to the logical design of reliable electrolytes for high-performance aqueous batteries.

Experimental Study on the Erosion-Corrosion Characteristics of Desulfurization Slurry on Stainless Steel Pipe Materials.

The recovery of low-grade waste heat from power plants greatly benefits energy conservation and emission reduction during electricity generation, while the waste heat utilization directly from desulfurization slurry is a significantly promising method to deeply recover such low-grade energy and has been developed in practical application. However, the pipe materials are subjected to erosion and corrosion challenges due to the high level of solid compositions and the presence of harmful ions, such as Cl-1, which requires further evaluation under the condition of slurry heat exchange. The present study aimed at an experimental study on the erosion-corrosion characteristics of desulfurization slurry on three types of stainless steel, including type 304, 316L, and 2205. Both mass loss and micromorphology features were analyzed with possible mechanisms elucidated. The erosion-corrosion rate is weak at low temperatures, while the increase in the slurry temperature clearly promotes its rate. The influence of the temperature on the corrosion resistance of 304 is much greater than that of 2205. With an increase in duration time, the weight loss rate of stainless steel in the desulfurization slurry declines, and the changing trend of metal mass slightly slows down. The present study offers a better understanding of the erosion-corrosion behaviors of three types of stainless steel under flow and heat transfer conditions of a desulfurization slurry.