bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of Nanostructured PbO@C Composite Derived from Spent Lead‐Acid Battery for Next‐Generation Lead‐Carbon Battery
Authors: Hu Yuchen , Yang Jiakuan , Hu Jingping , Wang Junxiong , Liang Sha , Hou Huijie , Wu Xu , Liu Bingchuan , Yu Wenhao , He Xiong , Kumar R. Vasant 
Published: January 2018

AbstractLead‐carbon batteries could provide better performance on high‐rate partial‐state‐of‐charge (HRPSoC) cycles than lead‐acid batteries (LABs), making them promising for the new‐generation of hybrid electric vehicles. The addition of carbon allotropes to the negative active material (NAM) could induce a significant improvement to the battery performance. Herein, an environmentally friendly strategy is demonstrated to prepare lead oxide and carbon (PbO@C) composite by pyrolyzing the lead citrate precursor derived from the spent lead paste of LABs. When the PbO@C composite is used as an additive to the NAM of lead‐carbon batteries, the utilization efficiency of the NAM is improved from 56.9% to 72.5%, and the cycle life of the cell in HRPSoC is tremendously extended by four times compared with the control one. The enhancement in battery performance is attributed to the hydrophilic carbon in the composite, which acts as a 3D electroosmotic pump facilitating electrolyte diffusion, and hindering the tendency to excess sulfation during the HRPSoC operation. This proposed research provides a sustainable and scalable strategy to recycle the discarded/spent LABs into high‐performance lead‐carbon batteries.
2D WC/WO3 Heterogeneous Hybrid for Photocatalytic Decomposition of Organic Compounds with Vis–NIR Light
Authors: Wang Song Ling , Zhu Ye , Luo Xin , Huang Yun , Chai Jianwei , Wong Ten It , Xu Guo Qin 
Published: January 2018

AbstractDeveloping catalysts to improve charge‐carrier transfer and separation is critical for efficient photocatalytic applications driven by low‐energy photons. van der Waals stacking of 2D materials has opened up opportunities to engineer heteromaterials for strong interlayer excitonic transition. However, fabrication of 2D heteromaterials with clean and seamless interfaces remains challenging. Here, a 2D tungsten carbide/tungsten trioxide (WC/WO3) heterogeneous hybrid in situ synthesized by a chemical engineering method has been reported. The hybrid comprises of layer‐by‐layer stacked WC and WO3 monolayers. The WC and specific interfacial interfaces between the WC and WO3 layers exhibit synergetic effects, promoting interfacial charge transfer and separation. Binderless WC performing platinum‐like behavior works as a potential substitute for noble metals and accelerates multielectron oxygen reduction, consequently speeding up the photocatalytic decomposition of organic compounds over the WO3 catalyst. The specific interfacial interaction between WC and WO3 layers potentially improves interfacial charge transfer from conduction band of WO3 to WC. In the absence of noble metals, the WC/WO3 hybrid as a catalyst exhibits distinct decomposition of organic compounds with vis–NIR light (λ = 400–800 nm). This finding provides a cost‐effective approach to capture low‐energy photons in environmental remediation applications.
Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Induced Hypotension by Regulating the Central Nervous System
Authors: Ma Xiaowei , Zhong Lin , Guo Hongbo , Wang Yifeng , Gong Ningqiang , Wang Yuqing , Cai Jun , Liang Xing‐Jie 
Published: January 2018

AbstractCardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Normal blood pressure is very important for overall well‐being and unexpected decrease in blood pressure may cause many detrimental consequences. The attractive properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) entice their usage in many cutting edge brain‐specific therapies. However, the effects of MWCNTs to the central nervous system are not fully understood. In this work, the authors report that carbon nanotubes can significantly cause blood pressure to fall down when introduced into the brain at very low dosage. It is found that MWCNTs induce increased expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase in the medulla cardiovascular center, which consequently attenuate sympathetic nerve activity and cause decrease in blood pressure and heart rate. In addition, MWCNTs promote acetylation and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor‐κB in brain cells. This work illustrates how CNTs can potentially change blood pressure by interrupting the central nervous system and is significant to the biomedical applications of CNTs.
A Facile Method to Fabricate Anisotropic Hydrogels with Perfectly Aligned Hierarchical Fibrous Structures
Authors: Mredha Md. Tariful Islam , Guo Yun Zhou , Nonoyama Takayuki , Nakajima Tasuku , Kurokawa Takayuki , Gong Jian Ping 
Published: January 2018

AbstractNatural structural materials (such as tendons and ligaments) are comprised of multiscale hierarchical architectures, with dimensions ranging from nano‐ to macroscale, which are difficult to mimic synthetically. Here a bioinspired, facile method to fabricate anisotropic hydrogels with perfectly aligned multiscale hierarchical fibrous structures similar to those of tendons and ligaments is reported. The method includes drying a diluted physical hydrogel in air by confining its length direction. During this process, sufficiently high tensile stress is built along the length direction to align the polymer chains and multiscale fibrous structures (from nano‐ to submicro‐ to microscale) are spontaneously formed in the bulk material, which are well‐retained in the reswollen gel. The method is useful for relatively rigid polymers (such as alginate and cellulose), which are susceptible to mechanical signal. By controlling the drying with or without prestretching, the degree of alignment, size of superstructures, and the strength of supramolecular interactions can be tuned, which sensitively influence the strength and toughness of the hydrogels. The mechanical properties are comparable with those of natural ligaments. This study provides a general strategy for designing hydrogels with highly ordered hierarchical structures, which opens routes for the development of many functional biomimetic materials for biomedical applications.
Lipid and Nucleic Acid Chemistries: Combining the Best of Both Worlds to Construct Advanced Biomaterials
Authors: Baillet Julie , Desvergnes Valérie , Hamoud Aladin , Latxague Laurent , Barthélémy Philippe 
Published: January 2018

AbstractHybrid synthetic amphiphilic biomolecules are emerging as promising supramolecular materials for biomedical and technological applications. Herein, recent progress in the field of nucleic acid based lipids is highlighted with an emphasis on their molecular design, synthesis, supramolecular properties, physicochemical behaviors, and applications in the field of health science and technology. In the first section, the design and the study of nucleolipids are in focus and then the glyconucleolipid family is discussed. In the last section, recent contributions of responsive materials involving nucleolipids and their use as smart drug delivery systems are discussed. The supramolecular materials generated by nucleic acid based lipids open new challenges for biomedical applications, including the fields of medicinal chemistry, biosensors, biomaterials for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and the decontamination of nanoparticles.
Real‐Time and High‐Resolution Bioimaging with Bright Aggregation‐Induced Emission Dots in Short‐Wave Infrared Region
Authors: Qi Ji , Sun Chaowei , Zebibula Abudureheman , Zhang Hequn , Kwok Ryan T. K. , Zhao Xinyuan , Xi Wang , Lam Jacky W. Y. , Qian Jun , Tang Ben Zhong 
Published: January 2018

AbstractFluorescence imaging in the spectral region beyond the conventional near‐infrared biological window (700–900 nm) can theoretically afford high resolution and deep tissue penetration. Although some efforts have been devoted to developing a short‐wave infrared (SWIR; 900–1700 nm) imaging modality in the past decade, long‐wavelength biomedical imaging is still suboptimal owing to the unsatisfactory materials properties of SWIR fluorophores. Taking advantage of organic dots based on an aggregation‐induced emission luminogen (AIEgen), herein microscopic vasculature imaging of brain and tumor is reported in living mice in the SWIR spectral region. The long‐wavelength emission of AIE dots with certain brightness facilitates resolving brain capillaries with high spatial resolution (≈3 µm) and deep penetration (800 µm). Owning to the deep penetration depth and real‐time imaging capability, in vivo SWIR microscopic angiography exhibits superior resolution in monitoring blood–brain barrier damage in mouse brain, and visualizing enhanced permeability and retention effect in tumor sites. Furthermore, the AIE dots show good biocompatibility, and no noticeable abnormalities, inflammations or lesions are observed in the main organs of the mice. This work will inspire new insights on development of advanced SWIR techniques for biomedical imaging.
Impact of Sr‐Incorporation on Cr Oxidation and Water Dissociation in La(1–x)SrxCrO3
Authors: Stoerzinger Kelsey A. , Du Yingge , Ihm Kyuwook , Zhang Kelvin H. L. , Cai Jun , Diulus J. Trey , Frederick Ryan T. , Herman Gregory S. , Crumlin Ethan J. , Chambers Scott A. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe oxidation and reduction of metal oxides and their interaction with the environment play a critical role in material stability and the ability to catalyze reactions. The local change in valence and formation of surface adsorbates affect the oxide electronic structure and chemical reactivity, yet are challenging to probe experimentally. In this paper a detailed study of the oxidation and reduction of Cr in the perovskite oxide family of La(1–x)SrxCrO3 using ambient pressure X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy is presented. The incorporation of Sr increases the propensity to oxidize at the surface, leading to the presence of Cr4+ and Cr6+ principally confined to the top unit cell when in equilibrium with O2 gas. These acidic sites are readily reduced to Cr3+ in equilibrium with H2O vapor, and the resultant amount of hydroxyls formed from the dissociation of H2O is directly proportional to the density of surface sites formerly oxidized. The quantification of the redox stability of La(1–x)SrxCrO3 and the relationship between the extent of oxidation, reduction, and hydroxylation with Sr yield important insight into the surface functionality during electrochemical applications.
Recovery and Recycling of Chiral Iridium(N,P Ligand) Catalysts from Hydrogenation Reactions
Authors: Müller Marc‐André , Gruber Stefan , Pfaltz Andreas 
Published: January 2018

AbstractDespite the high efficiency and broad scope of chiral iridium(N,P ligand) complexes as catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation, the problem of catalyst recovery and recycling has so far attracted little attention. We have found that at the end of a hydrogenation reaction, iridium(N,P ligand) catalysts form dimeric Ir(III) dihydride complexes, which can be converted back to the original precatalysts by addition of COD. Based on these findings, a practically simple protocol for catalyst recovery was devised. The recovered complexes showed essentially the same reactivity and enantioselectivity as the original catalysts. Especially large‐scale applications and hydrogenations of less reactive substrates that require high catalyst loadings will benefit from this protocol that allows recovery and reuse of expensive iridium complexes.magnified image
High Strength Adhesives from Catechol Cross‐Linking of Zein Protein and Plant Phenolics
Authors: Schmidt Gudrun , Hamaker Bruce R. , Wilker Jonathan J. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractCorn zein is a nontoxic protein that has found use in adhesive and coating materials for pharmaceutical, biomedical, and food applications. The degradability and amphiphilic properties of zein are attractive for materials design. Unmodified zein polymers, however, have drawbacks when it comes to adhesive strength, water resistance, and wet adhesion. Here, compositions of zein plus plant‐based phenolics including catechol, tannic acid, juglone, caffeic acid, quercetin, and gallic acid are examined. Combinations of zein with phenolic components from plants provide high strength adhesive bonding. These catechol‐containing phenolics may present an analogy to the cross‐linking chemistry of catechol found in mussel‐mimetic adhesives. Bonding is tested on dry and wet aluminum substrates using lap shear configurations. In each case, bond strengths are substantial and exceed the minimal bonding of zein only controls. Maximum adhesion for zein + catechol is 8 ± 1 MPa. Under similar conditions, commercial Super Glue bonds at 8 ± 2 MPa. Further results involve examinations of bond persistence on substrates submerged under water. Such results indicate that proper formulation efforts yield strong adhesives with some water resistance. These studies show that benign components from food can provide performance comparable to the petroleum‐based materials in current wide spread use.
Solid‐state foaming of epoxy resin under hypergravity and simulated microgravity
Authors: Quadrini Fabrizio , Tedde Giovanni Matteo , Santo Loredana , van Loon Jack J.W.A. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractSolid‐state foaming of epoxy resins has been performed under simulated microgravity by the random positioning machine (RPM) and under hypergravity by the large diameter centrifuge (LDC). More than 50 tests have been performed in static and dynamic conditions in different experimental configurations. Longitudinal, radial, and volumetric foaming ratios have been extracted from foaming tests, and correlated with the applied gravity conditions. Results show that the gravity vector has two opposite effects; the first on the flow front movement and the second on the contact between the sample and the oven. The second effect seems to be stronger, and the important role of heat transfer is confirmed. Nevertheless, effects related to apply centrifugal forces have been found and discussed, above all in the case of LDC tests.
Biomimetic Bipolar Microcapsules Derived from Staphylococcus aureus for Enhanced Properties of Lithium–Sulfur Battery Cathodes
Authors: Wu Wenlu , Pu Jun , Wang Jian , Shen Zihan , Tang Haiyan , Deng Zhentao , Tao Xinyong , Pan Feng , Zhang Huigang 
Published: January 2018

AbstractLithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries suffer from some serious issues, such as volume expansion, polysulfide migration, and so on, which lead to inferior rate properties, low Coulombic efficiency, and poor cycling stability. To a great extent, the significantly changing polarities, conductivities, and solubilities of sulfur species complicate these issues and make them hard to deal with. In this study, a biomimetic bipolar microcapsule is developed via bacteria fermentation and chemical modification. The biomimetic hierarchical microcapsule has a nonpolar core to load active materials and a polar shell to “selectively” control mass transport in and out. Each capsule acts as a microreactor, which adsorbs sulfur with the porous carbon core, retards polysulfide migration with the polar TiO2 shell, and only facilitates lithium ion diffusion through the shell. The advantages of bipolar microcapsules are able to concurrently address S hosting, electron conducting, and polysulfide migration issues in particle scales instead of electrode scales. Because the resulting sulfur cathodes effectively interact with all sulfur species and confine them inside microcapsules, those intractable issues that lead to poor cycling properties are significantly managed. Thus, a high specific capacity and excellent cycling stability are achieved by using this novel structure design.
Halogenbrücken in Lösung: Anionenerkennung, Templat‐gestützte Selbstorganisation und Organokatalyse
Authors: Tepper Ronny , Schubert Ulrich S. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractDie Halogenbrücke beruht auf einer attraktiven Wechselwirkung zwischen einem elektrophilen, kovalent gebundenen Halogensubstituenten und einer Lewis‐Base. Der Schwerpunkt dieser supramolekularen Wechselwirkung lag zwar bisher weitestgehend auf ihrer theoretischen sowie kristallographischen Untersuchung, aber auch ihre Verwendung in Lösung weckte speziell in den letzten Jahren sehr großes Interesse. Dieser Kurzaufsatz beleuchtet ausgewählte Neuerungen auf diesem hoch aktuellen Gebiet und fokussiert sich dabei auf den Einsatz von Halogenbrücken‐basierten Rezeptoren zur Anionenerkennung, templatgestützten Selbstorganisation und Organokatalyse in Lösung.
Solvent‐Free Enzyme Activity: Quick, High‐Yielding Mechanoenzymatic Hydrolysis of Cellulose into Glucose
Authors: Hammerer Fabien , Loots Leigh , Do Jean‐Louis , Therien J. P. Daniel , Nickels Christopher W. , Friščić Tomislav , Auclair Karine 
Published: January 2018

AbstractMechanochemistry enables enzymatic cleavage of cellulose into glucose without bulk solvents, acids, other aggressive reagents, or substrate pre‐treatment. This clean mechanoenzymatic process (coined RAging) is also directly applicable to biomass, avoids many limitations associated with the use of cellulases, and produces glucose concentrations greater than three times that obtained by conventional methods.
Isotope Substitution of Promiscuous Alcohol Dehydrogenase Reveals the Origin of Substrate Preference in the Transition State
Authors: Behiry Enas M. , Ruiz‐Pernia J. Javier , Luk Louis , Tuñón Iñaki , Moliner Vicent , Allemann Rudolf K. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThe origin of substrate preference in promiscuous enzymes was investigated by enzyme isotope labelling of the alcohol dehydrogenase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus (BsADH). At physiological temperature, protein dynamic coupling to the reaction coordinate was insignificant. However, the extent of dynamic coupling was highly substrate‐dependent at lower temperatures. For benzyl alcohol, an enzyme isotope effect larger than unity was observed, whereas the enzyme isotope effect was close to unity for isopropanol. Frequency motion analysis on the transition states revealed that residues surrounding the active site undergo substantial displacement during catalysis for sterically bulky alcohols. BsADH prefers smaller substrates, which cause less protein friction along the reaction coordinate and reduced frequencies of dynamic recrossing. This hypothesis allows a prediction of the trend of enzyme isotope effects for a wide variety of substrates.
Novel Pyrazoline‐based Organometallic Compounds Containing Ferrocenyl and Quinoline units: Synthesis, Characterization and Microbial susceptibilities
Authors: Parveen Humaira , Alatawi Raedah Aiyed Suliman , Alsharif Meshari A. , Alahmdi Mohammed Issa , Mukhtar Sayeed , Khan Salman Ahmad , Hasan Sadaf , Khan Asad U. 
Published: January 2018

Some novel pyrazoline‐based organometallic compounds were synthesized as new leads in antimicrobial chemotherapy. The structures of compounds were elucidated by different spectroscopic techniques and elemental analyses. All compounds were investigated for in vitro antimicrobial studies against fifteen ATTC bacterial and fungal strains. The microbial susceptibility of these compounds revealed that all the tested compounds gave good minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against the tested organisms that are either similar or even better than the reference drugs amoxicillin and fluconazole, which gave MIC values 8‐64 μg/ml against bacterial and 64 μg/ml against fungal strains, respectively. Among all compounds, compound (4d)1‐(5‐(4‐chlorophenyl)‐3‐ferrocenyl‐4,5‐dihydropyrazol‐1‐yl)‐2‐quinolin‐8‐yloxy) ethanone, emerged out the most promising antimicrobial organometallic derivative with MIC values against all the strains ranging from 8‐32 μg/ml. Other compounds gave a range of MIC values between 16‐64 μg/ml against S. bovis, 16‐32 μg/ml against E. coli, and C. tropicalis except compound (4d) which gave MIC 8 μg/ml against S. bovis and E. coli, whereas 32 μg/ml against C. tropicalis. Collectively, these compounds gave a lower MIC value between 32‐64 μg/ml against both of the biofilm forming strains namely, P. aeruginosa and S. mutans. The results of microbial susceptibility concluded that these novel organometallic compounds are new leads in antimicrobial chemotherapy and can be very useful for further optimization work on microbial chemotherapy.
Soil polymer conditioner based on montmorillonite‐poly(acrylic acid) composites
Authors: Lerma Tulio A. , Palencia Manuel , Combatt Enrique M. 
Published: January 2018

ABSTRACTThe constant deterioration of the soil as a result of natural and anthropogenic processes produces decrease of soil fertility and agricultural production, increase in the cost of food, desertification, and loss of water resources. The objective of this work was to develop a hybrid composite that structural and functionally mimics the humified structure of soils for the development of remediation strategies based on geotransformation of degraded soils. For that, two different strategies for the modification of clay surface were evaluated: (i) covalent linking using trichlorovinylsilane and (ii) electrostatic interaction using N‐vinylbenzyl‐N‐triethyl ammonium chloride. Later, modified clay was characterized and used as crosslinking agent during the free‐radical polymerization of acrylic acid. Particulate nanostructured polymers were characterized and their water absorption capacity, cationic exchange capacity, and ionic retention capacity were determined. Results showed that clay‐poly(acrylic acid) composites can be obtained by described methodology. In addition, materials with 60 and 80% w/w of modified MMT were obtained with particulate shape, high water absorption capacity (273%–568%), high cationic exchange capacity (124–666 meq+/100 g) and high ionic retention capacity (108–194 and 263–313 meq/100 g for major and minor elements, respectively). Finally, it was concluded that synthesized materials mimic structural and functionally the humified structure of soils. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46211.
Secretory expression of negative regulatory region of human Notch1 in Escherichia coli and preparation of a functional polyclonal antibody
Authors: Zhang Dengyang , Sun Tianzhu , Yan Jingyun , Wang Xuanjun , Sheng Jun 
Published: January 2018

AbstractNotch signaling is a highly conserved pathway existed in multicellular organisms. It plays roles in normal human body development, human cancer initiation, progression and metastasis. The Notch negative regulatory region (NRR) is critical for Notch signaling, and cleavage at the S2 site in the NRR ultimately leads to the activation of Notch signaling. To study the function of human NRR1, we expressed the recombinant human NRR1 (rhNRR1) domain in Escherichia coli. After purification, rhNRR1 was obtained with approximately 94% purity according to SDS‐PAGE analysis. Furthermore, the polyclonal anti‐rhNRR1 serum raised by immunizing mouse with the purified rhNRR1 was able to reduce the generation of active form of Notch1 intracellular domain in HeLa cells, which implied the raised antibody could recognize and bind the natural conformation of Notch1 NRR. Preparation of rhNRR1 by this way is convenient, time‐consuming, and could be used to the preparation of anti‐NRR1 therapeutic antibody.