Environmentally benign synthesis of graphite at low temperatures is a great challenge in the absence of transition metal catalysts. Herein, we report a green and efficient approach of synthesizing graphite from carbon dioxide at ultralow temperatures in the absence of transition metal catalysts. Carbon dioxide is converted into graphite submicroflakes in the seconds timescale via reacting with lithium aluminum hydride as the mixture of carbon dioxide and lithium aluminum hydride is heated to as low as 126 °C. Gas pressure-dependent kinetic barriers for synthesizing graphite is demonstrated to be the major reason for our synthesis of graphite without the graphitization process of amorphous carbon. When serving as lithium storage materials, graphite submicroflakes exhibit excellent rate capability and cycling performance with a reversible capacity of ~320 mAh g–1 after 1500 cycles at 1.0 A g–1. This study provides an avenue to synthesize graphite from greenhouse gases at low temperatures.

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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is strongly associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Sesquiterpene glycosides from loquat leaf achieved beneficial effects on metabolic syndromes such as NAFLD and diabetes; however, their specific activity and underlying mechanism on T2DM-associated NAFLD have not yet been fully understood. In the present study, we found that sesquiterpene glycoside 3 (SG3), a novel sesquiterpene glycoside isolated from loquat leaf, was able to prevent insulin resistance (IR), oxidative stress, and inflammation. In db/db mice, SG3 administration (25 and 50 mg/kg/day) inhibited obesity, hyperglycemia, and the release of inflammatory cytokines. SG3 (5 and 10 μM) also significantly alleviated hepatic lipid accumulation, oxidative stress, and inflammatory response induced by high glucose combined with oleic acid in HepG2 cells. Western blotting analysis showed that these effects were related to repair the abnormal insulin signaling and inhibit the cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) and NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3), both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, SG3 treatment could decrease the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes and increase the relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae, Muribaculaceae, and Lactobacillaceae after a high-throughput pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA to observe the changes of related gut microbial composition in db/db mice. These findings proved that SG3 could protect against NAFLD in T2DM by improving IR, oxidative stress, inflammation through regulating insulin signaling and inhibiting CYP2E1/NLRP3 pathways, and remodeling the mouse gut microbiome. It is suggested that SG3 could be considered as a new functional additive for a healthy diet.