Decoding Active Sites for Highly Efficient Semihydrogenation of Acetylene in Palladium-Copper Nanoalloys.

Accurately decoding the three-dimensional atomic structure of surface active sites is essential yet challenging for a rational catalyst design. Here, we used comprehensive techniques combining the pair distribution function and reverse Monte Carlo simulation to reveal the surficial distribution of Pd active sites and adjacent coordination environment in palladium-copper nanoalloys. After the fine-tuning of the atomic arrangement, excellent catalytic performance with 98% ethylene selectivity at complete acetylene conversion was obtained in the Pd34Cu66 nanocatalysts, outperforming most of the reported advanced catalysts. The quantitative deciphering shows a large number of active sites with a Pd-Pd coordination number of 3 distributed on the surface of Pd34Cu66 nanoalloys, which play a decisive role in highly efficient semihydrogenation. This finding not only opens the way for guiding the precise design of bimetal nanocatalysts from atomic-level insight but also provides a method to resolve the spatial structure of active sites.

Thermal Effect Management via Entropy Variation Strategy to Improve the Catalyst Stability in Acetylene Hydrogenation.

The dynamic structure evolution of heterogeneous catalysts during reaction has gained great attention recently. However, controllably manipulating dynamic process and then feeding back catalyst design to extend the lifetime remains challenging. Herein, we proposed an entropy variation strategy to develop a dynamic CuZn-Co/HEOs catalyst, in which the non-active Co nano-islands play a crucial role in controlling thermal effect via timely capturing and utilizing reaction heat generated on the adjacent active CuZn alloys, thus solving the deactivation problem of Cu-based catalysts. Specifically, heat sensitive Co nano-islands experienced an entropy increasing process of slowly redispersion during the reaction. Under such heat dissipation effect, the CuZn-Co/HEOs catalyst exhibited 95.7% ethylene selectivity and amazing long-term stability (>530 h) in the typical exothermic acetylene hydrogenation. Aiming at cultivating it as a catalyst with promising industrial potential, we proposed a simple regeneration approach via an entropy decreasing process.

Atomic Three-Dimensional Investigations of Pd Nanocatalysts for Acetylene Semi-hydrogenation.

Deciphering the three-dimensional (3D) insight into nanocatalyst surfaces at the atomic level is crucial to understanding catalytic reaction mechanisms and developing high-performance catalysts. Nevertheless, better understanding the inherent insufficiency of a long-range ordered lattice in nanocatalysts is a big challenge. In this work, we report the local structure of Pd nanocatalysts, which is beneficial for demonstrating the shape-structure-adsorption relationship in acetylene hydrogenation. The 5.27 nm spherical Pd catalyst (Pdsph) shows an ethylene selectivity of 88% at complete acetylene conversion, which is much higher than those of the Pd octahedron and Pd cube and superior to other reported monometallic Pd nanocatalysts so far. By virtue of the local structure revelation combined with the atomic pair distribution function (PDF) and reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) simulation, the atomic surface distribution of the unique compressed strain of Pd-Pd pairs in Pdsph was revealed. Density functional theory calculations verified the obvious weakening of the ethylene adsorption energy on account of the surface strain of Pdsph. It is the main factor to avoid the over-hydrogenation of acetylene. The present work, entailing shape-induced surface strain manipulation and atomic 3D insight, opens a new path to understand and optimize chemical activity and selectivity in the heterogeneous catalysis process.

NiFe-LDH-Decorated Ti-Doped Hematite Photoanode for Enhancing Solar Water-Splitting Efficiency.

Ti-doped α-Fe2O3 nanorods were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method, followed by a NiFe-LDH catalyst that was electrodeposited on the doped α-Fe2O3 nanorods to structure an integrating photoanode Ti:Fe2O3/NiFe-LDH for improving solar PEC water-splitting efficiency. The structure and properties of electrode materials were characterized and the PEC properties of photoanodes were measured. The results show that the photocurrent density of the photoanode enhances 11.25 times at 1.23 V (vs RHE) and the IPCE value enhances 4.10 times at 420 nm compared with pristine α-Fe2O3. The enhancement is attributed to the separating of photogenerated electron-hole, the increase of carrier density, and the acceleration of the carrier transfer rate due to the dual action of doping and catalysis.

A Carbon-Negative Hydrogen Production Strategy: CO2 Selective Capture with H2 Production.

We reported a strategy of carbon-negative H2 production in which CO2 capture was coupled with H2 evolution at ambient temperature and pressure. For this purpose, carbonate-type Cux Mgy Fez layered double hydroxide (LDH) was preciously constructed, and then a photocatalysis reaction of interlayer CO3 2- reduction with glycerol oxidation was performed as driving force to induce the electron storage on LDH layers. With the participation of pre-stored electrons, CO2 was captured to recover interlayer CO3 2- in presence of H2 O, accompanied with equivalent H2 production. During photocatalysis reaction, Cu0.6 Mg1.4 Fe1 exhibited a decent CO evolution amount of 1.63 mmol g-1 and dihydroxyacetone yield of 3.81 mmol g-1 . In carbon-negative H2 production process, it showed an exciting CO2 capture quantity of 1.61 mmol g-1 and H2 yield of 1.44 mmol g-1 . Besides, this system possessed stable operation capability under simulated flu gas condition with negligible performance loss, exhibiting application prospect.

Control of Local Electronic Structure of Pd Single Atom Catalyst by Adsorbate Induction.

Aiming at regulating and controlling the localized electronic states while maintaining the metal atoms in the isolation form, an in situ adsorbate induced strategy is proposed at a programmed temperature to activate Zr-based metal-organic framework (MOF) supported single Pd atom catalyst. It is discovered that in situ treatment environments trigger the change of lattice parameters in MOF materials by reaction heat effect, observed by in situ X-ray diffraction, spherical aberration-corrected electron microscope, and X-ray adsorption fine structure (XAFS). The as-obtained electron-deficient Pd single atoms are critical to the high intrinsic activity (turnover frequency of 0.132 s-1 ) and selectivity of 93% with the long-term stability in the semihydrogenation of acetylene, which can be comparable to the state-of-the-art Pd catalysts. This superior catalytic behavior correlates with the reduced C2 H4 desorption energy and the activation barriers for the hydrogenation, confirmed by density functional theory calculation.

Design and Synthesis of Cobalt-Based Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the crucial step of various renewable energy conversion and storage technologies such as fuel cells and air-batteries. Cobalt-based electrocatalysts including oxides/chalcogenides and Co-Nx /C, one kind of non-precious metal electrocatalysts with competitive activity, enhanced durability, and acceptable cost, have been proposed as the potentially interesting alternatives to Pt-based electrocatalysts. In this account, we summarized the synthesis methods and the corresponding main impact factors including ligand effect, particle size effect, crystal structure, nanostructure, defects and active centers related to the ORR performance on both of oxides/chalcogenides and Co-Nx /C. Some special points have been discussed on design and synthesis of low-cost and high-performance cobalt-based electrocatalysts with enhanced electrocatalytic activity. Also, the current challenges and future trends are proposed for improving the performance of Co-involving electrocatalysts.

Supported catalysts based on layered double hydroxides for catalytic oxidation and hydrogenation: general functionality and promising application prospects.

Oxidation and hydrogenation catalysis plays a crucial role in the current chemical industry for the production of key chemicals and intermediates. Because of their easy separation and recyclability, supported catalysts are widely used in these two processes. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with the advantages of unique structure, composition diversity, high stability, ease of preparation and low cost have shown great potential in the design and synthesis of novel supported catalysts. This review summarizes the recent progress in supported catalysts by using LDHs as supports/precursors for catalytic oxidation and hydrogenation. Particularly, partial hydrogenation of acetylene, hydrogenation of dimethyl terephthalate, methanation, epoxidation of olefins, elimination of NOx and SOx emissions, and selective oxidation of biomass have been chosen as representative reactions in the petrochemical, fine chemicals, environmental protection and clean energy fields to highlight the potential application and the general functionality of LDH-based catalysts in catalytic oxidation and hydrogenation. Finally, we concisely discuss some of the scientific challenges and opportunities of supported catalysts based on LDH materials.

Simhypo-sand: a simple hypoplastic model for granular materials and SPH implementation.

This paper introduces a new hypoplastic model characterized by a simple and elegant formulation. It requires only 7 material parameters to depict salient mechanical behaviors of granular materials. The numerical implementation employs an explicit integration method, enhanced by a best-fit stress correction algorithm in a smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. The performance of this model in capturing soil behavior across a range of scenarios is demonstrated by conducting various numerical tests, including triaxial and simple shear at low strain rates, as well as granular collapse, rigid penetration and landslide process at high strain rates.

Fe(OH)x modified ultra-small Ru nanoparticles for highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction and its application in water splitting.

Developing highly active electrocatalysts for overall water splitting is of remarkable significance for industrial production of H2. Herein, exceptionally active Fe(OH)x modified ultra-small Ru nanoparticles on Ni(OH)2 nanosheets array (Fe(OH)x-Ru/Ni(OH)2) for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are reported. The Fe(OH)x-Ru/Ni(OH)2 nanosheets array prepared with Fe/Ru molar ratio of 5 only requires extremely low overpotentials of 61, 127 and 170 mV to reach current densities of 100, 500 and 800 mA cm-2 in 1 M KOH, respectively, exceeding Pt/C catalyst (75, 160 and 177 mV). Meanwhile, the Fe(OH)x/Ni(OH)2 nanosheets array derived from Fe(OH)x-Ru/Ni(OH)2 exhibits excellent OER activity. It gains current densities of 100, 500 and 800 mA cm-2 at considerably low overpotentials of 265, 285 and 296 mV, respectively, much lower than those of RuO2 and most reported electrocatalysts. The introduction of Fe(OH)x significantly improves the HER activity of Ru nanoparticles by tunning the electronic structure and forming interfaces between Ru and Fe(OH)x. Dramatically, the integrated alkaline electrolyzer based on Fe(OH)x-Ru/Ni(OH)2 and Fe(OH)x/Ni(OH)2 nanosheets array pair just needs 1.649 V to yield a current density up to 500 mA cm-2, exceeding most reported water-splitting electrocatalysts. The strategy reported in this work can be facilely extended to prepare other similar Ru based materials and their derivatives with outstanding catalytic performance for water splitting.

Synthesis of quantum-sized ZnO nanoparticles in different medium and their application to NO2 sensors.

Quantum-sized ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using zinc acetate dihydrate through a sol-gel process in different mediums: water, ethanol and methanol. Three types of modifiers: tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and oleic acid (OA) were added to control the growth of the ZnO nanoparticles and inhibit Ostwald ripening. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed that ZnO have a hexagonal crystal structure, the estimated average crystallite sizes of modified ZnO are in the range of 4.5-10 nm, while the crystallite sizes of non-modified ZnO are large than 20 nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses obtained the surface composition and chemical states of the products of ZnO. In this paper, the obtained quantum-sized ZnO nanoparticles as a novel sensing material were used to detect NO2 in environment. The sensing tests indicated that the ZnO based sensors not only have high response to NO2 but also exhibited high selectivity to CO and CH4 at low operating temperature of 290 degrees C.

Facile preparation of Au-loaded mesoporous In2O3 nanoparticles with improved ethanol sensing performance.

The in situ monitoring of toxic volatile organic compound gases using metal oxide-based gas sensors is still challenging. Herein, mesoporous In2O3 nanoparticles, assembled using smaller nanoparticles, were synthesized via a facile solvothermal method and used to load Au nanoparticles to prepare mesoporous Au/In2O3 for ethanol detection. The obtained In2O3 and Au/In2O3 were meticulously analysed by XRD, SEM, BET, TEM and XPS techniques. It was revealed that Au nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on mesoporous In2O3 nanoparticles. Notably, the obtained mesoporous 1% Au/In2O3 is highly sensitive to ethanol gas at an optimal working temperature of 180 °C, showing a response of 55 to 50 ppm of ethanol, which is considerably higher compared to that of In2O3 nanoparticles. The significantly enhanced sensitivity results from the electronic and chemical sensitization effects of Au nanoparticles. Moreover, the mesoporous Au/In2O3 nanoparticles also showed eminent selectivity, short response/recovery time, low detection limit, good linear relationship, superb repeatability, and wonderful long-term stability, suggesting that Au/In2O3 nanoparticles have great potential application for in situ monitoring of ethanol gas.

Process coupling of CO2 reduction and 5-HMF oxidation mediated by defect-enriched layered double hydroxides.

Aiming at the comprehensive utilization of waste carbon resources and renewable carbon resources, we put forward the photocatalytic coupling process of CO2 reduction and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) oxidation mediated by the anionic compound of layered double hydroxides (LDHs). Specifically, a ZnNiFe-LDH was synthesized by co-precipitation method, during which CO2 was stored between LDH layers in the form of carbonate. Then, a certain amount of metal vacancies were introduced into LDH nanosheets by selectively etching Zn2+ ions. ICP-AES, EPR and XPS showed that the concentration of Zn vacancies gradually increased with the etching time prolonging, which thus optimized the electronic structure of LDH layers. Under the catalysis of the electron-rich metal cations and hydroxyl groups on the layers, the interlayer carbonate was in situ reduced into CO coupled accompanied with the 5-HMF oxidation to 2.5-furandiformaldehyde (DFF). Compared with the unetched ZnNiFe-LDHs, the CO and DFF yields over the LDHs etched for 3 h were increased by 2.84 and 2.82 times under UV-vis irradiation with a density of 500 mW cm-2. Finally, combined with isotope-labeled 13CO2 experiments and in situ FTIR characterization, we revealed the possible coupling mechanism and defect-induced performance enhancement mechanism.

Bi nanoparticles modified the WO3/ZnWO4 heterojunction for photoelectrochemical water splitting.

The novel ternary photoanode was successfully prepared by Bi nanoparticles (Bi NPs) modified on type II heterojunction of WO3-ZnWO4 using the simple and effective drop casting and chemical impregnation methods. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) experimental tests revealed that the photocurrent density of the ternary photoanode of WO3/ZnWO4(2)/Bi NPs reaches 3.0 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V (vs. RHE), which is 6 times of the WO3 photoanode. The incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) at 380 nm wave length reaches 68%, which increases 2.8 times compared to WO3 photoanode. The observed enhancement can be attributed to the formation of type II heterojunction and modification of Bi NPs. The former broadens the absorption range for visible light and improves the carrier separation efficiency, while the latter enhances the light capture ability through the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of Bi NPs and the generation of hot electrons.

NiFePB-modified ZnO/BiVO4 photoanode for PEC water oxidation.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has been recognized as the most promising approach for directly converting solar energy into chemical energy, and substantial efforts have been made to develop a highly efficient and low-cost photoanode for enhancement of PEC water splitting efficiency due to sluggish water oxidation reaction kinetics. A ternary NiFePB-modified ZnO/BiVO4 heterojunction photoanode was simply assembled by low-temperature hydrothermal, metal-organic decomposition and electrodeposition methods to improve the water splitting efficiency; its photocurrent density for water oxidation reached 1.66 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V (vs. RHE); in comparison, that of ZnO is only 0.4 mA cm-2. The onset potential manifests a cathodic shift of ∼283 mV compared to ZnO. The IPCE and the ABPE respectively are 3.1 and 6.4 times those of ZnO, respectively. This improvement is ascribed to the efficient separation of photogenerated electrons and holes by the formation of a heterojunction between ZnO and BiVO4 and the enhancement in the oxygen evolution reaction kinetics by the decoration of the co-catalyst NiFePB as a hole acceptor.

Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Ni-S/C Catalysts for Selective Alkyne Hydrogenation.

A carbon matrix-supported Ni catalyst with surface/subsurface S species is prepared using a sacrificial metal-organic framework synthesis strategy. The resulting highly dispersed Ni-S/C catalyst contains surface discontinuous and electron-deficient Niδ+ sites modified by p-block S elements. This catalyst proved to be extremely active and selective for alkyne hydrogenation. Specifically, high intrinsic activity (TOF = 0.0351 s-1) and superior selectivity (>90%) at complete conversion were achieved, whereas an analogous S-free sample prepared by the same synthetic route performed poorly. That is, the incorporation of S in Ni particles and the carbon matrix exerts a remarkable positive effect on catalytic behavior for alkyne hydrogenation, breaking the activity-selectivity trade-off. Through comprehensive experimental studies, enhanced performance of Ni-S/C was ascribed to the presence of discontinuous Ni ensembles, which promote desorption of weakly π-bonded ethylene and an optimized electronic structure modified via obvious p-d orbital hybridization.

Multi-omics analysis of the oncogenic role of optic atrophy 1 in human cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prognostic significance of optic atrophy 1 (OPA1) in pan-cancer and analyze the relationship between OPA1 and immune infiltration in cancer. RESULTS: OPA1 exhibited high expression levels or mutations in various types of tumor cells, and its expression levels were significantly correlated with the survival rate of tumor patients. In different tumor tissues, there was a notable positive correlation between OPA1 expression levels and the infiltration of cancer-associated fibroblasts in the immune microenvironment. Additionally, OPA1 and its related genes were found to be involved in several crucial biological processes, including protein phosphorylation, protein import into the nucleus, and protein binding. CONCLUSION: OPA1 is highly expressed or mutated in numerous tumors and is strongly associated with protein phosphorylation, patient prognosis, and immune cell infiltration. OPA1 holds promise as a novel prognostic marker with potential clinical utility across various tumor types. METHODS: We examined OPA1 expression in pan-cancer at both the gene and protein levels using various databases, including Tumor Immune Estimation Resource 2.0 (TIMER 2.0), Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA2), UALCAN, and The Human Protein Atlas (HPA). We utilized the Kaplan-Meier plotter and GEPIA datasets to analyze the relationship between OPA1 expression levels and patient prognosis. Through the cBioPortal database, we detected OPA1 mutations in tumors and examined their relationship with patient prognosis. We employed the TIMER 2.0 database to explore the correlation between OPA1 expression levels in tumor tissue and the infiltration of cancer-associated fibroblasts in the immune microenvironment. Furthermore, we conducted a gene search associated with OPA1 and performed enrichment analysis to identify the main signaling pathways and biological processes linked to them.

rGO decorated ZnO/CdO heterojunction as a photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting.

A ternary photoanode of ZnO/CdO heterojunction decorated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was firstly fabricated by electrochemical deposition and thermal decomposition that is simple and effective compared with other method reported in literature. The structure and morphology of the photoanode were systematically characterized by various spectrum technologies. The photoanode expands the visible light absorption range to 428 nm, the photocurrent density reaches 1.15 mA·cm-2 at 1.23 V (vs. RHE) that is 3 times and 1.85 times of pure ZnO (0.38 mA·cm2) and ZnO/CdO (0.62 mA·cm2) photoanodes. The highest IPCE value reaches 42.63% at 380 nm. The enhancement is attributed to the architecture of semiconductor heterojunctions and the decoration of rGO nanosheets, the former promotes charge separation, while the latter accelerates electron transfer thus both synergistically enhance PEC water splitting efficiency. Here fabricated photoanode has never been reported before, only Cd and other metal elements doped ZnO photoanodes were reported in the literature.

Porous ZnCl2-Activated Carbon from Shaddock Peel: Methylene Blue Adsorption Behavior.

It is of great interest and importance to resource utilization of waste biomass to produce porous carbon for environmental treatments. Pore structure and properties of the obtained carbon mainly relate to carbonization conditions and biomass types. In this work, a series of porous, biomass-activated carbons (AC) were prepared using shaddock peel, with ZnCl2 as a pore-forming agent. The effect of carbonization temperature and the mass ratio between ZnCl2 and shaddock peel were thoroughly investigated. The material composition, surface chemical properties, and surface structures of samples were carefully characterized. The specific surface area and adsorption capacity to methylene blue (MB) of adsorbents were changed with the carbonization temperature and the mass ratios between ZnCl2 and shaddock peel; when the temperature was at 1000 °C and the mass ratio was equal to 2:1, the resulting adsorbent had the largest specific surface area of 2398.74 m2/g and average pore size of 3.04 nm, which showed the highest adsorption capacity to MB to be 869.57 mg/g. The adsorption processes of biomass AC adsorbent matched the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model. This efficient and environmentally friendly biomass AC adsorbent from shaddock peel, activated by ZnCl2, is a promising candidate for the treatment of water pollution.

Single Modified Posterior Approach through the Space of the Proximal Radioulnar Joint for Terrible Triad Injury: A Comparative Study.

OBJECTIVE: In order to reduce surgical scars and the risk of neurovascular injury for the treatment of terrible triad injuries of the elbow (TTI), minimally invasive and better therapeutic effect approaches are being explored to replace the conventional combined lateral and medial approach (CLMA). This study was performed to compare the clinical effect and security of the modified posterior approach (MPA) through the space of the proximal radioulnar joint vs the CLMA for treatment of TTI. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed 76 patients treated for TTI from January 2009 to December 2020 (MPA: n = 44; CLMA: n = 32). Treatment involved plate and screw fixation or Steinmann pin fixation for the radial head and ulnar coronoid process fractures. Surgeons only sutured the lateral ligament because the medial collateral ligament was usually integrated in the TTI. The continuous variables were compared by the independent Student t-test and the categorical variables by the χ2 -test or Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Both groups of patients attained a satisfactory MEPS after the operation. The MEPS (MPA: 96.82 ± 6.04 vs CLMA: 96.56 ± 5.51) was not significantly different between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, the MPA resulted in better elbow flexion and extension (MPA: 123.98 ± 10.09 vs CLMA: 117.66 ± 8.29), better forearm rotation function (MPA: 173.41 ± 6.81 vs CLMA: 120.00 ± 12.18), and less intraoperative hemoglobin (MPA: 9.34 ± 5.64 vs CLMA: 16.5 ± 8.75) and red cell volume loss (MPA: 3.09 ± 2.20 vs CLMA: 6.70 ± 2.97) (All p < 0.05). Although the CLMA had a shorter surgery time (MPA: 171.73 ± 80.68 vs CLMA: 130.16 ± 71.50) (p < 0.05), it had a higher risk of neurologic damage (MPA: 0 vs CLMA: 4) (p < 0.05). Four patients developed forearm or hand numbness after the CLMA, but no patients developed numbness after the MPA. All 76 patients were followed up for 15 months postoperatively. CONCLUSION: The MPA through the space of the proximal radioulnar joint has more prominent advantages than the CLMA for TTI, including single scar, clear exposure, good fixation, lower risk of neurovascular injury, and better elbow joint motion. It is a safe and effective surgical approach that is worthy of clinical promotion.