Fabrication of cobalt aluminum-layered double hydroxide nanosheets/carbon spheres composite as novel electrode material for supercapacitors

A new design route was presented to fabricate cobalt aluminum-layered double hydroxide(CoAl-LDH)thin layers whichgrow on carbon spheres(CSs)through a growth method.The CoAl-LDH thin layers consist of nanoflakes with a thickness of20nm.The galvanostatic charge-discharge test of the CoAl-LDH/CSs composite shows a great specific capacitance of1198F/g at1A/g(based on the mass of the CoAl-LDH/CSs composite)in6mol/L KOH solution,and the composite displays an impressive specificcapacitance of920F/g even at a high current density of10A/g.Moreover,the composite remains a specific capacitance of928F/gafter1000cycles at2A/g,and the specific capacitance retention is84%,indicating that the composite has high specific capacitance,excellent rate capability and good cycling stability in comparison to pristine CoAl-LDH.

Synthesis and characterization of porous monodisperse carbon spheres/selenium composite for high-performance rechargeable Li-Se batteries

In order to find the appropriate material to load selenium for higher performance of rechargeable Li-Se batteries,the resorcinol-formaldehyde resins derived monodisperse carbon spheres(RFCS)/Se composites were fabricated by the melting-diffusion method.The RFCS were obtained from initial carbonization of resorcinol-formaldehyde resins and subsequent KOH activation.Three kinds of samples of the RFCS/Se composites with different mass ratios were characterized by XRD,Raman spectroscopy,SEM,BET and EDS tests,which demonstrate that the samples with diverse mass fractions of selenium have distinct interior structure.The most suitable RFCS/Se composite is found to be the RFCS/Se-50 composite,which delivers a high reversible capacity of 643.9 mA·h/g after 100 cycles at current density of 0.2C.

Cytochrome c and insect cell apoptosis

The role ofcytochrome c in insect cell apoptosis has drawn considerable atten- tion and has been subject to considerable controversy. In Drosophila, the majority of studies have demonstrated that cytochrome c may not be involved in apoptosis, although there are conflicting reports. Cytochrome c is not released from mitochondria into the cytosol and activation of the initiator caspase Dronc or effector caspase Drice is not associated with cytochrome c during apoptosis in Drosophila SL2 cells or BG2 cells. Cytochrome c failed to induce caspase activation and promote caspase activation in Drosophila cell lysates, but remarkably caused caspase activation in extracts from human cells. Knockdown of cytochrome c does not protect cells from apoptosis and over-expression of cytochrome c also does not promote apoptosis. Structural analysis has revealed that cytochrome c is not required for Dapaf-1 complex assembly. In Lepidoptera, the involvement of cytochrome c in apoptosis has been demonstrated by the accumulating evidence. Cytochrome c re- lease from mitochondria into cytosol has been observed in different cell lines such as Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9, Spodoptera litura S1-1 and Lymantria dispar LdFB. Silencing of cytochrome c expression significantly affected apoptosis and activation of caspase and the addition of cytochrome c to cell-free extracts results in caspase activation, suggesting the activation of caspase is dependent on cytochrome c. Although Apaf-1 has not been identified in Lepidoptera, the inhibitor of apoptosome formation can inhibit apoptosis and caspase activation. Cytochrome c may be exclusively required for Lepidoptera apoptosis.