Application of Synchrotron Radiation Technologies to Electrode Materials for Li‐ and Na‐Ion Batteries

The search for superior‐energy‐density electrode materials for rechargeable batteries is prompted by the continuously growing demand for new electric vehicles and large energy‐storage grids. The structural properties of electrode materials affect their electrochemical performance because their functionality is correlated to their structure at the atomic scale. Although challenging, a deeper and comprehensive understanding of the basic structural operating units of electrode materials may contribute to the advancement of new energy‐storage technologies and many other technologies. Therefore, we must strategically control both the structure and kinetics of electrode materials to achieve optimal electrochemical performance. In this contribution, advancements in synchrotron radiation techniques, specifically in situ/operando experiments on electrode materials for rechargeable batteries, are presented and discussed. Indeed, the latest synchrotron radiation methods offer deeper insights into pristine and chemically modified electrode materials, opening new opportunities to optimize these materials and exploit new technologies. In particular, the most recent results from in situ/operando synchrotron radiation measurements, which play a critical role in the fundamental understanding of the kinetics processes that occur in rechargeable batteries, are discussed.     

Nest-dismantling behavior of yellow-bellied prinia in mainland and island populations

Nest-dismantling behavior in birds is considered a fitness-maximizing adaptive behavior. Here, we compared nest-dismantling behavior and associated predation rates and nest characteristics in yellow-bellied prinia (Prinia flaviventris) on mainland China and the island of Taiwan during the breeding season from 2010 to 2014. Our results indicated that the proportion of individuals showing nest-dismantling behavior was higher on the island than on the mainland (29.3 vs. 0.8%). Nest-dismantling behavior was most frequent at the peak of the breeding season and mainly involved removing the upper halves of the nests and reusing the materials to construct new nests. The time taken to dismantle old nests and use the materials to build new ones was shorter than the time needed to build completely new nests. Nest predation, fidelity to the nest site, distance between old and new nests, and the costs of searching for nest materials could influence nest-dismantling behavior. Our results suggested that saving time and energy searching for new nest materials was the primary motivation behind nest-dismantling behavior in yellow-bellied prinia.     

长江流域棉区棉花新品种抗病虫性研究

2003年,对长江流域棉区15份新材料进行了抗红铃虫鉴定,结果有8份材料高抗红铃虫,占鉴定材料的53.33%;4份材料抗红铃虫,占26.67%;3份材料中抗红铃虫,占20.00%.对55份新材料进行抗枯萎病鉴定,结果有27份材料抗枯萎病,占鉴定材料的49.09%;26份材料耐枯萎病,占47.27%;2份感枯萎病,占3.64%.对59份材料进行抗黄萎病鉴定,结果有8份材料抗黄萎病,占鉴定材料的13.56%;43份材料耐黄萎病,占72.88%;8份材料感黄萎病,占13.56%.     

合成生物学技术在材料科学中的应用

材料是人类赖以生存与发展的物质基础,科技和社会的进步都离不开材料技术的发展,未来先进材料的合成和制备必然朝着绿色可持续、低耗高产出、精细可调控、高效多功能的方向发展。以"基因调控·工程设计"为核心的合成生物学技术从分子、细胞层面极大地推动了生命科学的发展,也已经并继续为材料科学的发展注入新的思路和活力。本文将围绕合成生物学技术在材料科学中的应用,以基因回路设计为核心,概念应用为线索,重点介绍合成生物学技术在高分子生物材料和无机纳米材料领域的开发和生产,细胞展示和蛋白定向进化战略对分子材料的筛选和优化,"活体"功能材料、工程菌调节的人工光合系统功能材料体系以及基因回路在材料科学中的应用。     

Risk Associated with the Use of Selected Ingredients in Food Supplements

This review focuses on four new product categories of food supplements: pre-workout, fat burner/thermogenic, brain/cognitive booster, and hormone/testosterone booster. Many food supplements have been shown to be contaminated with unauthorized substances. In some cases, the ingredients in the new categories of dietary supplements were medicinal products or new synthetic compounds added without performing clinical trials. Some of the new ingredients in dietary supplements are plant materials that are registered in the pharmacopoeia as herbal medicines. In other cases, dietary supplements may contain plant materials that have no history of human use and are often used as materials to ‘camouflage’ stimulants. In the European Union, new ingredients of dietary supplements, according to European Food Safety Authority or unauthorized novel food. Furthermore, selected ingredients in dietary supplements may be prohibited in sports and are recognized as doping agents by World Anti-Doping Agency.     

Smart materials as scaffolds for tissue engineering

In this review, we focused our attention on the more important natural extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules (collagen and fibrin), employed as cellular scaffolds for tissue engineering and on a class of semi-synthetic materials made from the fusion of specific oligopeptide sequences, showing biological activities, with synthetic materials. In particular, these new "intelligent" scaffolds may contain oligopeptide cleaving sequences specific for matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), integrin binding domains, growth factors, anti-thrombin sequences, plasmin degradation sites, and morphogenetic proteins. The aim was to confer to these new "intelligent" semi-synthetic biomaterials, the advantages offered by both the synthetic materials (processability, mechanical strength) and by the natural materials (specific cell recognition, cellular invasion, and the ability to supply differentiation/proliferation signals). Due to their characteristics, these semi-synthetic biomaterials represent a new and versatile class of biomimetic hybrid materials that hold clinical promise in serving as implants to promote wound healing and tissue regeneration.     

合成生物学在化工新材料领域的应用及展望

材料是一切经济活动的基础,每一次社会变革都伴随着材料的更新迭代。化工材料多以石油为原料制得,但是这种工艺路线碳排放量大。合成生物学的发展得益于学科交叉和技术创新,是新一轮的材料革命推动者,用生物合成的方式,改变传统的石油化工生产工艺,为材料科学的发展注入了新的动力。围绕合成生物学在化工新材料中的应用,重点介绍了合成生物学在高分子材料领域的发展和产业化情况,以期探究未来新材料在碳中和背景下的发展路径。     

Towards the microbial home: An overview of developments in next-generation sustainable architecture

Disruptive innovation is needed to raise the threshold of sustainable building performance, so that our buildings improve on net zero impacts and have a life-promoting impact on the natural world. This article outlines a new approach to next-generation sustainable architecture, which draws on the versatile metabolisms of microbes as a platform by incorporating microbial technologies and microbially produced materials into the practice of the built environment. The regenerative architecture arising from these interventions includes a broad range of advances from using new materials, to creating bioreceptive surfaces that promote life, and providing green, bio-remediating energy from waste. Such innovations are presently reaching the marketplace as novel materials like Biocement® with lower embodied carbon than conventional materials that adopt microbially facilitated processes, and as novel utilities like PeePower® that transforms urine into electrical energy and bioreactor-based building systems such as the pioneering BIQ building in Hamburg. While the field is still young, some of these products (e.g. mycelium biocomposites) are poised for uptake by the public–private economic axis to become mainstream within the building industry. Other developments are creating new economic opportunities for local maker communities that empower citizens and catalyse novel vernacular building practices. In particular, the activation of the microbial commons by the uptake of microbial technologies and materials through daily acts of living, ‘democratises’ resource harvesting (materials and energy) in ways that sustain life, and returns important decisions about how to run a home back to citizens. This disruptive move re-centres the domestic-commons economic axis to the heart of society, setting the stage for new vernacular architectures that support increasingly robust and resilient communities.     

Black Phosphorous-Based Nanostructures for Refractive Index Sensing with High Figure of Merit in the Mid-infrared

Plasmonics - Two-dimensional materials have emerged as new type of smart materials that may impact advanced photonic devices. Here, to increase the light absorption, a black phosphorus-based...     

新考察收集野生大豆与已保存野生大豆的遗传多样性比较

本研究以65份东北地区新收集野生大豆资源以及与其来源相同的已经编目保存的资源为实验材料,利用60对SSR引物进行遗传分析。分析结果表明新收集材料在22个位点的遗传多样性指数都高于以前收集的资源,有62个等位变异是新收集材料所特有。新收集材料与其它资源间的平均遗传相似系数为0．1918。说明新收集的材料使得野生大豆的遗传多样性水平得到提高,对野生大豆进行补充考察和收集是有价值的。     

生物活性材料与牙周组织再生

生物活性材料是一类经由材料表面或界面产生特殊生物或化学反应,从而影响组织和材料间的结合、诱发细胞活性或引导组织再生的生物材料。近年来,生物活性材料已广泛应用于牙周组织再生。本文对不同类型生物活性材料的特点及其在牙周组织再生中的作用进行综述,为推动其在牙周组织再生领域中的应用提供参考。     

动物剥制标本修复技术的改进

动物标本资源越来越珍贵,其修复技术需要不断更新。本文针对动物剥制标本出现的干裂破损、脱毛、褪色、霉烂、虫蛀现象,针对不同类群的动物标本修复作了技术探索,包括使用新型修补材料、新的补色方法,以及新的防霉、除虫技术等。与以前的修复技术相比,新技术充分利用了新材料和新方法,操作简单易行。通过介绍几个修复案例,展示新的修复技术能使损坏的动物剥制标本恢复如初。     

New proteins in a materials world

With the development of protein engineering, protein expression, and nano(bio)technologies, the ability to use 20 or more amino acids to design and produce genetically engineered protein materials is now possible. Proteins derived from natural sources offer one route for the production of new materials and many have been modified or formulated for improved performance. The development of synthetic polymer systems provides a second route to new materials: the concept of using a library of monomers and having the methods to precisely order them to design and produce a new polymer is a long-sought objective of polymer scientists. Recent advances have been made in the development of synthetic proteins for novel applications. Insight into the structures of some of nature's most intriguing materials, such as diatom frustules, has revealed a major role for proteins in facilitating and templating inorganic composites resulting in the development of bio-inspired materials.     

Multitalentierte Biominerale

Biominerals and their applications in medicine and technology Biomineral forming systems are widespread in nature, but have gained more attention only in recent years with regard to the development of new materials and their application in medicine and technology. A major factor were, in particular, the development of the modern nanotechnology and the discovery that the main classes of biominerals, silica, calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate/hydroxyapatite, can be formed by an enzymatic mechanism. This allows the biocatalytic production both of organic‐inorganic hybrid materials with new property combinations and of defined structures from these biominerals. These applications range from optics to surface coatings, cell encapsulation, core shell materials and implants.     

Development of hydrogel-based keratoprostheses: a materials perspective

Research and development of artificial corneas (keratoprostheses) in recent years have evolved from the use of rigid hydrophobic materials such as plastics and rubbers to hydrophilic, water-swollen hydrogels engineered to support not only peripheral tissue integration but also glucose diffusion and surface epithelialization. The advent of the AlphaCor core-and-skirt hydrogel keratoprosthesis has paved the way for a host of new approaches based on hydrogels and other soft materials that encompass a variety of materials preparation strategies, from synthetic homopolymers and copolymers to collagen-based bio-copolymers and, finally, interpenetrating polymer networks. Each approach represents a unique strategy toward the same goal: to develop a new hydrogel that mimics the important properties of natural donor corneas. We provide a critical review of these approaches from a materials perspective and discuss recent experimental results. While formidable technical hurdles still need to be overcome, the rapid progress that has been made by investigators with these approaches is indicative that a synthetic donor cornea capable of surface epithelialization is now closer to becoming a clinical reality.     

Small-scale systems for in vivo drug delivery

Recent developments in the application of micro- and nanosystems for drug administration include a diverse range of new materials and methods. New approaches include the on-demand activation of molecular interactions, novel diffusion-controlled delivery devices, nanostructured 'smart' surfaces and materials, and prospects for coupling drug delivery to sensors and implants. Micro- and nanotechnologies are enabling the design of novel methods such as radio-frequency addressing of individual molecules or the suppression of immune response to a release device. Current challenges include the need to balance the small scale of the devices with the quantities of drugs that are clinically necessary, the requirement for more stable sensor platforms, and the development of methods to evaluate these new materials and devices for safety and efficacy.     

3D printing of microbial communities: A new platform for understanding and engineering microbiomes

3D printing has emerged as a powerful way to produce complex materials on-demand. These printing technologies are now being applied in microbiology, with many recent examples where microbes and matrices are co-printed to create bespoke living materials. Here, we propose a new paradigm for microbial printing. In addition to its importance for materials, we argue that printing can be used to understand and engineer microbiome communities, analogous to its use in human tissue engineering. Many microbes naturally live in diverse, spatially structured communities that are challenging to study and manipulate. 3D printing offers an exciting new solution to these challenges, as it can precisely arrange microbes in 3D space, allowing one to build custom microbial communities for a wide range of purposes in research, medicine, and industry.     

Thermoelectric Enhancement of Different Kinds of Metal Chalcogenides

Due to the urgency of our energy and environmental issues, a variety of cost‐effective and pollution‐free technologies have attracted considerable attention, among which thermoelectric technology has made enormous progress. Substantial numbers of new thermoelectric materials are created with high figure of merit (ZT) by using advanced nanoscience and nanotechnology. This is especially true in the case of metal‐chalcogenide‐based materials, which possess both relatively high ZT and low cost among all the different kinds of thermoelectric materials. Here, comprehensive coverage of recent advances in metal chalcogenides and their correlated thermoelectric enhancement mechanisms are provided. Several new strategies are summarized with the hope that they can inspire further enhancement of performance, both in metal chalcogenides and in other materials.     

Computation‐Guided Design of LiTaSiO5, a New Lithium Ionic Conductor with Sphene Structure

The development of all‐solid‐state Li‐ion batteries requires solid electrolyte materials with many desired properties, such as ionic conductivity, chemical and electrochemical stability, and mechanical durability. Computation‐guided materials design techniques are advantageous in designing and identifying new solid electrolytes that can simultaneously meet these requirements. In this joint computational and experimental study, a new family of fast lithium ion conductors, namely, LiTaSiO₅ with sphene structure, are successfully identified, synthesized, and demonstrated using a novel computational design strategy. First‐principles computation predicts that Zr‐doped LiTaSiO₅ sphene materials have fast Li diffusion, good phase stability, and poor electronic conductivity, which are ideal for solid electrolytes. Experiments confirm that Zr‐doped LiTaSiO₅ sphene structure indeed exhibits encouraging ionic conductivity. The lithium diffusion mechanisms in this material are also investigated, indicating the sphene materials are 3D conductors with facile 1D diffusion along the [101] direction and additional cross‐channel migration. This study demonstrates a novel design strategy of activating fast Li ionic diffusion in lithium sphenes, a new materials family of superionic conductors.     

Computational design of four-helix bundle proteins that bind nonbiological cofactors

Recent work is discussed concerning the computational design of four-helix bundle proteins that form complexes with nonbiological cofactors. Given that often there are no suitable natural proteins to provide starting points in the creation of such nonbiological systems, computational design is well suited for the design and study of new protein-cofactor complexes. Recent design efforts are presented in the context of prior work on the de novo design and engineering of porphyrin-binding four-helix bundle proteins and current developments in nonlinear optical materials. Such protein-nonbiological cofactor complexes stand to enable new applications in protein science and materials research.