Retraction: Enhanced adsorption of ionizable aromatic compounds on humic acid-coated carbonaceous adsorbents

Retraction of ‘Enhanced adsorption of ionizable aromatic compounds on humic acid-coated carbonaceous adsorbents’ by Yubing Sun et al., RSC Adv., 2012, 2, 10359–10364, DOI: 10.1039/C2RA21713A.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the named authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data in the published article.Repeating fragments can be observed in the XRD spectrum for GONs in Fig. 1C, which indicates that it has been manipulated. In addition, there are unexpected similarities in the baseline of the XRD data presented for MWCNTs and AC (Fig. 1C) in the 32.5–40° and 45–57.5° regions.Given the significance of the concern about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Signed: Yubing Sun, Dadong Shao, Guixia Zhao, Shubin Yang and Xiangke WangDate: 27^th March 2020Changlun Chen, Jiaxing Li and Xiaoli Tan were contacted but did not respond.Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Self-association of L-periaxin occurs via its acidic domain and NLS2/NLS3, and affects its trafficking in RSC96 cells

Retraction of ‘Self-association of L-periaxin occurs via its acidic domain and NLS2/NLS3, and affects its trafficking in RSC96 cells’ by Yenan Yang et al., RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 44112–44123, DOI: 10.1039/C7RA06853K

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data in the published article. The authors confirmed that the western blot images in Fig. 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 had been inappropriately manipulated. Given the significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Signed: Yenan Yang, Min Liang and Yawei ShiDate: 8^th April 2021Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Honeycomb-like Co–B amorphous alloy catalysts assembled by a solution plasma process show enhanced catalytic hydrolysis activity for hydrogen generation

Retraction of ‘Honeycomb-like Co–B amorphous alloy catalysts assembled by a solution plasma process show enhanced catalytic hydrolysis activity for hydrogen generation’ by Dong Ge Tong et al., RSC Adv., 2012, 2, 2369–2376.

We, the authors, hereby wholly retract this article due to inaccuracies in the scale bars of Fig. 1b, 4h and 5h and the wrong images being presented in Fig. 5d and e.We, the authors, repeated the experiments and believe that the scientific content and conclusions of the related studies presented in the published paper can be reproduced. However, due to the large number of images, it is not possible to replace the published images with the new figures. Therefore, to protect the rigor of the scientific record, we decided to retract this article on our own initiative.Signed: Dong Ge Tong (on behalf of the authors).Date: 6^th March 2020.Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances.     

Retraction: Simultaneous sorption and reduction of U(vi) on magnetite–reduced graphene oxide composites investigated by macroscopic,spectroscopic and modeling techniques

Retraction of ‘Simultaneous sorption and reduction of U(vi) on magnetite–reduced graphene oxide composites investigated by macroscopic, spectroscopic and modeling techniques’ by Wencai Cheng et al., RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 59677–59685, DOI: 10.1039/C5RA10451C.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data in the published article.The SEM image in Fig. 1C duplicates data published in another publication, but reported as different materials.¹There are unexpected similarities in the XPS spectra presented for M1–rGO and M5–rGO in Fig. 2A.Repeating fragments can be observed in the baseline of the XRD spectrum for GO presented in Fig. 2B, which indicate that it has been manipulated. In addition, the XRD spectrum for M5–rGO in Fig. 2B duplicates data published in ref. 1 and 2, but they have been reported as different materials.Given the number and significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Signed: Wencai Cheng, Zhongxiu Jin, Congcong Ding and Maolin WangDate: 27^th March 2020Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Functional disruption of staphylococcal accessory regulator A from Staphylococcus aureus by silver ions

Retraction of ‘Functional disruption of staphylococcal accessory regulator A from Staphylococcus aureus by silver ions’ by Xiangwen Liao et al., RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 33221–33226. DOI: 10.1039/D0RA06357F.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article as there is an error in the data and the conclusions of the paper are not supported.Fig. 3B does not show the titration data of SarA, it is the titration data of a different protein, and therefore we cannot unequivocally conclude that SarA binds Ag⁺via its conserved cysteine residues.The corresponding authors regret this oversight and apologise for any inconvenience to readers.Signed: Xiangwen Liao, Guijuan Jiang, Jing Wang and Jintao WangDate: 17^th February 2021Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Graphene oxide/DNA-decorated electrode for the fabrication of microRNA biosensor

Retraction of ‘Graphene oxide/DNA-decorated electrode for the fabrication of microRNA biosensor’ by Erlin Sun et al., RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 69334–69338, DOI: 10.1039/C5RA12373A.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to a lack of reproducibility in the results of the paper. We have been unable to replicate the results of miRNA detection, shown in Fig. 8, and as a result, the conclusions of this paper are not supported.Signed: Erlin Sun, Lining Wang, Xiaodong Zhou, Chengquan Ma, Yan Sun, Mingde Lei, Bingxin Lu and Ruifa HanDate: 14^th July 2020Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Synthesis and characterization of Mn/Co/Ti LDH and its utilization as a photocatalyst in visible light assisted degradation of aqueous Rhodamine B

Retraction of ‘Synthesis and characterization of Mn/Co/Ti LDH and its utilization as a photocatalyst in visible light assisted degradation of aqueous Rhodamine B’ by Priyadarshi Roy Chowdhury and Krishna G. Bhattacharyya, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 112016–112034.

The Royal Society of Chemistry hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article following a misconduct investigation carried out by Gauhati University.There are repeating motifs within the AFM image in Fig. 7A. Gauhati University have informed us that they have concluded that the AFM image is devoid of authenticity and has been manipulated or altered by the authors.Signed: Andrew Shore, Executive Editor, RSC AdvancesDate: 4^th February 2019     

Retraction: Organometallic Ag nanostructures prepared using Hypericum perforatum extract are highly effective against multidrug-resistant bacteria

Retraction of ‘Organometallic Ag nanostructures prepared using Hypericum perforatum extract are highly effective against multidrug-resistant bacteria’ by Qaisar Maqbool et al., RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 30562–30572.

We, the named authors, wholly retract this RSC Advances article.The authors have repeated the FTIR and TGA analyses of the nanoparticles synthesised using H. perforatum, and also obtained the original data files from the facility that carried out the initial analyses. The authors have compared the new results and the original data files with the data in the published article. They found that the graphs presented in Fig. 7a and b in the article did not correspond to neither the original data nor the new analysis. They also found that the same TGA graph (Fig. 7b) was used in previous articles by the first author but representing a different material.^1,2The Institute of Plant Genetics of the Polish Academy of Sciences have confirmed to the Royal Society of Chemistry that graphs presented in Fig. 7 of this RSC Advances article were manipulated.The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to readers.Signed: Dariusz Kruszka, Piotr Kachlicki and Gregory FranklinDate: 5^th April 2019Qaisar Maqbool opposes this retraction.Retraction endorsed by Andrew Shore, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Trop2 promotes proliferation,invasion and EMT of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through the NF-κB pathway

Retraction of ‘Trop2 promotes proliferation, invasion and EMT of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through the NF-κB pathway’ by Nan Cheng et al., RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 53087–53096, DOI: 10.1039/c7ra09915k.

The authors hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data. The authors have attempted to replicate the experiments described in the article but were unable to achieve the same results.Given the lack of reliable raw data, the authors can no longer guarantee that the findings presented in this paper are accurate.Signed: Junpeng LuoDate: 24^th February 2022Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Anti-cancer activity of hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites synthesized from rice-based waste materials

Retraction of ‘Anti-cancer activity of hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites synthesized from rice-based waste materials’ by S. K. Jesudoss et al., RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 481–490, https://doi.org/10.1039/C7RA11763A.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data.In Fig. 2 the data for (a), (b) and (c) contains sections of identical noise.In Fig. 7 there are several instances of overlapping images. Fig. 7a and e are identical, Fig. 7b and f have partial overlap, and Fig. 7c and d have partial overlap.Given the significance of these concerns, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Signed: S. K. Jesudoss, J. Judith Vijaya, K. Kaviyarasu, L. John Kennedy, R. Jothi Ramalingam, Hamad A. Al-LohedanDate: 18^th August 2022.Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances.     

Retraction: Olefin epoxidation with chiral salen Mn(iii) immobilized on ZnPS-PVPA upon alkyldiamine

Retraction of ‘Olefin epoxidation with chiral salen Mn(iii) immobilized on ZnPS-PVPA upon alkyldiamine’ by J. Huang et al., RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 19507–19514, DOI: 10.1039/C6RA00002A.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to extensive overlap with other published articles by these authors, including the text, data and figures published in ref. 1, which was not cited in this article. Although there are sections of original work, there are significant portions of text overlap, particularly in the Results and discussion section. Fig. 1, 3, 4 and 5, Tables 1 and 2 and Schemes 1 and 2 in the RSC Advances article have also been reproduced from ref. 1.Signed: J. Huang, D. W. Qi, J. L. Cai and X. H. ChenDate: 19^th November 2020Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Wavelength modulation of ZnO nanowire based organic light-emitting diodes with ultraviolet electroluminescence

Retraction of ‘Wavelength modulation of ZnO nanowire based organic light-emitting diodes with ultraviolet electroluminescence’ by Runze Chen et al., RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 23775–23781, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA04058D.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to a calibration error in the CVD tool used when fabricating the inverted UV-OLED devices. As a result, the subsequent data collected is not reliable and the conclusions of this paper are not supported.Signed: Runze Chen, Chuan Liu, Kyeiwaa Asare-Yeboah, Ziyang Zhang, Zhengran He and Yun LiuDate: 29^th November 2020Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Synthesis of non-toxic,biocompatible, and colloidal stable silver nanoparticle using egg-white protein as capping and reducing agents for sustainable antibacterial application

Retraction of ‘Synthesis of non-toxic, biocompatible, and colloidal stable silver nanoparticle using egg-white protein as capping and reducing agents for sustainable antibacterial application’ by Kalaiyarasan Thiyagarajan et al., RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 23213–23229, https://doi.org/10.1039/C8RA03649G.

I, the undersigned author, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to the following instances of matched/similar images that have been identified that weaken this article, which occurred due to honest human errors.Following the previous publication of a correction to replace Fig. 3D, instances of duplicating images have been identified that undermine this article.In Fig. 5, the panels E. coli MTCC No 62 6 μg ml⁻¹ and E. coli MTCC No 62 8 μg ml⁻¹ are identical. Furthermore, they are identical to panels in another article published by the authors in RSC Advances,¹ namely the panel for freshly prepared S. enterica MTCC-3219 2 μg ml⁻¹ 10⁻¹⁰ and the panel for S. typhirmurium MTCC-3224 4 μg ml⁻¹ 10⁻⁵ after one year of storage in Fig. 3 of ref. 1 and the panel 1 h treated with SBT@AgNPs in Fig. 7 of ref. 1.Thiyagarajan Kalaiyarasan and Vijay K. Bharti responded to all enquiries and submitted data related to the above concern. However, to avoid any future ambiguity to the readers, the article is retracted.Krishna Kumar and Vijay K. Bharti do not agree to the retraction. The other authors have been informed but have not responded to any correspondence regarding the retraction.Signed: Kalaiyarasan ThiyagarajanDate: 1/6/2022Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Tuning the chemistry of graphene oxides by a sonochemical approach: application of adsorption properties

Retraction of ‘Tuning the chemistry of graphene oxides by a sonochemical approach: application of adsorption properties’ by Yubing Sun et al., RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 24886–24892, DOI: 10.1039/C5RA02021B.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, with the agreement of the named authors, hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data in the published article.The TEM image in Fig. 1B duplicates data published in another publication by Pan et al., but presented as different materials.¹The AFM images in Fig. 1C and D illustrate duplication of data, given that these experiments were reported under different reaction conditions.The EXAFS spectra in Fig. 4 duplicate data in another publication, but reported as different materials.²Given the number and significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Signed: Yubing Sun, Shubin Yang, Congcong Ding and Wencai ChengDate: 27^th March 2020Zhongxiu Jin was contacted but did not respond.Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Fabrication of hollow CoS1.097 prisms toward supercapactior performance

Retraction of ‘Fabrication of hollow CoS_1.097 prisms toward supercapactior performance’ by Ruili Zhang et al., RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 10814–10819.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to extensive overlap with the text, data and figures published in ref. 1, which means that this RSC Advances article is redundant. All the figures and tables in this RSC Advances article have been reproduced from ref. 1.The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience to readers.Signed: Ruili Zhang and Ping Yang.Date: 8^th July 2019.We do not have current contact details for the second author of the article, Yuntao Yang, as he has graduated and therefore has not been able to comment on the retraction.Retraction endorsed by Andrew Shore, Executive Editor, RSC Advances.     

Retraction: Radio frequency triggered curcumin delivery from thermo and pH responsive nanoparticles containing gold nanoparticles and its in vivo localization studies in an orthotopic breast tumor model

Retraction of ‘Radio frequency triggered curcumin delivery from thermo and pH responsive nanoparticles containing gold nanoparticles and its in vivo localization studies in an orthotopic breast tumor model’ by N. Sanoj Rejinold et al., RSC Adv., 2014, 4, 39408–39427, DOI: 10.1039/C4RA05727A.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to duplication of images in Fig. 9–12, 15, 18 and 19, which affect the reliability of the data and the overall conclusions presented in the published article.Signed: N. Sanoj Rejinold, Reju George Thomas, Muthunarayanan Muthiah, K. P. Chennazhi, In-Kyu Park, K. Manzoor and R. Jayakumar, 24th July 2020.Yong Yeon Jeong was contacted but did not respond.Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances.     

Retraction: Equilibrium and kinetic studies on adsorptive removal of malachite green by the citrate-stabilized magnetite nanoparticles

Retraction of ‘Equilibrium and kinetic studies on adsorptive removal of malachite green by the citrate-stabilized magnetite nanoparticles’ by Rashmi Rani Mishra et al., RSC Adv., 2014, 4, 51787–51793, DOI: 10.1039/C4RA07651F.

The Royal Society of Chemistry hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data in the published article.Repeating fragments can be observed in the XRD spectrum in Fig. 1D, which indicates that it has been manipulated. In addition, there are a number of identical particles replicated within the TEM image that was used in the graphical abstract suggesting that the image has also been manipulated. Given the significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.S. Sudheer Khan opposes this retraction. Rashmi Rani Mishra and Preethy Chandran were contacted but did not respond.Signed: Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC AdvancesDate: 28^th July 2020     

Expression of concern: Self-assembled membrane manufactured by metal–organic framework (UiO-66) coated γ-Al2O3 for cleaning oily seawater

Expression of concern for ‘Self-assembled membrane manufactured by metal–organic framework (UiO-66) coated γ-Al₂O₃ for cleaning oily seawater’ by Cunlong Li et al., RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 10702–10714, DOI: 10.1039/C9RA00521H.

The following article ‘Self-assembled membrane manufactured by metal–organic framework (UiO-66) coated γ-Al₂O₃ for cleaning oily seawater’ has been published in RSC Advances.The XRD data shown in Fig. 6b is the same for the UA composites (shown in green) and UiO-66 particles (shown in red), with the exception of two peaks that are not present in the UiO-66 pattern.In Fig. 7a, the panel for 0.03 MPa is a rotated and processed duplicate of the panel for 0.02 MPa.The authors were contacted for comment and asked to provide raw data but have not responded to these concerns. RSC Advances is publishing this Expression of Concern to alert readers to the concerns raised. An Expression of Concern will continue to be associated with the article until we receive conclusive evidence regarding the reliability of the reported data.Laura Fisher11^th February 2022Executive Editor, RSC Advances