Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production in Alkaline Solutions Using Cu2O Coated with Earth‐Abundant Hydrogen Evolution Catalysts

The splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules using sunlight is an attractive method for solar energy storage. Until now, photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution is mostly studied in acidic solutions, in which the hydrogen evolution is more facile than in alkaline solutions. Herein, we report photoelectrochemical hydrogen production in alkaline solutions, which are more favorable than acidic solutions for the complementary oxygen evolution half‐reaction. We show for the first time that amorphous molybdenum sulfide is a highly active hydrogen evolution catalyst in basic medium. The amorphous molybdenum sulfide catalyst and a Ni–Mo catalyst are then deposited on surface‐protected cuprous oxide photocathodes to catalyze sunlight‐driven hydrogen production in 1 M KOH. The photocathodes give photocurrents of ?6.3 mA cm^?2 at the reversible hydrogen evolution potential, the highest yet reported for a metal oxide photocathode using an earth‐abundant hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst.     

高效液相色谱串联质谱法测定含藻水氯化消毒后7种亚硝胺物质

采用液相色谱串联质谱法(LC/MS/MS)测定含藻水氯消毒产生7种亚硝胺类(NAms)消毒副产物(NDMA,NMEA,NDEA,NDPA,NDBA,NPyr,NPip).方法检出限分别为5.0,14,8.6,3.6,2.9,6.3和4.9 ng/L,相关系数r＞0.999.除NDBA回收率(60％)较低外,其余6种亚硝胺回收率均在80％～120％之间,相对标准偏差为1.4％～12.6％.分别以藻原液和消毒后藻液配制基质标准曲线,采用其与纯水标准曲线斜率之比评估基质效应.藻原液的基质效应为0.79 ～0.94,藻液消毒后NDMA基质效应为0.36,其他亚硝胺为0.63～0.96.应用此方法检测了自来水、富营养江河水、景观水及藻类悬浮液氯消毒后的亚硝胺含量.     

水对Ni/MgAlO催化丙酮加氢的影响

研究了H2O对Ni/MgAlO催化剂上丙酮加氢为异丙醇的催化反应的影响。结果发现,在丙酮中添加少量H2O可提高丙酮转化率,但超过5%的H2O量则会显著降低催化剂活性。吸附量热结果表明,催化剂表面吸附少量H2O会明显降低异丙醇的吸附热,但对丙酮吸附热的影响较小,这也许是反应体系中少量的H2O能促进丙酮加氢活性的原因之一。当催化剂表面吸附较多H2O后,丙酮、异丙醇和H2的吸附热都降低了,因此反而抑制了丙酮的加氢反应。此外,红外光谱结果表明,预吸附水抑制了催化剂表面异丙醇脱氢生成丙酮,并抑制吸附的丙酮在表面生成烯醇盐或异丙叉丙酮等物种,这也许是少量水能促进丙酮加氢生成异丙醇的另一个重要原因。     

离子液体自聚集磁性多壁碳纳米管固相萃取环境水样中的磺胺类药物

将1-己基-3-甲基咪唑六氟磷酸([C6MIM] [PF6])离子液体自聚集于磁性多壁碳纳米管(Fe3O4@MWCNTs)表面,并将其作为磁性固相吸附剂,建立了同时测定环境水样中磺胺二甲嘧啶、磺胺对甲氧嘧啶、磺胺邻二甲氧嘧啶和磺胺二甲异噁唑4种磺胺类药物的涡旋辅助磁性固相萃取-高效液相色谱法.优化条件为:将20.0 mg [C6MIM] [PF6]包覆的Fe3 O4@MWCNTs分散于200 mL水样中,涡旋萃取15 min,磁性分离获取磁性吸附剂,3.5 mL 1.0％乙酸铵-甲醇溶液洗脱,洗脱液氮吹至干,300 μL甲醇溶解后待下一步高效液相色谱/二极管阵列检测器(HPLC-PDA)分析.4种磺胺类药物在0.375 ～ 75.0 μg/L范围内与峰面积呈良好的线性关系,其相关系数为0.9985 ～0.9996,检出限(S/N=3)为0.079 ～0.099 μg/L,3个加标浓度水平的回收率为80.60％ ～99.99％,日内、日间测定的相对标准偏差分别为1.3％ ～6.9％和1.2％～2.9％(n=3).结果表明,本方法简单方便,易于操作,适用于环境水样中痕量磺胺类药物的检测.     

Syntheses and Crystal Structures of 12-Oxime Dehydroabietic Acid Derivatives

Three novel dehydroabietate oxime derivatives were synthesized from dehydroabietic acid and their crystal structures were determined by X-ray crystallographic techniques. All of these 12-oxime dehydroabietic acid derivatives crystallize in orthorhombic system, space group P212121. In the structures, rings A and B exhibit chair and half-chair configurations, respectively and form trans ring junction with two methyl groups(C(19) and C(20)) in the axis positions. The oxime groups have E conformations. Comparison of conformations reveals subtle differences principally in ring B due to the modification in C(12). The E-acetaldehyde oxime derivative 2c showed distinct BKα gate-opening activity with an ionic current increase of 164% at 30 μM versus the control current.     

Application of enriched stable 196Hg isotope for monitoring the stability of total mercury in water samples

A novel tool for the investigation of stability of total mercury in water samples is presented. The study focuses on the application of enriched ¹⁹⁶Hg stable isotopic reagent for the stability studies. Natural abundance of ¹⁹⁶Hg in water samples is only 0.15%. Thus, the use of the ¹⁹⁶Hg isotope spike represents a major advantage, when it can be assumed that all the measured isotope is the same as is accurately added by the analyst, and the change in its mass concentration can be followed simply and reliably. Tests were carried out with industrial waste water and two type of the natural water. Cold vapour (CV) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) technique was applied for the mercury measurements. Monitoring was continued for approximately 100 days. It is commonly advised that the measurement for total mercury in water samples should be carried out within 14 days. In this study the samples were observed to be stable for more than three months, if they were stored at a temperature of 4–6°C. The results of this stability study were in line with the guidance presented in EPA standard 1631. However, the samples were noticed to be stable for a much longer time than is presented in the standard method ISO 17852.     

Multiresidue fully automated online SPE-HPLC-MS/MS method for the quantification of endocrine-disrupting and pharmaceutical compounds at trace level in surface water

The present work describes the development and validation of a sensitive method for the determination of traces of diverse groups of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors in surface water. Thirty-seven substances have been selected, including 10 pesticides, 6 hormonal steroids and assimilates, 12 pharmaceuticals, 5 alkylphenols, 1 chlorophenol and 3 other well-known human contaminants, 1 UV filter and 2 plasticisers. An automated online solid-phase extraction (SPE) is directly coupled to liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Different SPE columns have been tested, and the injection volume has been optimised. The developed analytical methodology is based on the direct injection of 2.5 mL of water sample acidified at pH 1.6 on an Oasis HLB loading column (20 × 2.1 mm) with 5-µm particles. Then, the chromatographic separation is achieved on a Kinetex XB C18 (100 × 2.1 mm; 1.7 µm) column, and the quantification is realised in multiple-reaction monitoring mode. The online SPE step warrants minimal sample handling, low solvent consumption, high sample throughput, saving time and costs. This method allows the quantification of the target analytes in the lower ng/L concentration range, with limits of quantification (LQs) between 100 pg/L and 10 ng/L, 26 compounds having LQ lower than 1 ng/L. The monitoring of two selected MS/MS transitions for each compound allows the reliable confirmation of positive findings even at the LQ level. The developed and validated methodology has been applied to the analysis of various real samples from two French rivers. Twelve target compounds have been detected in the environmental samples, and the major pollutants are pharmaceuticals usually used by humans (paracetamol, carbamazepine, oxazepam, ketoprofen, trimethoprim). The pesticides atrazine and carbendazim have been ubiquitously detected in real samples too. Metronidazole, sulfamethoxazole and diuron were also frequently quantified in the water samples.     

Using controlled radical polymerization to confirm the lower critical solution temperature of an N‐(alkoxyalkyl) acrylamide polymer in aqueous solution

N‐(3‐Methoxypropyl) acrylamide (MPAM) was polymerized by controlled radical polymerization (CRP) methods such as nitroxide‐mediated polymerization (NMP) and reversible addition–fragmentation chain‐transfer polymerization (RAFT). CRP was expected to yield well‐defined polymers with sharp lower critical solution temperature (LCST) transitions. NMP with the BlocBuilder (2‐([tert‐butyl[1‐(diethoxyphosphoryl)‐2,2‐dimethylpropyl]amino]oxy)‐2‐methylpropanoic acid) and SG1 ([tert‐butyl[1‐(diethoxyphosphoryl)‐2,2‐dimethylpropyl]amino] oxidanyl) initiating system revealed low yields and lack of control (high dispersity, ? ～ 1.5–1.6, and inhibition of chain growth). However, RAFT was far more effective, with linear number average molecular weight, , versus conversion, X, plots, low ? ～ 1.2–1.4 and the ability to form block copolymers using N,N‐diethylacrylamide (DEAAM) as the second monomer. Poly(MPAM) (with = 13.7–25.3 kg mol^?1) thermoresponsive behavior in aqueous media revealed cloud point temperatures (CPT)s between 73 and 92 °C depending on solution concentration (ranging from 1 to 3 wt %). The and the molecular weight distribution were the key factors determining the CPT and the sharpness of the response, respectively. Poly(MPAM)‐b‐poly(DEAAM) block copolymer ( = 22.3 kg mol^?1, ? = 1.41, molar composition F_DEAAM = 0.38) revealed dual LCSTs with both segments revealing distinctive CPTs (at 75 and 37 °C for poly(MPAM) and poly(DEAAM) blocks, respectively) by both UV–Vis and dynamic light scattering. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 59–67     

Surface and Structural Investigation of a MnOx Birnessite‐Type Water Oxidation Catalyst Formed under Photocatalytic Conditions

Catalytically active MnO_x species have been reported to form in situ from various Mn‐complexes during electrocatalytic and solution‐based water oxidation when employing cerium(IV) ammonium ammonium nitrate (CAN) oxidant as a sacrificial reagent. The full structural characterization of these oxides may be complicated by the presence of support material and lack of a pure bulk phase. For the first time, we show that highly active MnO_x catalysts form without supports in situ under photocatalytic conditions. Our most active ⁴MnO_x catalyst (～0.84 mmol O₂ mol Mn^?1 s^?1) forms from a Mn₄O₄ bearing a metal–organic framework. ⁴MnO_x is characterized by pair distribution function analysis (PDF), Raman spectroscopy, and HR‐TEM as a disordered, layered Mn‐oxide with high surface area (216 m²g^?1) and small regions of crystallinity and layer flexibility. In contrast, the ^SMnO_x formed from Mn²⁺ salt gives an amorphous species of lower surface area (80 m²g^?1) and lower activity (～0.15 mmol O₂ mol Mn^?1 s^?1). We compare these catalysts to crystalline hexagonal birnessite, which activates under the same conditions. Full deconvolution of the XPS Mn2p_3/2 core levels detects enriched Mn³⁺ and Mn²⁺ content on the surfaces, which indicates possible disproportionation/comproportionation surface equilibria.     

Tuning the Redox Properties of a Nonheme Iron(III)–Peroxo Complex Binding Redox‐Inactive Zinc Ions by Water Molecules

Redox‐inactive metal ions play important roles in tuning chemical properties of metal–oxygen intermediates. Herein we report the effect of water molecules on the redox properties of a nonheme iron(III)–peroxo complex binding redox‐inactive metal ions. The coordination of two water molecules to a Zn²⁺ ion in (TMC)Fe^III‐(O₂)‐Zn(CF₃SO₃)₂ ( 1 ‐Zn²⁺) decreases the Lewis acidity of the Zn²⁺ ion, resulting in the decrease of the one‐electron oxidation and reduction potentials of 1 ‐Zn²⁺. This further changes the reactivities of 1 ‐Zn²⁺ in oxidation and reduction reactions; no reaction occurred upon addition of an oxidant (e.g., cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN)) to 1 ‐Zn²⁺, whereas 1 ‐Zn²⁺ coordinating two water molecules, (TMC)Fe^III‐(O₂)‐Zn(CF₃SO₃)₂‐(OH₂)₂ [ 1 ‐Zn²⁺‐(OH₂)₂], releases the O₂ unit in the oxidation reaction. In the reduction reactions, 1 ‐Zn²⁺ was converted to its corresponding iron(IV)–oxo species upon addition of a reductant (e.g., a ferrocene derivative), whereas such a reaction occurred at a much slower rate in the case of 1 ‐Zn²⁺‐(OH₂)₂. The present results provide the first biomimetic example showing that water molecules at the active sites of metalloenzymes may participate in tuning the redox properties of metal–oxygen intermediates.