Mechanistic Insight into Peptidyl-Cysteine Oxidation by the Copper-Dependent Formylglycine-Generating Enzyme

The copper-dependent formylglycine-generating enzyme (FGE) catalyzes the oxygen-dependent oxidation of specific peptidyl-cysteine residues to formylglycine. Our QM/MM calculations provide a very likely mechanism for this transformation. The reaction starts with dioxygen binding to the tris-thiolate Cu^I center to form a triplet Cu^II-superoxide complex. The rate-determining hydrogen atom abstraction involves a triplet-singlet crossing to form a Cu^II−OOH species that couples with the substrate radical, leading to a Cu^I-alkylperoxo intermediate. This is accompanied by proton transfer from the hydroperoxide to the S atom of the substrate via a nearby water molecule. The subsequent O−O bond cleavage is coupled with the C−S bond breaking that generates the formylglycine and a Cu^II-oxyl complex. Moreover, our results suggest that the aldehyde oxygen of the final product originates from O₂, which will be useful for future experimental work.     

Semiconductor SERS on Colourful Substrates with Fabry-Pérot Cavities

Non-metallic materials have emerged as a new family of active substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), with unique advantages over their metal counterparts. However, owing to their inefficient interaction with the incident wavelength, the Raman enhancement achieved with non-metallic materials is considerably lower with respect to the metallic ones. Herein, we propose colourful semiconductor-based SERS substrates for the first time by utilizing a Fabry-Pérot cavity, which realize a large freedom in manipulating light. Owing to the delicate adjustment of the absorption in terms of both frequency and intensity, resonant absorption can be achieved with a variety of non-metal SERS substrates, with the sensitivity further enhanced by ≈100 times. As a typical example, by introducing a Fabry-Pérot-type substrate fabricated with SiO₂/Si, a rather low detection limit of 10⁻¹⁶ M for the SARS-CoV-2S protein is achieved on SnS₂. This study provides a realistic strategy for increasing SERS sensitivity when semiconductors are employed as SERS substrates.     

Unique Octupolar 2D-Polymer Frameworks as Mixed Conductors and Metal-Free Catalysts for Dual-Promoted Li and S Electrochemistry: Multi-regulation Role of Ethoxylation Chemistry

Here, we for the first time introduce ethoxylation chemistry to develop a new octupolar cyano-vinylene-linked 2D polymer framework (Cyano-OCF-EO) capable of acting as efficient mixed electron/ion conductors and metal-free sulfur evolution catalysts for dual-promoted Li and S electrochemistry. Our strategy creates a unique interconnected network of strongly-coupled donor 3-(acceptor-core) octupoles in Cyano-OCF-EO, affording enhanced intramolecular charge transfer, substantial active sites and crowded open channels. This enables Cyano-OCF-EO as a new versatile separator modifier, which endows the modified separator with superior catalytic activity for sulfur conversion and rapid Li ion conduction with the high Li⁺ transference number up to 0.94. Thus, the incorporation of Cyano-OCF-EO can concurrently regulate sulfur redox reactions and Li-ion flux in Li−S cells, attaining boosted bidirectional redox kinetics, inhibited polysulfide shuttle and dendrite-free Li anodes. The Cyano-OCF-EO-involved Li−S cell is endowed with excellent overall electrochemical performance especially large areal capacity of 7.5 mAh cm⁻² at high sulfur loading of 8.7 mg cm⁻². Mechanistic studies unveil the dominant multi-promoting effect of the triethoxylation on electron and ion conduction, polysulfide adsorption and catalytic conversion as well as previously-unexplored −CN/C−O dual-site synergistic effect for enhanced polysulfide adsorption and reduced energy barrier toward Li₂S conversion.     

铝基火花源发射光谱仪测定MB1镁合金中锰含量

建立了用铝基体火花源原子发射光谱仪现有通道硬件测定镁合金(MB1)中锰元素含量的方法.方法线性相关系数为0.967 6,RSD为1.66%.对8个未知样品进行了测试,结果与化学分析方法所得结果一致.     

Improving the impact property and heat‐resistance of PLA/PC blends through coupling molecular chains at the interface

The influences of both the molecular structure and the melt viscosity differences between Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and polycarbonate (PC) on the interpenetration of molecular chains at the interface were investigated by comparing the dynamic mechanical properties and morphologies of the as‐prepared PLA/PC solution‐casting blends with those of their corresponding annealed (180°C, 8 h) samples or PLA/PC melt blends. Additionally, two chain extenders containing epoxy groups (ADR and TGDDM) were used to improve the interfacial strength. Subsequently, the interpenetration of PLA and PC molecular chains at the interface was also surveyed. Finally, the effects of the morphology formed by after adding ADR or TGDDM on the impact property, and heat resistance were discussed. The results showed that there was no interpenetration of molecular chains at the interface in PLA/PC melt blends because of the serious hindrance of the molecular structure and the melt viscosity differences. Although the interfacial strength achieved significant increase after adding ADR or TGDDM, the increase of the interfacial strength should be caused by the connection of ADR or TGDDM molecules with PLA and PC molecules at the interface through chemical bonds rather than the entanglements of PLA and PC molecular chains because of no interpenetration of PLA and PC molecular chains at the interface. Thus, the morphology formed after adding ADR or TGDDM is still the type of complete phase separation, which may be the most suitable morphology for achieving high impact and heat resistance PLA/PC blends because these two properties strongly depend on the crystallinity of PLA phase. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High Catalytic Activity of Nitrogen and Sulfur Co‐Doped Nanoporous Graphene in the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Chemical doping has been demonstrated to be an effective way to realize new functions of graphene as metal‐free catalyst in energy‐related electrochemical reactions. Although efficient catalysis for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has been achieved with doped graphene, its performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is rather poor. In this study we report that nitrogen and sulfur co‐doping leads to high catalytic activity of nanoporous graphene in HER at low operating potential, comparable to the best Pt‐free HER catalyst, 2D MoS₂. The interplay between the chemical dopants and geometric lattice defects of the nanoporous graphene plays the fundamental role in the superior HER catalysis.     

Flame-retardant Wrapped Ramie Fibers towards Suppressing “Candlewick Effect” of Polypropylene/Ramie Fiber Composites

In this work, a flame-retardant polypropylene(PP)/ramie fiber(RF) composite was prepared. The ramie fibers were wrapped chemically by a phosphorus- and nitrogen-containing flame retardant(FR) produced via in situ condensation reaction so as to suppress their candlewick effect. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) demonstrated that the ramie fibers wrapped chemically by FR(FR-RF) were obtained successfully. Thermogravimatric test showed that the PP/FR-RF composite had more residue and better thermal stability at high temperatures than the PP/RF composite. Cone calorimeter(CC) results indicated that the peak of heat release rate(PHRR) and total heat release(THR) correspondingly decreased by 23.4% and 12.5% compared with the values of neat PP/RF. The PP/FR-RF composite created a continuous and compact char layer after the combustion. Combining FTIR analysis of char residue after CC test with heat conduction coefficient results, it could be concluded that the charring of FR on RF greatly weakened the candlewick effect of RF, and more char residue in the RF domain facilitated the formation of more continuous and compact char layer in the whole combustion zone, consequently protected PP composites during combustion, resulting in the better flame retardancy of PP/FR-RF composite than that of PP/RF composite.     

2,6-二苯基苯酚及其聚合物的合成与应用进展

2,6-二苯基苯酚是一种重要的精细化工中间体,随着经济的发展和科学技术的不断进步,它及其聚合物的用量和用途都在不断扩大拓宽。本文主要介绍了近年来它及其聚合物不同的合成路线及其优缺点,对它们在吸附材料、工程塑料、抗氧化剂、气体分离膜等方面的应用研究进展进行了总结,并对它们的应用前景进行了展望。     

Steroidal Alkaloids from Veratrum maackii Regel with Genotoxicity on Brain‐Cell DNA in Mice

Two new steroidal alkaloids, 23‐methoxycyclopamine 3‐O‐β‐D ‐glucopyranoside ( 1 ) and isoecliptalbine ( 2 ), were isolated from the root and rhizoma of Veratrum maackii Regel , together with five known compounds, i.e., verussurine ( 3 ), verabenzoamine ( 4 ), verazine ( 5 ), isoverazine ( 6 ), and verazinine ( 7 ). Their structures were established by extensive analysis of spectroscopic data, as well as by comparison with literature data. Compounds 1 – 7 could cause DNA damage in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex of mice in a dose‐dependent manner by using single‐cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay).     

Synthesis of Bi2WO6/Bi2O3 Composite with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity by a Facile One‐step Hydrothermal Synthesis Route

In this study, the characterization and photocatalytic activity of Bi₂WO₆/Bi₂O₃ under visible‐light irradiation was investigated in detail. The results suggested that Bi₂WO₆/Bi₂O₃ can be synthesized by a facile one‐pot hydrothermal route using a super big 200 mL Teflon‐lined autoclave with optimal sodium oleate/Bi molar ratio of 1.25. Through the characterization of Bi₂WO₆/Bi₂O₃ by X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared, UV‐vis diffuse reflectance spectra and Photoluminescence spectra, it was found that the as‐prepared composite possessed smaller crystallite size and higher visible‐light responsive than the pure Bi₂WO₆. Moreover, it was expected that the as‐prepared composites exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible‐light irradiation, which could be ascribed to their improved light absorption property and the reduced recombination of the photogenerated electrons and holes during the photocatalytic reaction. In general, this study could provide a principle method to synthesize Bi₂WO₆/Bi₂O₃ with enhanced photocatalytic activity by one‐step hydrothermal synthesis route for environmental purification.