Theoretical investigation on reverse intersystem crossing from upper triplet to lowest singlet: A “hot exciton” path for blue fluorescent OLEDs

Nowadays, blue fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes (FOLEDs) have attracted considerable attention from both academia and industry. According to spin statistics, electrical excitation results in the formation of ∼25% singlet excitons and ∼75% triplet excitons (signifying ~75% energy loss), which triggered wide-ranging efforts to harvest as many triplet excitons as possible. The materials that can convert triplet excitons into singlet excitons from the high-lying excited triplet states (referred as “hot exciton” channel) to realize high efficiency were reported, which can also efficaciously avoid the accumulation of triplet excitons in T₁ state. In this study, by means of density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT, we have theoretically investigated the electronic and photophysical properties of 16 newly designed molecules with donor-bridge-acceptor framework to search for the blue FOLED materials exploiting the “hot exciton” path. Important properties, such as singlet-triplet energy gaps, absorption and emission parameters, and reverse intersystem crossing rates (k_RISC), of five target molecules were studied. The calculated results demonstrate that thiophene-diphenylamine (k_RISC up to 1.03 × 10⁸ seconds⁻¹) may have promising potential as blue FOLED materials by virtue of the “hot exciton” effect.     

Facile Synthesis of MOF-derived Mn3O4@N-doped Carbon with Efficient Oxygen Reduction

Integration of MnO_x into the carbon matrix proves a viable strategy to improve the electrochemical performance of MnO_x materials. Mn₃O₄ nanoparticle-decorated N-doped carbon composites (Mn₃O₄@N-doped carbon) were facilely prepared from a non-porous eight-fold interpenetrated Zn^II-based MOF, which involves first synthesis of bimetallic Mn/Zn-MOF in one-pot reaction followed by direct pyrolysis at 1000 °C. In 0.1 m KOH solution, the optimal Mn₃O₄@N-doped carbon exhibits decent oxygen reduction activity with the onset potential (E_onset) of 0.94 V (vs. RHE) and half-wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.81 V (vs. RHE), excellent methanol tolerance as well as good durability.     

Fast and Selective Semihydrogenation of Alkynes by Palladium Nanoparticles Sandwiched in Metal–Organic Frameworks

The semihydrogenation of alkynes into alkenes rather than alkanes is of great importance in the chemical industry. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art heterogeneous catalysts hardly achieve high turnover frequencies (TOFs) simultaneously with almost full conversion, excellent selectivity, and good stability. Here, we used metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) containing Zr metal nodes (“UiO”) with tunable wettability and electron-withdrawing ability as activity accelerators for the semihydrogenation of alkynes catalyzed by sandwiched palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs). Impressively, the porous hydrophobic UiO support not only leads to an enrichment of phenylacetylene around the Pd NPs but also renders the Pd surfaces more electron-deficient, which leads to a remarkable catalysis performance, including an exceptionally high TOF of 13835 h⁻¹, 100 % phenylacetylene conversion 93.1 % selectivity towards styrene, and no activity decay after successive catalytic cycles. The strategy of using molecularly tailored supports is universal for boosting the selective semihydrogenation of various terminal and internal alkynes.     

Self-Assembly of Highly Stable Zirconium(IV) Coordination Cages with Aggregation Induced Emission Molecular Rotors for Live-Cell Imaging

The self-assembly of highly stable zirconium(IV)-based coordination cages with aggregation induced emission (AIE) molecular rotors for in vitro bio-imaging is reported. The two coordination cages, NUS-100 and NUS-101, are assembled from the highly stable trinuclear zirconium vertices and two flexible carboxyl-decorated tetraphenylethylene (TPE) spacers. Extensive experimental and theoretical results show that the emissive intensity of the coordination cages can be controlled by restricting the dynamics of AIE-active molecular rotors though multiple external stimuli. Because the two coordination cages have excellent chemical stability in aqueous solutions (pH stability: 2–10) and impressive AIE characteristics contributed by the molecular rotors, they can be employed as novel biological fluorescent probes for in vitro live-cell imaging.     

红色荧光碳点的制备及其对过硫酸根的检测

以对苯二胺为碳源,乙醇为溶剂,采用溶剂热法合成红色荧光碳点(R-CDs)。 通过透射电子显微镜、紫外可见吸收光谱(UV-Vis)、红外光谱(FT-IR)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)对其进行表征。 合成的R-CDs粒径约为(3.63±0.20) nm。 R-CDs的最大激发和发射波长分别为480和620 nm,具有激发波长独立性,光稳定性好。 基于静态猝灭,R-CDs的荧光可以被过硫酸根(S₂O₈^2-)有效猝灭。 在2.5~120 μmol/L范围内,S₂O₈^2-的浓度与R-CDs的荧光猝灭程度呈线性关系,相关系数(R²)为0.9970,检出限为1.2 μmol/L,具有良好的选择性和高灵敏度。 同时,该荧光传感体系可应用于自来水和湖水样品中S₂O₈^2-的检测。     

“非保护型”金属胶体纳米簇形成机理研究

碱-乙二醇法制备的"非保护型"金属及合金纳米簇由表面吸附的溶剂分子和简单离子实现稳定化,它们被广泛用于制备高性能复相催化剂和研究复相催化剂中的尺寸、组成、载体表面基团以及修饰剂对催化性能的影响。关于此类非保护金属纳米簇的形成过程及机理的认识尚有待进一步深化。本文采用原位快速扫描X射线吸收精细结构谱(QXAFS)、原位紫外-可见(UV-Vis)吸收光谱、透射电子显微镜和动态光散射技术研究了碱-乙二醇法合成中非保护型金属胶体纳米簇的形成过程与机理。结果表明,在碱-乙二醇法合成非保护型Pt金属纳米簇的过程中,室温下即有部分Pt(IV)被还原至Pt(II)。随着反应温度的升高,OH-逐渐取代与Pt离子配位的Cl-,在Pt―Pt键形成之前,反应体系的UV-Vis吸收光谱中可观察到明显的纳米粒子的散射信号,原位QXAFS分析表明Pt纳米簇是由Pt氧化物纳米粒子还原所形成的;在Ru金属纳米簇的形成过程中,OH-首先取代了Ru Cl_3中的Cl~-,形成羟基配合物Ru(OH) _6~(3-),后者进一步缩合形成氧化钌纳米粒子,最终Ru金属纳米簇由乙二醇还原氧化钌纳米粒子形成。由于先形成了氧化物纳米粒子,后续的还原反应被限制在氧化物纳米粒子内,使最终得到的非保护型金属纳米簇具有尺寸小、分布窄的特点。本工作所获得的知识对发展高性能能源转化催化剂、精细化学合成催化剂、传感器等功能体系具有重要意义。     

“拟双子”阴离子表面活性剂在癸烷/水界面的分子动力学模拟

采用全原子分子动力学模拟方法研究了壬基酚取代的系列烷基磺酸盐表面活性剂在癸烷/水界面的微观聚集行为,通过分析界面厚度、界面生成能和界面张力以及表面活性剂分子与水分子之间的径向分布函数和配位数,讨论了不同磺烷基链长度对壬基酚基取代烷基磺酸盐表面活性剂界面性质的影响.结果表明,磺烷基链长为12时,表面活性剂的界面张力最低,界面厚度和界面生成能最大.     

二氧化硅气凝胶对挥发性有机污染物的吸附性能研究

以TEOS为前驱体,乙醇为溶剂,氢氟酸为催化剂,一步法合成了常规二氧化硅气凝胶。经乙醇超临界干燥后,通过SEM,FTIR和N2吸脱附分析仪等仪器对二氧化硅气凝胶样品进行表征,以更好地了解吸附机理与性质的关系。结果表明,样品的比表面积高达519 m2/g,孔体积为1.9 cm3/g,平均孔径为15.15 nm,是一种优良的吸附材料。制备的样品用作测试甲苯、对二甲苯和苯三种挥发性有机化合物的吸附效果。结果表明,二氧化硅气凝胶对三种污染物都具有很高的吸附量,其高吸附能力归因于气凝胶的三维纳米网络结构。样品对甲苯,对二甲苯和苯的最大吸附能力分别为1422.8 mg/g,707.4 mg/g和1299.4 mg/g。综上所述,二氧化硅气凝胶是一种很有前景的处理挥发性有机化合物的吸附剂,具有优异的吸附性能。     

通过赝反伽伐尼反应实现金纳米粒子模块替换

通过可控的方式精确调控纳米粒子的结构仍是一个富有挑战性和鼓舞人心的课题.尽管单原子或两、三个金属原子的精细调控已经在金纳米粒子中实现,涉及三个以上金属原子的取代（模块取代）还没有报道.本工作报道了环己硫醇配体保护的Au₄₈（CHT）₂₆的合成及其通过赝反伽伐尼过程的模块取代.单晶结构揭示模块取代的产物与母体团簇共用一个相似的Au₃₁（CHT）₁₂主体,但剩余部分不同（Au₆（CHT）₁₁ vs.Au₁₆（CHT）₁₄）.一个有趣的发现是模块取代抑制了Au₄₈（CHT）₂₆的光热过程,却增强了它的发射,赋予了所合成团簇更好的双（多）功能应用潜力.光热效应的减弱和发射的增强也暗示了这两种作用能够彼此至少部分转化,对于研究这两种效应之间的相互影响也具有重要的启示.     

用于细胞和组织中弗林蛋白酶特异性成像的双光子荧光探针研究

弗林蛋白酶是前体蛋白转化酶家族中最具特色的酶之一,具有重要的生物学功能,其表达量水平与许多疾病有密切的关系,如癌症的发生和发展与弗林蛋白酶表达水平有着密切关联.目前文献中报道了一些单光子荧光探针用于弗林蛋白酶的检测,但这些探针不能应用于深层组织成像,且弗林蛋白酶在肿瘤发展过程的作用仍没有得到很好地研究.针对这些问题,本工作构建了一种新型双光子荧光探针Nap-F用于细胞和肿瘤组织内弗林蛋白酶的检测与双光子成像.Nap-F是由经典双光子荧光染料1,8-萘酰亚胺、弗林蛋白酶特异性多肽序列RVRR和自消除连接体整合而成.实验结果表明Nap-F对弗林蛋白酶具有很好的特异性,能够定量检测弗林蛋白酶的活性.在飞秒激光820 nm激发下,Nap-F能有效降低生物背景,并提高组织穿透深度,适用于细胞和组织的双光子成像.Nap-F成功地实现了几种活细胞中弗林蛋白酶的双光子成像,揭示了癌细胞和表达缺陷细胞中弗林蛋白酶含量的差异.更重要的是,我们将该探针用于CoCl₂固定HIF-1构建的肿瘤细胞缺氧模型成像,实验结果表明弗林蛋白酶的表达与肿瘤细胞缺氧程度存在正相关性.