Synergetic Interplay Research Articles

Synergetic Interplay of MnNi-MOF Composite with 2D MXene for Improved Supercapacitor Application

The growing demand for high-performance energy storage systems has driven the development of advanced materials to improve supercapacitor efficiency. In this study, MXene-MnNi nanocomposites are synthesized and evaluated for their potential as next-generation supercapacitor electrodes. The MnNi alloy, known for its excellent pseudocapacitive properties, is combined with MXene, a two-dimensional material recognized for its exceptional conductivity, mechanical robustness, and large surface area. The uniform dispersion of MnNi and MXene achieved through a straightforward hydrothermal method, optimizes charge transfer and enhances electrochemical performance. Electrochemical testing demonstrates that the 100 MX-MN nanocomposite exhibits a high specific capacity of 1028 C g-1 at 1 A g-1, along with excellent rate capability and long-term stability, outperforming many conventional materials. This outstanding performance is attributed to the synergistic effects of MnNi’s redox activity and MXene’s high conductivity, which together increase active site availability, accelerate ion diffusion, and maintain structural integrity. Additionally, a hybrid aqueous device is assembled using 100 MX-MN as the positive electrode and activated carbon as the negative electrode. The device delivers a maximum energy density of 87.35 W h kg-1 at a power density of 1.98 kW kg-1 and exhibits excellent capacity retention of 88 % after 10,000 charge-discharge cycles. These findings highlight the potential of MXene-MnNi nanocomposites as advanced materials for supercapacitor applications, offering a promising path for more efficient energy storage solutions in modern electronic devices.

Eco-friendly synthesis of magnetic zeolite A from red mud and coal gasification slag for the removal of Pb2+ and Cu2+

The issue of heavy metal pollutants has gained global attention, while the disposal of industrial wastes remains a critical environmental concern that requires urgent treatment. In this study, the successful synthesis of magnetic zeolite A (MZA) aimed at the Pb2+ and Cu2+ removal was accomplished by capitalizing on the synergetic interplay between the red mud (RM) and coal gasification slag (CGS) compositions. A reduction roasting reaction involving iron and carbon was innovatively integrated into the conventional alkali fusion-activation process of silicon-aluminum components. The physicochemical properties and preparation mechanism of MZA were characterized using various analytical techniques. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics were analyzed employing various well-known models, and the reusability of MZA was investigated. The result showed that hematite in RM was converted into magnetite and metallic iron during the alkali fusion-synchronous reduction roasting process, and the aluminosilicates from RM and CGS were transformed into zeolite A through a hydrothermal method. The Langmuir and pseudo-second order models well described the Pb2+ adsorption behavior, while the adsorption process of Cu2+ followed the Freundlich and Elovich models best. These results confirmed the successful synthesis of MZA with excellent adsorption performance and magnetic properties, thereby demonstrating the potential of RM and CGS in heavy metal removal through resource utilization.

Toll-like receptors and integrins crosstalk.

Immune system recognizes invading microbes at both pathogen and antigen levels. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a key role in the first-line defense against pathogens. Major functions of TLRs include cytokine and chemokine production. TLRs share common downstream signaling pathways with other receptors. The crosstalk revolving around TLRs is rather significant and complex, underscoring the intricate nature of immune system. The profiles of produced cytokines and chemokines via TLRs can be affected by other receptors. Integrins are critical heterodimeric adhesion molecules expressed on many different cells. There are studies describing synergetic or inhibitory interplay between TLRs and integrins. Thus, we reviewed the crosstalk between TLRs and integrins. Understanding the nature of the crosstalk could allow us to modulate TLR functions via integrins.

Thermoacoustic Fano-based bistable energy converters: A new concept of thermoacoustic engine

In this work, we propose a highly efficient thermoacoustic energy converter based on the concept of Fano-based bistable systems. The proposed device, in its simplest version consists of a bilayer polymeric cylinder with harder core and softer and thinner shell. The heat source enforced at the core-shell interface induces thermo-mechanical stress fields. The stress field causes the occurrence of wrinkling patterns in the shell and the release of acoustic energy by a snap-through-buckling mechanism. We show that, when the shell is acoustically resonant at a specific frequency, the synergetic interplay of snap-through and Fano-resonances is capable of producing high amplitude and long-lasting pressure oscillations. In other words, under specifics conditions, the synergetic interaction between wrinkling instabilities and Fano resonance is able to extract mechanical energy from the heat source. The efficiency of the system in converting heat-into-work under resonant conditions is at least 6 times higher than that out of resonance. Notably, for a temperature difference of 1 K between the heat source (the hot thermal reservoir beneath the resonant shell) and the surrounding water (the cold thermal reservoir above the resonant shell), the system may reach a conversion efficiency above 70% of the theoretical Carnot efficiency. The so-generated mechanical oscillations can be converted in electrical energy for instance by using sound-to-energy converting systems such as conventional loudspeakers. The characteristics of the heat source have been selected to be representative of low-grade thermal sources (e.g. waste-heat, in particular intermittent sources) abundantly available in natural, and industrial contexts. Importantly, the systems may be adapted to many different geometries spanning from the proposed core-shell cylinders in which the heat source can be either inside the tube (for instance an exhaust gas/liquid outlet) or outside the tube, to plates (like a solar panel system).

FeCx-coated biochar nanosheets as efficient bifunctional catalyst for electrochemical detection and reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Herein, we present the exceptional performance of FeCx-coated carbon sheets (FC) derived from the pyrolysis of waste biomass as a bifunctional catalyst for electrochemical detection and catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Despite having a lower surface area, larger particle size, and lesser N content, the FC material prepared at a calcination temperature of 900 °C (FC900) outperforms the other samples. Deeper investigations revealed that the FC900 efficiently facilitates the charge transfer process and enhances the diffusion rate of 4-NP, leading to increased surface coverage of 4-NP on the surface of FC900. Additionally, relatively weaker interactions between 4-NP and FC900 allow the facile adsorption and desorption of reaction intermediates. Due to the synergetic interplay of these factors, FC900 exhibited a linear response to changes in 4-NP concentration from 1 μM to 100 μM with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 84 nM (S/N = 3) and high sensitivity of 12.15 μA μM−1 cm−2. Importantly, it selectively detects 4-NP in the presence of five times more concentrated 2-aminophenol, 4-aminophenol, catechol, resorcinol, and hydroquinone and ten times more concentrated metal salts such as Na2SO4. NaNO3, KCl, CuCl2, and CaCl2. Moreover, FC900 can accurately detect micromolar levels of 4-NP in river water with high recovery values (99.8–103.5 %). In addition, FC900 exhibited outstanding catalytic activity in reducing 4-NP to 4-aminophenol (4-AP), achieving complete conversion within 8 min with a high-rate constant of 0.42 min−1. FC900 also shows high recyclability in six consecutive catalytic reactions due to Fe magnetic property.

Autofluorescence microscopy as a non-invasive probe to characterize the complex mechanical properties of keratin-based integumentary organs: A feather paradigm

Integumentary organs exhibit diverse morphologies and functions. The complex mechanical property of the architecture is mainly contributed by the ingenious multiscale assembly of keratins. A cross-scale characterization on keratin integration in an integument system will help us understand the principles on how keratin-based bio-architecture are built and function in nature. In this study, we used feather as a model integument organ. We develop autofluorescence (AF) microscopy to study the characteristics of its keratin assemblies over a wide range of length scales. The AF intensity of each feather component, following the hierarchy from the rachis to barb to barbule, decreased with the physical dimension. By combining the analysis of AF signal and tensile testing, we can probe regional material density and the associated mechanical strength in a composite feather. We further demonstrated that the AF micro-images could resolve subtle variations in the defective keratin assembly in feathers from frizzled chicken variants with a mutation in α-keratin 75. The distinction between AF patterns and the morphological features of feather components across different length scales indicated a synergetic interplay between material integration and complex morphogenesis during feather development. The work shows AF microscopy can serve as an easy and non-invasive approach to study multiscale keratin organizations and the associated bio-mechanical properties in diverse integumentary organs. This approach will facilitate our learning of many bio-inspired designs in diverse animal integumentary organs/appendages.

Universal Stretchable Conductive Cellulose/PEDOT:PSS Hybrid Films for Low Hysteresis Multifunctional Stretchable Electronics.

Skin-attachable conductive materials have attracted significant attention for use in wearable devices and physiological monitoring applications. Soft, skin-like conductive films must have excellent mechanical and electrical characteristics with on-skin conformability, stretchability, and robustness to detect body motion and biological signals. In this study, a conductive, stretchable, hydro-biodegradable, and highly robust cellulose/poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hybrid film is fabricated. Through the synergetic interplay of a conductivity enhancer, nonionic fluorosurfactant, and surface modifier, the mechanical and electrical properties of the stretchable hybrid film are greatly improved. The stretchable cellulose/PEDOT:PSS hybrid film achieves a limited resistance change of only 1.21-fold after 100 stretch-release cycles (30% strain) with exceptionally low hysteresis, demonstrating its great potential as a stretchable electrode for stretchable electronics. In addition, the film shows excellent biodegradability, promising environmental friendliness, and safety benefits. High-performance stretchable cellulose/PEDOT:PSS hybrid films, which have high biocompatibility and sensitivity, are applied to human skin to serve as on-skin multifunctional sensors. The conformally mounted on-skin sensors are capable of continuously monitoring human physiological signals, such as body motions, drinking, respiration rates, vocalization, humidity, and temperature, with high sensitivity, fast responses, and low power consumption (21 μW). The highly conductive hybrid films developed in this study can be integrated as both stretchable electrodes and multifunctional healthcare monitoring sensors. We believe that the highly robust stretchable, conductive, biodegradable, skin-attachable cellulose/PEDOT:PSS hybrid films are worthy candidates as promising soft conductive materials for stretchable electronics.

Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells with Viewing‐Angle‐Independent Janus Structural Colors

AbstractSemitransparent organic solar cells (STOSCs) hold great promise for applications ranging from building‐integrated photovoltaics to portable electronic devices, yet often challenging over the realization of color tunability. The structural colors generated by microcavity, subwavelength grating, or photonic crystals are highly dependent on the viewing angle, which limits the application of STOSCs in real scenarios. Herein, the spectrally selective substrates consisting of silica spheres‐based amorphous photonic crystals (APCs) are proposed to unify the optical spectra of STOSCs at different viewing angles. By optimizing the periodicity of APCs, STOSCs exhibit viewing‐angle‐independent reflection with colors varying from blue to pink. The synergetic interplay between the reflection of APCs and the absorption of active layer results in the Janus optical effect that the transmitted light is fixed at blue regardless of the reflected color. The STOSCs on flexible plastic retain the stable color even at bending state. These results pave the way for the potential application of colorful solar photovoltaic glass curtains.

Rotation-Inversion Isomerization of Tertiary Carbamates: Potential Energy Surface Analysis of Multi-Paths Isomerization Using Boltzmann Statistics.

Potential energy surface (PES) analyses at the SMD[MP2/6-311++G(d,p)] level and higher-level energies up to MP4(fc,SDTQ) are reported for the fluorinated tertiary carbamate N-ethyl-N-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) methyl carbamate (VII) and its parent system N,N-dimethyl methyl carbamate (VI). Emphasis is placed on the analysis of the rotational barrier about the CN carbamate bond and its interplay with the hybridization of the N-lone pair (NLP). All rotational transition state (TS) structures were found by computation of 1D relaxed rotational profiles but only 2D PES scans revealed the rotation-inversion paths in a compelling fashion. We found four unique chiral minima of VII, one pair each of E- and Z-rotamers, and we determined the eight unique rotational TS structures associated with every possible E/Z-isomerization path. It is a significant finding that all TS structures feature N-pyramidalization whereas the minima essentially contain sp2 -hybridized nitrogen. We will show that the TS stabilities are affected by the synergetic interplay between NLP/CO2 repulsion minimization, NLP→σ* (CO) negative hyperconjugation, and two modes of intramolecular through-space electrostatic stabilization. We demonstrate how Boltzmann statistics must be applied to determine the predicted experimental rotational barrier based on the energetics of all eight rotamerization pathways. The computed barrier for VII is in complete agreement with the experimentally measured barrier of the very similar fluorinated carbamate N-Boc-N-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)-4-aminobutan-1-ol II. NMR properties of VII were calculated with a variety of density functional/basis set combinations and Boltzmann averaging over the E- and Z-rotamers at our best theoretical level results in good agreement with experimental chemical shifts δ(13 C) and J(13 C,19 F) coupling constants of II (within 6 %).

Engineering immunomodulatory hydrogels and cell-laden systems towards bone regeneration

The well-known synergetic interplay between the skeletal and immune systems has changed the design of advanced bone tissue engineering strategies. The immune system is essential during the bone lifetime, with macrophages playing multiple roles in bone healing and biomaterial integration. If in the past, the most valuable aspect of implants was to avoid immune responses of the host, nowadays, it is well-established how important are the crosstalks between immune cells and bone-engineered niches for an efficient regenerative process to occur. For that, it is essential to recapitulate the multiphenotypic cellular environment of bone tissue when designing new approaches. Indeed, the lack of osteoimmunomodulatory knowledge may be the explanation for the poor translation of biomaterials into clinical practice. Thus, smarter hydrogels incorporating immunomodulatory bioactive factors, stem cells, and immune cells are being proposed to develop a new generation of bone tissue engineering strategies. This review highlights the power of immune cells to upgrade the development of innovative engineered strategies, mainly focusing on orthopaedic and dental applications.

Synergetic Interplay of Curved Si Nanobelts and WO3 Nanoparticles as Heterostructure Design Featuring Effective Room-Temperature NO2 Detection

Synergetic Interplay of Curved Si Nanobelts and WO₃ Nanoparticles as Heterostructure Design Featuring Effective Room-Temperature NO₂ Detection

MIL-100(Fe)@GO composites with superior adsorptive removal of cationic and anionic dyes from aqueous solutions

The separation of synthetic dyes from industrial wastewaters is an important objective in addressing water pollution. The removal of pollutant dyes from industrial wastewater prior to its release into the environment is an essential task; thus, synthesizing new adsorbent materials with superior adsorption efficiency is an important undertaking. Herein, we report the synthesis of MIL-100(Fe)@GO (graphene oxide) composites exhibiting superior adsorption performance toward methyl orange (MO), Congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB), and acid chrome blue K (AC). The room-temperature adsorption capacities of MIL-100(Fe)@GO-1 for these dyes were 533.7 (MB), 760.1 (MO), 1386.3 (AC), and 1786.6 (CR) mg g–1, exceeding those values previously reported for pristine MIL-100(Fe) by 31.1%, 17.8%, 54.8%, and 8.9%, respectively. The adsorption behavior of the composites can be described on the basis of the structural and morphological characteristics and zeta potential of MIL-100(Fe)@GO and the adsorption capacity and structural characteristics of the dyes. The adsorption uptakes of MIL-100(Fe)@GO toward the pollutant dyes was controlled by the synergistic effects of the hydrogen-bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and π–π interactions and agglomeration pores of MIL-100(Fe)@GO. The obtained results revealed that the synergetic interplay of electrostatic, hydrogen-bonding, π–π, and hydrophobic interactions and adsorption space led to two distinct adsorption regimes for MO and AC depending on the adsorbate concentration.

Transformation of waste onion peels into core-shell Fe3C@ N-doped carbon as a robust electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

Herein, we provide a facile pathway to transform waste onion skins into a competent and stable electrocatalyst for the OER. The obtained catalyst had a core-shell structure wherein, Fe-Fe3C particles were encased within shells of N-doped carbon (FO800). Due to the synergetic interplay among its components, FO800 displayed excellent OER activity. Notably, FO800 delivered the current density of 10 mA cm−2, and 50 mA cm−2 at a low overpotential of 330 mV, and 380 mV with a Tafel slope of 52 mV dec−1. Moreover, at an overpotential of 350 mV FO800 displayed a turnover frequency of 0.02 s−1 indicating that FO800 possesses high intrinsic activity which is comparable to that of RuO2. Owing to the presence of a protective carbon shell FO800 displayed excellent stability for 24 h. The role of Fe3C, N doping, and C shell, in determining the overall OER activity was also examined. Our experimental observations suggest that the incorporation of Fe3C in the N-doped carbon improves the charge transfer efficiencies at the electrode-electrolyte interface by increasing the Donor density.

Synergetic catalysis of p–d hybridized single-atom catalysts: first-principles investigations

2D-TM3(C6O6)2 systems are predicted to be effective p–d hybridized catalysts for CO oxidization via the synergetic interplay of charge transfer among the hosting d-block TM active sites, the neighboring p-block C and O atoms in the substrate.

Synergetic Interplay of Wo3 Nanoparticles and Curved Si Nanobelts as Heterostructure Design Featuring Highly Efficient Room-Temperature No2 Sensing

Synergetic Interplay of Wo3 Nanoparticles and Curved Si Nanobelts as Heterostructure Design Featuring Highly Efficient Room-Temperature No2 Sensing

Simultaneously improving the ductility and strength of aromatic thermoset films

Aromatic thermoset materials have shown great potential applications in various fields owing to their excellent mechanical strengths. However, their poor ductility is still hinders their large-scale applications. In this study, a new class of aromatic thermosets consisting of two types of crosslinks was successfully developed by incorporating the special group imidazole into a type of crosslinked thermoset. One crosslink is constituted of reversible multiple noncovalent interactions containing “face-face” π–π stacking, “point-point” hydrogen bonds, and ion-pair electrostatic interactions, whereas the other is composed of permanent covalent bonds. Most importantly, the synergetic interplay among these reversible multiple noncovalent interactions enables them to evade the restrictions from the aromatic polymer skeletons to proceed with their dynamic dissociating-rebuilding processes, which can timely and effectively dissipate the internal stress. Finally, owing to the coefficient of these two types of crosslinks, a significantly enhanced ductility was successfully obtained on these aromatic thermosets and their tensile strengths were also improved. Such thermosets having simultaneously enhanced strengths and ductility are predicted to be eventually used in a wide range of applications.

Microrecycled zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NP) recovered from spent Zn–C batteries for VOC detection using ZnO sensor

Non-intrusive techniques for diagnosis and biomonitoring – for example, breath testing to detect biomarkers – have the potential to support the advancement of versatile and remote point-of-care (PoC) diagnostics. This paper investigates tuning the sensitivity and selectivity performance of chemo-resistive sensors to detect volatile organic compound (VOC) biomarkers using a hybridized material of pristine graphene (pG) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NP) recovered from spent Zn–C batteries. This hybridized graphene nanocomposite material of ZnO nanoparticles showed enhanced sensing performance because of high conductive property of graphene along with the synergetic interplay between graphene composite materials and ZnO NPs. The elevated surface area as well as adsorption capability of ZnO NPs provided improved sensitivity and selectivity for particular VOCs. It was proposed that this hybridized material could be used to fabricate chemo-resistive sensors with sensing performances tailored for VOC biomarker detection. To test this hypothesis, the ability of graphene hybrid nanocomposites with ZnO NPs to improve the sensing characteristics and efficiency of distinguishing diverse VOC biomarkers such as ethanol, acetone, methanol, chloroform, acetonitrile and terahydrofuran (THF) was investigated. Results demonstrated that the microrecycled ZnO based hybrid sensor has good selectivity along with the sensitivity towards ethanol and chloroform VOCs at room temperature (20 °C).

Superior adsorptive removal of azo dyes from aqueous solution by a Ni(II)-doped metal–organic framework

Toxic azo dyes pose a significant threat to all living organisms when they are directly discharged into aqueous environments. Therefore, new adsorbents with excellent adsorptive efficiencies are urgently required for the removal of azo dyes. Herein, the adsorption space, surface charge, morphological and structural defects, and mesostructure of MIL-101(Cr) were adjusted by Ni(II) doping to understand the effects of these factors on the adsorptive removal of anionic azo dyes such as Congo red (CR), methyl orange (MO), and acid chrome blue K (AC) from aqueous solution. The adsorption uptakes of Ni(II)-doped MIL-101(Cr) toward CR (1607.4 mg g−1) and MO (651.2 mg g−1) exceeded those of undoped MIL-101(Cr) by 31.4% and 23.4%, respectively, whereas Ni(II) doping decreased the adsorption uptake toward AC (161.0 mg g−1) by 50.2%. Ni(II) doping produced morphological and structural defects, resulting in a new mesoporous structure, which played a more prominent role than electrostatic interactions and adsorption space in increasing the adsorption uptake toward linear anionic azo dyes, such as CR and MO. Despite these effects, for nonlinear azo dyes such as AC the adsorption uptake was decreased by steric hindrance between the Ni(II)-doped MIL-101(Cr) adsorbent and the dye. Thus, the adsorption performance of Ni(II)-doped MIL-101(Cr) was found to be controlled by the synergetic interplay among electrostatic interactions, π–π interactions, steric hindrance, and the morphological and structural defects, pore volume, and mesoporous structure of the adsorbent.

Making Waxy Salts in Water: Synthetic Control of Hydrophobicity for Anion‐Induced and Aggregation‐Enhanced Light Emission

AbstractWe show that multipodal polycationic receptors function as anion‐responsive light‐emitters in water. Prevailing paradigms utilize rigid holes and cavities for ion recognition. We instead built open amphiphilic scaffolds that trigger polar‐to‐nonpolar environment transitions around cationic fluorophores upon anion complexation. This ion‐pairing and aggregation event produces a dramatic enhancement in the emission intensity, as demonstrated by perchlorate as a non‐spherical hydrophobic anion model. A synergetic interplay of C−H⋅⋅⋅anion hydrogen bonding and tight anion–π+ contacts underpins this supramolecular phenomenon. By changing the aliphatic chain length, we demonstrate that the response profile and threshold of this signaling event can be controlled at the molecular level. With appropriate molecular design, inherently weak, ill‐defined, and non‐directional van der Waals interaction enables selective, sensitive, and tunable recognition in water.

Making Waxy Salts in Water: Synthetic Control of Hydrophobicity for Anion-Induced and Aggregation-Enhanced Light Emission.

We show that multipodal polycationic receptors function as anion-responsive light-emitters in water. Prevailing paradigms utilize rigid holes and cavities for ion recognition. We instead built open amphiphilic scaffolds that trigger polar-to-nonpolar environment transitions around cationic fluorophores upon anion complexation. This ion-pairing and aggregation event produces a dramatic enhancement in the emission intensity, as demonstrated by perchlorate as a non-spherical hydrophobic anion model. A synergetic interplay of C-H⋅⋅⋅anion hydrogen bonding and tight anion-π+ contacts underpins this supramolecular phenomenon. By changing the aliphatic chain length, we demonstrate that the response profile and threshold of this signaling event can be controlled at the molecular level. With appropriate molecular design, inherently weak, ill-defined, and non-directional van der Waals interaction enables selective, sensitive, and tunable recognition in water.