Rational design of 3D dendritic TiO2 nanostructures with favorable architectures

Controlling the morphology and size of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures is crucial to obtain superior photocatalytic, photovoltaic, and electrochemical properties. However, the synthetic techniques for preparing such structures, especially those with complex configurations, still remain a challenge because of the rapid hydrolysis of Ti-containing polymer precursors in aqueous solution. Herein, we report a completely novel approach-three- dimensional (3D) TiO2 nanostructures with favorable dendritic architectures-through a simple hydrothermal synthesis. The size of the 3D TiO2 dendrites and the morphology of the constituent nano-units, in the form of nanorods, nanoribbons, and nanowires, are controlled by adjusting the precursor hydrolysis rate and the surfactant aggregation. These novel configurations of TiO2 nanostructures possess higher surface area and superior electrochemical properties compared to nanoparticles with smooth surfaces. Our findings provide an effective solution for the synthesis of complex TiO2 nano-architectures, which can pave the way to further improve the energy storage and energy conversion efficiency of TiO 2-based devices.

Organic–inorganic bismuth (III)-based material: A lead-free, air-stable and solution-processable light-absorber beyond organolead perovskites

Methylammonium bismuth (III) iodide single crystals and films have been developed and investigated. We have further presented the first demonstration of using this organic–inorganic bismuth-based material to replace lead/tin-based perovskite materials in solution-processable solar cells. The organic–inorganic bismuth-based material has advantages of non-toxicity, ambient stability, and low-temperature solution-processability, which provides a promising solution to address the toxicity and stability challenges in organolead- and organotin-based perovskite solar cells. We also demonstrated that trivalent metal cation-based organic–inorganic hybrid materials can exhibit photovoltaic effect, which may inspire more research work on developing and applying organic-inorganic hybrid materials beyond divalent metal cations (Pb (II) and Sn (II)) for solar energy applications.

Kallikrein-related peptidase 4 induces tumour microenvironment alterations that support tumour growth

Kallikrein-related peptidase 4 (KLK4) is a protease with elevated production in prostate cancer versus benign tissue. KLK4 expression is associated with prostate cancer risk, and its activity favours tumour progression through increasing cell motility and growth. Importantly, over-production of KLK4 in prostate glandular cells precedes tumour formation, positioning the enzyme to play a role in early remodelling of the tumour microenvironment, a process essential for tumour growth. We sought to identify the proteins and downstream signalling pathways targeted by KLK4 activity, to define its role in tumour microenvironment remodelling and evaluate the efficacy of KLK4 inhibition as a cancer therapy.

Synergistic crystal facet engineering and structural control of WO3 films exhibiting unprecedented photoelectrochemical performance

WO3 nanoplate arrays with (002) oriented facets grown on fluorine doped SnO2 (FTO) glass substrates are tailored by tuning the precursor solution via a facile hydrothermal method. A 2-step hydrothermal method leads to the preferential growth of WO3 film with enriched (002) facets, which exhibits extraordinary photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance with a remarkable photocurrent density of 3.7 mA cm–2 at 1.23 V vs. revisable hydrogen electrode (RHE) under AM 1.5 G illumination without the use of any cocatalyst, corresponding to ~93% of the theoretical photocurrent of WO3. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations together with experimental studies reveal that the enhanced photocatalytic activity and better photo-stability of the WO3 films are attributed to the synergistic effect of highly reactive (002) facet and nanoplate structure which facilitates the photo–induced charge carrier separation and suppresses the formation of peroxo-species. Without the use of oxygen evolution cocatalysts, the excellent PEC performance, demonstrated in this work, by simply tuning crystal facets and nanostructure of pristine WO3 films may open up new opportunities in designing high performance photoanodes for PEC water splitting.

Pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol production using eucalyptus biomass pre-treated by dilute acid and steam explosion

The widespread deployment of commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol currently hinges on developing and evaluating scalable processes whilst broadening feedstock options. This study investigates whole Eucalyptus grandis trees as a potential feedstock and demonstrates dilute acid pre-treatment (with steam explosion) followed by pre-saccharification simultaneous saccharification fermentation process (PSSF) as a suitable, scalable strategy for the production of bioethanol. Biomass was pre-treated in dilute H2SO4 at laboratory scale (0.1 kg) and pilot scale (10 kg) to evaluate the effect of combined severity factor (CSF) on pre-treatment effectiveness. Subsequently, pilot-scale pre-treated residues (15 wt.%) were converted to ethanol in a PSSF process at 2 L and 300 L scales. Good polynomial correlations (n = 2) of CSF with hemicellulose removal and glucan digestibility with a minimum R2 of 0.91 were recorded. The laboratory-scale 72 h glucan digestibility and glucose yield was 68.0% and 51.3%, respectively, from biomass pre-treated at 190 °C /15 min/ 4.8 wt.% H2SO4. Pilot-scale pre-treatment (180 °C/ 15 min/2.4 wt.% H2SO4 followed by steam explosion) delivered higher glucan digestibility (71.8%) and glucose yield (63.6%). However, the ethanol yields using PSSF were calculated at 82.5 and 113 kg/ton of dry biomass for the pilot and the laboratory scales, respectively. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd