Solar vapour generation is an efficient way of harvesting solar energy for the purification of polluted or saline water. However, water evaporation suffers from either inefficient utilization of solar energy or relies on complex and expensive light-concentration accessories. Here, we demonstrate a hierarchically nanostructured gel (HNG) based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polypyrrole (PPy) that serves as an independent solar vapour generator. The converted energy can be utilized in situ to power the vaporization of water contained in the molecular meshes of the PVA network, where water evaporation is facilitated by the skeleton of the hydrogel. A floating HNG sample evaporated water with a record high rate of 3.2 kg m h via 94% solar energy from 1 sun irradiation, and 18-23 litres of water per square metre of HNG was delivered daily when purifying brine water. These values were achievable due to the reduced latent heat of water evaporation in the molecular mesh under natural sunlight.

Conductive polymers combine the attractive properties associated with conventional polymers and unique electronic properties of metals or semiconductors. Recently, nanostructured conductive polymers have aroused considerable research interest owing to their unique properties over their bulk counterparts, such as large surface areas and shortened pathways for charge/mass transport, which make them promising candidates for broad applications in energy conversion and storage, sensors, actuators, and biomedical devices. Numerous synthetic strategies have been developed to obtain various conductive polymer nanostructures, and high-performance devices based on these nanostructured conductive polymers have been realized. This Tutorial review describes the synthesis and characteristics of different conductive polymer nanostructures; presents the representative applications of nanostructured conductive polymers as active electrode materials for electrochemical capacitors and lithium-ion batteries and new perspectives of functional materials for next-generation high-energy batteries, meanwhile discusses the general design rules, advantages, and limitations of nanostructured conductive polymers in the energy storage field; and provides new insights into future directions. Key learning points(1) General synthetic approaches and fundamental properties of 1D, 2D, and 3D nanostructured conductive polymers.

A spongy polypyrrole based conductive hydrogel with chemically tunable structures and electrochemical characteristics was developed for highly flexible solid-state supercapacitors.

Solid-state electrolytes have emerged as a promising alternative to existing liquid electrolytes for next generation Li-ion batteries for better safety and stability. Of various types of solid electrolytes, composite polymer electrolytes exhibit acceptable Li-ion conductivity due to the interaction between nanofillers and polymer. Nevertheless, the agglomeration of nanofillers at high concentration has been a major obstacle for improving Li-ion conductivity. In this study, we designed a three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured hydrogel-derived Li La TiO (LLTO) framework, which was used as a 3D nanofiller for high-performance composite polymer Li-ion electrolyte. The systematic percolation study revealed that the pre-percolating structure of LLTO framework improved Li-ion conductivity to 8.8×10 S cm at room temperature.

demonstrated the possibility of directly collecting liquid water from air with the assistance of water condensation at ultrahigh relative humidity (RH = 100%, e.g., fog capture and dew collection). [3][4][5][6][7][8] Due to the dependence of RH on the temperature of the air, such a process requires either periodic temperature drop or artificial cooling systems to raise the RH to be supersaturated. [9] A recent report presents an AWH material functioning at low RH levels down to 20% to harvest moisture (water vapor) from air, enabling the moisture as a promising water source for potential next-generation AWH systems. [10] In view of the seasonal and climatic variation, the RH of the droughty region (such as the Namib Desert) varies between 30% and 90% for most of the years. [3,11] Since such modest RH (at given temperature and air pressure) indicates a relatively large water reservoir in the air, the highly efficient AWH toward this "rich ore" of water, which, however, remains elusive, is vital to both fundamental research and practical applications. In this context, hygroscopic materials based on surface water adsorption, such as molecular sieves, silica gels, and polymeric desiccants, can serve as the moisture absorber over a wide range of RH. [12][13][14] However, the hygroscopic materials designed for moisture capturing exhibit strong interaction with water that significantly hinders the water releasing, blunting their opportunity to be used as atmospheric water harvesters. [15,16] In line with the design of super water-absorbent gels, which are capable of absorbing tens of times its own weight in liquid water, [17,18] we present here a super moisture-absorbent gel (SMAG) that synergistically combines the moisture-absorbing hygroscopic polymer with the water-storing hydrophilic gel, which substantially outperforms other AWH materials. We demonstrate a rationally designed hybrid gel that integrates the hygroscopic chloride-doped polypyrrole (PPy-Cl) and the poly(Nisopropylacrylamide) (poly-NIPAM) with switchable hydrophilicity. [19][20][21] Such an SMAG realizes the polymeric-network-enabled moisture capturing, rather than active-surface-based vapor adsorption as in other AWH materials, and hence exhibits highly efficient AWH in broad humidity range. Moreover, to explore the potential application, we further demonstrate the outdoor experiments by a scalable SMAG prototype with low-cost accessories to simulate the AWH in the natural environment.The critical steps of SMAG-based AWH are (I) water capturing and (II) water releasing. As shown in Figure 1a, the Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH)-producing fresh water via collecting moisture from air-enables sustainable water delivery without geographical and hydrologic limitations. However, the fundamental design principle to prepare materials that can convert the water vapor in the air to collectible liquid water is still mostly unknown. Here, a super moisture-absorbent gel, which is composed of hygroscopic polypyrrole chloride penetrating in hydrophilicityswitchabl...

Prior work demonstrates that AKT activity regulates sensitivity of cells to G 1 arrest induced by mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors such as rapamycin and CCI-779. To investigate this, a novel highthroughput microarray polysome analysis was performed to identify genes whose mRNA translational efficiency was differentially affected following mTOR inhibition. The analysis also allowed the assessment of steady-state transcript levels. We identified two transcripts, cyclin D1 and c-myc, which exhibited differential expression in an AKT-dependent manner: High levels of activated AKT resulted in rapamycin-induced down-regulation of expression, whereas low levels resulted in up-regulation of expression. To ectopically express these proteins we exploited the finding that the p27 kip1 mRNA was efficiently translated in the face of mTOR inhibition irrespective of AKT activity. Thus, the p27 kip1 5-untranslated region was fused to the cyclin D1 and c-myc coding regions and these constructs were expressed in cells. In transfected cells, expression of cyclin D1 or c-myc was not decreased by rapamycin. Most importantly, this completely converted sensitive cells to a phenotype resistant to G 1 arrest. Furthermore, the AKTdependent differential expression patterns of these two genes was also observed in a mouse xenograft model following in vivo treatment with CCI-779. These results identify two critical downstream molecular targets whose expression is regulated by AKT activity and whose down-regulation is required for rapamycin/CCI-779 sensitivity.

A novel cellular protein, Abl-interactor-1 (Abi-1), which specifically interacts with the carboxy-terminal region of Abl oncoproteins, has been identified in a mouse leukemia cell line. The protein exhibits sequence similarity to homeotic genes, contains several polyproline stretches, and includes a src homology 3 {SH3) domain at its very carboxyl terminus that is required for binding to Abl proteins. The abi-1 gene has been mapped to mouse chromosome 2 and is genetically closely linked to the c-abi locus. The gene is widely expressed in the mouse, with highest levels of mRNA found in the bone marrow, spleen, brain, and testes. The Abi-1 protein coimmunoprecipitates with v-Abl and serves as a substrate for kinase activity. When overexpressed in NIH-3T3 cells, abi-1 potently suppresses the transforming activity of Abelson leukemia virus expressing the full-length pi60^'"*^ kinase but does not affect the transforming activity of viruses expressing a truncated pPO^"*'' or \-src kinases. We suggest that the Abi-1 protein may serve as a regulator of Abl function in transformation or in signal transduction.

Self-healing materials emerge as a fascinating class of materials important for various technological applications. However, achieving the synergistic characteristics of high conductivity, room-temperature self-healing ability, and decent mechanical properties still remains a critical challenge. Here we develop for the first time a hybrid gel based on self-assembled supramolecular gel and nanostructured polypyrrole that synergizes the dynamic assembly/disassembly nature of metal-ligand supramolecule and the conductive nanostructure of polypyrrole hydrogel and exhibits features of high conductivity (12 S m(-1)), appealing mechanical and electrical self-healing property without any external stimuli, and enhanced mechanical strength and flexibility. The attractive characteristics of the hybrid gel are further demonstrated by a flexible yet self-healable electrical circuit. Our work shows the great potential of self-healing hybrid gel system in flexible electronics and provides a useful strategy to design multifunctional self-healing materials.