BiVO4/TiO2(N2) Nanotubes Heterojunction Photoanode for Highly Efficient Photoelectrocatalytic Applications

We report the development of a novel visible response BiVO_4/TiO_2(N_2) nanotubes photoanode for photoelectrocatalytic applications. The nitrogen-treated TiO_2 nanotube shows a high carrier concentration rate, thus resulting in a high efficient charge transportation and low electron–hole recombination in the TiO_2–BiVO_4. Therefore, the BiVO_4/TiO_2(N_2) NTs photoanode enabled with a significantly enhanced photocurrent of 2.73 mA cm^(-2)(at 1 V vs. Ag/Ag Cl) and a degradation efficiency in the oxidation of dyes under visible light. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, and UV–Vis absorption spectrum were conducted to characterize the photoanode and demonstrated the presence of both metal oxides as a junction composite.

CHDbase:A Comprehensive Knowledgebase for Congenital Heart Disease-related Genes and Clinical Manifestations

Congenital heart disease(CHD)is one of the most common causes of major birth defects,with a prevalence of 1%.Although an increasing number of studies have reported the etiology of CHD,the findings scattered throughout the literature are difficult to retrieve and utilize in research and clinical practice.We therefore developed CHDbase,an evidence-based knowledgebase of CHD-related genes and clinical manifestations manually curated from 1114 publications,linking 1124 susceptibility genes and 3591 variations to more than 300 CHD types and related syndromes.Metadata such as the information of each publication and the selected population and samples,the strategy of studies,and the major findings of studies were integrated with each item of the research record.We also integrated functional annotations through parsing50 databases/tools to facilitate the interpretation of these genes and variations in disease pathogenicity.We further prioritized the significance of these CHD-related genes with a gene interaction network approach and extracted a core CHD sub-network with 163 genes.The clear genetic landscape of CHD enables the phenotype classification based on the shared genetic origin.Overall,CHDbase provides a comprehensive and freely available resource to study CHD susceptibilities,supporting a wide range of users in the scientific and medical communities.CHDbase is accessible at http://chddb.fwgenetics.org.

A homologous strategy to parallelly construct doped MOFs-derived electrodes for flexible solid-state hybrid supercapacitors

Developing efficient and cost-effective electrode materials is of essential significance to advance various energy storage technologies,among which flexible supercapacitors hold great promise to meet the growing popularity of wearable electronics.Herein,we report a homologous strategy to parallelly synthesize phosphorus-doped ZnCo_(2)O_(4)(P-ZnCo_(2)O_(4)@NCC)and nitrogen-doped carbon(NC@NCC)both derived from ZnCo-metal-organic frameworks(MOFs)precursors in-situ grown on dopamine-modified carbon cloth(NCC)as conductive substrates.Impressively,the as-obtained P-ZnCo_(2)O_(4)@NCC can achieve a high specific capacitance of 2702.2 mF∙cm^(−2)at 1 mA∙cm^(−2)with the capacitance retention rate exceeding 70.6%at 10 mA∙cm^(−2),demonstrating the outstanding rate capability.Moreover,flexible solid-state hybrid supercapacitors,using P-ZnCo_(2)O_(4)@NCC as positive electrode and NC@NCC as negative electrode,are assembled with poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA)/KOH as the gel electrolyte,which deliver the energy density of 11.9 mWh∙cm^(−3)when the power density reaches up to 47.3 mW∙cm^(−3).In addition,85.15%of the initial specific capacitance is maintained after 5000 continuous cycles and no obvious capacitance decay is observed under different bending conditions,revealing the excellent cycling stability and flexibility.As a proof-of-concept demonstration,two as-assembled hybrid supercapacitors connected in series can light up a red light-emitting diode(LED)under the bending angle of 180°,heralding the feasibility for broad practical applications.

Branched core-shell a-TiO_(2)@N-TiO_(2) nanospheres with gradient-doped N for highly efficient photocatalytic applications

A branched core-shell nanosphere composed of an anatase TiO_(2)(a-TiO_(2)) core and a TiO_(2)nanobranch shell with gradient-doped N(a-TiO_(2)@N-TiO_(2)) is synthesized by a simple in situ doping method, in which mixed crystal anatase-rutile TiO_(2)(ar-TiO_(2)) nanosphere is first prepared by oxidizing Ti using H_(2)O_(2), and then is etched by NH_(3)·H_(2)O to form(NH_(4))2TiO_(3)nanobranches, which is converted into a-TiO_(2)@N-TiO_(2)following an ambient annealing process. The diameter of a-TiO_(2)core is ~500 nm, and the thickness of NTiO_(2)branched shell is ~100 nm with gradually increased N concentration from the bottom to the edge.Ultra-thin amorphous coating layers on the branches are also observed. The morphology of the composites could be further tuned by the amount of NH_(3)·H_(2)O, and its effect on the photocatalytic performance is also investigated. The optimized a-TiO_(2)@N-TiO_(2)shows an outstanding hydrogen evolution rate of 308.1 μmol g^(-1)h^(-1)under air mass(AM) 1.5 illumination, and also exhibits highly active in photocatalytic degradation of various refractory organic pollutants, including organic dyes, phenols, antibiotics,and personal care products, with removal ratios higher than 96% after 2 h operation. This can be due to the gradient-doped N-TiO_(2)nanobranches, which not only provide bending band structure and defect level derived from the N impurities and O vacancies, resulting the formation of n-n+heterojunctions to improve the charge separation, but also enhance the charge transfer at the liquid-solid interface due to the numerous nanobranches and amorphous coating layers.

Highly-active,metal-free,carbon-based ORR cathode for efficient organics removal and electricity generation in a PFC system

A highly-active,metal-free,carbon-based oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)cathode,i.e.,graphitized Ndoped carbon felt(GNCF),was prepared,for the first time,by in-situ modifying the doping species of polyacrylonitrile(PAN)-based carbon felt(CF)via a facile annealing process in Ar atmosphere.It was applied for dramatically enhanced organics degradation and electricity generation in a photocatalytic fuel cell(PFC)system.The GNCF showed enhanced specific surface area,improved graphitization and raised ratio of graphitic N,therefore resulting in excellently improved ORR performance compared to the CF.When applying the GNCF as a cathode in a PFC system,the proposed PFC showed significant improvement in degrading various model organic contaminants and outputing electricity simultaneously when compared with the PFC with CF.For instance,the apparent rate constant and electricity output efficiency showed~10.6 times and~7.2 times,respectively,improvement when using rhodamine B as model waste.Further improved performance was also achieved by aeration of air or O^(2) due to the fu rther enhanced ORR.The proposed PFC was also efficient in a wide pH,and kept outsta nding stability in long-term utilization.