Effects of major and trace elements from the El Kahfa ring complex on fish: Geological, physicochemical, and biological approaches

The alkaline rocks are known for enriching rare lithophilic elements, including lithium, uranium, and tin, which negatively impact aquatic life. This study offers an intensive investigation of the influence of alkaline rocks on Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The variation in blood profile, the induction of antioxidant enzymes, morphological erythrocyte, and histological structure have been conducted for the fish after 15 days of exposure to alkaline rocks powder with a dose of 100 μg/L. As a result, there was a pronounced decrease in blood profiles, such as platelets and white blood cell counts. There was a failure in the liver and kidney functions. Moreover, it shows an increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities as antioxidant biomarkers. Also, exposure to alkaline rocks induced DNA mutation and erythrocyte distortion. We concluded that the bulk alkaline rocks induced changes in the hemato-biochemical and antioxidant parameters of Nile tilapia. Additionally, exposure to bulk alkaline rock compounds also caused poikilocytosis and nuclear abnormalities of RBCs. This draws our attention to the seriousness of climatic changes, the erosion of rocks, and their access to water

Photosynthetic apparatus of Rhodobacter sphaeroides exhibits prolonged charge storage

Photosynthetic proteins are used to harvest solar energy in bio-photovoltaics, but are typically not investigated for charge storage. Here the authors report prolonged charge storage in multilayers of photoproteins as well as a proof-of-principle biophotonic power cell with purple bacterial photoproteins

Materials and structural design for preferable Zn deposition behavior toward stable Zn anodes

Abstract Benefiting from the high capacity of Zn metal anodes and intrinsic safety of aqueous electrolytes, rechargeable Zn ion batteries (ZIBs) show promising application in the post‐lithium‐ion period, exhibiting good safety, low cost, and high energy density. However, its commercialization still faces problems with low Coulombic efficiency and unsatisfied cycling performance due to the poor Zn/Zn2+ reversibility that occurred on the Zn anode. To improve the stability of the Zn anode, optimizing the Zn deposition behavior is an efficient way, which can enhance the subsequent striping efficiency and limit the dendrite growth. The Zn deposition is a controlled kinetics‐diffusion joint process that is affected by various factors, such as the interaction between Zn2+ ions and Zn anodes, ion concentration gradient, and current distribution. In this review, from an electrochemical perspective, we first overview the factors affecting the Zn deposition behavior and summarize the modification principles. Subsequently, strategies proposed for interfacial modification and 3D structural design as well as the corresponding mechanisms are summarized. Finally, the existing challenges, perspectives on further development direction, and outlook for practical applications of ZIBs are proposed

Strong Charge Transfer at 2H–1T Phase Boundary of MoS 2

Transition metal dichalcogenides exhibit several different phases (e.g., semiconducting 2H, metallic 1T, 1T') arising from the collective and sluggish atomic displacements rooted in the charge-lattice interaction. The coexistence of multiphase in a single sheet enables ubiquitous heterophase and inhomogeneous charge distribution. Herein, by combining the first-principles calculations and experimental investigations, a strong charge transfer ability at the heterophase boundary of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) assembled together with graphene is reported. By modulating the phase composition in MoS₂, the performance of the nanohybrid for energy storage can be modulated, whereby remarkable gravimetric and volumetric capacitances of 272 F g⁻¹ and 685 F cm⁻³ are demonstrated. As a proof of concept for energy application, a flexible solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor is constructed with the MoS2 -graphene heterolayers, which shows superb energy and power densities (46.3 mWh cm⁻³ and 3.013 W cm⁻³, respectively). The present work demonstrates a new pathway for efficient charge flow and application in energy storage by engineering the phase boundary and interface in 2D materials of transition metal dichalcogenides.Ministry of Education (MOE)Nanyang Technological UniversityThe authors thank the financial support provided by the MOE, Singapore Ministry of Education (Tier 2, MOE2016-T2-2-138), for research conducted at the National University of Singapore. This work was supported by the MOE under AcRF Tier 2 (ARC 26/13, No. MOE2013-T2-1-034; ARC 19/15, No. MOE2014-T2-2-093; MOE2015-T2-2-057) and AcRF Tier 1 (RG5/13), and the NTU under Start-Up Grant (M4081296.070.500000) in Singapore