Polyvinyl chloride and polybutylene adipate microplastics affect peanut and rhizobium symbiosis by interfering with multiple metabolic pathways.

Microplastics (MPs), widely presented in cultivated soil, have caused serious stresses on crop growth. However, the mechanism by which MPs affect legumes and rhizobia symbiosis is still unclear. Here, peanut seedlings were inoculated with Bradyrhizobium zhanjiangense CCBAU 51778 and were grown in vermiculite with 3 %/5 % (w/w) addition of PVC (polyvinyl chloride)-MPs/PBAT (polybutylene adipate)-MPs. PVC-MPs and PBAT-MPs separately decreased nodule number by 33-100 % and 2.62-80.91 %. Transcriptome analysis showed that PVC-MPs affected more DEGs (differentially expressed genes) than PBAT-MPs, indicating PVC-MPs were more devastating for the symbiosis than PBAT-MPs. Functional annotation revealed that PVC-MPs and PBAT-MPs enriched DEGs related to biosynthesis pathways such as flavonoid, isoflavonoid, and phenylpropanoid, in peanut. And when the dose increased from 3 % to 5 %, PVC-MPs mainly enriched the pathways of starch and sucrose metabolism, alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, diterpenoid biosynthesis, etc.; PBAT-MPs enriched cysteine and methionine metabolism, photosynthesis, MAPK signaling, and other pathways. These significantly enriched pathways functioned in reducing nodule number and promoting peanut tolerance to MPs stresses. This study reveals the effect of PVC-MPs and PBAT-MPs on peanut and rhizobium symbiosis, and provides new perspectives for legume production and environmental safety.

An Atmospheric Water-Harvester with Ultrahigh Uptake-Release Efficiency at Low Humidity.

Atmospheric water harvesting is a practical strategy that is achieved by removing materials from air moisture to relieve global water scarcity. Here we design a water-harvester (i.e., MOF-303/thiolated polymer composite (MTC)) by using a metal-organic framework (MOF-303) and thiolated chitosan (TC) skeleton. Intermolecular hydrogen bonding between TC and MOF-303 facilitates porous structures with enlarged air-polymer interfaces for long cycling life and high capacity at low relative humidity. Benefiting from synergetic effects on porosity and anchorage for accelerating the uptake-release of moisture, MTC exhibits a rapid water uptake capacity of 0.135 g/g in 60 min under 12.5 RH% and ultrafast water desorption kinetics of 0.003 g/g/min at 8.5 RH%, which is superior to the as-reported MOF-303 based adsorbents. At low heat (∼40 °C), the water desorption and collection rate, respectively, are 0.0195 and 0.0168 g/g/min within 210 min, showing ultrahigh harvesting efficiency. These results highlight the enormous potential as promising materials for solving the world's water scarcity crisis. This study offers an insight into the design of AWH materials, which can be extended into applications in some realms, e.g., freshwater development for industry in arid areas, water engineering-related devices and systems, etc.

Gradient-Janus Wires for Simultaneous Fogwater Harvesting and Electricity Generation.

A Gradient-Janus wire (GJW) with a diameter of 0.3 mm has been fabricated on a large scale through liquid confined modification, enabling the opposite conical wetting phenomenon along the same orientation of the GJW, characterized by an increasing superhydrophilic region and a decreasing hydrophobic region. This property allows the GJW to exhibit controllable water hovering, transport, and pinning during fog harvesting, i.e., at a large tilting angle α of 60° (mass increased with decreased α), the GJW can hover 0.6 mg of harvested fogwater in 30 s, can transport 3 mg of fogwater along the gradient in 30 s at α = 4° (with maximal mass reaching up to 4.3 mg at α = -10°), and finally, pin the water droplet at the end of the GJW. Such ability generates an effective torque that serves as the driving force for rotation. We designed a GJWs-wheel by radially arranging 60 GJWs together, resulting in an extremely lightweight structure weighing only 1.9 g. The cumulative torque generated during fog harvesting activates the rotation of the GJWs-wheel. When loaded with a coil within a magnetic field, electricity is generated as output power peaks at around 0.25 µW while maintaining a high water harvesting efficiency averaging approximately 38 ± 2.12 mg/min. This finding is significant as it provides valuable insights into designing materials capable of efficiently harnessing both energy and water resources.

Loratidine is associated with improved prognosis and exerts antineoplastic effects via apoptotic and pyroptotic crosstalk in lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Tumor-associated inflammation suggests that anti-inflammatory medication could be beneficial in cancer therapy. Loratadine, an antihistamine, has demonstrated improved survival in certain cancers. However, the anticancer mechanisms of loratadine in lung cancer remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the anticancer mechanisms of loratadine in lung cancer. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 4,522 lung cancer patients from 2006 to 2018 was analyzed to identify noncancer drug exposures associated with prognosis. Cellular experiments, animal models, and RNA-seq data analysis were employed to validate the findings and explore the antitumor effects of loratadine. RESULTS: This retrospective study revealed a positive association between loratadine administration and ameliorated survival outcomes in lung cancer patients, exhibiting dose dependency. Rigorous in vitro and in vivo assays demonstrated that apoptosis induction and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) reduction were stimulated by moderate loratadine concentrations, whereas pyroptosis was triggered by elevated dosages. Intriguingly, loratadine was found to augment PPARγ levels, which acted as a gasdermin D transcription promoter and caspase-8 activation enhancer. Consequently, loratadine might incite a sophisticated interplay between apoptosis and pyroptosis, facilitated by the pivotal role of caspase-8. CONCLUSION: Loratadine use is linked to enhanced survival in lung cancer patients, potentially due to its role in modulating the interplay between apoptosis and pyroptosis via caspase-8.

Robust Photothermal Icephobic Surface with Mechanical Durability of Multi-Bioinspired Structures.

Photothermal superhydrophobic surfaces are potential to become ideal anti-/deicing surfaces due to their rapid water removal, icing delay, and photothermal deicing performance. Here, a robust photothermal icephobic surface with mechanical durability is shown that is integrated with a microspine array inspired by honeycomb and cactus thorn (i.e., MAHC), which is developed by a laser-layered microfabrication strategy. The maximum stress on the microspine of the MAHC is reduced by ≈2/3, due to the protection of the bionic honeycomb structure. Even after 200 linear abrasions by a steel blade, the MAHC remains superior water repellency with a water contact angle of 150.7° and roll-off angles of 10.3°, stable icing delay time (578.2 s), and rapidly photothermal deicing capabilities (401 s). As the MAHC is fabricated on a curvature surface such as a copper alloy transmission line for an overhead high-speed rail, a stable photothermal anti-/deicing in a low-temperature environment still can be achieved effectively. The freezing rain covering the functional transmission line completely slides off within 758 s under one sun illumination. This studying offers insight into the design of novel materials with stable anti-icing/icephobic structures, which would be extended into some applied realms, for example, transportation fields or power systems in cold or low-temperature climates.

Highly Efficient Photothermal Icephobic/de-Icing MOF-Based Micro and Nanostructured Surface.

Photothermal materials have gained considerable attention in the field of anti-/de-icing due to its environmental friendliness and energy saving. However, it is always significantly challenging to obtain solar thermal materials with hierarchical structure and simultaneously demonstrate both the ultra-long icing delay ability and the superior photothermal de-icing ability. Here, a photothermal icephobic MOF-based micro and nanostructure surface (MOF-MNS) is presented, which consists of micron groove structure and fluorinated MOF nanowhiskers. The optimal MOF-M250 NS can achieve solar absorption of over 98% and produce a high temperature increment of 65.5 °C under 1-sun illumination. Such superior photothermal-conversion mechanism of MOF-M250 NS is elucidated in depth. In addition, the MOF-M250 NS generates an ultra-long icing delay time of ≈3960 s at -18 °C without solar illumination, achieving the longest delay time, which isn't reported before. Due to its excellent solar-to-heat conversation ability, accumulated ice and frost on MOF-M250 NS can be rapidly melted within 720 s under 1-sun illumination and it also holds a high de-icing rate of 5.8 kg m-2 h-1 . MOF-M250 NS possesses the versatility of mechanical robustness, chemical stability, and low temperature self-cleaning, which can synergistically reinforce the usage of icephobic surfaces in harsh conditions.

A UV-Resistant Heterogeneous Wettability-Patterned Surface.

Preparing UV-resistant heterogeneous wettability patterns is critical for the practical application of surfaces with heterogeneous wettability. However, combining UV-resistant superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic materials on heterogeneous surfaces is challenging. Inspired by the structure of cell membranes, a UV-resistant heterogeneous wettability-patterned surface (UPS) is designed via laser ablation of the coating of multilayer structures. UV-resistant superhydrophobic silica patterns can be created in situ on surfaces covered with superhydrophilic TiO2 nanoparticles. The UV resistance time of the UPS with a TiO2 -based surface is more than two orders of magnitude higher than that obtained with other surface molecular modification methods that require a mask. The cell-membrane-like structure of the UPS regulates the migration of internal siloxane chain segments in the hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions of the surface. The UPS enables efficient patterning of functional materials under UV irradiation, controlling the wetting behavior of liquids in open-air systems. Furthermore, its heterogeneous wettability remains stable even after 50 h of intense UV irradiation (365 nm, 500 mW cm-2 ). These UV-resistant heterogeneous wettability patterned surfaces will likely be applied in microfluidics, cell culture, energy conversion, and water collection in the future.

Efficient Atmospheric Water Harvesting of Superhydrophilic Photothermic Nanocapsule.

Drought and water scarcity are two of the world's major problems. Solar-powered sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting technology is a promising solution in this category. The main challenge is to design materials with high water harvesting performance while achieving fast water vapor adsorption/desorption rates. Here, a superhydrophilic photothermic hollow nanocapsule (SPHN) is represented that achieves efficient atmospheric water harvesting in outdoor climates. In SPHN, the hollow mesoporous silica (HMS) is grafted with polypyrrole (PPy) and also loaded with lithium chloride (LiCl). The hollow structure is used to store water while preventing leakage. The hydrophilic spherical nanocapsule and the trapped water produce more free and weakly adsorbed water. Significantly lower the heat of desorption compared to pure LiCl solution. Such SPHN significantly improves the adsorption/desorption kinetics, e.g., absorbs 0.78-2.01 g of water per gram of SPHN at 25 °C, relative humidity (RH) 30-80% within 3 h. In particular, SPHN has excellent photothermal properties to achieve rapid water release under natural sunlight conditions, i.e., 80-90% of water is released in 1 h at 0.7-1.0 kW m-2 solar irradiation, and 50% of water is released even at solar irradiation as low as 0.4 kW m-2 . The water collection capacity can reach 1.2 g g-1 per cycle by using the self-made atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) device. This finding provides a way to design novel materials for efficient water harvesting tasks, e.g., water engineering, freshwater generator, etc.

Comparative analysis of the effects of conventional and biodegradable plastic mulching films on soil-peanut ecology and soil pollution.

In agricultural production, biodegradable plastic mulching film (Bio-PMF) has the potential to replace conventional plastic mulching film (CPMF) due to its degradability, but their impacts on soil-crop ecology are controversial. In this study, from 2019 to 2021, effects of CPMF and Bio-PMF on the soil-crop ecology and soil pollution were evaluated on a peanut farm. Compared to the Bio-PMF, an overall improvement in the soil-peanut ecology under the CPMF was observed, including an increase of 10.77 ± 4.8% in peanut yield, an amelioration of four soil physicochemical properties (total P and available P in the flowering stage, total P and temperature in the mature stage), an increase of rhizobacterial relative abundances in class level (Bacteroidia, Blastocatellia, Thermoleophilia and Vicinamibacteria in the flowering stage, Nitrospira and Bacilli in the mature stage) and genus level (RB41 and Bacillus in the flowering stage, Bacillus and Dongia in the mature stage), and an enhancement of soil nitrogen metabolism abilities (ureolysis, nitrification and aerobic ammonia in the flowering stage, nitrate reduction and nitrite ammonification in the mature stage). These preserved soil nutrients and temperature, reshaped rhizobacterial communities, and enhanced soil nitrogen metabolism abilities in the mature stage were obviously correlated with peanut yield under CPMF. However, such remarkable relations were not existed under Bio-PMF. In addition, compared with Bio-PMF, CPMF significantly increased the contents of dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and microplastics (MPs) in soil by 79.93, 44.55, 138.72 and 14.1%, respectively. Thus, CPMF improved soil-peanut ecology and caused serious soil pollution, while Bio-PMF introduced little pollutants into the soil and had little impact on soil-peanut ecology. Based on these, the degradation ability of CPMF or the ecological improvement capacity of Bio-PMF should be improved to obtain the environmentally and soil-crop ecology friendly plastic film in the future.

"Major pathologic response" in lymph nodes: a modified nodal classification for non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy.

We aim to examine the prognostic value of major pathologic response in metastatic lymph nodes (mLN-MPR) after immunochemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and demonstrate the pathological characteristic of regression in mLN. Adult patients consecutively undergone neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and radical-intent surgery for initial stage cIII NSCLC between 2020 and 2021 were included. Hematoxylin- and eosin-stained slides of paraffinembedded sections of the degree of pathologic response in the primary tumor (PT) and its paired involved LNs were reviewed. Imaging mass cytometry was conducted to quantify the immunological status. With 10% as residual viable tumor (RVT) cutoff, mLN-MPR (HR: 0.34, 95%CI: 0.14-0.78; P = 0.011, ref: mLN-MPR(-)) showed more significant correlation with DFS than ypN0 (HR: 0.40, 95%CI: 0.17-0.94; P = 0.036, ref: ypN1-N2). And mLN-MPR combined with PT-MPR, compared with ypN stage combined with PT-MPR (p-value: 0.030 vs. 0.117), can better distinguished the DFS curves of the 4 subgroups of patients. mLN-MPR(+)/PT-MPR(+) patients had the best prognosis compared with other subgroups. Pathologic responses of RVT in PT and paired regional LNs [MPR inconsistency rate: 21/53 (39.6%)], and across different LNs could be inconsistent, especially in squamous cell carcinoma. RVT% in mLNs after immunochemotherapy appeared to be polarized [16 (30.2%) cases with RVT ≥ 70%; 34 (64.2%) with RVT ≤ 10%]. Partial regression of LN metastasis could present with distinct immune subtypes: immune-inflamed or immune-evacuation subtype, and the former presented with higher CD3, CD8, and PD-1 expression in the invasive margin. mLN-MPR demonstrated a potential prognostic value in predicting DFS in patients treated with neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy, but further research is needed to validate its usefulness for other survival outcomes, including OS.

Nitrogen fertilization rates mediate rhizosphere soil carbon emissions of continuous peanut monoculture by altering cellulose-specific microbess.

Introduction: Crops influence both soil microbial communities and soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling through rhizosphere processes, yet their responses to nitrogen (N) fertilization have not been well investigated under continuous monoculture. Methods: In this study, rhizosphere soil microbial communities from a 5-year continuous mono-cropped peanut land were examined using Illumina HighSeq sequencing, with an N fertilization gradient that included 0 (N0), 60 (N60), 120 (N120) and 180 (N180) kg hm-2. Soil respiration rate (R s) and its temperature sensitivity (Q 10) were determined, with soil carbon-acquiring enzyme activities assayed. Results and discussion: The obtained results showed that with N fertilization, soil mineral N (Nmin) was highly increased and the soil C/N ratio was decreased; yields were unchanged, but root biomass was stimulated only at N120. The activities of ß-1,4-glucosidase and polyphenol oxidase were reduced across application rates, but that of ß-1,4-cellobiohydrolase was increased only at N120. Bacterial alpha diversity was unchanged, but fungal richness and diversity were increased at N60 and N120. For bacterial groups, the relative abundance of Acidobacteria was reduced, while those of Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were increased at N60 and N120. For fungal members, the pathogenic Sordariomycetes was inhibited, but the saprotrophic Agaricomycetes was promoted, regardless of N fertilization rates. RDA identified different factors driving the variations in bacterial (root biomass) and fungal (Nmin) community composition. N fertilization increased R s slightly at N60 and significantly at N120, mainly through the promotion of cellulose-related microbes, and decreased R s slightly at N180, likely due to carbon limitation. N fertilization reduced microbial biomass carbon (MBC) at N60, N120 and N180, decreased SOC at N120 and N180, and suppressed dissolved organic carbon (DOC) at N180. In addition, the unchanged Q 10 may be a joint result of several mechanisms that counteracted each other. These results are of critical importance for assessing the sustainability of continuously monocultured ecosystems, especially when confronting global climate change.

Enhanced Fog Harvesting through Capillary-Assisted Rapid Transport of Droplet Confined in the Given Microchannel.

A novel integrated bioinspired surface is fabricated by using an innovative capillarity-induced selective oxidation method, to achieve the combination of the fog-collecting characteristics of a variety of creatures, i.e., the micronanostructures of spider silk, the wettable patterns of desert beetle, the conical structure of cactus spine, and the hierarchical microchannel of Sarracenia trichome. The fog is captured effectively via multistructures on the cone tips, and captured droplet is collected and confined in the microchannel to realize rapid transport via the formation of wettable pattern on the surface and the introduction of wettable gradient in the microchannel. Consequently, the fog harvest efficiency reaches 2.48 g/h, increasing to nearly 320% compared to the normal surface. More interestingly, similar to Sarracenia trichome, the surface also presents two transport modes, namely, Mode I (water transport along dry microchannel) and Mode II (succeeding water slippage on the water film). In Mode II, the velocity of 34.10 mm/s is about three times faster than that on the Sarracenia trichome. Such a design of integrated bioinspired surface may present potential applications in high-efficiency water collection systems, microfluidic devices, and others.

Role of lymphatic endothelial cells in the tumor microenvironment-a narrative review of recent advances.

BACKGROUND: As lymphatic vessel is a major route for solid tumor metastasis, they are considered an essential part of tumor drainage conduits. Apart from forming the walls of lymphatic vessels, lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) have been found to play multiple other roles in the tumor microenvironment, calling for a more in-depth review. We hope that this review may help researchers gain a detailed understanding of this fast-developing field and shed some light upon future research. METHODS: To achieve an informative review of recent advance, we carefully searched the Medline database for English literature that are openly published from the January 1995 to December 2020 and covered the topic of LEC or lymphangiogenesis in tumor progression and therapies. Two different authors independently examined the literature abstracts to exclude possible unqualified ones, and 310 papers with full texts were finally retrieved. RESULTS: In this paper, we discussed the structural and molecular basis of tumor-associated LECs, together with their roles in tumor metastasis and drug therapy. We then focused on their impacts on tumor cells, tumor stroma, and anti-tumor immunity, and the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved. Special emphasis on lung cancer and possible therapeutic targets based on LECs were also discussed. CONCLUSIONS: LECs can play a much more complex role than simply forming conduits for tumor cell dissemination. Therapies targeting tumor-associated lymphatics for lung cancer and other tumors are promising, but more research is needed to clarify the mechanisms involved.

Elastic Microstaggered Porous Superhydrophilic Framework as a Robust Fogwater Harvester.

A robust fogwater harvester with an elastic microstaggered porous superhydrophilic framework (EMSF) has been designed. The EMSF can be fabricated by using polydimethylsiloxane and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) via an etching method of sugar crystals pile-up cube as a template. The EMSF possesses a high porosity of 76%, of which the saturated fogwater-capturing capacity is 4 times higher than its weight, achieving a high fogwater harvesting rate (ε) of 62.7 g/cm3·h. It is attributed to the strong hydrogen bond (H-bond) interaction between hydroxyl groups (-OH) in PVA and water molecules for rapidly harvesting water and storing water in a staggered porous structure by means of a capillary force. The elasticity of EMSF allows to achieve a higher fogwater harvesting rate (ε) of 73.2 g/cm3·h via releasing the as-stored water in the EMSF under periodic external pressing. In addition, a durable corrosion resistance is demonstrated on the EMSF. This study offers a way to design novel materials that would further be extended into applications, for example, fog engineering in industry, agriculture, forest, and so forth.

Bioinspired Nanofibril-Humped Fibers with Strong Capillary Channels for Fog Capture.

Bioinspired nanofibril-humped fibers (BNFs) are fabricated by using thermoplastic polyester elastomer and chitosan, via combining the electrospinning technique and fluid coating method to achieve periodic humps composed of interlaced random nanofibrils and a joint composed of aligned nanofibrils, which are highly similar to the micro/nanostructures of wetted spider silk. Especially, nanofibrils can increase the specific area of the hump to capture fog droplets effectively and transport water in channels between the nanofibrils under humid conditions, and thus the fog droplets can coalesce and be highly efficiently transported toward humps for water collection directionally. Such an ability of highly efficient fog capture is attributed to cooperation of an efficient transportation inside the outer shell of BNFs and outside transportation. Inside transportation is induced by anisotropic capillary channels between nanofibrils. When BNFs are wetted, the inside transportation mode is dominated for water collection, induced by anisotropic capillary channels between nanofibrils. BNF web is also used to investigate the droplet transportation in different cross-fiber contact modes in the process of fog capture on a large scale. This study offers an insight into the design of novel materials, which is expected to be developed for some realms of applications, such as fog harvesting engineering, filtration, and others.

Fog Collection on a Bio-inspired Topological Alloy Net with Micro-/Nanostructures.

Because of the scarcity of freshwater resources, fog collection as one of the effective methods to solve this issue has attracted widespread concern. Inspired by several natural creatures with the capability to collect water from fog, the bio-inspired water-harvesting materials have aroused considerable attention and been widely developed. Inspired by the directional water droplets transportation to the apex on both shorebirds beaks and wheat awns, the bio-inspired topological alloy net with a V-shaped asymmetric geometry in its mesh was designed for fog collecting. Then, micro-/nano-hierarchical structures were modified on the surface of the netting wire via the cathodic electrodeposition method. Thus, the bio-inspired topological alloy net with micro/nanostructures was fabricated successfully. Through the integration of topological geometry and surface microstructure, not only the water-collection rate is improved by efficient drainage along the designated pathways, but also the issue of mesh clogging is resolved. In addition, a theoretical model was constructed to reveal the mechanism, especially the resultant force arising from the V-shaped structure. This work provides insight into the development of novel fog-collecting materials, which has potential applications in other fields, such as liquid transportation, microfluidics, and interface science.

Water Harvesting of Bioinspired Microfibers with Rough Spindle-Knots from Microfluidics.

Heterostructure rough spindle-knot microfibers (HRSFs) are fabricated via a flexible parallel-nozzle microfluidic method. In this method, the bioinspired HRSF with a roughness gradient between spindle-knots and joints, can be manufactured in large-scale, and with which the size of the spindle-knots and joints can be precisely adjusted by regulating flow rates. The HRSFs, fabricated with chitosan and calcium alginate, have strong mechanical properties and corrosion resistance in acid environment (pH = 5) and alkaline environment (pH = 9), respectively. More attractively, under controlled treatment conditions, the morphology of the spindle-knots on the HRSFs can be effectively managed by changing the composite content of calcium chloride in the fluid. During the water collection process, tiny droplets of moisture can be captured on the surface of the HRSFs, subsequently, the droplets can coalesce and be transported from joint to spindle-knot sections. It is demonstrated that the surface morphology of spindle-knots directly influences the water collection efficiency, where a higher roughness gradient generates higher water collection efficiency. This parallel-nozzle microfluidic technology provides a low-cost and flexible method to manufacture high biocompatibility bioinspired rough spindle-knot microfibers, which has many potential applications in large-scale water collection, sustained drug release, and directional water collection.

Fluidity and phase transitions of water in hydrophobic and hydrophilic nanotubes.

We put water flow under scrutiny to report radial distributions of water viscosity within hydrophobic and hydrophilic nanotubes as functions of the water-nanotube interactions ([Formula: see text]), surface wettability (θ), and nanotube size (R) using a proposed hybrid continuum-molecular mechanics. Based on the computed viscosity data, [Formula: see text] phase diagram of the phase transitions of confined water in nanotubes is developed. It is revealed that water exhibits different multiphase structures, and the formation of one of these structures depends on [Formula: see text] R parameters. A drag of water flow at the first water layer is revealed, which is conjugate to sharp increase in the viscosity and formation of an ice phase under severe confinement (R ≤ 3.5 nm) and strong water-nanotube interaction conditions. A vapor/vapor-liquid phase is observed at hydrophobic and hydrophilic interfaces. A state of confinement is revealed at which water exhibits different multiphase structures under the same flow rate. The derived viscosity functions are used to accurately determine factors of flow enhancement/inhibition of confined water.

Integrative Bioinspired Surface with Wettable Patterns and Gradient for Enhancement of Fog Collection.

A novel integrative bioinspired surface with wettable patterns and gradient (WPGS) is proposed for fog collection via a novel anodic oxidation strategy. We study the water collection behaviors on WPGS with different parameters. Quantitative force analysis is presented, providing evidence for the underlying mechanism leading to the directional motion of the droplet, which is consistent with the experimental results. Such a surface can not only improve the fog droplet capture performance effectively owing to wettable patterns but also accelerate surface regeneration by taking full advantage of the cooperation of multidriving forces, leading to a further fog collection enhancement.

Fog Harvesting of a Bioinspired Nanocone-Decorated 3D Fiber Network.

The bioinspired nanocone-decorated three-dimensional fiber network (N3D) can be fabricated, where an original 3D web is designed, inspired by some newest research findings of spider web, and it is decorated with hydrophilic zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocones inspired by cactus spine. Multilevel high specific surface area exposure on fiber together with the hydrophilic decoration enables it to be more attractive to water molecules. These nanocones can capture fog droplet, generate coalesced droplet, and accordingly make droplet transport efficient because of Laplace pressure difference. Especially, a novel mechanism revealed that after the nanocone-decorated fiber was wetted, that is, a water film formed and immediately broke up into droplets, owing to the force relating to Rayleigh instability. Consequent lower retention surface realizes the formation of fast continuous water flow, rather than the traditional intermittent course. Thus, outstanding fog-harvesting efficiency was achieved on N3D, for example, probably reaching 865.1 kg/m2/day, where the mass of collected water within 2 h can raise up to over 240 times higher than the weight of an original 3D web without nanocones. Such a bioinspired ZnO nanocone-decorated 3D fiber network (i.e., N3D) has potential application to harvest fog water for production or living, for example, water recondensation in cooling water towers and in agricultural irrigation systems, even in water-deficient countries.