Additives for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries: Recent Progress, Mechanism Analysis, and Future Perspectives.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) stand out as a promising next-generation electrochemical energy storage technology, offering notable advantages such as high specific capacity, enhanced safety, and cost-effectiveness. However, the application of aqueous electrolytes introduces challenges: Zn dendrite formation and parasitic reactions at the anode, as well as dissolution, electrostatic interaction, and by-product formation at the cathode. In addressing these electrode-centric problems, additive engineering has emerged as an effective strategy. This review delves into the latest advancements in electrolyte additives for ZIBs, emphasizing their role in resolving the existing issues. Key focus areas include improving morphology and reducing side reactions during battery cycling using synergistic effects of modulating anode interface regulation, zinc facet control, and restructuring of hydrogen bonds and solvation sheaths. Special attention is given to the efficacy of amino acids and zwitterions due to their multifunction to improve the cycling performance of batteries concerning cycle stability and lifespan. Additionally, the recent additive advancements are studied for low-temperature and extreme weather applications meticulously. This review concludes with a holistic look at the future of additive engineering, underscoring its critical role in advancing ZIB performance amidst the complexities and challenges of electrolyte additives.

Proteomic profiling of purified avian leukosis virus subgroup J particles.

While the presence of host cell proteins in virions and their role in viral life cycles have been demonstrated in various viruses, such characteristics have remained largely unknown in avian leukosis virus (ALV). To investigate whether this is the case in ALV, we purified high-integrity and high-purity virions from the avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) and subjected them to proteome analysis using nano LC-MS/MS. This analysis identified 53 cellular proteins that are incorporated into mature ALV-J virions, and we verified the reliability of the packaged cellular proteins through subtilisin digestion and immunoblot analysis. Functional annotation revealed the potential functions of these proteins in the viral life cycle and tumorigenesis. Overall, our findings have important implications for understanding the interaction between ALV-J and its host, and provide new insights into the cellular requirements that define ALV-J infection.

Ultralow-Temperature SnO2 Electron Transport Layers Fabricated by Intermediate-Controlled Chemical Bath Deposition for Highly Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells.

As electron transport layers (ETLs) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), tin oxide (SnO2 ) possess high carrier mobilities with appropriate energy band alignment and high optical transmittance. Herein, SnO2 ETLs were fabricated by intermediate-controlled chemical bath deposition (IC-CBD) at ultralow temperature, where the chelating agent effectively altered the nucleation and growth process. Compared with conventional CBD, SnO2 ETLs fabricated by IC-CBD had lower defects, smooth surface, good crystallinity, and remarkable interfacial contact with perovskite, resulting in good quality of perovskite, high photovoltaic performance (23.17 %), and enhanced stability of devices.

Isolation, identification, and pathogenicity analysis of newly emerging gosling astrovirus in South China.

Goose astroviruses (GoAstV) cause fatal gout and decrease product performance in the waterfowl industry across the world. Since no effective vaccines are available, studies on the epidemiology of the virus are necessary for vaccine development. In this study, we collected 94 gout samples from goose farms in the Guangdong Province of South China. Among them, 87 samples (92.6%) tested positive for GoAstV, out of which five GoAstV strains were isolated after four generations of blind transmission through healthy 13-day-old goose embryos. The whole genome of the isolates was sequenced and further analyzed by comparing the sequences with published sequences from China and other parts of the world. The results of the alignment analysis showed that nucleotide sequence similarities among the five GoAstV isolates were around 97.4-98.8%, 98.6-100%, 98.1-99.8%, and 96.7-100% for the whole genome, ORF1a, ORF1b, and ORF2, respectively. These results showed that the GoAstV isolates were highly similar to each other, although they were prevalent in five different regions of the Guangdong Province. The results of the phylogenetic analysis showed that the whole genome, along with the ORF1a, ORF1b, and ORF2 genes of the isolates, were clustered on a single branch, along with the recently published GoAstV-2, and were very distinct from the DNA sequences of the GoAstV-1 virus. In this study, we also reproduced the clinical symptoms of natural infection using the GoAstV-GD2101 isolates, confirming that the gout-causing pathogen in goslings was the goose astrovirus. These findings provided new insights into the pathogenicity and genetic evolution of GoAstV and laid the foundation for effectively controlling the disease.

Systematic investigation of metal dopants and mechanism for the SnO2 electron transport layer in perovskite solar cells.

SnO2, the most promising alternative to TiO2 as the electron transport layer (ETL), has attracted great attention for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) due to its high bulk electron mobility, good band energy at the ETL/perovskite interface, and high chemical stability. To enable more efficient carrier transfer and extraction, elemental doping with different metal cations has been studied in SnO2 ETLs. However, the systematic investigation of the doping mechanism lag far behind their efficiency promotion. In this paper, elements of the same main group (Li, Na, K) and period (K, Ca, Ga) have been selected for doping in SnO2. The results showed that among the properties of the dopants, the electronegativity has the greatest influence. The smaller the electronegativity of the doping species, the more conducive it is to carrier transmission and separation. The corresponding mechanism was proposed and discussed. At last, an efficiency of 20.92% of PSCs based on SnO2-K was achieved. In addition, the doped SnO2 is more beneficial for the growth of perovskite crystals, thus reducing grain boundaries and enhancing the stability of the device.

Enhancing Lithium-Sulfur Battery Performance by MXene, Graphene, and Ionic Liquids: A DFT Investigation.

The efficacy of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries crucially hinges on the sulfur immobilization process, representing a pivotal avenue for bolstering their operational efficiency and durability. This dissertation primarily tackles the formidable challenge posed by the high solubility of polysulfides in electrolyte solutions. Quantum chemical computations were leveraged to scrutinize the interactions of MXene materials, graphene (Gr) oxide, and ionic liquids with polysulfides, yielding pivotal binding energy metrics. Comparative assessments were conducted with the objective of pinpointing MXene materials, with a specific focus on d-Ti3C2 materials, evincing augmented binding energies with polysulfides and ionic liquids demonstrating diminished binding energies. Moreover, a diverse array of Gr oxide materials was evaluated for their adsorption capabilities. Scrutiny of the computational outcomes unveiled an augmentation in the solubility of selectively screened d-Ti3C2 MXene and ionic liquids-vis à vis one or more of the five polysulfides. Therefore, the analysis encompasses an in-depth comparative assessment of the stability of polysulfide adsorption by d-Ti3C2 MXene materials, Gr oxide materials, and ionic liquids across diverse ranges.

Isolation and Pathogenicity Analysis of a G5P[23] Porcine Rotavirus Strain.

(1) Background: Group A rotaviruses (RVAs) are the primary cause of severe intestinal diseases in piglets. Porcine rotaviruses (PoRVs) are widely prevalent in Chinese farms, resulting in significant economic losses to the livestock industry. However, isolation of PoRVs is challenging, and their pathogenicity in piglets is not well understood. (2) Methods: We conducted clinical testing on a farm in Jiangsu Province, China, and isolated PoRV by continuously passaging on MA104 cells. Subsequently, the pathogenicity of the isolated strain in piglets was investigated. The piglets of the PoRV-infection group were orally inoculated with 1 mL of 1.0 × 106 TCID50 PoRV, whereas those of the mock-infection group were fed with an equivalent amount of DMEM. (3) Results: A G5P[23] genotype PoRV strain was successfully isolated from one of the positive samples and named RVA/Pig/China/JS/2023/G5P[23](JS). The genomic constellation of this strain was G5-P[23]-I5-R1-C1-M1-A8-N1-T1-E1-H1. Sequence analysis revealed that the genes VP3, VP7, NSP2, and NSP4 of the JS strain were closely related to human RVAs, whereas the remaining gene segments were closely related to porcine RVAs, indicating a reassortment between porcine and human strains. Furthermore, infection of 15-day-old piglets with the JS strain resulted in a diarrheal rate of 100% (8 of 8) and a mortality rate of 37.5% (3 of 8). (4) Conclusions: The isolated G5P[23] genotype rotavirus strain, which exhibited strong pathogenicity in piglets, may have resulted from recombination between porcine and human strains. It may serve as a potential candidate strain for developing vaccines, and its immunogenicity can be tested in future studies.

New rapid detection by using a constant temperature method for avian leukosis viruses.

The avian leukemia virus causes avian leukemia (AL), a severe immunosuppressive disease in chickens (ALV). Since the 1990s, the diversity of ALV subpopulations caused by ALV genome variation and recombination, and the complexity of the infection and transmission, with currently no effective commercial vaccine and therapeutic for ALV, has resulted in severe economic losses to the chicken business in various parts of the world. Therefore, as a key means of prevention and control, an effective, rapid, and accurate detection method is imperative. A new real-time reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification (RT-RAA) assay for ALV with rapid, highly specific, low-cost, and simple operational characteristics have been developed in this study. Based on the amplification of 114 base pairs from the ALV P12 gene, real-time RT-RAA primers and a probe were designed for this study. The lowest detection line was 10 copies of ALV RNA molecules per response, which could be carried out at 39°C in as fastest as 5 min and completed in 30 min, with no cross-reactivity with Marek's disease virus, avian reticuloendothelial virus, Newcastle disease virus, infectious bronchitis virus, infectious bursal disease virus, infectious laryngotracheitis virus, and avian influenza virus. Furthermore, the kappa value of 0.91 (>0.81) was compared with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for 44 clinical samples, and the coefficients of variation were within 5.18% of the repeated assays with three low-level concentration gradients. These results indicate that using a real-time RT-RAA assay to detect ALV could be a valuable method.

Cascaded band gap design for highly efficient electron transport layer-free perovskite solar cells.

The elimination of the electron transport layer (ETL) to fabricate ETL-free perovskite solar cells (PSCs) could save manufacturing cost and time. However, the direct contact of the perovskite and transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrodes results in mismatched energy level alignment and current leakage. Therefore, ETL-free PSCs suffer from unsatisfactory photovoltaic performance. Herein, a special perovskite material with a cascaded band gap, called gradient homojunction perovskite (GHJP), is designed and synthesized by a large cation-assisted method. The inherent nature of GHJP was the type-II cascaded energy level alignment, which could block holes during the electron collection. This facilitated the dissociation of the excitons in the GHJP. Due to the excellent properties, ETL-free PSCs based on GHJP obtained 20.55% PCE, which was over 90% higher than that of ETL-free PSCs based on the control perovskite material.

Three-Dimensional Supramolecular Architectures with MnII Ions Assembled from Hydrogen Bonding Interactions: Crystal Structures and Antiferromagnetic Properties.

Two novel cocrystal MnII compounds were successfully synthesized. The composition of two kinds crystals correspond to [Mn(hfac)2La 2·Mn(hfac)2La(H2O)·Mn(hfac)2(H2O)2] (1) and [Mn(hfac)2Lb 2·Mn(hfac)2(H2O)2·0.5(C6H14)] (2) [La = 1,3-bis(1'-oxyl-3'-oxido-4',4',5',5'-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-2-y1)benzene; Lb = 1-(1'-oxyl-4',4',5',5'-tetramethylimidazolin-2-yl)-3-(1'-oxyl-3'-oxo-4',4',5',5'-tetramethylimidazolin-2-yl)benzene; hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonato). Surprisingly, the compounds were not polymeric or clusters but, more interestingly, different ratio biradical-metal coordination compound cocrystals. The extensive intramolecular H-bonds are the cause of formation of the cocrystal structures by assembly in the two manganese(II) derivatives; and another factor is the halogen bonds between CF3 of hfac groups. Furthermore, three-dimensional supramolecular architectures were formed. The magnetic susceptibility of both compounds showed strong antiferromagnetic interactions involving the coordinated radical unit and the metal and lesser contribution from ferromagnetic interactions between the radical units. For compound 1, a good fit was obtained for g Mn = 2.08, g rad = 2.00 (fixed), J 1 = -294.3 cm-1, J 2 = 6.2 cm-1 and J 3 = 10.8 cm-1. A reasonable fit for compound 2 was obtained for g Mn = 2.04, g rad = 2.00 (fixed), J 1' = -273.4 cm-1 and J 2' = 8.6 cm-1.

Development and Application of a Reverse-Transcription Recombinase-Aided Amplification Assay for Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a coronavirus currently widespread worldwide in the swine industry. Since PEDV was discovered in China in 1984, it has caused huge economic losses in the swine industry. PEDV can infect pigs of all ages, but piglets have the highest infection with a death rate as high as 100%, and the clinical symptoms are watery diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration. At present, there is not any report on PEDV detection by RT-RAA. In this study, we developed an isothermal amplification technology by using reverse-transcription recombinase-aided amplification assay (RT-RAA) combined with portable instruments to achieve a molecular diagnosis of PEDV in clinical samples from China. By designing a pair of RT-RAA primers and probes based on the PEDV N gene, this method breaks the limitations of existing detection methods. The assay time was within 30 min at 41 °C and can detect as few as 10 copies of PEDV DNA molecules per reaction. Sixty-two clinical tissue samples were detected by RT-qPCR and RT-RAA. The positive and negative rates for the two methods were 24.19% and 75.81%, respectively. Specificity assay showed that the RT-RAA had specifically detected PEDV and was not reactive for porcine parvovirus (PPV), transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), porcine pseudorabies virus (PRV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), classical swine fever virus (CSFV), swine flu virus (SIV), or porcine Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). The results suggested that RT-RAA had a strong specificity and high detection sensitivity when combined with a portable instrument to complete the detection under a constant temperature of 30 min, which are more suitable for preventing and controlling PEDV onsite in China.

Unveiling the Effect of Solvents on Crystallization and Morphology of 2D Perovskite in Solvent-Assisted Method.

Controlling the crystallographic orientations of 2D perovskite is regarded as an effective way to improve the efficiency of PSCs based on 2D perovskite. In this paper, five different assistant solvents were selected to unveil the effect of solvents on crystallization and morphology of 2D perovskite in a solvent-assisted method. Results demonstrated that the effect of Lewis basicity on the crystallization process was the most important factor for preparing 2D perovskite. The stability of the intermediate, reacted between the solvent and the Pb2+, determined the quality of 2D film. The stronger the Lewis basicity was, the more obvious the accurate control effect on the top-down crystallization process of 2D perovskite would be. This could enhance the crystallographic orientation of 2D perovskite. The effect of Lewis basicity played a more important role than other properties of the solvent, such as boiling point and polarity.

Sulfur contributes to stable and efficient carbon-based perovskite solar cells.

The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is already higher than those of other thin-film photovoltaic technologies, but the stability issue limits their applications. The introduction of sulfur-based compounds in PSCs could contribute to their stability. Herein, sulfur-based compounds have been embedded into each functional layer to stabilize carbon-based PSCs (C-PSCs). Results showed that the simultaneous introduction of sulfur-based compounds could decrease the trap states of perovskite film, enlarge the grain size of perovskite, and accelerate the charge transfer and extraction, leading to an improved performance. Comparing with the device without sulfide (10.77%), all sulfide C-PSCs obtained a PCE of 15.38%. The stability test showed much better resistance to humidity and thermal stress for all sulfide C-PSCs. They could retain 80% of initial PCE after aging about 700 h at relative humidity (RH) 45% ± 10% and 80 °C.

Double shelled hollow CoS2@MoS2@NiS2 polyhedron as advanced trifunctional electrocatalyst for zinc-air battery and self-powered overall water splitting.

Electrocatalysts play important role in various energy conversion and storage devices. The catalytic performance of electrocatalysts can be enhanced through the increasement of intrinsic catalytic activity by optimizing electronic structure and the improvement of exposed active sites by designing proper nanostructures. In this work, CoS2@MoS2@NiS2 nano polyhedron with double-shelled structure was prepared using metal organic framework as a precursor. Due to the rational integration of multifunctional active center, the strong electronic interaction of the various component, the high electrochemical surface area and shortened mass transport induced by the special structure, CoS2@MoS2@NiS2 exhibits high catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Specifically, low overpotentials of 156 and 200 mV was achieved to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm-2 for HER and OER, and a high half-wave potential of 0.80 V was observed for ORR. More importantly, the Zn-air battery assembled by CoS2@MoS2@NiS2 exhibits a high-power density of 80.28 mW cm-2 and could effectively drive overall water splitting. This work provides a new platform for designing multifunctional catalysts with high activity for energy conversion and storage.

Recent progress in metal sulfide-based electron transport layers in perovskite solar cells.

High-quality electron transport layers (ETLs) are essential for stable and efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Metal sulfides (MSs) are considered potential candidates for ETLs due to their high carrier mobility, low cost, and favorable chemical and physical stability. The quality of the MS films plays important role in the photovoltaic performance of PSCs. However, few reports focus on the relative preparation, characteristics, and corresponding mechanisms of MS-based ETLs. In this review, MS-based ETLs are summarized according to their preparation strategies and the mechanism. We hope that this review can help others understand the intrinsic phenomena of MS-based ETLs and motivate further investigations.

Solvent-assisted crystallization of two-dimensional Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite.

Two dimensional (2D) perovskite materials, are more stable than 3D perovskite materials, which could solve the stability issue of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the photovoltaic conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSCs based on 2D perovskite materials was low, due to the high dielectric and quantum confinement of 2D perovskite. In this work, we propose a solvent-assisted method to prepare 2D perovskite films, where the solvent was distributed in a gradient. Therefore, the top-down crystallization process of 2D perovskite can be accurately controlled. The PCE of PSCs fabricated by the solvent-assisted method was enhanced by 48%, compared with the control device. For the packaged devices, the stability test demonstrated that 94% of the initial PCE was still maintained after 1500 hours of storage (25 °C, RH 40%). After carefully analyzing the photophysical process of the carriers in the PSCs based on 2D perovskite, the enhanced carrier transfer mechanism of the solvent-assisted method has been proposed.

Carrier Transport Layer-Free Perovskite Solar Cells.

Power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of up to 25.5 % have been reported for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Thus, they have shown great potential for commercial applications. Therefore, simplifying technological process and reducing production costs have been a widespread concern among scientific and industrial communities. In this study, PSCs are prepared with the simplest device architecture (FTO/MAPbI3 /carbon). A high-quality perovskite film with few interface defects and good carrier transport is obtained by tuning the p-n properties, matching energy levels, and enhancing carrier collection and transport. A PCE of 12.01 % is achieved, which is the best reported to date for this device structure. The device also shows excellent long-term stability, owing to the elimination of charge transport layers and the usage of hydrophobic materials. This study provides a new approach to reduce production costs and simplify production of PSCs.

A two-dimensional MXene-supported metal-organic framework for highly selective ambient electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction.

The conversion of nitrogen into ammonia is crucial for human activities. The electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and water is a green process with great application prospects; to this end, much effort has been made to improve the catalytic activity and selectivity. Here, a Co-based metal-organic framework (MOF), that is, zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67), supported on a Ti3C2 MXene (defined as ZIF-67@Ti3C2) was prepared via in situ growth. Due to the high porosity and large active surface area of the MOF and the superior conductivity of the Ti3C2 MXene, the composite could efficiently synthesize ammonia electrochemically. In particular, the prepared ZIF-67@Ti3C2 catalyst exhibited an excellent NH3 yield (6.52 µmol h-1 cm-2), significantly higher than those achieved by Ti3C2 and ZIF-67 (2.77 and 1.61 µmol h-1 cm-2, respectively) alone, and good Faraday efficiency (20.2%) at -0.4 V (vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode). This study not only expands the application of the MXene family in the electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction but also provides ideas for the development of high-performance electrocatalysts for NRR.

Theoretical study of the influence of doped oxygen group elements on the properties of organic semiconductors.

Organic semiconductor materials are widely used in the field of organic electronic devices due to their wide variety, low price, and light weight. However, their developments are still restrained by their low stability and carrier mobility. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to study the influence of doped oxygen group elements (O, S, Se, and Te) on the properties of organic semiconductor materials (seven-membered benzothiophene, o-pentacene, thiophene derivatives, and pentacene) in this paper. Based on the calculation of E HOMO, E LUMO, ΔE, and total energy, the performances of organic semiconductor materials without and with doped elements were compared, and it was found that the doping of multi-element Te makes the material have high stability and potential high mobility. For these studied organic semiconductor materials, when the atoms of the doped site change in the order of O, S, Se, and Te, the carrier mobility gradually increases, and the molecules show a tendency of stability. In this paper, promising doping elements and doping methods for these studied molecules are determined through calculations and screening out suitable materials more efficiently and economically without a large amount of repetitive experimental work, which may provide a theoretical basis and guidance for preparing high-performance organic semiconductor materials.

The Attitude towards Preventive Measures and Knowledge of COVID-19 Inpatients with Severe Mental Illness in Economically Underdeveloped Areas of China.

Patients with severe mental illnesses (SMI) were at high risk of infection during Coronavirus Diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study examined hospitalized SMI patients' attitude and knowledge towards the COVID-19 infection. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in five psychiatric hospitals located in Gansu province, the most economically underdeveloped area in China. Patients' attitude towards preventive measures and knowledge of COVID-19 were measured by a self-report questionnaire. A total of 925 hospitalized patients with SMI were recruited. Of them, 84.8% (95%CI: 82.4%-87.1%) had positive attitudes towards preventive measures of the COVID-19 outbreak. Being married (OR: 1.55, 95%CI: 1.05-2.30) and a higher educational level (OR: 1.63, 95%CI: 1.12-2.38) were independently associated with positive attitudes towards COVID-19 preventive measures, whereas higher educational level was associated with better knowledge of the COVID-19 outbreak (ß: 0.231, P < 0.001). Patients mainly received COVID-19 relevant knowledge from public media (58.9%), followed by their clinicians (33.2%). Most hospitalized SMI patients in economically underdeveloped areas in China showed positive attitudes towards COVID-19 preventive measures. However, public health education on COVID-19 relevant knowledge by mental health professionals was inadequate to reduce the risk of transmission and infection.