Enhanced Biosynthesis of d-Allulose from a d-Xylose-Methanol Mixture and Its Self-Inductive Detoxification by Using Antisense RNAs in Escherichia coli.

d-Allulose, a C-3 epimer of d-fructose, has great market potential in food, healthcare, and medicine due to its excellent biochemical and physiological properties. Microbial fermentation for d-allulose production is being developed, which contributes to cost savings and environmental protection. A novel metabolic pathway for the biosynthesis of d-allulose from a d-xylose-methanol mixture has shown potential for industrial application. In this study, an artificial antisense RNA (asRNA) was introduced into engineered Escherichia coli to diminish the flow of pentose phosphate (PP) pathway, while the UDP-glucose-4-epimerase (GalE) was knocked out to prevent the synthesis of byproducts. As a result, the d-allulose yield on d-xylose was increased by 35.1%. Then, we designed a d-xylose-sensitive translation control system to regulate the expression of the formaldehyde detoxification operon (FrmRAB), achieving self-inductive detoxification by cells. Finally, fed-batch fermentation was carried out to improve the productivity of the cell factory. The d-allulose titer reached 98.6 mM, with a yield of 0.615 mM/mM on d-xylose and a productivity of 0.969 mM/h.

Mixed response to the first-line treatment of KRAS G12C inhibitor, sotorasib, in non-small cell lung cancer: A brief report.

Key Clinical Message: One Kirsten Ras (KRAS) G12C mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient had improved poor performance status and obtained mixed response with the first-line KRAS-targeted treatment of sotorasib. After disease progression, partial response was achieved with chemotherapy plus immunotherapy. KRAS G12C mutated immunoenvironment in NSCLC may favor the immunotherapy. Abstract: KRAS is one of the most commonly mutated genes, which used to be untargetable. The phase II CodeBreak 100 trial revealed 6.8-month median progress-free survival (PFS) and 12.5-month overall survival (OS) in previously treated KRAS G12C-mutant NSCLC patients treated with KRAS inhibitor, sotorasib. The specimens of the brain, lymph node (LN), and blood from the patient were analyzed by next-generation sequencing. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry were performed for pathological characterization. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan were used for treatment response evaluation. The patient was diagnosed in a bad Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG-PS) with metastatic KRAS G12C-mutated lung adenocarcinoma who had achieved mixed response to sotorasib as the first-line treatment. Although 5-month PFS of the treatment with sotorasib was not surprising, the patient achieved significantly improved ECOG-PS score from 4 to 1. Subsequently, partial response (PR) was achieved with the treatment of pemetrexed plus pembrolizumab. This case highlights superior efficacy of first-line treatment with sotorasib for the advance untreated KRAS G12C-mutant patients. The high efficacy of the treatment with chemotherapy plus immunotherapy revealed that immunoenvironment of KRAS G12C-mutated patient may favor the immunotherapy.

Molecular features and clinical outcomes of EGFR-mutated, MET-amplified non-small-cell lung cancer after resistance to dual-targeted therapy.

Background: Some studies of dual-targeted therapy (DTT) targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) have shown promising efficacy in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Consequently, patient management following DTT resistance has gained significance. However, the underlying resistance mechanisms and clinical outcomes in these patients remain unclear. Objectives: This study aimed to delineate the molecular characteristics and survival outcomes of patients with NSCLC harboring EGFR mutations and acquired MET amplification after developing resistance to DTT. Design: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with NSCLC with EGFR mutations and acquired MET amplification who exhibited resistance to EGFR/MET DTT. Methods: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed on patients with available tissue samples before and/or after the development of resistance to DTT. Stratified analyses were carried out based on data sources and subsequent salvage treatments. Univariate/multivariate Cox regression models and survival analyses were employed to explore potential independent prognostic factors. Results: The study included 77 NSCLC patients, with NGS conducted on 19 patients. We observed many resistance mechanisms, including EGFR-dependent pathways (4/19, 21.1%), MET-dependent pathways (2/19, 10.5%), EGFR/MET co-dependent pathways (2/19, 10.5%), and EGFR/MET-independent resistance mechanisms (11/19, 57.9%). Post-progression progression-free survival (pPFS) and post-progression overall survival (pOS) significantly varied among patients who received the best supportive care (BSC), targeted therapy, or chemotherapy (CT), with median pPFS of 1.5, 3.9, and 4.9 months, respectively (p = 0.003). Median pOS were 2.3, 7.7, and 9.2 months, respectively (p < 0.001). The number of treatment lines following DTT resistance and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status emerged as the independent prognostic factors. Conclusion: This study revealed a heterogeneous landscape of resistance mechanisms to EGFR/MET DTT, with a similar prevalence of on- and off-target mechanisms. Targeted therapy or CT, as compared to BSC, exhibited the potential to improve survival outcomes for patients with advanced NSCLC following resistance to DTT.

Plasma ddPCR for the detection of MET amplification in advanced NSCLC patients: a comparative real-world study.

Background: Mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) amplification is a crucial oncogenic driver and a resistance mechanism to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is the gold standard for MET amplification detection. However, it is inapplicable when tissue samples are unavailable. Objective: This study assessed the performance of plasma droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) in MET amplification detection in NSCLC patients. Design and methods: A total of 87 NSCLC patients were enrolled, and 94 paired tissue and plasma samples were analyzed for the concordance between FISH and plasma ddPCR/tissue next-generation sequencing (NGS) in detecting MET amplification. In addition, the efficacy of patients with MET amplification using different detection methods who were treated with MET-TKIs was evaluated. Results: Plasma ddPCR showed substantial concordance with FISH (74.1% sensitivity, 92.5% specificity, and 87.2% accuracy with a kappa value of 0.68) and outperformed tissue NGS (kappa value of 0.64) in MET amplification detection. Combined plasma ddPCR and tissue NGS showed substantial concordance with FISH (92.3% sensitivity, 89.2% specificity, and an accuracy of 90.1% with a kappa value of 0.77). The efficacy is comparable in these NSCLC patients with MET amplification detected by FISH and plasma ddPCR who were treated with MET-TKIs. Conclusion: Plasma ddPCR is a potentially reliable method for detecting MET amplification in advanced NSCLC patients. Combined plasma ddPCR and tissue NGS might be an alternative or complementary method to MET amplification detection.

Unravelling diagnostic clusters and immune landscapes of disulfidptosis patterns in gastric cancer through bioinformatic assay.

Disulfidptosis is a novel type of cell death mediated by SLC7A11-induced disulfide stress. Gastric cancer (GC) is a common malignant gastrointestinal tumor. Existing evidence shows that SLC7A11 can regulate cell death and improve the progression of GC, suggesting disulfidptosis may exist in the pathological process of GC. However, the underlying functions of disulfidptosis regulators in GC remain unknown. The dataset of GSE54129 was screened to comprehensively investigate the disulfidptosis-related diagnostic clusters and immune landscapes in GC. Totally 15 significant disulfidptosis regulators were identified via difference analysis between GC samples and controls. Then random forest model was utilized to assess their importance score (mean decrease Gini). Then a nomogram model was constructed, which could offer benefit to patients based on our subsequent decision curve analysis. All the included GC patients were divided into 2 disulfidptosis subgroups (clusterA and clusterB) according to the significant disulfidptosis regulators in virtue of consensus clustering analysis. The disulfidptosis score of each sample was calculated through PCA algorithms to quantify the disulfidptosis subtypes. Patients from clusterB exhibited lower disulfidptosis scores than those of patients in clusterA. In addition, we found that the cases in clusterB were closely associated with the immunity of activated CD4 T cell, etc., while clusterA was linked to immature dendritic cell, mast cell, natural killer T cell, natural killer cell, etc., which has a higher disulfidptosis score. Therefore, disulfidptosis regulators play an important role in the pathological process of GC, providing a promising marker and an immunotherapeutic strategy for future GC therapy.

Fatty infiltration of the cervical multifidus musculature and its clinical correlation to cervical spondylosis.

PURPOSE: Fat infiltration (FI) of the deep neck extensor muscles has been shown to be associated with poor outcomes in cervical injury, mechanical neck pain, and axial symptoms after cervical spine surgery. However, information is scarce on the severity of FI in cervical extensors associated with different clinical syndromes in patients with cervical spondylosis. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the severity of FI in the cervical multifidus musculature and its clinical correlates in the syndromes and sagittal alignment of patients with cervical spondylosis. METHODS: This study was conducted as a retrospective study of twenty-eight healthy volunteers (HV) together with sixty-six patients who underwent cervical radiculopathy (CR), degenerative myelopathy (DM), and axial joint pain (AJP) from January 2020 to March 2022. MRI was used to measure the fat cross-sectional area (FCSA), functional muscle cross-sectional area (FMCSA), total muscle cross-sectional area (TMCSA), FI ratio of the cervical multifidus musculature at each cervical level from the C3 to C6 segments and the cervical lordosis angle in the included subjects. RESULTS: The difference in the FCSA and FI ratio in patient groups with cervical spondylosis was significantly greater than that of the HV group (P < 0.05), and the Cobb angle of the DM group, AJP group and HV group was significantly greater than that of the CR group (P < 0.05). The FI ratio comparison showed no significant difference by sex, and the comparison of FCSA, FMCSA, TMCSA and FI ratio showed no significant difference by age range from 35 to 69 in the included subjects. The FCSA and TMCSA in patients with cervical spondylosis were positively related to the Cobb angle (rs= 0.336, P = 0.006, rs =0.319, P = 0.009, respectively), and the FI ratio was inversely correlated with the Cobb angle (rs= -0.285, P = 0.020) and positively correlated with age (rs =0.261, P = 0.034). In the HV group, FMCSA was inversely correlated with age (rs= -0.400, P = 0.035), while the FI ratio had a positive correlation with age (rs= -0.423, P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: Compared with healthy subjects, a more severe degree of FI in the multifidus musculature and sagittal imbalance were found in patients with cervical spondylosis. These two imaging features are considered to be important concomitant phenomena of cervical spondylosis, and the more severe FI is, the worse the sagittal imbalance. However, each syndrome had no obvious difference in FI in the multifidus musculature.

Towards effective recovery of humate as green fertilizer from landfill leachate concentrate by electro-neutral nanofiltration membrane.

Under the environmental sustainability concept, landfill leachate concentrate can be up-cycled as a useful resource. Practical strategy for effective management of landfill leachate concentrate is to recover the existing humate as fertilizer purpose for plant growth. Herein, we designed an electro-neutral nanofiltration membrane to separate the humate and inorganic salts for achieving a sufficient humate recovery from leachate concentrate. The electro-neutral nanofiltration membrane yielded a high retention of humate (96.54 %) with an extremely low salt rejection (3.47 %), tremendously outperforming the state-of-the-art nanofiltration membranes and exhibiting superior promise in fractionation of humate and inorganic salts. With implementation of the pressure-driven concentration process, the electro-neutral nanofiltration membrane enriched the humate from 1756 to 51,466 mg∙L-1 at a fold of 32.6, enabling 90.0 % humate recovery and 96.4 % desalination efficiency from landfill leachate concentrate. Furthermore, the recovered humate not only exerted no phytotoxicity, but also significantly promoted the metabolism of red bean plants, serving as an effective green fertilizer. The study provides a conceptual and technical platform using high-performance electro-neutral nanofiltration membranes to extract the humate as a promising nutrient for fertilizer application, in view of sustainable landfill leachate concentrate treatment.

Pathological characteristics and tumour immune microenvironment of lung malignancies with RET rearrangement.

BACKGROUND: For patients with lung malignancies with RET rearrangement, the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors is limited. The characteristics of the tumour immune microenvironment (TIME) and molecular pathological features of these patients have not been well elucidated. We aimed to investigate their clinical outcomes and explore characteristics of TIME, using multiplex immunohistochemistry technology (mIHC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The pathology and TIME characteristics of 29 patients with lung malignancies with RET rearrangement were retrospectively analysed, and their relationships with clinical efficacy and prognosis were investigated. Gene detection relied on high-throughput sequencing, and TIME detection was based on mIHC. RESULTS: Of 29 patients, 25(86%) had adenocarcinoma, and the acinar type accounted for the greatest percentage of patients, followed by the solid type, regardless of whether the disease was early or locally advanced and metastatic. In addition, we report a novel KIF5B-RET(k24:R8) rearrangement in pulmonary sarcoma. The density of CD8+ T cells in tumour stroma in early-stage patients was significantly higher than that in locally advanced and metastatic patients (P = 0.014). The proportion of M2 macrophages in tumour stroma was significantly higher than that in tumour parenchyma (P = 0.046). Although the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.098), patients positive for M2 macrophage infiltration into the tumour parenchyma (≥5%) may have a better prognosis. Seven patients received immunotherapy and disease control rate was 85.7%. CONCLUSIONS: A novel KIF5B-RET rearrangement variant in pulmonary sarcoma shows similar TIME characteristics to lung cancer. amongst patients with lung malignancies with RET rearrangement, patients with M2 macrophage infiltration into the tumour parenchyma may have a better prognosis, but further studies with larger cohorts are needed.

Metabolically Engineered Escherichia coli for Conversion of D-Fructose to D-Allulose via Phosphorylation-Dephosphorylation.

D-Allulose is an ultra-low calorie sweetener with broad market prospects. As an alternative to Izumoring, phosphorylation-dephosphorylation is a promising method for D-allulose synthesis due to its high conversion of substrate, which has been preliminarily attempted in enzymatic systems. However, in vitro phosphorylation-dephosphorylation requires polyphosphate as a phosphate donor and cannot completely deplete the substrate, which may limit its application in industry. Here, we designed and constructed a metabolic pathway in Escherichia coli for producing D-allulose from D-fructose via in vivo phosphorylation-dephosphorylation. PtsG-F and Mak were used to replace the fructose phosphotransferase systems (PTS) for uptake and phosphorylation of D-fructose to fructose-6-phosphate, which was then converted to D-allulose by AlsE and A6PP. The D-allulose titer reached 0.35 g/L and the yield was 0.16 g/g. Further block of the carbon flux into the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas (EMP) pathway and introduction of an ATP regeneration system obviously improved fermentation performance, increasing the titer and yield of D-allulose to 1.23 g/L and 0.68 g/g, respectively. The E. coli cell factory cultured in M9 medium with glycerol as a carbon source achieved a D-allulose titer of ≈1.59 g/L and a yield of ≈0.72 g/g on D-fructose.

A Model Incorporating Axillary Tail Position on Mammography for Preoperative Prediction of Non-sentinel Lymph Node Metastasis in Patients with Initial cN+ Breast Cancer after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop a model incorporating axillary tail position on mammography (AT) for the prediction of non-sentinel Lymph Node (NSLN) metastasis in patients with initial clinical node positivity (cN+). METHODS AND MATERIALS: The study reviewed a total of 257 patients with cN+ breast cancer who underwent both sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). A logistic regression model was developed based on these factors and the results of post-NAC AT and axillary ultrasound (AUS). RESULTS: Four clinical factors with p<0.1 in the univariate analysis, including ycT0(odds ratio [OR]: 4.84, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.13-11.91, p<0.001), clinical stage before NAC (OR: 2.68, 95%CI: 1.15-6.58, p=0.025), estrogen receptor (ER) expression (OR: 3.29, 95%CI: 1.39-8.39, p=0.009), and HER2 status (OR: 0.21, 95%CI: 0.08-0.50, p=0.001), were independent predictors of NSLN metastases. The clinical model based on the above four factors resulted in the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.82(95%CI: 0.76-0.88) in the training set and 0.83(95% CI: 0.74-0.92) in the validation set. The results of post-NAC AUS and AT were added to the clinical model to construct a clinical imaging model for the prediction of NSLN metastasis with AUC of 0.87(95%CI: 0.81-0.93) in the training set and 0.89(95%CI: 0.82-0.96) in the validation set. CONCLUSIONS: The study incorporated the results of post-NAC AT and AUS with other clinal factors to develop a model to predict NSLN metastasis in patients with initial cN+ before surgery. This model performed excellently, allowing physicians to select patients for whom unnecessary ALND could be avoided after NAC.

[Advances in the Treatment of RET Fusion-positive Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer].

Rearranged during transfection (RET) fusions are found in 0.7% to 2% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Fusions between RET gene and other domains represent the distinct biological and clinicopathological subtypes of NSCLC. Recent years have witnessed the remarkable advancement of RET fusion-positive advanced NSCLC therapy. Conventional chemotherapy produced moderate clinical benefits. Prior to the introduction of targeted therapy or in the context of unavailability, platinum-based systemic regimens are initial therapy options. Immunotherapy predicted minimal response in the presence of RET fusions while currently available data have been scarce, and the single-agent immunotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy regimens are not recommended as initial systemic therapy in this population. The repurpose of multi-target kinase inhibitors in patients with RET fusion-positive NSCLC showed encouraging therapeutic activity, with only cabozantinib and vandetanib being recommended as initial or subsequent options under certain circumstances. However, there are still unmet clinical needs. Pralsetinib and selpercatinib have been developed as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) selectively targeting RET variation of fusions or mutations, and both agents significantly improved the prognosis of patients with RET fusion-positive NSCLC. Pralsetinib and selpercatinib have been established as preferred first-line therapy or subsequent therapy options. As observed with other TKIs treatment, resistance has also been associated with RET targeted inhibition, and the acquired resistance eventually affect the long-term therapeutic effectiveness, leading to limited subsequent treatment options. Therefore, it is essential to identify resistance mechanisms to TKI in RET fusion-positive advanced NSCLC to help reveal and establish new strategies to overcome resistance. Here, we review the advances in the treatment of RET fusion-positive advanced NSCLC.
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Integrated loose nanofiltration-electrodialysis process for sustainable resource extraction from high-salinity textile wastewater.

Effective extraction of useful resources from high-salinity textile wastewater is a critical pathway for sustainable wastewater management. In this study, an integrated loose nanofiltration-electrodialysis process was explored for simultaneous recovery of dyes, NaCl and pure water from high-salinity textile wastewater, thus closing the material loop and minimizing waste emission. Specifically, a loose nanofiltration membrane (molecular weight cutoff of ~800 Da) was proposed to fractionate the dye and NaCl in the high-salinity textile wastewater. Through a nanofiltration-diafiltration unit, including a pre-concentration stage and a constant-volume diafiltration stage, the dye could be recovered from the high-salinity textile wastewater, being enriched at a factor of ~9.0, i.e., from 2.01 to 17.9 g·L-1 with 98.4% purity. Assisted with the subsequent implementation of electrodialysis, the NaCl concentrate and pure water were effectively reclaimed from the salt-containing permeate coming from the loose nanofiltration-diafiltration. Simultaneously, the produced pure water was further recycled to the nanofiltration-diafiltration unit. This study shows the potential of the integration of loose nanofiltation-diafiltration with electrodialysis for sufficient resource extraction from high-salinity textile wastewater.

Direct Superassemblies of Freestanding Metal-Carbon Frameworks Featuring Reversible Crystalline-Phase Transformation for Electrochemical Sodium Storage.

High-power sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) with long-term cycling attract increasing attention for large-scale energy storage. However, traditional SIBs toward practical applications still suffer from low rate capability and poor cycle induced by pulverization and amorphorization of anodes at high rate (over 5 C) during the fast ion insertion/extraction process. The present work demonstrates a robust strategy for a variety of (Sb-C, Bi-C, Sn-C, Ge-C, Sb-Bi-C) freestanding metal-carbon framework thin films via a space-confined superassembly (SCSA) strategy. The sodium-ion battery employing the Sb-C framework exhibits an unprecedented performance with a high specific capacity of 246 mAh g-1, long life cycle (5000 cycles), and superb capacity retention (almost 100%) at a high rate of 7.5 C (3.51A g-1). Further investigation indicates that the unique framework structure enables unusual reversible crystalline-phase transformation, guaranteeing the fast and long-cyclability sodium storage. This study may open an avenue to developing long-cycle-life and high-power SIBs for practical energy applications.

A one-dimensional material as a nano-scaffold and a pseudo-seed for facilitated growth of ultrathin, mechanically reinforced molecular sieving membranes.

A new pseudo-seeding and nano-scaffolding method was developed to synthesize thin ZIF-8 hybrid membranes (100-200 nm) with remarkable mechanical and structural stability and high H2 permeance (2.87 × 10-5 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1) and selectivity over CO2 (14), N2 (18), CH4 (35), C3H6 (52.4) and C3H8 (950.1).

Rapid Construction of ZnO@ZIF-8 Heterostructures with Size-Selective Photocatalysis Properties.

To selectively remove heavy metal from dye solution, inspired by the unique pore structure of ZIF-8, we developed a synthetic strategy for rapid construction of ZnO@ZIF-8 heterostructure photocatalyst for selective reduction of Cr(VI) between Cr(VI) and methylene blue (MB). In particular, ZnO@ZIF-8 core-shell heterostructures were prepared by in situ ZIF-8 crystal growth using ZnO colloidal spheres as template and zinc source within 8-60 min. The shell of the resulting ZnO@ZIF-8 core-shell heterostructure with a uniform thickness of around 30 nm is composed of ZIF-8 crystal polyhedrons. The concentration of organic ligand 2-methylimidazole (Hmim) was found to be crucial for the formation of ZnO@ZIF-8 core-shell heterostructures. Different structures, ZnO@ZIF-8 core-shell spheres and separate ZIF-8 polyhedrons could be formed by altering Hmim concentration, which significantly influences the balance between rate of Zn(2+) release from ZnO and coordinate rate. Importantly, such ZnO@ZIF-8 core-shell heterostructures exhibit size-selective photocatalysis properties due to selective adsorption and permeation effect of ZIF-8 shell. The as-synthesized ZnO@ZIF-8 heterostructures exhibited enhanced selective reduction of Cr(VI) between Cr(VI) and MB, which may find application in the dye industry. This work not only provides a general route for rapid fabrication of such core-shell heterostructures but also illustrates a strategy for selectively enhanced photocatalysis performance by utilizing adsorption and size selectivity of ZIF-8 shell.

Aqueous Phase Synthesis of ZIF-8 Membrane with Controllable Location on an Asymmetrically Porous Polymer Substrate.

In this study, we have demonstrated a simple, scalable, and environmentally friendly route for controllable fabrication of continuous, well-intergrown ZIF-8 on a flexible polymer substrate via contra-diffusion method in conjunction with chemical vapor modification of the polymer surface. The combined chemical vapor modification and contra-diffusion method resulted in controlled formation of a thin, defect-free, and robust ZIF-8 layer on one side of the support in aqueous solution at room temperature. The ZIF-8 membrane exhibited propylene permeance of 1.50 × 10(-8) mol m(-2) s(-1) Pa(-1) and excellent selective permeation properties; after post heat-treatment, the membrane showed ideal selectivities of C3H6/C3H8 and H2/C3H8 as high as 27.8 and 2259, respectively. The new synthesis approach holds promise for further development of the fabrication of high-quality polymer-supported ZIF membranes for practical separation applications.

Rapid synthesis of ultrathin, defect-free ZIF-8 membranes via chemical vapour modification of a polymeric support.

Ultrathin ZIF-8 membranes with a thickness of around 200 nm were prepared by chemical vapour modification of surface chemistry and nanopores of an asymmetric bromomethylated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (BPPO) substrate. The resulting ZIF-8 membranes exhibited exceptional H2 permeance as high as 2.05 × 10(-6) mol m(-2) s(-1) Pa(-1) with high H2/N2 and H2/CO2 selectivities (9.7 and 12.8, respectively).

Hydrophilic nanowire modified polymer ultrafiltration membranes with high water flux.

Germanate nanowires/nanorods with different lengths were synthesized and used as additives for the fabrication of polymer composite membranes for high-flux water filtration. We for the first time demonstrated that at a small nanowire/nanorod loading (e.g., <0.5 wt % on the basis of poly(ether sulfone)), the length of germinate nanowires was a key parameter in determining their migration and diffusion in the polymer solution, and thus affecting polymer precipitation in the membrane formation process. In particular, short Ca2Ge7O16 nanowires with an average length of 138.7 nm and an average diameter of 12.7 nm, and Zn2GeO4 nanorods with an average length of 400 nm and an average diameter of 18.7 nm quickly diffused out of the membrane, leading to a higher pore density on the active layer in comparison with the pristine membranes. The addition of short Ca2Ge7O16 nanowires resulted in greater pore sizes than the addition of Zn2GeO4 nanorods because the out-diffusion of the former was faster than that of the latter. In contrast, the addition of long Ca2Ge7O16 nanowires with lengths of several tens to hundreds of micrometers and an average of 27.3 nm was not effective in promoting the pore formation because of partial embedment of nanowires. Poly(ether sulfone) composite membranes prepared by adding a small amount of Zn2GeO4 nanorods exhibited dramatically enhanced water permeation without losing rejection property. For example, the poly(ether sulfone) (PES) composite membrane prepared with 0.3 wt % Zn2GeO4 nanorods exhibited the highest flux, 1294.5 LMH, which was 3.5 times of the pristine (PES) membrane (384.2 LMH). Our work provides a new strategy for developing high-performance ultrafiltration membranes for practical industrial filtration applications.

A novel route for preparing highly proton conductive membrane materials with metal-organic frameworks.

Fe-MIL-101-NH(2) was prepared by a novel method. The MOFs adhered well to SPPO via chemical bonds, and yielded the mixed-matrix Fe-MIL-101-NH(2)-SPPO membrane for use in fuel cells. The proton conductivity of the membranes was as high as 0.10 S cm(-1) at room temperature and 0.25 S cm(-1) at 90 °C.