Juan Wang

The development of sustainable and efficient adsorbent materials for tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) removal is of great importance for wastewater treatment. Structural characterizations (XRD and FTIR) confirmed successful lignin carbonization and the abundance of oxygen-containing functional groups, while N₂ physisorption revealed a phosphoric acid-induced hierarchical porous structure rich in mesopores to facilitate mass transfer. CL exhibited excellent tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) adsorption, achieving a maximum capacity of 21.06 mg g⁻¹ within 2 h. The adsorption data closely followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating a predominantly chemisorption process. While nanocellulose enabled the fabrication of flexible, self-supporting films with well-dispersed CL, excessive loading deteriorated film integrity. An optimized 30 wt% CL content achieved the ideal balance between structural stability and adsorption performance, demonstrating that these sustainable films hold great potential for aquatic antibiotic remediation.

Lignocellulosic films (LCFs) derived from biomass have attracted increasing attention owing to their abundant availability, recyclability, and biodegradability, making them promising candidates for replacing non-biodegradable plastics. Notably, the mechanical properties and wet stability of these materials play a crucial role in their practical applications. In this paper, we employ an eco-friendly and straightforward approach to synthesizing high-strength LCF by mixing nanocellulose with lignin. The incorporation of lignin enhances the mechanical strength for LCF, achieving a yield strength of 157.12 MPa at a lignin content of 15 wt% while simultaneously imparting excellent water absorption properties. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and contact angle measurements confirmed the structural integrity and hydrophilicity of the composite films. Excessive lignin content led to reduced mechanical performance, emphasizing the importance of optimizing the lignin-to-cellulose ratio. Therefore, this paper demonstrates the significant potential of LCF in developing environmentally friendly materials for applications in water treatment, packaging, flexible electronics, energy storage, and agriculture.

Developing high-performance anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is critical to meeting the growing demand for advanced energy storage systems. In this work, we synthesized an urchin-like NiCo2O4@TiO2 core-shell heterostructure via a facile two-step solvothermal–hydrolysis route, in which anatase TiO2 was coated onto spinel NiCo2O4 microspheres. This hierarchical architecture not only preserves the high surface area of the urchin-like template but also establishes robust interfacial contact. Compared with pristine NiCo2O4, which exhibits a capacity retention of only 51%, the NiCo2O4@TiO2 electrode delivers a markedly higher reversible capacity and enhanced cycling stability, achieving a first-discharge capacity of 1210.4 mAh g-1 and retaining 903.5 mAh g-1 after 100 cycles, corresponding to a capacity retention of 74%. Electrochemical impedance analysis further confirms that the TiO2 coating effectively reduces interfacial resistance: the composite exhibits an ohmic resistance (Rs) of 2.96 Ω and a charge-transfer resistance (Rct) of 186.16 Ω, both lower than those of pristine NiCo2O4 (3.97 Ω and 240.09 Ω, respectively). This improvement can be attributed to the TiO2 shell mitigating volume-change effects, suppressing side reactions, and facilitating ion/electron transport, thereby enhancing the electrochemical performance of the NiCo2O4 anode. Moreover, first-principles calculations indicate that the NiCo2O4@TiO2 heterostructure narrows the band gap, improves electronic conductivity, and promotes lithium-ion storage and transport, in good agreement with the experimental results.