Impact of Zn(Ⅱ) Ions on Crystallization and Thermal Properties of Poly(lactic acid)

The issues of low crystallinity and slow crystallization rate of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) have been widely addressed. In this work, we find that doping PLA with Zn(Ⅱ) ions can speed up the process of crystallization of PLA. Three kinds of Zn(Ⅱ) salts (ZnCl\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}, ZnSt and ZnOAc) were tested in comparison with some other ions such as Mg(Ⅱ) and Ca(Ⅱ). The increased crystallinity and crystallization rate of PLA doping with Zn(Ⅱ) are reflected in FT-IR and variable temperature Raman spectroscopy. The crystallinity is further confirmed or measured with differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. The crystallinity rate of the PLA/ZnSt-0.4 wt% material can reach 22.46% and the crystallinity rate of the PLA/ZnOAc-0.4 wt% material can reach 24.83%, as measured with differential scanning calorimetry.     

Ion-Neutral Photofragment Coincidence Imaging of Photodissociation Dynamics of Ionic Species

The recently constructed cryogenic cylindrical ion trap velocity map imaging spectrometer (CIT-VMI) has been upgraded for coincidence imaging of both ionic and neutral photofragments from photodissociation of ionic species. The prepared ions are cooled down in a home-made cryogenic cylindrical ion trap and then extracted for photodissociation experiments. With the newly designed electric fields for extraction and acceleration, the ion beam can be accelerated to more than 4500 eV, which is necessary for velocity imaging of the neutral photofragments by using the position-sensitive imaging detector. The setup has been tested by the 355 nm photodissociation dynamics of the argon dimer cation (Ar\begin{document}$_2$\end{document}\begin{document}$^+$\end{document}). From the recorded experimental images of both neutral Ar and ionic Ar\begin{document}$^+$\end{document} fragments, we interpret velocity resolutions of \begin{document}$\Delta v/v$\end{document}\begin{document}$\approx$\end{document}4.6% for neutral fragments, and \begin{document}$\Delta v/v$\end{document}\begin{document}$\approx$\end{document}1.5% for ionic fragments, respectively.     

NH\begin{document}$ _\textbf{2} $\end{document}-MIL-53(Al) for Simultaneous Removal and Detection of Fluoride Anions

To address the limitations of the separate fluoride removal or detection in the existing materials, herein, amino-decorated metal organic frameworks NH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}-MIL-53(Al) have been succinctly fabricated by a sol-hydrothermal method for simultaneous removal and determination of fluoride. As a consequence, the proposed NH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}-MIL-53(Al) features high uptake capacity (202.5 mg/g) as well as fast adsorption rate, being capable of treating 5 ppm of fluoride solution to below the permitted threshold in drinking water within 15 min. Specifically, the specific binding between fluoride and NH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}-MIL-53(Al) results in the release of fluorescent ligand NH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}-BDC, conducive to the determination of fluoride via a concentration-dependent fluorescence enhancement effect. As expected, the resulting NH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}-MIL-53(Al) sensor exhibits selective and sensitive detection (with the detection limit of 0.31 \begin{document}$ \mu $\end{document}mol/L) toward fluoride accompanied with a wide response interval (0.5-100 \begin{document}$ \mu $\end{document}mol/L). More importantly, the developed sensor can be utilized for fluoride detection in practical water systems with satisfying recoveries from 89.6% to 116.1%, confirming its feasibility in monitoring the practical fluoride-contaminated waters.      

Fabrication of SERS-Active Au@Au@Ag Double Shell Nanoparticles for Low-Abundance Pigment Detection

Au@Au@Ag double shell nanoparticles were fabricated and characterized using TEM, STEM-mapping and UV-Vis methods. Using crystal violet as Raman probe, the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity of the as-prepared Au@Au@Ag nanoparticles was studied by comparing to Au, Au@Ag and Au@Au core-shell nanoparticles which were prepared by the same methods. Moreover, it can be found that the SERS activity was enhanced obviously by introduction of NaCl and the concentrations of NaCl played a key role in SERS detection. With an appropriate concentration of NaCl, the limit of detection as low as 10\begin{document}$ ^{-10} $\end{document} mol/L crystal violet can be achieved. The possible enhanced mechanism was also discussed. Furthermore, with simple sample pretreatment, the detection limit of 5 μg/g Rhodamine B (RhB) in chili powders can be achieved. The results highlight the potential utility of Au@Au@Ag for detection of illegal food additives with low concentrations.     

\begin{document}$ \mathit{{Ab}} $\end{document} \begin{document}$ \mathit{{initio}} $\end{document} Molecular Dynamics Study of Adsorption of Hydroxyl Groups on Graphene Surface

Reduced graphene oxide is the precursor to produce graphene in a large scale; however, to date, there has been no consensus on the electronic structure of reduced graphene oxide. In this study, we carried out an \begin{document}$ ab $\end{document} \begin{document}$ initio $\end{document} molecular dynamics simulation to investigate the adsorption process of hydroxyl groups on graphene surface. During the adsorption process, the OH group needs to firstly pass through a physical adsorption complex with the OH above the bridge site of two carbon atoms, next to surmount a transition state, then to be adsorbed at the atop site of a carbon atom. With a 5\begin{document}$ \times $\end{document}5 graphene surface, up to 6 hydroxyl groups can be adsorbed on the graphene surface, indicating the concentration coverage of the hydroxyl groups on graphene surface is about 12%. The simulation results show that the negative adsorption energy increases linearly as the number of adsorbed hydroxyl groups increases, and the band gap also increases linearly with the number of adsorbed hydroxyl groups.     

Influence of Electron Donating Ability on Reverse Intersystem Crossing Rate for One Kind of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Molecules

First-principles calculations are applied for investigating influence of electron donating ability of donor groups in eight thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules on their geometrical structures and transition properties as well as reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) processes. Results show that the diphenylamine substitution in the donor part can slightly change the bond angle but decrease bond length between donor and acceptor unit except for the lowest triplet state (T\begin{document}$_1$\end{document}) of carbazole-xanthone molecule. As the electron donating ability of donor groups is increased, the overlap between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) is decreased. As the diphenylamine groups are added in donor part, the delocalization of HOMO is enlarged, which brings a decreased energy gap (\begin{document}$\Delta E$\end{document}\begin{document}$_{\text{S}_1\text{-T}_1}$\end{document}) between the lowest singlet excited state (S\begin{document}$_1$\end{document}) and T\begin{document}$_1$\end{document} state. Furthermore, with the calculated spin-orbit coupling coefficient (\begin{document}$H_{\text{so}}$\end{document}), one finds that the larger value of \begin{document}$\displaystyle{\frac{\langle S_1|\hat{H}_{\text{so}}|{T}_1\rangle^2}{\Delta E_{\text{S}_1\text{-T}_1}^2}}$\end{document} is, the faster the RISC is. The results show that all investigated molecules are promising candidates as TADF molecules. Overall, a wise molecular design strategy for TADF molecules, in which a small \begin{document}$\Delta E_{\text{S}_1\text{-T}_1}$\end{document} can be achieved by enlarging the delocalization of frontier molecular orbitals with large separation between HOMO and LUMO, is proposed.     

Advanced Techniques for Quantum-State Specific Reaction Dynamics of Gas Phase Metal Atoms?

One of the themes of modern molecular reaction dynamics is to characterize elementary chemical reactions from "quantum state to quantum state", and the study of molecular reaction dynamics in excited states can help test the validity of modern chemical theories and provide methods to control chemical reactions. The subject of this review is to describe the recent experimental techniques used to study the reaction dynamics of metal atoms in the gas phase. Through these techniques, information such as the internal energy distribution and angular distribution of the nascent products or the three-dimensional stereodynamic reactivity can be obtained. In addition, by preparing metal atoms with specific excited electronic states or orbital arrangements, information about the reactivity of the electronic states enriches the relevant understanding of the electron transfer mechanism in metal reaction dynamics.      

One-Pot Synthesis of Tetraarylpyrrolo[3, 2-b]pyrrole Dopant-Free Hole-Transport Materials for Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Four organic small-molecule hole transport materials ( D41 , D42 , D43 and D44 ) of tetraarylpyrrolo[3, 2-b]pyrroles were prepared. They can be used without doping in the manufacture of the inverted planar perovskite solar cells. Tetraarylpyrrolo[3, 2-b]pyrroles are accessible for one-pot synthesis. D42 , D43 and D44 possess acceptor-\begin{document}$ \pi $\end{document}-donor-\begin{document}$ \pi $\end{document}-acceptor structure, on which the aryl bearing substitutes of cyan, fluorine and trifluoromethyl, respectively. Instead, the aryl moiety of D41 is in presence of methyl with a donor-\begin{document}$ \pi $\end{document}-donor-\begin{document}$ \pi $\end{document}-donor structure. The different substitutes significantly affected their molecular surface charge distribution and thin-film morphology, attributing to the electron-rich properties of fused pyrrole ring. The size of perovskite crystalline growth particles is affected by different molecular structures, and the electron-withdrawing cyan group of D42 is most conducive to the formation of large perovskite grains. The D42 fabricated devices with power conversion efficiency of 17.3% and retained 55% of the initial photoelectric conversion efficiency after 22 days in dark condition. The pyrrolo[3, 2-b]pyrrole is efficient electron-donating moiety for hole transporting materials to form good substrate in producing perovskite thin film.      

Ultrafast Electron Transfer in All-Small-Molecule Photovoltaic Blends Promoted by Intermolecular Interactions in Cyanided Donors

Cyano substitution has been established as a viable approach to optimize the performance of all-small-molecule organic solar cells. However, the effect of cyano substitution on the dynamics of photo-charge generation remains largely unexplored. Here, we report an ultrafast spectroscopic study showing that electron transfer is markedly promoted by enhanced intermolecular charge-transfer interaction in all-small-molecule blends with cyanided donors. The delocalized excitations, arising from intermolecular interaction in the moiety of cyano-substituted donor, undergo ultrafast electron transfer with a lifetime of \begin{document}$ \sim $\end{document}3 ps in the blend. In contrast, some locally excited states, surviving in the film of donor without cyano substitution, are not actively involved in the charge separation. These findings well explain the performance improvement of devices with cyanided donors, suggesting that manipulating intermolecular interaction is an efficient strategy for device optimization.     

Photodissociation Dynamics of CS2 Near 204 nm: The S(3PJ)+CS(X1Σ+)Channels

We study the photodissociation dynamics of CS\begin{document}$_2$\end{document} in the ultraviolet region using the time-sliced velocity map ion imaging technique. The S(\begin{document}$^3$\end{document}P\begin{document}$_J$\end{document})+CS(\begin{document}$X^1\Sigma^+$\end{document}) product channels were observed and identified at four wavelengths of 201.36, 203.10, 204.85 and 206.61 nm. In the measured images of S(\begin{document}$^3$\end{document}P\begin{document}$_{J=2, 1, 0}$\end{document}), the vibrational states of the CS(\begin{document}$X^1\Sigma^+$\end{document}) co-products were partially resolved and the vibrational state distributions were determined. Moreover, the product total kinetic energy releases and the anisotropic parameters were derived. The relatively small anisotropic parameter values indicate that the S(\begin{document}$^3$\end{document}P\begin{document}$_{J=2, 1, 0}$\end{document})+CS(\begin{document}$X^1\Sigma^+$\end{document}) channels are very likely formed via the indirect predissociation process of CS\begin{document}$_2$\end{document}. The study of the S(\begin{document}$^3$\end{document}P\begin{document}$_{J=2, 1, 0}$\end{document})+CS(\begin{document}$X^1\Sigma^+$\end{document}) channels, which come from the spin-orbit coupling dissociation process of CS\begin{document}$_2$\end{document}, shows that nonadiabatic process plays a role in the ultraviolet photodissociation of CS\begin{document}$_2$\end{document}.     

Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy with Active Phase Management?

Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) is a powerful method to probe the coherent electron dynamics in complicated systems. Stabilizing the phase difference of the incident ultrashort pulses is the most challenging part for experimental demonstration of 2DES. Here, we present a tutorial review on the 2DES protocols based on active phase managements which are originally developed for quantum optics experiments. We introduce the 2DES techniques in box and pump-probe geometries with phase stabilization realized by interferometry, and outline the fully collinear 2DES approach with the frequency tagging by acoustic optical modulators and frequency combs. The combination of active phase managements, ultrashort pulses and other spectroscopic methods may open new opportunities to tackle essential challenges related to excited states.      

Intra- and Intermolecular Rovibrational States of HCl-H\begin{document}$ _\textbf{2} $\end{document}O and DCl-H\begin{document}$ _\textbf{2} $\end{document}O Dimers from Full-Dimensional and Fully Coupled Quantum Calculations

We report full-dimensional and fully coupled quantum bound-state calculations of the \begin{document}$ J $\end{document} = 1 intra- and intermolecular rovibrational states of two isotopologues of the hydrogen chloride-water dimer, HCl-H\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}O (HH) and DCl-H\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}O (DH). The present study complements our recent theoretical investigations of the \begin{document}$ J $\end{document} = 0 nine-dimensional (9D) vibrational level structure of these and two other H/D isotopologues of this noncovalently bound molecular complex, and employs the same accurate 9D permutation invariant polynomial-neural network potential energy surface. The calculations yield all intramolecular vibrational fundamentals of the HH and DH dimers and the low-energy intermolecular rovibrational states in these intramolecular vibrational manifolds. The results are compared with those of the 9D \begin{document}$ J $\end{document} = 0 calculations of the same dimers. The energy differences between the \begin{document}$ K $\end{document} = 1 and \begin{document}$ K $\end{document} = 0 eigenstates exhibit pronounced variations with the intermolecular rovibrational states, for which a qualitative explanation is provided.     

Ultrafast Excited State Dynamics of Biliverdin Dimethyl Ester Coordinate with Zinc Ions

As one of the biological endogenous pigments, biliverdin (BV) and its dimethyl ester (BVE) have extremely weak fluorescence in solution with quantum yield less than 0.01%. However, the situation reverses with the addition of zinc ions. The strength for fluorescence of BVE-Zn\begin{document}$ ^{2+} $\end{document} complex is greatly enhanced and fluorescence quantum yield can increase to \begin{document}$ \sim $\end{document}5%. Herein, we studied ultrafast excited state dynamics of BVE-Zn\begin{document}$ ^{2+} $\end{document} complex in ethanol, \begin{document}$ n $\end{document}-propanol, and DMSO solutions in order to reveal the mechanism of fluorescence quantum yield enhancement. The results show that BVE can form a stable coordination complex with zinc with 1:1 stoichiometry in solution. BVE is structurally and energetically more stable in the complex. Using picosecond time-resolve fluorescence and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, we show that smaller non-radiative rate constant of BVE-Zn\begin{document}$ ^{2+} $\end{document} complex in DMSO is the key to increasing its fluorescence quantum yield and the excited state decay mechanism is also revealed. These results provide valuable information about the fluorescence property change after BVE binding to metal ions and may provide a guidance for the study of phytochromes or other fluorescence proteins in which BV/BVE acts as chromophores.     

Excited State Trap in Erbium Doped Borate Glass

Erbium doped borate glass is widely used in luminescent materials, the luminescence dynamics of erbium doped borate glass is of great significance for optimizing and improving the luminous efficiency. The 2% molar ratio erbium doped borate glass was synthesized by the traditional melt quenching method, and annealed at 260 \begin{document}$^{\circ}$\end{document}C below the borate glass transition temperature. The thermal performance parameters of borate glass undoped and doped with Er\begin{document}$^{3+}$\end{document} were measured by differential scanning calorimetry with 10 \begin{document}$^{\circ}$\end{document}C/min. The transient emission spectrum and decay kinetics curves were measured for the luminescence mechanism of erbium doped borate. Er\begin{document}$^{3+}$\end{document} ions have different lifetime when emitted at 556 nm with different excitation wavelengths, the excited state trap may exist in erbium doped borate glass.     

A New Experimental Method for Investigations on Microstructure of Liquid-Vapor Interface?

Many physical, chemical, and biological processes happen in liquid-vapor interface and are profoundly influenced with the local microstructures. In contrast to the liquid bulk, molecular orientation is the remarkable one of asymmetric structural features of the interface. Here we report an experimental method, namely, electron-impact time-delayed mass spectrometry and give a brief review about our recent progresses. This brand-new method not only enables us to have more insights into the interfacial structures, as done with small-angle X-ray and neutron scatterings and vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy, but also provides opportunity to explore the electron-driven chemical reactions therein.      

Intracellular Self-assembly of TPE-biotin Nanoparticles Enables Aggregation-Induced Emission Fluorescence for Cancer-Targeted Imaging

Fluorogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics have recently been widely applied for studying biological events, and fluorogens with "smart" properties are especially desirable. Herein, we rationally designed and synthesized a biotinylated and reduction-activatable probe (Cys(StBu)-Lys(biotin)-Lys(TPE)-CBT (\begin{document}$\textbf{1}$\end{document})) with AIE properties for cancer-targeted imaging. The biotinylated probe \begin{document}$\textbf{1}$\end{document} can be actively uptaken by the biotin receptor-overexpressing cancer cells, and then "smartly" self-assemble into nanoparticles inside cells and turn the fluorescence "On". Employing this "smart" strategy, we successfully applied probe \begin{document}$\textbf{1}$\end{document} for cancer-targeted imaging. We envision that this biotinylated intelligent probe \begin{document}$\textbf{1}$\end{document} might be further developed for cancer-targeted imaging in routine clinical studies in the near future.     

Theoretical Investigating Mechanisms of Drug-Resistance Generated by Mutation-Induced Changes in Influenza Viruses

Influenza A (A/H\begin{document}$ x $\end{document}N\begin{document}$ y $\end{document}) is a significant public health concern due to its high infectiousness and mortality. Neuraminidase, which interacts with sialic acid (SIA) in host cells, has become an essential target since its highly conserved catalytic center structure, while resistance mutations have already generated. Here, a detailed investigation of the drug resistance mechanism caused by mutations was performed for subtype N9 (A/H7N9). Molecular dynamics simulation and alanine-scanning-interaction-entropy method (ASIE) were used to explore the critical differences between N9 and Zanamivir (ZMR) before and after R294K mutation. The results showed that the mutation caused the hydrogen bond between Arg294 and ZMR to break, then the hydrogen bonding network was disrupted, leading to weakened binding ability and resistance. While in wild type (A/H7N9\begin{document}$ ^{ \rm{WT}} $\end{document}), this hydrogen bond was initially stable. Meanwhile, N9 derived from A/H11N9 was obtained as an R292K mutation. Then the relative binding free energy of N9 with five inhibitors (SIA, DAN, ZMR, G28, and G39) was predicted, basically consistent with experimental values, indicating that the calculated results were reliable by ASIE. In addition, Arg292 and Tyr406 were hot spots in the A/H11N9\begin{document}$ ^{ \rm{WT}} $\end{document}-drugs. However, Lys292 was not observed as a favorable contributing residue in A/H11N9\begin{document}$ ^{ \rm{R292K}} $\end{document}, which may promote resistance. In comparison, Tyr406 remained the hotspot feature when SIA, ZMR, and G28 binding to A/H11N9\begin{document}$ ^{ \rm{R292K}} $\end{document}. Combining the two groups, we speculate that the resistance was mainly caused by the disruption of the hydrogen bonding network and the transformation of hotspots. This study could guide novel drug delivery of drug-resistant mutations in the treatment of A/H\begin{document}$ x $\end{document}N9.     

State-to-State Quantum Dynamical Study of H+Br2→HBr+Br Reaction

The time-dependent wave packet method has been employed to calculate the state-to-state integral cross sections and differential cross sections (DCSs) for three initial states of the title reaction on the recently constructed neural network potential energy surface. It is found that the product HBr(\begin{document}$ v' $\end{document} = 2, 3, 4) states have the dominated population in the entire energy region considered here, indicating an inverted HBr vibrational state distribution. More than half of the available energy ends up as product internal motion, and most of which goes into the vibrational motion. Our calculations show that initial rotational excitation of Br\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document} has little effect on the product ro-vibrational state distributions and DCSs of the reaction. While the initial vibrational excitation has some influences. The initial vibrational excitation to \begin{document}$ v_0 $\end{document} = 5 obviously enhance the product vibrational excitation in the low energy region. The DCSs for collision energy up to 0.5 eV at the ground and rotationally excited state are peaked in the backward direction, but the width of the angular distribution increases considerably with the increase of collision energy. For the vibrationally excited state, the DCSs are rather complicated with some strong forward scattering peaks for highly vibrationally excited products.     

Adiabatic Potential Energy Surfaces and Photodissociation Mechanisms for Highly Excited States of H2O

Full-dimensional adiabatic potential energy surfaces of the electronic ground state \begin{document}$ \tilde X $\end{document} and nine excited states \begin{document}$ \tilde A $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ \tilde I $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ \tilde B $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ \tilde C $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ \tilde D $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ \tilde D' $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ \tilde D'' $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ \tilde E' $\end{document} and \begin{document}$ \tilde F $\end{document} of H\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}O molecule are developed at the level of internally contracted multireference configuration interaction with the Davidson correction. The potential energy surfaces are fitted by using Gaussian process regression combining permutation invariant polynomials. With a large selected active space and extra diffuse basis set to describe these Rydberg states, the calculated vertical excited energies and equilibrium geometries are in good agreement with the previous theoretical and experimental values. Compared with the well-investigated photodissociation of the first three low-lying states, both theoretical and experimental studies on higher states are still limited. In this work, we focus on all the three channels of the highly excited state, which are directly involved in the vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation of water. In particular, some conical intersections of \begin{document}$ \tilde D $\end{document}-\begin{document}$ \tilde E' $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ \tilde E' $\end{document}-\begin{document}$ \tilde F $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ \tilde A $\end{document}-\begin{document}$ \tilde I $\end{document} and \begin{document}$ \tilde I $\end{document}-\begin{document}$ \tilde C $\end{document} states are clearly illustrated for the first time based on the newly developed potential energy surfaces (PESs). The nonadiabatic dissociation pathways for these excited states are discussed in detail, which may shed light on the photodissociation mechanisms for these highly excited states.     

Infrared Spectroscopy of Neutral Clusters Based on a Vacuum Ultraviolet Free Electron Laser?

Spectroscopic characterization of clusters is crucial to understanding the structures and reaction mechanisms at the microscopic level, but it has been proven to be a grand challenge for neutral clusters because the absence of a charge makes it difficult for the size selection and detection. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy based on threshold photoionization using a tunable vacuum ultraviolet free electron laser (VUV-FEL) has recently been developed in the lab. The IR-VUV depletion and IR+VUV enhancement spectroscopic techniques open new avenues for size-selected IR spectroscopies of a large variety of neutral clusters without confinement (i.e., an ultraviolet chromophore, a messenger tag, or a host matrix). The spectroscopic principles have been demonstrated by investigations of some neutral water clusters and some metal carbonyls. Here, the spectroscopic principles and their applications for neutral clusters are reviewed.