Hydrogen Production from a Methanol–Water Solution Catalyzed by an Anionic Iridium Complex Bearing a Functional Bipyridonate Ligand under Weakly Basic Conditions

An efficient catalytic system for the production of hydrogen from a methanol–water solution has been developed using a new anionic iridium complex bearing a functional bipyridonate ligand as a catalyst. This system can be operated under mild conditions [weakly basic solution (0.046 mol L^?1 NaOH) below 100 °C] without the use of an additional organic solvent. Long‐term continuous hydrogen production from a methanol–water solution catalyzed by the anionic iridium complex was also achieved.     

Carbazole Dendrimers as Solution‐Processable Thermally Activated Delayed‐Fluorescence Materials

Recently, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials have received increasing attention as effective emitters for organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, most of them are usually employed as dopants in a host material. In this report, carbazole dendrimers with a triphenyl‐s‐triazine core are reported, which are the first solution‐processable, non‐doped, high‐molecular‐weight TADF materials. The dendrimers were obtained by a new and facile synthetic route using the tert‐butyldimethylsilyl moiety as a protecting group. All dendrimers showed TADF in toluene. Measurements of the temperature‐dependent luminescence lifetime revealed that spin‐coated neat films also showed TADF with moderate quantum yields. OLED devices incorporating these dendrimers as spin‐coated emitting layers gave external quantum efficiencies of up to a 3.4 %, which suggests that this device is harvesting triplet excitons. This result indicates that carbazole dendrimers with attached acceptors are potential TADF materials owing to their polarized electronic structure (with HOMO–LUMO separation).     

Polymersomes Prepared from Thermoresponsive Fluorescent Protein–Polymer Bioconjugates: Capture of and Report on Drug and Protein Payloads

Polymersomes provide a good platform for targeted drug delivery and the creation of complex (bio)catalytically active systems for research in synthetic biology. To realize these applications requires both spatial control over the encapsulation components in these polymersomes and a means to report where the components are in the polymersomes. To address these twin challenges, we synthesized the protein–polymer bioconjugate PNIPAM‐b‐amilFP497 composed of thermoresponsive poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and a green‐fluorescent protein variant (amilFP497). Above 37 °C, this bioconjugate forms polymersomes that can (co‐)encapsulate the fluorescent drug doxorubicin and the fluorescent light‐harvesting protein phycoerythrin 545 (PE545). Using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy and Förster resonance energy transfer (FLIM‐FRET), we can distinguish the co‐encapsulated PE545 protein inside the polymersome membrane while doxorubicin is found both in the polymersome core and membrane.     

通过表面机械加工调控Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5非晶合金的结构和韧性

作为一种新型结构材料, 非晶态合金的韧性需要进一步提高. 提高非晶态合金韧性的方法有引入枝晶相、调整其成分改变其泊松比影响其剪切带衍生、裂纹扩展等.本文通过表面机械加工的方法来调控非晶态合金的微观结构及韧性. 我们采用真空电弧熔炼、亚稳态薄板离心浇铸系统制备了Zr_52.5Cu_17.9Ni_14.6Al₁₀Ti₅ (原子百分比) (Vit105)非晶合金板,并用表面机械研磨处理方法(surface mechanical attrition treatment, SMAT), 在Vit105板上形成纳米尺度局域类晶体序结构. 基于差示扫描量热分析、纳米压痕实验, 我们发现SMAT处理后的Vit105合金板表面附近弛豫焓更低, 微观结构更加均匀、稳定. 通过显微维氏硬度计测试, 发现SMAT处理后样品的表面附近硬度增大,硬度值分布也更均匀. 通过三点弯断裂实验, 可得到SMAT处理后合金板缺口韧度值从70.7 ± 4.7 MPa·m1/2提高到112.8 ± 3.7 MPa·m1/2. SMAT处理后合金板断裂后, 缺口前端剪切带密度比未处理的更大. Vit105合金板韧性的提高源于SMAT处理对剪切带萌生的促进作用. 该研究表明,表面机械加工可以在非晶态合金中形成局域类晶体有序结构, 影响其结构均匀性, 增大其硬度, 促进剪切带萌生, 提高其韧性. 表面机械加工作为一种新型的改变材料性能的手段, 具有广阔的应用前景.      

Synthesis of fluorine‐containing star‐shaped poly(vinyl ether)s via arm‐linking reactions in living cationic polymerization

Various types of fluorine‐containing star‐shaped poly(vinyl ether)s were successfully synthesized by crosslinking reactions of living polymers based on living cationic polymerization. Star polymers with fluorinated arm chains were prepared by the reaction between a divinyl ether and living poly(vinyl ether)s with fluorine groups (C₄F₉, C₆F₁₃, and C₈F₁₇) at the side chain using cationogen/Et_1.5AlCl_1.5 in a fluorinated solvent (dichloropentafluoropropanes), giving star‐shaped fluorinated polymers in high yields with a relatively narrow molecular weight distribution. The concentration of living polymers for the crosslinking reaction and the molar feed ratio of a bifunctional vinyl ether to living polymers affected the yield and molecular weight of the star polymers. Star polymers with block arms were prepared by a linking reaction of living block copolymers of a fluorinated segment and a nonfluorinated segment. Heteroarm star‐shaped polymers containing two‐ or three‐arm species were synthesized using a mixture of different living polymer species for the reaction with a bifunctional vinyl ether. The obtained polymers underwent temperature‐induced solubility transitions in various organic solvents, and their concentrated solutions underwent sol–gel transitions, based on the solubility transition of a thermoresponsive fluorinated segment. Furthermore, a slight amount of fluorine groups were shown to be effective for physical gelation when those were located at the arm ends of a star polymer. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012