The Special “Morse Code” between Solvent Polarity and Morphology Flexibility in a POSS–Dendrimer Supramolecular System

An amazing phenomenon of the relative magnitude of modulus of two liquid-crystal (LC) gels is found inverted under/above their phase transition temperature T_LC-iso, which is further proved to be caused by their diverse morphology flexibility. By testing the polarity of two LCs, gelator POSS-G1-Boc (POSS=polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane) was discovered to self-assemble into more flexible structures in a relatively low polar LC, whereas more rigid ones are formed in higher polar LC. Hence, a fitting function to connect morphology flexibility with solvent polarity was established, which can even be generalized to a number of common solvents. Experimental observations and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations revealed that solvent polarity mirrors a “Morse code”, with each “code” corresponding to a specific morphology flexibility.     

Co3+-Rich Na1.95CoP2O7 Phosphates as Efficient Bifunctional Catalysts for Oxygen Evolution and Reduction Reactions in Alkaline Solution

Implementing sustainable energy conversion and storage technologies is highly reliant on crucial oxygen electrocatalysis, such as the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the pursuit of low cost, energetic efficient and robust bifunctional catalysts for OER and ORR remains a great challenge. Herein, the novel Na-ion-deficient Na_2−xCoP₂O₇ catalysts are proposed to efficiently electrocatalyze OER and ORR in alkaline solution. The engineering of Na-ion deficiency can tune the electronic structure of Co, and thus tailor the intrinsically electrocatalytic performance. Among the sodium cobalt phosphate catalysts, the Na_1.95CoP₂O₇ (NCPO5) catalyst exhibits the lowest ΔE (E_J10,OER−E_J−1,ORR) of only 0.86 V, which favorably outperforms most of the reported non-noble metal catalysts. Moreover, the Na-ion deficiency can stabilize the phase structure and morphology of NCPO5 during the OER and ORR processes. This study highlights the Na-ion deficient Na_2−xCoP₂O₇ as a promising class of low-cost, highly active and robust bifunctional catalysts for OER and ORR.     

Entropic effect implication for change in polymer coils swelling state in the demixing enthalpy recovery of aqueous poly(vinyl methyl ether) solutions

Time‐dependent demixing enthalpy recovery behavior of aqueous poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) solutions exhibits distinct recovery characteristics in three concentration regions. The absence of recovery behavior below a water concentration of 38.3 wt % indicates that the PVME coil is in a globular state. The typically sigmoidal recovery behavior of demixing enthalpy above 38.3 wt % is ascribed to the reswelling of the collapsed polymer coils induced by the entropic effect. The increase in difference between the upper and lower limits indicates the continued swelling of the PVME coils. Above 65 wt %, a dominant diluting effect can be observed, and a much longer phase separation time is needed to reach the expected lower limit. In contrast, the recovery of demixing enthalpy in a wide range of water concentration (from 38.3 to 90 wt %) exhibits the same feature. The infrared spectroscopy results are in agreement with the above macroscopic differential scanning calorimetry results. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 142–151     

Rational Construction of an Exceptionally Stable MOF Catalyst with Metal-Adeninate Vertices toward CO2 Cycloaddition under Mild and Cocatalyst-Free Conditions

CO₂ is considered as the primary greenhouse gas, resulting in a series of serious environmental problems that affect people's life and health. Carbon capture and sequestration has been implemented as one of the most appealing pathways to control and use CO₂. Here, we rationally integrate various functional sites within the confined nanospace of a microporous metal–organic framework (MOF) material, which is constructed by mixed-ligand strategy based on metal-adeninate vertices. It not only exhibits excellent stability but also can efficiently transform CO₂ and epoxides to cyclic carbonates under mild and cocatalyst-free conditions. Additionally, this catalyst shows extraordinary recyclability for the CO₂ cycloaddition reaction.     

Selective Excitation of Band Extrema in Valley Photonic Crystals

Flexible control of building blocks of photonic crystals enables achieving desirable band structures. Exploration of photonic band extrema has brought many fantastic features to design artificial optical materials, such as Brillouin‐zone‐corner extrema for valley photonic materials and zone‐center extremum for zero‐index metamaterials. However, two such kinds of extrema are always found independently in different photonic crystals. In this work, a kind of valley photonic crystals possessing both zone‐center and zone‐corner band extrema almost at the same frequency is proposed. Inspired by antennas theory, a three‐antenna array (TAA) source is devoted to individually manipulate each extremum. The correlation coefficient is given to determine the coupling efficiency between the TAA source and extrema eigenmodes. By using a source with a high correlation coefficient, these extrema bulk states are selectively excited consistent with their eigenfields. Furthermore, three control cases are shown that multiple extrema points are simultaneously excited, in order to confirm the validity of the correlation coefficient. Finally, a potential application of a beam‐steering device is proposed through selective excitation of ternary extrema. This work develops binary valley states into ternary mix states, rendering more degrees of freedom for on‐chip optical information transport, particularly for beam steering and mode division multiplexing.     

Copper-Catalyzed Trifunctionalization of Alkynes: Rapid Formation of Oxindoles Bearing Geminal Diboronates

A copper-catalyzed trifunctionalization of alkynes that provides rapid access to oxindoles bearing a geminal diboronate side chain, highlighted by the simultaneous formation of one C−C bond and two C−B bonds, is reported. This new reaction features simple reaction conditions (ligand-free catalysis), a general substrate scope, and excellent chemoselectivity. Mechanistic study revealed a reaction sequence constituted by, in the order, borylation, intramolecular cross-coupling, hydroboration, which has been rarely documented.     

溶剂比对Mn-ZnO复合纳米线形貌及吸附脱硫研究

采用水热法合成了Mn-ZnO复合纳米线,通过改变溶剂比来考察其对Mn-ZnO形貌的影响,并用等体积浸渍法负载金属Ni,制备反应吸附脱硫剂,以正庚烷/噻吩为模拟油并在固定床反应器装置上评价反应吸附脱硫性能.通过XRD、BET、SEM等方法对该催化剂进行表征;研究表明:溶剂比不同可导致Mn-ZnO复合物形貌的不同,从而影响脱硫性能.以乙醇溶液为溶剂制备的脱硫催化剂脱硫率可达99;左右,并且具有良好的稳定性.     

稀土元素(La,Y)掺杂GaN的第一性原理计算

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理赝势平面波方法,对稀土元素La,Y单掺杂和La和Y共掺杂GaN的晶格常数、电子结构及光学性质进行了计算与分析.计算结果表明:掺杂改变了GaN的能带结构,未掺杂和Y掺杂形成导带底和价带顶位于G点的直接带隙半导体,而La掺杂和La和Y共掺杂形成导带底位于G点,价带顶位于Q点的间接带隙半导体.可以通过掺杂元素来调制GaN的禁带宽度和带隙类型,掺杂均提高GaN在低能区的静态介电常数、反射率、折射率,使光子的跃迁强度增大,说明稀土元素La,Y掺杂可有效调制GaN的光电性质.