Retraction: A rapid and novel method for the synthesis of 5-substituted 1H-tetrazole catalyzed by exceptional reusable monodisperse Pt NPs@AC under the microwave irradiation

Retraction for ‘A rapid and novel method for the synthesis of 5-substituted 1H-tetrazole catalyzed by exceptional reusable monodisperse Pt NPs@AC under the microwave irradiation’ by Esma Erken et al., RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 68558–68564, DOI: 10.1039/C5RA11426H.

Muharrem Kaya and İbrahim Esirden hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article due to concerns with the reliability of the data in the published article.The high-resolution transmission electron micrograph inset in Fig. 2 that represents Md-Pt NPs@AC is the same as Fig. 2c in a Chemistry Select article by Haydar Göksu, Betül Çelik, Yunus Yıldız, Fatih Şen and Benan Kılbaş,¹ which is a high-resolution transmission electron micrograph representing a CoPd NP. Fatih Sen provided replacement data for consideration. However, an expert reviewed the author’s response and concluded that it did not satisfactorily address the concerns, and that the replacement figure did not fully support the conclusions. Given the significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Muharrem Kaya approves the retraction of this article due to concerns with the structural characterisation of the catalyst and therefore the conclusions presented may not be valid. Muharrem Kaya also states that the figures under question are out of their expertise and that they did not contribute to the data collection or processing of these figures. Muharrem Kaya contributed to the evaluation of the catalytic performances of the composite materials only.Fatih Sen opposes this retraction. Esma Erken was contacted but did not respond.Signed: Muharrem Kaya and İbrahim EsirdenDate: 23^rd September 2021Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Enhanced electrocatalytic activity and durability of highly monodisperse Pt@PPy–PANI nanocomposites as a novel catalyst for the electro-oxidation of methanol

Retraction of ‘Enhanced electrocatalytic activity and durability of highly monodisperse Pt@PPy–PANI nanocomposites as a novel catalyst for the electro-oxidation of methanol’ by Özlem Karatepe et al., RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 50851–50857. DOI: 10.1039/C6RA06210E.

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.The two high resolution transmission electron micrograph insets in Fig. 2 that represent Pt@PPy–PANI NPs polymer composites are identical. In addition, these insets are duplicated and scaled versions of the high-resolution transmission electron micrograph insets in Fig. 1 in an International Journal of Hydrogen Energy article,¹ and in Fig. 2 in a Journal of Cluster Science article,² by the same author group representing different nanoparticles or synthetic methods. Fig. 1 in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy article¹ represents Pt(0)/DPA@GO NPs and Fig. 2 in the Journal of Cluster Science article² represents Pt(0) NPs. The authors claim that this was a mistake and provided replacement data for consideration. However, an expert reviewed the author’s response and concluded that it did not satisfactorily address the concerns, and that the replacement figure did not fully support the conclusions. Given the significance of the concerns about the validity of the data, the findings presented in this paper are no longer reliable.Sinan Eriş and Fatih Sen oppose this retraction. Handan Pamuk, Yunus Yıldız, Özlem Karatepe and Zeynep Dasdelen were contacted but did not respond.Signed: Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC AdvancesDate: 23^rd September 2021     

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     

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     

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     

Expression of concern: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells inhibited bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis

Expression of concern for ‘Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells inhibited bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis’ by Jiang Nan et al., RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 49498–49504. DOI: 10.1039/C7RA03971A.

RSC Advances is publishing this expression of concern in order to alert readers that concerns have been raised over the integrity of the data published in this article. The authors have been contacted but have not responded to requests to provide raw data. An expression of concern will continue to be associated with the article until a conclusive outcome is reached.Laura Fisher31st January 2022Executive 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: 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: One-pot sol–gel synthesis of reduced graphene oxide uniformly decorated zinc oxide nanoparticles in starch environment for highly efficient photodegradation of methylene blue

Expression of concern for ‘One-pot sol–gel synthesis of reduced graphene oxide uniformly decorated zinc oxide nanoparticles in starch environment for highly efficient photodegradation of methylene blue’ by Majid Azarang et al., RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 21888–21896.

The following article ‘One-pot sol–gel synthesis of reduced graphene oxide uniformly decorated zinc oxide nanoparticles in starch environment for highly efficient photodegradation of methylene blue’ by Majid Azarang*^ab, Ahmad Shuhaimi^a, Ramin Yousefi^c and Siamak Pilban Jahromi^a has been published in RSC Advances. RSC Advances is publishing this expression of concern in order to alert our readers to the fact that we are presently unable to confirm the accuracy of the data reported in Fig. 2(a, b) and 5 of this RSC Advances paper.We have contacted the University of Malaya to request an investigation into the validity of the published figures. We understand that an investigative process is on-going at the University of Malaya, and this notice will be updated when a final outcome is reached.Andrew Shore2nd March 2018Executive Editor, RSC Advances     

Retraction: Computational fluid dynamics modeling of the millisecond methane steam reforming in microchannel reactors for hydrogen production

Retraction of ‘Computational fluid dynamics modeling of the millisecond methane steam reforming in microchannel reactors for hydrogen production’ by Junjie Chen et al., RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 25183–25200, DOI: 10.1039/C8RA04440F.

The authors have retracted this RSC Advances article in its entirety because there is considerable overlap with respect to the data presented in the previous article ‘Millisecond methane steam reforming for hydrogen production: a computational fluid dynamics study’ (Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 2018, 43, 12948–12969, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.05.039) by the same authors. This means that the RSC Advances article is redundant. Despite low levels of textual overlap, much of the data is essentially the same as or very similar to that previously reported. The model was improved, but the degree of improvement is relatively low. There were some new findings presented, but the contribution is relatively small. Furthermore, the previous article was not cited in the RSC Advances article.As much of the data are available in the previous article, the authors are retracting this RSC Advances article. All authors agree to this retraction.Signed: Junjie Chen, Xuhui Gao, Longfei Yan, and Deguang XuDate: 18th March 2021     

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: Magnetic Fe3O4@NiO hierarchical structures: preparation and their excellent As(v) and Cr(vi) removal capabilities

Retraction of ‘Magnetic Fe₃O₄@NiO hierarchical structures: preparation and their excellent As(v) and Cr(vi) removal capabilities’ by Shouwei Zhang et al., RSC Adv., 2013, 3, 2754–2764, DOI: 10.1039/C2RA22495J.

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 authors requested to retract this article because they admitted that the TEM characterization of the Fe₃O₄@NiO hierarchical microspheres in Fig. 4c was duplicated from the characterization of Fe₃O₄@NiAl-LDH microspheres in Fig. S4B from a J. Am. Chem. Soc. paper by Mingfei Shao et al. without permission.¹ The authors would like to apologise to the authors of ref. 1, and for any inconvenience to readers.Signed: Shouwei Zhang, Jiaxing Li, Jinzhang Xu and Xiangke WangDate: 11th August 2021Tao Wen was contacted but did not respondRetraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, 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: 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: 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: 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: Metal-free [2+2+1] cycloaddition polymerization of alkynes,nitriles, and oxygen atoms to functional polyoxazoles

Retraction of ‘Metal-free [2+2+1] cycloaddition polymerization of alkynes, nitriles, and oxygen atoms to functional polyoxazoles’ by Lichao Dong et al., RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 24368–24373, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA04249H.

We, the named authors, hereby wholly retract this RSC Advances article as there is insufficient data to support the structure of the final polymer product, and therefore, the conclusions are not fully supported. In Fig. 1 the peaks of the ¹H-NMR spectrum are stacked together and therefore the spectrum cannot be used as proof of the polymer structure. In Fig. 2, the ¹³C-NMR spectrum, the peaks on the benzene ring cannot correspond to before and after polymerization. Therefore, further research and characterization work is needed to determine the structure of the resulting polymer.The corresponding authors regret this oversight and apologise for any inconvenience to readers. Signed: Lichao Dong, Tian Lan, Yin Liang, Shifeng Guo and Hao ZhangDate: 18 April 2021 Retraction endorsed by Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, RSC Advances