Latest ArticlesAchieving high activity and durability for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with an ultra-low amount of platinum is significant to promote the widespread application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Here we report a new ultrathin (~1 nm) ternary PtNiGa alloy nanowires (PtNiGa NWs) electrocatalyst, in which the presence of gallium (Ga) enhances the oxidation resistance of platinum (Pt) and nickel (Ni) and suppresses the dissolution of Ni. The mass and specific activities of PtNiGa NWs are about 11.2 and 7.6 times higher than those of commercial Pt/C catalysts for ORR. Moreover, the mass activity of PtNiGa/C NWs nanocatalyst decreased only by 12.8% and largely retained its electrochemical surface area (ECSA) after 10,000 potential cycles, compared with 38% loss of ECSA for commercial Pt/C catalyst. Therefore, this work provides a general guideline for preparing ternary alloy electrocatalysts and enhancing the activity and stability of the cathode ORR reaction of PEMFCs.
An atom economic β-C(sp3)−H chlorination of amide derivatives has been developed. This mild protocol employs CuCl2 instead of palladium catalysts with atom-economic HCl as chlorine sources and enables the late-stage functionalization of medicine derivatives. Mechanism studies suggest a plausible visible light triggered ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT)/1,4-hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) cascade.
So far, a clear understanding about the relationship of variable energy band structure with the corresponding charge-discharge process of energy storage materials is still lacking. Here, using optical spectroscopy (red-green-blue (RGB) value, reflectivity, transmittance, UV–vis, XPS, UPS) to study α-Co(OH)2 electrode working in KOH electrolyte as the research object, we provide direct experimental evidence that: (1) The intercalation of OH– ions will reduce the valence/conduction band (VB and CB) and band gap energy (Eg) values; (2) The deintercalation of OH– ions corresponds with the reversion of VB, CB and Eg to the initial values; (3) The color of Co(OH)2 electrode also exhibit regular variations in RGB value during the charge-discharge process.
Artificial photocatalytic energy conversion is considered as the most potential strategy for solving the increasingly serious energy crisis and environmental pollution problems by directly capturing solar energy. Therefore, high efficiency photocatalyst has drawn significant research attention in recent years. Due to the excellent electronic, optical, structural, and physicochemical performances, silver-based g-C3N4 have become promising photocatalysts. This review emphasizes the recent progresses and challenges on g-C3N4 decorated with silver for photocatalytic energy conversion. The extensive use of g-C3N4 decorated with silver in diverse photocatalytic reactions, including hydrogen evolution, pollutant degradation and carbon dioxide reduction, is also fully introduced. In addition, we propose the perspectives of g-C3N4 decorated with silver on photocatalytic applications. We hope that this review will shed some light on the photocatalytic energy conversion of g-C3N4 decorated with silver.
Stepwise energy transfer is ubiquitous in natural photosynthesis, which greatly promotes the widespread use of solar energy. Herein, we constructed a supramolecular light harvesting system based on sequential energy transfer through the hierarchical self-assembly of M, which contains a cyanostilbene core flanked by two ureidopyrimidinone motifs, endowing itself with both aggregation-induced emission behavior and quadruple hydrogen bonding ability. The monomer M can self-assemble into hydrogen bonded polymers and then form supramolecular polymeric nanoparticles in water through a mini-emulsion process. The nanoparticles were further utilized to encapsulate the relay acceptor ESY and the final acceptor NDI to form a two-step FRET system. Tunable fluorescence including a white-light emission was successfully achieved. Our work not only shows a desirable way for the fabrication of efficient two-step light harvesting systems, but also shows great potential in tunable photoluminescent nanomaterials.
Two-dimensional (2D) MXenes have emerged as an archetypical layered material combining the properties of an organic-inorganic hybrid offering materials sustainability for a range of applications. Their surface functional groups and the associated chemical properties' tailorability through functionalizing MXenes with other materials as well as hydrophilicity and high conductivity enable them to be the best successor for various applications in textile industries, especially in the advancement of smart textiles and remediation of textile wastewater. MXene-based textile composite performs superb smartness in high-performance wearables as well as in the reduction of textile dyes from wastewater. This article critically reviews the significance of MXenes in two sectors of the textile industry. Firstly, we review the improvement of textile raw materials such as fiber, yarn, and fabric by using MXene as electrodes in supercapacitors, pressure sensors. Secondly, we review advancements in the removal of dyes from textile wastewater utilizing MXene as an absorbent by the adsorption process. MXene-based textiles demonstrated superior strength through the strong bonding between MXene and textile structures as well as the treatment of adsorbate by adsorbent (MXene in the adsorption process). We identify critical gaps for further research to enable their real-life applications.
Exosomes are membrane-bound nanoscale extracellular vesicles, which produced by almost all organisms. Due to the excellent biocompatibility, long circulation time as well as low immunogenicity, exosomes as naturally-derived drug delivery carriers have experienced explosive growth over the past decades. However, issues such as insufficient loading efficiency, heterogeneous delivery efficiency, uncontrollable targeting ability, and low production limit their wide application. Recently, the emerging exosome–liposome fusion strategy has become a potential approach to solve such issues. Thus, this review mainly focuses on the currently developed exosome–liposome fusion strategy and their application in drug delivery as well as disease treatment. This review aims to shed light on the advantages of fusion strategy in drug delivery and provides a better understanding for more rational design. The current challenge and future perspective regarding their clinical translation and application will also be discussed.
Understanding the relationship between structure and properties is critical to the development of solid-state luminescence materials with desired characteristics and performance optimization. In this work, we elaborately designed and synthesized a pair of mononuclear iridium(Ⅲ) complexes with similar structures but different degrees of cationization. [Ir2-f][2PF6] with two counterions is obtained by simple N-methylation of the ancillary ligand of [Ir1-f][PF6] which is a classic cationic iridium(Ⅲ) complex. Such a tiny modification results in tremendously different optical properties in dilute solutions and powders. [Ir1-f][PF6] exhibits weak light in solution but enhanced emission in solid-state as well as poly(methyl methacrylate) matrix, indicative of its aggregation-induced emission (AIE) activity. On the sharp contrary, [Ir2-f][2PF6] is an aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) emitter showing strong emission in the isolated state but nearly nonemissive in aggregation states. Benefiting from the appealing characteristics of mechanochromic luminescence and AIE behavior, [Ir1-f][PF6] has been successfully applied in reversible re-writable data recording and cell imaging. These results might provide deep insights into AIE and ACQ phenomenon of iridium(Ⅲ) complexes and facilitate the development of phosphorescent materials with promising properties.
The presence of alkali metals in exhaust gas from stationary resources causes a grand challenge for the practical application of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with NH3. Here, alkali-resistant NOx reduction has been successfully implemented via tailoring the electron transfer over Fe and V species on FeVO4/TiO2 catalysts. The strong interaction between Fe and V induced electron transfer from V to Fe and strengthened the adsorption and activation of NH3 and NO over active VOx sites. In the presence of K2O, the strong electron withdrawing effect of Fe offset the electron donating effect of K on the VOx species, thus protecting the active species VOx to maintain the NOx reduction ability. The enhanced adsorption and activation of NH3 allowed SCR reaction to proceed via E-R mechanism even after K2O poisoning. This work elucidated the electronic effects on the alkali metals resistance of traditional ferric vanadate SCR catalysts and provided a promising strategy to design SCR catalysts with superior alkali resistance.
DNA nanomaterials hold great promise in biomedical fields due to its excellent sequence programmability, molecular recognition ability and biocompatibility. Hybridization chain reaction (HCR) is a simple and efficient isothermal enzyme-free amplification strategy of DNA, generating nicked double helices with repeated units. Through the design of HCR hairpins, multiple nanomaterials with desired functions are assembled by DNA, exhibiting great potential in biomedical applications. Herein, the recent progress of HCR-based DNA nanomaterials for biosensing, bioimaging and therapeutics are summarized. Representative works are exemplified to demonstrate how HCR-based DNA nanomaterials are designed and constructed. The challenges and prospects of the development of HCR-based DNA nanomaterials are discussed. We envision that rationally designing HCR-based DNA nanomaterials will facilitate the development of biomedical applications.
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