System with Thermal Management for Synergistic Water Production, Electricity Generation and Crop Irrigation.

Sustainable water, energy and food (WEF) supplies are the bedrock upon which human society depends. Solar-driven interfacial evaporation, combined with electricity generation and cultivation, is a promising approach to mitigate the freshwater, energy and food crises. However, the performance of solar-driven systems decreases significantly during operation due to uncontrollable weather.

Enhancing Interfacial Conversion of Molecular Oxygen to Dissolved Oxygen for Self-Aeration In Situ HO Generation in Water Disinfection.

In situ HO generation has been widely studied due to its effective disinfection properties and the absence of disinfection byproducts. However, aeration and oxygen-dependent bottlenecks have plagued the application potential of in situ HO production. Herein, a solar-powered floating system was proposed that could directly utilize "self-aeration" to generate HO.

Water conservation strategies reduce greenhouse gas emission from wastewater treatment plants: A domino effect.

Wastewater-treatment plants (WWTPs) enable urban water reclamation but are significant sources of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. Because GHG output scales with the volume and pollutant load of influent sewage, city-wide water-use patterns offer a direct yet under-examined lever for decarbonizing WWTP operations. The feedbacks linking demand-side water conservation to plant emissions remain poorly understood, obscuring important mitigation co-benefits.

Construction of liquid-crystalline assemblies with tunable chiroptical properties through tailoring solvophilic chains in polymerization-induced chiral self-assembly.

Tuning the type of solvophilic chain and the length of the nucleating segment in polymerization-induced chiral self-assembly drives the formation of azobenzene liquid-crystalline block copolymer assemblies, facilitating tunable chiroptical inversions. The chiral stacking, morphological transitions, and liquid-crystalline ordering of these assemblies were systematically analyzed.

Chiral Communication between Enantiomeric Sergeants and Achiral Soldiers in Racemic Triblock Copolymers with Heterochiral Cores for Triggering Multiple Helicity Inversions.

Amplification of asymmetry in complex supramolecular/polymer system results from the delicate interplay of chiral and achiral structures. Here, a novel approach to the racemic sergeants and soldiers (S&S) effect, using enantiomeric sergeants (Sgt.) and achiral soldiers (Sold.

Unraveling chained optimization strategies for carbon emission control in WWTPs and effective water utilization within complicated water systems.

China faces severe water scarcity and significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission pressures. As significant sources of GHG emission within urban system, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) exhibit a clear coupling relationship between wastewater treatment and urban water usage. However, the lack of trace of the water‑carbon nexus has created an obstacle to coordinating water utilization strategies and low-carbon wastewater treatment.

Dynamically Switchable Global Chirality in Racemic Polymer Systems.

Any polymers composed of racemic segments are obviously optically inactive and lack any chiroptical applications. Here, we present an intriguing method for precisely generating global chirality in racemic copolymer assemblies without any external asymmetrical intervention via step-wise polymerization-induced chiral self-assembly (PICSA). Global supramolecular chirality of the nanoaggregates could be dynamically switched by the two diametrically opposed chiral conflict effects: "first come, first serve" effect and "late-comer lives above" effect, which can be controlled by the precisely specified the number and sequence of enantiomeric segments.

Discovery of an End-to-End Pattern for Contaminant-Oriented Advanced Oxidation Processes Catalyzed by Biochar with Explainable Machine Learning.

The utilization of biochar-catalyzed peroxymonosulfate in advanced oxidation processes (BC-PMS AOPs) is widely acknowledged as an effective and economical method for mitigating emerging contaminants (ECs). Especially, state-of-the-art machine learning (ML) technology has been employed to accurately predict the reaction rate constants of EC degradation in BC-PMS AOPs, primarily focusing on three aspects: performance prediction, operating condition optimization, and mechanism interpretation. However, its real application in specific degradation optimization targeting different ECs is seldom considered, hindering the realization of contaminant-oriented BC-PMS AOPs.

Odd-even effect in chiral side-chain cyanobiphenyl block copolymer assemblies prepared by polymerization-induced chiral self-assembly.

The precise control of the chirality of polymer assemblies is a challenge faced by scientists and has received significant attention in recent years. In this study, we employed the polymerization-induced chiral self-assembly (PICSA) method to create chiral side-chain cyanobiphenyl (CB) block copolymer (BCP) assemblies. The flexible spacers in chiral CB monomers were regulated to exhibit two distinct odd-even effects in the supramolecular asymmetrical arrangement of the CB mesogens inside BCP assemblies.

Hollow Nanoreactors Unlock New Possibilities for Persulfate-Based Advanced Oxidation Processes.

As a novel type of catalytic material, hollow nanoreactors are expected to bring new development opportunities in the field of persulfate-based advanced oxidation processes due to their peculiar void-confinement, spatial compartmentation, and size-sieving effects. For such materials, however, further clarification on basic concepts and construction strategies, as well as a discussion of the inherent correlation between structure and catalytic activity are still required. In this context, this review aims to provide a state-of-the-art overview of hollow nanoreactors for activating persulfate.

Regulating the Chiroptical Expression of Aggregated Solvophobic Core by Solvophilic Segments.

The investigation of chiral supramolecular stacking is of essential significance for the understanding of the origin of homochirality in nature. Unlike structurally well-defined amphiphilic liposomes, it remains unclear whether the solvophilic segments of the amphiphilic block copolymer play a decisive role in the construction of asymmetric superstructures. Herein, insights are presented into the stacking patterns and morphological regulation in azobenzene-containing block copolymer assemblies solely by modulating the solvophilic chain length.

Enhancing biomass conversion to bioenergy with machine learning: Gains and problems.

The growing concerns about environmental sustainability and energy security, such as exhaustion of traditional fossil fuels and global carbon footprint growth have led to an increasing interest in alternative energy sources, especially bioenergy. Recently, numerous scenarios have been proposed regarding the use of bioenergy from different sources in the future energy systems. In this regard, one of the biggest challenges for scientists is managing, modeling, decision-making, and future forecasting of bioenergy systems.

Precise Modulation of Circularly Polarized Luminescence via Polymer Chiral Co-assembly and Contactless Dynamic Chiral Communication.

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) plays a pivotal role in cutting-edge display and information technologies. Currently achieving precise color control and dynamic signal regulation in CPL still remains challenging due to the elusory relationship between fluorescence and chirality. Inspired by the natural mechanisms governing color formation and chiral interaction, we proposed an addition-subtraction principle theory to address this issue.

Revealing Pathway Complexity and Helical Inversion in Supramolecular Assemblies Through Solvent-Induced Radical Disparities.

New insights are raised to interpret pathway complexity in the supramolecular assembly of chiral triarylamine tris-amide (TATA) monomer. In cosolvent systems, the monomer undergoes entirely different assembly processes depending on the chemical feature of the two solvents. Specifically, 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) and methylcyclohexane (MCH) cosolvent trigger the cooperative growth of monomers with M helical arrangement, and hierarchical thin nanobelts are further formed.

Aeration-Free In Situ Fenton-like Reaction: Specific Adsorption and Activation of Oxygen on Heterophase Oxygen Vacancies.

Aeration accounts for 35-51% of the overall energy consumption in wastewater treatment processes and results in an annual energy consumption of 5-7.5 billion kWh. Herein, a solar-powered continuous-flow device was designed for aeration-free in situ Fenton-like reactions to treat wastewater.

Simultaneous Chiral Fixation and Chiral Regulation Endowed by Dynamic Covalent Bonds.

The construction of chiral superstructures through the self-assembly of non-chiral polymers usually relies on the interplay of multiple non-covalent bonds, which is significantly limited by the memory ability of induced chirality. Although the introduction of covalent crosslinking can undoubtedly enhance the stability of chiral superstructures, the concurrent strong constraining effect hinders the application of chirality-smart materials. To address this issue, we have made a first attempt at the reversible fixation of supramolecular chirality by introducing dynamic covalent crosslinking into the chiral self-assembly of side-chain polymers.

Rational design of recyclable metal-organic frameworks-based materials for water purification: An opportunity for practical application.

Due to their high specific surface area (SSA), numerous active sites, and customizable pore structure, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a popular topic in wastewater treatment research. Unfortunately, MOFs exist in the form of powder, which poses significant challenges such as difficult recycling and powder contamination in practical applications. Accordingly, for solid-liquid separation, the strategies of endowing magnetism and constructing appropriate device architectures are important.

Self-recovery of chiral microphase separation in an achiral diblock copolymer system.

Macroscopic regulation of chiral supramolecular nanostructures in liquid-crystalline block copolymers is of great significance in photonics and nanotechnology. Although fabricating helical phase structures chiral doping and microphase separation has been widely reported, the chiral memory and self-recovery capacity of asymmetric phase structures are the major challenge and still deeply rely on the presence of chiral additives. Herein, we demonstrate the first controllable chiral microphase separation in an achiral amphiphilic block copolymer consisting of poly(ethylene oxide) and azobenzene (Azo) groups.

Enhancing Biochar-Based Nonradical Persulfate Activation Using Data-Driven Techniques.

Converting biomass into biochar (BC) as a functional biocatalyst to accelerate persulfate activation for water remediation has attracted much attention. However, due to the complex structure of BC and the difficulty in identifying the intrinsic active sites, it is essential to understand the link between various properties of BC and the corresponding mechanisms promoting nonradicals. Machine learning (ML) recently demonstrated significant potential for material design and property enhancement to help tackle this problem.

Analysis of rainwater storage and use recommendations: From the perspective of DBPs generation and their risks.

As a vital freshwater resource, rainwater is usually stored in water cellars in arid regions to solve the daily drinking water problems of the population. However, the status of disinfection by-products (DBPs) generation in cellar water under intermittent disinfection conditions is unclear. Therefore, we investigated the formation and distribution characteristics of DBPs in cellar water under intermittent disinfection conditions for the first time.

Rational design of cobalt sulfide anchored on nitrogen-doped carbon derived from cyanobacteria waste enables efficient activation of peroxymonosulfate for organic pollutants oxidation.

With the increasing of eutrophication in water body, algae blooms have become one of the global environmental problems. The cyanobacteria waste has placed a severe burden on the environment and transforming cyanobacteria into functional materials may be a wise approach. Herein, cobaltous sulfide/nitrogen-doped biochar (N-BC/CoS) composite was synthesized by pyrolysis of cyanobacteria waste.

Unexpected chirality transition and inversion mediated by dissolution-aggregation and the odd-even effect.

The evolution of hierarchical chirality at macromolecular and supramolecular levels in biological systems is ubiquitous; however, achieving precise control over transitions between them in polymer systems is still challenging. Here, we reported multiple chiroptical transitions and inversion phenomena in side-chain azobenzene (Azo) polymers, PAzo-l/d- ( = 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, where is the total number of atoms from the chiral stereocenter to the Azo unit), with different distances from the chiral stereocenter to the Azo unit. In the case of = 3, an unexpected macromolecular-to-supramolecular chirality transition and inversion occurred when the Azo-polymer underwent from a macromolecular-dissolved state to a supramolecular-aggregated state.

Correlation Between Prevalence of Selected Enteropathogens and Diarrhea in Children: A Case-Control Study in China.

Background: The application of nucleic acid detection methods improves the ability of laboratories to detect diarrheal pathogens, but it also poses new challenges for the interpretation of results. It is often difficult to attribute a diarrhea episode to the detected pathogens. Here we investigated the prevalence of 19 enteropathogens among diarrheal and nondiarrheal children and provided support for understanding the clinical significance of the pathogens.

Transfer, Amplification, Storage, and Complete Self-Recovery of Supramolecular Chirality in an Achiral Polymer System.

Supramolecular chirality and its complete self-recovery ability are highly mystical in nature and biological systems, which remains a major challenge today. Herein, we demonstrate that partially cross-linked azobenzene (Azo) units can be employed as the potential chiral trigger to fully heal the destroyed helical superstructure in achiral nematic polymer system. Combining the self-assembly of Azo units and terminal hydroxyl groups in polymer side chains allows the vapor-induced chiral nematic phase and covalent fixation of the superstructure via acetal reaction.