A high performance Pd/C catalyst (Pd/C-PC) was successfully prepared by simple incipient wetness impregnation followed by the process of dry plasma reduction and calcination. Oxygen-containing group surface-fuctionalized activated carbon was used to absorb the palladium precursor PdCl₄ ²⁻, and small sized (1.92 ± 0.75 nm) Pd nanoparticles were formed in Pd/C-PC, which were smaller than those prepared by low pressure cold plasma (4.0–4.5 nm). The results of XRD, XPS, TPR and TEM showed that dry plasma with calcination could completely remove the residual Cl⁻ ions and obtain predominantly metallic Pd nanoparticles without aggregation. The dry plasma prepared Pd/C-PC catalyst gave excellent catalytic activity for CO oxidation, and the TOF value for 5 wt% Pd/C-PC was about 6.1 times as that for 6 wt% Pd/graphene prepared by the conventional impregnation and hydrogen reduction method. The high performance was attributed to the smaller size and predominantly metallic Pd nanoparticles.

With increasing applications of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in the field of gas separation and catalysis, the preparation and performance research of encapsulating metal nanoparticles (NPs) into MOFs (M@MOF) have attracted extensive attention recently. Herein, an Ru@UiO-66 catalyst is prepared by a one-step method. Ru NPs are encapsulated in situ in the UiO-66 skeleton structure during the synthesis of UiO-66 metal-organic framework via a solvothermal method, and its catalytic activity for CO₂ methanation with the synergy of cold plasma is studied. The crystallinity and structural integrity of UiO-66 is maintained after encapsulating Ru NPs according to the X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As illustrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and mapping analysis, the Ru species of the hydration ruthenium trichloride precursor are reduced to metallic Ru NPs without additional reducing processes during the synthesis of Ru@UiO-66, and the Ru NPs are uniformly distributed inside the Ru@UiO-66. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and N₂ sorption analysis show that the specific surface area and thermal stability of Ru@UiO-66 decrease slightly compared with that of UiO-66 and was ascribed to the encapsulation of Ru NPs in the UiO-66 skeleton. The results of plasma-assisted catalytic CO₂ methanation indicate that Ru@UiO-66 exhibits excellent catalytic activity. CO₂ conversion and CH₄ selectivity over Ru@UiO-66 reached 72.2% and 95.4% under 13.0 W of discharge power and a 30 mL·min⁻¹ gas flow rate ( $V_{H_2}:V_{C{O}_2}=4:1$ ), respectively. Both values are significantly higher than pure UiO-66 with plasma and Ru/Al₂O₃ with plasma. The enhanced performance of Ru@UiO-66 is attributed to its unique framework structure and excellent dispersion of Ru NPs.

Safe and efficient generation of renewable hydrogen via dehydrogenation of cheap and sustainable formic acid using supported Pd catalysts has attracted significant interest. Non-thermal (cold) plasma is demonstrably a fast and environmentally friendly method for synthesizing high-performance supported metal catalysts; however, the synthesis mechanism in the plasma treatment of catalysts still remains obscure. In this work, we investigate formic acid dehydrogenation over activated carbon supported Pd catalysts synthesized using four different methods: thermal treatment (Pd/C-C), plasma treatment (Pd/C-P), thermal treatment followed by plasma treatment (Pd/C-CP), and plasma treatment followed by thermal treatment (Pd/C-PC). The influence of different catalyst treatment methods on the characteristics and dehydrogenation performance of the Pd/C catalysts has been evaluated and discussed. The activity of the Pd/C catalysts for formic acid dehydrogenation follows the order: Pd/C-CP > Pd/C-C > Pd/C-P > Pd/C-PC. The turnover frequency (TOF_initial) over Pd/C-CP is 1.4, 2.9, and 1.4 times higher than that over Pd/C-C, Pd/C-P and Pd/C-PC, respectively. The activation energy for Pd/C-CP (34.6 kJ mol⁻¹) is much lower than that reported for monometallic Pd catalysts. The excellent performance of the Pd/C-CP catalyst can be attributed to the small size and high dispersion of Pd nanoparticles, the high concentration of metallic Pd, and the high Pd/C atomic ratio resulting from the migration of the electroneutral Pd species under the Coulomb repulsion effect of the electrons in the plasma. The high performance of the Pd/C-C catalyst was attributed to the small and highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles formed due to the strong interaction between the activated carbon support and PdCl₄ ²⁻ ions. The Pd/C-P catalyst exhibits poor performance on account of the low reduction rate of PdCl₄ ²⁻ ions. The poorest performance, from Pd/C-PC, was ascribed to the large size of the Pd nanoparticles that were formed due to the disturbance of the interaction between the activated carbon support and the PdCl₄ ²⁻ ions during the preparation of the Pd/C-P catalyst. In conclusion, thermal treatment of Pd/C – prepared using a simple incipient wetness procedure – followed by plasma treatment is an effective method for the synthesis of a high-performance Pd/C catalyst.

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multifaceted autoimmune disease characterized by clinical and pathological diversity. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been identified as a critical pathogenetic factor in SLE. However, the specific molecular aspects and regulatory roles of this dysfunction in SLE are not fully understood. Our study aims to explore the molecular characteristics of mitochondria-related genes (MRGs) in SLE, with a focus on identifying reliable biomarkers for classification and therapeutic purposes. Methods: We sourced six SLE-related microarray datasets (GSE61635, GSE50772, GSE30153, GSE99967, GSE81622, and GSE49454) from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Three of these datasets (GSE61635, GSE50772, GSE30153) were integrated into a training set for differential analysis. The intersection of differentially expressed genes with MRGs yielded a set of differentially expressed MRGs (DE-MRGs). We employed machine learning algorithms—random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression—to select key hub genes. These genes’ classifying potential was validated in the training set and three other validation sets (GSE99967, GSE81622, and GSE49454). Further analyses included differential expression, co-expression, protein-protein interaction (PPI), gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), and immune infiltration, centered on these hub genes. We also constructed TF-mRNA, miRNA-mRNA, and drug-target networks based on these hub genes using the ChEA3, miRcode, and PubChem databases. Results: Our investigation identified 761 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), mainly related to viral infection, inflammatory, and immune-related signaling pathways. The interaction between these DEGs and MRGs led to the identification of 27 distinct DE-MRGs. Key among these were FAM210B, MSRB2, LYRM7, IFI27, and SCO2, designated as hub genes through machine learning analysis. Their significant role in SLE classification was confirmed in both the training and validation sets. Additional analyses included differential expression, co-expression, PPI, GSEA, immune infiltration, and the construction of TF-mRNA, miRNA-mRNA, and drug-target networks. Conclusions: This research represents a novel exploration into the MRGs of SLE, identifying FAM210B, MSRB2, LYRM7, IFI27, and SCO2 as significant candidates for classifying and therapeutic targeting.

High performance catalysts for carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation were obtained through thermal activation of a CuBTC (BTC: 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid) metal–organic framework (MOF) in various atmospheres. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photonelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N₂ adsorption–desorption measurement, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were adopted to characterize the catalysts. The results show that thermal activation by reductive H₂ may greatly destroy the structure of CuBTC. Inert Ar gas has a weak influence on the structure of CuBTC. Therefore, these two catalysts exhibit low CO oxidation activity. Activating with O₂ is effective for CuBTC catalysts, since active CuO species may be obtained due to the slight collapse of CuBTC structure. The highest activity is obtained when activating with CO reaction gas, since many pores and more effective Cu₂O is formed during the thermal activation process. These results show that the structure and chemical state of coordinated metallic ions in MOFs are adjustable by controlling the activation conditions. This work provides an effective method for designing and fabricating high performance catalysts for CO oxidation based on MOFs.

Supported Pd–Cu alloy nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized via a fast, facile and environmentally friendly method by simultaneous reduction of Pd(NO₃)₂ and Cu(NO₃)₂. The catalyst contains Pd–Cu nanoparticles with higher alloying degree, smaller particle size, higher ratio of Pd⁰, Cu⁺, and chemisorbed oxygen species, and therefore exhibits enhanced CO oxidation activity.