Titanium oxide (TiO₂) is a potential photocatalyst for removing toxic NO_x from the atmosphere. Its practical application is, however, significantly limited by its low absorption into visible light and a high degree of charge recombination. The overall photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ remains too low since it can utilize only about 4–5% of solar energy. Nitrogen doping into the TiO₂ lattice takes advantage of utilizing a wide range of solar radiation by increasing the absorption capability towards the visible light region. In this work, N-doped TiO₂, referred to as TC, was synthesized by a simple co-precipitation of tri-thiocyanuric acid (TCA) with P25 followed by heat treatment at 550 degrees C. The resulting nitrogen doping increased the visible-light absorption and enhanced the separation/transfer of photo-excited charge carriers by capturing holes by reduced titanium ions. As a result, TC samples exhibited excellent photocatalytic activities of 59% and 51% in NO oxidation under UV and visible light irradiation, in which the optimum mass ratio of TCA to P25 was found to be 10.

To prevent global warming, ESS development is in progress along with the development of electric vehicles and renewable energy. However, the state-of-the-art technology, i.e., lithium-ion batteries, has reached its limitation, and thus the need for high-performance batteries with improved energy and power density is increasing. Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are attracting enormous attention because of their high theoretical energy density. However, there are technical barriers to its commercialization such as the formation of dendrites on the anode and the shuttle effect of the cathode. To resolve these issues, a boron nitride nanotube (BNNT)-based separator is developed. The BNNT is physically purified so that the purified BNNT (p−BNNT) has a homogeneous pore structure because of random stacking and partial charge on the surface due to the difference of electronegativity between B and N. Compared to the conventional polypropylene (PP) separator, the p−BNNT loaded PP separator prevents the dendrite formation on the Li metal anode, facilitates the ion transfer through the separator, and alleviates the shuttle effect at the cathode. With these effects, the p−BNNT loaded PP separators enable the LSB cells to achieve a specific capacity of 1429 mAh/g, and long-term stability over 200 cycles.

Lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) have emerged as promising power sources for high‐performance devices such as electric vehicles. However, the poor energy density of LSBs owing to polysulfide shuttling and passivation has limited their further market penetration. To mitigate this challenge, two‐dimensional (2D) siloxene (2DSi), a Si‐based analog of graphene, is utilized as an additive for sulfur cathodes. The 2DSi is fabricated on a large scale by simple solvent extraction of calcium disilicide to form a thin‐layered structure of Si planes functionalized with vertically aligned hydroxyl groups in the 2DSi. The stoichiometric reaction of 2DSi with polysulfides generates a thiosulfate redox mediator, secures the intercalation pathway, and reveals Lewis acidic sites within the siloxene galleries. The 2DSi utilizes the corresponding in‐situ‐formed electrocatalyst, the 2D confinement effect of the layered structure, and the surface affinity based on Lewis acid–base interaction to improve the energy density of 2DSi‐based LSB cells. Combined with the commercial carbon‐based current collector, 2DSi‐based LSB cells achieve a volumetric energy density of 612 Wh L_cell⁻¹ at 1 mA cm⁻² with minor degradation of 0.17% per cycle, which rivals those of state‐of‐the‐art LSBs. This study presents a method for the industrial production of high‐energy‐dense LSBs.

Rechargeable lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) are emerging as some of the most promising next-generation battery alternatives to state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high gravimetric energy density, being inexpensive, and having an abundance of elemental sulfur (S₈). However, one main, well-known drawback of LSBs is the so-called polysulfide shuttling, where the polysulfide dissolves into organic electrolytes from sulfur host materials. Numerous studies have shown the ability of porous carbon as a sulfur host material. Porous carbon can significantly impede polysulfide shuttling and mitigate the insulating passivation layers, such as Li₂S, owing to its intrinsic high electrical conductivity. This work suggests a scalable and straightforward one-step synthesis method to prepare a unique interconnected microporous and mesoporous carbon framework via salt templating with a eutectic mixture of LiI and KI at 800 °C in an inert atmosphere. The synthesis step used environmentally friendly water as a washing solvent to remove salt from the carbon–salt mixture. When employed as a sulfur host material, the electrode exhibited an excellent capacity of 780 mAh g⁻¹ at 500 mA g⁻¹ and a sulfur loading mass of 2 mg cm⁻² with a minor capacity loss of 0.36% per cycle for 100 cycles. This synthesis method of a unique porous carbon structure could provide a new avenue for the development of an electrode with a high retention capacity and high accommodated sulfur for electrochemical energy storage applications.

In this study, we investigated changes in protein expression of fish cells induced by infection of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) using two-dimensional electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption-time of flight proton motive force analysis and identified a novel type of salmon annexin 1 that is induced in fish cells by infection with IPNV. Northern blotting showed that this annexin is overexpressed in IPNV-infected cells compared to control cells, and further analysis revealed that it has a 1,509-bp full-length cDNA sequence with an open reading frame encoding 339 amino acids (GenBank accession no. AY944135). Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that this protein belongs to the annexin 1 subfamily. By applying RNA interference, the mRNA levels of salmon annexin 1 were suppressed and, under these conditions, apoptosis of IPNV-infected cells was significantly increased. While small interfering RNA (siRNA) treatment did not affect the levels of the viral proteins significantly until 10 h postinfection, it reduced the titer of extracellular virus to 25% of that of a scrambled siRNA-treated control. These data provide evidence of an antiapoptotic function for salmon annexin 1 that is important for IPNV growth in cultured cells.

The development of sulfur cathodes with high areal capacity and high energy density is crucial for the practical application of lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs). LSBs can be built by employing (ultra) high‐loading sulfur cathodes, which have rarely been realized due to massive passivation and shuttling. Herein, microspheres of a carbon–carbon nitride composite (C@CN) with large mesopores are fabricated via molecular cooperative assembly. Using the C@CN‐based electrodes, the effects of the large mesopores and N‐functional groups on the electrochemical behavior of sulfur in LSB cells are thoroughly investigated under ultrahigh sulfur‐loading conditions (>15 mg_S cm⁻²). Furthermore, for high‐energy‐density LSBs, the C@CN powders are pelletized into a thick free‐standing electrode (thickness: 500 μm; diameter: 11 mm) via a simple briquette process; here, the total amount of energy stored by the LSB cells is 39 mWh, corresponding to a volumetric energy density of 440 Wh L⁻¹ with an areal capacity of 24.9 and 17.5 mAh cm⁻² at 0.47 and 4.7 mA cm⁻², respectively (at 24 mg_S cm⁻²). These results have significantly surpassed most recent records due to the synergy among the large mesopores, (poly)sulfide‐philic surfaces, and thick electrodes. The developed strategy with its potential for scale‐up successfully fills the gap between laboratory‐scale cells and practical cells without sacrificing the high areal capacity and high energy density, providing a solid foundation for the development of practical LSBs.