Inspired by natural photosynthesis, constructing inorganic/organic heterojunctions is regarded as an effective strategy to design high‐efficiency photocatalysts. Herein, a step (S)‐scheme heterojunction photocatalyst is prepared by in situ growth of an inorganic semiconductor firmly on an organic semiconductor. A new pyrene‐based conjugated polymer, pyrene‐alt‐triphenylamine (PT), is synthesized via the typical Suzuki–Miyaura reactions, and then employed as a substrate to anchor CdS nanocrystals. The optimized CdS/PT composite, coupling 2 wt% PT with CdS, exhibits a robust H2 evolution rate of 9.28 mmol h−1 g−1 with continuous release of H2 bubbles, as well as a high apparent quantum efficiency of 24.3%, which is ≈8 times that of pure CdS. The S‐scheme charge transfer mechanism between PT and CdS, is systematically demonstrated by photoirradiated Kelvin probe measurement and in situ irradiated X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. This work provides a protocol for preparing specific S‐scheme heterojunction photocatalysts on the basis of inorganic/organic coupling.

The S-scheme heterojunction is flourishing in photocatalysis because it concurrently realizes separated charge carriers and sufficient redox ability. Steady-state charge transfer has been confirmed by other methods. However, an essential part, the transfer dynamics in Sscheme heterojunctions, is still missing. To compensate, a series of cadmium sulfide/pyrene-alt-difluorinated benzothiadiazole heterojunctions were constructed and the photophysical processes were investigated with femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Encouragingly, an interfacial charge-transfer signal was detected in the spectra of the heterojunction, which provides solid evidence for S-scheme charge transfer to complement the results from well-established methods. Furthermore, the lifetime for interfacial charge transfer was calculated to be ca. 78.6 ps. Moreover, the S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts exhibit higher photocatalytic conversion of 1,2-diols and H 2 production rates than bare cadmium sulfide.

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The linear non-fluorinated polymer L-PyBT exhibited an impressive hydrogen evolution rate up to 83.7 μmol h−1 under visible light irradiation.

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Screening toxicity tests are an effective method to characterize aluminum tolerant plants. In this paper, three screening procedures were used to assess aluminum tolerance among 13 cultivars of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). The procedures used were: Petri dish screening, black glass plot method and the soil-on-agar procedure. Major biological indices used to analyze aluminum tolerance were relative root length (RRL), relative germination rate (RGR), relative hypocotyl length (RHL), relative fresh weight (RFW) and root emergence (RE). Aluminum negatively affected all five indices. A Pearson correlation test indicated that the results of the three screening procedures were consistent, suggesting that all three could be used for screening purposes. However, because of the short test period and the simplicity of operation, the black glass plot method might be the best choice. Overall, cv. Super No. 7 and WL-525HQ were the most aluminum-tolerant alfalfa cultivars, while Pondus S was the most sensitive.

Purpose This paper aims to study the influences of introducing frogs in the paddy fields on soil ecology and rice growth. Materials and methods The 2-year field experiments were conducted in the suburb of Shanghai in 2013 and 2014. No pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers were applied within the rice growing season to prevent the possible poisonous effects of agrochemicals on frogs. Results and discussion The results indicated that immigrant frogs in the fields could reduce the populations of rice leaf rollers, stem borers, and planthoppers effectively due to frog predation, and could control rice sheath blight indirectly through reducing insects that transmit disease pathogens. The frog treatment could raise soil nutrient status, improve rice growth, and increase the contents of soluble protein, chlorophyll, and soluble sugar in rice leaves to some extent, thus increasing grain yield significantly. Moreover, it also raised soil microbial biomass and enhanced the activities of soil enzymes such as dehydrogenase, catalase, urease, and acid phosphatase. Conclusions To raise the survival rate of immigrant frogs in the fields, it should be protected from human hunting and chemical poison, and its habitats in the nearby fields should be properly reserved. Introducing frogs in the paddy fields not only showed a potential of pest and disease control but also improved soil fertility and rice growth. Such eco-modified method is beneficial to establish a low-input integrated farming system in the suburb of Shanghai in the future.

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