二维纳米材料的改性及其环境污染物治理方面的应用

二维纳米材料是一类具有类似二维平面形态,且厚度在纳米级甚至数个原子层的材料,其种类繁多并且具有很多与体相材料不同的物化性质,在众多领域受到了广泛关注。二维纳米材料在催化降解、吸脱附、过滤、传感检测等领域具有可观的应用潜力,还可用于环境污染的防治。通过形貌、元素、基团、缺陷的修饰、改性和材料合成等策略可以调控二维纳米材料的性质,从而研发新的材料体系或者改善二维纳米材料的性能。本文首先归纳了二维纳米材料的种类,并重点阐述了各种改性策略的作用及研究现状,以及改性的二维纳米材料在治理水体污染、大气污染和污染物检测等方面的应用,为二维纳米材料在环境治理领域的发展现状作了系统介绍和展望。     

超分子组装体激发态手性的响应性

圆偏振发光主要是指手性发光体系激发态的性质。由于其在信息加密、高分辨3D显示和智能传感器等领域的潜在应用而备受关注。圆偏振光除了可以通过物理方法获得,即使用线偏振片和四分之一波片的组合,还可以直接从具有光致发光或电致发光性质的手性材料中获得。目前研究者们已经开发了多种圆偏振发光材料,主要包括手性有机分子、手性金属配合物等小分子发光体系以及手性超分子组装体等复合体系。通过将手性组分与响应性功能基团结合而构筑的响应性自组装发光体系对实现智能圆偏振发光材料的发展起着重要作用。在这篇文章里,我们对手性超分子自组装发光体系对各种外界刺激的响应性能进行了总结和归纳,如光照、pH值、溶剂、温度、金属离子等。本综述通过对各种外部刺激对手性组装体激发态性能影响的总结和讨论,旨在进一步推动智能圆偏振发光材料在多学科领域的应用。     

还原-氧化协同降解全/多卤代有机污染物

全/多卤代有机污染物大多具有生态毒性、生物蓄积性、环境持久性及长距离迁移性,不仅危害环境与生态安全,而且可经食物链传递威胁人类健康。由于卤原子是吸电子基团且取代数目多,这类物质的最高占据分子轨道能较低,难于被氧化降解,相反较易被还原法脱卤降解。随卤原子取代数减少,脱卤产物难被进一步还原,而其毒性甚至高于母体污染物。注意到低卤代有机物更容易发生氧化降解,一些研究构建了还原-氧化接力降解体系,即先利用还原法将全/多卤代有机污染物还原为低卤代产物,再利用氧化法降解这些中间产物,从而实现深度/完全脱卤和矿化。本文根据催化反应类型对还原-氧化联用法进行了归纳,分类介绍了基于传统化学催化、光催化、电化学、光电化学及机械化学等构建还原-氧化协同降解体系的原理及应用,以期为开发高效的处置技术提供思路和建议。     

Pore Engineering for Covalent Organic Framework Membranes

Membrane technology is of particular significance for the sustainable development of society owing to its potential capacity to tackle the energy shortage and environmental pollution. Membrane materials are the core part of membrane technology. Researchers have always been pursuing predictable structures of advanced membrane materials, which provides a possibility to fully unlock the potential of membranes. Covalent organic frameworks(COFs), with the advantage of controllable pore microenvironment, are considered to be promising candidates to achieve this design concept. The customizable function of COF membranes through pore engineering does well in the enhancement of selective permeability performance, which offers COF membranes with great application potentials in separation and transportation fields. In this context, COF-based membranes have been developed rapidly in recent years. Herein, we present a brief overview on the strategies developed for pore engineering of COF membranes in recent years, including skeleton engineering, pore surface engineering, host-guest chemistry and membrane fabrication. Moreover, the features of transmission or separation of molecules/ions based on COF membranes and corresponding applications are also introduced. In the last part, the challenges and prospects of the development of COF membranes are discussed.     

Regulating the Oxygen Affinity of Single Atom Catalysts by Dual-atom Design for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity

This work chooses Cu/Fe single-atom catalysts(SACs) with weak/strong oxygen affinity to clarify the effect of dual-atom configuration on oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) performance based on density functional theory(DFT) calculations. The stability and ORR activity of single or dual Cu/Fe atomic sites anchored on nitrogen-doped graphene sheets(Cu-N₄-C, Cu₂-N₆-C, Fe-N₄-C, and Fe₂-N₆-C) are investigated, and the results indicate the dual-atom catalysts(Cu₂-N₆-C and Fe₂-N₆-C) are thermodynamically stable enough to avoid sintering and aggregation. Compared with single-atom active sites of Cu-N₄-C, which show weak oxygen affinity and poor ORR performance with a limiting potential of 0.58 V, the dual-Cu active sites of Cu₂-N₆-C exhibit enhanced ORR activity with a limiting potential up to 0.87 V due to strengthened oxygen affinity. Interestingly, for Fe SACs with strong oxygen affinity, the DFT results show that the dual-Fe sites stabilize the two OH^* ligands structure[Fe₂(OH)₂-N₆-C], which act as the active sites during ORR process, resulting in greatly improved ORR performance with a limiting potential of 0.90 V. This study suggests that the dual-atom design is a potential strategy to improve the ORR performance of SACs, in which the activity of the single atom active sites is limited with weak or strong oxygen affinity.     

An efficient strategy based on two-stage chromatography and in vitro evaluation for rapid screening and isolation of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi

The extraction of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi was investigated using the response surface methodology-genetic algorithm mathematical regression model, and the extraction variables were optimized to maximize the flavonoid yield. Furthermore, a simple and efficient ultrafiltration–liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and molecular docking methods were developed for the rapid screening and identification of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors present in Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. Subsequently, four major chemical constituents, namely baicalein, norwogonin, wogonin, and oroxylin A, were identified as potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. This novel approach, involving the use of ultrafiltration–liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and molecular docking methods combined with stepwise flow rate counter-current chromatography and semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, could potentially provide a powerful tool for the screening and extraction of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from complex matrices and be a useful platform for the production of bioactive and nutraceutical ingredients.     

Theoretical Investigations on Photodissociation Dynamics of Deuterated Alkyl Halides CD3CH2F

The product branching ratio between different products in multichannel reactions is as important as the overall rate of reaction, both in terms of practical applications (\emph{e.g}. models of combustion or atmosphere chemistry) in understanding the fundamental mechanisms of such chemical reactions. A global ground state potential energy surface for the dissociation reaction of deuterated alkyl halide CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F was computed at the CCSD(T)/CBS//B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory for all species. The decomposition of CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F is controversial concerning C\begin{document}$ - $\end{document}F bond dissociation reaction and molecular (HF, DF, H\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}, D\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}, HD) elimination reaction. Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) calculations were applied to compute the rate constants for individual reaction steps and the relative product branching ratios for the dissociation products were calculated using the steady-state approach. At the different energies studied, the RRKM method predicts that the main channel for DF or HF elimination from 1, 2-elimination of CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F is through a four-center transition state, whereas D\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document} or H\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document} elimination from 1, 1-elimination of CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F occurs through a direct three-center elimination. At 266, 248, and 193 nm photodissociation, the main product CD\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}+DF branching ratios are computed to be 96.57%, 91.47%, and 48.52%, respectively; however, at 157 nm photodissociation, the product branching ratio is computed to be 16.11%. Based on these transition state structures and energies, the following photodissociation mechanisms are suggested: at 266, 248, 193 nm, CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}absorption of a photon\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}TS5\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}the formation of the major product CD\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}+DF; at 157 nm, CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}absorption of a photon\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}D/F interchange of TS1\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}CDH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}CDF\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}H/F interchange of TS2\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}CHD\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}CHDF\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}the formation of the major product CHD\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}+CHDF.     

Effects of Coverage,Water, and Defects on Catechol/TiO2 Interface

Catechol adsorbed on TiO₂ is one of the simplest models to explore the relevant properties of dye-sensitized solar cells. However, the effects of water and defects on the electronic levels and the excitonic properties of the catechol/TiO₂ interface have been rarely explored. Here, we investigate four catechol/TiO₂ interfaces aiming to study the influence of coverage, water, and defects on the electronic levels and the excitonic properties of the catechol/TiO₂ interface through the first-principles many-body Green's function theory. We find that the adsorption of catechol on the rutile (110) surface increases the energies of both the TiO₂ valence band maximum and conduction band minimum by approximately 0.7 eV. The increasing coverage and the presence of water can reduce the optical absorption of charge-transfer excitons with maximum oscillator strength. Regarding the reduced hydroxylated TiO₂ substrate, the conduction band minimum decreases greatly, resulting in a sub-bandgap of 2.51 eV. The exciton distributions in the four investigated interfaces can spread across several unit cells, especially for the hydroxylated TiO₂ substrate. Although the hydroxylated TiO₂ substrate leads to a lower open-circuit voltage, it may increase the separation between photogenerated electrons and holes and may therefore be beneficial for improving the photovoltaic efficiency by controlling its concentration. Our results may provide guidance for the design of highly efficient solar cells in future.     

MIL-101(Cr) Microporous Nanocrystals Intercalating Graphene Oxide Membrane for Efficient Hydrogen Purification

Graphene oxide (GO) is a promising two-dimensional building block for fabricating high-performance gas separation membranes. Whereas the tortuous transport pathway may increase the transport distance and lead to a low gas permeation rate, introducing spacers into GO laminates is an effective strategy to enlarge the interlayer channel for enhanced gas permeance. Herein, we propose to intercalate CO₂-philic MIL-101(Cr) metal-organic framework nanocrystals into the GO laminates to construct a 2D/3D hybrid structure for gas separation. The interlayer channels were partially opened up to accelerate gas permeation. Meanwhile, the intrinsic pores of MIL-101 provided additional transport pathways, and the affinity of MIL-101 to CO₂ molecules resulted in higher H₂/CO₂ diffusion selectivity, leading to a simultaneous enhancement in gas permeance and separation selectivity. The MIL-101(Cr)/GO membrane with optimal structures exhibited outstanding and stable mixed-gas separation performance with H₂ permeance of 67.5 GPU and H₂/CO₂ selectivity of 30.3 during the 120-h continuous test, demonstrating its potential in H₂ purification application.     

Selective Construction of Trefoil knots and a Molecular Borromean Ring Induced by Steric Hindrance of Thioether Ligands

Two Cp*−Rh^III based trefoil knots were obtained in high yield under ambient conditions via the coordination-driven self-assembly of semi-rigid thioether dipyridyl ligand 1,4-bis[(pyridin-4-ylthio)methyl]benzene ( L₁ ), ligand chloranilic acid (H₂− CA ) and 6,11-dihydroxytetracene-5,12-dione (H₂- TtDo ) with Cp*Rh^III metal corner units, respectively. Furthermore, using the bulkier 4,4′-{[(2,5-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene)bis(methylene)]bis(sulfanediyl)}dipyridine ( L₂ ) in the place of ligand L₁ in the construction process resulted in the formation of a teranuclear metallacycle and a template-free Borromean ring in high yields thanks to significantly altered intermolecular forces between the constituent ligands induced by the sterically-hindering methyl groups of L₂ , as demonstrated via a detailed X-ray crystallographic analysis and NMR spectroscopy.