The increasing demand for potable water is never-ending. Freshwater resources are scarce and stress is accumulating on other alternatives. Therefore, new technologies and novel optimization methods are developed for the existing processes. Membrane-based processes are among the most efficient methods for water treatment. Yet, membranes suffer from severe operational problems, namely fouling and temperature polarization. These effects can harm the membrane’s permeability, permeate recovery, and lifetime. To mitigate such effects, membranes can be treated through two techniques: plasma treatment (a surface modification technique), and treatment through the use of plasmonic materials (surface and bulk modification). This article showcases plasma- and plasmonic-based treatments in the context of water desalination/purification. It aims to offer a comprehensive review of the current developments in membrane-based water treatment technologies along with suggested directions to enhance its overall efficiency through careful selection of material and system design. Moreover, basic guidelines and strategies are outlined on the different membrane modification techniques to evaluate its prerequisites. Besides, we discuss the challenges and future developments about these membrane modification methods.

Extensive research efforts are currently devoted to developing and improving conventional technologies for water treatment. Membrane-based water treatment technologies are among the most preferred options due to their commercial success, simple operation, low energy and space requirements, and high separation efficiency. Despite the advances made in membrane-based technologies, fouling remains a critical challenge. Fouling occurs upon the accumulation of unwanted impurities on the membrane surface and within the membrane pores which results in a significant decline in the membrane permeate flux. To alleviate the operational challenges from fouling, surface modification to develop antifouling membranes appears to be an effective technique. A comprehensive review of the surface modification techniques for the development of antifouling membranes is provided in this paper. Chemical surface modification techniques (grafting and plasma treatment), physical modification techniques (blending, coating, adsorption, and thermal treatment), and combined physical and chemical modification techniques have been discussed. Moreover, the challenges related to surface modification and the future research directions are addressed.

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems play an increasingly vital role in the glycemic control of patients with diabetes mellitus. However, the immune responses triggered by the implantation of poorly biocompatible sensors have a significant impact on the accuracy and lifetime of CGM systems. In this review, research efforts over the past few years to mitigate the immune responses by enhancing the anti-biofouling ability of sensors are summarized. This review divided these works into active immune engaging strategy and passive immune escape strategy based on their respective mechanisms. In each strategy, the various biocompatible layers on the biosensor surface, such as drug-releasing membranes, hydrogels, hydrophilic membranes, anti-biofouling membranes based on zwitterionic polymers, and bio-mimicking membranes, are described in detail. This review, therefore, provides researchers working on implantable biosensors for CGM systems with vital information, which is likely to aid in the research and development of novel CGM systems with profound anti-biofouling properties.

The atom-economical cycloaddition of CO₂ with epoxides to synthesize cyclic carbonates is a promising route for valuable utilization of CO₂. Halogenide such as alkali metal halides and quaternary ammonium salt have been developed as the efficient catalysts. However, the spilled halogen causes equipment corrosion and affects the product purity. To address these concerns, the halogen-free cycloaddition of CO₂ with epoxides has always been desired. In this review, we systematically discussed the halogen-free catalysis for cycloaddition of CO₂ with epoxides from the mechanistic insights, aiming to promote the development of efficient halogen-free catalysts. Two types of catalysts, i.e., alternatives of halogen nucleophiles for epoxide activation, and bifunctional catalysts with Lewis acid-base sites for synergistic activation of CO₂ and epoxides are summarized and emphasized. Specially, metal oxides as the potential halogen-free catalysts are highlighted due to their flexible acid-base sites for synergistic activation of CO₂ and epoxides, facile preparation, and low cost.

Xenon and krypton are widespread useful noble gases in commercial lighting, lasers, electronics, and medical industry. At the same time, radioactive noble gases may proliferate from used nuclear fuel and diffuse in open atmospheres. Metal organic frameworks as hotspot porous materials for gases uptake and separation are considered to be potential solutions. In this review, we comprehensively summarized recent researches on metal organic frameworks for selective capture and separation of xenon and krypton. Particularly, we followed the aspects of different optimal design strategies, including optimal pore/cage size and geometry, open metal sites, ions (anions and cations), and polar functional groups for enhancing the xenon adsorption and separation performances. Meanwhile, a comparison of each strategy and the mechanisms of xenon/krypton separation were pointed out. The separation of krypton from gases mixtures by dual-bed systems was further discussed. Finally, some existing challenges and opportunities for possible real applications were proclaimed.

The combination of SiC quantum dots sensitized inverse opal TiO₂ photocatalyst is designed in this work and then applied in wastewater purification under simulated sunlight. From various spectroscopic techniques, it is found that electrons transfer directionally from SiC quantum dots to inverse opal TiO₂, and the energy difference between their conduction/valence bands can reduce the recombination rate of photogenerated carriers and provide a pathway with low interfacial resistance for charge transfer inside the composite. As a result, a typical type-II mechanism is proved to dominate the photoinduced charge transfer process. Meanwhile, the composite achieves excellent photocatalytic performances (the highest apparent kinetic constant of 0.037 min^–1), which is 6.2 times (0.006 min^–1) and 2.1 times (0.018 min^–1) of the bare inverse opal TiO₂ and commercial P25 photocatalysts. Therefore, the stability and non-toxicity of SiC quantum dots sensitized inverse opal TiO₂ composite enables it with great potential in practical photocatalytic applications.

In recent years, limited photocatalysis efficiency and wide band gap have hindered the application of TiO₂ in the field of photocatalysis. A leading star in photocatalysis has been revealed as lead-free Cs₂AgBiBr₆ double halide perovskite nanocrystals, owing to its strong visible light absorption and tunable band gap. In this work, this photocatalytic process was facilitated by a unique TiO₂/Cs₂AgBiBr₆ composite, which was identified as an S-cheme heterojunction. TiO₂/Cs₂AgBiBr₆ composite was investigated for its structure and photocatalytic behavior. The results showed that when the perovskite dosage is 40%, the photocatalytic rate of TiO₂ could be boosted to 0.1369 min^–1. This paper discusses and proposes the band gap matching, carrier separation, and photocatalytic mechanism of TiO₂/Cs₂AgBiBr₆ composites, which will facilitate the generation of new ideas for improving TiO₂’s photocatalytic performance.

In this study, Bi₂MoO₆ with adjustable rich oxygen vacancies was prepared by a novel and simple solvothermal-photoreduction method which might be suitable for a large-scale production. The experiment results show that Bi₂MoO₆ with rich oxygen vacancies is an excellent photocatalyst. The photocatalytic ability of BMO-10 is 0.3 and 3.5 times higher than that of the pristine Bi₂MoO₆ for Rhodamine B degradation and Cr(VI) reduction, respectively. The results display that the band energy of the samples with oxygen vacancies was narrowed and the light absorption was broadened. Meanwhile, the efficiency of photogenerated electron-holes was increased and the separation and transfer speed of photogenerated carriers were improved. Therefore, this work provides a convenient and efficient method to prepare potential adjustable oxygen vacancy based photocatalysts to eliminate the pollution of dyes and Cr(VI) in water.

This study aimed to prepare and apply a novel Pt/CdMoO₄ composite photocatalyst for photocatalytic N₂ fixation and tetracycline degradation. The Pt/CdMoO₄ composite was subjected to comprehensive investigation on the morphology, structure, optical properties, and photoelectric chemical properties. The results demonstrate the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles on the CdMoO₄ surface. Close contact between CdMoO₄ and Pt was observed, resulting in the formation of a heterojunction structure at their contact region. Density functional theory calculation and Mott-Schottky analysis revealed that Pt possesses a higher work function value than CdMoO₄, resulting in electron drift from CdMoO₄ to Pt and the formation of a Schottky barrier. The presence of this barrier increases the separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs, thereby improving the performance of the Pt/CdMoO₄ composite in photocatalysis. When exposed to simulated sunlight, the optimal Pt/CdMoO₄ catalyst displayed a photocatalytic nitrogen fixation rate of 443.7 μmol·L^‒1·g^‒1·h^‒1, which is 3.2 times higher than that of pure CdMoO₄. In addition, the composite also exhibited excellent performance in tetracycline degradation, with hole and superoxide species identified as the primary reactive species. These findings offer practical insights into designing and synthesizing efficient photocatalysts for photocatalytic nitrogen fixation and antibiotics removal.

Within the “hydrogen chain”, the high-temperature water gas shift reaction represents a key step to improve the H₂ yield and adjust the H₂/CO_x ratio to fit the constraints of downstream processes. Despite the commercial application of the high-temperature water gas shift, novel catalysts characterized by higher intrinsic activity (especially at low temperatures), good thermal stability, and no chromium content are needed. In this work, we propose bimetallic iron-copper catalysts supported on ceria, characterized by low active phase content (iron oxide + copper oxide < 5 wt %). Fresh and used samples were characterized by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen physisorption, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and temperature programmed reduction in hydrogen to relate physicochemical features and catalytic activity. The sample with iron/copper ≈ 1 and 4 wt % active phase content showed the best catalytic properties in terms of turnover frequency, no methane formation, and stability. Its unique properties were due to both strong iron-copper interaction and strong metal-support interaction, leading to outstanding redox behavior.

Ammonia is crucial in industry and agriculture, but its production is hindered by environmental concerns and energy-intensive processes. Hence, developing an efficient and environmentally friendly catalyst is imperative. In this study, we employed a straightforward and efficient impregnation technique to create various Cu-doped catalysts. Notably, the optimized 10Fe-8Cu/TiO₂ catalyst exhibited exceptional catalytic performance in converting NO to NH₃, achieving an NO conversion rate exceeding 80% and an NH₃ selectivity exceeding 98% at atmospheric pressure and 350 °C. We employed in situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and conducted density functional theory calculations to investigate the intermediates and subsequent adsorption. Our findings unequivocally demonstrate that Cu doping enhances the rate-limiting hydrogenation step and lowers the energy barrier for NH₃ desorption, thereby resulting in improved NO conversion and enhanced selectivity toward ammonia. This study presents a pioneering approach toward energy-efficient ammonia synthesis and recycling of nitrogen sources.

Breakage of the C–N bond is a structure sensitive process, and the catalyst size significantly affects its activity. On the active metal nanoparticle scale, the role of catalyst size in C–N bond cleavage has not been clearly elucidated. So, Ru catalysts with variable nanoparticle sizes were obtained by modulating the reduction temperature, and the catalytic activity was evaluated using 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline and o-propylaniline with different C–N bond hybridization patterns as reactants. Results showed a 13 times higher reaction rate for sp³-hybridized C–N bond cleavage than sp²-hybridized C–N bond cleavage, while the reaction rate tended to increase first and then decrease as the catalyst nanoparticle size increased. Different concentrations of terrace, step, and corner sites were found in different sizes of Ru nanoparticles. The relationship between catalytic site variation and C–N bond cleavage activity was further investigated by calculating the turnover frequency values for each site. This analysis indicates that the variation of different sites on the catalyst is the intrinsic factor of the size dependence of C–N bond cleavage activity, and the step atoms are the active sites for the C–N bond cleavage. When Ru nanoparticles are smaller than 1.9 nm, they have a strong adsorption effect on the reactants, which will affect the catalytic performance of the Ru catalyst. Furthermore, these findings were also confirmed on other metallic Pd/Pt catalysts. The role of step sites in C–N bond cleavage was proposed using the density function theory calculations. The reactants have stronger adsorption energies on the step atoms, and step atoms have d-band center nearer to the Fermi level. In this case, the interaction with the reactant is stronger, which is beneficial for activating the C–N bond of the reactant.

Liquid fermented fungal mycelia with decolorization capability have potential applications in scale-up. In this work, the Lactarius deliciosus mycelia were immobilized on ε-polylysine-alginate beads, and the decolorization effects of ε-polylysine-alginate beads were demonstrated along with Coomassie brilliant blue G-250 as a model dye. Morphology observation confirmed the beads had an exterior film and interior capsule with honeycomb microstructures suitable for mycelia growth. It was manifested that the maximum decolorization efficiency for mycelia was 98.5% at a removal rate of 0.68 mg·L^‒1·h after 3 days. In comparison, the decolorization efficiency of the immobilized mycelia reached the maximum value of 97.3% at a removal rate of 6.1 mg·L^‒1·h after 8 h. The enzyme activities of lignin peroxidase and laccase tested in the immobilized mycelia were significantly higher than in that of the free ones, such as the lignin peroxidase had the highest enzyme activity of 77.6 ± 7.4 U·L^‒1 in the former, while of 27.4 ± 8.7 U·L^‒1 in the latter. The immobilization of L. deliciosus mycelia could improve the decolorization of Coomassie brilliant blue G-250 efficiently. The prepared ε-polylysine-alginate beads embedded with L. deliciosus mycelia have very good reusability and a great potential in decolorizing analog dyes.

Capacitive deionization can alleviate water shortage and water environmental pollution, but performances are greatly determined by the electrochemical and desalination properties of its electrode materials. In this work, B and N co-doped porous carbon with micro-mesoporous structures is derived from sodium alginate by a carbonization, activation, and hydrothermal doping process, which exhibits large specific surface area (2587 m²·g^‒1) and high specific capacitance (190.7 F·g^‒1) for adsorption of salt ions and heavy metal ions. Furthermore, the materials provide a desalination capacity of 26.9 mg·g⁻¹ at 1.2 V in 500 mg·L^‒1 NaCl solution as well as a high removal capacity (239.6 mg·g^‒1) and adsorption rate (7.99 mg·g^‒1·min^‒1) for Pb²⁺ with an excellent cycle stability. This work can pave the way to design low-cost porous carbon with high-performances for removal of salt ions and heavy metal ions.

Chemistry of the polyamide active layer of a desalination membrane is critical in determining both its physical and chemical properties. In this study, we designed and fabricated three novel membranes with different active layers using the crosslinkers: terephthaloyl chloride, isophthaloyl chloride, and trimesoyl chloride. The crosslinkers were reacted with an aqueous solution of an aliphatic tetra-amine. Because these crosslinkers differ in their structures and crosslinking mechanisms during interfacial polymerization, the resultant membranes also possess different structural properties. The water contact angle of the fabricated membranes also varies; the water contact angles of 4A-3P-TPC@PSF/PET, 4A-3P-TMC@PSF/PET, and 4A-3P-IPC@PSF/PET, are 68.9°, 65.6°, and 53.9°, respectively. Similarly, the desalination performance of resultant membranes also showed variations, with 4A-3P-TPC@PSF/PET, 4A-3P-IPC@PSF/PET, and 4A-3P-TMC@PSF/PET having a permeate flux of 17.14, 25.70, and 30.90 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹, respectively, at 2.5 MPa. The 4A-3P-TPC@PSF/PET membrane exhibited extensive crosslinking with aliphatic linear amine, and cationic dye rhodamine B, MgCl₂, and amitriptyline rejection rates of 98.6%, 92.7% and 80.9%, respectively. The 4A-3P-TMC@PSF/PET membrane showed mediocre performance, while 4A-3P-IPC@PSF/PET membrane showed even lower performance, with a 35% rejection of methyl orange dye.

Although mesoporous silica with magnetically hybridized two-dimensional channel structures has been well studied in recent years, it remains a challenge to fabricate the counterpart with macroporous three-dimensional cubic structures since the highly acidic preparation conditions lead to dissolution of magnetic particles. Herein, we successfully prepared magnetic KIT-6 nano-composite and its amino derivatives by bearing acid-resistant iron oxide. The prepared materials exhibited excellent properties for U(VI) ions removal from aqueous solutions under various conditions. The experimental data show that the U(VI) adsorption features fast adsorption kinetics, high adsorption capacity and ideal selectivity toward U(VI). The adsorption process is of spontaneous and endothermic nature and ionic strength independence, and the adsorbents can be easily regenerated by acid treatment. Compared to pristine KIT-6, the introduction of magnetism does not reduce the efficiency of the material to remove U(VI) while exerting its role as a recovery adsorbent. The findings of this work further demonstrate the potential broad application prospects of magnetic hybrid mesoporous silica in radionuclide chelation.

Reducing the dissolution of Mn from LiMn₂O₄ (LMO) and enhancing the stability of film electrodes are critical and challenging for Li⁺ ions selective extraction via electrochemically switched ion exchange technology. In this work, we prepared a nitrogen-doped carbon cladding LMO (C-N@LMO) by polymerization of polypyrrole and high-temperature annealing in the N₂ gas to achieve the above purpose. The modified C-N@LMO film electrode exhibited lower Mn dissolution and better cyclic stability than the LMO film electrode. The dissolution ratio of Mn from the C-N@LMO film electrode decreased by 42% compared to the LMO film electrode after 10 cycles. The cladding layer not only acted as a protective layer but also functioned as a conductive shell, accelerating the migration rate of Li⁺ ions. The intercalation equilibrium time of the C-N@LMO film electrode reached within an hour during the extraction of Li⁺ ions, which was 33% less compared to the pure LMO film electrode. Meanwhile, the C-N@LMO film electrode retained evident selectivity toward Li⁺ ions, and the separation factor was 118.38 for Li⁺ toward Mg²⁺ in simulated brine. Therefore, the C-N@LMO film electrode would be a promising candidate for the recovery of Li⁺ ions from salt lakes.

Herein, three novel tetraphenylethylene hydrazone chemosensors TC12, SC16, and TC16 are prepared for the selective detection of F⁻. Two NH and one C=N units are incorporated into the sensors for better colorimetric responses, whereas the tetraphenyl unit is in charge of the aggregation-induced emission effect. Among them, compounds SC16 and TC16 form stable gels with some organic solvents. All the tetrahydrofuran/H₂O solutions of the three compounds exhibit aggregation-induced emission effect, whereby the fluorescence emission increases by varying degrees with the volume of poor solvent water. Moreover, good aggregation-induced emission effects are observed in the self-assembly of SC16 and TC16. As a sample chemosensor, TC12 in tetrahydrofuran responds to F⁻ selectively with high sensitivity, with the colorimetric and fluorometric detection limits of 8.25 × 10⁻⁷ mol·L^–1 and 2.69 × 10⁻⁷ mol·L^–1, respectively. The reversible gel-sol-gel phase transition and color changes indicate that both SC16-dimethyl sulfoxide and TC16-ethyl acetate gels specifically respond to F^– with good sensitivity. The detection results are well supported by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescent spectroscopy, and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance. More importantly, the driving forces of gelation are visually clarified through the single crystal X-ray analysis of compound TOMe.

In this study, the rheological properties, crystallization and foaming behavior of poly(lactic acid) with polyamide 6 nanofibrils were examined with polyethylene glycol as a compatibilizer. Polyamide 6 particles were deformed into nanofibrils during drawing. For the 10% polyamide 6 case, polyethylene glycol addition reduced the polyamide 6 fibril diameter from 365.53 to 254.63 nm, owing to the smaller polyamide 6 particle size and enhanced interface adhesion. Rheological experiments revealed that the viscosity and storage modulus of the composites were increased, which was associated with the three-dimensional entangled network of polyamide 6 nanofibrils. The presence of higher aspect ratio polyamide 6 nanofibrils substantially enhanced the melt strength of the composites. The isothermal crystallization kinetics results suggested that the polyamide 6 nanofibrils and polyethylene glycol had a synergistic effect on accelerating poly(lactic acid) crystallization. With the polyethylene glycol, the crystallization half-time reduced from 103.6 to 62.2 s. Batch foaming results indicated that owing to higher cell nucleation efficiency, the existence of polyamide 6 nanofibrils led to a higher cell density and lower expansion ratio. Furthermore, the poly(lactic acid)/polyamide 6 foams exhibited a higher cell density and expansion ratio than that of the foams without polyethylene glycol.

NiFe₂O₄ is a kind of bimetallic oxide possessing excellent theoretical capacity and application prospect in the field of supercapacitors. Whereas, due to the inherent poor conductivity of metal oxides, the performance of NiFe₂O₄ is not ideal in practice. Oxygen vacancies can not only enhance the conductivities of NiFe₂O₄ but also provide better adsorption of OH, which is beneficial to the electrochemical performances. Hence, oxygen vacancies engineered NiFe₂O₄ (NiFe₂O_4‒δ) is obtained through a two-step method, including a hydrothermal reaction and a further heat treatment in activated carbon bed. Results of electron paramagnetic resonance spectra indicate that more oxygen vacancies exist in the treated NiFe₂O_4‒δ than the original one. UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra prove that the treated NiFe₂O_4‒δ owns better conductivity than the original NiFe₂O₄. As for the electrochemical performances, the treated NiFe₂O_4‒δ performs a high specific capacitance of 808.02 F∙g^‒1 at 1 A∙g^‒1. Moreover, the asymmetric supercapacitor of NiFe₂O_4‒δ//active carbon displays a high energy density of 17.7 Wh∙kg^‒1 at the power density of 375 W∙kg^‒1. This work gives an effective way to improve the conductivity of metal oxides, which is beneficial to the application of metal oxides in supercapacitors.

In response to the reduction of food production and economic losses caused by plant bacterial diseases, it is necessary to develop new, efficient, and green pesticides. Natural products are rich and sustainable source for the development of new pesticides due to their low toxicity, easy degradation, and eco-friendliness. In this study, we prepared three series of ursolic acid derivatives and assessed their antibacterial ability. Most target compounds exhibited outstanding antibacterial activities. Among them, the relative optimal EC₅₀ values of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri were 2.23 (A17) and 1.39 (A16) μg·mL^–1, respectively. The antimicrobial mechanism showed that compound A17 induced an excessive accumulation and production of reactive oxygen species in bacteria and damaged the cell membrane integrity to kill bacteria. More interestingly, the addition of low concentrations of exogenous hydrogen peroxide enhanced the antibacterial efficacy of compound A17 against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. These entertaining results suggested that compound A17 induced an apparent apoptotic behavior in the tested bacteria. Overall, we developed the promising antimicrobial agents that destroyed the redox system of phytopathogenic bacteria, further demonstrating the unprecedented potential of ursolic acid for agricultural applications.

In this study, nickel phyllosilicate was synthesized based on molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂@NiPS) by the sol-gel method, and then MoS₂@NiPS was used to prepare epoxy composites. The thermal stability, flame retardancy, and frictional performances of epoxy composites were studied. With the addition of 3 wt% MoS₂@NiPS, the epoxy composite increased the limiting oxygen index from 23.8% to 26.1% and reduced the vertical burning time from 166 s for epoxy resin to 35 s. The residual char of the epoxy composite increased from 11.8 to 20.2 wt%. MoS₂@NiPS promoted the graphitization of the residual char, and facilitated the formation of a dense and continuous char layer, thereby improving the fire safety of epoxy resin. The epoxy composite with 3 wt% MoS₂@NiPS had excellent wear resistance property with a wear rate of 2.19 × 10⁻⁵ mm³·N^–1·m^–1, which was 68.8% lower than that of epoxy resin. This study presented a practical approach to improve the frictional and fire resistance of epoxy composites.

Foam trays with porous submerged orifices endow bubbles uniformly distributed, which are considered attractive column internals to enhance the gas-liquid mass transfer process. However, its irregular orifice and complex gas-liquid flow make it lack pore-scale investigations concerning the transfer mechanism of dynamic bubbling. In this work, the actual porous structure of the foam tray is obtained based on micro computed tomography technology. The shape, dynamic, and mass transfer of rising bubbles at porous orifices are investigated using the volume of fluid and continue surface force model. The results demonstrate that the liquid encroaching on the gas channels causes the increasing orifices velocity, which makes the trailing bubble easily detach from the midst of the leading bubble and causes pairing coalescence. Additionally, we found that the central breakup regimes significantly improve the gas-liquid interface area and mass transfer efficiency. This discovery exemplifies the mechanism of mass transfer intensification for foam trays and serves to promote its further development.

This study introduces multifunctional silica nanoparticles that exhibit both high photothermal and chemodynamic therapeutic activities, in addition to luminescence. The activity of the silica nanoparticles is derived from their plasmonic properties, which are a result of infusing the silica nanoparticles with multiple Cu_2–xS cores. This infusion process is facilitated by a recoating of the silica nanoparticles with a cationic surfactant. The key factors that enable the internal incorporation of the Cu_2–xS cores and the external deposition of red-emitting carbon dots are identified. The Cu_2–xS cores within the silica nanoparticles exhibit both self-boosting generation of reactive oxygen species and high photothermal conversion efficacy, which are essential for photothermal and chemodynamic activities. The silica nanoparticles’ small size (no more than 70 nm) and high colloidal stability are prerequisites for their cell internalization. The internalization of the red-emitting silica nanoparticles within cells is visualized using fluorescence microscopy techniques. The chemodynamic activity of the silica nanoparticles is associated with their dark cytotoxicity, and the mechanisms of cell death are evaluated using an apoptotic assay. The photothermal activity of the silica nanoparticles is demonstrated by significant cell death under near-infrared (1064 nm) irradiation.

The catalytic volcano activity models are the quantified and visualized tools of the Sabatier principle for heterogeneous catalysis, which can depict the intrinsic activity optima and trends of a catalytic reaction as a function of the reaction descriptors, i.e., the bonding strengths of key reaction species. These models can be derived by microkinetic modeling and/or free energy changes in combination with the scaling relations among the reaction intermediates. Herein, we introduce the CatMath—an online platform for generating a variety of common and industrially important thermal + electrocatalysis. With the CatMath, users can request the volcano models for available reactions and analyze their materials of interests as potential catalysts. Besides, the CatMath provides the function of the online generation of Surface Pourbaix Diagram for surface state analysis under electrocatalytic conditions, which is an essential step before analyzing the activity of an electrocatalytic surface. All the model generation and analysis processes are realized by cloud computing via a user-friendly interface.