Amphiphilic carbonaceous materials: preparation methods and applications.

Although most carbon materials are hydrophobic, their oxidation would add hydrophilic functional groups onto their surfaces, making them amphiphiles. In this review, amphiphilic carbonaceous materials are reviewed, focusing on their preparation methods, compositions, and properties associated with their structural models. In addition, a variety of applications arising from their amphiphilicity are mentioned, including organic-free carbon coatings, fabrication of nanoporous structures in carbons, carbon supports for metal nanoparticles, environmental remediation, monitoring of toxic gases, dispersing agents, and biomedical applications.

Wetting Properties and Thin-Film Quality in the Wet Deposition of Zeolites.

Zeolites are microporous crystalline materials widely used in catalysis and adsorption applications. The fabrication of zeolite thin films and membranes has also opened up the possibility of using zeolites in electronic devices and membrane separations. The existing approach to growing zeolite films involves exposing the substrate to a high-pH environment; however, this process is applicable to only specific types of substrates.

Effect of Liuweibuqi capsules on CD4CD25Foxp3 regulatory T cells, helper T cells and lung function in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease complicated with lung Qi deficiency.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is predicted to become the fifth leading cause of disability and the third leading cause of death around the world by 2020. Though it is potentially treatable and preventable, evidence of brain structural alterations in COPD remains sparse and conflicting. We aim to investigate the effect of Liuweibuqi capsules on CD4CD25 Forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3) regulatory T cells (Tregs), helper T cells (Th) and lung function in patients with stable COPD complicated with lung Qi deficiency.

Comparative analysis of immune function, hemorheological alterations and prognosis in colorectal cancer patients with different traditional Chinese medicine syndromes.

Objective: The present study investigates the differences in immune function, hemorheological alterations and prognostic evaluation in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with different traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes.

Methods: A total of 128 patients, diagnosed as stage II and III of CRC, were recruited. They were assigned into three TCM syndromes: deficiency syndrome, excess syndrome, and syndrome of intermingled deficiency and excess, and another 53 healthy individuals were selected as the control.

Humic acids-based hierarchical porous carbons as high-rate performance electrodes for symmetric supercapacitors.

Two kinds of hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) with specific surface areas of 2000 m(2)g(-1) were synthesized using leonardite humic acids (LHA) or biotechnology humic acids (BHA) precursors via a KOH activation process. Humic acids have a high content of oxygen-containing groups which enabled them to dissolve in aqueous KOH and facilitated the homogeneous KOH activation. The LHA-based HPC is made up of abundant micro-, meso-, and macropores and in 6M KOH it has a specific capacitance of 178 F g(-1) at 100 Ag(-1) and its capacitance retention on going from 0.

Hierarchical porous carbon microspheres derived from porous starch for use in high-rate electrochemical double-layer capacitors.

Porous starch was used as a precursor for hierarchical porous carbon microspheres. The preparation consisted of stabilisation, carbonisation and KOH activation, and the resultant hierarchical porous carbon microspheres had a large BET surface area of 3251 m(2)g(-1). Due to the large surface area and the hierarchical pore structure, electrodes made of the hierarchical porous carbon microsphere materials had high specific capacitances of 304 Fg(-1) at a current density of 0.