Highly Efficient CO₂ Electrolysis on Cathodes with Exsolved Alkaline Earth Oxide Nanostructures

The solid oxide CO₂ electrolyzer has the potential to provide storage solutions for intermittent renewable energy sources as well as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the key challenges remains the poor adsorption and activity toward CO₂ reduction on the electrolyzer cathode at typical operating conditions. Here, we show a novel approach in tailoring a perovskite titanate (La, Sr)­TiO_3+δ cathode surface, by the <i>in situ</i> growing of SrO nanoislands from the host material through the control of perovskite nonstoichiometry. These nanoislands provide very enhanced CO₂ adsorption and activation, with stability up to 800 °C, which is shown to be in an intermediate form between carbonate ions and molecular CO₂. The activation of adsorbed CO₂ molecules results from the interaction of exsolved SrO nanoislands and the defected titanate surface as revealed by DFT calculations. These cathode surface modifications result in an exceptionally high direct CO₂ electrolysis performance with current efficiencies near 100%

Image_1_Development and evaluation of a new luciferase immunosorbent assay to detect GII.6 norovirus-specific IgG in different domestic and wild animals.PNG

Noroviruses (NoVs) are the leading viral pathogens globally causing acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in humans, posing a significant global health threat and economic burden. Recent investigations revealed that human NoVs had been detected in different animals, which raises concerns about whether NoVs are potential zoonotic diseases. This study developed a novel luciferase immunosorbent assay (LISA) to detect GII.6 NoV IgG based on P protein of VP1. The LISA showed high specificity (99.20%) and sensitivity (92.00%) with 4–16 times more sensitivity compared with an ELISA. NoV-LISA was reproducible with human serum regarding the inter- and intra-assay coefficient of variance values. Potential cross-reactivity was also evaluated using mice serum immunized by other antigens, which showed that NoV-LISA could differentiate GII.6 NoV from rotavirus and various genotypes of NoV. Specific GII.6 NoV IgG was widely detected in different domestic and wild animals, including dogs, pigs, bats, rats, and home shrews, with various IgG-positive rates ranging from 2.5 to 74.4%. In conclusion, our newly developed NoV-LISA assay is suitable for NoV-specific IgG detection in humans and animals. The wide distribution of IgG antibodies against human NoV indicates potential zoonotic transmission between humans and animals.</p