Alternatives to antibiotics for improving productivity and maintaining the health of livestock health are urgently needed. The scope of this research was conducted to investigate the effects of two alternatives (Bacillus licheniformis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to monensin on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immunity, ruminal fermentation and microbial diversity of fattening lambs. One hundred and sixty Dorper × Thin-tailed Han sheep (32 ± 3.45 kg BW) were randomly assigned into 5 treatments of n = 32 lambs/group. Lambs in the control group were fed a basal diet (NC) while the other four treatments were fed basal diets supplemented with monensin (PC), Bacillus licheniformis (BL), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC), and the combination of Bacillus licheniformis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae with protease (BS), respectively. The experiment lasted for 66 d. Feed intake was recorded every 2 d and lambs were weighed every 20 d. Ten lambs from each group were slaughtered at the end of the trial, and samples of serum and rumen fluid were collected. The results indicated that the dietary regimen did not affect the dry matter intake (DMI). The average daily gain (ADG) of BS treatment was significantly higher than NC group (P < 0.05). Compared with the NC treatment, the other four supplementation treatments increased the concentration of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and insulin (INS) (P < 0.05). The malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TAOC) showed no significant difference among the 5 treatments while the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) of BS group was significantly increased (P < 0.05). The supplementation regimen decreased the concentration of ammonia Nitrogen (NH3-N) and increased the content of microbial crude proteins (MCP) (P < 0.05). The supplementation of antibiotics and probiotics reduced the concentrations of acetate and increased the concentrations of propionate (P < 0.05). The supplementation treatments increased the relative abundance of Lentisphaerae, Fibrobacteres and Tenericutes at the phylum level, whereas at the genus level, they increased the relative abundance of Fibrobacter (P < 0.05). Overall, this study confirmed the facilitating effect of B. licheniformis, S. cerevisiae and their compounds on growth performance, improve the antioxidant capacity and immune function, and beneficially manipulate ruminal fermentation and microbial diversity of fatting lambs.
Semiconducting polymers are at the forefront of next-generation organic electronics due to their robust mechanical and optoelectronic properties. However, their extended π-conjugation often leads to materials with low solubilities in common organic solvents, thus requiring processing in high-boiling-point and toxic halogenated solvents to generate thin-film devices. To address this environmental concern, a natural product-inspired side-chain engineering approach was used to incorporate galactose-containing moieties into semiconducting polymers toward improved processability in greener solvents. Novel isoindigo-based polymers with different ratios of galactose-containing side chains were synthesized to improve the solubilities of the organic semiconductors in alcohol-based solvents. The addition of carbohydrate-containing side chains to π-conjugated polymers was found to considerably impact the intermolecular aggregation of the materials and their microstructures in the solid state as confirmed by atomic force microscopy and grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering. The charge transport characteristics of the new semiconductors were evaluated by the fabrication of organic field-effect transistors prepared from both toxic halogenated and greener alcohol-based solvents. Importantly, the incorporation of carbohydrate-containing side chains was shown to have very little detrimental impact on the electronic properties of the polymer when processed from green solvents.
Performed through side-chain engineering or by incorporating intramolecular locking units, the directionality and dynamic nature of noncovalent interactions are particularly attractive for the design of novel semiconducting materials in a wide variety of applications. This work investigates the nature and position of hydrogen bonding (intra- versus intermolecular), with the objective of developing a rational approach to the design of new semiconducting materials with improved properties in the solid state. To control the polymer chains’ self-assembly, a π-conjugated polymer incorporating a moiety capable of generating intramolecular hydrogen bonding is evaluated against a polymer that allows for intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Characterization through various techniques, optical spectroscopies, grazing incidence wide-angle x-ray scattering, and solution small-angle neutron scattering showed that intramolecular hydrogen bonds resulted in materials with improved crystallinity and higher effective conjugation in the solid state. Additionally, the effect of the noncovalent interaction configuration on the optoelectronic properties was analyzed in organic field-effect transistor fabrication. Devices prepared from the materials with intramolecular hydrogen bonds showed significantly higher performance, with three orders of magnitude higher charge mobility than their counterparts fabricated from polymers with intermolecular hydrogen bonds. These results confirm the importance of chemical design on polymer structures and offer a novel route for the design of high-efficiency semiconducting polymers for next-generation electronics.
Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have shown great potential in bioelectronics and neuromorphic computing. However, the low performance of n-type OECTs impedes the construction of complementary-type circuits for low-power-consumption logic circuits and high-performance sensing. Compared with their p-type counterparts, the low electron mobility of n-type OECT materials is the primary challenge, leading to low μC* and slow response speed. Nevertheless, no successful method has been reported to address the issue. Here, we find that the charge carrier mobility of n-type OECTs can be significantly enhanced by redistributing the polarons on the polymer backbone. As a result, 1 order of magnitude higher electron mobility is achieved in a new polymer, P(gPzDPP-CT2), with a simultaneously enhanced μC* value and faster response speed. This work reveals the important role of polaron distribution in enhancing the performance of n-type OECTs.
Polymer semiconductors have been widely studied as an important component of stretchable electronic devices. However, most stretchable polymer semiconductors suffer from different degrees of charge mobility degradation at high strain. Here, we report a novel side chain engineering strategy to realize stretch-induced enhancement of molecular orientation and charge transport in donor–acceptor conjugated polymers. Specifically, hybrid siloxane-based side chains wifth different silicon chain lengths were grafted onto a backbone of poly-diketo-pyrrolopyrrole-selenophene (PTDPPSe). The charge mobility can be enhanced with an appropriate increase of the silicon chain length. Most importantly, increasing the silicon chain length resulted in significant improvement of stretchability, including decreasing elastic modulus and increasing fracture strain. Interestingly, charge mobilities parallel to the stretching direction for PTDPPSe-4Si, PTDPPSe-5Si, and PTDPPSe-6Si are all above 1 cm2 V–1 s–1 at 100% strain, higher than those of their unstretched states. This enhanced charge mobility is attributed to the excellent ductility and high strain-induced alignment of polymer chains. The current study is expected to provide guidance for the design of intrinsically stretchable polymer semiconductors and advance the development of wearable electronics.
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