Cuprous oxide/titanium dioxide composite photocatalytic decolorization of reactive brilliant red X-3B dyes wastewater under visible light

Research on Chemical Intermediates - In recent years, how to improve photocatalytic performance under visible light has become one of the research hot topics. The nano-TiO2 particles were...     

Stimuli-Responsive Purely Organic Room-Temperature Phosphorescence Materials

This Minireview summarizes the recent progress of stimuli-responsive purely organic phosphorescence materials. Organic phosphorescence is closely related to the intermolecular interactions, because such interactions are beneficial to promote spin orbital coupling (SOC) and boost intersystem cross (ISC) efficiency and finally are conducive to satisfactory phosphorescence. It is found that the intermolecular interactions, which are essential for organic phosphorescence, are easily disturbed by external stimuli such as mechanical force, photon, acid, chemical vapor, leading to the luminescence change. According to this principle, various purely organic phosphorescence materials sensitive to external stimuli have been developed. This Minireview categorizes reported stimuli-responsive purely organic phosphorescence materials on the basis of different stimuli, including mechanochromism, mechanoluminescence, photoactivity, acid-responsiveness and other stimuli. Some prospective strategies for constructing stimuli-responsive purely organic phosphorescence molecules are provided.     

Dodecahedral Au/Pt Nanobowls as Robust Plasmonic Electrocatalysts for Methanol Oxidation under Visible-Light Illumination

Plasmonic nanostructures with large absorption areas under resonant excitation have been utilized extensively in photon-assisted applications. In this work, dodecahedral Au nanobowls were first prepared by an easy and template-free method only through the introduction of H₂PtCl₆ and I⁻ during the growth procedure. The Au nanobowls show electron-field enhancement due to the high curvature of the bowl edge, the open region, and dodecahedral morphology. Au/Pt nanobowls, which couple plasmonic Au and catalytic Pt, were then constructed as plasmonic electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation. The mass activity reached 497.6 mA mg⁻¹ under visible-light illumination, which is 1.9 times that measured in the dark. Simultaneously, the electrocatalytic stability is also greatly improved under light excitation. The enhanced properties of the plasmonic Au/Pt electrocatalysts are ascribed to the synergistic effect of the plasmon-enhanced photothermal and hot-carrier effects on the basis of experimental investigations. This work thus offers an effective methodology to construct efficient plasmonic electrocatalysts for fuel cells.     

Continuous Electrochemical Synthesis of Iso-Coumarin Derivatives from o-(1-Alkynyl) Benzoates under Metal- and Oxidant-Free

A non-oxidant and metal-free strategy for synthesizing iso-coumarin by using a continuous electrochemical microreactor to initiate an oxidative cyclization reaction of o-(1-alkynyl) benzoate and radicals. This efficient and clean continuous electrosynthesis method not only avoids the complicated gas protection operation and production of by-products in the batch processes, but also help to overcome the difficulty that batch metal catalysis and electrocatalysis are difficult to scale up, and has the potential for pilot-scale experiment.     

Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution of Unactivated Aryl Fluorides with Primary Aliphatic Amines by Organic Photoredox Catalysis

In this work, a mild and transition-metal-free approach for the nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S_NAr) of unactivated fluoroarenes with primary aliphatic amines to form aromatic amines is reported. This reaction is facilitated by the formation of cationic fluoroarene radical intermediates in the presence of an acridinium-based organic photocatalyst under blue-light irradiation. Various electron-rich and electron-neutral fluoroarenes are competent electrophiles for this transformation. A wide range of primary aliphatic amines, including amino acid esters, dipeptides, and linear and branched amines are suitable nucleophiles. The synthetic utility of this protocol is demonstrated by the late-stage functionalization of several complex drug molecules.     

Hierarchical Carbon Nanowire/Ni@MnO2 Nanocomposites for High-Performance Asymmetric Supercapacitors

A 3D hierarchical carbon cloth/nitrogen-doped carbon nanowires/Ni@MnO₂ (CC/N-CNWs/Ni@MnO₂) nanocomposite electrode was rationally designed and prepared by electrodeposition. The N-CNWs derived from polypyrrole (PPy) nanowires on the carbon cloth have an open framework structure, which greatly increases the contact area between the electrode and electrolyte and provides short diffusion paths. The incorporation of the Ni layer between the N-CNWs and MnO₂ is beneficial for significantly enhancing the electrical conductivity and boosting fast charge transfer as well as improving the charge-collection capacity. Thus, the as-prepared 3D hierarchical CC/N-CNWs/Ni@MnO₂ electrode exhibits a higher specific capacitance of 571.4 F g⁻¹ compared with those of CC/N-CNWs@MnO₂ (311 F g⁻¹), CC/Ni@MnO₂ (196.6 F g⁻¹), and CC@MnO₂ (186.1 F g⁻¹) at 1 A g⁻¹ and remarkable rate capability (367.5 F g⁻¹ at 10 A g⁻¹). Moreover, asymmetric supercapacitors constructed with CC/N-CNWs/Ni@MnO₂ as cathode material and activated carbon as anode material deliver an impressive energy density of 36.4 W h kg⁻¹ at a power density of 900 W kg⁻¹ and a good cycling life (72.8 % capacitance retention after 3500 cycles). This study paves a low-cost and simple way to design a hierarchical nanocomposite electrode with large surface area and superior electrical conductivity, which has wide application prospects in high-performance supercapacitors.     

Synthesis and comparative study on polyetherimides from isomeric 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenoxy bis(phthalic anhydride)s

Two isomers of commercial 4,4′-(4,4′-isopropylidenediphenoxy) bis(phthalic anhydride) (4,4′-BPADA), that is, 3,4′-(4,4′-isopropylidenediphenoxy) bis(phthalic anhydride) (3,4′-BPADA) and 3,3′-(4,4′-isopropylidenediphenoxy) bis(phthalic anhydride) (3,3′-BPADA), were synthesized through aromatic nucleophilic substitution from nitrophthalonitrile and bisphenol A. 3,4′-BPADA was first synthesized from two intermediates, that is, 3-(4-[4-hydroxyphenylisopropylidene] phenoxy) phthalonitrile (3-BPADN) and 3,4′-(4,4′-isopropylidenediphenoxy) bis(phthalonitrile) (3,4′-BPATN). The corresponding three series of polyetherimides (PEIs) were prepared with two representative aromatic diamines (4,4′-oxydianiline and m-phenylenediamine (m-PDA)) via two-step procedure and chemical imidization. Isomeric polyimides showed T_gs from 206 to 256°C in nitrogen and T_d5%s from 488 to 511°C in argon, good mechanical properties (tensile moduli of 2.3–3.3 GPa, tensile strengths of 70–96 MPa, and elongations at break of 3.2%–5.1%), and good solubility. With the introduction of 3-substituted phthalimide unit, PEIs displayed higher T_g values, lower strengths and elongations, better solubility and larger d-spacings. The rheological properties of thermoplastic polyimide resins based on the BPADA isomers were investigated, which showed that polyetherimide PEI-3b derived from 3,3′-BPADA and m-PDA had the lowest melt viscosity among the isomers, indicating that the melt processibility had been greatly improved.     

Vitamin A and Bone Health: A Review on Current Evidence

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble micronutrient essential for growth, immunity, and good vision. The preformed retinol is commonly found in food of animal origin whereas provitamin A is derived from food of plant origin. This review summarises the current evidence from animal, human and cell-culture studies on the effects of vitamin A towards bone health. Animal studies showed that the negative effects of retinol on the skeleton were observed at higher concentrations, especially on the cortical bone. In humans, the direct relationship between vitamin A and poor bone health was more pronounced in individuals with obesity or vitamin D deficiency. Mechanistically, vitamin A differentially influenced the stages of osteogenesis by enhancing early osteoblastic differentiation and inhibiting bone mineralisation via retinoic acid receptor (RAR) signalling and modulation of osteocyte/osteoblast-related bone peptides. However, adequate vitamin A intake through food or supplements was shown to maintain healthy bones. Meanwhile, provitamin A (carotene and β-cryptoxanthin) may also protect bone. In vitro evidence showed that carotene and β-cryptoxanthin may serve as precursors for retinoids, specifically all-trans-retinoic acid, which serve as ligand for RARs to promote osteogenesis and suppressed nuclear factor-kappa B activation to inhibit the differentiation and maturation of osteoclasts. In conclusion, we suggest that both vitamin A and provitamin A may be potential bone-protecting agents, and more studies are warranted to support this hypothesis.     

基于平面通量展开的三维Pin by Pin输运SP3计算

基于Pin by Pin输运SP₃计算是下一代反应堆物理计算方法中一个重要的研究方向。节块法一般采用高阶通量和中子源展开以适应较大的节块尺寸，因此对于Pin by Pin计算来说效率偏低。由于反应堆堆芯不均匀性更多发生在径向，本文提出一种径向基于二维平面通量展开结合轴向常规节块法的综合方法进行三维Pin by Pin输运SP₃计算，其三个方向的节块耦合迭代均采用基于中子净流耦合的格式。通过IAEA 2D/3D基准问题和典型输运基准问题计算，验证该计算方法对于堆芯扩散计算和输运计算的正确性和可行性。