Effects of Coverage,Water, and Defects on Catechol/TiO2 Interface

Catechol adsorbed on TiO₂ is one of the simplest models to explore the relevant properties of dye-sensitized solar cells. However, the effects of water and defects on the electronic levels and the excitonic properties of the catechol/TiO₂ interface have been rarely explored. Here, we investigate four catechol/TiO₂ interfaces aiming to study the influence of coverage, water, and defects on the electronic levels and the excitonic properties of the catechol/TiO₂ interface through the first-principles many-body Green's function theory. We find that the adsorption of catechol on the rutile (110) surface increases the energies of both the TiO₂ valence band maximum and conduction band minimum by approximately 0.7 eV. The increasing coverage and the presence of water can reduce the optical absorption of charge-transfer excitons with maximum oscillator strength. Regarding the reduced hydroxylated TiO₂ substrate, the conduction band minimum decreases greatly, resulting in a sub-bandgap of 2.51 eV. The exciton distributions in the four investigated interfaces can spread across several unit cells, especially for the hydroxylated TiO₂ substrate. Although the hydroxylated TiO₂ substrate leads to a lower open-circuit voltage, it may increase the separation between photogenerated electrons and holes and may therefore be beneficial for improving the photovoltaic efficiency by controlling its concentration. Our results may provide guidance for the design of highly efficient solar cells in future.     

Interfacial behavior of plant proteins — novel sources and extraction methods

Understanding the air-water and oil-water interfacial behavior of plant proteins is crucial for developing stable emulsions and foams in food systems. Plant crops are often processed into protein extracts with high purity, which primarily consist of globulins. These globulins are often unable to form stiff interfacial layers owing to their compact and highly aggregated state and have inferior functionality compared with animal-derived proteins from milk or eggs. Much of the current focus is on modifying these proteins, whereas better interface stabilizing functionality can also be obtained by choosing more targeted protein extraction methods. This review will highlight the benefits and drawbacks of current and novel protein sources and protein extraction methods with respect to interfacial properties.     

带正电荷蛋白在纳米/微米草酸钙晶体上的吸附特性及其与带负电荷蛋白吸附的比较

研究尺寸分别为100 nm和3μm的一水草酸钙(COM)和二水草酸钙(COD)晶体对带正电荷的蛋白溶菌酶(LSZ)的吸附差异,并与带负电荷的蛋白牛血清白蛋白(BSA)的吸附进行了比较。LSZ在纳米/微米COM和COD晶体上的吸附都很好的拟合了Langmuir模型,属于单分子层吸附。纳米/微米COM和COD对LSZ的最大吸附量顺序为COD-100 nmCOM-100 nmCOD-3μmCOM-3μm;晶体的比表面积越大,曲率越小,晶体表面所带电荷越负,晶体结晶水越多,均导致LSZ吸附量越大。体系离子强度和p H值亦影响LSZ的吸附。随着Na Cl浓度增加,LSZ的吸附量减小,说明Na+离子能与带正电荷的蛋白LSZ竞争晶体表面的吸附位点,导致晶体表面吸附LSZ的位点减少。晶体对LSZ的最大吸附量都出现在LSZ的等电点附近(p H=10.7);在p H=5~8(生理条件)时,LSZ的吸附量随p H值的增大而增大。本文结果提示,通过减小尿液的p H值或者适当增大尿液的离子强度,可以减小LSZ在尿微晶上的吸附量,有可能达到抑制草酸钙结石的效果。     

Precisely installing gold nanoparticles at the core/shell interface of micellar assemblies of triblock copolymers

Two reduction-cleavable ABA triblock copolymers possessing two disulfide linkages, PMMA-ss-PMEO₃MA-ss-PMMA and PDEA-ss-PEO-ss-PDEA were synthesized via facile substitution reactions from homopolymer precursors, where PMMA, PMEO₃MA, PDEA, and PEO represent poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(tri(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether methacrylate, poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate), and poly(ethylene oxide), respectively. Spherical micelles were obtained through supramolecular self-assembly of these two triblock copolymers in aqueous solutions. The resultant micelles with abundant disulfide bonds could serve as soft templates and precisely accommodate gold nanoparticles in the core/shell interface as a result of the formation of Au-S bonds.     

Research on mechanical and dielectric properties of XLPE cable under accelerated electrical‐thermal aging

Research into the electrical‐thermal aging properties of cross‐linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable has great significance, because of its wide application. This study conducted accelerated electrical‐thermal aging tests on 10‐kV XLPE cable in order to assess the cable's mechanical and dielectric properties. After being aged by applying 34.8‐kV AC voltage at the four temperatures of 90, 103, 114, and 135°C, the cable samples were taken out in five stages according to the aging time and cut into slices. The slices were conducted experiments to test the breaking elongation, tensile strength, gel content, breakdown voltage, and frequency spectrums of the dielectric constant and dielectric loss. The results demonstrate that the mechanical strength and gel content of XLPE vary greatly under different aging temperatures, a finding that is associated with the crystallization characteristics of the material. The breakdown voltage shows a slight decreasing trend with aging time. The dielectric constant decreases with aging time in high‐frequency areas (10³–10⁶ Hz), while the dielectric loss factor increases with aging time at low frequencies (10^?2–0 Hz). These two parameters can be used to characterize the degree of aging in cable. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

环境友好型离子液体催化环氧丙烷反应合成丙二醇醚

丙二醇醚类化合物是性能优良的精细化学品,也是环保型高级溶剂.该类化合物具有两个强溶解性功能基团—醚键和羟基,前者具有亲油性,可溶解疏水性物质,后者具有亲水性,可溶解亲水性物质,因而丙二醇醚具有很强的溶解能力,素有"万能溶剂"之称,可广泛应用于涂料、油墨、油漆、印刷、电子化学品、染料、净洗和纺织等行业.丙二醇醚类化合物目前主要由环氧丙烷和低级脂肪醇反应合成,然而,由于环氧丙烷的位阻效应,使其在酸或碱的条件下开环的位置会不同,从而得到不同的醇醚产物.由于碱催化的醇醚产物更加环境友好,因而越来越被人们所关注.工业上丙二醇醚合成多采用传统的强碱性催化剂醇钠以及氢氧化钠,腐蚀性强,产生的废液量大.本文采用环境友好的非卤素离子液体作为催化剂,研究了其催化环氧丙烷醚化合成丙二醇醚的反应特性.本文采用两步法合成了一系列环境友好的醋酸类碱性功能化离子液体,并在温和的条件下将其用于催化环氧丙烷与醇反应合成丙二醇醚.结果表明,该类离子液体可以高效催化该反应的进行.利用紫外-可见光谱测定Hammett指数来表征实验中所用离子液体的碱强度,并构建了离子液体碱性与催化活性之间的关系.结果表明,离子液体的催化性能和其碱性密切相关,随着离子液体碱性的增加,催化活性增强,其中咪唑醋酸类离子液体碱性强于季胺类,表现出优异的催化性能.离子液体的碱性明显弱于NaOH,但却呈现出更优异的催化性能.相同反应条件下,EmimOAc离子液体作为催化剂,PO的转化率分别较NaOH高出20%–30%,选择性略高于NaOH,这可能是由于二者催化机理不同造成的.传统NaOH催化机理的关键步骤是醇在碱性催化剂的作用下去质子化形成电子供体烷氧根离子,促进环氧丙烷的开环加成.而本文提出了离子液体亲电亲核双活化作用机理,即离子液体在阴阳离子之间的氢键和电荷相互作用的共同作用下,促进环氧丙烷开环和醇的去质子化,形成相应的反应中间体.通过电喷雾质谱分析手段检测到了阴阳离子通过协同作用亲电亲核催化过程中的反应中间体,证明了该假设机理的可行性.此外,还考察了催化剂浓度、醇比、反应温度以及醇的空间位阻效应对反应的影响.以EmimOAc催化合成丙二醇丁醚为例,反应的转化率随催化剂浓度的增加而增大,在催化剂添加量1%(催化剂与PO的摩尔比)时,PO转化率达到最大值为98.2%,1-丁氧基-2-丙醇的选择性为86.4%.当正丁醇与环氧丙烷的摩尔比为3时,转化率最高为88.6%,选择性高达94%.该反应为放热反应,最适反应温度约为140 oC,此时转化率高达96.5%.在环氧丙烷和不同的低碳醇合成丙二醇醚的反应中,反应物醇的碳链越短,支链越少,催化反应效率越高.     

基于压电振荡原理的微阵列点样系统的研制

针对基于电磁微阀原理的非接触点样方式存在操作过程复杂、点样量偏大,以及压电喷墨原理的非接触点样方式存在点样针不易清洗、造价昂贵等不足,研制了一种基于压电振荡原理的新型非接触点样装置,实现了微量液体点样.在本装置中,毛细管点样针与压电驱动装置为两个独立单元,可以单独对毛细管点样针进行更换和清洗.采用激光拉制法制备的玻璃毛细管点样针具有内径可调、成本低等优点.此点样方式通过改变压电陶瓷的振幅和频率,可在10Symbolm@@_10～10Symbolm@@_9 L之间调控点样体积.以此为基础,结合三维精密位移控制技术,研制了一种基于压电振荡原理的微阵列生物芯片点样系统.对点样系统的点样体积、点样密度、点样精度等参数进行了测试,结果表明,此点样系统的最小点样体积可达320 pL,点样密度可达4000 点/cm2,并能够实现界面图案化制备.     

Director configurations in nematic droplets with tilted surface anchoring

The polymer dispersed nematic liquid crystal (LC) with the tilted surface anchoring has been studied. The droplet orientational structures with two point surface defects – boojums and the surface ring defect – are formed within the films. The director tilt angle α = 40° ± 4° at the droplet interface and LC surface anchoring strength W_s ~ 10^–6 (J m^?2) have been estimated. The bipolar axes within the studied droplets of oblate ellipsoidal form can be randomly oriented are oriented randomly relatively to the ellipsoid axes as opposed to the droplets with homeotropic and tangential anchoring.     

高残炭硼酚醛树脂的制备

酚醛树脂(PF)因其具有良好的耐热性能和机械性能而被广泛应用。但其耐热性能已经满足不了现代航空航天技术的需求,研究发现,采用硼酸对酚醛树脂进行改性,可以制得具有优良耐高温性能的硼酚醛树脂(BPF)。采用硼酸酯法合成硼酚醛树脂,n(苯酚)∶n(甲醛)=1∶1.5时耐热性最佳。热分析结果表明,合成的BPF在1000℃条件下的残炭率为78%,其耐热性能明显优于传统的酚醛树脂。同时讨论了不同硼酸含量对BPF耐热性能的影响,当n(硼酸)∶n(苯酚)0.33∶1时,残炭率趋于稳定。此外,利用差示扫描量热仪(DSC)方法确定BPF预固化温度为160℃,后固化温度为220℃。