No abstract

Heteroatom-doped porous carbon materials (HPCMs) have found extensive applications in adsorption/separation, organic catalysis, sensing, and energy conversion/storage. The judicious choice of carbon precursors is crucial for the manufacture of HPCMs with specific usages and maximization of their functions. In this regard, polymers as precursors have demonstrated great promise because of their versatile molecular and nanoscale structures, modulatable chemical composition, and rich processing techniques to generate textures that, in combination with proper solid-state chemistry, can be maintained throughout carbonization. This Review comprehensively surveys the progress in polymer-derived functional HPCMs in terms of how to produce and control their porosities, heteroatom doping effects, and morphologies and their related use. First, we summarize and discuss synthetic approaches, including hard and soft templating methods as well as direct synthesis strategies employing polymers to control the pores and/or heteroatoms in HPCMs. Second, we summarize the heteroatom doping effects on the thermal stability, electronic and optical properties, and surface chemistry of HPCMs. Specifically, the heteroatom doping effect, which involves both single-type heteroatom doping and codoping of two or more types of heteroatoms into the carbon network, is discussed. Considering the significance of the morphologies of HPCMs in their application spectrum, potential choices of suitable polymeric precursors and strategies to precisely regulate the morphologies of HPCMs are presented. Finally, we provide our perspective on how to predefine the structures of HPCMs by using polymers to realize their potential applications in the current fields of energy generation/conversion and environmental remediation. We believe that these analyses and deductions are valuable for a systematic understanding of polymer-derived carbon materials and will serve as a source of inspiration for the design of future HPCMs.

Summary During embryogenesis and tissue maintenance and repair in an adult organism, a myriad of stem cells are regulated by their surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) enriched with tissue/organ-specific nanoscale topographical cues to adopt different fates and functions. Attributed to their capability of self-renewal and differentiation into most types of somatic cells, stem cells also hold tremendous promise for regenerative medicine and drug screening. However, a major challenge remains as to achieve fate control of stem cells in vitro with high specificity and yield. Recent exciting advances in nanotechnology and materials science have enabled versatile, robust, and large-scale stem cell engineering in vitro through developments of synthetic nanotopographical surfaces mimicking topological features of stem cell niches. In addition to generating new insights for stem cell biology and embryonic development, this effort opens up unlimited opportunities for innovations in stem cell-based applications. This review is therefore to provide a summary of recent progress along this research direction, with perspectives focusing on emerging methods for generating nanotopographical surfaces and their applications in stem cell research. Furthermore, we provide a review of classical as well as emerging cellular mechano-sensing and -transduction mechanisms underlying stem cell nanotopography sensitivity and also give some hypotheses in regard to how a multitude of signaling events in cellular mechanotransduction may converge and be integrated into core pathways controlling stem cell fate in response to extracellular nanotopography.

No abstract

Development of the asymmetric amniotic sac—with the embryonic disc and amniotic ectoderm occupying opposite poles—is a vital milestone during human embryo implantation. Although essential to embryogenesis and pregnancy, amniotic sac development in humans remains poorly understood. Here, we report a human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-based model, termed the post-implantation amniotic sac embryoid (PASE), that recapitulates multiple post-implantation embryogenic events centered around amniotic sac development. Without maternal or extraembryonic tissues, the PASE self-organizes into an epithelial cyst with an asymmetric amniotic ectoderm-epiblast pattern that resembles the human amniotic sac. Upon further development, the PASE initiates a process that resembles posterior primitive streak development in a SNAI1-dependent manner. Furthermore, we observe asymmetric BMP-SMAD signaling concurrent with PASE development, and establish that BMP-SMAD activation/inhibition modulates stable PASE development. This study reveals a previously unrecognized fate potential of human pluripotent stem cells and provides a platform for advancing human embryology.

Classic embryological studies have successfully applied genetics and cell biology principles to understand embryonic development. However, it remains unresolved how mechanics, as an integral driver of development, is involved in controlling tissue-scale cell fate patterning. Here we report a micropatterned human pluripotent stem (hPS)-cell-based neuroectoderm developmental model, in which pre-patterned geometrical confinement induces emergent patterning of neuroepithelial and neural plate border cells, mimicking neuroectoderm regionalization during early neurulation in vivo. In this hPS-cell-based neuroectoderm patterning model, two tissue-scale morphogenetic signals-cell shape and cytoskeletal contractile force-instruct neuroepithelial/neural plate border patterning via BMP-SMAD signalling. We further show that ectopic mechanical activation and exogenous BMP signalling modulation are sufficient to perturb neuroepithelial/neural plate border patterning. This study provides a useful microengineered, hPS-cell-based model with which to understand the biomechanical principles that guide neuroectoderm patterning and hence to study neural development and disease.

The frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) derived from tBu 3 P and E(C 6 F 5 ) 3 (E = B, Al) react with pO 2 C 6 Cl 4 and Ph 3 SnH to give [tBu 3 POC 6 Cl 4 OE(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ] (E = B 1, Al 2), [tBu 3 PSnPh 3 ][HB(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ] 3, and [tBu 3 PSnPh 3 ][(m-H)(Al(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ) 2 ] 4. These products form via the accepted two-electron process involving a transient ''encounter complex.'' In contrast, the corresponding reactions of Mes 3 P and E(C 6 F 5 ) 3 (E = B, Al) with pO 2 C 6 Cl 4 give [(Mes 3 POC 6 Cl 4 OE(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ] (E = B 8, Al 9); however, the identification of the intermediates [Mes 3 P$] 2 [(C 6 F 5 ) 3 EOC 6 Cl 4 OE(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ] (E = B 5, Al 6) supports a mechanism that proceeds via a single-electron transfer process. This is further supported by the reactions of Mes 3 P and E(C 6 F 5 ) 3 (E = B, Al) with Ph 3 SnH, which yielded [Mes 3 PH] [HB(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ] 10 and [Mes 3 PH][(m-H)(Al(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ) 2 ] 11, respectively, with the concurrent formation of Ph 3 SnSnPh 3 .

Rod-like In 2 O 3Àx (OH) y nanocrystal superstructure enhanced solar methanol synthesis with a remarkable production rate (0.06 mmol g cat À1 h À1 ) and selectivity (50%) at atmospheric pressure.