Washington Bridges (sleddigger2)

This work provides a superior synthesis strategy for the effective design and rational fabrication of low-cost, highly active, and highly stable non-precious metal HER electrocatalysts for electricity-to-hydrogen applications.Metal nitrides have been suggested as prospective catalysts for the electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) in order to obtain ammonia at room temperature under ambient pressure. Herein, we report that templated chromium nitride porous microspheres built up by nanocubes (NCs) are an efficient noble-metal-free electrocatalyst for NRR. The CrN NCs catalyst exhibits both a high stability and NH3 yield of 31.11 μg h-1 mgcat.-1 with a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 16.6% in 0.1 M HCl electrolyte. Complementary physical characterization techniques demonstrate partial oxidation of the pristine CrN NCs during reaction. Structural characterization by means of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) combining electron energy loss spectrum (EELS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis reveals the NC structure to consist of an O-rich core and N-rich shell after NRR. This gradient distribution of nitrogen within the CrN NCs upon completed NRR is distinct to previously reported metal nitride NRR catalysts, because no significant loss of nitrogen occurs at the catalyst surface.Flexible and transparent energy storage devices (FTESDs) have recently attracted much attention for use in wearable and portable electronics. Herein, we developed an Ag nanowire (NW) @Bi/Al nanostructure as a transparent negative electrode for FTESDs. In the core-shell nanoarchitecture, the Ag NW percolation network with excellent conductivity contributes superior electron transport pathways, while the unique nanostructure provides an effective interface contact between the current collector and electroactive material. As a result, the electrode delivers a high capacity of 12.36 mF cm-2 (3.43 μA h cm-2) at 0.2 mA cm-2. With a minor addition of Al, the coulombic efficiency of the electrode remarkably increases from 65.1% to 83.9% and the capacity retention rate improves from 53.8% to 91.9% after 2000 cycles. Moreover, a maximum energy density of 319.5 μW h cm-2 and a power density of 27.5 mW cm-2 were realized by an interdigital structured device with a transmittance of 58% and a potential window of 1.6 V. This work provides a new negative electrode material for high-performance FTESDs in the next-generation integrated electronics market.Hypoxia in tumor cells is regarded as the most crucial cause of clinical drug resistance and radio-resistance; thus, relieving hypoxia of tumor cells is the key to enhancing the efficacy of anticancer therapy. As a gas signal molecule of vasodilatation factors, nitric oxide (NO) can relieve the hypoxia status of tumor cells, thereby, enhancing the sensitivity of tumor cells to radiotherapy. However, considering complications of vascular activity, the level of NO required for radiotherapy sensitization cannot be obtained in vivo. In view of this, we design and fabricate a multifunctional bismuth-based nanotheranostic agent, which is functionalized with S-nitrosothiol and termed Bi-SNO NPs. X-rays break down the S-N bond and simultaneously trigger large amount of NO-releasing (over 60 μM). Moreover, the as-prepared Bi-SNO NPs not only possess the capability of absorbing and converting 808 nm NIR photons into heat for photothermal therapy, but also have the ability to increase X-ray absorption and CT imaging sensitivity. In addition, the collaborative radio-, photothermal-, and gas-therapy of Bi-SNO in vivo was further investigated and remarkable synergistic tumor inhibition was realized. read more Finally, no obvious toxicity of Bi-SNO NPs was observed in the treated mice within 14 days. Therefore, the Bi-SNO developed in this work is an effective nano-agent for cancer theranostics with well-controlled morphology and uniform size (36 nm), which could serve as a versatile CT imagin