Selection of hydrogel electrolytes for flexible zinc–air batteries

Flexible zinc–air batteries attract more attention due to their high energy density, safety, environmental protection, and low cost. However, the traditional aqueous electrolyte has the disadvantages of leakage and water evaporation, which cannot meet application demand of flexible zinc–air batteries. Hydrogels possessing good conductivity and mechanical properties become a candidate as the electrolytes of flexible zinc–air batteries. In this work, advances in aspects of conductivity, mechanical toughness, environmental adaptability, and interfacial compatibility of hydrogel electrolytes for flexible zinc–air batteries are investigated. First, the additives to improve conductivity of hydrogel electrolytes are summarized. Second, the measures to enhance the mechanical properties of hydrogels are taken by way of structure optimization and composition modification. Third, the environmental adaptability of hydrogel electrolytes is listed in terms of temperature, humidity, and air composition. Fourth, the compatibility of electrolyte–electrode interface is discussed from physical properties of hydrogels. Finally, the prospect for development and application of hydrogels is put forward.     

Comparative Analysis of Chemical Constituents in Different Parts of Lotus by UPLC and QToF-MS

Six parts of lotus (seeds, leaves, plumule, stamens, receptacles and rhizome nodes) are herbal medicines that are listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Their indications and functions have been confirmed by a long history of clinical practice. To fully understand the material basis of clinical applications, UPLC-QToF-MS combined with the UNIFI platform and multivariate statistical analysis was used in this study. As a result, a total of 171 compounds were detected and characterized from the six parts, and 23 robust biomarkers were discovered. The method can be used as a standard protocol for the direct identification and prediction of the six parts of lotus. Meanwhile, these discoveries are valuable for improving the quality control method of herbal medicines. Most importantly, this was the first time that alkaloids were detected in the stamen, and terpenoids were detected in the cored seed. The stamen is a noteworthy part because it contains the greatest diversity of flavonoids and terpenoids, but research on the stamen is rather limited.     

Approaches for Mitigating Microbial Biofilm-Related Drug Resistance: A Focus on Micro- and Nanotechnologies

Biofilms play an essential role in chronic and healthcare-associated infections and are more resistant to antimicrobials compared to their planktonic counterparts due to their (1) physiological state, (2) cell density, (3) quorum sensing abilities, (4) presence of extracellular matrix, (5) upregulation of drug efflux pumps, (6) point mutation and overexpression of resistance genes, and (7) presence of persister cells. The genes involved and their implications in antimicrobial resistance are well defined for bacterial biofilms but are understudied in fungal biofilms. Potential therapeutics for biofilm mitigation that have been reported include (1) antimicrobial photodynamic therapy, (2) antimicrobial lock therapy, (3) antimicrobial peptides, (4) electrical methods, and (5) antimicrobial coatings. These approaches exhibit promising characteristics for addressing the impending crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Recently, advances in the micro- and nanotechnology field have propelled the development of novel biomaterials and approaches to combat biofilms either independently, in combination or as antimicrobial delivery systems. In this review, we will summarize the general principles of clinically important microbial biofilm formation with a focus on fungal biofilms. We will delve into the details of some novel micro- and nanotechnology approaches that have been developed to combat biofilms and the possibility of utilizing them in a clinical setting.     

基于酶辅助靶标循环的适体传感器灵敏检测中药中黄曲霉毒素B1

该文基于酶辅助靶标循环信号放大策略构建了用于黄曲霉毒素B1(AFB1)高灵敏检测的化学发光适体传感器。以G-四链体/氯化血红素DNA酶为信号分子设计了免标记的适体探针H1-S1和发夹探针H2。适体探针结合目标AFB1,在核酸外切酶I辅助下,触发靶标循环反应产生发夹H1。发夹H1与H2杂交,释放出完整的G-四链体序列,并进一步与氯化血红素结合形成G-四链体/氯化血红素DNA酶。DNA酶通过催化氧化鲁米诺-H2O2化学发光体系产生化学发光信号,实现AFB1的放大检测。在最优实验条件下,化学发光强度与AFB1质量浓度的对数在0.001~100 ng/mL范围内呈良好的线性关系,相关系数(r2)为0.9955,检出限为0.93 pg/mL,回收率为93.7%~107%。该适体传感器操作简单、灵敏度高、特异性好,在黄曲霉毒素污染检测方面具有良好的应用前景。     

爆轰波对碰驱动平面锡飞层的动力学及动载行为特征研究

强冲击下的物质变形、破坏及诱发的轻重介质混合问题,是内爆压缩科学和工程应用领域的研究重点.本文针对爆轰波对碰条件下的复杂加载动力学过程及其动载破坏形态特征,开展数值模拟研究与极曲线理论分析.设计了爆轰波对碰驱动平面锡飞层的计算模型,获得了爆轰加载动力学过程及波系相互作用物理图像,分析了锡飞层对碰区自由表面速度历史的典型特征.给出了锡飞层中折射激波对碰发生马赫反射的临界条件,解读了三波结构的传播行为,阐明了对碰区内存在"一维正冲击"区域,一维区外存在单次斜冲击向两次斜冲击过渡的复杂加载动力学过程,提出了对碰区冲击动力学模型,揭示了影响对碰区动载行为特征的机理.数值模拟结果与极曲线理论分析结果相互印证,符合较好.本文的研究成果,将为深入理解和解读对碰区特殊的物质破坏及混合现象提供重要的理论支撑.     

Recent advances on the pesticidal activity evaluations of sulfone derivatives: A 2010 to 2020 decade in mini-review

Sulfone derivatives, an important synthetic strategy in drug discovery, are acquiring more importance in plant protection field in recent years because of their pesticide activities, such as antifungal, antibacterial, acaricidal, insecticidal, herbicidal, and antiviral activity. Introduction of different pharmacophores into sulfone framework can afford a series of sulfone derivatives to build some sulfone derivatives as novel active molecules. The purpose of this review was to collate literature work reported by researchers on sulfone derivatives for their various pesticidal activities from year 2010 to 2020.     

Bacteria and cancer cell pearl chain under dielectrophoresis

In this work, we aim to observe and study the physics of bacteria and cancer cells pearl chain formation under dielectrophoresis (DEP). Experimentally, we visualized the formation of Bacillus subtilis bacterial pearl chain and human breast cancer cell (MCF-7) chain under positive and negative dielectrophoretic force, respectively. Through a simple simulation with creeping flow, AC/DC electric fields, and particle tracing modules in COMSOL, we examined the mechanism by which bacteria self-organize into a pearl chain across the gap between two electrodes via DEP. Our simulation results reveal that the region of greatest positive DEP force shifts from the electrode edge to the leading edge of the pearl chain, thus guiding the trajectories of free-flowing particles toward the leading edge via positive DEP. Our findings additionally highlight the mechanism why the free-flowing particles are more likely to join the existing pearl chain rather than starting a new pearl chain. This phenomenon is primarily due to the increase in magnitude of electric field gradient, and hence DEP force exerted, with the shortening gap between the pearl chain leading edge and the adjacent electrode. The findings shed light on the observed behavior of preferential pearl chain formation across electrode gaps.     

Orientations of ZnO grown on GaN

On semipolar epitaxial ZnO grown by chemical vapor deposition consists of two distinct orientations as evidenced by transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction. The initially grown ZnO on GaN follows the GaN lattice with the epitaxial relationship of // and The other oriented ZnO domains then grow on faceted with and with good coherency with the ‐oriented grains. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Synthesis of Cu vanadate nanorods for visible‐light photocatalytic degradation of gentian violet

Cu vanadate nanorods have been synthesized via the hydrothermal process using polymer polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as the surfactant. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the nanorods are composed of monoclinic Cu₅V₂O₁₀ phase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation shows that the diameter and length of the nanorods are 50–300 nm and 3 μm, respectively. PVP concentration, hydrothermal temperature and duration time play essential roles in the formation and sizes of the Cu vanadate nanorods. A PVP‐assisted nucleation and crystal‐growth process is proposed to explain the formation of the Cu vanadate nanorods. Gentian violet (GV) is used to evaluate the photocatalytic activities of the Cu vanadate nanorods under solar light. The GV concentration clearly decreases with increasing irradiation time, and content of the Cu vanadate nanorods. GV solution with the concentration of 10 mg L⁻¹ can be totally degraded under solar light irradiation for 4 h using 10 mg Cu vanadate nanorods. The Cu vanadate nanorods have good photocatalytic activities for the degradation of GV under solar light.     

纳米Fe3O4/高岭土复合粉体制备及其对亚甲基蓝吸附性能研究

以天然高岭土为载体、利用化学共沉淀法成功地制备出纳米Fe3O4/高岭土复合粉体。采用XRD、FSEM对复合粉体的物相组成、粒径、显微结构、形貌进行了表征,并研究了其磁分离性能和对亚甲基蓝(MB)的吸附性能。结果显示,复合粉体中的铁氧化物呈单一的Fe3O4相,Fe3O4晶粒的尺寸为10~30 nm,且均匀负载于高岭石晶体表面。当Fe3O4、高岭土质量比为1∶5时,复合粉体的磁分离率高达90.12%,并具有良好的吸附性能。复合粉体对MB的去除率随着吸附时间的延长、吸附温度的升高、溶液p H的增大和投入量的增加而逐步提高,随着MB溶液初始浓度的增大而逐步减小;对MB的吸附量随初始浓度的增大而逐步增大。