ABSTRACT
The evolution of porous membranes has revitalized their potential application in sustainable osmotic-energy conversion. However, the performance of multiporous membranes deviates significantly from the linear extrapolation of single-pore membranes, primarily due to the occurrence of ion-concentration polarization (ICP). This study proposes a robust strategy to overcome this challenge by incorporating photoelectric responsiveness into permselective membranes. By introducing light-induced electric fields within the membrane, the transport of ions is accelerated, leading to a reduction in the diffusion boundary layer and effectively mitigating the detrimental effects of ICP. The developed photoelectric-responsive covalent-organic-framework membranes exhibit an impressive output power density of 69.6 W m-2 under illumination, surpassing the commercial viability threshold by ≈14-fold. This research uncovers a previously unexplored benefit of integrating optical electric conversion with reverse electrodialysis, thereby enhancing energy conversion efficiency.
ABSTRACT
Exosomes are of increasing research interest because they are integral to cell-cell communication and are implicated in various disease states. Here, we investigated the utility of using an ion-depletion zone in a microfluidic device to concentrate exosomes from the culture media of four types of cell lines. Furthermore, we evaluated the extent of damage to the exosomes following concentration by an ion-depletion zone microchannel device compared with exosomes concentrated by a conventional ultra-centrifugation technique. Our results conclusively demonstrate that significantly less damage is incurred by exosomes following passage through and concentration by the ion-depleted zone microchannel device compared to concentration by ultra-centrifugation. Our findings will help extend the utility of exosomes to various applications.
Subject(s)
Culture Media/chemistry , Exosomes/chemistry , Microfluidic Analytical Techniques , Cell Communication , Cell Line , Centrifugation , Humans , Ions/chemistryABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the applicability of the K~+ concentration in aqueous humor to estimate postmortem interval(PMI).Methods 30 White New-Zealand rabbit were sacrificed by air embolism and divided into 10 groups.Aqueous humor and vitreous humor were sampled at 0.5h,1h,3h,6h,8h,12h,16h,20h,and 24h after death.The concentration of potassium,sodium and calcium were analyzed by an autoanalyzer and the data were statistically processed by SPSS software for Windows.Results Increase in potassiam concentration in aqueous humor was correlated with the postmortem interval(R~2=0.956).Conclusion Measurement of potassium concentration in aqueous humor may be used for PMI estimation.