Shenyang University of Chemical Technology

Recently, nanocellulose and its applications gain high attraction in both research and industrial areas due to its attractive properties such as excellent mechanical properties, high surface area, rich hydroxyl groups for modification, and natural properties with 100% environmental friendliness. In this review, the background of nanocellulose originated from lignocellulosic biomass and the typical extraction methods and general applications are summarized, in which the nanocellulose extraction methods related to ball milling are mainly introduced. Also, an outlook on its future is given. It is expected to provide guidance on the effective extraction of nanocellulose from biomass and its most possible applications in the future.

There is currently enormous and growing demand for flexible electronics for personalized mobile equipment, human-machine interface units, wearable medical-healthcare systems, and bionic intelligent robots. Cellulose is a well-known natural biopolymer that has multiple advantages including low cost, renewability, easy processability, and biodegradability, as well as appealing mechanical performance, dielectricity, piezoelectricity, and convertibility. Because of its multiple merits, cellulose is frequently used as a substrate, binder, dielectric layer, gel electrolyte, and derived carbon material for flexible electronic devices. Leveraging the advantages of cellulose to design advanced functional materials will have a significant impact on portable intelligent electronics. Herein, the unique molecular structure and nanostructures (nanocrystals, nanofibers, nanosheets, etc.) of cellulose are briefly introduced, the structure-property-application relationships of cellulosic materials summarized, and the processing technologies for fabricating cellulose-based flexible electronics considered. The focus then turns to the recent advances of cellulose-based functional materials toward emerging intelligent electronic devices including flexible sensors, optoelectronic devices, field-effect transistors, nanogenerators, electrochemical energy storage devices, biomimetic electronic skins, and biological detection devices. Finally, an outlook of the potential challenges and future prospects for developing cellulose-based wearable devices and bioelectronic systems is presented.

With the growing demands for large-scale energy storage, Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) with distinct advantages, including resource abundance, low-cost, high-safety, and acceptable energy density, are considered as potential substitutes for Li-ion batteries. Although numerous efforts are devoted to design and develop high performance cathodes and aqueous electrolytes for ZIBs, many challenges, such as hydrogen evolution reaction, water evaporation, and liquid leakage, have greatly hindered the development of aqueous ZIBs. Developing "beyond aqueous" electrolytes can be able to avoid these issues due to the absence of water, which are beneficial for the achieving of highly efficient ZIBs. In this review, the recent development of the "beyond aqueous" electrolytes, including conventional organic electrolytes, ionic liquid, all-solid-state, quasi-solid-state electrolytes, and deep eutectic electrolytes are presented. The critical issues and the corresponding strategies of the designing of "beyond aqueous" electrolytes for ZIBs are also summarized.

To the Editor: The recent outbreak of a novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (also known as 2019-nCoV) threatens global health, raising serious cause for concern. It is urgent to develop rapid, accurate, and onsite diagnostic methods to effectively identify individuals with early infections, administer timely treatment, and control disease spread (1,). For viral RNA infections, particularly acute respiratory infection, probe coupled RT-qPCR of respiratory secretions is routinely used to detect causative viruses (2,). However, RT-qPCR has many limitations such as the need for high purity samples, trained personnel, and sophisticated facilities for sample processing and the access to expensive laboratory instruments; in addition, long reaction times (around 2 h) are required. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) combined with reverse transcription (RT-LAMP) allows the direct detection of RNA (3, 4,). This system can be coupled with a pH indicator present in the reaction mix to allow readout of the amplification reaction by change in color (5). Here we describe a LAMP-based method named iLACO (isothermal LAMP based method for COVID-19) for rapid detection of the SARS-CoV-2. We selected a fragment of the ORF1ab as the target region and used the online software, Primer Explorer V5, to design the RT-LAMP primers. We ensured the primer specificity by comparing the target sequence with other viral genomes, including 9 corona and 2 influenza viruses using the NCBI BLAST tool. We validated our method on an RNA sample extracted from a SARS-CoV-2 (RT-qPCR verified) positive patient. We observed a color change from pink to light yellow in the reaction tubes after 20 min of incubation at 65 ˚C; we further confirmed the size of the DNA amplification product using electrophoresis. The concentrations of the primers used in our method were as follows: 0.2 µmol/L of each outer primer (F3 5′-CCACTAGAGGAGCTACTGTA-3′ and B3 5′-TGACAAGCTACAACACGT-3′), 1.6 µmol/L of each inner primer (FIP 5′-AGGTGAGGGTTTTCTACATCACTATATTGGAACAAGCAAATTCTATGG-3′ and BIP 5′-ATGGGTTGGGATTATCCTAAATGTGTGCGAGCAAGAACAAGTG-3′), 0.4 µmol/L of each loop primer (LF 5′-CAGTTTTTAACATGTTGTGCCAACC-3′ and LB 5′-TAGAGCCATGCCTAACATGCT-3′). iLACO showed similar performance when we compared the samples from SARS-CoV-2 RNA or cDNA, indicating the one-step isothermal amplification is sufficient. We further optimized the reaction protocols for potential field and bedside use. We validated the efficiency of iLACO in 1.5 mL tubes incubated in a water bath at 65 ˚C （WarmStart Colorimetric LAMP 2X Master Mix, M1800, NEB with manual） and found that 20 min reaction time was sufficient for a color change with a virus RNA concentration of 1000 copies per µL (i.e., using 1 µL sample in total 20 µL reaction). We recommend adding 20 µL of mineral oil after adding all the required solutions to avoid evaporation. To check the detection limit of iLACO, we made serial dilutions of synthesized ORF1ab gene (from 1 000 000 to 0.1 copies per µL). iLACO could detect as low as 10 copies of ORF1ab gene. Samples with copy number below 10 copies per µL failed to change color, even with extended incubation time up to 2 h. To further expand the iLACO detection capability, we added SYBR green dye (1:10 000 stock solution, S7563 from Thermo Fisher) into the reaction mix and checked the color change with a Gel imaging system. We also selected a new type of nucleic acid dye, GeneFinderTM (D039 from Bridgen), which has enhanced fluorescent signal and sensitivity. By exposure to blue light, green fluorescence was observed clearly with naked eye in the positive reaction with 100 copies per µL, whereas it remained pink in the negative control (Fig. 1). Fluorescent signal detected by UV and blue light for iLACO. Positive signal was visible with the naked eye with colorimetric pH indicator or under blue light with GeneFinder dye. NC and PC refer to the negative and COVID-19 positive controls, respectively. We then evaluated the performance of iLACO in a total of 248 samples from COVID-19 patients diagnosed in Shenyang province, China. We were able to detect 89.9% (223/248) of samples with positive signals. The 25 false-negative samples were further tested with Taqman RT-qPCR and showed the Ct values above 35, indicating very low viral loads. We then ran iLACO on 11 samples (each in triplicate) with Ct values varying between 35 and 37, and obtained random color changes within the repeats, indicating that a concentration below 60 copies per µL was the detection threshold. Currently, most of the RT-qPCR reactions in China for SARS-CoV-2 test use 5 µL sample as input. We therefore checked whether increasing the sample volume would facilitate the detection. However, increasing the volume to 5 µL RNA sample led to variable results. This was most likely due to the presence of Tris or EDTA in the RNA dilution buffer when an automatic RNA extraction workstation is used. This could be optimized by adjusting the concentrations of the buffers used. We recommend always using a positive and a negative control sample resuspended in the same buffers used for patient RNA isolation. In summary, we have developed a RT-LAMP-based method, optimized for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Our method is robust, accurate, and simple to use. We hope that this method will contribute to continuing efforts to contain the still spreading SARS-CoV-2. A version of this article was previously posted as a preprint on medRxiv as https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.20.20025874v1. Sample collection and analysis of samples were approved in the P3 laboratory by the local CDC of Shenyang city. The internal use of samples was agreed under the medial and ethical rules for each participating individual. All authors confirmed they have contributed to the intellectual content of this paper and have met the following 4 requirements: (a) significant contributions to the conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting or revising the article for intellectual content; (c) final approval of the published article; and (d) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the article thus ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the article are appropriately investigated and resolved. X. Yin, W. Chen, V. Pelechano, X. Hao, S. Wu and L. Yu conceived the study and wrote the manuscript. X. Yin, L. Mao, X. Hao, S. Wu, L. Yu, X. Dong collected the data. X. Yin, W. Chen, L. Mao, X. Hao, S. Wu.and L. Yu processed and analyzed the data. X. Yin, W. Chen and V. Pelechano edited the final manuscript, all authors have read and approved the manuscript. X. Yin supervised the whole work. Authors’ Disclosures or Potential Conflicts of Interest: Upon manuscript submission, all authors completed the author disclosure form. Disclosures and/or potential conflicts of interest: Employment or Leadership: X. Yin and W.-H. Chen are co-founders for Biotech & Biomedicine Science (Shenyang) Co. Ltd and Pluri Biotech Co.Ltd. X. Yin is the co-founder for Nanog Biotech Co. Ltd. L. Yu, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology; S. Wu, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology; X. Dong, CDC of Shenyang, China. Consultant or Advisory Role: None declared. Stock Ownership: None declared. Honoraria: None declared. Research Funding: This work was funded by 2020 LiaoNing Provence Key Research Project (1580441949000), Ganzhou COVID-19 Emergency Research Project. V. Pelechano, the Swedish Research Council (VR 2016-01842), a Wallenberg Academy Fellowship (KAW 2016.0123), the Swedish Foundations’ Starting Grant (Ragnar Söderberg Foundation), Karolinska Institutet (SciLifeLab Fellowship, SFO and KI funds), a Joint China-Sweden mobility grant from STINT (CH2018-7750). Expert Testimony: L. Yu, CDC of Shenyang, China; S. Wu, CDC of Shenyang, China; X. Dong, CDC of Shenyang, China. Patents: None declared. All the authors plan to make the reagents widely available to the community; primers used in this paper can be requested for free delivery through xiushanyin@me.com.

A zwitterionic ionic liquid additive enables a high-performance aqueous Zn metal battery via constructing a self-adaptive electric double layer for both electrodes.

Carbon materials have been extensively investigated due to their diversity, favorable properties, and active applications including electroanalytical chemistry. This critical review discusses new synthetic methods, novel carbon materials, new properties and electroanalytical applications of carbon materials particularly related to the preparation as well as bioanalytical and environmental applications of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, graphene, carbon nanotubes, various carbon films (e.g. pyrolyzed carbon films, boron-doped diamond films and diamond-like carbon films) and screen printing carbon electrodes. Future perspectives in the field have also been discussed (366 references).

The electrode materials are the most critical content for lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) with high energy density for electric vehicles and portable electronics. Considering the high abundance, environmental friendliness, low cost, high capacity, and low operation potential of silicon‐based anode, it has been intensively studied as one of the most promising anode materials for high‐energy LIBs. However, the widespread application of silicon anode is impeded by the poor electrical conductivity, large volume variation, and unstable solid–electrolyte interfaces films. In the past decade, significant efforts have been demonstrated to tackle these major challenges toward industrial applications. Herein, the focus is on combining with advanced structure like nanostructure and composite with other materials, exploring various new polymer binders, improving electrolyte, different prelithiation strategies, and Si/graphite design to meet commercialization requirements, particularly summarized the progress on areal capacity, initial Coulombic efficiency, and cost. Finally, the guidelines and trends for practical silicon electrodes are presented based on the recent reports.

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVReviewNEXTApplication of the Intermediate Derivatization Approach in Agrochemical DiscoveryAiying Guan†, Changling Liu*†, Xiaoping Yang‡, and Mark Dekeyser§View Author Information† State Key Laboratory of the Discovery and Development of Novel Pesticide, Shenyang Research Institute of Chemical Industry, Shenyang 110021, China‡ Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Center, Aurora, Colorado 80045, United States§ Chemtura Canada, Guelph, ON N1H 6N3, Canada (retired)*Tel.: 86-24-85869078. Fax: 86-24-85869137. E-mail: [email protected]Cite this: Chem. Rev. 2014, 114, 14, 7079–7107Publication Date (Web):May 29, 2014Publication History Received8 October 2013Published online29 May 2014Published inissue 23 July 2014https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cr4005605https://doi.org/10.1021/cr4005605review-articleACS PublicationsCopyright © 2014 American Chemical SocietyRequest reuse permissionsArticle Views4015Altmetric-Citations158LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail Other access optionsGet e-Alertsclose SUBJECTS:Agrochemicals,Modification,Pest control,Phenyls,Plant derived food Get e-Alerts

A phosphotungstic acid coupled GO–Nafion membrane showed an enhanced fuel cell power density at 80 °C under 20% RH, compared with Nafion-212.

This paper develops an off-policy reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm to solve optimal synchronization of multiagent systems. This is accomplished by using the framework of graphical games. In contrast to traditional control protocols, which require complete knowledge of agent dynamics, the proposed off-policy RL algorithm is a model-free approach, in that it solves the optimal synchronization problem without knowing any knowledge of the agent dynamics. A prescribed control policy, called behavior policy, is applied to each agent to generate and collect data for learning. An off-policy Bellman equation is derived for each agent to learn the value function for the policy under evaluation, called target policy, and find an improved policy, simultaneously. Actor and critic neural networks along with least-square approach are employed to approximate target control policies and value functions using the data generated by applying prescribed behavior policies. Finally, an off-policy RL algorithm is presented that is implemented in real time and gives the approximate optimal control policy for each agent using only measured data. It is shown that the optimal distributed policies found by the proposed algorithm satisfy the global Nash equilibrium and synchronize all agents to the leader. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Abstract In nature, stiffness‐changing behavior is essential for living organisms, which, however, is challenging to achieve in synthetic materials. Here, a stiffness‐changing smart material, through developing interchangeable supramolecular configurations inspired from the dermis of the sea cucumber, which shows extreme, switchable mechanical properties, is reported. In the hydrated state, the material, possessing a stretched, double‐stranded supramolecular network, showcases a soft‐gel behavior with a low stiffness and high pliability. Upon the stimulation of ethanol to transform into the coiled supramolecular configuration, it self‐adjusts to a hard state with nearly 500‐times enhanced stiffness from 0.51 to 243.6 MPa, outstanding load‐bearing capability (over 35 000 times its own weight), and excellent puncture/impact resistance with a specific impact strength of ≈116 kJ m −2 (g cm −3 ) −1 (higher than some metals and alloys such as aluminum, and even comparable to the commercially available protective materials such as D3O and Kevlar). Moreover, this material demonstrates reconfiguration‐dependent self‐healing behavior and designable formability, holding great promise in advanced engineering fields that require both high‐strength durability and good formability. This work may open up a new perspective for the development of self‐regulating materials from supramolecular‐scale configuration regulation.

Abstract Chaos and the natural evolution of tumor systems can lead to the failure of tumor therapies. Herein, we demonstrate that iridium oxide nanoparticles (IrO x ) possess acid‐activated oxidase and peroxidase‐like functions and wide pH‐dependent catalase‐like properties. The integration of glucose oxidase (GOD) unlocked the oxidase and peroxidase activities of IrO x by the production of gluconic acid from glucose by GOD catalysis in cancer cells, and the produced H 2 O 2 was converted into O 2 to compensate its consumption in GOD catalysis owing to the catalase‐like function of the nanozyme, thus resulting in the continual consumption of glucose and the self‐supply of substrates to generate superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical. Moreover, IrO x can constantly consume glutathione (GSH) by self‐cyclic valence alternation of Ir IV and Ir III . These cascade reactions lead to a “butterfly effect” of initial starvation therapy and the subsequent pressure of multiple reactive oxygen species (ROS) to completely break the self‐adaption of cancer cells.

In this work the adsorption features of activated carbon and the magnetic properties of iron oxides were combined in a composite to produce magnetic adsorbent. Batch experiments were conducted to study the adsorption behavior of arsenate onto the synthetic magnetic adsorbent. The effects of initial solution pH, contact time, adsorbent dosage and co-existing anionic component on the adsorption of arsenate were investigated. The results showed that the removal percentage of arsenate could be over 95% in the conditions of adsorbent dosage 5.0 g/L, initial solution pH 3.0-8.0, and contact time 1 h. Under the experimental conditions, phosphate and silicate caused greater decrease in arsenate removal percentage among the anions, and sulfate had almost no effect on the adsorption of arsenate. Kinetics study showed that the overall adsorption rate of arsenate was illustrated by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The applicability of the Langmuir and Freundlich models for the arsenate adsorption data was tested. Both the models adequately describe the experimental data. Moreover, the magnetic composite adsorbent could be easily recovered from the medium by an external magnetic field. It can therefore be potentially applied for the treatment of water contaminated by arsenate.

A plasmon and upconversion enhanced broadband photocatalyst based on Au nanoparticle (NP) and NaYF 4:Yb 3+, Er 3+, Tm 3+ (NYF) microsphere loaded graphitic C 3 N 4 (g-C 3 N 4 ) nanosheets (Au-NYF/g-C 3 N 4 ) was subtly designed and synthesized. The simple one-step synthesis of NYF in the presence of g-C 3 N 4, which has not been reported in the literature either, leads to both high NYF yield and high coupling efficiency between NYF and g-C 3 N 4 . The Au-NYF/g-C 3 N 4 structure exhibits high stability, wide photoresponse from the ultraviolet (UV), to visible and near-infrared regions, and prominently enhanced photocatalytic activities compared with the plain g-C 3 N 4 sample in the degradation of methyl orange (MO). In particular, with the optimization of Au loading, the rate constant normalized with the catalysts mass of the best-performing catalyst 1 wt % Au-NYF/g-C 3 N 4 (0.032 h –1 mg –1 ) far surpasses that of NYF/g-C 3 N 4 and g-C 3 N 4 (0.009 h –1 mg –1 ) by 3.6 times under λ > 420 nm light irradiation. The high performance of the Au-NYF/g-C 3 N 4 nanocomposite under different light irradiations was ascribed to the distinctively promoted charge separation and suppressed recombination, and the efficient transfer of charge carriers and energy among these components. The promoted charge separation and transfer were further confirmed by photoelectrochemical measurements. The 1 wt % Au-NYF/g-C 3 N 4 exhibits enhanced photocurrent density (∼6.36 μA cm –2 ) by a factor of ∼5.5 with respect to that of NYF/g-C 3 N 4 sample (∼1.15 μA cm –2 ). Different mechanisms of the photodegradation under separate UV, visible, and NIR illuminations are unveiled and discussed in detail. Under simulated solar light illumination, the involved reactive species were identified by performing trapping experiments. This work highlights the great potential of developing highly efficient g-C 3 N 4 -based broadband photocatalysts for full solar spectrum utilization by integrating plasmonic nanostructures and upconverting materials.

Abstract Copper (II) phthalocyanines (CuPcs) have attracted growing interest as promising hole‐transporting materials (HTMs) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) due to their low‐cost and excellent stability. However, the most efficient PSCs using CuPc‐based HTMs reported thus far still rely on hygroscopic p‐type dopants, which notoriously deteriorate device stability. Herein, two new CuPc derivatives are designed, namely CuPc‐Bu and CuPc‐OBu, by molecular engineering of the non‐peripheral substituents of the Pc rings, and applied as dopant‐free HTMs in PSCs. Remarkably, a small structural change from butyl groups to butoxy groups in the substituents of the Pc rings significantly influences the molecular ordering and effectively improves the hole mobility and solar cell performance. As a consequence, PSCs based on dopant‐free CuPc‐OBu as HTMs deliver an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of up to 17.6% under one sun illumination, which is considerably higher than that of devices with CuPc‐Bu (14.3%). Moreover, PSCs containing dopant‐free CuPc‐OBu HTMs show a markedly improved ambient stability when stored without encapsulation under ambient conditions with a relative humidity of 85% compared to devices containing doped Spiro‐OMeTAD. This work thus provides a fundamental strategy for the future design of cost‐effective and stable HTMs for PSCs and other optoelectronic devices.

Multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT)-filled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites were prepared by a solution-precipitation process, and the temperature dependence of electrical conductivity of the MWNT/HDPE composites was studied. An obvious positive temperature coefficient (PTC) effect was found in the MWNT/HDPE composites with a relatively low MWNT concentration. Compared with that of carbon black (CB)/HDPE composite, the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) effect of the MWNT/HDPE composite at temperature above the melting temperature of HDPE was much less obvious and could be further eliminated after 80kGy γ-ray irradiation. The mechanism of the PTC and NTC effects in MWNT/HDPE composites was discussed.

The future of fuel supply will undoubtedly involve the utilization of heavy crude oils, including those from nonconventional sources, such as bitumen and oil shale. Because of their dense nature and poor compositional characteristics, heavy oils cannot be admitted straightly as refinery feeds, since the direct processing of such oils hardly produces engine fuels of commercial standard. The currently available refinery setups also require substantial retrofitting in order to process such heavy feeds. Thus, heavy oils must undergo an initial upgrading called hydrotreatment (HDT) by which the feeds are converted to qualified fuel oils or synthetic crude (syncrude) for easy handling. Removing the considerable amount of sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) compounds present in the heavy crude oils selectively by hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN), respectively, is among the most critical and challenging aspects of the upgrading. However, the mechanism of these two reactions, in relation to different catalytic sites, temperature, pressure, and other operation variables, is not fully understood or well-documented. By analyzing the possible reaction routes involved in S and N removal by HDT, this review sets to bridge the gap that has been left void for a long period of time, to serve as a guide for innovative heavy crude oil upgrading technologies. It finally reports the current challenges impeding the speedy inclusion of heavy crude oils into the global oil supply stream, and proffer perspective solutions together with future research trends.

Abstract Aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) have been extensively investigated as a next‐generation energy storage system due to their high safety and low cost. However, the critical issues of irregular dendrite growth and intricate side reactions severely restrict the further industrialization of ZIBs. Here, a strategy to fabricate a semi‐immobilized ionic liquid interface layer is proposed to protect the Zn anode over a wide temperature range from −35 to 60 °C. The immobilized SiO 2 @cation can form high conjugate racks that can regulate the Zn 2+ concentration gradient and self‐polarizing electric field to guarantee uniform nucleation and planar deposition; the free anions of the ILs can weaken the hydrogen bonds of the water to promote rapid Zn 2+ desolvation and accelerate ion‐transport kinetics simultaneously. Because of these unique advantages, the cycling performance of the symmetric Zn batteries is greatly enhanced, evidenced by a cycling life of 1800 h at 20 mA cm −2 , and a cycle lifespan of 2000 h under a wide temperature window from −35 to 60 °C. The efficiency of this semi‐immobilizing strategy is well demonstrated in various full cells including pouch cells, showing high performance at large current (20 A g −1 ) and wide temperatures with extra‐long cycles up to 80 000 cycles.

Carbon dioxide is one of the highest contributors to the greenhouse effect, as well as a cheap and nontoxic building block for single carbon source chemistry. As such, CO₂ conversion is one of most important research areas in energy and environment sciences, as well as in catalysis technology. For chemical conversion of CO₂, natural gas (mainly CH₄) is a promising counterpart molecule to the CO₂-related reaction, due to its high availability and low price. More importantly, being able to convert CH₄ to useful fuels and molecules is advantageous, because it is also a kind of "greenhouse effect" gas, and can be an energy alternative to petroleum oil. In this Account, we discuss our development of efficient catalysts with precisely designed nanostructure for CO₂ reforming of CH₄ to produce syngas (mixture of CO and H₂), which can then be converted to many chemicals and energy products. This new production flow can establish a GTL (gas-to-liquid) industry, being currently pushed by the shale gas revolution. From the viewpoint of GTL industry, developing a catalyst for CO₂ reforming of CH₄ is a challenge, because they need a very high production rate to make the huge GTL methane reformer as small as possible. In addition, since both CO₂ and CH₄ give off carbon deposits that deactivate non-precious metallic catalysts very quickly, the total design of catalyst support and supported metallic nanoparticles is necessary. We present a simple but useful method to prepare bimodal catalyst support, where small pores are formed inside large ones during the self-organization of nanoparticles from solution. Large pores enhance the mass transfer rate, while small pores provide large surface areas to disperse active metallic nanoparticles. More importantly, building materials for small pores can also be used as promoters or cocatalysts to further enhance the total activity and stability. Produced syngas from methane reforming is generally catalytically converted in situ via one of two main routes. The first is to use Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), a process that catalytically converts syngas to hydrocarbons of varying molecular weights. The second is methanol synthesis. The latter has better atomic economy, since the oxygen atom in CO is included in the product and CO₂ can be blended into syngas as a reactant. However, production of methanol is very inefficient in this reaction: only 10-15% one-pass conversion typically at 5.0-10.0 MPa and 523-573 K, due to the severe thermodynamic limitations of this exothermal reaction (CO + 2H₂ = CH₃OH). In this Account, we propose and develop a new route of low-temperature methanol synthesis from CO₂-containing syngas only by adding alcohols, including methanol itself. These alcohols act as homogeneous cocatalysts and the solvent, realizing 70-100% one-pass conversion at only 5.0 MPa and 443 K. The key step is the reaction of the adsorbed formate species with alcohols to yield ester species at low temperatures, followed by the hydrogenation of ester by hydrogen atoms on metallic Cu. This changes the normal reaction path of conventional, high-temperature methanol synthesis from formate via methoxy to methanol.

Due to their attractive physico-chemical properties, ionic liquids (ILs) are increasingly used as deposition electrolytes. This review summarizes recent advances in electrodeposition in ILs and focuses on its similarities and differences with that in aqueous solutions. The electrodeposition in ILs is divided into direct and template-assisted deposition. We detail the direct deposition of metals, alloys and semiconductors in five types of ILs, including halometallate ILs, air- and water-stable ILs, deep eutectic solvents (DESs), ILs with metal-containing cations, and protic ILs. Template-assisted deposition of nanostructures and macroporous structures in ILs is also presented. The effects of modulating factors such as deposition conditions (current density, current density mode, deposition time, temperature) and electrolyte components (cation, anion, metal salts, additives, water content) on the morphology, compositions, microstructures and properties of the prepared materials are highlighted.