The results of in vitro PC-12 cell study confirmed the bioactivity of released NGF and showed a significant increase in the neurite extension with the help of PEG-diamine and BSA. These results showed that the novel loading method could preserve the bioactivity of growth factors and achieve a sustained release in vitro. Besides, the results of the in vivo study exhibited a significant increase with the combination of all additives. These results showed that with the help of NGF and RCCS, the NGCs with the seeded BMSCs could enhance peripheral nerve regeneration across long nerve injury gaps.Ti3C2Tx MXenes, a very new family of nanostructured material, were applied in combination with an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane (MXene-UF) for removal of the selected dyes including methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) as the first attempt. The normalized flux of the MXene-UF (0.90 for MB and 0.92 for MO) indicated better performance than a single UF (0.86 for MB and 0.90 for MO) and a powdered activated carbon (PAC)-UF (0.72 for MB and 0.75 for MO) for both dyes. The addition of an adsorbent decreased the irreversible fouling of the hybrid system compared to single UF, due to adsorption of dyes. The observed dominant fouling mechanism was cake layer fouling, evaluated using a resistance-in-series model, permeate flux modeling, and four conceptual blocking law models. PAC in particular acted as a foulant, leading to a severe flux decline. The average retention rate was found to be on the order of PAC-UF (57.7 and 47.9%) > MXene-UF (51.7 and 34.9%) > single UF (45.0 and 34.7%) for MB and MO, respectively. The results showed that although PAC exhibits relatively strong adsorption performance, MXene-UF also exhibited high selectivity due to electrostatic interaction between the MXene and dyes. In addition, humic acid (HA) adsorption on the membrane led to a reduction in the effective membrane area, resulting in a higher retention and lower flux for MXene-UF in the presence of HA. Furthermore, higher retention was observed for MXene-UF at pH 10.5 compared to pH 3.5 and 7, because MXene has more negative terminations at higher pH, leading to greater MB adsorption. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/cb-839.html Additionally, because of the bridging effect between the membrane and the MXene and competition between MB and cation ions for adsorption on the MXene, lower retention and flux were observed in MXene-UF with background ions.Membrane-based separations can mitigate the capital- and energy-intensive challenges associated with traditional thermally driven processes. To further push the boundary of gas separations, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have been extensively exploited; however, identifying an optimal nanofiller to boost the separation performance of MMMs beyond Robeson permeability-selectivity upper bounds remains an ongoing challenge. Here, a new class of MMMs based on pyrazine-fused crystalline porous graphitic frameworks (PGFs) is reported. At a loading of 6 wt % PGFs, the MMMs surpass the current H2/CH4 Robeson upper bound, ideally suited for applications such as H2 regeneration. In addition, the fabricated MMMs exhibit appealing CO2 separation performance, closely approaching the current Robeson upper bounds for CO2 separation. Compared with the pristine polymeric membranes, the PGF-based MMMs display a record-high enhancement of gas permeability over 120% while maintaining intrinsic gas selectivities. Highlighting the crucial role of the crystallinity of nanofillers, this study demonstrates a facile and effective approach in formulating high-performance MMMs, complementing state-of-the-art membrane formation processes. The design principles open the door to energy-efficient separations of gas mixtures with enhanced productivity compatible with the current membrane manufacturing.The recovery of uranium from seawater is of great concern because of the growing demand for nuclear energy. Though amidoxime-functionalized adsorbents as the most promising adsorbents have been widely used for this purpose, their low selectivity and vulnerability to biofouling have limited their application in real marine environments. Herein, a new bifunctional phosphorylcholine-modified adsorbent (PVC-PC) is disclosed. The PVC-PC fiber is found to be suitable for use in the pH range of seawater and metals that commonly coexist with uranium, such as alkali and alkaline earth metals, transition metals, and lanthanide metals, have no obvious effect on its uranium adsorption capacity. PVC-PC shows better selectivity and adsorption capacity than the commonly used amidoxime-functionalized adsorbent. Furthermore, PVC-PC fiber exhibits excellent antibacterial properties which could reduce the effects of biofouling caused by marine microorganisms. Because of its good selectivity and antibacterial property, phosphorylcholine-based material shows great potential as a new generation adsorbent for uranium recovery from seawater.Optical coatings with controllable ultralow refractive indices are of profound significance in optical areas. However, it remains a challenge to fabricate such coatings using a simple method. Here we develop an effective and simple approach to create ultra-low-index coatings. This approach was based on a modified sol-gel process, with a key process that involved the aggregation of silica nanoparticles via the addition of a polymer surfactant (e.g., polyvinylpyrrolydone) in sols before coating. The approach involves three steps the synthesis of silica sols under ammonia catalysis in ethanol (Stöber method), the addition of polyvinylpyrrolydone in the silica sols to induce the aggregation of the silica nanoparticles, and the formation of ultra-low-index coatings by depositing the aggregated silica sols on substrates. Through varying the aggregation extent, this approach produced coatings with controllable refractive indices ranging from 1.17 to 1.07. To the best of our knowledge, the minimum index value of 1.07 from our coating is among the lowest refractive indices ever reported. The ultra-low-index coatings demonstrated excellent optical properties, with which perfect quarter-wavelength antireflection coatings (maximum transmittance ∼100%) and broadband antireflection coatings (transmittance >98% from 400 to 1100 nm) can be prepared. One advantage of the antireflection coatings is that their transmission is less dependent on the refractive index and the thickness of the stacking layer, which make it promising in large-scale production. Moreover, the coatings can be made hydrophobic (water contact angle 136°) by exposing the coatings to a hexamethyldisilazane atmosphere, exhibiting high environmental stability in a humid environment. The aggregation of silica nanoparticles in sol-gel processes provides a scalable alternative to the current approaches for creating ultra-low-index coatings.