Correction: Iron-doped bimetallic boride Fe-Ni2B/NF-x nanoparticles toward efficient oxygen evolution reaction at a large current density.

Correction for 'Iron-doped bimetallic boride Fe-Ni2B/NF-x nanoparticles toward efficient oxygen evolution reaction at a large current density' by Yajuan Zhang et al., Dalton Trans., 2023, 52, 9077-9083, https://doi.org/10.1039/d3dt00845b.

Sulfidation and NaOH etching in CoFeAl LDH evolved catalysts for an efficient overall water splitting in an alkaline solution.

In this study, a hierarchical interconnected porous metal sulfide heterostructure was synthesized from CoFeAl layered double hydroxides (LDHs) by a two-step hydrothermal process (sulfidation and a NaOH etching process). Among the as-made samples, the CoFeAl-T-NaOH electrode exhibited excellent oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction catalytic activities with overpotentials of 344 mV and 197 mV at the current density of 100 mA cm-2, respectively. Meanwhile, small Tafel slopes of 57.7 mV dec-1 and 106.5 mV dec-1 for water oxidation and hydrogen evolution were observed for the CoFeAl-T-NaOH, respectively. Serving as both the cathode and anode for overall water splitting, the CoFeAl-T-NaOH electrode reached a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at a cell voltage of 1.65 V with excellent stability. The enhanced electrocatalytic activity could be attributed to: the hierarchical interconnected nanosheet structure facilitating mass transport; the porous structure promoting electrolyte infiltration and reactant transfer; the heterojunction accelerating charge transfer; and the synergistic effect between them. This study offered a new clue for in situ synthesizing porous transition-metal based heterojunction electrocatalysts with a careful tuning of the sequence of sulfuration and alkaline etching to enhance the electrocatalytic performance.

Rheological behaviors and miscibility of mixture solution of polyaniline and cellulose dissolved in an aqueous system.

In our previous work, supramolecular films composed of hydrophilic cellulose and hydrophobic polyaniline (PANI) dissolved in NaOH/urea aqueous solution at low temperature through rearrangement of hydrogen bonds have been constructed. To further understand the miscibility and processability of the complex solution, the dynamic rheological behaviors of the PANI/cellulose complex solution were investigated, for the first time, in the present work. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) results demonstrated that the inclusion complexes consisted of PANI and cellulose, existed in the aqueous solution, showing a good miscibility. Time-temperatures superposition (tTs) results indicated that the PANI/cellulose solution exhibited a homogeneous system, and the complex solution was more stable than the cellulose solution in the temperature range from 5 to 25 °C. Winter-Chambon theory was proved to be capable of describing the gelation behavior of the PANI/cellulose complex solution. The relaxation exponent at the gel point was calculated to be 0.74, lower than the cellulose solution, indicating strong interactions between PANI and cellulose chains. Relatively larger flow activation energy of the PANI/cellulose solution suggested the formation and rupture of linkages in "junction zones" during the gelation processes. Furthermore, PANI/cellulose gels could form at elevated temperature as a result of the physical cross-linking and chain entanglement, and it was a thermoirreversible process. Moreover, the PANI/cellulose solution remained a liquid state for a long time at the temperature range from 0 to 8 °C, which is important for the industry process.

Phytoextraction of metal(loid)s from contaminated soils by six plant species: A field study.

Phytoextraction is an in situ remediation technique that uses (hyper)accumulator plant species to extract metal(loid)s from contaminated soils. Field studies can help in selecting appropriate plants for phytoextraction and in better understanding their phytoextraction performance. Hence, a field study was conducted using six (hyper)accumulator species (Solanum nigrum L., Bidens pilosa L., Xanthium strumarium L., Helianthus annuus L., Lonicera japonica T. and Pennisetum sinese R.) over two years in Jiaoxi town, Liuyang city, Hunan Province, China, to determine the effect of the (hyper)accumulator rhizospheres on field soils contaminated with multiple metal(loid)s and to analyze the variations in rhizosphere soil microbial community diversity and composition. After two years of field experiments, compared to the other four (hyper)accumulators, Bidens pilosa L. and Xanthium strumarium L. exhibited not only better metal(loid) phytoextraction abilities but also higher shoot biomasses. The contents of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-extractable Pb, Cd and Zn decreased in the rhizosphere soils of all six (hyper)accumulators after repeated phytoextraction. Moreover, our findings illustrated that hyperaccumulator planting helps improve and rebuild the soil bacterial community composition and structure in contaminated soils by shifting the soil physiochemical properties. After repeated planting, the soil bacterial communities were reconstructed and dominated by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Chloroflexi and Acidobacteriota at the phylum level. The soil fungal communities were dominated by Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mortierellomycota at the phylum level. The reconstruction of soil microbial communities may help (hyper)accumulators adapt to metal(loid)-contaminated environments and improve their phytoextraction abilities.

Sustainable iridescence of cast and shear coatings of cellulose nanocrystals.

As an eco-friendly sustainable iridescent coating, cholesteric cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) is susceptible to substrate effects or shearing effects. In this work, interface interaction and liquid crystal phase transition were evaluated for fabricating iridescent cast or shear coatings of CNCs onto substrates of polystyrene, glass, ceramic, wood, stainless steel, metal, or metal alloy. Three types of substrate effects and four categories of shearing effects on the structure color mechanism of CNC coatings were proposed. Practically, several efficient approaches, such as increasing colloidal concentration, enhancing water-retention of substrates, raising processing temperature, slowing down shearing speed, or doping functional additives were involved. Hence, a feasible strategy was provided for preparing sustainable, iridescent, stable, and industrially scalable coatings of CNCs.

Sustainable Advanced Fenton-like Catalysts Based on Mussel-Inspired Magnetic Cellulose Nanocomposites to Effectively Remove Organic Dyes and Antibiotics.

The development of biocompatible advanced Fenton-like catalysts with high catalytic activity, good stability, and recyclability using sustainable biosourced materials is of considerable interest yet remains a challenge. Herein, we develop a novel mussel-inspired magnetic cellulose nanocomposite (MCNF/PDA) with carboxylated cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and explore as advanced Fenton-like catalysts to effectively degrade organic dyes and antibiotics. The MCNF/PDA nanocomposites were prepared by anchoring Fe3O4 nanoparticles to CNFs via chemical deposition followed with PDA coatings. The composites exhibit an excellent degradation activity toward methylene blue (MB) in a wide pH range of 2-10 in the presence of H2O2 and have a maximum degradation capacity of 2265 mg/g. Moreover, the MCNF/PDA nanocatalysts are highly stable and can be easily regenerated. After four cycles, it can still achieve the removal rate as high as 95%. In addition, the MCNF/PDA nanocatalysts also demonstrate an excellent degradation performance to the antibiotic tetracycline. This work provides new insights into fabricating biocompatible cellulosic-based advanced Fenton catalysts with sustainable biomass-derived materials to efficiently remove organic pollutants from wastewater.