ANiN(A = Li,Na, Mg,Ca)的结构、热力学、弹性和电子性质的第一性原理研究

三元过渡金属氮化物ANiN (A = Li, Na, Mg, Ca)是潜在的可充放电池的电极材料。物理性质,比如热稳定性、电子能隙以及弹性稳定性等,对于这些材料的电池应用都是非常重要的。本文使用第一原理方法,对比研究了ANiN这些材料的结构、动力学、弹性和电子结构性质。对状态方程和声子谱的计算被用来确定体系的稳定结构。对最稳定结构的弹性常数的计算表明,这些稳定结构都满足 Born-Huang的稳定性判据,意味着它们的弹性稳定性。对体系电子结构的计算表明,LiNiN和CaNiN是半金属（half-metals）,MgNiN是磁性材料,而NaNiN是通常的金属。这些材料的磁学性质都通过Stoner理论进行了解释。最后,电荷密度的计算被用来很好地说明了这些材料中的Ni-N成键的特征,表明成键特点主要是离子性的,但明显地混合了共价性。     

光子晶体结构色织物研究进展

针对结构色织物难以产业化的现状,从光学效应和能够产生结构色的周期性结构两个角度系统介绍了结构色织物生色机理。随后,按照结构色织物表面光子晶体结构特征、所用光子晶体基元种类及结构色制备方法,对结构色织物进行了系统分类归纳,并指出了各自的优缺点。此外,现有结构色织物研究均为基于已有纳米粒子尺寸来表征对应结构色颜色,缺乏根据实际颜色需求选取光子晶体尺寸的研究。我们根据现有文献报道的光子晶体基元尺寸与所得结构色织物颜色种类的对应关系,通过计算得到了根据所需织物颜色种类确定光子晶体基元尺寸的公式。最后总结了结构色织物制备存在的问题,并给出了合理建议。     

大环分子衍生物在人工跨膜离子通道领域中的研究进展

大环分子如环糊精、冠醚等因具备独特的空腔结构, 能够通过主-客体相互作用实现对分子、离子的特异性识别, 因此常被应用于人工跨膜离子传输系统的研究和开发. 与天然的通道蛋白相比, 大环分子具有价格低廉、性质稳定、结构易于修饰和功能化等诸多优点, 因而备受科研工作者们的关注. 本综述详细介绍了大环分子在人工离子通道领域中的研究进展, 按照不同的大环分子进行分类, 系统归纳了基于大环结构的人工跨膜通道的制备方法、结构调控以及其在生物医药领域中的潜在应用. 最后对大环类人工离子通道做了简要的总结和展望, 该综述对于发展新型人工离子通道以及发掘其潜在的应用价值具有重要意义.     

碳酸钴中钴碳氮的测定与结构表征研究

碳酸钴由于受生产工艺的制约,生产的产品组分复杂,且市售碳酸钴产品的命名也存在多样性。采用X射线荧光光谱仪、电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪、元素分析仪、X射线多功能粉末衍射仪和红外吸收光谱仪对某碳酸钴产品的成分进行测定和结构表征。结果表明:该碳酸钴产品钴、碳、氮的含量分别为46.53%、8.31%和1.48%,相对标准偏差(RSD)≤3.3%(n=6)。研究新发现了N在碳酸钴产品中以NH+4的形式存在,确认该产品为水合碱式碳酸钴铵[(NH4)1.89Co7.88(CO3)6(OH)6(H2O)4.27]和碳酸钴(CoCO3)的混合物。     

Influence of thermal annealing on the structural and optical properties of maghemite (γ‐Fe2O3) nanoparticle thin films

In this study, maghemite (γ‐Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles were initially synthesized via chemical co‐precipitation and then deposited by spray pyrolysis as thin films on white glass substrates. The thin films were annealed for 8 h at 400, 450, 500, 550, and 600 °C in an oven. The structural studies of maghemite nanoparticles were carried out using X‐ray diffractometer. Structural properties that we investigated by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, SEM, and Energy dispersive X‐ray analysis (EDS). Optical properties of the samples were also investigated by ultraviolet‐visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy. The results showed that maghemite nanoparticles have crystalline structure with domain that increases in size with increasing annealing temperature. The optical band gap values were found to reduce from 2.9 to 2.4 eV with increase in annealing temperature. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhanced conformational sampling method for proteins based on the TaBoo SeArch algorithm: Application to the folding of a mini‐protein,chignolin

The conformational samplings are indispensible for obtaining reliable canonical ensembles, which provide statistical averages of physical quantities such as free energies. However, the samplings of vast conformational space of biomacromolecules by conventional molecular dynamics (MD) simulations might be insufficient, due to their inadequate accessible time‐scales for investigating biological functions. Therefore, the development of methodologies for enhancing the conformational sampling of biomacromolecules still remains as a challenging issue in computational biology. To tackle this problem, we newly propose an efficient conformational search method, which is referred as TaBoo SeArch (TBSA) algorithm. In TBSA, an inverse energy histogram is used to select seeds for the conformational resampling so that states with high frequencies are inhibited, while states with low frequencies are efficiently sampled to explore the unvisited conformational space. As a demonstration, TBSA was applied to the folding of a mini‐protein, chignolin, and automatically sampled the native structure (C_α root mean square deviation < 1.0 Å) with nanosecond order computational costs started from a completely extended structure, although a long‐time 1‐µs normal MD simulation failed to sample the native structure. Furthermore, a multiscale free energy landscape method based on the conformational sampling of TBSA were quantitatively evaluated through free energy calculations with both implicit and explicit solvent models, which enable us to find several metastable states on the folding landscape. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Micelle‐Triggered β‐Hairpin to α‐Helix Transition in a 14‐Residue Peptide from a Choline‐Binding Repeat of the Pneumococcal Autolysin LytA

Choline‐binding modules (CBMs) have a ββ‐solenoid structure composed of choline‐binding repeats (CBR), which consist of a β‐hairpin followed by a short linker. To find minimal peptides that are able to maintain the CBR native structure and to evaluate their remaining choline‐binding ability, we have analysed the third β‐hairpin of the CBM from the pneumococcal LytA autolysin. Circular dichroism and NMR data reveal that this peptide forms a highly stable native‐like β‐hairpin both in aqueous solution and in the presence of trifluoroethanol, but, strikingly, the peptide structure is a stable amphipathic α‐helix in both zwitterionic (dodecylphosphocholine) and anionic (sodium dodecylsulfate) detergent micelles, as well as in small unilamellar vesicles. This β‐hairpin to α‐helix conversion is reversible. Given that the β‐hairpin and α‐helix differ greatly in the distribution of hydrophobic and hydrophilic side chains, we propose that the amphipathicity is a requirement for a peptide structure to interact and to be stable in micelles or lipid vesicles. To our knowledge, this “chameleonic” behaviour is the only described case of a micelle‐induced structural transition between two ordered peptide structures.     

Azidoethoxyphenylalanine as a Vibrational Reporter and Click Chemistry Partner in Proteins

An unnatural amino acid, 4‐(2‐azidoethoxy)‐L ‐phenylalanine (AePhe, 1 ), was designed and synthesized in three steps from known compounds in 54 % overall yield. The sensitivity of the IR absorption of the azide of AePhe was established by comparison of the frequency of the azide asymmetric stretch vibration in water and dimethyl sulfoxide. AePhe was successfully incorporated into superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP) at the 133 and 149 sites by using the amber codon suppression method. The IR spectra of these sfGFP constructs indicated that the azide group at the 149 site was not fully solvated despite the location in sfGFP and the three‐atom linker between the azido group and the aromatic ring of AePhe. An X‐ray crystal structure of sfGFP‐149‐AePhe was solved at 1.45 Å resolution and provides an explanation for the IR data as the flexible linker adopts a conformation which partially buries the azide on the protein surface. Both sfGFP‐AePhe constructs efficiently undergo a bioorthogonal strain‐promoted click cycloaddition with a dibenzocyclooctyne derivative.     

Design and Synthesis of High‐Affinity Dimeric Inhibitors Targeting the Interactions between Gephyrin and Inhibitory Neurotransmitter Receptors

Gephyrin is the central scaffolding protein for inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors in the brain. Here we describe the development of dimeric peptides that inhibit the interaction between gephyrin and these receptors, a process which is fundamental to numerous synaptic functions and diseases of the brain. We first identified receptor‐derived minimal gephyrin‐binding peptides that displayed exclusive binding towards native gephyrin from brain lysates. We then designed and synthesized a series of dimeric ligands, which led to a remarkable 1220‐fold enhancement of the gephyrin affinity (K_D=6.8 nM ). In X‐ray crystal structures we visualized the simultaneous dimer‐to‐dimer binding in atomic detail, revealing compound‐specific binding modes. Thus, we defined the molecular basis of the affinity‐enhancing effect of multivalent gephyrin inhibitors and provide conceptually novel compounds with therapeutic potential, which will allow further elucidation of the gephyrin–receptor interplay.     

Locating Gases in Porous Materials: Cryogenic Loading of Fuel‐Related Gases Into a Sc‐based Metal–Organic Framework under Extreme Pressures

An alternative approach to loading metal organic frameworks with gas molecules at high (kbar) pressures is reported. The technique, which uses liquefied gases as pressure transmitting media within a diamond anvil cell along with a single‐crystal of a porous metal–organic framework, is demonstrated to have considerable advantages over other gas‐loading methods when investigating host–guest interactions. Specifically, loading the metal–organic framework Sc₂BDC₃ with liquefied CO₂ at 2 kbar reveals the presence of three adsorption sites, one previously unreported, and resolves previous inconsistencies between structural data and adsorption isotherms. A further study with supercritical CH₄ at 3–25 kbar demonstrates hyperfilling of the Sc₂BDC₃ and two high‐pressure displacive and reversible phase transitions are induced as the filled MOF adapts to reduce the volume of the system.