MoS2/Zn3In2S6 composite photocatalysts for enhancement of visible light-driven hydrogen production from formic acid

Enhancing the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers is propitious for the promotion of photocatalytic hydrogen production from formic acid decomposition.Herein,MoS2/Zn3In2S6(MoS2/ZIS6)composite photocatalysts containing varying mass percentages of MoS2 were obtained by a straightforward synthetic method.The results confirmed that MoS2,as a cocatalyst,markedly promoted the photogenerated charge separation efficiency and visible light-driven hydrogen production activity of ZIS6(λ>400 nm).Specifically,the as-prepared 0.5%MoS2/ZIS6 photocatalyst exhibited the highest photocatalytic hydrogen production rate(74.25μmol·h^-1),which was approximately 4.3 times higher than that of ZIS6(17.47μmol·h^-1).The excellent performance of the 0.5%MoS2/ZIS6 photocatalyst may be due to the fact that MoS2 has a low Fermi energy level and can thus enrich photogenerated electrons from ZIS6,and furthermore reduce H+derived from formic acid,to form hydrogen.The structure and morphology of the MoS2/ZIS6 photocatalysts and the reactive species were determined by X-ray diffraction,transmission electron microscopy,and field emission scanning electron microscopy,among others;a plausible mechanistic rationale is discussed based on the results.

Promoting photocarriers separation in S-scheme system with Ni_(2)P electron bridge:The case study of BiOBr/Ni_(2)P/g-C_(3)N_(4)

Constructing step-scheme(S-scheme)heterojunctions can considerably facilitate separation and transfer of photocarriers,as well as promote strong redox ability.The interface resistance of heterojunctions immediately affects photocarrier separation and determines the photocatalytic activity.Herein,we constructed a novel Bi OBr/Ni_(2)P/g-C_(3)N_(4) heterojunction using Ni_(2)P as a novel electron bridge to reduce the interfacial resistance of photocarriers between Bi OBr and g-C3N4.The as-prepared 10% BiOBr/Ni2P/g-C_(3)N_(4) sample exhibited outstanding visible-light photocatalytic performance for methyl orange and rhodamine B removal,with degradation efficiencies of 91.4% and 98.9%,respectively.The excellent photocatalytic activity of Bi OBr/Ni_(2)P/g-C_(3)N_(4) was mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of the Ni2P cocatalyst and S-scheme heterojunction,which not only reduced the interface resistance but also retained the strong redox potential of the photocarriers.In addition,the formation of the S-scheme system was supported by active oxygen species investigation,current-voltage curves,and density functional theory calculations.This work provides a guideline for the design of highly efficient S-scheme photocatalysts with transition metal phosphates as electron bridges to improve photocarriers separation.

Slow photons for solar fuels

Converting solar energy into hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels through photocatalytic H2production and CO2photoreduction is a highly promising approach to address growing demand for clean andrenewable energy resources.However,solar‐to‐fuel conversion efficiencies of current photocatalysts are not sufficient to meet commercial requirements.The narrow window of solar energy that can be used has been identified as a key reason behind such low photocatalytic reaction efficiencies.The use of photonic crystals,formed from multiple material components,has been demonstrated to be an effective way of improving light harvesting.Within these nanostructures,the slow‐photon effect,a manifestation of light‐propagation control,considerably enhances the interaction between light and the semiconductor components.This article reviews recent developments in the applications of photonic crystals to photocatalytic H2production and CO2reduction based on slow photons.These advances show great promise for improving light harvesting in solar‐energy conversion technologies.

Self-assembly synthesis of S-scheme g-C_(3)N_(4)/Bi_(8)(CrO_(4))O_(11) for photocatalytic degradation of norfloxacin and bisphenol A

To realize the high-efficiency photodegradation of antibiotics,a novel S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst g-C_(3)N_(4)/Bi_(8)(CrO_(4))O_(11) was proposed and successfully prepared in this work.The 10%g-C_(3)N_(4)/Bi_(8)(CrO_(4))O_(11) heterojunction exhibits the highest degradation rate of norfloxacin(NOR)and bisphenol A(BPA).The degradation rate of NOR on 10%g-C_(3)N_(4)/Bi_(8)(CrO_(4))O_(11) is about 1.38 and 2.33 times higher than that of pure Bi_(8)(CrO_(4))O_(11) and g-C_(3)N_(4),respectively.Further,the degradation rate of BPA over 10%g-C_(3)N_(4)/Bi_(8)(CrO_(4))O_(11) heterojunction is bout 1.35 and 9.11 times higher than that of pure Bi_(8)(CrO_(4))O_(11) and g-C_(3)N_(4),respectively.The formation of S-scheme heterojunction facilitates the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and reduces the recombination of charge carriers,which was confirmed by photocurrent,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy,steady-state and time-resolved transient photoluminescence spectrum,etc.The in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,radical trapping experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance results demonstrate that the charge transfer is in accord with S-scheme mechanism.

A new phosphidation route for the synthesis of NiPx and their cocatalytic performances for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over g-C3N4

Ni-based phosphides(NiPx)composed of earth-abundant elements are promising cocatalysts to replace noble metals for photocatalytic H2 evolution reaction(HER).A safe,energy-saving,and compositioncontrollable synthesis of NiPx is still highly desired.A facile and mild solvothermal process was developed for the first time for selective synthesis of a series of NiPx,including Ni,Ni12P5,Ni2P/Ni12P5,Ni/Ni2P and Ni2P,through controlling the dosage of NaBH4 and NaH2PO2.The phosphidation process was mainly composed of(1)a sequential reduction of Ni2+to Nj0 and(H2PO2)-to P(around the formed Ni0)triggered by NaBH4,and(2)a final phosphidation between Nj0 and the in situ generated P atoms.The photocatalytic HER performance of g-C3N4 can be substantially improved with the decoration of NiPx(3 wt%)as the separation of photoinduced charge carriers can be promoted and some active sites with low over-potential for HER can be introduced.The cocatalytic efficiency of NiPx is mainly determined by P content.Ni2P with a high ratio of P consequently exhibits the highest HER performance(215.1 umol g-1 h-1),which is almost six times higher than that of the pristine g-C3N4(35.6 umol g-1 h-1).Thus,as for the cocatalyst based on Ni phosphides,Ni2P is the preferable crystal phase and more efforts should be devoted to Ni2P to further optimize its structure,texture,and morphology in future works.

Preface to Special Issue for 2nd Chinese Symposium on Photocatalytic Materials (CSPM2)

With the ever-increasing consumption of fossil fuels and the increment in environmental pollution problems,developing sustainable and renewable energy sources and environmentally friendly purification methods has become an appeal investigation all over the world.Photocatalysis can provide promising solutions to these issues,by utilizing solar light to reduce CO2 into hydrocarbon fuels,to split water into hydrogen and to mineralize organic pollutants into inorganic substance.However,a huge obstacle to the application of this technology is its low photocatalytic efficiency.Further improvement on the performance of photocatalytic materials is urgently needed.Therefore,this investigation topic was within the scope of The 2nd Chinese Symposium on Photocatalytic Materials(CSPM2)held at Nanjing Jinling Riverside Hotel,Nanjing,China on November 8-11,2019.This conference was organized by Nanjing University,Huaibei Normal University,Changsha University,Fuzhou University and Wuhan universityof Technology,and supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC),Nanjing University,Huaibei Normal University,Changsha University,Wuhan University of Technology,Beijing Perfectlight and others.There are more than 420 experts and students attending this symposium,and 12 plenary lectures,17 keynote lectures,9 invited lectures,12 oral lectures and 115 posters presented.Finally,18 excellent posters were selected.

Screening for viruses in lung adenocarcinoma in China

To the Editor,Considerable numbers of cases of lung adenocarcinoma(LUAD)in non-smokers with unclear etiology have been reported.Viral and bacterial infections are the common causes of lung and respiratory diseases.1 However,whether LUAD development coexists with virus infection is still unknown.Histological staining and polymerase chain reaction(PCR)are often used to detect virus in blood,sputum,and alveolar lavage fluid samples.Whole-genome sequencing(WGS)is an unbiased method with a high throughput nature that can be applied for a broader assessment of viruses.Previous studies described the viral landscape in pan-cancer in The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)or cohort studies;however,these studies did not include Asian populations.Therefore,we sought to screen the common viral pathogens in a nationwide cohort of LUAD patients in China and further explored other potential viral pathogens by analyzing the WGS data from our single-center cohort.2 To systematically investigate the viral associations with LUAD in China,we conducted a comprehensive study that included two distinct cohorts.

Single-cell RNA-seq Revealed that Altered Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Cirrhotic Liver Indicate Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background and Aims:Cirrhosis is the precursor lesion for most hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)cases.However,no biomarker effectively predicted HCC initiation before diagnosis by imaging.We aimed to investigate the hallmarks of immune microenvironments in healthy,cirrhotic livers and HCC tumor tissues and to identify immune biomarkers of cirrhosis-HCC transition.Methods:Expression matrices of singlecell RNA sequencing studies were downloaded and integrated with Seurat package vignettes.Clustering was performed to analyze the immune cell compositions of different sample types.Results:The cirrhotic liver and HCC tumors had distinct immune microenvironments,but the immune landscape of cirrhotic livers was not markedly modified compared with healthy livers.Two subsets of B cells and three subsets of T cells were identified in the samples.Among the T cells,naïve T cells were more prominent in the cirrhotic and healthy liver samples than in the HCC samples.In contrast,the neutrophil count was lower in cirrhotic livers.Two macrophage clusters were identified,one that actively interacted with T cells and B cells and was enriched in cirrhotic blood compared with HCC blood samples.Conclusions:Decreased naïve T cell infiltration and increased neutrophil infiltration in the liver may indicate the development of HCC in cirrhotic patients.Alterations in blood-resident immune cells may also be a sign of HCC development in cirrhotic patients.The dynamics of the immune cell subsets may serve as novel biomarkers to predict the transition from cirrhosis to HCC.

Ethylene glycol-assisted synthesis, photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic properties of BiOI microflowers

Hierarchical bismuth oxyiodide(BiOI) microflower photocatalysts were synthesized by hydrolysis at room temperature. The concentration of ethylene glycol modulated the resulting BiOI morphology. The morphology, elemental composition, crystal phase structure, and absorption properties of the BiOI samples were characterized. Under visible light irradiation(k [ 400 nm), BiOI(S10) with a microflower morphology exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity in the degradation of methyl orange. The corresponding apparent pseudo-first-order rate constant was 0.826 h-1. The trend in photocatalytic activities of the prepared BiOI samples coincided with the trend in their photocurrents. A strategy for preparing hierarchical BiOI microflowers with good visible lightinduced photocatalytic activity is provided.

A Novel CdS/g-C3N4 Composite Photocatalyst： Preparation, Characterization and Photocatalytic Performance with Different Reaction Solvents under Visible Light Irradiation

CdS/graphtic carbon nitride （CdS/g-C3N4） hybrid materials were fabricated by thermal polymerization and hy- drothermal methods using Cd（CH3COO）2-2H2O, thioacetamide, and melamine as precursors. The structural and op- tical properties of the as-synthesized samples were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction, UV-Vis diffuse reflec- tance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, etc. A coupled system toward the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and the reduction of nitrobenzene into aniline was used to estimate the photocatalytic performance of CdS/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts under visible light illumination. Results indicate that the CdS/g-C3N4 sample exhibits an outstanding photocatalytic performance for selective oxida- tion of benzyl alcohol and reduction of nitrobenzene. Meanwhile, benzotrifluoride is the best reaction medium among the screened solvents. Further research demonstrates that the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to ben- zaldehyde is induced by the photoexcited holes and the reduction of nitrobenzene into aniline is triggered by the photoexcited electrons. Additionally, the catalyst can be recycled several times without noticeable deactivation.

Surface Na2CO3 etching induced activity enhancement of 2D BiOI photocatalyst working under visible light

The visible light photocatalytic activity of two-dimensional （2D） BiOl microplates was intensively enhanced through simply dipping in Na2CO3 solutions at room temperature. The X-ray powder diffrac- tion （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） investigations suggest that little amount of （BiO）2CO3 phase was formed on the surface of 2D BiOI via the in situ chemical conversion. The concen- tration of Na2CO3 solutions affected the structure, morphology, light absorption and surface element component of 2D BiOl. The surface loaded （BiO）2CO3 mainly trapped the photoinduced electrons of BiOI, improved the separation efficiency of photocharges and finally raised the photocatalytic activity of BiOl under visible light （λ 〉 420 nm）. Furthermore, the product of the as-prepared （BiO）2CO3/BiOI displayed excellent stability in the repeated experiment. This study provides a facile way to improve the photocatalytic activity of BiOX （X = CI, Br, I） by means of surface treatment with Na2CO3 solutions.

Recent advances in special morphologic photocatalysts for NO_(x)removal

The significant increase of NO_(x)concentration causes severe damages to environment and human health.Light-driven photocatalytic technique affords an ideal solution for the removal of NO_(x)at ambient conditions.To enhance the performance of NO_(x)removal,1D,2D and 3D photocatalysts have been constructed as the light absorption and the separation of charge carriers can be manipulated through controlling the morphology of the photocatalyst.Related works mainly focused on the construction and modification of special morphologic photocatalyst,including element doping,heterostructure constructing,crystal facet exposing,defect sites introducing and so on.Moreover,the excellent performance of the photocatalytic NO_(x)removal creates great awareness of the application,which has promising practical applications in NO_(x)removal by paint(removing NO_(x)indoor and outdoor)and pavement(degrading vehicle exhausts).For these considerations,recent advances in special morphologic photocatalysts for NO_(x)removal was summarized and commented in this review.The purpose is to provide insights into understanding the relationship between morphology and photocatalytic performance,meanwhile,to promote the application of photocatalytic technology in NO_(x)degradation.

OGSRN:Optical-guided super-resolution network for SAR image

Although Convolutional Neural Networks(CNNs)have significantly improved the development of image Super-Resolution(SR)technology in recent years,the existing SR methods for SAR image with large scale factors have rarely been studied due to technical difficulty.A more efficient method is to obtain comprehensive information to guide the SAR image reconstruction.Indeed,the co-registered High-Resolution(HR)optical image has been successfully applied to enhance the quality of SAR image due to its discriminative characteristics.Inspired by this,we propose a novel Optical-Guided Super-Resolution Network(OGSRN)for SAR image with large scale factors.Specifically,our proposed OGSRN consists of two sub-nets:a SAR image SuperResolution U-Net(SRUN)and a SAR-to-Optical Residual Translation Network(SORTN).The whole process during training includes two stages.In stage-1,the SR SAR images are reconstructed by the SRUN.And an Enhanced Residual Attention Module(ERAM),which is comprised of the Channel Attention(CA)and Spatial Attention(SA)mechanisms,is constructed to boost the representation ability of the network.In stage-2,the output of the stage-1 and its corresponding HR SAR images are translated to optical images by the SORTN,respectively.And then the differences between SR images and HR images are computed in the optical space to obtain feedback information that can reduce the space of possible SR solution.After that,we can use the optimized SRUN to directly produce HR SAR image from Low-Resolution(LR)SAR image in the testing phase.The experimental results show that under the guidance of optical image,our OGSRN can achieve excellent performance in both quantitative assessment metrics and visual quality.

Intensive photocatalytic activity enhancement of Bi5O7I via coupling with band structure and content adjustable BiOBrxI1-x

Band structure and component content are the key factors for determining the activity of semiconductor heterojunction. In this study, a novel Bi5O7I/BiOBrxI1-x heterostructure was synthesized by a simple hydrobromic （HBr） acid etching method through transforming partial of Bi5O7I to I ion doped BiOBr （BiOBrxI1-x） at room temperature without adding extra dopant. Both the band structure and component content of Bi5O7I/BiOBrxI1-x alter with the additive HBr acid. The Bi5O7I/BiOBrxI1-x （S3.0） sample exhibits the best photocatalytic activity, 6 times higher than that of pure Bis071, for the degradation of methyl orange under visible-light （2 〉 420 nm）. The activity enhancement of Bi5O7I/BiOBrxI1-x is primarily ascribed to the improved separation efficiency of photocharges, originated from the adjustable band structure and component content, The significant findings of this paper provide a facile way to construct highly efficient semiconductor heterojunction via playing the synergetic effect of adjustable band struc- ture and component content for purifying organic pollutants in wastewater.

Characteristics and significance of peripheral blood T-cell receptor repertoire features in patients with indeterminate lung nodules

Dear Editor,Dear Editor,Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths.T cells are known to play a significant role in the destruction of cancer cells.T cells have therefore become the focus of lung cancer immunotherapy.T-cell receptors(TCRs)can recognize antigenic peptides presented by HLA proteins.TCRs are distinct individually and vary with pathophysiological condition,so T cells can respond to a wide range of antigens.TCR repertoire diversity reflects the potential for cellular immunity,and several studies have demonstrated that complementarity determining region 3(CDR3β)diversity is important in cancer therapy and prognosis.1 Liu et al.have reported that the CDR3βdiversity of patients with advanced lung cancer differs significantly from that of healthy individuals.