Electronic Structures of SiC Nanoribbons

Electronic structures of SiC nanoribbons have been studied by spin-polarized density functional calculations. The armchair nanoribbons are nonmagnetic semiconductor, while the zigzag nanoribbons are magnetic metal. The spin polarization in zigzag SiC nanoribbons is originated from the unpaired electrons localized on the ribbon edges. Interestingly, the zigzag nanoribbons narrower than $\sim$4 nm present half-metallic behavior. Without the aid of external field or chemical modification, the metal-free half-metallicity predicted for narrow SiC zigzag nanoribbons opens a facile way for nanomaterial spintronics applications.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Terephthalic acid–4,4′-bipyridine (2/1)

In the title compound, 2C8H6O4·C10H8N2, the 4,4′-bipyridine mol­ecule is located on an inversion centre. In the crystal structure, strong inter­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds between the terephthalic acid and 4,4′-bipyridine mol­ecules lead to the formation of chains with graph-set motif C 2 2(8) along the diagonal of the bc plane

catena-Poly[[bis­(p-toluene­sulfonato-κO)palladium(II)]bis­(μ-1,3-di-4-pyridylpropane-κ2 N:N′)]

In the title compound, [Pd(C7H7O3S)2(C13H14N2)2]n, the metal ion, located on a twofold rotation axis, exhibits a slightly distorted octa­hedral coordination environment, with bond angles that deviate by at most 2.2° from an ideal geometry, completed by two O atoms from two deprotonated p-toluene­sulfonic acid ligands and four N atoms from four 1,3-di-4-pyridylpropane ligands. One of the sulfonate O atoms is disordered over two positions [ratio 0.70 (5):0.30 (5)]

Melatonin modulates the effects of diethylstilbestrol (DES) on the anterior pituitary of the female Wistar rat.

We studied the anti-tumorigenic effect of melatonin in diethylstilbestrol (DES)-treated anterior pituitaries in rats. Twenty-one female Wistar rats were randomly allocated into three groups: vehicle control rats, DES-treated rats, and DES-treated rats co-administrated with melatonin beginning at week 13. At the end of 16 weeks, rats were weighed and decapitated for morphological studies, including an H+E staining-based score evaluation in regard to cell proliferation, angiogenesis, immunostaining for VEGF, MMP-9, and AQP-1, and electron microscopy. Compared with vehicle, long-term treatment of DES significantly reduced rat body weight and increased H+E score, both of which were counteracted by melatonin. Administration of melatonin also reduced the expression of VEGF and MMP-9, although no changes were detected in AQP-1 expression. In rats cotreated with melatonin, the RER loosened and accumulated more secretion granules. We thus concluded that melatonin can modulate the effects of DES on the rat anterior pituitary by downregulating expression of VEGF and MMP-9 and suppressing the release of secretion granules, suggesting a therapeutic potential in estrogen-induced pituitary malfunctions

Bis(ethano­lato-κO)(5,10,15,20-tetra­phenyl­calix[4]pyrrole)manganese(III) hexa­fluoro­phosphate

The title compound, [Mn(C2H5O)2(C44H28N4)]PF6, was synthesized from manganese(III) 2,4-penta­nedionate and 5,10,15,20-tetra­phenyl­calix[4]pyrrole by a hydro­thermal reaction. The MnIII atom is located on an inversion centre and the asymmetric unit comprises one half-formula unit. The MnIII ion is hexa­coordinated by four N atoms from one 5,10,15,20-tetra­phenyl­calix[4]pyrrole ligand and two O atoms from two deprotonated ethanol mol­ecules. The equatorially located atoms (the Mn and four N atoms) are planar. The dihedral angles between the planes of the phenyl rings and the equatorial plane are 53.3 (2) and 81.8 (2)°. One hexa­fluoro­phosphate anion balances the charge

Biomass-derived carbon material as efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Despite the abundance of carbon in nature, a significant portion of the existing biomass carbon materials in livestock, agriculture, and marine fishery industry are currently being wasted. Utilizing sustainable carbon materials as an alternative to noble Pt-based catalysts is crucial step to convert widely available and low-cost biomass resources into clean energy systems. Therefore, the rational synthesis of carbon-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has become a hot research focus in the field of electrochemistry. In this study, the recent progress in the synthesis of ORR electrocatalysts using sustainable biomass resources was reviewed; the activation and synthesis strategies of various biomass resources, as well as the microstructure and oxygen reduction performance of the prepared carbon-based catalysts were investigated. It is hoped that this review article will promote the understanding of various parameters from biomass as precursors for catalyst preparation and make contribute to the transition of biomass resources from the wasted carbon materials to the main catalysts in future energy devices.</p

Acetate favors more phosphorus accumulation into aerobic granular sludge than propionate during the treatment of synthetic fermentation liquor

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an efficient biotechnology widely applied for energy and resource recovery from organic waste and wastewater treatment. The effluent from AD or fermentation liquor containing organic substances like volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and mineral nutrients (such as N and P), however, will trigger serious environmental issues if not properly dealt with. In this study two identical sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), namely Ra and Rp were used to cultivate aerobic granules for P recovery from synthetic fermentation liquor, respectively using acetate and propionate as additional carbon source. Larger and more stable granules were achieved in Ra with higher P removal capability (9.4 mg P/g-VSS·d) and higher anaerobic P release (6.9 mg P/g-VSS·h). In addition to much higher P content (78 mg P/g-SS), bioavailable P in Ra-granules increased to 45 mg P/g-SS, approximately 2-times those of seed sludge and Rp-granules. Microbial community analysis indicated that more GAOs were accumulated in Rp-granules

From powder to cloth: Facile fabrication of dense MOF-76(Tb) coating onto natural silk fiber for feasible detection of copper ions

The deposition of powdered MOFs material onto other substrates is essential to avoid inconvenience during its practical applications. In this work, domestic silk fiber was utilized as the skeleton, for successful coating of dense luminescent MOF-76(Tb). Its surface functionality which consist of abundance of intrinsic carboxylic groups, smooth surface structure, and 80% of tensile strength were maintained after being immersed in different thermal solvents (water, ethanol, DMF @ 80 °C) for 24 h, revealing good solvent and thermal resistance. By using hydrothermal, microwave assisted, and layer-by-layer methods, different crystal morphologies (pillar-like, sedimentary-rock-like, and needle-like morphology) and varying degrees of surface coverage rate were obtained, as a result of different levels of anchoring promotion and crystal controlling effect. The MOFs coating can be confirmed by its XRD pattern and fluorescent property. More importantly, the quenching effect of the composite in a condition of Cu2+ was first reported with high selectivity, sensitivity (i.e. a linear detection concentration range of 10−3–10−5 M with a low detection limit up to 0.5 mg/L, KSV of 1192 M−1 at 293 K), and rapid response time (5 min), making the composite a good candidate for colorimetric and fluorescent detection of aquatic Cu2+. The quenching mechanism is proposed to associate with the interaction between Cu2+ and benzene-tricarboxylate (BTC) ligand, which resulted in the decrease of energy transfer efficiency. The selectivity over other common cations depends on the unsaturated electron configuration and the smaller ionic radius of Cu2+

Functional soil organic matter fractions in response to long-term fertilization in upland and paddy systems in South China

Soil organic matter (SOM) and its fractions play key roles in optimizing crop yield and improving soil quality. However, how functional SOM fractions responded to long-term fertilization and their relative importance for C sequestration were less addressed. In this study, we determined the effects of long-term fertilization on six functional SOM fractions (unprotected, physically protected, physico-biochemically protected, physico-chemically protected, chemically protected, and biochemically protected) based on two long-term fertilization experiments carried out in South China. The unprotected coarse particulate organic matter (cPOM), the biochemically and chemically protected silt-sized fractions (NH-dSilt and H-dSilt) were the primary C storage fractions under long-term fertilization, accounting for 23.6–46.2%, 15.7–19.4%, and 14.4–17.4% of the total soil organic carbon (SOC) content in upland soil and 19.5–29.3%, 9.9–15.5%, and 14.2–17.2% of the total SOC content in paddy soil, respectively. Compared with the control treatment (CK) in upland soil, the application of manure combined with mineral NPK (NPKM) resulted in an increase in the SOC content in the cPOM, pure physically protected fraction (iPOM), the physico-chemically protected (H-μSilt), and the chemically protected (H-dSilt) fraction by 233%, 166%, 124%, and 58%, respectively. Besides, the SOC increase in upland soil expressed as SOC content per unit of total SOC for iPOM, H-μSilt, cPOM and H-dSilt were the highest and as large as 283%, 248%, 194%, and 105% respectively. In paddy soil, the highest increase per unit of total SOC was H-dSilt (190%), followed by H-dClay (156%) and H-μSilt (155%). These results suggested that the upland soil could stabilize more C through the pure physical, whereas the chemical protection mechanism played a more important role in paddy soil. Chemical protection mechanism within the microaggregates played important roles in sequestrating C in both upland and paddy soils. Overall, the different responses of functional SOM fractions to long-term fertilization indicate different mechanisms for SOM cycling in terms of C sequestration under upland and paddy systems