Twist and sliding dynamics between interpenetrated frames in Ti-MOF revealing high proton conductivity

We report the design and synthesis of a titanium catecholate framework, MOF-217, comprised of 2,4,6-tri(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-1,3,5-triazine (TDHT) and isolated TiO₆ clusters, with 2-fold interpenetrated srs topology. The dynamics of the organic linker, breaking the C_3h symmetry, allowed for reversible twist and sliding between interpenetrated frames upon temperature change and the inclusion of small molecules. Introduction of 28 wt% imidazole into the pores of MOF-217, 28% Im-in-MOF-217, resulted in four orders of magnitude increase in proton conductivity, due to the appropriate accommodation of imidazole molecules and their proton transfer facilitated by the H-bond to the MOF structure across the pores. This MOF-based proton conductor can be operated at 100 °C with a proton conductivity of 1.1 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹, standing among the best performing anhydrous MOF proton conductors at elevated temperature. The interframe dynamics represents a unique feature of MOFs that can be accessed in the future design of proton conductors.

Twist and sliding dynamics observed in a titanium catecholate MOF induced by imidazole for efficient proton conduction.     

Cross‐Linked Aptamer–Lipid Micelles for Excellent Stability and Specificity in Target‐Cell Recognition

The specific binding ability of DNA–lipid micelles (DLMs) can be increased by the introduction of an aptamer. However, supramolecular micellar structures based on self‐assemblies of amphiphilic DLMs are expected to demonstrate low stability when interacting with cell membranes under certain conditions, which could lead to a reduction in selectivity for targeting cancer cells. We herein report a straightforward cross‐linking strategy that relies on a methacrylamide branch to link aptamer and lipid segments. By an efficient photoinduced polymerization process, covalently linked aptamer–lipid units help stabilize the micelle structure and enhance aptamer probe stability, further improving the targeting ability of the resulting nanoassembly. Besides the development of a facile cross‐linking method, this study clarifies the relationship between aptamer–lipid concentration and the corresponding binding ability.     

醇预处理载体制备的 Ir-Re/SiO2催化剂上甘油氢解反应

甘油是生物柴油的副产物,将其转化为高附加值的化学品,能提高生物柴油产业的经济性.1,3-丙二醇是聚酯和聚氨酯的单体,也用于合成医药和用作有机合成中间体,甘油直接催化氢解反应制1,3-丙二醇极具发展潜力.另外,甘油是生物质转化的重要平台分子之一,与目标产物的分子结构相比较,生物质平台分子通常含有过多的含氧基团,尤其是多余的羟基,通过甘油氢解反应研究多羟基的选择性活化和脱除,可以加深对生物质脱氧规律的认识.因此,研究甘油氢解反应制1,3-丙二醇催化剂和工艺,不仅具有潜在的应用前景,而且具有重要理论价值.然而,目前的甘油氢解催化剂性能还不够高,我们希望通过一些表面改性的方法处理载体硅胶,从而改变金属前驱体与载体表面的作用.因此,本文使用 C1–C4的正构醇处理硅胶载体,其负载的 Ir-Re催化剂上甘油氢解反应转化率从42.7%提高到59.5%,仲羟基脱除收率从21.6%提高到28.3%.研究发现,当处理载体所用正构醇的碳数从1增加到3时,对应催化剂上甘油转化率逐渐增加至最高;但当使用更正丁醇时,对应催化剂上甘油转化率下降.为了探究催化剂活性改变的原因,我们首先采用红外光谱(FT-IR)和氮气物理吸附确定烷氧基基团嫁接到硅胶载体上.程序升温还原结果发现,预处理载体相应的催化剂开始还原温度降低,表明在这些催化剂上形成了颗粒尺寸较小的Ir粒子. X-射线衍射分析发现,在新鲜的和使用后的催化剂上均未检测出Re物种的衍射峰,说明Re高度分散于催化剂表面.吸附吡啶的FT-IR结果表明,未处理和丙醇预处理硅胶负载的催化剂上均没有强酸位,它们的B/L酸比值相近,约为3.3.催化剂的吸附COFT-IR结果表明, CO线性吸附于Ir/SiO2催化剂上的主要吸收峰位置在2084 cm–1;而Re的加入使得该吸收峰红移,表明Ir和ReOx物种之间存在相互作用.透射电镜(TEM)、H2-程序升温脱附和NH3-程序升温脱附结果发现,醇预处理催化剂上具有更多的Ir-ReOx界面,而界面位点的数量与甘油转化率大小一致,表明Ir-ReOx位点可能就是甘油氢解的活性中心.反应后催化剂的TEM结果表明,醇预处理催化剂上的Ir颗粒要小于未处理催化剂的,其中丙醇预处理硅胶负载的催化剂上Ir粒径最小.这是由于醇处理催化剂上存在很多孤立的Si–OH,它们与金属前驱体相互作用有利于形成较小的金属颗粒.这些孤立的Si-OH则是由于表面烷氧基基团的隔离作用所形成的.当处理载体所用正构醇的碳数从1增加到3时,烷氧基的碳链变长,分隔作用越好,阻止金属前驱体聚集的程度越强,因而Ir物种和Re物种的分散度增加.但是当处理醇的碳数增加到4时,形成的表面烷氧基基团可能阻止了Re物种和Ir物种间相互作用,从而使得Ir和Re物种的分散度均降低,相应催化剂活性随之降低.     

Tadpole-shaped polymers based on UV-induced strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction

In the present study, we synthesized well-defined tadpole-shaped polystyrene (PS) via the combination of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and UV-induced strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddtion (SPAAC) reaction. A di-bromo ATRP initiator (Br-ini-Br) containing cyclopropenone-masked dibenzocyclooctyne group was used to prepare the linear PS with a cyclopropenone-masked dibenzocyclooctyne in the middle of the chain and bromo groups at both ends (Br-PS-Br). Then we used the single electron transfer-nitroxide radical coupling (SET-NRC) reaction to transfer the bromo end groups to azide groups (N3-PS-N3). After UV irradiation, the dibenzocyclooctyne group was quantitatively released, and intramolecularly reacted with alternative azide end group to produce the tadpole-shaped PS based on SPAAC reaction.     

Highly Dispersed and Small‐Sized Nickel(II) Hydroxide Co‐Catalyst Prepared by Photodeposition for Hydrogen Production

Photodeposition has been widely used as a mild and efficient synthetic method to deposit co‐catalysts. It is also worth studying how to synthesize non‐noble metal photocatalysts with uniform dispersion. Different synthetic conditions in photodeposition have a certain influence on particle size distribution and photocatalytic activity. Therefore, we designed experiments to prepare the inexpensive composite photocatalyst Ni(OH)₂/g‐C₃N₄ by photodeposition. The Ni(OH)₂ co‐catalysts disperse uniformly with particle sizes of about 10 nm. The photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of Ni(OH)₂/g‐C₃N₄ reached about 19 mmol g^?1 h^?1, with the Ni(OH)₂ deposition amount about 1.57 %. During 16 h stability testing, the rate of hydrogen production did not decrease significantly. The composite catalyst also revealed a good hydrogen production performance under sunlight. The Ni(OH)₂ co‐catalyst enhanced the separation ability of photogenerated carriers, which was proved by surface photovoltage and fluorescence analysis.     

Effect of energy dependent cross-section on flow velocity measurements with charge exchange spectroscopy in magnetized plasma

Charge exchange spectroscopy (CXS) is widely used to measure plasma flow velocity. Accurate measurement is heavily affected by energy dependent cross section between neutral atoms and impurity ions. One symmetric layout of poloidal CXS is applied on Large Helical Device. Correction velocity due to the cross section is exacted from total velocity when actual plasma flow velocity is acquired with the benefit of this layout. A linear relationship between correction velocity and ion temperature is observed. Abundant discharges with wide plasma conditions are investigated and the ratio of correction velocity to ion temperature with the same beam energy shows the normal distribution. The impact of beam energy on the ratio of correction velocity to ion temperature of the carbon system and the hydrogen system is discovered based upon the statistics. Effective emission coefficient (Q) from Atomic Data and Analysis Structure (ADAS) is utilized to study the dependence of correction velocity on Q. The relationship in which the ratio of correction velocity to ion temperature increases linearly with the increasing normalized effective emission coefficient ((1/Q)dQ/dv) is observed. Experimental (1/Q)dQ/dv is obtained according to this observation, and comparison with different fractions of n?=?2 excited state is also discussed. The influence of different receivers (carbon and hydrogen) is also presented. The experimental (1/Q)dQ/dv from the carbon system decreases with beam energy decreasing when beam energy is less than 30 keV/amu. This tendency of (1/Q)dQ/dv at low beam energy indicates the existence of the contribution of n?=?2 excited state donors to the cross section.     

Controllable wave propagation in a weakly nonlinear monoatomic lattice chain with nonlocal interaction and active control

The one-dimensional monoatomic lattice chain connected by nonlinear springs is investigated, and the asymptotic solution is obtained through the Lindstedt-Poincar′e perturbation method. The dispersion relation is derived with the consideration of both the nonlocal and the active control effects. The numerical results show that the nonlocal effect can effectively enhance the frequency in the middle part of the dispersion curve.When the nonlocal effect is strong enough, zero and negative group velocities will be evoked at different points along the dispersion curve, which will provide different ways of transporting energy including the forward-propagation, localization, and backwardpropagation of wavepackets related to the phase velocity. Both the nonlinear effect and the active control can enhance the frequency, but neither of them is able to produce zero or negative group velocities. Specifically, the active control enhances the frequency of the dispersion curve including the point at which the reduced wave number equals zero, and therefore gives birth to a nonzero cutoff frequency and a band gap in the low frequency range. With a combinational adjustment of all these effects, the wave propagation behaviors can be comprehensively controlled, and energy transferring can be readily manipulated in various ways.     

Experimental study on flow control of the turbulent boundary layer with micro-bubbles

The effect of micro-bubbles on the turbulent boundary layer in the channel flow with Reynolds numbers (Re) ranging from \(0.87\times 10 ^{5}\) to \(1.23\times 10^{5}\) is experimentally studied by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. The micro-bubbles are produced by water electrolysis. The velocity profiles, Reynolds stress and instantaneous structures of the boundary layer, with and without micro-bubbles, are measured and analyzed. The presence of micro-bubbles changes the streamwise mean velocity of the fluid and increases the wall shear stress. The results show that micro-bubbles have two effects, buoyancy and extrusion, which dominate the flow behavior of the mixed fluid in the turbulent boundary layer. The buoyancy effect leads to upward motion that drives the fluid motion in the same direction and, therefore, enhances the turbulence intense of the boundary layer. While for the extrusion effect, the presence of accumulated micro-bubbles pushes the flow structures in the turbulent boundary layer away from the near-wall region. The interaction between these two effects causes the vorticity structures and turbulence activity to be in the region far away from the wall. The buoyancy effect is dominant when the Re is relatively small, while the extrusion effect plays a more important role when Re rises.     

Hybrid continuum–coarse-grained modeling of erythrocytes

The red blood cell (RBC) membrane is a composite structure, consisting of a phospholipid bilayer and an underlying membrane-associated cytoskeleton. Both continuum and particle-based coarse-grained RBC models make use of a set of vertices connected by edges to represent the RBC membrane, which can be seen as a triangular surface mesh for the former and a spring network for the latter. Here, we present a modeling approach combining an existing continuum vesicle model with a coarse-grained model for the cytoskeleton. Compared to other two-component approaches, our method relies on only one mesh, representing the cytoskeleton, whose velocity in the tangential direction of the membrane may be different from that of the lipid bilayer. The finitely extensible nonlinear elastic (FENE) spring force law in combination with a repulsive force defined as a power function (POW), called FENE–POW, is used to describe the elastic properties of the RBC membrane. The mechanical interaction between the lipid bilayer and the cytoskeleton is explicitly computed and incorporated into the vesicle model. Our model includes the fundamental mechanical properties of the RBC membrane, namely fluidity and bending rigidity of the lipid bilayer, and shear elasticity of the cytoskeleton while maintaining surface-area and volume conservation constraint. We present three simulation examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of this hybrid continuum–coarse-grained model for the study of RBCs in fluid flows.