Sulfone-based high-voltage electrolytes for high energy density rechargeable lithium batteries:Progress and perspective

Further enhancement in the energy density of rechargeable lithium batteries calls for high-voltage cathode materials and stable anodes,as well as matched high-voltage electrolytes without compromising the overall property of batteries.Sulfone-based electrolytes have aroused great interest in recent years owing to their wide electrochemical window and high safety.However,significant challenges such as the complexity of synthesis,high melting point(typically above room temperature),high viscosity,and their poor compatibility with graphite-based anodes have drastically impeded their practical applications.In this review,recent progress of sulfone solvents in high energy density rechargeable lithium batteries is summarized theoretically and experimentally.More importantly,general improvement methods of sulfone-based electrolytes,such as adding additives and cosolvents,structural modifications of sulfo ne,superconcentrated salt strategy are briefly discussed.We expect that this review provides inspiration for the future developments of sulfone-based high-voltage electrolytes(SHVEs) and their widespread applications in high specific energy lithium batteries.     

Preparation of modified multi‐walled carbon nanotubes as a reinforcement for epoxy shape‐memory polymer composites

Effectively improving the mechanical properties and thermal resistance of epoxy shape‐memory polymers (ESMPs) without affecting their shape‐memory performance is necessary to expand these polymers in practical applications. In this article, modified multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared and used as efficient reinforcement for enhancing the comprehensive properties of ESMPs. Increases of nearly 289% to 444% for impact strength and 112% to 184% for tensile force were obtained by adding only 0.1 to 1 wt% epoxy‐modified MWCNTs. The addition of unmodified and carboxyl‐modified MWCNTs was also investigated but showed less impact on the mechanical properties of the ESMPs than epoxy‐modified MWCNTs. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analyses (DMA) showed that less than 1 wt% modified MWCNTs can enhance the heat resistance of ESMPs greatly. Although the shape recovery time for composite materials increased upon adding the MWCNTs, the entire recovery time was still less than 1 minute, and the shape recovery rate was relatively high, nearly 100%.     

Controlling coffee ring structure on hydrophobic polymer surface by manipulating wettability with O2 plasma

A simple and novel method is firstly reported for controlling coffee ring structure on polystyrene (PS) film surface by O₂ plasma. O₂ plasma treatment leads to the wettability change of PS surface from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. For hydrophilic PS surface the coffee ring structure is avoided relying on the motion of contact line (CL) while SiO₂ microspheres are left. The motion of the CL is produced based on the viscosity and Marangoni effect with the addition of polymer additives. For hydrophobic PS surface coffee ring structure still persists even with polymer additives because SiO₂ microspheres transfer with the motion of the CL at the beginning of droplet evaporation and accumulate at the droplet edge at late stage with the pinning of the CL. As a result, uniform and macroscale SiO₂ microspheres deposition without coffee ring structure and SiO₂ microspheres deposition with coffee ring structure are controlled by O₂ plasma. This method provides a new way to tune coffee ring structure with smart surface and may be potentially useful for a range of application at material deposition and diagnosing diseases.     

A novel method to prepare microcellular poly(vinyl alcohol) foam based on thermal processing and supercritical fluid

Combining the thermal processing and supercritical fluid technology develops a novel preparation method of microcellular poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Water, as the plasticizer in system, can form the hydrogen bonding with pendant hydroxyl of PVA and weaken its strong intermolecular and intramolecular forces to realize the thermal processing. Supercritical carbon dioxide (sc‐CO₂) can easily dissolve into water‐plasticized PVA (WPVA) because of the destruction of crystal region caused by water, and the enhanced sc‐CO₂ solubility can greatly improve the foamability of WPVA. The porous structure generates through the saturation of sc‐CO₂ in WPVA sample and followed by pressure drop‐induced phase separation. The foaming behavior of WPVA was studied as a function of saturation pressure, foaming temperature, and saturation time. The cell density, cell size, and distribution of the obtained foam can be controlled by tuning processing conditions. The results revealed that the cell size decreased, and its distribution narrowed with saturation pressure increasing, or decrease of foaming temperature. But excessively increasing the saturation time generated a negative effect on the foaming behavior owing to the deteriorated plasticization effect resulted from the loss of water. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure-activity correlations of calcined Mg-Al hydrocalcites for aliphatic polycarbonate synthesis <Emphasis Type="Italic">via</Emphasis> transesterification process

Mg-Al mixed oxides with different Mg/Al molar ratio were prepared by thermal decomposition of hydrotalcitelike precursors at 500 °C for 5.0 h and used as catalysts for the transesterification of diphenyl carbonate with 1,4-butanediol to synthesize high-molecular-weight poly(butylene carbonate) (PBC). The structure-activity correlations of these catalysts in this transesterification process were discussed by means of various characterization techniques. It was found that the chain growth for the formation of PBC can only be obtained through connecting ―OH and ―OC(C)OC₆H₅ end-group upon removing the generated phenol, and the sample with Mg/Al molar ratio of 4.0 exhibited the best catalytic performance, giving PBC with M _w of 1.64 × 10⁵ g/mol at 210 °C for 3.0 h. This excellent activity depended mainly on the specific surface area and basicity rather than pore structure or crystallite size of MgO.     

Hierarchical porous cellulose/activated carbon composite monolith for efficient adsorption of dyes

Cheap and efficient adsorbents to remove contaminants of toxic dye molecules from wastewater are strongly in demand for environmental reasons. This study provides a novel design of a monolithic adsorbent from abundant materials via a facile synthetic procedure, which can greatly reduce the problems of the tedious separation of adsorbents from treated wastes. A hierarchically porous cellulose/activated carbon (cellulose/AC) composite monolith was prepared by thermally-induced phase separation of cellulose acetate in the presence of AC, using a mixture of DMF and 1-hexanol, followed by alkaline hydrolysis. The composite monolith had alarge specific surface area with mesopore distribution. It not only showed high uptake capacity towards methylene blue (MB) or rhodamine B (RhB) but could also simultaneously adsorb MB and RhB from their mixture, in which the adsorption of one dye was not influenced by the other one. Remarkable effects of solution pH, initial concentration of dye (C ₀), contact time, adsorbent dosage and temperature on the adsorption of MB and RhB onto the composite monolith were demonstrated. The binding data for MB and RhB adsorption on the composite monolith fitted the Freundlich model well, suggesting a heterogeneous surface of the composite monolith. The monolith could retain around 90% of its adsorption capacity after 8 times reuse. These data demonstrate that the cellulose/AC composite monolith has a large potential as a promising adsorbent of low cost and convenient separation for dye in wastewater.     

Preparation of a Polymer Monolithic Column Using Ionic Liquid as Porogen and Its Application in Separations of Proteins and Small Molecules

A polymer-based monolithic column was prepared for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), using ionic liquids as porogen within the confines of a stainless steel column (50 × 4.6 mm i.d.). In the process, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and dodecyl alcohol were used as bi-porogens, vinyl ester resin as the monomer, ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker, CCl₄ as the initiator, and FeCl₂ as the catalytic agent to prepare the polymer-based monolithic column. Scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption–desorption instrument, and mercury intrusion porosimetry were used to assay the characteristics of the monolith, respectively. The optimized monolith showed uniform structure and good permeability. Then, the column was used as the stationary phase of HPLC to separate standard proteins and human plasma with gradient elution. Besides, the monolith was used to separate aromatic compounds from the mixture. The results showed that the addition of IL could effectively improve the structure of monoliths prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization technique. The results also suggested that this kind of monolith could be used as a simple, cheap and effective stationary phase for HPLC.     

Synthesis and in vitro cytotoxicity of novel dinuclear platinum(II) complexes containing a chiral tetradentate ligand

A series of novel dinuclear platinum(II) complexes with a chiral tetradentate ligand, (1R,1′R,2R,2′R)-N¹,N¹′-(1,2-phenylenebis(methylene))dicyclohexane-1,2-diamine (HL), and mono-carboxylic acid derivatives as ligands have been designed, synthesized, and characterized. In vitro cytotoxicity evaluation of synthesized complexes against human HepG-2, A549, HCT-116, and MCF-7 cancer cell lines has been conducted by MTT assays. All compounds showed antitumor activity to HepG-2 and HCT-116 cell lines. Compound L2 exhibited better cytotoxicity than that of carboplatin against HepG-2 and A549 cell lines and also showed comparable activity against HCT-116 cell line.     

Influence of alkyl chain length of alpha olefin sulfonates on surface and interfacial properties

Alpha olefin sulfonates (AOS) with various alkyl chain lengths have been used to investigate the influence of alkyl chain length on the interfacial properties at air–water, liquid paraffin–water, and parafilm–water interfaces. It was found that the critical micelle concentration decreased with increasing alkyl chain length, while the efficiency of reducing surface tension was inverse relationship with alkyl chain length. The diffusion coefficient obviously reduced with an increase of surfactant concentration and alkyl chain length. The C_14-16AOS shows better wettability and emulsification than C_16-18AOS and C_20-24AOS. For foaming properties, the foamability and foam stability dramatically decreased with increasing alkyl chain length.     

In situ synthesis of poly(ethylene terephthalate-<Emphasis Type="Italic">co</Emphasis>-isophthalate)–SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanocomposites and their optical properties

In this paper, poly(ethylene terephthalate-co-isophthalate) was prepared and a series of PETI/SiO₂ nanocomposites with different amounts of silica nanoparticles was synthesized by in situ polymerization. Optical properties of the resultant nanocomposites were investigated by WGW photoelectric haze meter and UV–Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. Chemical structure and its influence on spherulite size of nano-SiO₂ were characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectra and polarized optical microscopy, respectively. The differential scanning calorimetry results reveal that the addition of nano-SiO₂ has an impact on the thermal performance of the nanocomposite. Different proportions of SiO₂ were compared and the degree of crystallinity was found to have influence on optical properties of as-prepared nanocomposites. In addition, the results indicate that the low loading levels of SiO₂ can improve the optical properties of the composite and an optimum content was selected. Possible reasons for this enhanced role might be the different combination structure of the nanocomposites when the amount of SiO₂ varied.