CaDHN3, a Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Dehydrin Gene Enhances the Tolerance against Salt and Drought Stresses by Reducing ROS Accumulation

Dehydrins (DHNs) play an important role in abiotic stress tolerance in a large number of plants, but very little is known about the function of DHNs in pepper plants. Here, we isolated a Y₁SK₂-type DHN gene “CaDHN3” from pepper. To authenticate the function of CaDHN3 in salt and drought stresses, it was overexpressed in Arabidopsis and silenced in pepper through virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). Sub-cellular localization showed that CaDHN3 was located in the nucleus and cell membrane. It was found that CaDHN3-overexpressed (OE) in Arabidopsis plants showed salt and drought tolerance phenotypic characteristics, i.e., increased the initial rooting length and germination rate, enhanced chlorophyll content, lowered the relative electrolyte leakage (REL) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content than the wild-type (WT) plants. Moreover, a substantial increase in the activities of antioxidant enzymes; including the superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and lower hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) contents and higher O₂^•− contents in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Silencing of CaDHN3 in pepper decreased the salt- and drought-stress tolerance, through a higher REL and MDA content, and there was more accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the CaDHN3-silenced pepper plants than the control plants. Based on the yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screening and Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC) results, we found that CaDHN3 interacts with CaHIRD11 protein in the plasma membrane. Correspondingly, the expressions of four osmotic-related genes were significantly up-regulated in the CaDHN3-overexpressed lines. In brief, our results manifested that CaDHN3 may play an important role in regulating the relative osmotic stress responses in plants through the ROS signaling pathway. The results of this study will provide a basis for further analyses of the function of DHN genes in pepper.     

Methods and mechanisms for uniformly refining deformed mixed and coarse grains inside a solution-treated Ni-based superalloy by two-stage heat treatment

The uniform refinement mechanisms and methods of deformed mixed and coarse grains inside a solution-treatment Ni-based superalloy during two-stage annealing treatment have been investigated.The two-stage heat treatment experiments include an aging annealing treatment(AT)and a subsequent recrystallization annealing treatment(RT).The object of AT is to precipitate some δ phases and consume part of storage energy to inhibit the grain growth during RT,while the RT is to refine mixed and coarse grains by recrystallization.It can be found that the recrystallization grains will quickly grow up to a large size when the AT time is too low or the RT temperature is too high,while the deformed coarse grains cannot be eliminated when the AT time is too long or the RT temperature is too low.In addition,the mixed microstructure composed of some abnormal coarse recrystallization grains(ACRGs)and a large number of fine grains can be observed in the annealed specimen when the AT time is 3 h and RT tem-perature is 980℃.The phenomenon attributes to the uneven distribution of δ phase resulted from the heterogeneous deformation energy when the AT time is too short.In the regions with a large number of δ phases,the recrystallization nucleation rate is promoted and the growth of grains is limited,which results in fine grains.However,in the regions with few δ phases,the recrystallization grains around grain boundaries can easily grow up,and the new recrystallization nucleus is difficult to form inside grain,which leads to ACRGs.Thus,in order to obtain uniform and fine annealed microstructure,it is a prereq-uisite to precipitate even-distributed δ phase by choosing a suitable AT time,such as 12 h.Moreover,a relative high RT temperature is also needed to promote the recrystallization nucleation around δ phase.The optimal annealing parameters range for uniformly refining mixed crystal can be summarized as:900℃×12 h+990℃×(40-60 min)and 900℃×12 h+1000℃×(10-15 min).     

One step method of structure engineering porous graphitic carbon nitride for efficient visible-light photocatalytic reduction of Cr(Ⅵ)

Porous g-C3N4 nanosheets (PCN) were prepared by the nickel-assisted one-step thermal polymerization method.Hydrogen (H2) which was produced by the reaction between nickel (Ni) foam and ammonia (NH3) defined the structure and properties of PCN.During the formation of PCN,the participation of H2 not only enhanced the spacing between layers but also boosted the specific surface area that more active sites were exposed.Additionally,H2 promoted pores formation in the nanosheets,which was beneficial to the transfer of photons through lamellar structure and improved the absorption efficiency of visible light.Remarkably,the obtained PCN possessed better Cr(Ⅵ) photocatalytic reduction efficiency than pure g-C3N4.The reaction rate constant (k) of PCN (0.013 min-1) was approximately twice that of bare g-C3N4 (0.007 min-1).Furthermore,the effects of original pH and concentration of Cr(Ⅵ)-containing solution on removal efficiency of Cr(Ⅵ) were explored.A possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed based on the experiments of radical scavengers and photoelectrochemical characterizations.     

Non-Platinum Group Metal Electrocatalysts toward Efficient Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction

Developing non-platinum group metal (non-PGM) electrocatalysts for the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) represents the efforts towards the more economical use of hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen energy, which has attracted tremendous attention recently. However, non-PGM electrocatalysts for the HOR are still in their early development stages as compared with the significant advances in those for the oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction. Herein, this paper summarizes the recent progresses and highlights the key challenges for the rational design of non-PGM electrocatalysts, aiming to promote the development of non-PGM HOR electrocatalysts. Fundamental understandings of the HOR mechanism are firstly reviewed, where theoretical interpretations on the low HOR kinetics in alkaline media, including the hydrogen binding energy theory, the bifunctional mechanism, and the water molecule reorganization, are particularly discussed. Subsequently, progresses of typical non-PGM HOR electrocatalysts in acid and alkaline media are summarized separately. For the HOR under alkaline conditions, the superiorities and challenges of Ni-based catalysts are discussed with a particular focus as they are the most promising non-PGM electrocatalysts. Finally, this paper highlights the challenges and provide perspectives on the future development directions of non-PGM HOR electrocatalysts.     

Thiol-Functionalized Covalent Organic Frameworks as Thermal History Indictor for Temperature and Time History Monitoring

Various products, including foods and pharmaceuticals, are sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Thus, temperature monitoring during production, transportation, and storage is critical. Facile indicators are required to monitor temperature conditions via color changes in real time. This study aimed to prepare and apply thiol-functionalized covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as a novel indicator for monitoring thermal history and temperature abuse. The COFs underwent obvious color changes from bright yellow to purple after exposure to different temperatures for varying durations. The reaction kinetics are analyzed under isothermal conditions, which reveal that the order of reaction rates is k_−20°C < k_4°C < k_20°C < k_35°C < k_55°C. The activation energy (E_a) of the COFs is calculated using the Arrhenius equation as 50.71 kJ moL⁻¹. The COFs are capable of sensitive color changes and offer a broad temperature tracking range, thereby demonstrating their application potential for the monitoring of temperature and time exposure history during production, transportation, and storage. This excellent performance thermal history indicator also shows promise for expanding the application field of COFs.     

水厂生产废水处理工艺节地高效化设计探索

随着对环保及自用水率的要求日益严格,水厂生产废水的减排已成为发展趋势.但既有水厂用地紧张和生产废水的处理工艺占地多存在矛盾,制约了水厂新增生产废水处理工艺的可行性.文中引入斜管沉淀提升沉淀效率、取消浓缩池、使用叠螺脱水机代替离心脱水机的优化设计方案,相较原设计的传统分离式生产废水处理工艺,生产废水停留时间减少75％,占地面积减少约48％.实践证明,该优化设计方案能够有效解决水厂生产废水处理工艺设计过程中遇到的用地不足问题,并有效地降低建设投资.     

A Biologically Muscle-Inspired Polyurethane with Super-Tough,Thermal Reparable and Self-Healing Capabilities for Stretchable Electronics

Polymeric elastomers play an increasingly important role in the development of stretchable electronics. A highly demanded elastic matrix is preferred to own not only excellent mechanical properties, but also additional features like high toughness and fast self-healing. Here, a polyurethane (DA-PU) is synthesized with donor and acceptor groups alternately distributed along the main chain to achieve both intra-chain and inter-chain donor-acceptor self-assembly, which endow the polyurethane with toughness, self-healing, and, more interestingly, thermal repair, like human muscle. In detail, DA-PU exhibits an amazing mechanical performance with elongation at break of 1900% and toughness of 175.9 MJ m⁻³. Moreover, it shows remarkable anti-fatigue and anti-stress relaxation properties as manifested by cyclic tensile and stress relaxation tests, respectively. Even in case of large strain deformation or long-time stretch, it can almost completely restore to original length by thermal repair at 60 °C in 60 s. The self-healing speed of DA-PU is gradually enhanced with the increasing temperature, and can be 1.0–6.15 µm min⁻¹ from 60 to 80 °C. At last, a stretchable and self-healable capacitive sensor is constructed and evaluated to prove that DA-PU matrix can ensure the stability of electronics even after critical deformation and cut off.     

Ab initio study of helium in Li4SiO4 crystals: Electronic properties,migration, and vacancy capture mechanism

Li₄SiO₄ crystal is a candidate material for tritium breeder material. Vacancy defects and He atoms will be produced in the crystal after neutron irradiation in fusion reactor. In previous research, we learned vacancy defects mainly include V_O⁰, V_O²⁺, and V_Li⁰, meanwhile, He atoms are easy to migrate and aggregate in the crystal. In order to understand the relationship between vacancy defects and He atoms, we use density functional theory (DFT) to study the interaction mechanism between vacancy and He atom. The results show that the local stable sites of He atoms are related to the surrounding charge distribution. V_O²⁺ and V_Li⁰ can capture interstitial He atoms, and it is difficult to escape the vacancies, thereby increasing the nucleation center of He atoms. V_O⁰ promotes the diffusion of He atoms in the interstitial space, which will cause small helium bubbles to merge more easily.     

Effect of nitriding atmosphere on the morphology of AlN nanofibers from solution blow spinning

High purity AlN fiber is a promising thermal conductive material. In this work, AlN fibers were prepared using solution blow spinning followed by nitridation under N₂ or NH₃ atmosphere. Soluble polymer, such as polyaluminoxane, and allyl-functional novolac resin were adopted as raw materials to form homogeneous distribution of Al₂O₃ and C nanoparticles within the fibers, which could inhibit the growth of alumina crystal and promote their nitridation process. The effect of nitriding atmosphere on the fiber morphology was investigated. XRD results showed that complete nitridation was achieved at 1300 °C in the NH₃ or at 1500 °C in the N₂ atmosphere. Hollowed fiber structure was observed when fiber was nitrided in N₂ at high temperature, which was caused by gaseous Al gas diffusion, and this phenomenon was eliminated in NH₃ atmosphere. The nitridation mechanisms in different atmosphere were analyzed in detail. It was demonstrated that the nitridation of Al₂O₃ fibers in the NH₃ atmosphere offered the favored AlN morphology and chemical quality. Flexible AlN fiber with O content of 0.7 wt% was achieved after nitriding in NH₃ at 1400 °C. The high quality AlN can be used in thermal conductive composite materials.     

Revealing cracking and breakage behaviours of gibbsite particles

Mitigating gibbsite particle cracking and breakage during industrial alumina production can increase the quality of smelter grade alumina product by reducing the ultrafine particle content. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the particle cracking during static calcination and the breakage of calcined gibbsite particles under external force. In this work, we investigated the impact of the calcination ramping rate and the crystallite size on gibbsite particle cracking during static calcination. A slow ramping rate and a large pristine crystallite size tend to increase particle cracking. Apart from the study of particle cracking behaviour, we also investigated the breakage of calcined gibbsite particle under external force. Cracks on the particle surface can initiate breakage within the crystallite and along the grain boundary under external force. The breakage within crystallite occurs as the cleavage of the crystallite, while the breakage along the grain boundary leads to the shedding of a whole crystallite. We further explored the factors influencing the strength of calcined gibbsite particles. With increasing calcination temperature, the strength of particle increases when gibbsite converts to boehmite, and then decreases when boehmite converts into amorphous alumina. Particles containing smaller crystallites and calcined with fast ramping rates exhibit higher resistance to breakage.