Carbon Quantum Dots for Long-Term Protection against UV Degradation and Acidification in Paper-Based Relics.

Paper-based cultural relics constitute a significant and invaluable part of human civilization and cultural heritage. However, they are highly vulnerable to environmental factors such as ultraviolet (UV) photodegradation and acidification degradation, posing substantial threats to their long-term preservation. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs), known for their outstanding optical properties, high water solubility, and good safety, offer a promising solution for slowing down UV damage and acidification of paper-based relics during storage and transportation. Herein, we propose a feasible strategy for the simple preparation of CQDs with high dispersion stability, excellent UV absorption, room-temperature phosphorescence, and photostability for the safety protection of paper. Accelerated aging experiments were conducted using UV and dry-heat aging methods on both CQD-protected paper and unprotected paper, respectively, to evaluate the effectiveness of CQD protection. The results demonstrate a slowdown in both the oxidation and acid degradation processes of the protected paper under both UV-aging and dry-heat aging conditions. Notably, CQDs with complex luminescence patterns of both fluorescence and room-temperature phosphorescence also endue them as enhanced optical anticounterfeiting materials for multifunctional paper protection. This research provides a new direction for the protection of paper-based relics with emerging carbon nanomaterials.

Activating Commercial Nickel Foam to a Highly Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction through a Three-Step Surface Reconstruction.

It is highly desired to directly use commercial nickel foam (CNF) as an electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) via simple surface reconstruction. In our research, a simple three-step preactivation process was proposed to reconstruct CNF as an efficient OER catalyst, including calcination, high-voltage treatment, and immersing in electrolyte. The optimal CNF after three-step activation reaches an excellent OER performance of 228 and 267 mV at η10 and η100 in alkaline media and can tolerate long-term tests under a large current density of 500 mA·cm-2. The promotion of each step was explored. The calcination step leads to a reconstructive surficial morphology with an enlarged active surface, providing a prerequisite for the following construction steps. The high-voltage treatment changes the valence of surface Ni species, generating phases with higher catalytic activity, and the immersing process introduces Fe heteroatoms into the surface of CNF, boosting the catalytic performance of CNF through Ni-Fe interactions. This research provides a simple method of making high-performance catalysts with accessible nickel foam, a potential for large-scale application in practical industry, and new thinking for the manipulation of Ni-based catalysts.

Screening differentially expressed genes and the pathogenesis in atopic dermatitis using bioinformatics.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic skin inflammation. It was to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and related biological functional pathways in atopic dermatitis (AD) by bioinformatics methods, and to understand the pathogenesis of AD. gene chip datasets GSE120721 and GSE32924 in the public database NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were adopted. Differential expression analysis between the patient group and controls was performed by applying the zero-code differential expression analysis tool GEO2R, and a few DEGs were screened. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were carried out. In addition, the STRING online database was employed to predict the potential relationship among DEGs, the protein-protein interaction network (PPI) was drawn, and the module analysis of PPI was performed using the Cytoscape plugin MCODE. 233 DEGs were screened out, including 134 up-regulated genes and 99 down-regulated genes. GO analysis suggested that these DEGs were mainly involved in biological processes (BP), cellular components (CC), and molecular function (MF). KEGG analysis displayed that these DEGs were mainly involved in NF-kappa B signaling, cell cycle, T cell receptor signaling, and other pathways. PPI analysis indicated that there were complex interactions among DEGs, and module analysis further revealed the important roles of DEGs in regulating immune response, inflammatory response, and skin barrier function. The above findings provide a valuable reference for the development of new treatment options.

Colloidal magnesium hydroxide Nanoflake: One-Step Surfactant-Assisted preparation and Paper-Based relics protection with Long-Term Anti-Acidification and Flame-Retardancy.

Enhancing the interfacial dispersion and suspension stability is crucial for magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) nanomaterials in the long-term deacidification of paper-based cultural relics. However, because of the low specific surface area and the poor solvent compatibility of as-prepared large-sized Mg(OH)2, it often tends to agglomerate and settle down during the usage and storage, that is harmful for paper protection due to its unevenly deacidification and nonuniformly distribution on paper cellulose. Herein, we propose a feasible preparation of colloidal Mg(OH)2 ultrathin nanoflakes with high dispersion stability via a simple one-step surfactant-assisted strategy. The surfactant acts as both a structure-direct agent to confine the growth of Mg(OH)2 with rich active sites and a surface modifier to enhance its solvent adaptability and dispersion stability, avoiding the common fussy procedure with additional steric stabilizer. Owing to the evenly interaction with free acid species therein and the uniformly distribution on the paper fiber as alkaline reserve, the as-obtained Mg(OH)2 presents the superior paper protection performance characterized by its safer pH of 7.29 for the original aged paper (pH = 5.03) and the excellent long-term anti-acidification effect with competitive pH of 5.47 after accelerated-aging at 105 °C for 5 months. Furthermore, Mg(OH)2 nanoflakes with surfactant-modified structure also endue them as an improved flame retardant for multifunctional paper protection. The protection with Mg(OH)2 has little effect on the paper surface properties and cellulose crystallinity, in line with the principle of least intervention. This work will put forward a feasible way toward colloidal Mg(OH)2 nanoflakes with excellent paper protection performance, shedding light on the development of emerging protection materials for paper-based cultural relics.

Ultrathin dodecyl-sulfate-intercalated Mg-Al layered double hydroxide nanosheets with high adsorption capability for dye pollution.

A high-performance dye adsorbent of ultrathin dodecyl-sulfate (DS-) intercalated Mg-Al layered double hydroxide nanosheets (DI-LDH Ns) were controllably synthesized by a simple one-step surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method. The unique intercalated structure with week interlayer interaction and high accessible surface of DI-LDH Ns provide efficient adsorption of methyl orange (MO), leading to its superior performance with much higher uptake capability (846.6 mg/g at 298 K) and less adsorbing equilibrium time (5 min) than those of ultrathin DS--surface-modified Mg-Al-LDH nanosheets (DM-LDH Ns, 327.4 mg/g at 298 K, 120 min) and original Mg-Al-LDH (O-LDH, 208.2 mg/g at 298 K, 120 min). The composition and structure of these LDHs were investigated by systematic physicochemical characterization, such as XRD, TEM, FT-IR, BET and TGA. The adsorption behavior of DI-LDH Ns follows the Langmuir isotherm equation. A plausible mechanism is proposed to explain the adsorption process of such DI-LDH Ns, in which the synergistic contributions of surface and interlayer adsorption between DI-LDH Ns and MO play an important role. This study puts forward a new thought for the development of high-performance LDH adsorbents with an ultrathin intercalated structure for the efficient and rapid removal of dyes.

Efficacy and Safety of Jueyin Granules for Patients with Mild-to-Moderate Psoriasis Vulgaris: Protocol for a Multicenter Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Introduction. The etiology and pathogenesis of psoriasis are complex. Blood-heat syndrome is the core pathogenesis of psoriasis. Based on theories of Chinese medicine (CM), heat-clearing and blood-cooling (HCBC) are the primary treatment. Very few studies have investigated the pharmacological mechanism of the CM HCBC method for treating psoriasis. This multicenter randomized controlled trial will focus on treating psoriasis blood-heat syndrome with the HCBC method using Jueyin granules (JYKL). This will be an objective and standardized evaluation of the efficacy, safety, and reproducibility of the HCBC method to obtain objective evidence meeting international standards that aim to establish a clinical standard suitable for the popular application of CM for treating psoriasis. Methods and Analysis. A five-center randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical design will be used in this study. At least 196 participants will be randomly assigned to receive either JYKL or placebo treatment approximately 30 minutes after meals in the morning and evening (one sachet per time, twice daily for 8 consecutive weeks). The study duration will be 17 weeks, including 1 week of screening, 8 weeks of intervention, and 8 weeks of follow-up. The patients will be evaluated every 2 weeks, and the measures will be compared with baseline values. The primary outcome measure will be the psoriasis lesion area severity index. We will also observe the recurrence rate, body surface area, physician global assessment, dermatology life quality index, quality of life index, visual analogue scale score, CM symptom score, combined drug use, and adverse events. This trial is registered with NCT03961230.

Heteronanowires of MoC-Mo2C as efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction.

Exploring efficient noble-metal free electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is one of the most promising pathways for facing the energy crisis. Herein, MoC-Mo2C heteronanowires composed of well-defined nanoparticles were accomplished via controlled carbonization, showing excellent HER activity, fast kinetic metrics and outstanding stability in both acid and basic electrolytes. In particular, the optimal one consisting of 31.4 wt% MoC displayed a low overpotential (η10 = 126 and 120 mV for reaching a current density of -10 mA cm-2), a small Tafel slope (43 and 42 mV dec-1) and a low onset overpotential (38 and 33 mV) in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1.0 M KOH, respectively. Such prominent performance, outperforming most of the current noble-metal free electrocatalysts, was ascribed to the carbide surface with an optimized electron density, and the consequently facilitated HER kinetics. This work elucidates a feasible way toward efficient electrocatalysts via heteronanostructure engineering, shedding some light on the exploration and optimization of catalysts in energy chemistry.

Microwave-Assisted Reactant-Protecting Strategy toward Efficient MoS2 Electrocatalysts in Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

The exposure of rich active sites is crucial for MoS2 nanocatalysts in efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the active (010) and (100) planes tend to vanish during preparation because of their high surface energy. Employing the protection by thiourea (TU) reactant, a microwave-assisted reactant-protecting strategy is successfully introduced to fabricate active-site-rich MoS2 (AS-rich MoS2). The bifunctionality of TU, as both a reactant and a capping agent, ensures rich interactions for the effective protection and easy exposure of active sites in MoS2, avoiding the complicated control and fussy procedure related to additional surfactants and templates. The as-obtained AS-rich MoS2 presents the superior HER activity characterized by its high current density (j = 68 mA cm(-2) at -300 mV vs RHE), low Tafel slope (53.5 mV dec(-1)) and low onset overpotential (180 mV), which stems from the rich catalytic sites and the promoted conductivity. This work elucidates a feasible way toward high performance catalysts via interface engineering, shedding some light on the development of emerging nanocatalysts.

Metal non-oxide nanostructures developed from organic-inorganic hybrids and their catalytic application.

The rational design of metal non-oxides is important for their catalytic application, which is however limited by the fact that the current synthetic strategies are short of effective control over formation reactions. Recently, the hybrids evenly integrating organic with inorganic molecules on a nanoscale significantly provided quasi-homogeneous reactions towards well-defined nanocatalysts of metal non-oxides, in which their structures and properties can be modulated in a wide range. Focusing on the nanostructures and the related catalytic behaviors, this feature article seeks to provide some control on the key structures and properties of metal non-oxides (e.g. carbides, nitrides, sulfides and selenides). It is thus anticipated to shed some light on the development of emerging materials for efficient catalysis, especially those used in energy utilization.

Preparation of organic-inorganic hybrid Fe-MoO(x)/polyaniline nanorods as efficient catalysts for alkene epoxidation.

Novel Fe-MoO(x)/polyaniline nanorods were fabricated via in situ polymerization of Mo(3)O(10)(C(6)H(5)NH(3))(2)·2H(2)O nanowires, in which interface reactions remarkably influenced the morphology of products; and the nanorods showed high performance in cyclooctene epoxidation due to the organic-inorganic hybrid structure and Fe(3+) additive.

Controllable synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid MoOx/polyaniline nanowires and nanotubes.

A novel chemical oxidative polymerization approach has been proposed for the controllable preparation of organic-inorganic hybrid MoO(x)/polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites based on the nanowire precursor of Mo(3)O(10)(C(6)H(8)N)(2)·2H(2)O with sub-nanometer periodic structures. The nanotubes, nanowires, and rambutan-like nanoparticles of MoO(x)/PANI were successfully obtained through simply modulating the pH values to 2.5-3.5, ≈2.0 and ≈1.0, respectively. Through systematic physicochemical characterization, such as scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and so forth, the composition and structure of MoO(x)/PANI hybrid nanocomposites are well confirmed. It is found that the nanowire morphology of the precursor is the key to achieve the one-dimensional (1D) structures of final products. A new polymerization-dissolution mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of such products with different morphologies, in which the match between polymerization and dissolution processes of the precursor plays the important role. This approach will find a new way to controllably prepare various organic-inorganic hybrid 1D nanomaterials especially for polymer-hybrid nanostructures.

Preparation of supported Mo(2)C-based catalysts from organic-inorganic hybrid precursor for hydrogen production from methanol decomposition.

An effective and safe route is proposed to prepare supported Mo(2)C-based catalysts from organic-inorganic hybrids, which exhibit high activity and stability for producing H(2) from methanol catalytic decomposition.