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On‐site ammonia (NH3) decomposition is considered as a potential path to supply CO x‐free hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles. In this article, monometallic catalysts (Fe, Co, Ni, and Mo) and bimetallic catalysts (Fe–Co, Mo–Co, Fe–Ni, and Mo–Ni) were prepared and tested in plasma‐catalytic NH3 decomposition, where 6Fe–4Ni catalyst exhibited the highest activity and synergistic capability with plasma. At 500°C, NH3 were completely decomposed (>99.9% NH3 conversion); the rate of H2 production and the energy consumption of H2 production reached 0.96 mol g−1 h−1 and 0.050 kW h (mol g−1)−1, respectively. The 200 h continuous operation results indicate an excellent durability of 6Fe–4Ni catalyst. The catalysts characterization and plasma diagnosis results indicate that NH3 was pre‐activated by plasma into excited‐state species (NH3, ˙NH2, and ˙NH), and the 6Fe–4Ni catalyst exhibited the highest capability to adsorb excited NH3, ˙NH2, and ˙NH species, which could be the main reason why 6Fe–4Ni catalyst exhibited the highest activity. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 65: 691–701, 2019

A novel and efficient approach has been reported for the preparation of PdCx nanocatalysts with tunable compositions for enhanced alkyne semihydrogenation.

Artificial microRNA (amiRNA) technology offers reversible and flexible gene inactivation and complements genome-editing technologies. However, obtaining transgenic plants with maximal gene silencing remains a major technical challenge in current amiRNA applications. Here, we incorporated an empirically determined feature of effective amiRNAs to the amiRNA design and in silico generated a database containing 533,429 gene-specific amiRNAs for silencing 27,136 genes in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), with a genome coverage of 98.87%. In both single-gene and multiple-gene silencing, we observed an overall improvement in performance by amiRNAs designed using our strategy in Arabidopsis protoplasts and transgenic plants. In addition, the endogenous tRNA-processing system was used to generate multiple amiRNAs from tRNA-pre-amiRNA tandem repeats for multiplex gene silencing. An intronic amiRNA-producing fluorescent reporter was explored as a visual screening strategy for transgenic Arabidopsis and rice (Oryza sativa) plants with maximal whole-plant or cell type-specific gene silencing. These improvements enable the amiRNA technology to be a functional gene knockout tool for basic and applied plant research.

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The synergy between catalyst and plasma has dramatically improved the efficiency of some plasma chemical processes. In this paper, the role of the electronically excited state NH 3 (NH 3 *) in the synergy of a DBD plasma and a Fe-based catalyst for NH 3 decomposition has been studied by in situ optical emission spectra diagnostics, as well as adsorption and desorption experiments. Results reveal that, the NH 3 * species could adsorb on the catalyst surface with higher adsorption capacity and stronger strength in comparison with ground-state NH 3 . The ammonia conversion increased by nearly 40% due to the contribution of NH 3 * species. Here, the acceleration of the surface adsorption step with excited reactants is proved to be another role of plasma in synergy with heterogeneous catalyst. K E Y W O R D S adsorption step, ammonia decomposition, hydrogen energy, plasma-catalysis, synergistic effect Plasma Process Polym.

Deciphering protein‐protein interactions (PPIs) is fundamental for understanding signal transduction pathways in plants. The split firefly luciferase (Fluc) complementation (SLC) assay has been widely used for analyzing PPIs. However, concern has risen about the bulky halves of Fluc interfering with the functions of their fusion partners. Nano luciferase (Nluc) is the smallest substitute for Fluc with improved stability and luminescence. Here, we developed a dual‐use system enabling the detection of PPIs through the Nluc‐based SLC and co‐immunoprecipitation assays. This was realized by coexpression of two proteins under investigation in fusion with the HA‐ or FLAG‐tagged Nluc halves, respectively. We validated the robustness of this system by reproducing multiple previously documented PPIs in protoplasts or Agrobacterium‐transformed plants. We next applied this system to evaluate the homodimerization of Arabidopsis CERK1, a coreceptor of fungal elicitor chitin, and its heterodimerization with other homologs in the absence or presence of chitin. Moreover, split fragments of Nluc were fused to two cytosolic ends of Arabidopsis calcium channels CNGC2 and CNGC4 to help sense the allosteric change induced by the bacterial elicitor flg22. Collectively, these results demonstrate the usefulness of the Nluc‐based SLC assay for probing constitutive or inducible PPIs and protein allostery in plant cells.