The Use of Polysaccharide AOP30 from the Rhizome of Alpinia officinarum Hance to Alleviate Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Dysfunction and Inflammation via the TLR4/NfκB Signaling Pathway in Caco-2 Cell Monolayers.

Alpinia officinarum Hance is rich in carbohydrates and is flavored by natives. The polysaccharide fraction 30 is purified from the rhizome of A. officinarum Hance (AOP30) and shows excellent immunoregulatory ability when administered to regulate immunity. However, the effect of AOP30 on the intestinal epithelial barrier is not well understood. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the protective effect of AOP30 on the intestinal epithelial barrier using a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction model and further explore its underlying mechanisms. Cytotoxicity, transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) values, and Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran flux are measured. Simultaneously, the protein and mRNA levels of tight junction (TJ) proteins, including zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), Occludin, and Claudin-1, are determined using Western blotting and reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction methods, respectively. The results indicate that AOP30 restores the LPS-induced decrease in the TEER value and cell viability. Furthermore, it increases the mRNA and protein expression of ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-1. Notably, ZO-1 is the primary tight junction protein altered in response to LPS-induced intestinal epithelial dysfunction. Additionally, AOP30 downregulates the production of TNFα via the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/NF-κB signaling pathway. Collectively, the findings of this study indicate that AOP30 can be developed as a functional food ingredient or natural therapeutic agent for addressing intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction. It sheds light on the role of AOP30 in improving intestinal epithelial function.

Sandwich-Like Heterostructures of MoS2 /Graphene with Enlarged Interlayer Spacing and Enhanced Hydrophilicity as High-Performance Cathodes for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Layered materials have great potential as cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) because of their facile 2D Zn2+ transport channels; however, either low capacity or poor cycling stability limits their practical applications. Herein, two classical layered materials are innovatively combined by intercalating graphene into MoS2 gallery, which results in significantly enlarged MoS2 interlayers (from 0.62 to 1.16 nm) and enhanced hydrophilicity. The sandwich-structured MoS2 /graphene nanosheets self-assemble into a flower-like architecture that facilitates Zn-ion diffusion, promotes electrolyte infiltration, and ensures high structural stability. Therefore, this novel MoS2 /graphene nanocomposite exhibits exceptional high-rate capability (285.4 mA h g-1 at 0.05 A g-1 with 141.6 mA h g-1 at 5 A g-1 ) and long-term cycling stability (88.2% capacity retention after 1800 cycles). The superior Zn2+ migration kinetics and desirable pseudocapacitive behaviors are confirmed by electrochemical measurements and density functional theory computations. The energy storage mechanism regarding the highly reversible phase transition between 2H- and 1T-MoS2 upon Zn-ion insertion/extraction is elucidated through ex situ investigations. As a proof of concept, a flexible quasi-solid-state zinc-ion battery employing the MoS2 /graphene cathode demonstrates great stability under different bending conditions. This study paves a new direction for the design and on-going development of 2D materials as high-performance cathodes for AZIBs.

Tuning Metallic Co0.85Se Quantum Dots/Carbon Hollow Polyhedrons with Tertiary Hierarchical Structure for High-Performance Potassium Ion Batteries.

Potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) are a potential candidate to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) but possess unsatisfactory capacity and rate properties. Herein, the metallic cobalt selenide quantum dots (Co0.85Se-QDs) encapsulated in mesoporous carbon matrix were designed via a direct hydrothermal method. Specifically, the cobalt selenide/carbon composite (Co0.85Se-QDs/C) possesses tertiary hierarchical structure, which is the primary quantum dots, the secondary petals flake, and the tertiary hollow micropolyhedron framework. Co0.85Se-QDs are homogenously embedded into the carbon petals flake, which constitute the hollow polyhedral framework. This unique structure can take the advantages of both nanoscale and microscale features: Co0.85Se-QDs can expand in a multidimensional and ductile carbon matrix and reduce the K-intercalation stress in particle dimensions; the micropetals can restrain the agglomeration of active materials and promote the transportation of potassium ion and electron. In addition, the hollow carbon framework buffers volume expansion, maintains the structural integrity, and increases the electronic conductivity. Benefiting from this tertiary hierarchical structure, outstanding K-storage performance (402 mAh g-1 after 100 cycles at 50 mA g-1) is obtained when Co0.85Se-QDs/C is used as KIBs anode. More importantly, the selenization process in this work is newly reported and can be generally extended to prepare other quantum dots encapsulated in edge-limited frameworks for excellent energy storage.