Poly(ionic liquid) nanovesicles via polymerization induced self-assembly and their stabilization of Cu nanoparticles for tailored CO2 electroreduction

Herein, we report a straightforward, scalable synthetic route towards poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) homopolymer nanovesicles (NVs) with a tunable particle size of 50 to 120 nm and a shell thickness of 15 to 60 nm via one-step free radical polymerization induced self-assembly. By increasing monomer concentration for polymerization, their nanoscopic morphology can evolve from hollow NVs to dense spheres, and finally to directional worms, in which a multilamellar packing of PIL chains occurred in all samples. The transformation mechanism of NVs’ internal morphology is studied in detail by coarse-grained simulations, revealing a correlation between the PIL chain length and the shell thickness of NVs. To explore their potential applications, PIL NVs with varied shell thickness are in situ functionalized with ultra-small (1 ∼ 3 nm in size) copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) and employed as electrocatalysts for CO2 electroreduction. The composite electrocatalysts exhibit a 2.5-fold enhancement in selectivity towards C1 products (e.g., CH4), compared to the pristine CuNPs. This enhancement is attributed to the strong electronic interactions between the CuNPs and the surface functionalities of PIL NVs. This study casts new aspects on using nanostructured PILs as new electrocatalyst supports in CO2 conversion to C1 products

Quelques repères significatifs pour ne pas oublier l’action du bouquiniste bruxellois de « La Borgne Agasse », Jean-Pierre Canon (25 décembre 1941 – 12 janvier 2018)

Jean-Pierre Canon a ouvert sa première librairie à l’enseigne de « La Borgne Agasse » au 45, rue Saint-Jean, le 3 novembre 1970. D’emblée passionné par l’écriture d’auteurs ouvriers ou paysans autodidactes, il organise trois expositions, sur le « Centenaire de la naissance d’Émile Guillaumin (1873–1951), paysan français » (du 2 au 9 novembre 1973), « Henry Poulaille et la littérature prolétarienne » (du 15 février au 5 mars 1975) et « Les mineurs écrivains et Constant Malva (1903–1969) » (16 ..

Relire La Légende d'Ulenspiegel

La Légende d’Ulenspiegel, de Charles De Coster, est souvent vue comme le texte fondateur de la littérature belge. Quelque mythique que soit ce jugement, cette Légende est peu à peu devenue le pivot de l’historiographie des lettres belges, qui n’a cessé de l’interroger pour en montrer la complexité foisonnante. C’est aussi un texte qui a constamment inspiré les créateurs de tous horizons. La Légende a en effet engendré son lot d’adaptations – théâtre, film, bande dessinée, réécriture pour enfants, opéra… – mais aussi inspiré maintes œuvres originales. Dans ces textes, on constate souvent le retour d’éléments emprunté à l’Uilenspiegel traditionnel, mariés avec des éléments proprement costériens. Ces continuations et ces adaptations ont largemement ouvert l’éventail des interprétations de l’œuvre. C’est à l’univers des continuateurs, des relecteurs et des transmetteurs du grand texte de De Coster que la revue Textyles consacre le numéro qu’elle publie à l’occasion du cent-cinquantième anniversaire de la publication de l’Ulenspiegel

Transcriptomic analysis of the interaction between <it>Helianthus annuus </it>and its obligate parasite <it>Plasmopara halstedii </it>shows single nucleotide polymorphisms in CRN sequences

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Downy mildew in sunflowers (<it>Helianthus annuus </it>L.) is caused by the oomycete <it>Plasmopara halstedii </it>(Farl.) Berlese et de Toni. Despite efforts by the international community to breed mildew-resistant varieties, downy mildew remains a major threat to the sunflower crop. Very few genomic, genetic and molecular resources are currently available to study this pathogen. Using a 454 sequencing method, expressed sequence tags (EST) during the interaction between <it>H. annuus </it>and <it>P. halstedii </it>have been generated and a search was performed for sites in putative effectors to show polymorphisms between the different races of <it>P. halstedii</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A 454 pyrosequencing run of two infected sunflower samples (inbred lines XRQ and PSC8 infected with race 710 of <it>P. halstedii</it>, which exhibit incompatible and compatible interactions, respectively) generated 113,720 and 172,107 useable reads. From these reads, 44,948 contigs and singletons have been produced. A bioinformatic portal, HP, was specifically created for in-depth analysis of these clusters. Using <it>in silico </it>filtering, 405 clusters were defined as being specific to oomycetes, and 172 were defined as non-specific oomycete clusters. A subset of these two categories was checked using PCR amplification, and 86% of the tested clusters were validated. Twenty putative RXLR and CRN effectors were detected using PSI-BLAST. Using corresponding sequences from four races (100, 304, 703 and 710), 22 SNPs were detected, providing new information on pathogen polymorphisms.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study identified a large number of genes that are expressed during <it>H. annuus/P. halstedii </it>compatible or incompatible interactions. It also reveals, for the first time, that an infection mechanism exists in <it>P. halstedii </it>similar to that in other oomycetes associated with the presence of putative RXLR and CRN effectors. SNPs discovered in CRN effector sequences were used to determine the genetic distances between the four races of <it>P. halstedii</it>. This work therefore provides valuable tools for further discoveries regarding the <it>H. annuus/P. halstedii </it>pathosystem.</p