基于BiOCl-Fe2O3@TiO2介孔复合材料的光电化学合成氨性能研究

传统合成氨工艺存在能耗高、污染严重的问题. 因此, 高效、低能耗绿色合成氨工艺的开发迫在眉睫. 光电化学以H₂O和N₂为原料, 可以在太阳光驱动下, 在常温常压条件下实现氨的合成, 因而受到广泛重视. 但总的来说, 效率和产率都达不到实际要求. 新型高效催化剂及工艺的开发是提高合成氨产率及效率的关键. 非贵金属催化剂具备成本低、来源广泛、可操作性强的优势, 有利于光电化学合成氨的产业化. 本实验采用溶胶凝胶结合原位热裂解的方法制备了分散性好、结构均匀的BiOCl-Fe₂O₃@TiO₂复合材料, 对其物相、微观结构、表面状态、光学性能、电学性能等方面进行了系统表征, 并探究了该材料在常温常压下光电化学合成氨的催化活性. 结果表明, 同纯介孔TiO₂相比_, BiOCl-Fe₂O₃@TiO₂的吸收带隙变窄, 可见光吸收能力增强, 光生载流子的利用率增加, 光电合成氨的产率提升了7倍, 且BiOCl-Fe₂O₃@TiO₂显示了优异的化学稳定性. 本研究工作为绿色合成氨催化材料及工艺设计提供了新思路.     

一体化电极电催化二氧化碳还原研究进展

电催化二氧化碳还原反应(E-CO₂RR)可在温和条件下将CO₂转化成高附加值燃料或化学品,近年来受到广泛关注,其在实际反应中涉及到气体扩散和多电子转移等复杂过程,构筑高效、稳定的催化电极是其发展的核心之一。然而,传统涂敷电极制备时,需要将催化剂与粘结剂混合涂覆于集流体表面,此过程会造成活性位点包埋和传质过程受限,致使催化剂活性位利用率下降,同时在反应过程中电极表面容易粉化,造成稳定性下降,难以重复利用。因此,如何调控电极反应界面,提升催化剂活性位的利用率仍面临挑战。将催化剂原位生长于集流体上得到的一体化电极可直接应用于电催化反应,不仅有利于提升活性位利用率以及电荷传输能力,还能有效调控三相界面处的微观反应环境(如pH、反应物及反应中间体的浓度等),从而实现电催化性能强化。本文综述了一体化电极用于E-CO₂RR的最新进展,分析了结构和表界面调控对E-CO₂RR性能的影响规律,并对该领域仍然存在的挑战和未来一体化E-CO₂RR电极的发展进行了评述与展望。     

应用于染料敏化太阳能电池的基于染料R6的含有不同吸电子基团的有机染料的理论研究

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are the most promising alternatives to traditional fossil energy because of their advantages of low production cost, facile structure, relatively low environmental impact, relatively high photoelectronic absorption efficiency, and overall high efficiency. In addition, several studies on sensitizers as vital components have been conducted over the last three decades. Compared to metal dyes, metal-free organic dyes have been considered as promising candidates because of their simple fabrication, multiple structures, high molar absorption coefficients, easily tunable properties, and environmental friendliness. In this study, we systematically investigated the optoelectronic properties of six metal-free organic donor-acceptor dyes (RD1–6) derived from the known dye R6 by using the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT methods. Cell performance parameters were discussed, including the geometrical and electronic structures, absorption spectrum, adsorption energy, light harvesting efficiency (LHE) curve, predictive short circuit current density (J_sc^Pred.), predictive open circuit voltage (V_oc^Pred.), and theoretical power conversion efficiency (PCE). Results revealed that all the designed dyes exhibited high theoretical PCE. In particular, dyes RD1, 2, and 4–6 showed greater conjugations, and dyes RD1–3 had smaller energy gaps than those of the reference dye. In addition, dyes RD1–3, 5, and 6 exhibited better light harvesting capacities that covered the entire visible region and extended to the near-infrared region with obviously red-shift maximum absorption wavelengths (λ_max), wider LHE curves, and higher J_sc^Pred. as compared to the reference dye. It was critical that dyes RD1 and 2 not only have greater conjugations and narrow band gaps but also good light harvesting capacities with more than 56-nm red-shift maximum absorption wavelengths and broadened LHE curves than those of the reference dye. Notably, mainly because of an average increment of 12.0% of J_sc^Pred., a remarkable increment of the theoretical power conversion efficiency was observed from 12.6% for dye R6 to 14.1% for dyes RD1 and 2. Thus, dyes RD1 and 2 exhibited superior cell performances and could be promising sensitizer candidates for highly efficient DSSCs. These results could be used to guide effective synthetic efforts in the discovery of efficient metal-free organic dye sensitizers in DSSCs.     

Current Advances in Aptamer-based Biomolecular Recognition and Biological Process Regulation

The interaction between biomolecules with their target ligands plays a great role in regulating biological functions. Aptamers are short oligonucleotide sequences that can specifically recognize target biomolecules via structural complementarity and thus regulate related biological functions. In the past ten years, aptamers have made great progress in target biomolecule recognition, becoming a powerful tool to regulate biological functions. At present, there are many reviews on aptamers applied in biomolecular recognition, but few reviews pay attention to aptamer-based regulation of biological functions. Here, we summarize the approaches to enhancing aptamer affinity and the advancements of aptamers in regulating enzymatic activity, cellular immunity and cellular behaviors. Furthermore, this review discusses the challenges and future perspectives of aptamers in target recognition and biological functions regulation, aiming to provide some promising ideas for future regulation of biomolecular functions in a complex biological environment.     

Graded regulation technology for enhanced oil recovery and water shutoff in pore-cavity-fracture carbonate reservoirs

Although a single type of chemical agent (eg, gels, microspheres, surfactants, etc.) has achieved some effects in enhanced oil recovery of carbonate reservoirs, for pore-cavity-fracture carbonate reservoirs, the use of a single type of chemical agent does not perform well. The main objective of this study is to study the effect of different types of chemical agents in enhanced oil recovery of complex carbonate reservoirs. In order to determine the screening principle of chemical agents, the types of water channeling in the North Troyes reservoir were analyzed. For complex fractures, step by step plugging, multi-agent and multi-slug comprehensive intervention is carried out to ensure the plugging of high-permeability channels and inhibit the seepage of large channels. It can plug channeling fracture channel, adjust secondary dominant channel and reduce matrix flow resistance, so as to expand macroscopic swept volume and improve microscopic water flooding efficiency. The results show that it is difficult to comprehensively control water channeling in pore-cave-fracture carbonate reservoir, and the reservoir heterogeneity in the test area can be improved by mixing different types of control and flooding agents and carrying out deep profile control. The plugging rate of gel is 97.18 %, and the oil–water selection ratio is 0.45 in fractured core; the expansion rate of nano - microspheres is more than 3 times; the wetting modifier can improve the imbibition oil displacement efficiency by 14.76%, and the test result shown that nano - microspheres and wetting modifier have good synergistic oil displacement effect. The field application result shown that daily oil production of oil well in the test area increased by 5.0 m³/d and the daily water rate decreased by 19.0% compared with that before the control flooding. The findings of this study can help for better understanding of enhanced oil recovery in pore-cave-fracture carbonate reservoir.     

Synthesis,characterizations, and electrochemical studies of ZnO/reduced graphene oxide nanohybrids for supercapacitor application

Herein the present article reports the fabrication of ZnO/reduced graphene oxide (ZnG) nanohybrid following a reduction-based process using a non-hazardous material, i.e., ascorbic acid. The morphology, structure, and bonding in the nanohybrid were analyzed using different techniques. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images show spherical particles of ZnO distributed over reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The X-ray diffraction analysis gives calculated values of crystallite size for ZnO as 15.62 nm. The successful incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles into rGO was confirmed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The electrochemical studies were performed using an electrolyte (0.5 M H₂SO₄). The calculated value of specific capacitance for the nanohybrid was 345 Fg^-1, which was found to be almost double as compared to that of rGO, which is having a value of only 190.5 Fg^-1 at the same scan rate. The nanohybrid also showed excellent capacitance retention after 1,000 cycles.     

The Analysis of Phenolic Compounds in Walnut Husk and Pellicle by UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS and HPLC

Husk and pellicle as the agri-food waste in the walnut-product industry are in soaring demand because of their rich polyphenol content. This study investigated the differential compounds related to walnut polyphenol between husk and pellicle during fruit development stage. By using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-orbitrap (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap), a total of 110 bioactive components, including hydrolysable tannins, flavonoids, phenolic acids and quinones, were tentatively identified, 33 of which were different between husk and pellicle. The trend of dynamic content of 16 polyphenols was clarified during walnut development stage by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This is the first time to comprehensive identification of phenolic compounds in walnut husk and pellicle, and our results indicated that the pellicle is a rich resource of polyphenols. The dynamic trend of some polyphenols was consistent with total phenols. The comprehensive characterization of walnut polyphenol and quantification of main phenolic compounds will be beneficial for understanding the potential application value of walnut and for exploiting its metabolism pathway.     

The regulation of microRNA in each of cancer stage from two different ethnicities as potential biomarker for breast cancer

miRNA has recently emerged as a potential biomarker for breast cancer. Even though many studies have identified ethnic variation affecting miRNA regulation, the effect of cancer stage within specific ethnicities on miRNA epigenetic remains unclear. The present study is designed to investigate miRNA regulation from two distinct ethnicities in specific cancer stages (non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black) using the TCGA dataset. Differentially expressed miRNAs were calculated by using the edgeR package. miRNAs with the highest or lowest log fold Change from each cancer stage were selected as a potential biomarker. miRNA-gene interaction was analyzed by using spearman correlation analysis, CLUEGO, and DIANA-mirpath. The association of biomarker candidates with diagnostic and prognostic performance was assessed using ROC and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. miRNA-gene interaction analysis revealed the involvement of selected miRNAs in cancer progression. From eleven selected aberrant miRNAs, four of the miRNAs (hsa-mir-495, hsa-mir-592, hsa-mir-6501, and hsa-mir-937) are significantly detrimental to breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Hence, our result provides valuable information to explore miRNA’s role in each cancer stage between non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black.     

调控碳材料的功函数以大幅度提升其电催化氧还原性能

氧的电催化还原反应是燃料电池装置与金属空气电池的阴极反应,具有重大的研究意义.在众多的非铂催化剂中,碳材料因其低廉的价格以及独特的物理化学性质受到了广泛的关注.自从发现氮掺杂的碳纳米阵列具有优异的氧还原活性后,不同类型的氮掺杂的碳也得到了深入研究.例如近年来兴起的由金属有机框架衍生的氮掺杂的碳材料,兼具丰富的氮位点及良好的三维结构.氮的掺杂对碳原子具有电子调控的作用,是其高氧还原活性的根本原因.本文对金属有机框架衍生的氮掺杂的碳材料进行进一步的电子结构的优化,以提升催化性能.功函是电子逸出表面所需的最少的能量,是材料的电子结构性质之一,其对氧还原反应的影响也有报道,早期以理论计算为基础,探究氧气分子在碳材料表面的解离能与氮掺杂的碳的表面功函的关系,后续则采用开尔文探针显微镜,直接测量了不同元素掺杂的碳表面功函,并建立起功函与氧还原动力学的线性关系.本文通过控制碳材料的功函来调节其电子结构.铯是一种经典的给电子物质,通过将电子注入到掺杂材料表面来降低其功函.因此,本文通过CsCO₃与2-甲基咪唑、Zn(NO₃)₂煅烧形成铯修饰的氮掺杂碳.电镜及XRD均观察不到所得材料中铯的存在,证明碳层中无大颗粒团聚的铯物种.EDS元素分布图表明,铯在碳层中呈原子级均匀分布.Raman谱结果表明,碳的G带发生明显的位置偏移,证明其面内电子结构发生了明显的改变.XPS结果证明铯成功与氮原子配位,通过铯氮键将电子注入到碳骨架.UPS则最终显示,经过铯的修饰,碳表面功函从4.25 eV下降到3.6 eV.表面功函的降低有利于氧气分子的解离,也调节OOH^*中间体的吸附,使其吸附的自由能更接近最优值.材料改性后氧还原性能明显提升,起始电位达到0.91 V vs RHE,半波电位达到0.83 V vs RHE,均接近商业Pt/C催化剂.氧还原反应的动力学电流密度随功函的降低而增大,验证了前人的结论.本文提供了一个较为新颖的电子结构调控策略,为设计新的氧还原催化剂提供了新的思路.