Unveiling the Layer‐Dependent Catalytic Activity of PtSe2 Atomic Crystals for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Two‐dimensional (2D) PtSe₂ shows the most prominent layer‐dependent electrical properties among various 2D materials and high catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and therefore, it is an ideal material for exploring the structure–activity correlations in 2D systems. Here, starting with the synthesis of single‐crystalline 2D PtSe₂ with a controlled number of layers and probing the HER catalytic activity of individual flakes in micro electrochemical cells, we investigated the layer‐dependent HER catalytic activity of 2D PtSe₂ from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. We clearly demonstrated how the number of layers affects the number of active sites, the electronic structures, and electrical properties of 2D PtSe₂ flakes and thus alters their catalytic performance for HER. Our results also highlight the importance of efficient electron transfer in achieving optimum activity for ultrathin electrocatalysts. Our studies greatly enrich our understanding of the structure–activity correlations for 2D catalysts and provide new insight for the design and synthesis of ultrathin catalysts with high activity.     

Self-supported hollow Co(OH)2/NiCo sulfide hybrid nanotube arrays as efficient electrocatalysts for overall water splitting

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Developing low-cost and earth-abundant electrocatalysts with high activity for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER)...     

Insight into room-temperature catalytic oxidation of NO by CrO2(110): A DFT study

The first-principles DFT calculations together with microkinetic analysis reveal the complex catalytic mechanism of low-content NO oxidation on CrO₂(110) at room temperature. It quantitatively makes clear that CrO₂(110) can exhibit considerable activity with the Mars-van-Krevelen mechanism preferred, and the nitrate species serves as the key poisoning species.     

Chen's Reagent: A Versatile Reagent for Trifluoromethylation,Difluoromethylenation, and Difluoroalkylation in Organic Synthesis

Methyl fluorosulfonyldifluoroacetate(FSO2CF2CO2Me or MFSDA),often called"Chen's reagent",is commonly used to synthesize trifluoromethylated and difluoroalkylated compounds.This important reagent was initially developed as an efficient trifluoromethylating agent by Professor Qing-Yun Chen and co-workers at Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry,Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1989.     

Catalytic properties of mesoporous materials supported heteropoly acids for Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of cyclic ketones

Three mesoporous molecular sieves loaded silicotungstic acids, named HSiW/SBA-15, HSiW/MCM-41, HSiW/MCM-48, were prepared and characterised by XRD, FT-IR, TEM and SEM. The catalytic performance of the prepared materials for the Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of cyclic ketones was carried out in the presence of 30%H₂O₂ under mild conditions. These loading materials were proved to be efficient and reusable catalysts, they all exhibited excellent catalytic performance for the Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of cyclic ketones with 30% H₂O₂ as oxidant. Many cyclic ketones were efficiently converted to the corresponding lactones with up to 90% conversions and high selectivities under the optimum reaction conditions.

Cyclic ketones were efficiently oxidised by mesoporous materials sopported silicotungstic acid to the corresponding lactones with 30%H₂O₂ as oxidant. All of the catalysts showed promising recyclability in the reactions.     

A longitudinal air–water trans-media dynamic model for slender vehicles under low-speed condition

Nonlinear Dynamics - A trans-media aerial underwater vehicle (TMAUV) could break through the single-medium limitation with the abilities to fly in the air, navigate underwater, and cross the...     

A Comparison of Two Isoreticular Metal–Organic Frameworks with Cationic and Neutral Skeletons: Stability,Mechanism, and Catalytic Activity

Although many ionic metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been reported, little is known about how the charge of the skeleton affects the properties of the MOF materials. Herein we report how the chemical stability of MOFs can be substantially improved through embedding electrostatic interactions in structure. A MOF with a cationic skeleton is impervious to extremely acidic, oxidative, reductive, and high ionic strength conditions, such as 12 m HCl (301 days), aqua regia (86 days), H₂O₂ (30 days), and seawater (30 days), which is unprecedented for MOFs. DFT calculations suggested that steric hinderance and the repulsive interaction of the cationic framework toward positively charged species in microenvironments protects the vulnerable bonds in the structure. Diverse functionalities can be bestowed by substituting the counterions of the charged framework with identically charged functional species, which broadens the horizon in the design of MOFs adaptable to a demanding environment with specific functionalities.     

CsVO2F(IO3): An Excellent SHG Material Featuring an Unprecedented 3D [VO2F(IO3)]− Anionic Framework

The first alkali-metal vanadium iodate fluoride, CsVO₂F(IO₃), with a novel 3D anionic framework, has been rationally designed and hydrothermally synthesized. The 3D [VO₂F(IO₃)]⁻ framework in CsVO₂F(IO₃) is built from 0D Λ-shaped cis-[VO₃F(IO₃)₂]⁴⁻ polyanions via corner-sharing of oxo anions and bridging of the iodate groups. CsVO₂F(IO₃) displays both a strong second-harmonic generation (SHG) 1.1 times as strong as KTiOPO₄ (KTP) under 2.05 μm laser radiation and high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 107.9 MW cm⁻². This work provides a new route to design SHG crystals with stable 3D anionic structures from low-dimensional structural building units.     

Micron-Sized Zeolite Beta Single Crystals Featuring Intracrystal Interconnected Ordered Macro-Meso-Microporosity Displaying Superior Catalytic Performance

Zeolite Beta single crystals with intracrystalline hierarchical porosity at macro-, meso-, and micro-length scales can effectively overcome the diffusion limitations in the conversion of bulky molecules. However, the construction of large zeolite Beta single crystals with such porosity is a challenge. We report herein the synthesis of hierarchically ordered macro-mesoporous single-crystalline zeolite Beta (OMMS-Beta) with a rare micron-scale crystal size by an in situ bottom-up confined zeolite crystallization strategy. The fully interconnected intracrystalline macro-meso-microporous hierarchy and the micron-sized single-crystalline nature of OMMS-Beta lead to improved accessibility to active sites and outstanding (hydro)thermal stability. Higher catalytic performances in gas-phase and liquid-phase acid-catalyzed reactions involving bulky molecules are obtained compared to commercial Beta and nanosized Beta zeolites. The strategy has been extended to the synthesis of other zeolitic materials, including ZSM-5, TS-1, and SAPO-34.     

A new database and benchmark of the bond energies of noble-gas-containing molecules

We have developed a new database of structures and bond energies of 59 noble-gas-containing molecules. The structures were calculated by CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ methods and the bond energies were obtained using the CCSD(T)/complete basis set method. Many wavefunction-based and density functional theory methods have been benchmarked against the 59 accurate bond energies. Our results show that the MPW1B95, B2GP-PLYP, and DSD-BLYP functionals with the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set excel in predicting the bond energies of noble-gas molecules with mean unsigned errors (MUEs) of 2.0 to 2.1 kcal/mol. When combinations of Dunning's basis sets are used, the MPW1B95, B2GP-PLYP, DSD-BLYP, and BMK functionals give significantly lower MUEs of 1.6 to 1.9 kcal/mol. Doubly hybrid methods using B2GP-PLYP and DSD-BLYP functionals and MP2 calculation also provide satisfactory accuracy with MUEs of 1.4 to 1.5 kcal/mol. If the Ng bond energies and the total atomization energies of a group of 109 main-group molecules are considered at the same time, the MPW1B95/aug-cc-pVTZ single-level method (MUE = 2.7 kcal/mol) and the B2GP-PLYP and DSD-PLYP functionals with combinations of basis sets or using the doubly hybrid method (MUEs = 1.9-2.2 kcal/mol) give the overall best result.