Iron-optimized oxygen vacancy concentration to strengthen the electrocatalytic ability of the urea oxidation reaction.

Iron-modified Ni(OH)2/NiSe2 enhances oxygen vacancies, expanding the electrochemically active surface area, which exhibiting superior selectivity and stability in urea oxidation reaction, outperforming pristine Ni(OH)2@NiSe2. It also demonstrates superior catalytic performance in the oxidation reactions of other small molecules.

Facile preparation of tremella-like TiO2/Cd:ZnIn2S4 photoanode with enhanced photo-electro-chemical (PEC) performance for energy and environmental applications.

The realization of solar-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) process lies in the success development of materials with excellent photoelectric properties. Past reports identified TiO2, upon modified with both Cd and ZnIn2S4 (ZIS), exhibits promising PEC performance; however, at the cost of tedious preparation. In view of this, our work proposes a facile one-step hydrothermal strategy to deposit both modifiers onto the pre-obtained TiO2 nanotubes (NTs), realizing rose-like TiO2/ZnIn2S4 (TiO2/ZIS) or tremella-like TiO2/Cd:ZnIn2S4 (TiO2/Cd:ZIS) with improved PEC performances. Interestingly, the thickness of ZIS petals, which deposited on top of TiO2 NTs, is positively-correlated to its Cd-composition, signifying the substitutional doping of Cd into the unit cell of ZIS. This renders robust ionic interactions between the constituents, prompting the enhanced optical properties of TiO2 in conjecture to its reduced impedance. As a result, the recombination rate of photo-electric-derived carriers was drastically suppressed, with an improved photocurrent density of 606.2 µA cm-2 recorded by TiO2/Cd:ZIS photoanode under solar irradiation. Such performance is 80 times and 5.16 times higher than those of bare TiO2 NTs and TiO2/ZIS counterparts. The photoconversion efficiencies in terms of incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) and applied bias photon current efficiency (ABPE) for TiO2/Cd:ZIS were significantly improved too, recorded at 1.12% and 0.38%, respectively, under standard evaluation condition. As summary, our work proposes a facile one-step hydrothermal approach that simultaneously-deposit both Cd and ZIS onto TiO2 photoanode for an enhanced PEC performance. This opens up a wider horizon for PEC technology, further unlocking its potential in both energy and environmental applications.

Photothermal and Joule heating-assisted thermal management sponge for efficient cleanup of highly viscous crude oil.

Fast and efficient cleanup of high-viscosity oil spills on the sea is still a global challenge today. Traditional recycling methods are either energy demanding or inefficient. Hydrophobic/oleophilic sorbents are promising candidates to handle oil spills, but they have limited ability to recover high viscosity oil. In this work, we report a superhydrophobic/oleophilic carbon nanotubes (CNT) and polypyrrole (PPy) coated melamine sponge (m-CNT/PPy@MS). The CNT/PPy coating enables the sponge to convert light and electricity to heat, ensuring that the absorbent can adapt to various working environments. The rapid heat generation on the sponge surface can significantly reduce the viscosity of crude oil and accelerate the absorption rate, thereby achieving the purpose of rapid recovery of oil spills. Under one sun illumination (1.0 kW/m2) and an applied voltage (8 V), the surface temperature of the m-CNT/PPy@MS can reach 118.6 °C. The complete penetration time of oil droplets is 93.5% less than that of an unheated sponge. In addition, under half sun irradiation intensity and 11 V, the porous sponge absorbed 6.92kg/m2 of crude oil in the first minute, which is about 31 times as much as that of an unheated sponge. Finally, we demonstrate a continuous absorption system, consisting of a self-heating m-CNT/PPy@MS and peristaltic pump, that can continuously recover oil spills on the sea surface. In view of its unique design, lower cost and fast oil absorption speed, this work provides a new option to tackle large-scale oil spill disasters on the sea surface.

Vanadium carbide: an efficient, robust, and versatile cocatalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under visible light.

Herein, we report that vanadium carbide (VC) can efficiently catalyze photocatalytic H2 evolution with excellent stability in a dye-sensitized system under visible light irradiation (≥420 nm) and also serve as an versatile H2 evolution cocatalyst when integrated with various semiconductor photocatalysts.

High-performance Förster resonance energy transfer-based dye-sensitized photocatalytic H2 evolution with graphene quantum dots as the homogeneous energy donor.

A high-performance dye-sensitized photocatalytic H2 evolution system was developed based on Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) by employing water-soluble and highly photoluminescent N,S codoped graphene quantum dots (NSGQDs) as the homogeneous energy donor, erythrosin B (ErB) as the sensentizing dye, and platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) as the catalyst. NSGQDs absorbed high-energy photons that undergo FRET to transfer the excitation energy to the sensitizing ErB for maximizing light absorption and also served as an electron transfer and loading matrix of Pt NPs for accelarating the electron transfer; as a result, the ErB-sensitized NSGQD-Pt system afforded much higher H2 evolution activity than the NSGQD-free dye-sensitized system.

CoAl-layered double hydroxide nanosheets as an active matrix to anchor an amorphous MoSx catalyst for efficient visible light hydrogen evolution.

CoAl-layered double hydroxide nanosheets (CoAl-NSs) could serve as an active matrix to effectively anchor amorphous MoSx nanoparticles with high dispersion and the formation of an additional active "CoMoS" phase. The resulting CoAl-NSs/MoSx catalyst showed 13 times higher H2 evolution activity than free MoSx nanoparticles from an erythrosin B-triethanolamine (ErB-TEOA) system under visible light.

Thiomolybdate [Mo3S13]2- nanocluster: a molecular mimic of MoS2 active sites for highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Thiomolybdate [Mo3S13]2- nanoclusters, as a molecular mimic of MoS2 edge sites, showed high efficiency in catalyzing photochemical H2 evolution from a molecular system of Ru(bpy)3Cl2-ascorbic acid (H2A) under visible light irradiation (≥420 nm), providing a turnover number of 1570 and an initial turnover frequency of 335 h-1 for H2 evolution based on the [Mo3S13]2- catalyst.

Prognostic Value of Protocadherin10 (PCDH10) Methylation in Serum of Prostate Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND Prostate cancer is a heterogeneous malignancy with outcome difficult to predict. Currently, there is an urgent need to identify novel biomarkers that can accurately predict patient outcome and improve the treatment strategy. The aim of this study was to investigate the methylation status of PCDH10 in serum of prostate cancer patients and its potential relevance to clinicopathological features and prognosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS The methylation status of PCDH10 in serum of 171 primary prostate cancer patients and 65 controls was evaluated by methylation-specific PCR (MSP), after which the relationship between PCDH10 methylation and clinicopathologic features was evaluated. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox analysis were used to evaluate the correlation between PCDH10 methylation and prognosis. RESULTS PCDH10 methylation occurred frequently in serum of prostate cancer patients. Moreover, PCDH10 methylation was significantly associated with higher preoperative PSA level, advanced clinical stage, higher Gleason score, lymph node metastasis, and biochemical recurrence (BCR). In addition, patients with methylated PCDH10 had shorter BCR-free survival and overall survival than patients with unmethylated PCDH10. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis indicated that PCDH10 methylation in serum is an independent predictor of worse BCR-free survival and overall survival. CONCLUSIONS PCDH10 methylation in serum is a potential prognostic biomarker for prostate cancer.