Y3+/Li+和Y3+/Na+双掺杂氟化钡快响应闪烁晶体

氟化钡(BaF₂)晶体是已知响应最快的闪烁晶体,在高能物理、核物理及核医学等领域有着广泛的应用前景。抑制BaF₂晶体的慢发光成分对其工程应用至关重要。本文利用坩埚下降法制备了高Y³⁺掺杂浓度5%、8%、10%(摩尔分数)的BaF₂晶体,并采用Y³⁺与碱金属离子(Li⁺、Na⁺)共掺杂的方法形成电荷补偿阻止间隙F^-的产生,制备了双掺杂型BaF₂快响应闪烁晶体,进而基于优化的5 ns和2 500 ns时间门宽测试方法,研究了Y³⁺掺杂浓度以及Y³⁺与碱金属离子(Li⁺、Na⁺)共掺杂浓度对BaF₂闪烁晶体快/慢成分比的影响规律。结果表明,生长的高浓度Y³⁺掺杂BaF₂晶体的光学质量优异,在220 nm和300 nm处透过率分别高于90%和92%;随着Y³⁺掺杂浓度由0提高至10%,BaF₂晶体的慢发光成分显著降低,快/慢成分比由0.15提高至1.21;生长的Y³⁺/Li⁺及Y³⁺/Na⁺共掺杂BaF₂晶体的慢发光成分较Y³⁺掺杂BaF₂晶体进一步降低,快/慢成分比最高分别可达1.63和1.61。研制的双掺杂BaF₂快响应闪烁晶体有望应用于高能物理、核物理前沿实验等重要领域。     

Static droplet array for the synthesis of nonspherical microparticles

We reported a manually operated static droplet array (SDA)-based device for the synthesis of nonspherical microparticles with different shapes. The improved SDA structure and reversible bonding between poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) were used in the device for the large-scale synthesis and rapid extraction of nonspherical microparticles. To understand the device physics, the effects of flow rate, SDA well size, and shape on droplet generation performances were explored. The results indicated that droplet generation in SDA structures was insensitive to the flow rate, and monodisperse droplets were generated by the SDA-based device through manually pushing the syringe. Finally, we integrated four kinds of SDA structures in one device and successfully realized the synthesis and extraction of nonspherical microparticles with different shapes and materials. Our SDA-based device offers numerous advantages, such as simple manual operation, low equipment cost, controllable microparticle shapes and sizes, and large-scale production. Thus, it holds the potential to be used as a flexible tool for the production of nonspherical microparticles.     

Magnetic solid-phase extraction of warfarin and gemfibrozil in biological samples using polydopamine-coated magnetic nanoparticles via core-shell nanostructure

Herein, polydopamine-coated Fe₃O₄ spheres were synthesized using a very simple, easy, cost-effective, efficient, and fast method. First, magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄) were synthesized and were followed by accommodating polydopamine on the surface of the prepared Fe₃O₄. The prepared polydopamine-coated Fe₃O₄ spheres were utilized as a sorbent in magnetic solid phase extraction of gemfibrozil and warfarin (as the model analytes). The extracted model analytes were desorbed by a suitable organic solvent and were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Under optimized condition, the linearity of the method was in the range of 0.1–200.0 μg/L for the selected analytes in water. The limits of detection were calculated to be in the range of 0.026–0.055 μg/L for warfarin and gemfibrozil, respectively. The limits of quantification were calculated to be in the range of 0.089–0.185 μg/L. The inter-day and intra-day relative standard deviations were determined to be in the range of 1.4%–3.3% in three concentrations in order to calculate the method precision. Furthermore, the enrichment factors were found to be 78 and 81 for warfarin and gemfibrozil, respectively. Moreover, the calculated absolute recoveries were between 78% and 81%. The obtained recoveries indicated that the method was useful and applicable in complicated real samples.     

An overview of techniques and strategies for isolation of flavonoids from the genus Erythrina

Plants in the genus Erythrina is a potential source of chemical constituents, one of which is flavonoids, which have diverse bioactivities. To date, literature on the flavonoids from the genus Erythrina has only highlighted the phytochemical aspects, so this review article will discuss isolation techniques and strategies for the first time. More than 420 flavonoids have been reported in the Erythrina genus, which are grouped into 17 categories. These flavonoid compounds were obtained through isolation techniques and strategies using polar, semi-polar, and non-polar solvents. Various chromatographic techniques have been developed to isolate flavonoids using column flash chromatography, quick column chromatography, centrifugally accelerated thin-layer chromatography, radial chromatography, medium-pressure column chromatography, semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography. Chromatographic processes for isolating flavonoids can be optimized using multivariate statistical applications such as response surface methodology with central composite design, Box–Behnken design, Doehlert design, and mixture design.     

微波水热两步法合成高可见光响应Ag2S/ZnO及其光催化性能、机理

在不同的制备条件下,通过微波水热两步法获得了一系列Ag₂S/ZnO光催化剂,采用X射线粉末衍射(XRD)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、紫外-可见漫反射吸收光谱(UV-Vis/DRS)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和N₂吸附-脱附等测试手段对产物结构和形貌进行了表征。结果表明,产物以六方纤锌矿ZnO为主,其晶型结构并未随着反应温度和Ag₂S物质的量的增加而改变。Ag₂S的引入显著增强了光催化剂在可见光区的吸收,使吸收边带发生红移,同时抑制了ZnO(001)晶面的生长。另外,所得产物的形貌随着Ag₂S物质的量的增加从爆米花状转变为少量的柱体颗粒,且BET比表面积经过复合后明显减小。以罗丹明B为目标降解物,研究并比较了一系列Ag₂S/ZnO光催化剂对罗丹明B的光降解性能。结果表明,n_Ag2S/n_ZnO=1:10时,光催化剂在紫外光、可见光和模拟日光的照射下具有最好的光催化效果,优于目前应用最广泛的市售P25。另外,所制备的光催化材料Ag₂S/ZnO经4次循环使用后,其降解效率没有明显下降,表明该催化材料具有一定的光催化稳定性。经捕获实验研究发现,在Ag₂S/ZnO的光催化反应中空穴起主要作用,并根据绝对电负性估算了复合材料Ag₂S/ZnO的能带位置,据此提出了可能的光催化反应机理。     

Enrichment of adenosine using thermally responsive chromatographic materials under friendly pH conditions

A thermally responsive boronate affinity chromatographic material, which showed thermal sensitivity, had been successfully applied for the enrichment and separation of cis‐diol‐containing compounds, and the capture and release process could be facilitated by adjusting the temperature. However, in this system, the pH of the mobile phase must be higher than 9.8, and alkaline media can lead to the degradation of labile compounds; the use of silica beads also limits its use. In this study, thermally responsive boronate affinity chromatographic material, namely poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐N‐acryloyl‐3‐aminophenylboronic acid) grafted silica, was successfully prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization. Its structure was confirmed by IR spectroscopy and the graft ratio was 20.8%, determined by thermogravimetric analysis. Furthermore, the capture/release of adenosine, a cis‐diol, was performed from pH 5.0–9.0 and 10–50°C. The elution of adenosine was remarkably retarded at decreased temperatures and adenosine could be captured completely at 10°C at pH values of 5.0–9.0. The enrichment of adenosine could be achieved by simply changing the temperature from 10 to 50°C. Therefore, this material not only improved the stability of the silica, but was also suitable for the capture of oxidation‐sensitive biological analytes. Moreover, it could be used for the enrichment of cis‐diol‐containing compounds in LC with MS.     

An investigation of the electron density of a Jahn–Teller‐distorted CrII cation: the crystal structure and charge density of hexakis(acetonitrile‐κN)chromium(II) bis(tetraphenylborate) acetonitrile disolvate

In the crystal structure of the title homoleptic Cr^II complex, [Cr(CH₃CN)₆](C₂₄H₂₀B)₂·CH₃CN, the [Cr(CH₃CN)₆]²⁺ cation is a high‐spin d⁴ complex with strong static, rather than dynamic, Jahn–Teller distortion. The electron density of the cation was determined by single‐crystal X‐ray refinements using aspherical structure factors from wavefunction calculations. The detailed picture of the electronic density allowed us to assess the extent and directionality of the Jahn–Teller distortion of the Cr^II cation away from idealized octahedral symmetry. The topological analysis of the aspherical d‐electron density about the Cr^II cation showed that there are significant valence charge concentrations along the axial Cr—N axes. Likewise, there were significant valence charge depletions about the Cr^II cation along the equatorial Cr—N bonds. These charge concentrations are in accordance with a Jahn–Teller‐distorted six‐coordinate complex.     

Recent advances in microbial fuel cell-based toxicity biosensors: Strategies for enhanced toxicity response

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been extensively studied as self-powered toxicity biosensors; however, their applications are limited by the relatively poor toxicity responses. The toxicity responses are known to be related to the factors such as the resistance of species to toxicants, the bioavailability of toxicants and the type of sensing elements. Accordingly, some strategies have already been proposed to enhance the toxicity responses in the past several years, including the external resistance tuning, quorum sensing effect, shear stress control, nutrient level control, electrode material choice, sensing element choice, and cell configuration design. This work introduces and discusses these strategies, and the suggestion for future work is also provided finally.     

The regulation of biothiol-responsive performance and bioimaging application of benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole dyes

The different oxidation states of sulphur atom play a significant role on functional materials. In this work, a aryl-thioether and its sulphone substituted benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole dyes were synthesized and utilized to determine thiol-containing amino acids. The result of selectivity experiments showed they detected the cysteine and homocysteine under physiological condition with negligible interference from other amino acids. In comparison to the thioether dye, the sulphone-based dye exhibited much faster response time for Cys and Hcy. However, the sulphone restricted its thiol-reactivity and bioimaging performance in living cells. By reducing the oxidation state of sulphur atom, we amazedly found that the sulfoxide-based dye still maintained high selectivity ultrafast response time for Cys/Hcy under physiological condition. It was worth mentioning that it also had high reactivity and good bioimaging performance that sulfone compounds did not have.     

Theoretical investigation of nonlinear optical behavior for rod and T-Shaped phenothiazine based D-π-A organic compounds and their derivatives

The exploration of novel materials with excellent nonlinear optical (NLO) features is an area of frontline investigation for scientific community from technological point of view. This study reports the novel phenothiazine-based rod-shaped and T-shaped NLO molecules which are quantum chemically designed from synthesized compounds: rod-shaped (CFA and CBA) and T-shaped (CTA, CCA and CPA). Structural tailoring was performed on D-π-π-A centered CPA chromophore and the effect of various π-spacers, as well as solvents on NLO response properties is investigated. Density functional theory (DFT) along with time dependent DFT (TDDFT) calculations have been executed at B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) functional to examine entire analysis. Results showed a smaller energy gap in structurally modified compounds as compared to reference CPA. Global reactivity parameters analysis revealed smaller hardness and larger softness values in T-shaped compounds. UV–Vis analysis of investigated molecules displayed a red shift in absorption maximum value as compared to CPA. Natural bond orbital (NBO) and frontier molecular orbital (FMO) analysis revealed the stability and intra-molecular electron transferring (ICT) process in investigated molecules. ICT showed the effective charge shift from donor to acceptor via π-spacers. Overall, promising NLO response exists in gas phase and different solvents (acetonitrile, ethyl alcohol and water). Interestingly, proposed molecule CPP presented a maximum value of linear polarizability < α > as 1518.23 a.u and first hyperpolarizability (β_tot) as 755322.39 a.u in acetonitrile solvent. In short, entitled chromophores exhibited excellent NLO properties due to their lower charge transport resistance. This NLO study may open a new topic for researchers to discover novel NLO for hi-tech submissions of modern era.