Binding Strength Research Articles

A Review on the Driving Forces in the Formation of Bioactive Molecules-Loaded Prolamin-Based Particles.

Prolamin-based particles loaded with bioactive molecules have attracted widespread attention from scientists due to their novel properties in chemistry, physics, and biology. In the self-assembly process of biopolymer-based nanocapsules, noncovalent interactions are the main driving forces for reducing bulk materials to the nanoscale and controlling the release of bioactive molecules. This article reviews the types of interaction forces, binding strength, binding active sites, molecular orientation, and binding affinity that affect the release profile of bioactive molecules during the preparation of protein stabilizer particles. Different preparation formulations, the use of different biopolymers, the inherent nature of the loaded bioactive molecules, and external factors (including pH, biopolymer concentration, temperature, salt, ultrasonication, and atmospheric cold plasma treatment) lead to different types and strengths of intra- and intermolecular interactions. Strategies, such as pH, ultrasonication, and atmospheric cold plasma, to change the protein conformation are key to improving the binding strength between proteins and bioactive substances or stabilizers. This review provides some guidance for scientists and technicians dedicated to improving loading efficiency, delaying release, enhancing colloidal stability, and exploring the binding behavior among proteins, stabilizers, and bioactive molecules.

Atomic-Dispersed Cu Catalysts for Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction: Coordination Engineering and Fundamental Insights.

The development of Cu-based atomic dispersed catalysts with tailored coordination environments represents a significant step forward in enhancing the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to ammonia. By precisely modulating the electronic structures of Cu active centers, the binding strength of the *NO3 intermediates is successfully tuned, thereby substantially improving the catalytic activity toward electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (eNO3RR). This study reveals that the N4-coordinated Cu single-atom catalyst (Cu-SAC) exhibits superior performance due to its robust interaction with coordinating atoms. Notably, this optimized catalyst achieves a low limiting potential of -0.38V, while the dual-atom system further reduces this value to -0.32V, demonstrating exceptional activity. Detailed electronic structure analysis, including the examination of d-band centers, Bader charges, and projected density of states (PDOS), provides a comprehensive understanding of the origin of this high activity. Specifically, the high and concentrated density of states near the Fermi level plays a crucial role in facilitating the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction process. This work not only offers crucial insights into the underlying mechanisms of eNO3RR but also provides valuable guidelines for the rational design of highly efficient electrocatalysts for this important reaction.

Vacancy engineering-induced spin polarization in heterogeneous phosphides by simple iron salt infiltration for efficient overall water splitting

Optimizing electronic structure and facilitating electron transfer modulation in electrocatalyst is the key to enhancing overall water splitting (OWS) performance. In this work, the heterogeneous transition metal phosphide Fe-CoPv/Ni2P@NF, consisting of cobalt phosphide and nickel phosphide, is obtained by simple iron salt infiltration and high-temperature phosphatisation. Due to the doping of iron-atom and the formation of phosphorus vacancies, the activity of metal atoms with higher valence states and spins is induced, and then highly active Fe/Co-O-Ni channels are generated in the dynamic water-splitting process, thereby increasing the exposure of reaction center and total electron transfer rate. The catalytic mechanism is attributed to reducing the potential barrier of phase remodeling and optimizing the intermediate binding strength, thus thoroughly stimulating OER and HER activities. The Fe-CoPv/Ni2P@NF shows superior performance, requiring only total voltages of 1.626 V (OWS) to reach 100 mA·cm−2 and maintaining ultra-high stability for 500 h, suggesting promising industrial applications.

CONSORT article: Single-cell sequencing analysis revealed CMKLR1+ macrophage as a subpopulation of macrophage with tumor-suppressive characteristics in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is an aggressive oral malignancy. Metastasis and postoperative recurrence are major causes of a high mortality of OSCC. The landscape of immune cells in OSCC remained to be comprehensively explored. Tumor tissues of OSCC patients were collected from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, based on which single-cell sequencing analysis was performed to identify subtypes of macrophages and to annotate the subpopulations according to the expression levels of cell marker genes. Functional enrichment analysis was performed to explore the biological processes involved in each cell subcluster. Gene regulatory networks driven by SPECIFIC transcription factors (TFs) were developed applying single-cell regulatory network inference and clustering (SCENIC) analysis. Binding strength between receptors and ligands between different cells was analyzed using cell communication analysis. A single-cell landscape in OSCC was successfully developed and a total of 11 cell clusters were identified. Specifically, CD163 + macrophages were a crucial type of macrophage with 4 cell subpopulations, namely, SAT1 + macrophages, IDO1 + macrophages, TRIM29 + macrophages, and CMKLR1 + macrophages. IDO1 + macrophages and CMKLR1 + macrophages mainly had the characteristics of M1-type macrophages. CMKLR1 + macrophages fulfilled the function of M1-type macrophages to inhibit OSCC progression. IDO1 + macrophages and CMKLR1 + macrophages were both involved in the activation response of T cells. CMLKR1 + macrophages had a stronger activating effect on T cells. CMKLR1 + macrophages directly regulated the proliferation of epithelial cells and inhibited the progression of OSCC. CMKLR1 + macrophages in OSCC were identified as a crucial cell subpopulation of macrophages in inhibiting tumor progression. Adjusting the infiltration abundance and cell activity of CMKLR1 + macrophages may be a novel therapeutic direction to improve OSCC prognosis.

Adaptive remanufacturing for freeform surface parts based on linear laser scanner and robotic laser cladding

Freeform surface parts play a significant role in the aerospace industry, the mold- manufacturing industry and the automobile industry, and it is energy-saving, material-saving, time-saving and environmentally beneficial to remanufacture the damaged components to restore their functionality and performance. Due to the complex geometry of the freeform surface wear, the adaptive remanufacturing of freeform surface parts is confronted with challenges. In this paper, an adaptive remanufacturing method for freeform surface parts based on linear laser scanner and robotic laser cladding is proposed to realize the precise freeform surface measurement and optimized remanufacturing path generation. On the one hand, a systematic wear measurement and assessment method is proposed to precisely locate and quantify the wear. With the noncontact calibration of the laser scanner and industrial robot, the contour of the target surface is real-timely measured and the reverse model is efficiently constructed, which provides detailed 3D morphological information of the worn freeform surface for the latter wear analysis. Next, considering the considerable difference between the reverse model and the nominal model, a refined model aligning method weighted by surface wear segmentation is proposed to minimize the alignment error and, further, the difference entity to be additively manufactured is obtained by discrete model comparison. On the other hand, to cope with the unsatisfactory binding strength over the freeform surface basis and small fragments of the working path for the traditional plane or cylinder slicing method, a novel remanufacturing path generation method is proposed. Considering the curvature distribution of the freeform surface, an optimized equidistant freeform surface slicing method is especially proposed for the difference entity to realize the adaptive fitting to the freeform basin. Furthermore, based on the equivalent volume overlapping model of laser cladding, the cladding track filling method for the freeform surface slicing is designed with the optimized track-to-track distance, which can reduce surface waviness and improve remanufacturing efficiency. Finally, simulations and experiments for the remanufacturing scenario of the steam turbine blade are conducted to verify the validity and feasibility of the proposed adaptive remanufacturing method for freeform surface parts based on linear laser scanner and robotic laser cladding.

Zinc finger-inspired peptide-metal-phenolic nanointerface enhances bone-implant integration under bacterial infection microenvironment through immune modulation and osteogenesis promotion

Orthopedic and dental implantations under bacterial infection microenvironment face significant challenges in achieving high-quality bone-implant integration. Designing implant coatings that incorporate both immune defense and anti-inflammation is difficult in conventional single-functional coatings. We introduce a multifunctional nanointerface using a zinc finger-inspired peptide-metal-phenolic nanocoating, designed to enhance implant osseointegration under such conditions. Abaloparatide (ABL), a second-generation anabolic drug for treating osteoporosis, can be integrated into the design of a zinc-phenolic network constructed on the implant surface (ABL@ZnTA). Importantly, the phenolic-coordinated Zn2+ ions in ABL@ZnTA can act as zinc finger motif to co-stabilize the configuration of ABL through multiple molecular interactions, enabling high bioactivity, high loading capacity (1.36 times), and long-term release (>7 days) of ABL. Our results showed that ABL@ZnTA can modulate macrophage polarization from the pro-inflammatory M1 towards the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype, promoting immune osteogenesis with increased OCN, ALP, and SOD 1 expression. Furthermore, the ABL@ZnTA significantly reduces inflammatory fibrous tissue encapsulation and enhances the long-term stability of the implants, indicated by enhanced binding strength (6 times) and functional connectivity (1.5−3 times) in the rat bone defect model infected by S. aureus. Overall, our research offers a nano-enabled synergistic strategy that balances infection defense and osteogenesis promotion in orthopedic and dental implantations.

Single-cell Transcriptomics, Web-based Systems Pharmacology and Integrated Transcriptomics Network Analysis Identified Diagnostic Targets and Drug Candidates for Type 2 Diabetes.

To discover new therapeutic targets for Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and develop a new diagnostic model. T2D is a chronic disease that can be controlled by oral hypoglycemic drugs, however, it cannot be fully cured. The continued increase in the prevalence of T2D and the limitations of existing treatments urgently call for the development of new drugs to be able to effectively control the progression of the disease. We aimed to discover new therapeutic targets for T2D and to develop a new diagnostic model. Single-cell transcriptome, web-based systematic pharmacology, and transcriptology were applied to identify T2D diagnostic targets and drug candidates and to analyze the underlying molecular mechanisms. By single-cell clustering analysis, we identified seven subsets between the normal islet β-cell samples and T2D islet β-cell samples. A total of 27 key genes in the intersection of insulin- related genes and diabetes-related genes were selected by protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis and MolecularComplexDetection (MCODE) analysis. Notably, ESR1, MME, and CCR5 had the area under curves (AUC) values as high as 67.95%, 66.67%, and 66.03% for the diagnosis of T2D, respectively. Since the expression of MME in T2D samples was significantly higher than in normal samples, we screened 155 drug candidates against MME in T2D. Finally, the molecular docking revealed a strong binding strength between MME and DB05490, which was one of the most effective candidate drugs for treating T2D. Our study screens for diagnostic signatures and potential therapeutic agents for T2D, which provides valuable insights into the development of T2D biomarkers and their drug discovery.

Diaminopropane-Functionalized Metal-Organic Frameworks with Controllable Diamine Loss and One-Channel Flipped CO2 Adsorption Mode.

Diamine-functionalized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based on Mg2(dobpdc) (dobpdc4- = 4,4'-dioxidobihyenyl-3,3'-dicarboxylate) have been frequently reported as promising CO2 adsorbents due to their characteristic step-shaped adsorption behavior. However, high CO2 desorption temperatures for diamine-Mg2(dobpdc)-based adsorbents led to gradual diamine loss while the existence of an exotic CO2 adsorption mode remains experimentally unanswered. Herein, we present CO2 adsorbents obtained by functionalizing Mn2(dobpdc) with a diaminopropane series. These adsorbents offer low regeneration energies, allowing CO2 desorption at lower temperatures than the reported Mg-based analogs. Our first-principles density functional theory calculations showed that the binding strength between the diamine and Mn ions in Mn2(dobpdc) was stronger than that between the diamine and Mg ions in Mg2(dobpdc), preventing diamine loss even at high temperatures and enabling efficient regeneration. Additionally, the computational and experimental data demonstrated that primary-tertiary diamine-functionalized MOFs exhibit one-channel flipped adsorption structures that have not been experimentally revealed. Our findings provide insights into the role of metal ions in diamine loss for the future development of efficient amine-based CO2 adsorbents.

Directional Construction of Low-Coordination Fe-N3 Coupled with Intrinsic Carbon Defects for High-Efficiency Oxygen Reduction.

Regulating the coordination environment of Fe-Nx sites is an efficient but challenging approach for promoting the intrinsic catalytic activity of single-atom Fe/N-codoped carbon (Fe-N-C) toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, low-coordination Fe-N3 sites coupled with carbon vacancies (Fe-N3/CV) are directionally constructed in Fe-N-C via pyrolysis of a metal-organic framework (MOF) precursor with N3-Zn-O-Fe moieties, which are delicately prefabricated by chemically anchoring Fe3+ onto a H2O-etching induced linker-missing Zn-N3 site in the MOF precursor. The optimized Fe-N-C with the Fe-N3/CV sites displays a high ORR half-wave potential of 0.92 V (vs RHE), which is attributed to the optimized electronic structure and binding strengths of the active Fe center toward the ORR intermediates stemming from the synergy of the asymmetric configuration of Fe-N3 as well as the adjacent carbon vacancies. This work could be enlightening for the design and construction of high-activity coupling sites in metal and nitrogen-codoped carbon catalysts.

Dilute Pd-Ni Alloy through Low-temperature Pyrolysis for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Oxidation.

Designing highly active and cost-effective electrocatalysts for the alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) is critical for advancing anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). While dilute metal alloys have demonstrated substantial potential in enhancing alkaline HOR performance, there has been limited exploration in terms of rational design, controllable synthesis, and mechanism study. Herein, we developed a series of dilute Pd-Ni alloys, denoted as x% Pd-Ni, based on a trace-Pd decorated Ni-based coordination polymer through a facile low-temperature pyrolysis approach. The x% Pd-Ni alloys exhibit efficient electrocatalytic activity for HOR in alkaline media. Notably, the optimal 0.5% Pd-Ni catalyst demonstrates high intrinsic activity with an exchange current density of 0.055 mA cm-2, surpassing that of many other alkaline HOR catalysts. The mechanism study reveals that the strong synergy between Pd single atoms (SAs)/Pd dimer and Ni substrate can modulate the binding strength of proton (H)/hydroxyl (OH), thereby significantly reducing the activation energy barrier of a decisive reaction step. This work offers new insights into designing advanced dilute metal or single-atom-alloys (SAAs) for alkaline HOR and potentially other energy conversion processes.

How Transcription Factors Binding Stimulates Transcriptional Bursting.

Transcription is a fundamental biological process of transferring genetic information which often occurs in stochastic bursts when periods of intense activity alternate with quiescent phases. Recent experiments identified strong correlations between the association of transcription factors (TFs) to gene promoters on DNA and transcriptional activity. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon remain not well understood. Here, we present a theoretical framework that allowed us to investigate how binding dynamics of TF influences transcriptional bursting. Our minimal theoretical model incorporates the most relevant physical-chemical features, including TF exchange among multiple binding sites at gene promoters and TF association/dissociation dynamics. Using analytical calculations supported by Monte Carlo computer simulations, it is demonstrated that transcriptional bursting dynamics depends on the strength of TF binding and the number of binding sites. Stronger TF binding affinity prolongs burst duration but reduces variability, while an optimal number of binding sites maximizes transcriptional noise, facilitating cellular adaptation. Our theoretical method explains available experimental observations quantitatively, confirming the model's predictive accuracy. This study provides important insights into molecular mechanisms of gene expression and regulation, offering a new theoretical tool for understanding complex biological processes.

Elastic response of layer-by-layer self-assembly nanofiltration membranes to hydraulic pressure

Membrane compaction has been often observed in pressure-driven membrane processes, resulting in deformation of membrane morphology and reduction in permeation and separation performance. Current studies on the compaction of nanofiltration (NF) membranes exclusively focused on thin-film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes prepared by interfacial polymerization (IP). The compaction of layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembled NF membranes under high pressure has not yet been discussed. In this work, we explored the response of a flat-sheet LBL (PSS/PAH)2.5 membrane to hydraulic pressure in terms of the overall separation performance. The polysulfone (PSF) substrate of LBL membranes demonstrated an irreversible compaction similar to commercial acid-resistant KH membranes prepared by IP technology, but the polyelectrolyte (PE) selective layer surprisingly showed full recovery in the pore size and separation performance in the range of 10–40 bars. At 40 bar, the pore size of LBL membranes was enlarged, resulting in decreased rejection of MgCl2. However, in a 15% phosphoric acid feed, the LBL membranes showed slight changes in the pore size, due to stronger binding of PSS and PAH at low pH. The response of the LBL layer to pressure was related to the substrate pore size, coating layers and the binding strength of the PE pairs. For commercial acid-resistant TFC KH membranes, the decrease in substrate porosity at high pressure caused a significant reduction in the permeance but minor changes in the separation layer; the separation layer of KH membrane remained intact in water but swelled in acid with slightly increased pore size but stable salt rejection. The sharp contrast of LBL and TFC NF membranes highlighted the unique “elastic” response of LBL active layer and provided a new dimension for the design and utility of LBL membranes in different applications.

Molecular characterisation of interactions between 11S glycinin and hexanal – An off flavour compound

This work examines the binding characteristics between the 11S glycinin from soy flour with the aldehyde compound hexanal, at near neutral pH and ambient temperature. FTIR and CD spectroscopy determined that secondary structure changes were evident upon complexation with observed increases in α-helical and unordered structures along with reductions in β-sheets and β-turn structures upon complexation. UV–Vis and MALDI-TOF-MS analysis confirmed the physical nature of hexanal stabilisation, with in silico analysis and fluorescence spectroscopy revealed a low to medium binding strength with a KA range of 3.1 × 102 to 3.1 × 104 M−1 along with a 1:1 binding stoichiometry between the compound and 11S. Molecular docking simulations determined the binding location is situated between chain A and B of the trimer and is largely stabilised by pi-alkyl, hydrogen and van der Waals forces. Findings from this study will provide increased knowledge in the field of flavour compound and protein interactions thus advancing our knowledge of flavour binding and release in plant-based beverage formulations.

Effects of helium and vacancy in Ni symmetric tilt grain boundaries by first-principles

The vacancy and helium effects on eight low-Σ symmetric tilt grain boundaries (STGBs) of Ni were investigated by first-principles calculations. The simulations demonstrate that vacancies in Ni matrix could diffuse easily to the grain boundary and helium atoms are quite stable at the grain boundary vacancy sites. Vacancy accumulation at high-energy STGBs could enhance the binding strength while He defects are generally detrimental to grain boundary binding and interstitial helium defects can initiate more severe grain boundary cracking comparing to vacancy-bind-helium. Further electron charge analysis suggested the influence of grain boundary binding greatly relies on the grain boundary atomic structure and the interaction between Ni-d and He-p states. The polarized charge transfer induced by He helium occupation was predicted to be detrimental to the binding strength, which explains the experimentally-observed helium bubbles and helium-induced GB embrittlement.

Anti-Amyloid Aggregation and Anti-Hyperglycemic Activities of Novel Ruthenium Uracil Schiff Base Compounds.

The formation and characterization of new diamagnetic ruthenium uracil mono-imine compounds: [(η6-p-cymene)RuII(L)Cl][BF4] (L=H2urpda=5-((pyridin-2-yl)methyleneamino)-6-aminouracil) for 1, urdpy=6-amino-1,3-dimethyl-5-((pyridin-2-ylmethylene)amino)uracil) for 2 or urqda=5-((quinolin-2-yl)methyleneamino)-6-aminouracil) for 3); cis-[Ru(bipy)2(urpy)](BF4)2 (4) (urpy=5-((pyridin-2-yl)methyleneamino)uracil) and cis-[Ru(bipy)2(dapd)] (5) (H2dadp=5,6-diaminouracil) are described. A ruthenium(IV) uracil Schiff base compound, trans-[Ru(urpda)(PPh3)Cl2] (6) was also formed. Various physicochemical techniques were utilized to characterize the novel ruthenium compounds. Similarly, the stabilities of 1-3 and 6 monitored in chloro-containing and the non-coordinating solvent, dichloromethane show that they are kinetically inert, whereas, in a high nucleophilic environment, the chloride co-ligands of these ruthenium complexes were rapidly substituted by DMSO. In contrast, the substitution of the labile co-ligands for these ruthenium complexes by DMSO molecules in a high chloride content was suppressed. Solution chemical reactivities of the different ruthenium complexes were rationalized by density functional theory computations. Furthermore, the binding affinities and strengths between BSA and the respective ruthenium complexes were monitored using fluorescence spectroscopy. In addition, the in vitro anti-diabetic activities of the novel metal complexes were assessed in selected skeletal muscle and liver cell lines.

FeNi-LDH nanoflakes on Co-encapsulated CNT networks for stable and efficient ampere-level current density oxygen evolution

Developing low-cost but efficient electrocatalysts for continuous oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at ampere-level current densities can promote the hydrogen economy. LDHs are promising electrocatalysts to replace noble-metal-based catalysts for efficient OER, and rationally constructing LDH-based heterostructures can further boost their OER activities. Herein, we report the anchoring of FeNi-LDH nanoflakes onto MOF-derived carbon nanotube (CNT) networks on carbon cloth to obtain the self-supported LDH/CNT/CC. Benefiting from the advantages of its CNT network and the highly-active sites of its three-layer heterostructure, the optimized LDH/CNT/CC only requires a low overpotential of 200 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and exhibits robust stability under continuous electrolysis for 160 h at an ampere-level current density of 1 A cm−2. Theoretical calculations show three-layer FeNi-LDH(001)/graphene(002)/Co(111) slab has the lowest OER energy barrier, and its graphene layer can gain electrons from the FeNi-LDH and Co to show the most suitable binding strength for intermediates to facilitate OER.

Surface effects on functional amyloid formation.

Functional amyloids formed by the protein FapC in Pseudomonas bacteria are key structural components of Pseudomonas biofilms, which mediate chronic infections and also contribute to antimicrobial resistance. Here, we combine kinetic experiments with mechanistic modelling to probe the role of surfaces in FapC functional amyloid formation. We find that nucleation of new fibrils is predominantly heterogeneous in vitro, being catalysed by reaction vessel walls but not by the air/water interface. Removal of such interfaces by using microdroplets greatly slows heterogeneous nucleation and reveals a hitherto undetected fibril surface-catalysed "secondary nucleation" reaction step. We tune the degree of catalysis by varying the interface chemistry of the reaction vessel and by adding nanoparticles with tailored surface properties that catalyse fibril nucleation. In so doing, we discover that the rate of nucleation is controlled predominantly by the strength with which FapC binds to the catalytic sites on the interface, and by its surface area. Surprisingly, neither primary nucleation rate nor catalytic site binding strength appear closely correlated to the charge and hydrophilicity of the interface. This indicates the importance of considering experimental design in terms of surface chemistry of the reaction container while also highlighting the notion that fibril nucleation during protein aggregation is a heterogeneous process.

Investigating the cardiotoxicity of N-n-butyl haloperidol iodide: Inhibition mechanisms on hERG channels

The human Ether-à-go-go-Related Gene (hERG) encodes a protein responsible for forming the alpha subunit of the IKr channel, which plays a crucial role in cardiac repolarization. The proper functioning of hERG channels is paramount in maintaining a normal cardiac rhythm. Inhibition of these channels can result in the prolongation of the QT interval and potentially life-threatening arrhythmias. Cardiotoxicity is a primary concern in the field of drug development. N-n-Butyl haloperidol iodide (F2), a derivative of haloperidol, has been investigated for its therapeutic potential. However, the impact of this compound on cardiac toxicity, specifically on hERG channels, remains uncertain. This study employs computational and experimental methodologies to examine the inhibitory mechanisms of F2 on hERG channels. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations commonly used techniques in computational biology to predict protein-ligand complexes' binding interactions and stability. In the context of the F2-hERG complex, these methods can provide valuable insights into the potential binding modes and strength of interaction between F2 and the hERG protein. On the other hand, electrophysiological assays are experimental techniques used to characterize the extent and nature of hERG channel inhibition caused by various compounds. By measuring the electrical activity of the hERG channel in response to different stimuli, these assays can provide important information about the functional effects of ligand binding to the channel. The study's key findings indicate that F2 interacts with the hERG channel by forming hydrogen bonding, π-cation interactions, and hydrophobic forces. This interaction leads to the inhibition of hERG currents in a concentration-dependent manner, with an IC50 of 3.75 μM. The results presented in this study demonstrate the potential cardiotoxicity of F2 and underscore the significance of considering hERG channel interactions during its clinical development. This study aims to provide comprehensive insights into the interaction between F2 and hERG, which will may guid us in the safe use of F2 and in the development of new derivatives with high efficiency while low toxicity.

All fluorine-free lithium-ion batteries with high-rate capability

Fluorinated compounds, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are crucial in battery technologies for their exceptional thermal and chemical resistance but pose significant environmental and health risks. Facing potential bans by the European Chemicals Agency post-2026, this study introduces non-fluorinated alternatives to meet the needs of high-energy–density lithium batteries in a completely fluorine-free environment. We have replaced traditional fluorinated lithium hexafluorophosphate-based electrolytes and poly(vinylidene fluoride) binders with an optimized lithium perchlorate-based electrolyte offering extended oxidation stability up to 5 V and a newly synthesized aromatic polyamide binder with remarkable binding strength derived from its polar groups (–CONH-, −O=S=O-, and –COOH). This shift demonstrates robust oxidation resistance without fluorine, improving the performance of fluorine-free graphite/NCM811 lithium-ion batteries, which exhibit superior fast-discharging capabilities and cycling stability under 2.8–4.3 V at 1 C, outperforming traditional fluorinated cells. Furthermore, the successful development of an all-fluorine-free 1.5 Ah pouch cell confirms the viability of non-fluorinated materials for high-capacity battery applications.

High resistance towards electrochemical dissolution of cubic Rh@Ir core shell in acidic water splitting

The industrial development of acidic water splitting significantly counts on the activity associated with stability of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst. In this work, we have constructed cubic Rh@Ir core–shell for acidic water splitting. The formed Rh@Ir electrocatalyst shows a high HER performance with only 29 mV overpotential for 10 mA cm−2, stemming from the upshifted and downshifted d band center of Ir and Rh, leading to a moderate hydrogen binding strength. The Ir atom donates its electrons to nearby Rh atoms triggering a high susceptibility in nucleophilic attack by H2O to generate *OOH; thereby, the overpotential required to achieve 10 mA cm−2 is 216 mV for Rh@Ir core–shell, better than commercial IrO2. Moreover, the stability is superior to commercial IrO2 and pure Ir electrocatalyst due to the strong electronic interplay in Rh@Ir contributing to a better resistance towards electrochemical dissolution proved by operando Raman and electrochemical impedance spectroscopies. Only 1.55 V is needed for Rh@Ir to drive overall water splitting at 10 mA cm−2.