Sandwich-like Catalyst–Carbon–Catalyst Trilayer Structure as a Compact 2D Host for Highly Stable Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Herein, we propose the construction of a sandwich-structured host filled with continuous 2D catalysis–conduction interfaces. This MoN-C-MoN trilayer architecture causes the strong conformal adsorption of S/Li₂S_x and its high-efficiency conversion on the two-sided nitride polar surfaces, which are supplied with high-flux electron transfer from the buried carbon interlayer. The 3D self-assembly of these 2D sandwich structures further reinforces the interconnection of conductive and catalytic networks. The maximized exposure of adsorptive/catalytic planes endows the MoN-C@S electrode with excellent cycling stability and high rate performance even under high S loading and low host surface area. The high conductivity of this trilayer texture does not compromise the capacity retention after the S content is increased. Such a job-synergistic mode between catalytic and conductive functions guarantees the homogeneous deposition of S/Li₂S_x, and avoids thick and devitalized accumulation (electrode passivation) even after high-rate and long-term cycling.     

Theoretical studies on the influence of metallic cations on ring opening of propylene oxide catalyzed by metal-salen complexes

We studied the ring opening of propylene oxide (PO) by salen-M coordinated OH⁻ group [M = Al(III), Sc(III), Cr(III), Mn(III), Fe(III), Co(II), Co(III), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Ru(III) and Rh(III)]. The results show that the ring-opening energy barriers for M(II) complexes are much lower than those with M(III) complexes in the gas phase, and the barriers correlate linearly with the negative charges on the OH⁻ group and the Fukui function condensed on the OH⁻ group. The nucleophilicity ordering in the gas phase can be rationalized by the ratio of formal positive charges/radius of M cations. Solvent effect greatly increases the barriers of M(II) complexes but slightly changes the results of M(III) ones, making the barriers similar. Analysis indicates that the reaction heats are linearly proportional to the reverse reaction barriers. The relationships established here can be used to estimate the ring-opening barriers and to screen epoxide ring-opening catalysts.     

Determination of sulfa antibiotic residues in river and particulate matter by field-amplified sample injection-capillary zone electrophoresis

In the present research, field-amplified sample injection–CZE (FASI–CZE) coupled with a diode array detector was established to determine trace level sulfa antibiotic. Sulfathiazole, sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine, sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfisoxazole were selected as analytes for the experiments. The background electrolyte solution consisted of 70.0 mmol/L borax and 60.0 mmol/L boric acid (including 10% methanol, pH 9.1). The plug was 2.5 mmol/L borax, which was injected into the capillary at a pressure of 0.5 psi for 5 s. Then the sample was injected into the capillary at an injection voltage of –10 kV for 20 s. The electrophoretic separation was carried out under a voltage of +19 kV. The capillary temperature was maintained at 20˚C throughout the analysis, and six sulfonamides were completely separated within 35 min. Compared with pressure injection-CZE, the sensitivity of FASI-CZE was increased by 6.25–10.0 times, and the LODs were reduced from 0.2–0.5 to 0.02–0.05 μg/mL. The method was applied to the determination of sulfonamides in river water and particulate matter samples. The recoveries were 78.59–106.59%. The intraday and interday precisions were 2.89–7.35% and 2.77–7.09%, respectively. This provides a simpler and faster method for the analysis of sulfa antibiotic residues in environmental samples.     

Integral Representations of the Large and Little Schröder Numbers

In the paper, the authors establish several integral representations for the generating functions of the large and little Schröder numbers and for the large and little Schröder numbers.     

不同杂环取代(E)-β-Farnesene类似物的合成及生物活性研究

为了寻求新型蚜虫控制剂,以蚜虫报警信息素(E)-β-farnesene(EBF)为先导,引入不同类型的杂环取代EBF结构中不稳定的共轭双键,设计合成了一系列不同杂环取代的EBF类似物.所有化合物结构均通过1H NMR、13C NMR、IR及HRMS确证.对化合物进行了生物活性测试及初步构效关系分析.结果表明,所有化合物均对桃蚜和大豆蚜表现出一定的生物活性,部分化合物的杀虫活性优于先导EBF,酯基的引入则对驱避活性有利.     

Simultaneous determination of cinnamaldehyde and its metabolite in rat tissues by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Cinnamaldehyde (CA), an active ingredient isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Cortex Cinnamomi, has a wide range of bioactivities. To clarify the distribution characteristics of CA, a selective and sensitive method utilizing gas chromatography–mass spetrometry was initially developed for simultaneously determining the concentration of CA and its metabolite cinnamyl alcohol in rat tissues. Selected ion masses of m/z 131, 105 and 92 were chosen, and separation of the analytes was performed on a DB‐5 ms (30 m × 0.25 mm, 0.25 µm, thickness) capillary column by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The calibration curves demonstrated good linearity and reproducibility over the range of 20–2000 and 20–4000 ng/mL for various tissue samples. Recoveries ranged from 86.8 to 107.5%, while intra‐ and interday relative standard deviations were all <11.3%. The analysis method was successfully applied in tissue distribution studies for CA and cinnamyl alcohol. As CA and cinnamyl alcohol may inter‐convert to one another, simultaneous determination of both analytes provides a comparative and accurate data for tissue study. The concentrations of CA and cinnamyl alcohol remaining in spleen were the highest among the main organs, including heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney and brain. In addition, there was no long‐term accumulation of CA in rat tissues. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation and gas sensing activity of La and Y co-doped titania nanoparticles

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology - A novel gas sensing material, La–Y co-doped TiO2 nanoparticles, was synthesized by sol–gel method and applied to detect organic pollutants...     

Mesoscopic Modeling of Capillarity-Induced Two-Phase Transport in a Microfluidic Porous Structure

Mesoscopic modeling at the pore scale offers great promise in exploring the underlying structure transport performance of flow through porous media. The present work studies the fluid flow subjected to capillarity-induced resonance in porous media characterized by different porous structure and wettability. The effects of porosity and wettability on the displacement behavior of the fluid flow through porous media are discussed. The results are presented in the form of temporal evolution of percentage saturation and displacement of the fluid front through porous media. The present study reveals that the vibration in the form of acoustic excitation could be significant in the mobilization of fluid through the porous media. The dependence of displacement of the fluid on physicochemical parameters like wettability of the surface, frequency along with the porosity is analyzed. It was observed that the mean displacement of the fluid is more in the case of invading fluid with wetting phase where the driving force strength is not so dominant.