Conversion Performance Research Articles

A simple ultra-broadband metamaterial solar perfect absorber with highly efficient photothermal conversion performance

A simple ultra-broadband metamaterial solar perfect absorber with highly efficient photothermal conversion performance

Expanding the conjugated structure of g-C3N4 to prepare porous carbon materials with high efficiency photothermal conversion performance

Expanding the conjugated structure of g-C3N4 to prepare porous carbon materials with high efficiency photothermal conversion performance

Optimizing the photothermal conversion performance of gold nanorods

Optimizing the photothermal conversion performance of gold nanorods

Chitosan-Based Porous Carbon Materials with Built-In Lewis Acid Boron Sites for Enhanced CO2 Capture and Conversion via an Electron-Inducing Effect.

Electron-induced effects, which are prevalent in adsorption and heterogeneous catalytic reactions, can significantly influence the state and uptake of adsorbates. Here, we demonstrate the in situ doping of electron-deficient boron into the backbone of chitosan-based porous carbon materials. Despite a reduction in specific surface area, the resulting boron-doped porous carbons (NBPCs) exhibit an enhanced CO2 adsorption performance, with sample NBPC-10 achieving CO2 adsorption capacities of 7.62 and 4.82 mmol·g-1 at 273 and 298 K, respectively. This improvement is attributed to the electron-induced effect of boron doping, which also enhances the separation selectivity of CO2 from N2. Additionally, the high CO2 adsorption capacity fosters synergism between NBPCs and the cocatalyst tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB), thereby augmenting the catalytic activity for the cycloaddition of CO2 and epoxide. Notably, cyclic carbonate yields exceeding 99% were attained even under 1 bar of CO2. Controlled experiments corroborated the pivotal role of boron-doping-induced modifications in the porous carbon structure in enhancing both CO2 selective adsorption and conversion performance. Furthermore, NBPCs demonstrated excellent recyclability as both adsorbents and catalysts, offering fresh perspectives for the design of functionalized porous carbon materials tailored for CO2 capture and conversion.

Analysis of blade's chord length with NACA0015 profile for enhanced wave energy conversion of Wells turbine

This paper investigates the enhancement of Wells turbine blades by modifying the chord length design parameter. The Wells turbine, a promising device in wave energy conversion systems, faces a limited operating range due to flow separation, which restricts its efficiency at higher flow rates. Enhancing the performance of the Wells turbine is crucial for effective wave energy exploitation. The computational simulations in this study are conducted using ANSYS Fluent. Turbine performance is evaluated based on non-dimensional torque, pressure torque, and efficiency, derived from solving the steady 3D incompressible Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes equations. The results are validated against reliable references, showing good agreement. The numerical findings reveal that altering the turbine chord length significantly impacts efficiency. Optimizing the chord length enhances the Wells turbine's performance in wave energy conversion, making it a more viable option for renewable energy power generation.

Optical Coherence Tomography Image Enhancement and Layer Detection Using Cycle-GAN

Background/Objectives: Variations in image clarity across different OCT devices, along with the inconsistent delineation of RNFL boundaries, pose a challenge to achieving consistent diagnoses for glaucoma. Recently, deep learning methods such as GANs for image transformation have been gaining attention. This paper introduces deep learning methods to transform low-clarity images from one OCT device into high-clarity images from another, concurrently estimating the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) segmentation lines in the enhanced images. Methods: We applied two deep learning methods, pix2pix and cycle-GAN, and provided a comparison of their performance by evaluating the similarity between the generated and actual images, as well as comparing the generated RNFL boundary delineation with the actual boundaries. Results: The image conversion performance was compared based on two criteria: Fréchet Inception Distance (FID) and curve dissimilarity. In the comparison of FID values, the cycle-GAN method showed significantly lower values than the pix2pix method (p-value < 0.001). In terms of curve similarity, the cycle-GAN method also demonstrated higher similarity to the actual curves compared to both manually annotated curves and the pix2pix method (p-value < 0.001). Conclusions: We demonstrated that the cycle-GAN method produces more consistent and precise outcomes in the converted images compared to the pix2pix method. The resulting segmented lines showed a high degree of similarity to those manually annotated by clinical experts in high-clarity images, surpassing the boundary accuracy observed in the original low-clarity scans.

Harvesting ionic power from a neutralization reaction through a heterogeneous graphene oxide membrane.

Nanofluidics is a system of fluid transport limited to a nano-confined space, including the transport of ions and molecules. The use of intelligent nanofluidics has shown great potential in energy conversion. However, ion transport is hindered by homogeneous membranes with uniform charge distribution and concentration polarization, which often leads to an undesirable power conversion performance. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of a neutralization reaction-enhanced energy conversion process based on heterogeneous graphene oxide (GO) nanofluidics with a bipolar structure. The asymmetric charge distribution inherent to the heterogeneous nanofluidics facilitates a complementary two-way ion diffusion process, which in turn promotes efficient charge separation and superposed ionic diffusion. An output power density of up to 29.58 W m-2 is achieved with 0.1 M HCl/NaOH as the acid-base pair (ABP), which is about 712% and 117% higher than using symmetric unipolar pGO and nGO membranes. Both experiments and theoretical simulations indicate that the tunable asymmetric heterostructure contributes to regulating diffusion-based ion transport and enhancing the ion flux. This work not only establishes a significant paradigm for the utilization of chemical reactions within nanofluidic systems but also opens up new avenues for ground-breaking discoveries in the fields of chemistry, nanotechnology, and materials science.

A Spiro-Based NIR-II Photosensitizer with Efficient ROS Generation and Thermal Conversion Performances for Imaging-Guided Tumor Theranostics.

Organic photosensitizers (PSs) possessing NIR-II emission and photodynamic/photothermal effect have received a great sense of attention for their cutting-edge applications in imaging-guided multimodal phototherapy. However, it is highly challenging to design efficient PSs with high luminescence and phototherapy performance simultaneously. In this study, a spiro-functionalization strategy is proposed to alleviate aggregate-caused quenching of PSs and promote photodynamic therapy, and the strategy is verified via a spiro[fluorine-9,9'-xanthene]-modified NIR-II PS (named SFX-IC) with an acceptor-donor-acceptor configuration. SFX-IC-based nanoparticles (NPs) display a high molar extinction coefficient of 7.05 × 104 m‒1 cm-1 at 645nm due to strong intramolecular charge-transfer characteristics. As expected, the as-prepared NPs show strong NIR-II emission with a fluorescence quantum yield of 1.1%, thanks to the spiro-configuration that suppressing excessively intermolecular π-π stacking. Furthermore, SFX-IC NPs not only efficiently generate 1O2 and O∙- 2 under 660nm laser irradiation, but also possess good photothermal effect with photothermal conversion efficiency of 47.14%. Consequently, SFX-IC NPs can be served as versatile phototheranostic agents for NIR-II fluorescence/photoacoustic imaging-guided phototherapy, manifesting that the spiro-functionalized strategy is a powerful tool to construct efficient NIR-II emitting PSs.

Multi-Omics Insights into Regulatory Mechanisms Underlying Differential Deposition of Intramuscular and Abdominal Fat in Chickens.

Excessive abdominal fat deposition in chickens disadvantages feed conversion, meat production, and reproductive performance. Intramuscular fat contributes to meat texture, tenderness, and flavor, serving as a vital indicator of overall meat quality. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the regulatory mechanisms governing differential deposition of abdominal versus intramuscular fat is essential in breeding higher-quality chickens with ideal fat distribution. This review systematically summarizes the regulatory mechanisms underlying intramuscular and abdominal fat traits at chromatin, genomic, transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational, and epigenetic-modification scales. Additionally, we summarize the role of non-coding RNAs and protein-coding genes in governing intramuscular and abdominal fat deposition. These insights provide a valuable theoretical foundation for the genetic engineering of high-quality and high-yielding chicken breeds.

QBiCo: a method to assess global DNA conversion performance in epigenetics via single-copy genes and repetitive elements

BackgroundHuman DNA methylation profiling offers great promises in various biomedical applications, including ageing, cancer and even forensics. So far, most DNA methylation techniques are based on a chemical process called sodium bisulfite conversion, which specifically converts non-methylated cytosines into uracils. However, despite the popularity of this approach, it is known to cause DNA fragmentation and loss affecting standardization, while incomplete conversion may result in potential misinterpretation of methylation-based outcomes.ResultsTo offer the community a solution, we developed qBiCo - a novel quality-control method to address the quantity and quality of bisulfite-converted DNA. qBiCo is a 5-plex, TaqMan® probe-based, quantitative (q)PCR assay that amplifies single- and multi-copy DNA fragments of converted and non-converted nature. It estimates four parameters: converted DNA concentration, fragmentation, global conversion efficiency, and potential PCR inhibition. We optimized qBiCo using synthetic DNA standards and assessed it using standard developmental validation criteria, showcasing that qBiCo is reliable, robust and sensitive down to picogram level. We also evaluated its performance by testing decreasing DNA amounts using several commercial bisulfite conversion kits. Depending on the starting DNA quantity, bisulfite-converted DNA recoveries ranged from 8.5 to 100%, conversion efficiencies from 78 to 99.9%, while certain kits highly fragment DNA, demonstrating large variability in their performance. Towards building a prototype tool, we further optimized key functionalities, for example, by replacing the poorest performing single-plex assay and creating a more representative DNA standard. Aiming to scale-up and move towards implementation, we successfully transferred and validated our novel method in six different qPCR platforms from different major manufacturers.ConclusionsOverall, with the present study, we offer researchers in the epigenetic field a novel long-awaited QC tool that for the first time allows them to measure key quality and quantity parameters of the most popular DNA conversion process. The tool also enables standardization to prevent inconsistent data and false outcomes in the future, regardless of the downstream experimental analysis of DNA methylation-based research and applications across different fields of biology and biomedicine.

Development and Characterization of Hyaluronic Acid Graft-Modified Polydopamine Nanoparticles for Antibacterial Studies.

The problem of antibiotic abuse and drug resistance is becoming increasingly serious. In recent years, polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticles have been recognized as a potential antimicrobial material for photothermal therapy (PTT) due to their excellent photothermal conversion efficiency and unique antimicrobial ability. PDA is capable of rapidly converting light energy into heat energy under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation to kill bacteria efficiently. In order to solve the problem of PDA's tendency to aggregate and precipitate, this study improved its stability by grafting hyaluronic acid (HA) onto the surface of PDA. Using dopamine and hyaluronic acid as raw materials, hyaluronic acid (HA) was grafted onto polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticles via self-polymerization and Michael addition reactions under alkaline conditions to obtain PDA-HA-modified nanoparticles. We confirmed the successful grafting of hyaluronic acid via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic hydrogen spectroscopy (¹H NMR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Raman spectroscopy (Raman), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) methods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the surface morphology and nanostructure of the grafted materials, providing information on the morphology and size distribution of the materials. Near-infrared performance experiments showed that the temperature of the PDA-HA solution increased rapidly under near-infrared light irradiation, demonstrating an excellent photothermal conversion performance. Antimicrobial properties were assessed via the colony counting method, and typical Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus and Gram-negative bacteria E. coli were selected as model strains. The experimental groups were tested under dark conditions and near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. PDA/HA showed significant photothermal properties under NIR light irradiation, resulting in a rapid increase in the surrounding temperature to a level sufficient to kill bacteria. Under NIR light irradiation, PDA/HA exhibited 100% antimicrobial efficacy against both S. aureus and E. coli, while antimicrobial efficacy was limited under dark conditions. This indicates that the antibacterial activity of PDA/HA is highly dependent on NIR light activation.

Linear Enhanced 3D Nanofluid Force-Electric Conversion Device.

The inherent trade-off between permeability and selectivity has constrained further improvement of passive linear force-electric conversion performance in nanofluidic pressure sensors. To overcome this limitation, a 3D nanofluidic membrane with high mechanical strength utilizing aramid nanofibers/carbon nanofiber (ANF/CNF) dual crosslinking is developed. Due to the abundant surface functional groups of CNF and the high mechanical strength of ANF, this large-scale integrated 3D nanofluidic membrane exhibits advantages of high flux, high porosity, and short ion transport path, demonstrating superior force-electric response compared to conventional 1D and 2D configurations. The enhancement mechanism of the ANF/CNF membrane is systematically investigated through experimental results and theoretical calculations. The optimized device has a sensitivity of 111 nA cm-2kPa-1, a response/recovery time of 63/68ms, and a stability of 45000 cycles. This study successfully overcomes the inherent performance limitations of traditional nanofluidic membranes, offering promising potential for applications across artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and smart wearable devices.

AFFILIATE MARKETING STRATEGIES TOWARDS CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT AND SALES CONVERSION OF APPAREL PRODUCT AMONG WORKING-CLASS MILLENNIALS

This study determined the impact of affiliate marketing strategies on customer engagement, repeat engagement, sales conversion, and key performance metrics such as social media engagement, click-through rate (CTR), and time spent on page, specifically targeting workingclass millennials. The researchers employed non-probability sampling methods, including purposive, quota, and convenience sampling techniques, selecting 150 participants who were familiar with affiliate marketing and actively purchased apparel products online. The findings revealed that most participants were aged 28-30 years, predominantly female, married, and had a monthly income ranging from Php 15,001 to Php 20,000. Affiliate marketing strategies significantly enhanced customer engagement, with social media interactions and influencer promotions fostering strong connections between consumers and brands. Metrics such as social media engagement, CTR, and time spent on page indicated that well-executed campaigns effectively drive traffic, keep customers engaged, and encourage repeat transactions. Influencers played a critical role in fostering repeat engagement and customer loyalty through consistent promotions and personalized content. Ultimately, the study concluded that affiliate marketing strategies successfully convert customer interest into purchases, increasing both immediate and repeat transactions through trusted recommendations and clear calls to action.

A survey of flow-based energy harvesters for powering sustainable wireless sensor nodes

Self-powered wireless monitoring systems, wireless electronic devices, and embedded microsystems have gained enormous interest in recent years due to the vast sensing and monitoring applications in various fields, including civil infrastructure, oil and gas industry, healthcare, environment, military, agriculture, and consumer electronics. The main component of these systems is a wireless sensor node (WSN). The continuous operation of WSN depends on an uninterrupted power source, which is now delivered from electrochemical batteries with short life cycles and related major environmental problems. One potential solution to avoid replacing batteries in WSNs is to explore energy harvesting as a sustainable method for either directly replacing batteries or enabling regular battery recharge. Various energies surround the wireless sensor nodes, including thermal, solar, vibrational, acoustic, and fluid flow. This paper discusses the recent advancements in the field of flow energy harvesters based on fluid flow in open environments as well as in pipelines and channels. Flow energy harvesters (FEHs) transform the energy from fluid flow into electrical energy. This electrical energy is then utilized to power WSN. Mainly, two types of FEHs, flow-induced rotation-based energy harvesters (mini turbines) and flow-induced vibration-based energy harvesters (electromagnetic, piezoelectric, and hybrid mechanisms-based harvesters), have been reviewed and discussed in detail concerning device architecture, fluid type, bluff body shapes, fluid pressure and velocity, conversion mechanism, performance parameters, and implementation. Most of the reported piezoelectric energy harvesters have overall sizes ranging from millimeters to centimeters. The power output of the flow-induced rotation-based energy harvester ranges from 0.1 to 170 mW, whereas the power output of piezoelectric flow-induced vibration-based energy harvesters ranges from 0.38 nW to 20 mW, and the power output of the reported electromagnetic flow-induced vibration-based energy harvester ranges from 2 nW to 234 mW. However, the reported output of hybrid flow energy harvesters (HFEHs) ranges from 16.55 μW to 648 mW. HFEHs can produce the highest power densities because of their combined piezoelectric and electromagnetic energy conversions.

A biomass-derived multifunctional conductive coating with outstanding electromagnetic shielding and photothermal conversion properties for integrated wearable intelligent textiles and skin bioelectronics.

Intelligent electronic textiles have important application value in the field of wearable electronics due to their unique structure, flexibility, and breathability. However, the currently reported electronic textiles are still challenged by issues such as their biocompatibility, photothermal conversion, and electromagnetic wave contamination. Herein, a multifunctional biomass-based conductive coating was developed using natural carboxymethyl starch (CMS), dopamine and polypyrrole (PPy) and then further employed for constructing multifunctional intelligent electronic textiles. The prepared textiles had excellent water resistance, breathability, antioxidant and antibacterial activities, electromagnetic shielding (33 dB) as well as photothermal conversion performance, and stability. Notably, the fabricated textile could be heated from room temperature to 55 °C within 10 s under infrared radiation, and then the surface temperature of the textile could be reduced to 40 °C (τs = 42.05 s) within 20 s, holding great significance for research on new wearable photothermal textiles. Furthermore, the textile was utilized as a skin strain sensor, demonstrating high sensitivity to temperature, strain, photothermal and bioelectric signals and motion detection. It could monitor the physiological signal, motion control, and body temperature change of the human body in real time, offering significant potential to be applicable to integrated wearable intelligent textiles and skin bioelectronics.

Integrated CO2 capture and conversion performance of Ni-CaO dual functional materials pellets in O2-containing flue gas stream

Integrated CO2 capture and conversion performance of Ni-CaO dual functional materials pellets in O2-containing flue gas stream

Ultralight aerogels with aligned channels for efficient solar driven interfacial evaporation of brackish water and remediation of saline soils

Solar driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) holds significant potential in water treatment and soil improvement. This study innovatively designed a photothermal water purification and soil amelioration system based on salt crystallization migration. Its purpose is to efficiently purify brackish water and improve saline-alkali soil using solar stream evaporator. The core of this system lies in the utilization of cellulose nanofibers (CNF), vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMO), and carbon nanotubes (CNT) as raw materials. The hydroxyl groups provided by CNF chemically crosslink with the methoxy groups provided by VTMO, and a gradient temperature reduction method is employed to shape a photothermal material (CNT-V-CNF) with aligned channels. CNT-V-CNF exhibits high light absorption (95 %), superhydrophilicity, and excellent thermal insulation properties, enabling a high photothermal evaporation rate (1.7 kg·m−2·h−1). The incorporation of the salt migration carrier significantly strengthens the salt tolerance of CNT-V-CNF, allowing it to maintain efficient and stable photothermal conversion performance in actual brackish water conditions. This achievement results in a daily water production capacity of 10.23 kg·m−2·d−1. After irrigating saline-alkaline soil with the purified freshwater for 52 days, the germination rate of wheat seeds sown in the soil has increased by approximately 65 %. The results of this study demonstrate the tremendous potential of SDIE centered on CNT-V-CNF in the agricultural irrigation and soil remediation practices.

A diode-like integrated hydrogel for piezoionic generators and sensors

Wearable sensing electronic devices based on hydrogel are gradually developing towards multifunction and portability, however, efficiently harvesting energy from the surrounding environment to power traditional hydrogel-based wearable electronic devices is a major challenge. The assembly of multilayer heterogeneous hydrogels is a potential strategy to address this challenge. Herein, inspired by the structure of diodes, a diode-like integrated hydrogel composed of a three-tier structure of anionic polyelectrolyte hydrogel, polyacrylamide hydrogel and cationic polyelectrolyte hydrogel is developed. By the connection of polyacrylamide hydrogel, the composite hydrogel exhibits excellent structural stability and mechanical properties. Notably, due to the introduction of MXene ion-conducting microchannels, the directional transport of free cations and anions ionized by anionic and cationic polyelectrolytes is achieved, thereby improving the conductivity (74.58 mS/cm), sensing (gauge factor = 7.47) and piezoionic output performance of the composite hydrogel. The composite hydrogel-based sensor can sense tiny facial movements and recognize the direction of human movement, and the composite hydrogel-based piezoionic generator exhibit more efficient mechanical-electric conversion performance, which can output the maximum voltage of 1410mV, current of 28 μA, and power density of 2.9mW/m2 for a composite hydrogel of 5×5 cm2. The integration of multilayer heterogeneous hydrogels proposes a versatile strategy for the development of high-performance hydrogel-based self-powered sensing electronic devices, expanding the application of hydrogels in artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction.

Pyrazine-tuned metal cluster-based CuI13 chain and CuI14 layer for efficient photo-thermal synergistic degradation of methyl orange

By anti-disproportionation reaction, two Cu(I)-alkynyl cluster compounds, [Cu13(tBuCC)8(CF3COO)5(pz)]n (CuI13) and [Cu14(tBuCC)8(CF3COO)6(pz)2]n (CuI14), with different dimensions were precisely and directionally synthesized under solvothermal conditions, in which Cu(CF3COO)2·xH2O, copper powder, tBuCCH, and CF3COOH ligand reacted with varying molar quantities of pyrazine (pz) ligand. The increase in the quantity of pz ligand, not only promoted the increase of the number of copper cores from 13 to 14 but also realized the growth from the one-dimensional (1D) CuI13 chain to the two-dimensional (2D) CuI14 layer accompanied by strengthening Cu⋯Cu interactions. The photo-thermal conversion performance together with the degradation of methyl orange (MO) by CuI13 and CuI14 were studied under 532 nm light irradiation. The equilibrium temperature of photo-thermal conversion of CuI13 and CuI14 was separately 64.5 °C and 89.0 °C in the solid state and 46.0 °C and 53.0 °C in the aqueous solution. The better photo-thermal conversion of CuI14 can be assigned to the higher absorption intensity at 532 nm than that of CuI13. The photo-thermal synergistic degradation of MO by CuI13 and CuI14 was observed. The degradation rate of CuI14 reached 80 %, which is better than that of CuI13 (71 %). This work may shed light on designing metal cluster-based photo-thermal catalysts and explaining their structure–property relationship.

Sunlight Self‐Heating Oil‐Water Separation Material and Device for Recovering High‐Viscosity Oil

ABSTRACTThis research employed a simplistic approach to modify polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and graphene oxide (GO) onto the surface of the PU skeleton, and then synthesize an oil–water separation material (rGO@PDMS/PU) with photothermal conversion performance and superoleophilic/superhydrophobic properties through high‐temperature reduction. The synthesized rGO@PDMS/PU can adsorb organic solvents or oil that are 19–37 times its own weight, while also having a 99.1% oil–water separation efficiency. Additionally, rGO@PDMS/PU also has good photothermal conversion ability. Under the intensity of 1 sunlight (q = 1 kW m−2), its surface temperature can reach 95.4°C within 10 s. Relying on the excellent oil–water selectivity and photothermal conversion capabilities of rGO@PDMS/PU, we also build a novel oil‐gathering device that can successfully make oil recovery on the water surface in situ. When the device is under light conditions, its crude oil recovery efficiency is nearly four times higher than when there is no light. Therefore, this new oil‐gathering device has broad application prospects in high‐viscosity oil leakage incidents such as crude oil and engine oil.