Theoretical studies of photovoltaic properties of five new silol dithiophene based D2-A-D1-A-D2 donors

Organic solar cell of silol dithiophene based D₂-A-D₁-A-D₂/PC₇₁BM (D: donor part; A: acceptor part; 1 and 2 denote different units) possesses promising power conversion efficiency. Researchers have studied D₂-A-D₁-A-D₂ molecules carefully, including the effects of the different number of terminal thiophenes, the different central moiety (D₁), and the length of the alkyl chain. However, there are few investigations, especially theoretical studies, on the influences of different A (acceptor) units on the properties of D₂-A-D₁-A-D₂ molecule. In the present work, we have designed and modeled five new D₂-A-D₁-A-D₂ (D₂ = bithiophene and D₁ = silol dithiophene) donors by changing A units (A = diketopyrrolopyrrole, naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c′]bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole, 5-fluoro-2,1,3-benzoselenadiazole, benzobisthiadiazole, and thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole). We have applied density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT to predict their ground-state electronic structures and the UV–vis spectra, and the open circuit voltages (Vocs) of organic solar cells of D₂-A-D₁-A-D₂/PC₇₁BM. Based on the calculated results, we find that bithiophene thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole siloldithiophene (BTTS) (D₂ = bithiophene, A = thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole, D₁ = silol dithiophene) possesses the highest lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (−2.60 eV) and the lowest highest occupied molecular orbital (−5.33 eV) energies, and the strongest absorption in the visible region. Besides, the solar cell of BTTS/PC₇₁BM has the highest Voc of 1.02 V. These results indicate that it may be a promising donor. In contrast, bithiophene benzobisthiadiazole siloldithiophene (BBBS) (A = benzobisthiadiazole) has low absorption strength in the visible region, which indicates that it may not be a suitable donor material.     

La掺杂和空位对ZnS磁性和光学性能影响的第一性原理研究

利用密度泛函理论框架下的平面波超软赝势法,通过第一性原理对La掺杂与Zn空位(V_(Zn))及La掺杂与S空位(V_S)共存的ZnS体系的电子结构、磁性机理、形成能及吸收光谱进行了研究.结果表明, La掺杂与空位(V_(Zn)或V_S)的空间位置最近时,掺杂体系的形成能最低,体系最稳定.另外,La掺杂与Zn空位共存时,体系具有磁性,且体系的净磁矩与La原子与Zn空位的相对位置有关;La掺杂与S空位共存时,掺杂体系无磁性,但此时体系的禁带宽度最窄且吸收光谱红移最显著.     

High effects of smoke suppression and char formation of Ni?Mo/Mg(OH)2 for polypropylene

The Ni? Mo/Mg(OH)₂ (NMM) hybrid as an efficient flame retardancy and smoke suppression composite for polypropylene (PP) was synthesized through Ni? Mo co‐precipitation on the surface of Mg(OH)₂ (MH) hexagonal nanosheets. Compared to PP/MH, PP/NMM exhibited excellent smoke suppressing and flame retardancy on the heat release rate, total heat release, smoke production rate, total smoke production, CO production rate and total CO production with the same loading. The reduced hazard of PP/NMM was mainly attributed to the high physical barrier effect of compact char residues on heat, smoke and combustible gas. The mechanism study indicated that multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) generated from the catalytic carbonization of PP by the Ni? Mo compound could play the role of “rebar” to strengthen the char residues, avoid the generation of cracks and form highly compact char layer. Furthermore, MgO could facilitate the production of MWCNTs through changing the pyrolysis process of PP and increasing the reaction time between pyrolysis gas and Ni? Mo compound. Hence, the new Ni? Mo/MH catalyst hybrid may explore the potential for solving the tough problem of the flammability and heavy smoke of the polyolefins system.     

空中目标多波段红外辐射特性描述与仿真分析

针对空中目标在复杂背景下的探测需求,根据实际目标的运动特性,分析目标在飞行高度、飞行姿态角改变时的辐射特点,基于MODTRAN计算得到大气辐射和衰减数据,建立目标的三维模型、热辐射和反射模型,搭建空中目标的红外成像仿真系统.分析和仿真结果表明:在中波波段,目标尾焰的红外辐射比蒙皮强很多,在长波波段,蒙皮的红外辐射比较强,仿真图像的细节比较多,尾焰的红外辐射虽然有所减弱,红外成像效果依旧很好;相同探测条件下,由于位置越高大气越稀薄,探测器的可探测距离会变得比较远.目标红外辐射特性的分析和红外仿真系统的搭建对缩短红外探测器的研制周期和进一步确定探测器波段和系统分辨率等指标提供了参考依据.     

CiADS束流负载效应前馈补偿的仿真评估

在高功率超导质子直线加速器中，束流负载效应是影响超导腔幅相稳定性的一个重要因素。本工作基于谐振腔建场模型，开发了超导腔系统束流负载效应的时域仿真程序，分析了束流负载效应对超导腔幅相稳定性的影响，并在C-ADS注入器II上通过相关实验测量对仿真结果进行了验证。利用该程序，评估了CiADS超导直线加速器脉冲束流的脉冲长度，以及前馈补偿的时序抖动和束流纹波等因素对腔中电磁场幅相稳定度的影响。仿真结果表明:在当前CiADS直线加速器设计参数下，为满足超导腔中电磁场0.1%与在高功率超导质子直线加速器中，束流负载效应是影响超导腔幅相稳定性的一个重要因素。本工作基于谐振腔建场模型，开发了超导腔系统束流负载效应的时域仿真程序，分析了束流负载效应对超导腔幅相稳定性的影响，并在C-ADS注入器II上通过相关实验测量对仿真结果进行了验证。利用该程序，评估了CiADS超导直线加速器脉冲束流的脉冲长度，以及前馈补偿的时序抖动和束流纹波等因素对腔中电磁场幅相稳定度的影响。仿真结果表明:在当前CiADS直线加速器设计参数下，为满足超导腔中电磁场0.1%与$0.1^{\circ}$的幅相稳定度指标，前馈时序抖动的偏差不能超过0.79 μs，束流流强的直流偏差不能超过0.9%，并且给出了束流纹波的最大抖动幅值与纹波频率之间的关系。这些结果将为CiADS超导直线加速器相关子系统技术指标的确定提供依据。     

Gas-Sensing Activity of Amorphous Copper Oxide Porous Nanosheets

In this paper, the gas-sensing properties of copper oxide porous nanosheets in amorphous and highly crystalline states were comparatively investigated on the premise of almost the same specific surface area, morphology and size. Unexpectedly, the results show that amorphous copper oxide porous nanosheets have much better gas sensing properties than highly crystalline copper oxide to a serious of volatile organic compounds, and the lowest detection limit (LOD) of the amorphous copper oxide porous nanosheets to methanal is even up to 10 ppb. By contrast, the LOD of the highly crystalline copper oxide porous nanosheets to methanal is 95 ppb. Experiments prove that the oxygen vacancies contained in the amorphous copper oxide porous nanosheets play a key role in improving gas sensitivity, which greatly improve the chemical activity of the materials, especially for the adsorption of molecules containing oxygen-groups such as methanal and oxygen.     

Nickel (II) tetrapyridyl complexes as electrocatalysts and precatalysts for water oxidation

Two nickel complexes, [Ni(tpen)](ClO₄)₂.0.5CH₃COCH₃ ( 1 ) and [Ni(tpbn)](ClO₄)₂ ( 2 ), of tetrapyridyl ligands N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-pyridyl-methyl)-1,2-ethanediamine (tpen) and N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-pyridyl-methyl)-1,4-butanediamine (tpbn) were prepared and their catalysis for water oxidation reaction (WOR) studied. In 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS) of pH 8.0, complex 1 is a homogeneous molecular catalyst with an overpotential of ~440 mV and a Faradaic efficiency of 89%. At pH ≥ 9.0, complex 1 degraded gradually during the catalytic process and formed NiO_x composite (nickel oxide with general formula Ni_xO_yH_z) active for WOR. In contrast, complex 2 deteriorated under measured conditions (pH 8.0–12.0) and formed NiO_x composite active for WOR. The NiO_x composite derived from 1 in 0.1 M PBS at pH 11.0 showed an activity with an overpotential of ~500 mV, a Tafel slope of ~90 mV/decade and a Faradaic efficiency of 97%. Mechanisms were proposed for water oxidation catalyzed by 1 and 2 . This work revealed that the catalytic activity of the nickel complexes was related to the flexibility of the tetrapyridyl ligands and the adaptability of the coordination sphere of the nickel(II) center.     

Proton conductivity study on three CS/IL@fle-MOF membranes

The low-cost, high specific surface area and porosity, controlled pore size, and chemical properties of metal–organic framework (MOF) materials have attracted much attention in the exploration of proton conduction. The method of chemically modifying MOF structures or introducing conductive medium into the holes can effectively improve the proton conductivities of the materials. Here, the structural tunability of ionic liquid (IL) and flexible MOF (fle-MOF) materials are matched to give full play to the conductivity of IL, the framework support, and the microporous effect of MOFs, which achieves the synergistic effect of performance and expands the temperature range of proton transfer. Three kinds of CS/IL@fle-MOF membranes were prepared by combining three fle-MOFs with 1-carboxymethyl-3-methylimidazole (CMMIM) in different proportions to obtain 15 pieces of membranes. The comparative analyses show that CS/IL@fle-MOF membranes have excellent proton conduction performance at a wider temperature range (263–353 K) and lower relative humidity (75% RH). Among them, the proton conductivities of CS/CMMIM@MIL-88A-25% and CS/CMMIM@MIL-88B-125% are up to 1.33 and 1.42 S cm⁻¹ at 75% RH and 353 K, respectively; whereas those of CS/CMMIM@MIL-53(Fe)-75% and CS/CMMIM@MIL-88B-125% reach up to 2.1 × 10⁻³ and 1.28 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 75% RH and 263 K, respectively. The E_a of CS/CMMIM@fle-MOFs is in the range of 0.1–0.5 eV, suggesting that the proton transport follows predominantly the typical Grotthuss transfer mechanism. The results of this study indicate that the CS/CMMIM@fle-MOF membranes combinations offer great potential for the design of composite porous proton-conducting materials.     

Comparative absorption kinetics of seven active ingredients of Eucommia ulmoides extracts by intestinal in situ circulatory perfusion in normal and spontaneous hypertensive rats

Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. (E. ulmoides) is a valuable and nourishing medicinal herb in China that has been used in the treatment of hypertension. Given the fact that most traditional Chinese medicine is mainly used to treat disease, investigating the pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicines in the pathological state is more useful than that in the normal state. However, the differences in the absorption kinetics of active ingredients of E. ulmoides extract between pathological and physiological conditions have not been reported. Therefore, in this study, the rat intestinal in situ circulatory perfusion model was used to investigate the differences in absorption kinetics of seven active ingredients of E. ulmoides extract in normal and spontaneously hypertensive rats, namely, genipinic acid, protocatechuic acid, neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, (+)-pinoresinol di-O-β-D -glucopyranoside and (+)-pinoresinol 4′-O-β-D -glucopyranoside. Our results indicate that the pathological state of spontaneous hypertension may change the absorption of active components of E. ulmoides extracts, and these findings may provide a reference for improving the rational use of E. ulmoides in the clinic.     

Comparative proteomic analysis of round and elongated spermatids during spermiogenesis in mice

Spermiogenesis in mammals is an exclusive process during which haploid round spermatids mature into spermatozoa in the testis. Any abnormality in the process of spermiogenesis may result in male infertility. The aim of the present study was to characterize the differentially expressed proteins between round and elongated spermatids in mice using label-free quantitative mass spectrometry. Of the 2411 proteins identified in this study, 333 were differentially expressed with a ≥10-fold change, including 208 upregulated proteins and 125 downregulated proteins in round spermatids relative to elongated spermatids. Gene Ontology analysis showed that these differentially expressed proteins were categorized into 10 types of subcellular localizations, 9 molecular functions, and were involved in 9 biological processes. All the identified proteins participated in 268 different pathways. In addition, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and the proteasome pathway, autophagy, lysosome, and apoptosis pathways were involved in the mechanism of spermiogenesis. Our data may provide valuable information for a better understanding of spermiogenesis and help improve the diagnosis and treatment of male factor infertility.