Modulating Charge Carrier Efficient Separation Enabled by Lewis Base Modification in Paper-based Photoelectrochemical Sensor

The separation efficiency of charge carriers determines the analytical sensitivity of the paper-based photoelectrochemical sensor. Herein, the Lewis base modification strategy is proposed to promote the carrier separation through an in-situ ion exchange method. Firstly, three-dimensional paper-based hierarchically TiO₂ (PHT) arrays are prepared with the one-step hydrothermal method. With the aid of Lewis base, the photo-induced charge separation efficiency and the photocurrent signal are obviously increased. Ultimately, sensitive sensing of prostate specific antigen (PSA) is achieved and the linear range is 1 pg/mL–100 ng/mL with the detection limitation of 0.3 pg/mL.     

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.     

Metal–Organic Framework (MOF)-Derived Carbon-Mediated Interfacial Reaction for the Synthesis of CeO2−MnO2 Catalysts

CeO₂-based catalysts are widely studied in catalysis fields. Developing one novel synthetic approach to increase the intimate contact between CeO₂ and secondary species is of particular importance for enhancing catalytic activities. Herein, an interfacial reaction between metal–organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon and KMnO₄ to synthesize CeO₂−MnO₂, in which carbon is derived from the pyrolysis of Ce-MOFs under an inert atmosphere, is described. The MOF-derived carbon is found to restrain the growth of CeO₂ crystallites under a high calcination temperature and, more importantly, intimate contact within CeO₂/C is conveyed to CeO₂/MnO₂ after the interfacial reaction; this is responsible for the high catalytic activity of CeO₂−MnO₂ towards CO oxidation.     

Crystal structures and magnetic properties of nitroxide radical-coordinated copper(II) and cobalt(II) complexes

Transition Metal Chemistry - The crystal structures and magnetic properties of three coordination compounds constructed from various nitroxide radicals L and MII(hfac)2(H2O)2 building blocks...     

The catalytic performance study of polymerized ionic liquid synthesized in different conditions on alkylation of o‐Xylene with styrene

In this work, a series of novel acidic polymerized ionic liquids were used as heterogeneous catalyst for alkylation of o‐Xylene with styrene. And the effect of the amount of initiator and the type of acid used for ion exchange on catalyst structure and the catalytic performance of catalysts for alkylation were studied thoroughly. The experiment results show: when the percentage of the amount of initiator in the total material is 3%, the polymerized ionic liquid catalyst MPM‐SO₃H‐[C₃V][SO₃CF₃] has the most uniform with a specific surface area of 97.30 m²/g and a pore volume of 0.35 cm³/g. Benefiting from the unique structure features, MPM‐SO₃H‐[C₃V][SO₃CF₃] manifested an excellent catalytic performance for alkylation of o‐Xylene with styrene, along with the conversion of styrene was 96.8% and the yield of 1‐Phenyl‐1‐ortho‐xylene ethane was 94.7%. Therefore, this work provides a novel reference to the synthesis of polymerized ionic liquids and clearly explains the advantage of novel acidic polymerized ionic liquids on alkylation.     

Crystal structures of silicon-rich lithium silicides at high pressure

Silicon (Si) is one of the most essential elements, as it is indispensable for modern electronic technology. The standard Si structure at ambient conditions is the cubic diamond structure, and it has an indirect band gap, which prevents it from being considered as a next-generation platform for semiconductor technologies. Therefore, the search for new allotropes of silicon has attracted great attention. Herein, first principles swarm-intelligence structure searches coupled with density-functional theory were performed to explore the stable high-pressure phases of silicon-rich lithium containing compounds, LiSi_x ($x=4\text{–}8$). The LiSi₄ stoichiometry was predicted to be stable, and it was found to assume one of the following space groups, P4/mnc, Cmmm, and C2/m within the pressure range of 0 to 50 GPa. By removing the Li atoms from these compounds, three silicon allotropes were obtained that were metastable at ambient pressures. Our work illustrates how novel silicon allotropes can be predicted using the CALYPSO method.     

Distorted Phthalocyanines by Click Chemistry: Photoacoustic,Photothermal, and Surface-Enhanced Resonance Raman Studies

Distortion of nominally planar phthalocyanine macrocycles affects the excited state dynamics in that most of the excited-state energy decays through internal conversion. A click-type annulation reaction on a perfluorophthalocyanine platform appending a seven-membered ring to the β-positions on one or more of the isoindoles distorts the macrocycle and modulates solubility. The distorted derivative enables photoacoustic imaging, photothermal effects, and strong surface-enhanced resonance Raman signals.     

Energy-preserving trigonometrically fitted continuous stage Runge-Kutta-Nyström methods for oscillatory Hamiltonian systems

Numerical Algorithms - Recently, continuous-stage Runge-Kutta-Nyström (CSRKN) methods for solving numerically second-order initial value problem $q^{\prime \prime }= f(q)$ have been proposed...     

DG polynomial algebras and their homological properties

In this paper, we introduce and study differential graded(DG for short) polynomial algebras. In brief, a DG polynomial algebra A is a connected cochain DG algebra such that its underlying graded algebra A~# is a polynomial algebra K[x_1, x_2,..., x_n] with |xi| = 1 for any i ∈ {1, 2,..., n}. We describe all possible differential structures on DG polynomial algebras, compute their DG automorphism groups, study their isomorphism problems, and show that they are all homologically smooth and Gorenstein DG algebras. Furthermore, it is proved that the DG polynomial algebra A is a Calabi-Yau DG algebra when its differential ?_A≠ 0 and the trivial DG polynomial algebra(A, 0) is Calabi-Yau if and only if n is an odd integer.     

Asymmetric Reactions involving Lewis Base Catalyst Tethered Dearomatized Intermediates

Numerous protocols have been developed for the functionalization of aromatic substances. Among them, the strategy by which aromatic substrates are activated in situ to generate dearomatized intermediates is highly efficient but challenging, especially in the field of asymmetric catalysis. In this Concept article, the application of some well-established chiral Lewis base catalysis, including primary/secondary amines and N-heterocyclic carbenes, that can covalently form catalyst-tethered dearomatized ortho/para-quinodimethane species with diverse heteroaryl and aryl carbonyl substrates is summarized in a number of asymmetric cycloaddition and addition reactions with diverse reagents generally having electrophilic properties. As a result, a variety of enantioenriched aromatic products with higher molecular complexity are constructed effectively through a rearomatization process.