Chinese Academy of Sciences

About: Chinese Academy of Sciences is a government organization based out in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Population. The organization has 421602 authors who have published 634849 publications receiving 14894293 citations. The organization is also known as: CAS.

Microplastic Size-Dependent Toxicity, Oxidative Stress Induction, and p-JNK and p-p38 Activation in the Monogonont Rotifer (Brachionus koreanus)

Abstract: In this study, we evaluated accumulation and adverse effects of ingestion of microplastics in the monogonont rotifer (Brachionus koreanus). The dependence of microplastic toxicity on particle size was investigated by measuring several in vivo end points and studying the ingestion and egestion using 0.05-, 0.5-, and 6-μm nonfunctionalized polystyrene microbeads. To identify the defense mechanisms activated in response to microplastic exposure, the activities of several antioxidant-related enzymes and the phosphorylation status of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) were determined. Exposure to polystyrene microbeads of all sizes led to significant size-dependent effects, including reduced growth rate, reduced fecundity, decreased lifespan and longer reproduction time. Rotifers exposed to 6-μm fluorescently labeled microbeads exhibited almost no fluorescence after 24 h, while rotifers exposed to 0.05- and 0.5-μm fluorescently labeled microbeads displayed fluorescence until 48 h, suggesting that 6-μm microbeads are more effectively egested from B. koreanus than 0.05- or 0.5-μm microbeads. This observation provides a potential explanation for our findings that microbead toxicity was size-dependent and smaller microbeads were more toxic. In vitro tests revealed that antioxidant-related enzymes and MAPK signaling pathways were significantly activated in response to microplastic exposure in a size-dependent manner.

A complete catalogue of high-quality topological materials

Abstract: Using a recently developed formalism called topological quantum chemistry, we perform a high-throughput search of 'high-quality' materials (for which the atomic positions and structure have been measured very accurately) in the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database in order to identify new topological phases. We develop codes to compute all characters of all symmetries of 26,938 stoichiometric materials, and find 3,307 topological insulators, 4,078 topological semimetals and no fragile phases. For these 7,385 materials we provide the electronic band structure, including some electronic properties (bandgap and number of electrons), symmetry indicators, and other topological information. Our results show that more than 27 per cent of all materials in nature are topological. We provide an open-source code that checks the topology of any material and allows other researchers to reproduce our results.

Synthesis of Few-Layer GaSe Nanosheets for High Performance Photodetectors

Abstract: Two-dimensional (2D)semiconductornanomaterials holdgreatpromisesforfutureelectronics and optics. In this paper, a 2D nanosheets of ultrathin GaSe has been prepared by using mechanical cleavage and solvent exfoliation method. Single- and few-layer GaSe nanosheets areexfoliatedonanSiO2/SisubstrateandcharacterizedbyatomicforcemicroscopyandRaman spectroscopy. Ultrathin GaSe-based photodetector shows a fast response of 0.02 s, high responsivityof2.8AW � 1 andhighexternalquantumefficiencyof1367%at254nm,indicating that the two-dimensional nanostructure of GaSe is a new promising material for high performance photodetectors.

Efficient Visible-Light Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution and Enhanced Photostability of Core/Shell CdS/g-C3N4 Nanowires

Abstract: CdS/g-C3N4 core/shell nanowires with different g-C3N4 contents were fabricated by a combined solvothermal and chemisorption method and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV–vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy. The photocatalytic hydrogen-production activities of these samples were evaluated using Na2S and Na2SO3 as sacrificial reagents in water under visible-light illumination (λ ≥ 420 nm). The results show that after a spontaneous adsorption process g-C3N4 is successfully coated on CdS nanowires with intimate contact and can significantly improve the photocatalytic hydrogen-production rate of CdS nanowires, which reaches an optimal value of up to 4152 μmol h–1 g–1 at the g-C3N4 content of 2 wt %. More importantly, g-C3N4 coating can substantially reinforce the photostability of CdS nanowires even in a nonsacrificial system. The synergic effect between g-C3N4 and CdS, which can effectively accelerate the charge separation and tr...