Latest ArticlesEfficient and innovative nano-catalytic oxidation technologies offer a breakthrough in removing emerging contaminants (ECs) from water, surpassing the limitations of traditional methods. Environmental functional materials (EFMs), particularly high-end oxidation systems using eco-friendly nanomaterials, show promise for absorbing and degrading ECs. This literature review presents a comprehensive analysis of diverse traditional restoration techniques-biological, physical, and chemical-assessing their respective applications and limitations in pesticide-contaminated water purification. Through meticulous comparison, we unequivocally advocate for the imperative integration of environmentally benign nanomaterials, notably titanium-based variants, in forthcoming methodologies. Our in-depth exploration scrutinizes the catalytic efficacy, underlying mechanisms, and adaptability of pioneering titanium-based nanomaterials across a spectrum of environmental contexts. Additionally, strategic recommendations are furnished to surmount challenges and propel the frontiers of implementing eco-friendly nanomaterials in practical water treatment scenarios.
Gliomas are the most common intracranial tumors with poor survival and high mortality. Furthermore, the clinical efficacy of current drugs is still not ideal; despite the development of several therapeutic drugs over the past decades and tumor progression or recurrence is inevitable in many patients. RNAi-based therapy presents a novel disease-related gene targeting therapy, including otherwise undruggable genes, and generates therapeutic options. However, the therapeutic effect of siRNA is hindered by multiple biological barriers, primarily the blood-brain barrier (BBB). A glycoprotein-derived peptide-mediated delivery system is the preferred option to resolve this phenomenon. RDP, a polypeptide composed of 15 amino acids derived from rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG), possesses an N-type acetylcholine receptor (nAChR)-binding efficiency similar to that of RVG29. Given its lower cost and small particle size when used as a ligand, RDP should be extensively evaluated. First, we verified the brain-targeting efficacyy of RDP at the cellular and animal levels and further explored the possibility of using the RDP-oligoarginine peptide (designated RDP-5R) as a bio-safe vehicle to deliver therapeutic siRNA into glioma cells in vitro and in vivo. The polypeptide carrier possesses a diblock design composed of oligoarginine for binding siRNA through electrostatic interactions and RDP for cascade BBB- and glioma cell-targeting. The results indicated that RDP-R5/siRNA nanoparticles exhibited stable and suitable physicochemical properties for in vivo application, desirable glioma-targeting effects, and therapeutic efficiency. As a novel and efficient polypeptide carrier, RDP-based polypeptides hold great promise as a noninvasive, safe, and efficient treatment for various brain diseases.
Fuel cell electric vehicles hold great promise for a diverse range of applications in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In power fuel cell systems, hydrogen fuel serves as an energy vector. To ensure its suitability, it is necessary for the quality of hydrogen to adhere to the standards set by ISO 14687:2019, which sets maximum limits for 14 impurities in hydrogen, aiming to prevent any degradation of fuel cell performance. Ammonia (NH3) is a prominent pollutant in fuel cells, and accurate measurements of its concentration are crucial for hydrogen fuel cell quantity. In this study, a novel detection platform was developed for determining NH3 in real hydrogen samples. The online analysis platform integrates a self-developed online dilution module with a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (ODM-FTIR). The ODM-FTIR can be operated fully automatically with remote operation. Under the optimum conditions, this method achieved a wide linear range between (50~1000) nmol/mol. The limit of detection (LOD) was as low as 2 nmol/mol with a relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 7) of 3.6% at a content of 50 nmol/mol. To ensure that the quality of the hydrogen products meets the requirement of proton exchange membrane fuel cell vehicles (PEMFCV), the developed ODM-FTIR system was applied to monitor the NH3 content in Chengdu Hydrogen Energy Co., Ltd. for 21 days during Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games. The proposed method retains several unique advantages, including a low detection limit, excellent repeatability, high accuracy, high speed, good stability, and calibration flexibility. It is an effective analytical method for accurately quantifying NH3 in hydrogen, especially suitable for online analysis. It also provides a new idea for the analysis of other impurity components in hydrogen.
Aqueous zinc-based energy storage devices (ZESDs) have garnered considerable interest because of their high specific capacity, abundant zinc reserves, excellent safety, and environmental friendliness. In recent years, various types of boron, nitrogen co-doped carbon (BNC) materials have been developed to improve electrochemical performance of ZESDs. To promote the advancement of these technologies, we herein give a comprehensive review of the progress in BNC materials for ZESDs. The different synthetic methods employed in the preparation of BNC materials, including direct carbonization, template method, chemical vapor deposition, hydrothermal method, etc., are summarized. These methods play a vital role in tailoring the structure, composition, and properties of BNC materials to optimize their performance in energy storage applications. Furthermore, some key achievements of BNC materials in zinc-air batteries and zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitors are elaborated. Lastly, future challenges and development directions of BNC materials in ZESDs are prospected. This comprehensive review could serve as a valuable resource in the energy storage field, providing insights into the potential of BNC materials in zinc-based energy storage technologies.
Pyrrole is a heterocycle with four carbon atoms and a nitrogen atom, which is extensively used in the pesticide and pharmaceutical industries. In addition, it has a series of analogs such as pyrrolidine, pyrroline, and pyrrolidone. Pesticides containing pyrrole and its analogs have been formally marketed as fungicides, including fenpiclonil, fludioxonil, the insecticide chlorfenapyr, and the herbicide fluorochloridone. In this paper, we analyze the structure-activity relationships (SARs) of pesticides containing these structures. We summarize the characteristics possessed by the most highly active pyrrole and its analogs and provide an overview of research on pyrrole compounds with insecticidal, antimicrobial, herbicidal, and antiviral properties in the past 20 years. It is hoped to provide ideas for the development and design of this type compounds in pesticides and to assist researchers in this area.
Improper abuse of roxarsone (ROX) in industrial production leads to harmful effects on water, soil, food, and living creatures. It is significant to detect its concentration in the environment and biosystem. Herein, two aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active fluorescence probes, TPE-TPE and TPE-TPE-CN, are successfully synthesized via a sulfur(Ⅵ) fluoride exchange (SuFEx) click reaction and first employed to detect ROX in the environment and living 3T3 cells. These two probes can selectively detect ROX in water due to the synergistic effect of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between the probes and ROX. The detection limit of TPE-TPE and TPE-TPE-CN is 0.154 and 0.385 µmol/L, respectively, much lower than the safety concentration stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, with the aid of a color discrimination application in a smartphone, these two probes can also detect ROX in real samples (such as water, soil, and cabbage), demonstrating their excellent potential for monitoring ROX in a practical environment.
The dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) process remains a highly efficacious approach for constructing chiral amino alcohols via the catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation of α-amino ketones. We report herein a highly efficient and enantioselective anti-selective dynamic kinetic asymmetric hydrogenation of α-amino ketones catalyzed by Ir-(S)-f-phamidol system, providing various chiral amino alcohols and chiral oxazolidin-2-ones divergently with high diastereo- and enantioselectivity (up to 99% yield, up to 99% ee and up to 99:1 dr). In addition, the reaction could be performed on the gram-scale, and the resulting chiral amino alcohols are key intermediates of norephedrine and metaraminol.
Neuropathic pain (NP) is one of the most common pathological pain types and is associated with limited treatment options; moreover, it affects patients’ quality of life and causes a heavy social burden. Despite the emphasis on inhibiting neuronal apoptosis to relieve NP, the crucial role of a neuroinflammation is often overlooked. Therefore, refocusing on the regulation of microglia polarization to create a more conducive environment for neuron holds great potential in NP treatment. In recent years, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) had become an attractive therapeutic option. However, an efficient loading and delivery system for siRNA is still in lack. In our study, a nanostructured tetrahedral framework nucleic acid loaded with the small interfering RNA C–C chemokine receptor 2 (T-siCCR2) was successfully designed and synthesized for use in NP rat model in vivo and in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory environment in vitro. This nanoscale complex is endowed with structural stability and satisfactory delivery efficiency while assuring the silencing effect of siRNA-CCR2. In vivo, T-siCCR2 treatment exhibited favorable effects on pain relief and functional improvement in the NP animal model by directly targeting microglia. In vitro, T-siCCR2 counteracts LPS-induced inflammation by inhibiting the differentiation of microglia toward the M1 phenotype, thus playing a neuroprotective role. RNA sequencing was subsequently performed to elucidate the underlying mechanism involved. These results indicate that T-siCCR2 may serve as a potential treatment option for NP in the future.
Van der Waals (vdW) ferroelectric-semiconductor heterojunction provides reconfigurable band alignment based on optical/electrical-assisted polarization switching, which shows great potential to construct artificial visual neural systems. However, the mechanical exfoliation fabrication scheme for proof-of-concept demonstrations and fundamental studies is cumbersome and not scalable for practical application. Here, we present a synthetic strategy for the large-scale and high crystallinity growth of planar/vertical α-In2Se3/MoS2 heterojunctions by dynamically tuning the growth temperature. Furthermore, based on the α-In2Se3/MoS2 heterostructures, photo-synapse devices are designed and fabricated to simulate visual neural systems functions, including multistate storage, optical logic operation, potentiation and depression, paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), short-term memory (STM), long-term memory (LTM), and Learning-Forgetting-Relearning. By coupling the spatiotemporally relevant optical and electric information, the device can mimic the superior biological visual system's light adaptation and Pavlovian conditioning. This work provides a strategy for dynamically tuning the orientation of ferroelectric-semiconductor heterojunction stacks and will give impetus to applying all-in-one sensing and memory-computing artificial vision systems.
Density functional theory (DFT) was performed to systematically study the adsorption and dissociation of N2 on Ir(100) and Ir(110) surfaces. By analyzing the properties, including adsorption energies, reaction barriers, and optimal adsorption sites, the hollow (H) sites were finally identified as favorable dissociation sites for N2. The dissociation barriers of N2 are 0.87 eV on Ir(100) and 1.12 eV on Ir(110), which can be overcome at around 348 and 448 K, respectively. Therefore, Ir(100) is screened as a promising catalyst for N2 dissociation compared to Ir(110). This can be attributed to the significantly higher adsorption energy of N2 on the H site of Ir(100) (−0.48 eV) compared to that on Ir(110) (−0.22 eV), leading to different dissociation mechanisms on Ir(100) and Ir(110). Ir(100) can dissociate N2 directly on H site and Ir(110) should firstly capture N2 via bridge site and further transfer the adsorbed N2 to the H site, which will dramatically deteriorate the reactivity of N2 dissociation. In addition, the following protonation processes of dissociated *N atoms are all exothermal at 348 K on Ir(100), indicating that the ammonia synthesis can occur spontaneously as the temperature higher than 348 K. These results have provided a reasonable materials design scheme for subsequent ammonia synthesis.
No. 86 Xueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing
010-62199257
qkjq@cast.org.cn
Copyright © 2025 China Association for Science and Technology. All rights reserved. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
Sponsored by the Office of the Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization of CAST, and supported by Science and Technology Review Publishing House
