Microfluidic Continuous Synthesis of Size- and Facet-Controlled Porous Bi2O3 Nanospheres for Efficient CO2 to Formate Catalysis.

Bismuth-based catalysts are effective in converting carbon dioxide into formate via electrocatalysis. Precise control of the morphology, size, and facets of bismuth-based catalysts is crucial for achieving high selectivity and activity. In this work, an efficient, large-scale continuous production strategy is developed for achieving a porous nanospheres Bi2O3-FDCA material. First-principles simulations conducted in advance indicate that the Bi2O3 (111)/(200) facets help reduce the overpotential for formate production in electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (ECO2RR). Subsequently, using microfluidic technology and molecular control to precisely adjust the amount of 2, 5-furandicarboxylic acid, nanomaterials rich in (111)/(200) facets are successfully synthesized. Additionally, the morphology of the porous nanospheres significantly increases the adsorption capacity and active sites for carbon dioxide. These synergistic effects allow the porous Bi2O3-FDCA nanospheres to stably operate for 90 h in a flow cell at a current density of ≈250 mA cm- 2, with an average Faradaic efficiency for formate exceeding 90%. The approach of theoretically guided microfluidic technology for the large-scale synthesis of finely structured, efficient bismuth-based materials for ECO2RR may provide valuable references for the chemical engineering of intelligent nanocatalysts.

Copper as an Electron Hunter for Enhancing Bi2O2CO3 Electrocatalytic CO2 Conversion to Formate.

Cu-doped Bi2O2CO3 catalyst with copper (Cu) acting an electron hunter for conversion of carbon dioxide into formate is developed. The Cu-Bi2O2CO3 catalyst with hollow microsphere structure extends the duration of CO2 retention on the catalyst, providing a greater number of active sites. It exhibits remarkable performance with conversion efficacy of 98.5% and current density of 800 mA cm-2 across a wide potential window (-0.8 to -1.3 V vs RHE). Density functional theory investigations reveal that the presence of copper (Cu) significantly enhances the charge density at the active sites and influences the local electronic structure of bismuth (Bi), thereby reducing the energy barrier associated with the transformation of *OCHO species into formate.

The complex hexaploid oil-Camellia genome traces back its phylogenomic history and multi-omics analysis of Camellia oil biosynthesis.

Oil-Camellia (Camellia oleifera), belonging to the Theaceae family Camellia, is an important woody edible oil tree species. The Camellia oil in its mature seed kernels, mainly consists of more than 90% unsaturated fatty acids, tea polyphenols, flavonoids, squalene and other active substances, which is one of the best quality edible vegetable oils in the world. However, genetic research and molecular breeding on oil-Camellia are challenging due to its complex genetic background. Here, we successfully report a chromosome-scale genome assembly for a hexaploid oil-Camellia cultivar Changlin40. This assembly contains 8.80 Gb genomic sequences with scaffold N50 of 180.0 Mb and 45 pseudochromosomes comprising 15 homologous groups with three members each, which contain 135 868 genes with an average length of 3936 bp. Referring to the diploid genome, intragenomic and intergenomic comparisons of synteny indicate homologous chromosomal similarity and changes. Moreover, comparative and evolutionary analyses reveal three rounds of whole-genome duplication (WGD) events, as well as the possible diversification of hexaploid Changlin40 with diploid occurred approximately 9.06 million years ago (MYA). Furthermore, through the combination of genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics approaches, a complex regulatory network was constructed and allows to identify potential key structural genes (SAD, FAD2 and FAD3) and transcription factors (AP2 and C2H2) that regulate the metabolism of Camellia oil, especially for unsaturated fatty acids biosynthesis. Overall, the genomic resource generated from this study has great potential to accelerate the research for the molecular biology and genetic improvement of hexaploid oil-Camellia, as well as to understand polyploid genome evolution.

An Ester-Functionalized Bidentate Titanium-based Metal-Organic Framework with Visible-Light Enhanced Activity for CO2 Photoreduction.

The limited visible light response is a critical drawback that hampers the photocatalytic efficacy of Ti-MOFs. However, study concerning the enhancement of the visible-light response of Ti-MOFs is still in its nascent stage. In this study, we employ the 'dual-ligand decrystallization strategy' to manipulate the electronic environment of Ti4+, leading to the synthesis of three ester-functionalized bidentate Ti-MOFs with enhanced visible light response. Our findings reveal that this approach not only reduces the bandgap of Ti-MOFs but also enhances their photocatalytic activity for carbon dioxide reduction. Specifically, compared to the bandgap of Ti-BPDC at 2.98 eV, the bandgap of Ti-BPDC-CA 1 : 2 has been reduced to 2.14 eV. Moreover, Ti-BPDC-CA 1 : 2 exhibits extraordinary photocatalytic activity with the formic acid (HCOOH) production rate of 617 µmol g-1 h-1 with over 99.5 % selectivity, which is 3.47 times higher than that of Ti-BPDC. Besides providing a cost-effective strategy for enhancing the visible light response of Ti-MOFs, our study also serves as an illustrative example for establishing the correlation between electronic structure and optical properties.

Sewer sediment adhesion degeneration and gelatinous biopolymer deconstruction by structural cation chelation and alkaline macromolecule hydrolysis for improving hydraulic erosion.

Sediment siltation has been regarded as the serious challenge in sewer system, which dominantly root in the gelatinous extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) structure and cohesive ability. Considering the crucial roles of divalent cation bridging and macromolecular biopolymer winding in sediment EPS formation and adhesive behavior, an innovative combination strategy of sodium pyrophosphate (SP)-mediated divalent cation chelation and alkaline biopolymer hydrolysis was developed to degenerate sediment adhesion. At the SP dosage of 0.25 g/g TS and the alkaline pH 12, the SP + pH 12 treatment triggered structural transformation of aromatic proteins (α-helix to ß-turn) and functional group shifts of macromolecular biopolymers. In this case, the deconstruction and outward dissolution of gelatinous biopolymers were achievable, including proteins (tyrosine-like proteins, tryptophan-like proteins), humic acids, fulvic acids, polysaccharides and various soluble microbial products. These were identified as the major driving forces for sediment EPS matrix disintegration and bio-aggregation deflocculation. The extraction EPS content was obviously increased by 18.88 mg COD/g TS. The sediment adhesion was sensitive to EPS matrix damage and gelatinous biopolymer deconstruction, leading to considerable average adhesion degeneration to 0.98 nN with reduction rate of 78.32%. As such, the sediments could be disrupted into dispersive fragments with increased surface electronegativity and electric repulsion (up to -45.6 mV), thereby the sediment resistance to hydraulic erosion was impaired, providing feasibility for in-situ sediment floating and removal by gravity sewage flow in sewer.