Latest ArticlesThere is a great demand for high-performance hydrogen sulfide (H2S) sensors with low operating temperatures. Ag/In2O3 hexagonal tubes with different proportions were prepared by the calcination of Ag+-impregnated indium-organic frameworks (CPP-3(In)), and the developed sensors exhibit enhanced gas-sensing performance toward H2S. Gas sensing measurements indicate that the response of Ag/In2O3 (2.5 wt%) sensor to 5 ppm H2S has the highest response (119), operated at 70 ℃. The Ag/In2O3 (2.5 wt%) based sensor exhibits short response time (20 s), low detection limit (300 ppb), and good selectivity toward H2S gas, which imply that the CPP-3(In)-derived Ag/In2O3 hexagonal tube is a promising candidate to be constructed a low power-consumption H2S sensor.
Sodium (Na) O2 batteries have high energy density and low cost. However, high polarization, complex discharge products, and low Coulombic efficiency (CE) lead to poor cyclability. Here, we proposed an atomically dispersed Ru catalyst on nitrogen-doped graphene for Na-O2 batteries. The catalysts enable the discharge to proceed via a surface-mediated route, which leads to uniform deposition of Na2-xO2 and low polarization during recharge. The first-principle calculation revealed that Ru-N4 complex in the catalyst has strong chemical adsorption to intermediate superoxides, facilitating uniform deposition and enhancing rapid kinetics. In contrast, Ru nanoparticles, despite the catalytic activity, induce bulk deposition via a solution-mediated route because the exposed graphene surface shows weak interaction to superoxides, thereby lowering CEs and cyclability. In brief, the atomically-dispersed Ru catalyst endows Na-O2 batteries with excellent electrochemical properties via a surface-mediated discharge.
(±)-Pyriindolin (1) with a rare molecular backbone formed by fusing a 2, 2′-bipyridine nucleus into a spiro[furan-3, 3′-indoline] skeleton, was isolated from the Streptomyces albolongus EA12432. The constitution and the relative configuration of (±)-1 were determined by extensive spectroscopic analyses, 13C calculation and DP4+ probability analysis. The absolute configurations of optically pure (+)-1 and (−)-1 which were obtained after a chiral high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separation were further identified by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. (+)- and (−)-Pyriindolins displayed moderate cytotoxicity against HCT-116 cell line with the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 2.89 ± 0.17 µmol/L and 4.47 ± 0.26 µmol/L, respectively.
Formaldehyde is an important air pollutant and its removal is essential to protect human health and meet environmental regulations. Ag-based catalyst has a considerable potential for HCHO oxidation in low temperature range. The valence state of Ag is one of the key roles in formaldehyde catalytic oxidation. However, its effect on activity is still ambiguous. Non-thermal plasma and conventional calcination were employed to regulate Ag valence state in this study. Three Ag-Co/CeO2 catalysts with totally different distribution of Ag species were obtained. A special mixed Ag valence state, ~50% Ag+ with a few Ag0 and Ag+, was achieved by plasma activation. It had the merits of both good activity and stability. A close relationship between Ag valence state and the activity for HCHO oxidation was established. The activity of different Ag species follows the order: Ag+ + Ag0 + Ag+ > Ag+ > Ag0 > Ag+.
Single-component organic solar cells (SCOSCs) with high stability and simplified fabrication process are supposed to accelerate the commercialization of organic photovoltaics. However, the types of photo-active materials and photovoltaic performance of SCOSCs are still far lagging behind the bulk-heterojunction type organic solar cells (BHJ OSCs). It is still an arduous task to introduce new photo-active materials into SCOSCs, aiming to improve the efficiencies of SCOSCs. One feasible way is to construct double-cable polymers with new structures and tune conformation, morphology and mobility for the improvement in power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Hence, in this work, we constructed a new double-cable polymer PBTT-BPTI by introducing fused core 5,7-dibromo-2,3-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-c']dithiophene-4,8-dione (TTDO) into the main backbone and benzo[ghi]-perylene triimide (BPTI) unit into the side chain. Both of the two units show strong electron-withdrawing property, which are expected to broaden absorption spectra and enhance intermolecular interaction. The double-cable polymer exhibited a broad absorption in the range of 300-700 nm with an optical band gap (Eg) of 1.79 eV. The PCE of PBTT-BPTI-based SCOSCs was 2.15%, which may be limited by the unconstructed efficient electron transporting channels.
Anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the key bottleneck for water electrolysis technique owing to its sluggish reaction kinetics. Interfacial engineering on the rationally designed heterostructure can regulate the electronic states efficiently for intrinsic activity improvement. Here, we report a co-phosphorization approach to construct a VPO4-Ni2P heterostructure on nickel foam with strongly chemical binding, wherein phosphate acts as electronic modifier for Ni2P electrocatalyst. Profiting from the interfacial interaction, it is uncovered that electron shifts from Ni2P to VPO4 to render valence increment in Ni species. Such an electronic manipulation rationalizes the chemical affinities of various oxygen intermediates in OER pathway, giving a substantially reduced energy barrier. As a result, the advanced VPO4-Ni2P heterostructure only requires an overpotential of 289 mV to deliver a high current density of 350 mA/cm2 for OER in alkaline electrolyte, together with a Tafel slope as low as 28 mV/dec. This work brings fresh insights into interfacial engineering for advanced electrocatalyst design.
This study synthesized UiO-66 (Zr) in situ on wood via a one-step solvothermal method. UiO-66/wood was successfully prepared and its catalytic performance for the ofloxacin (OFX) photodegradation under simulate sunlight was also explored. UiO-66/wood exhibited a better catalytic performance, and its degradation rate constant was about 1.2 and 1.5 times than that of UiO-66 and wood, respectively. The effects of solution initial concentration, pH of the system and dosage of the photocatalyst were explored. Additionally, the active species trapping experiments and UV–vis diffused reflectance spectra measurements were conducted to investigated the photocatalytic mechanism of the UiO-66/wood composite, superoxide radical (O2•–) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) were the main reactive species. In addition, the possible degradation pathways of OFX were analyzed by LC-MS. Meanwhile, the UiO-66/wood showed outstanding stability and reusability after 4 cycles experiments. The removal performance of UiO-66/wood towards real samples showed it has potential in actual application.
Multicomponent binary metal oxide-involved hybrid structures with unique physicochemical properties have received extensive attention due to their fascinating electrochemical performance. Herein, a flexible strategy, which involves the preparation of dual-functional heterometallic Fe2M clusters and their subsequent sintering treatment, is developed to engineer novel 3D hierarchical porous structures assembled with MFe2O4 (M = Co, Mn, Ni and Zn) nanoparticles confined within carbon outer shell (denoted as MFe2O4@C HPSs). In this intriguing construction, it can be observed that MFe2O4@C HPSs comprised of carbon coated secondary MFe2O4 nanoparticles with an interconnected carbon network. The as-prepared MFe2O4@C HPSs possess combined advantages of high capacity of MFe2O4 and high conductivity of carbon. As expected, the MFe2O4@C HPSs offer a high reversible capacity, high cycling stability and superior rate performance. The interconnected conductive carbon shells facilitates fast ion and electron transport and accommodates the mechanical strain. In addition, nanosized MFe2O4 particles, which shorten the ion-transport path and provide extra electroactive sites, also improve the reaction kinetics. Moreover, these MFe2O4@C HPSs exhibit good structural integrity during repeated charging and discharging. The research perspective and strategy reported here are highly versatile and shed new light on the synthesis of other advanced electrode for various applications.
Porous carbon materials have attracted much attention in the field of organic synthesis in recent years, due to their tunable properties, excellent catalytic activity and stability. Biomass-based carbohydrates emerge as an ideal precursor for the generation of these materials owing to their renewability, low cost, non-toxicity and high content of functional groups. Thus, carbon materials prepared from carbohydrates is of considerable importance for the sustainable development of organic chemistry. The present review not only summarizes recent examples of carbohydrate-derived porous carbon material-catalyzed organic reactions including the oxidation, hydrogenation, cross-coupling, esterification and condensation reactions, but also introduces the preparation and functionalization strategies of these materials. Furthermore, the challenges and opportunities of organic synthesis over these sustainable materials have also been addressed. This review will stimulate further research on exploring novel carbohydrate-derived porous carbon materials and new sustainable organic synthetic processes over these materials.
Mufolinin A (1), a ring A-seco rearranged limonoid with an unprecedented ethyl at C-10 and novel 6/6/6/5 fused-ring skeleton, together with three new potential precursors (ring A-seco limonoids, 2–4) were isolated from Munronia unifoliolata. Their structures and absolute configurations were confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (HRESIMS), X-ray crystallography, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations and NMR calculations with DP4+ analyses. The unprecedented ethyl group of 1 was hypothesized to be derived from methyl migration and ring reduction rearrangement of ring A-seco limonoid 4. Compounds 2 and 4 showed significant multidrug resistance (MDR) reversal activities in MCF-7/DOX cells with reversal fold (RF) values of 13.1 and 8.0, respectively.