Severe corrosion of Mg and Mg alloys is a major issue hindering their wider application in transportation industry, medical implants and aqueous batteries. Previously, no Mg-based material has been found with a significantly lower corrosion rate than that of ultra-high-purity Mg, i.e. 0.25 mm y-1 in concentrated NaCl solution. In this work for the first time, highly corrosion-resistant Mg is found to be accomplishable by Ca micro-alloying, bringing "stainless Mg" closer. The designed Mg-Ca lean alloys possess incredibly low corrosion rates, less than 0.1 mm y-1 in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution, which are significantly lower than that of ultra-high-purity Mg and all Mg alloys reported thus far. The outstanding corrosion resistance is attributed to inhibition of cathodic water reduction kinetics, impurities stabilizing and a protective surface film induced by Ca micro-alloying. Combined with the environmental benignity and economic viability, Ca micro-alloying renders huge feasibility on developing advanced Mg-based materials for diverse applications.

ZnS quantum dots and single Co atoms grown in N-doped carbon microparticles serve as multifunctional S hosts for sustainable Na–S batteries.

Recombination centers generated from structural and interfacial defects in nanoheterostructures (NHs) prevent effective photo-induced charge transfer and have blocked the advance of many photoresponsive applications. Strategies to construct high-quality interfaces in NHs are emerging but are limited in the release of interfacial strain and the integrality of the sublattice. Herein, we synthesize single-particulate Cu1.94S–ZnS NHs with a continuous sublattice using a nanoscale cation exchange reaction (CE). Under near-infrared (NIR) radiation (λ = 1500 nm), femtosecond open-aperture (OA) Z-scan measurements are applied to investigate the nonlinear optical features of samples and verify the existence of plasma-induced charge transfer in the Cu1.94S–ZnS NHs system. The resulting charge transfer time (τCT) of ∼0.091 picoseconds (ps) was confirmed by the femtosecond time-resolved pump–probe technique. Such an ultrafast charge transfer process has been rarely reported in semiconductor–semiconductor NHs. The results suggest that CE can be used as a promising tool to construct well-ordered interfacial structures, which are significant for the performance enhancement of NHs for photon utilization.

The radio-resistance of tumor tissues has been considered a great challenge for cancer radiotherapy (RT).The development of nanoparticle (NP)-based radio-sensitizers can enhance the radio-sensitization of tumor tissues while reducing the side effects to surrounding tissues. However, most of the nano-radiosensitizers show increased radiation deposition with a high-Z element but achieve limited enhancement. Herein, we investigated polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified gold-iron selenide nanocomposites (Au-FeSe2 NCs) for simultaneously enhancing therapeutic effects in multiple ways. In this study, the high-Z element Au (Z = 79) endows Au-FeSe2 NCs with enhanced X-ray deposition and thus causes more DNA damage. On the other hand, Au-FeSe2 exhibits the ability to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) by catalyzing endogenous hydrogen peroxide in tumor sites as well as improve the hydrogen peroxide level during ionizing irradiation. Finally, combined with photothermal therapy (PTT), Au-FeSe2 NCs could exhibit a remarkable RT/PTT synergistic effect on tumor treatment.

Engineering hydroxyl and N vacancies on g-C3N4 led to dual mitigation of the recombination rate of photogenerated carriers, which was achieved by enriched hydroxyl groups trapping the holes and stable N vacancies capturing the electrons.

Tannic acid (TA), a large polyphenolic molecule, has long been known for use in food additives, antioxidants, bio-sorbents, animal feed and adhesives due to its intrinsic properties such as antioxidation, metal chelation, and polymerization. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in fabricating engineered advanced materials with TA modification for novel bio-applications. The modification process involves various interactions/reactions based on its diverse chemical structure, contributed by abundant aromatic rings and hydroxyl groups. In addition, the obtained composites are endowed with retained TA activity and novel enhanced properties. Therefore, the aim of this review is to highlight the recent biomedical application of TA-based metal phenolic networks (TA-MPNs) by focusing on their intrinsic properties and the endowed ability for novel engineered functional composites. The potential contributions of TA-MPNs in "Tumor Theranostics", "Anti-Bacterial Ability", "Wound Repair for Skin Regeneration" and "Bone Tissue Regeneration Applications" are summarized in this paper.

The diphenylvinyl motif with rotary phenyl rings has been widely used as a building block for the construction of luminescent materials with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties. Here, we report the use of 2,2-diphenylvinyl in an iridium complex and its influence on the luminescence properties of the complex. Surprisingly, the 2,2-diphenylvinyl motif attached to the cyclometalating ligand brings about no AIE; instead, it completely quenches the phosphorescence from the iridium complex in solution or films at room temperature or at 77 K. Hydrogenation of the vinyl group in 2,2-diphenylvinyl recovers the phosphorescence. Theoretical calculations reveal that in the lowest triplet state of the complex, the 2,2-diphenylvinyl motif undergoes a significant structural change; as a result, the spin-density in the lowest triplet state distributes almost exclusively on the triphenylethene moiety of the cyclometalating ligand, with little distribution on the iridium ion, leading to complete quenching of phosphorescence. This work reveals that introduction of conjugated molecular motifs with rotational groups (such as 2,2-diphenylvinyl) into iridium complexes should be carefully treated, because it could quench the phosphorescence rather than inducing AIE, which provides a guideline for the design of AIE phosphors based on transition metal complexes.

To obtain hierarchical porous ZrO2, one simple step is enough by directly decomposing a Zr(NO3)4·5H2O ethanol sol–gel solution.

Under the severe service conditions of the ladles used in the production of ferrosilicon (temperature 1900°C and the duration of teeming 2.5 h), chamotte linings do not possess sufficient life. In this case, mullite present in chamotte decomposes to form corundum and a glass phase which, in turn, interacts with carbon to form silicon carbide and cementite. The formation of a working zone consisting of silicon carbide, cementite, and calcium hexa-aluminate improves the service life of the lining to some extent.