Promoting the Phosphidation Process using an Oxygen Vacancy Precursor for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Based on previous works, most of the transition metal phosphides (TMPs) were directly prepared by decomposing NaH₂PO₂ with the precursors at high temperatures, which resulted in different degrees of phosphidation in the final product. Therefore, it is necessary to design an innovative approach to enhance the degree of phosphidation in the material using crystal defects. Here, oxygen-vacancy iron oxide/iron foam (Ov-Fe₂O₃/IF) was firstly prepared by generating oxygen vacancy in situ in an iron foam through heating in vacuum conditions. Subsequently, FeP/IF was formed by phosphating Ov-Fe₂O₃/IF. Under the effects of oxygen vacancies, oxygen-vacancy iron oxide could be completely phosphatized to produce more active sites on the surface of the material. This, in turn, could result in a catalyst with exceptional hydrogen evolution activity. Thus, the successful fabrication of FeP/IF demonstrated in this work provides an effective and feasible way for the preparation of other high-efficiency catalysts.     

Formation and accumulation of contact deficiencies in a tunnel segmented lining

Damages observed in tunnels constructed with tunnel boring machines affect the overall quality of the structure and the efficiency of the construction process. Most of these damages are caused by contact deficiencies between segments that are generated by the sum of several tolerances on the shape and on the placement of the lining. Moreover, the imperfection of one ring affects the placement of the following ones, inducing an accumulation mechanism that magnifies the imperfection expected due to the sum of tolerances in a single isolated ring. The overall consideration of these phenomena yields an intricate analysis that must take into account some important probabilistic aspects. This paper explains how the tolerances may evolve into the contact deficiencies found in practice. Initially the types of tolerances and contact deficiencies more likely to affect the structural behavior of the lining are analyzed. A mathematical model is proposed to explain the relation between tolerances and contact deficiencies. The predictions obtained with the model are then compared with the measurements performed in the tunnel of Line 9 in Barcelona. The results obtained reinforce the importance of the model proposed in this study, which quantifies aspects that so far could only be studied qualitatively or on a trial and error basis.     

Dephosphatation under UV light of water by Ti-PILC with activation by secondary species (La,Se, and Rb)

Me/Ti-PILC catalysts (Me: La, Se, Rb) were prepared with 60% in weight of Ti-species and 3% in weight of Me-secondary species added under ultrasounds. All materials were characterized by XRF, XPS, XRD, BET, HR-TEM/EDS, FEG-SEM and UV-vis. Three kinds of Ti-oxide nanoparticles were identified: (1) Ti-pillars within the clay layers, (2) rutile nanoflowers, and (3) anatase. In UV-vis spectra, no significant change in the band-gap was observed. In La and Se samples, small variations of the anatase XRD lines are associated with cationic diffusion after deposition of secondary species and calcination. An O1s XPS-peak (533.5 eV) is attributed to oxygen vacancies generated by this diffusion. Phosphate photo-removal in water was studied using phosphoric acid solution (75.97 g L⁻¹). Dephosphatation is significantly improved in the presence of Me-species as La/Ti-PILC > Se/Ti-PILC > Rb/Ti-PILC > Ti-PILC. Partial dephosphatation by adsorption is possible in the dark but is strongly improved by UV irradiation. With a La catalyst and under UV irradiation, phosphates (6.6 × 10⁻³ mol L⁻¹) were recovered in less than 70 min. Therefore, Me/Ti-PILC have a great potential as photocatalysts for the treatment of wastewaters and the recovery of phosphates.     

Solvent effects on oxygen atom transfer reaction between manganese(V)-oxo corrole and alkene

Pseudo-first order reaction rate constants of 5,10,15-tris（pentafluorophenyl）corrole Mn（V）-oxo (F₁₅CMn（V）-oxo),5,15-bis（pentafluorophenyl）-10-（phenyl）corrole Mn（V）-oxo(F₁₀CMn（V）-oxo),5,15- bis（phenyl）-10-（pentafluorophenyl）corrole Mn（V）-oxo（F₅CMn（V）-oxo） and 5,10,15-tris（phenyl）corrole Mn（V）-oxo（F₀CMn（V）-oxo） with a series of alkene substrates in different solvents were determined by UV-vis spectroscopy.The results indicated that the oxygen atom transfer pathway between Mn（V）-oxo corrole and alkene is solvent-dependent.     

Suppression of Photoinduced BBO Defects Generation on TIO2（110） by Water

We have investigated creation of variable concentrations of defects on TIO2（110）-（1×1） surface by 266 nm laser using temperature programmed desorption technique. Oxygen-vacancy defects can be easily induced by ultraviolet light, the defects concentration has a linear dependence on power density higher than 50 mW/cm2 for 90 s irradiation. No observation of O2 molecule and Ti atom desorption suggests that UV induced defects creation on TiO2（110）-（1×1） is an effective and gentle method. With pre-dosage of thin films of water, the rate of defects creation on TiO2（110）-（1×1） is slower at least by two orders of magnitude than bare TiO2（110）-（1×1） surface. Further investigations show that water can be more easily desorbed by UV light, and thus desorption of bridging oxygen is depressed.     

Simultaneous,real-time measurement of nitric oxide and oxygen dynamics during cardiac ischemia-reperfusion of the rat utilizing sol-gel-derived electrochemical microsensors

In this study, we simultaneously measured nitric oxide (NO) and oxygen (O₂) dynamics in the myocardium during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (IR) utilizing sol-gel modified electrochemical NO and O₂ microsensors. In addition, we attempted to clarify the correlation between NO release in the ischemic period and O₂ restoration in the myocardium after reperfusion, comparing a control heart with a remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC)-treated heart as an attractive strategy for myocardial protection. Rat hearts were randomly divided into two groups: a control group (n = 5) and an RIPC group (n = 5, with RIPC treatment). Myocardia that underwent RIPC treatment (182 ± 70 nM, p < 0.05) released more NO during the ischemic period than those of the control group (63 ± 41 nM). The restoration value of oxygen tension (pO₂) in the RIPC group significantly increased and was restored to pre-ischemic levels (92.6 ± 36.8%); however, the pO₂ of the control group did not increase throughout the reperfusion period (5.7 ± 7.5%, p = 0.001). Myocardial infarct size measurements revealed a significant decrease in cell death in the myocardium region of the RIPC group (41.44 ± 6.42%, p = 0.001) compared with the control group (60.05 ± 10.91%). As a result, we showed that the cardioprotective effect of RIPC could be attributed to endogenous NO production during the ischemic period, which subsequently promoted reoxygenation in post-ischemic myocardia during early reperfusion. Our results suggest that the promotion of endogenous formation during an ischemic episode might be helpful as a therapeutic strategy for protecting the myocardium from IR injury. Additionally, our NO and O₂ perm-selective microsensors could be utilized to evaluate the effect of drug or treatment.     

Thermodynamic modeling for clathrate hydrates of ozone

We report a theoretical study to predict the phase-equilibrium properties of ozone-containing clathrate hydrates based on the statistical thermodynamics model developed by van der Waals and Platteeuw. The Patel–Teja–Valderrama equation of state is employed for an accurate estimation of the properties of gas phase ozone. We determined the three parameters of the Kihara intermolecular potential for ozone as a = 6.815 · 10⁻² nm, σ = 2.9909 · 10⁻¹ nm, and ε · k_B⁻¹ = 184.00 K. An infinite set of ε–σ parameters for ozone were determined, reproducing the experimental phase equilibrium pressure–temperature data of the (O₃ + O₂ + CO₂) clathrate hydrate. A unique parameter pair was chosen based on the experimental ozone storage capacity data for the (O₃ + O₂ + CCl₄) hydrate that we reported previously. The prediction with the developed model showed good agreement with the experimental phase equilibrium data within ±2% of the average deviation of the pressure. The Kihara parameters of ozone showed slightly better suitability for the structure-I hydrate than CO₂, which was used as a help guest. Our model suggests the possibility of increasing the ozone storage capacity of clathrate hydrates (∼7% on a mass basis) from the previously reported experimental capacity (∼1%).     

钯氮共掺杂TiO2的制备与表征及其可见光催化活性

在空气气氛和N₂中热处理表面均匀分散有尿素和氯化钯的纳米管钛酸,制备了两个系列Pd/N共掺杂的TiO₂光催化剂,并对所得样品进行了X射线衍射、透射电镜、X射线光电子能谱、紫外-可见漫反射光谱、荧光光谱和电子自旋共振等表征.结果表明,焙烧气氛对样品的形貌、晶体结构、光谱吸收、生成的氧空位浓度和可见光光催化性能的影响很大,其中在空气气氛中制备的样品光催化性能优于在N₂中制备的样品.在可见光(λ≥420nm)照射下,以丙烯为模型污染物考察了样品的光催化活性,发现在空气中400℃下焙烧的样品具有最佳的可见光催化活性.另外,讨论了Pd/N共掺杂TiO₂光催化剂具有可见光响应的机理,认为掺杂的Pd/N元素和制备过程中生成的氧空位是影响可见光催化性能的重要因素.     

Pt 含量对Co@Pt/C核壳结构催化剂性能的影响

采用两步还原法制得Co@Pt/C核壳结构催化剂, 其中Co与Pt 的总质量分数为20%. 通过改变金属前驱体的用量, 制备了不同Co:Pt 原子比的Co@Pt/C 催化剂, 以20% (w) Co@Pt(1:1)/C 与20% (w) Co@Pt(1:3)/C 表示. 采用透射电镜(TEM)、光电子射线能谱分析(XPS)、循环伏安(CV)、线性扫描伏安(LSV)等方法考察了其结构与性能, 并与实验室早先制备的40% (w) Co@Pt/C 催化剂进行了比较. 自制20% Co@Pt(1:1)/C 与20% Co@Pt(1:3)/C 催化剂的金属颗粒直径约为2.2-2.3 nm, 在碳载体上分散均匀, 粒径分布范围较窄, 电化学活性比表面积(ECSA)分别为56 和60 m²·g^-1, 均超过商用催化剂20% Pt/C(E-tek) (ECSA=54 m²·g^-1). 20%Co@Pt(1:1)/C 与20% Co@Pt(1:3)/C 的半波电位相较于40% Co@Pt(1:1)/C 和40% Co@Pt(1:3)/C 均向正向移动, 表现出更好的氧还原(ORR)催化活性, 并有望降低催化剂的成本, 在质子交换膜燃料电池领域表现出良好的应用前景.     

Synthesis of toxyloxanthone B

A synthesis of the naturally occurring xanthone toxyloxanthone B is described, in which the key step is the regioselective addition of a methyl salicylate to a substituted benzyne, followed by cyclization of the intermediate aryl anion to form the xanthone, the regiochemistry of the aryne addition being confirmed by X-ray crystallography. Subsequent introduction of the pyran ring by [3,3]-rearrangement and deprotection completed the synthesis.