Microplastic contamination of the benthic invertebrate fauna in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica) was determined. Twelve macrobenthic species, characterized by different feeding strategies, were selected at 3 sampling sites at increasing distance from the Italian Scientific Base (Mario Zucchelli, Camp Icarus, Adelie Cove). The 83% of the analyzed macrobenthic species contained microplastics (0.01-3.29 items mg-1). The size of the particles, measured by Feret diameter, ranged from 33 to 1000 µm with the highest relative abundance between 50 and 100 µm. Filter-feeders and grazers displayed values of microplastic contamination from 3 to 5 times higher than omnivores and predators, leading to the hypothesis that there is no evident bioaccumulation through the food web. The prevalent polymers identified by micro-FTIR were nylon (86%) and polyethylene (5%); other polymers identified in Antarctic benthos were polytetrafluoroethylene, polyoxymethylene, phenolic resin, polypropylene, polystyrene resin and XT polymer. There is a pressing demand to explore alternative to Pt-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water electrolysis. In this study, an iron phosphide catalyst with periodically ordered mesoporous structure (meso-FeP) was fabricated via a nanocasting method for the HER. The as-prepared meso-FeP exhibited high electrocatalytic activity, affording 10 mA·cm-2 current density at small overpotentials of 114 mV and 136 mV with the maintenance of its catalytic activity for at least 22 h in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1.0 M KOH, respectively. The outstanding performance is attributed to the high specific surface area (209.4 m2 g-1) derived from ordered mesopores, which endows the catalyst with abundant electrochemically active sites and accessible mass transport pathway. This work provides an efficient strategy to prepare mesoporous phosphides as high-performance hydrogen evolution catalysts. A facile and efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalytic system was constructed based on interconnected Ni(OH)2 nanosheets arrays electrode and Fe(III) containing alkali electrolyte. The partial deposition of Fe(III) onto Ni(OH)2 with heterostructure obviously enhanced the OER current density and reduced the overpotential, and the Fe(III) cations in electrolyte also furnished positive contribution to the catalytic reaction, the synergy between Ni(OH)2 electrode and Fe(III) cations in electrolyte therefore substantially improved the OER catalytic efficiency with low overpotential (285 mV at current density of 50 mA cm-2) and obviously enhanced current density (391 mA cm-2 at 1.8 V). The current work expands our understanding on the effect of Fe(III) cations in electrolyte to OER efficiency of Ni based catalyst, and opens up a cost-effective and practical avenue to enhance the OER catalytic efficiency by introducing metal cations in alkali electrolyte. Enriching the active sites of catalysts and artificially regulating the directional migration of photogenerated carriers are effective means to improve the catalytic activity of photocatalysts. In this work, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is used as the morphological modifier to prepare MoSx with three-dimensional (3D) nanoflower structure. Compared with two-dimensional (2D) MoSx nanosheets, three-dimensional nanoflower structure weakens the van der Waals force between nanosheets and inhibits the stacking between layers, thus exposing the high-density active sites of MoSx nanoflower. The CoWO4 nanoparticles are successfully anchored to MoSx by in-situ growth, forming the MoSx/CoWO4 p-n heterojunction photocatalyst. The high photosensitivity of MoSx increases the utilization of MoSx/CoWO4 p-n heterojunction to visible light. The unique 3D nanoflower structure of MoSx results in that CoWO4 nanoparticles are dispersed well on the surface of MoSx, which prevents CoWO4 agglomeration. Based on the high efficiency of charge separation, abundant active sites and excellent property of visible light response, the hydrogen evolution rate of MoSx/CoWO4-40 reached 9414.4 μmol g-1 h-1. With the advantages of excellent theoretical specific capacity and specific energy, lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is regarded as one of promising energy storage systems. However, poor conductivity and shuttle effect of intermediate electrochemical reaction products limit its application. JSH-23 purchase As good sulfur carriers, porous carbon materials can effectively remit these shortcomings. In this paper, a combination of a hydrothermal KOH activation and successive pyrolysis of biomass reed flowers is proposed to prepare a bimodal porous carbon (BPC) material with high specific surface area (1712.6 m2 g-1). The as-obtained low-cost BPC/S cathodes exhibit excellent cycling performance (908 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C after 100 cycles), good rate capability and cyclability (663 mAh g-1 at 1 C after 1000 cycles), as well as a high areal capacity (6.6 mAh cm-2 at 0.1 C after 50 cycles with a sulfur loading of 8.3 mg cm-2). Such excellent electrochemical performance was mainly ascribed to a specific bimodal porous structure with high specific surface area and plenty spaces for sulfur impregnating, which significantly reduces the escape of polysulfides during cycling and guarantees a good cycling stability. Moreover, the secondary class pores (mesopores and micropores) of the material offer plenty of small channels to improve the electronic and ionic transfer rate and, consequently, to enhance the rate capability. The as-synthesized BPC material presents a great potential as a sulfur carrier material for Li-S battery applications. In this work, we also demonstrate a simple route to develop low-cost carbon materials derived from renewable biomass which may expand and promote their use in energy storage applications. Organic contaminants, dyes and antibiotics, discharged in wastewater systems, have posed great threats to the sustainability of the ecosystem. This study was performed to prepare graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) nanocomposites modified by nanocarbons, including carbon quantum dots (CQD), carbon nanotube (CNT), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and carbon nanospheres (CNS), by a straightforward one-pot method. The characterization results suggest that after the modification with nanocarbons, GCN demonstrated slight red shift and stronger light absorption. The resultant photocatalysts revealed prominent performances for total photodegradation of organic contaminants. The degradation processes were investigated by in situ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The mechanistic studies on the enhanced photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performances were also conducted. Results indicate that GCN modified by the nanocarbon spheres displayed a substantial improvement in the degradation of sulfachloropyridazine (SCP) and dyes, compared favourably with other GCN samples modified by carbon nanotubes, quantum dots and layered graphene oxide.