Chunlei Wang

Abstract A novel method for fabricating micro‐patterned interdigitated electrodes based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and carbon nanotube (CNT) composites for ultra‐high power handling micro‐supercapacitor application is reported. The binder‐free microelectrodes were developed by combining electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) and photolithography lift‐off methods. Without typically used thermal or chemical reduction, GO sheets are readily reduced to rGO during the ESD deposition. Electrochemical measurements show that the in‐plane interdigital design of the microelectrodes is effective in increasing accessibility of electrolyte ions in‐between stacked rGO sheets through an electro‐activation process. Addition of CNTs results in reduced restacking of rGO sheets and improved energy and power density. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements show that the specific capacitance of the micro‐supercapacitor based on rGO–CNT composites is 6.1 mF cm −2 at 0.01 V s −1 . At a very high scan rate of 50 V s −1 , a specific capacitance of 2.8 mF cm −2 (stack capacitance of 3.1 F cm −3 ) is recorded, which is an unprecedented performance for supercapacitors. The addition of CNT, electrolyte‐accessible and binder‐free microelectrodes, as well as an interdigitated in‐plane design result in a high‐frequency response of the micro‐supercapacitors with resistive‐capacitive time constants as low as 4.8 ms. These characteristics suggest that interdigitated rGO–CNT composite electrodes are promising for on‐chip energy storage application with high power demands.

Carbon-coated Sn nanoparticles in carbon nanofibers (see image) were fabricated by pyrolysis of coaxially electrospun nanofibers as an anode material for Li-ion batteries. The significantly improved electrochemical performance of such an electrode is believed to result from the unique nanostructure consisting of a thin carbon shell around tin nanoparticles, which are further encapsulated in hollow carbon nanofibers. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

The relationship between the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 and breast cancer prognosis was studied. Two breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) and one human normal breast cell line (HS578Bst) were investigated. Fluorescence real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting were used to detect cellular mRNA and protein MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression levels. Breast cancer tissue samples from 80 patients and tumor-adjacent normal tissue samples from 40 patients were collected, and MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression in these samples were examined using immunohistochemistry (IHC). The relationship of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression levels with breast cancer patient clinicopathological parameters and prognosis was analyzed. RT-PCR and western blot results showed that MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly higher in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells than in HS578Bst cells. A high expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was found in 83.75% (67/80) and 78.75% (63/80) of breast cancer tissue samples, respectively. MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression in breast cancer tissues were significantly different from that in tumor-adjacent normal tissues (p<0.01). MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression levels in breast cancer tissues were correlated with lymph node metastasis and tumor staging. Single factor survival analysis showed that MMP-2 and MMP-9 were factors influencing breast cancer prognosis. MMP-2 and MMP-9 are highly expressed in breast cancer tissues and are closely related to lymph node metastasis and tumor staging. MMP-2 and MMP-9 can be used as reference indices for guiding breast cancer prognosis and treatment.

The confinement within carbon nanotubes (CNTs) improves the electrochemical reversibility of CNT-confined MnO(2) nanoparticles and benefits their capacitive enhancement, which exhibit a specific capacitance of 225 F g(-1) for the composites and MnO(2) normalized capacitance as high as 1250 F g(-1).