Most studies on the skin focus primarily on the hair follicle and interfollicular epidermis, whereas little is known regarding the homeostasis of the sebaceous gland (SG). The SG has been proposed to be replenished by different pools of hair follicle stem cells and cells that resides in the SG base, marked by Blimp1. Here, we demonstrate that single Blimp1 + cells isolated from mice have the potential to generate SG organoids in vitro. Mimicking SG homeostasis, the outer layer of these organoids is composed of proliferating cells that migrate inward, undergo terminal differentiation and generating lipid-filled sebocytes. Performing confocal microscopy and mass-spectrometry, we report that these organoids exhibit known markers and a lipidomic profile similar to SGs in vivo. Furthermore, we identify a role for c-Myc in sebocyte proliferation and differentiation, and determine that SG organoids can serve as a platform for studying initial stages of acne vulgaris, making this a useful platform to identify potential therapeutic targets.

Oxide-based ceramics offer promising thermoelectric (TE) materials for recycling high-temperature waste heat, generated extensively from industrial sources. To further improve the functional performance of TE materials, their power factor should be increased. This can be achieved by nanostructuring and texturing the oxide-based ceramics creating multiple interphases and nanopores, which simultaneously increase the electrical conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient. The aim of this work is to achieve this goal by compacting electrospun nanofibers of calcium cobaltite Ca 3 Co 4−x O 9+δ , known to be a promising p-type TE material with good functional properties and thermal stability up to 1200 K in air. For this purpose, polycrystalline Ca 3 Co 4−x O 9+δ nanofibers and nanoribbons were fabricated by sol-gel electrospinning and calcination at intermediate temperatures to obtain small primary particle sizes. Bulk ceramics were formed by sintering pressed compacts of calcined nanofibers during TE measurements. The bulk nanofiber sample pre-calcined at 973 K exhibited an improved Seebeck coefficient of 176.5 S cm −1 and a power factor of 2.47 μW cm −1 K −2 similar to an electrospun nanofiber-derived ceramic compacted by spark plasma sintering.

Hematite is a classical photoanode material for photoelectrochemical water splitting due to its stability, performance, and low cost. However, the effect of particle size is still a question due to the charge transfer to the electrodes. In this work, we addressed this subject by the fabrication of a photoelectrode with hematite nanoparticles embedded in close contact with the electrode substrate. The nanoparticles were synthesized by a solvothermal method and colloidal stabilization with charged hydroxide molecules, and we were able to further use them to prepare electrodes for water photo-oxidation. Hematite nanoparticles were embedded within electrospun tin-doped indium oxide nanofibers. The fibrous layer acted as a current collector scaffold for the nanoparticles, supporting the effective transport of charge carriers. This method allows better contact of the nanoparticles with the substrate, and also, the fibrous scaffold increases the optical density of the photoelectrode. Electrodes based on nanofibers with embedded nanoparticles display significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical performance compared to their flat nanoparticle-based layer counterparts. This nanofiber architecture increases the photocurrent density and photon-to-current internal conversion efficiency by factors of 2 and 10, respectively.

The synthesis of methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) from carbon dioxide (CO2) and green hydrogen (H2) offers a sustainable pathway to convert CO2 emissions into value-added products. This heterogeneous catalytic reaction often uses copper (Cu) catalysts due to their low cost compared with their noble metal analogs. Nevertheless, improving the activity and selectivity of these Cu catalysts for these products is highly desirable. In the present study, a new architecture of Cu- and Cu/Zn-based catalysts supported on electrospun alumina nanofibers were synthesized. The catalysts were tested under various reaction conditions using high-throughput equipment to highlight the role of the hierarchical fibrous structure on the reaction activity and selectivity. The Cu or Cu/ZnO formed a unique structure of nanosheets, covering the alumina fiber surface. This exceptional morphology provides a large surface area, up to ~300 m2/g, accessible for reaction. Maximal production of methanol (~1106 gmethanolKgCu−1∙h−1) and DME (760 gDMEKgCu−1∙h−1) were obtained for catalysts containing 7% wt. Cu/Zn with a weight ratio of 2.3 Zn to Cu (at 300 °C, 50 bar). The promising results in CO2 hydrogenation to methanol and DME obtained here point out the significant advantage of nanofiber-based catalysts in heterogeneous catalysis.