A cucurbit[8]uril recognized rigid supramolecular polymer with photo-stimulated responsiveness

A rigid supramolecular polymer was constructed in aqueous solution via cucurbit[8]uril(CB[8]) host recognition with a rigid monomer containing an azobenzene unit and two 4,4'-bipyridin-1-ium(BP)moieties in the two ends, which also exhibited photo-responsiveness owing to the photoinduced trans–cis isomerization of azobenzene group.     

Hierarchical structure observation and nanoindentation size effect characterization for a limnetic shell

In the present research, hierarchical structure observation and mechanical property characterization for a type of biomaterial are carried out. The investigated biomaterial is Hyriopsis cumingii, a typical limnetic shell, which consists of two different structural layers, a prismatic "pillar"structure and a nacreous "brick and mortar" structure. The prismatic layer looks like a "pillar forest" with variationsection pillars sized on the order of several tens of microns.The nacreous material looks like a "brick wall" with bricks sized on the order of several microns. Both pillars and bricks are composed of nanoparticles. The mechanical properties of the hierarchical biomaterial are measured by using the nanoindentation test. Hardness and modulus are measured for both the nacre layer and the prismatic layer, respectively.The nanoindentation size effects for the hierarchical structural materials are investigated experimentally. The results show that the prismatic nanostructured material has a higher stiffness and hardness than the nacre nanostructured material.In addition, the nanoindentation size effects for the hierarchical structural materials are described theoretically, by using the trans-scale mechanics theory considering both strain gradient effect and the surface/interface effect. The modeling results are consistent with experimental ones.     

A New Approach to Develop a Standardized Method for Simultaneous Analysis of Astragaloside IV and Formononetin in Radix Astragali by High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - A new high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method has been developed for the simultaneous estimation of...     

The Effect of Metal‐Ligand Affinity on Fe3O4_Supported Co–Rh Catalysts for Dicyclopentadiene Hydroformylation

The catalytic performances of Co‐Rh/Fe₃O₄ catalysts modified with phosphine ligands (PPh₃) and its analogues on dicyclopentadiene hydroformylation were evaluated. Among these catalysts, Co‐Rh/Fe₃O₄ modified with tris(p‐trifluoromethylphenyl)phosphine was determined to be effective for monoformyltricyclodecanes production, whereas Co‐Rh/Fe₃O₄ modified with PPh₃ or tri‐p‐tolylphosphine was effective for the diformyltricyclodecanes production. To investigate the ligand effects, the complex catalyst system (Co‐Rh/Fe₃O₄ and phosphine ligand) was subjected to pretreatment with syngas and then characterized by thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG‐DTA). It was determined that the threshold decomposition temperature reflected the corresponding Rh‐phosphine interaction strength, affecting the catalytic selectivity toward different products. A weak Rh‐phosphine interaction was desirable to produce monoformyltricyclodecanes with fast reaction kinetics, whereas a strong Rh‐phosphine complex was required for the synthesis of diformyltricyclodecanes. In addition to the selectivity rule shown in the PPh₃ series, experiments with other ligands also demonstrated similar selectivity trends.