Nano-sized high entropy alloy (HEA) catalysts have attracted much attention as extraordinary electrocatalysts in water-splitting applications, i.e. , the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

TiO₂ sol was produced by the sol-gel method through the hydrolysis and the aging of tetrabutyl titanate and the TiO₂ film was obtained by dipping and uniform lifting of the acid-treated and ultrasound-treated clean glass slides into the TiO₂ sol followed by aging, drying, and calcination. The effect of the hydrolysis control agents to the formed sol was researched and the crystalline state, the morphology, and the photocatalytic properties of the products after calcination were characterized. The structural morphology, the contact angles before and after illumination, and the self-cleaning properties of the TiO₂ film were characterized as well. The results showed that by using acetylacetone as the hydrolysis control agent, the formed TiO₂ sol had relatively high stability. The product after the calcination of the TiO₂ sol was of single anatase type with crystalline size of 18–20 nm and it could degrade nearly 100% of methylene blue after 90 min illumination. The formed TiO₂ film is compact, continuous, smooth, and had the properties of super-hydrophilicity (after 30 min illumination due to its contact angle decreasing from 21° to nearly 0°) and anti-fogging capability, which indicated its excellent self-cleaning property.

TiO₂-coated wollastonite composite pigments were prepared by the mechano-chemical grinding of wollastonite and TiO₂ powder together in a wet ultrafine stirred mill. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and infrared spectra were used to investigate the microstructures and morphologies of the composite and the reaction mechanism. The results indicate that the TiO₂-coated wollastonite composite pigments have similar properties to titanium dioxide pigment, showing much better properties than dry and wet mixing of wollastonite and TiO₂. The hiding power of TiO₂-coated wollastonite composite pigments (45% TiO₂) is 17.97 g/m², reaching 81.08% of titanium dioxide. A firm combination between wollastonite and TiO₂ is obtained through a surface dehydroxylation reaction during the mechano-chemical method.

Sarcocysts of Sarcocystis rommeli were found for the first time in 6 of 34 (17.6%) cattle (Bos taurus) in China. With light microscopy, sarcocysts of S. rommeli were up to 1,130 μm long, with a striated, 4–8-μm-thick cyst wall. Using transmission electron microscopy, the villar protrusions (vp) were 4.7–5.2 × 0.2–0.3 μm, and 0.3–0.5 μm apart from each other. The vp contained microtubules extending from the top of the vp to the middle of the ground substance layer (gsl). A BLAST search of the near full-length 18S rRNA and partial mitochondrial cox1 sequences of S. rommeli revealed 98.7% identity and 99.2% identity with sequences of Sarcocystis bovini in GenBank, respectively. Two domestic cats (Felis catus) fed sarcocysts of S. rommeli shed oocysts/sporocysts in their feces with a prepatent period of 14 to 15 days; the partial mitochondrial cox1 sequences of these oocysts/sporocysts shared the high identities, that is, 99.4% and 99.5%, with cox1 sequences of S. rommeli sarcocysts and S. bovini sar...

Photocatalytic degradation is an environmentally friendly way to eliminate environmental pollution. Exploring a photocatalyst with high efficiency is essential. In the present study, we fabricated a Bi₂MoO₆/Bi₂SiO₅ heterojunction (BMOS) with intimate interfaces via a facile in situ synthesis method. The BMOS had much better photocatalytic performance than pure Bi₂MoO₆ and Bi₂SiO₅. The sample of BMOS-3 (3:1 molar ratio of Mo:Si) had the highest removal efficiency by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) up to 75% and tetracycline (TC) up to 62% within 180 min. The increase in photocatalytic activity can be attributed to constructing high-energy electron orbitals in Bi₂MoO₆ to form a type II heterojunction, which increases the separation efficiencies of photogenerated carriers and transfer between the interface of Bi₂MoO₆ and Bi₂SiO₅. Moreover, electron spin resonance analysis and trapping experiments showed that the main active species were h⁺ and •O₂⁻ during photodegradation. BMOS-3 maintained a stable degradation capacity of 65% (RhB) and 49% (TC) after three stability experiments. This work offers a rational strategy to build Bi-based type II heterojunctions for the efficient photodegradation of persistent pollutants.