Revealing the Cell Entry Dynamic Mechanism of Single Rabies Virus Particle

The rabies virus is a neurotropic virus that causes fatal diseases in humans and animals. Although studying the interactions between a single rabies virus and the cell membrane is necessary for understanding the pathogenesis, the internalization dynamic mechanism of single rabies virus in living cells remains largely elusive. Here, we utilized a novel force tracing technique based on atomic force microscopy(AFM) to record the process of single viral entry into host cell. We revealed that the force of the rabies virus internalization distributed at (65±25) pN, and the time was identified by two peaks with spacings of (237.2±59.1) and (790.3±134.4) ms with the corresponding speed of 0.12 and 0.04 μm/s, respectively. Our results provide insight into the effects of viral shape during the endocytosis process. This report will be meaningful for understanding the dynamic mechanism of rabies virus early infection.     

Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Fe-N-C Cathode in Long-durable Direct Glycol Fuel Cells

The oxygen reduction reaction in direct glycol fuel cells heavily relies on noble metal-based electrocatalysts. In this work, novel Pt group metal-free catalysts based on porous Fe-N-C materials are successfully synthesized as catalysts with high activity and durability for the cathode oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Through the encapsulation of NH₄SCN salt, the surface elements and pore structure of the catalyst are effectively changed, and the active sites of Fe effectively are increased. The half-wave potential of the best Fe-N-C catalyst was –0.02 V vs. Hg/HgO in an alkaline environment. The porous Fe-N-C catalyst possesses a large specific surface area(1158 m²/g) and shows good activity and tolerance to glycol. The direct glycol fuel cell with the Fe-N-C cathode achieved a maximum power density of 62.2 mW/cm² with 4 mol/L KOH and 4 mol/L glycol solution at 25 °C and maintained discharge for more than 250 h at a 50 A/cm² current density.     

Single-atom Fe Embedded Co3S4 for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Constructing atomically dispersed active sites with densely exposed and dispersed double metal-S_x catalytic sites for favorable OER catalytic activity remains rare and challenging. Herein, we design and construct a Fe₁S_x@Co₃S₄ electrocatalyst with Fe single atoms epitaxially confined in Co₃S₄ nanosheets for catalyzing the sluggish alkaline oxygen evolution reaction(OER). Consequently, in ultralow concentration alkaline solutions(0.1 mol/L KOH), such a catalyst is highly active and robust for OER with low overpotentials of 300 and 333 mV at current densities of 10 and 30 mA/cm², respectively, accompanying long-term stability without significant degradation even for 350 h. In addition, Fe₁S_x@Co₃S₄ shows a turnover frequency(TOF) value of 0.18 s⁻¹, nearly three times that of Co₃S₄(0.07 s⁻¹), suggesting the higher atomic utilization of Fe single atoms. Mössbauer and in-situ Raman spectra confirm that the OER activity of Fe₁S_x@Co₃S₄ origins from a thin catalytic layer of Co(Fe)OOH that interacts with trace-level Fe species in the electrolyte, creating dynamically stable active sites. Combined with experimental characterizations, it suggests that the most active S-coordinated dual-metal site configurations are 2S-bridged (Fe-Co)S₄, in which Co-S and Fe-S moieties are shared with two S atoms, which can strongly regulate the adsorption energy of reaction intermediates, accelerating the OER reaction kinetics.     

聚3-己基噻吩：非富勒烯太阳能电池中的量子效率损失和电压损失

聚3-己基噻吩(P3HT)以其合成工艺简单、成本低廉的优势,成为有机光伏领域中最具吸引力的电子给体材料之一。然而,目前P3HT: 非富勒烯太阳能电池的光伏性能仍然较差。在本工作中,我们证明了与P3HT: 富勒烯太阳能电池相比,较快的电荷转移态的非辐射衰减速率(K_nr)是导致P3HT: 非富勒烯太阳能电池中较低的量子效率和较高的电压损失的原因。然后,我们研究了基于非富勒烯受体ZY-4Cl的太阳能电池的工作机理。研究结果表明与P3HT: 非富勒烯体系相比,P3HT: ZY-4Cl中K_nr的降低改善了器件的量子效率,同时降低了电压损失。K_nr降低的原因可以部分归因于电荷转移态能量的增加。此外,给体分子和受体分子之间的距离(DA间距)的增大也是K_nr减少的重要原因。因此,我们得出结论：为了提高P3HT太阳能电池的性能,需进一步降低器件的K_nr,这可通过增加活性层中的DA间距来实现。     

分散溶剂对PEMFC催化层中超薄Nafion离聚物质子传导的影响

质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)商业化应用的瓶颈仍然是贵金属催化剂导致的成本问题。然而,目前对于催化层中纳米尺度全氟磺酸离聚物(以Nafion为代表)薄膜中质子传导的问题研究不足,无法完善三相界面的成型规律,进而指导催化层设计。在催化层浆料制备过程中,分散溶剂对Nafion的分散形态有直接影响,可能对催化层成型后附着在催化剂颗粒表面Nafion薄膜的微观结构有潜在影响,进而影响Nafion薄膜的质子传导能力。因此,在本文中利用分子自组装技术模拟催化层离聚物薄膜的聚集过程,于模型基底上制备厚度精确可控的纳米尺度Nafion薄膜,并通过微观测试表征技术探索并建立纳米尺度Nafion离聚物的微观结构模型,阐明分散溶剂对Nafion薄膜微观结构及质子传导的影响。研究发现Nafion薄膜在纳米尺度下的质子电导率比体相膜的质子电导率低一个数量级,使用介电常数较小的醇类溶剂可以使Nafion薄膜形成更有利于质子传导的微观结构,使Nafion薄膜的质子电导率得到提高。相关研究结果为优化PEMFC催化层结构,改善PEMFC催化层中质子传导问题提供给了依据。     

硫化钴改性石墨炔构建S型异质结高效光催化产氢

石墨炔(GDY,g-CnH2n-2)作为一种新型的由sp和sp2杂化的碳原子构成的二维碳材料,因其独特的纳米级孔隙、二维层状共轭骨架结构及半导体性质等特性,使之在能源、电化学、光催化、光学、电子学等诸多领域具有显著优势.它作为一种具有良好的层状结构的新型碳材料,其可调节的电子结构弥补了石墨烯无明显带隙的缺点,有望在光催...     

高核Ag/S纳米团簇合成的研究进展

硫醇配体保护的高核银纳米团簇具有丰富的结构和性能, 在光致发光、 生物传感、 纳米材料等方面具有广阔的应用前景. 然而, 精确控制高核Ag/S纳米团簇的尺寸和结构面临着巨大的挑战, 构建高核Ag/S纳米团簇的可行策略也一直是人们关注的焦点. 近年来, 随着合成方法和表征技术的不断发展, 高核Ag/S纳米团簇的合成和性能研究方面均取得了显著的成就. 本文总结了含20个或以上Ag原子的Ag/S纳米团簇的合成方法(直接还原法、 阴离子模板法及配体交换法), 对部分高核Ag/S纳米团簇的结构进行了探讨, 并展望了未来研究的趋势.     

Construction of Z-Scheme In2S3-TiO2 for CO2 Reduction under Concentrated Natural Sunlight

Producing chemical fuels from sunlight enables a sustainable way for energy consumption.Among various solar fuel generation approaches,photocatalytic CO₂ reduction has the advantages of simple structure,mild reaction condition,directly reducing carbon emissions,etc.However,most of the current photocatalytic systems can only absorb the UV-visible spectrum of solar light.Therefore,finding a way to utilize infrared light in the photocatalytic system has attracted more and more attention.Here,a Z-scheme In₂S₃-TiO₂ was constructed for CO₂ reduction under concentrated natural sunlight.The infrared light was used to create a high-temperature environment for photocatalytic reactions.The evolution rates of H2,CO,and C2H5OH reached 262.2,73.9,and 27.56μmol?h^-1?g^-1,respectively,with an overall solar to fuels efficiency of 0.002%.This work provides a composite photocatalyst towards the utilization of full solar light spectrum,and could promote the research on photocatalytic CO₂ reduction.     

Enhanced Power Density of Alcohol Biofuel Cell by Polymer-assisted Crosslinks of 3D Graphene on Carbon Paper as the Bioanode

Herein, we successfully construct the 3D biocompatible graphene through crosslinking 2D graphene nanosheet onto carbon fiber paper with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) as anode of the alcohol biofuel cell. Compared with the bioanode without 3D graphene, the current density and output power of PDDA-graphene-ADH bioanode is increased by 23 % and 41 % at a high concentration of ethanol at pH 8.9, suggesting the stabilization role of graphene in enzyme loading. The study provides us a deep analysis on structures and performances of the bioanode incl. electrochemistry, X-ray photoelectron spectra, and atomic force microscopy images, which is significant to develop the new methods to construct 3D porous electrodes in energy conversion device.     

Diffusiophoresis in suspensions of highly charged soft particles

Diffusiophoresis phenomenon of aoft particles suspended in binary electrolyte solutions is explored theoretically in this study based on the spherical cell model, focusing on the chemiphoresis component in absence of diffusion potential. Both the electrostatic and hydrodynamic aspects of the boundary confinement, or steric effect, due to the presence of neighboring particles are examined extensively under various electrokinetic conditions. Significant local extrema are found in mobility profiles expressed as functions of the Debye length in general, synchronized with the strength of the motion-inducing double layer polarization. Moreover, a seemingly peculiar phenomenon is observed that the soft particles may move faster in more concentrated suspensions. The competition between the simultaneous enhancement of the motion-inducing electric driving force and the motion-retarding hydrodynamic drag force from the boundary confinement effect of the neighboring particles is found to be responsible for it. The above findings are also demonstrated experimentally in a very recent study on the diffusiophoretic motion of soft particles through porous collagen hydrogels. The results presented here are useful in various practical applications of soft particles like drug delivery.