Co3+-Rich Na1.95CoP2O7 Phosphates as Efficient Bifunctional Catalysts for Oxygen Evolution and Reduction Reactions in Alkaline Solution

Implementing sustainable energy conversion and storage technologies is highly reliant on crucial oxygen electrocatalysis, such as the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the pursuit of low cost, energetic efficient and robust bifunctional catalysts for OER and ORR remains a great challenge. Herein, the novel Na-ion-deficient Na_2−xCoP₂O₇ catalysts are proposed to efficiently electrocatalyze OER and ORR in alkaline solution. The engineering of Na-ion deficiency can tune the electronic structure of Co, and thus tailor the intrinsically electrocatalytic performance. Among the sodium cobalt phosphate catalysts, the Na_1.95CoP₂O₇ (NCPO5) catalyst exhibits the lowest ΔE (E_J10,OER−E_J−1,ORR) of only 0.86 V, which favorably outperforms most of the reported non-noble metal catalysts. Moreover, the Na-ion deficiency can stabilize the phase structure and morphology of NCPO5 during the OER and ORR processes. This study highlights the Na-ion deficient Na_2−xCoP₂O₇ as a promising class of low-cost, highly active and robust bifunctional catalysts for OER and ORR.     

Entropic effect implication for change in polymer coils swelling state in the demixing enthalpy recovery of aqueous poly(vinyl methyl ether) solutions

Time‐dependent demixing enthalpy recovery behavior of aqueous poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) solutions exhibits distinct recovery characteristics in three concentration regions. The absence of recovery behavior below a water concentration of 38.3 wt % indicates that the PVME coil is in a globular state. The typically sigmoidal recovery behavior of demixing enthalpy above 38.3 wt % is ascribed to the reswelling of the collapsed polymer coils induced by the entropic effect. The increase in difference between the upper and lower limits indicates the continued swelling of the PVME coils. Above 65 wt %, a dominant diluting effect can be observed, and a much longer phase separation time is needed to reach the expected lower limit. In contrast, the recovery of demixing enthalpy in a wide range of water concentration (from 38.3 to 90 wt %) exhibits the same feature. The infrared spectroscopy results are in agreement with the above macroscopic differential scanning calorimetry results. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 142–151     

Lysosome‐targeted potent half‐sandwich iridium(III) α‐diimine antitumor complexes

Fifteen organometallic Ir(III) half‐sandwich complexes ( 1A – 5C ) having the general formula [(η⁵‐Cp^x)Ir(N^N)Cl]PF₆ (Cp^x = Cp*, tetramethyl(phenyl)cyclopentadienyl (Cp^xph) or tetramethyl(biphenyl)cyclopentadienyl (Cp^xbiph); N^N = diamine) have been synthesized and characterized. The molecular structure of 1A was determined using single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis. The hydrolysis of 1A – 5C was monitored using UV–visible spectra. Complexes 3A – 3C showed catalytic activity for the oxidation of NADH to NAD⁺, where 3C showed the highest turnover number of 29.9 within 450 min. Cytotoxicity examination by MTT assay was carried out against two human cancer cell lines (HeLa and A549) after 24 or 48 h drug treatment. The complexes showed high potency, where the most potent complex ( 3C ; IC₅₀ = 3.4 μM) was six times more active than cisplatin against A549 cells after 24 h drug exposure. Cytotoxic potency towards A549 cells increased with phenyl substitution on Cp ring: Cp^xbiph > Cp^xph > Cp*. In addition, the biological studies showed that 3C caused cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G₁ phase in A549 cancer cells. Moreover, 3C increased the level of reactive oxygen species markedly after 24 h, which may provide an important basis for killing cancer cells. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to track 3C in A549 cells. The cellular localization experiment showed that 3C targeted lysosomes and caused lysosomal damage.     

Highly sensitive and selective detect of p‐arsanilic acid with a new water‐stable europium metal–organic framework

The p‐arsanilic acid (p‐ASA), as an aromatic organoarsenic compounds, had received considerable concerns for their potential toxicity and carcinogenic properties. It was essential to detect p‐ASA with a facile method. In this paper, an europium based fluorescent metal–organic framework (MOF) [Eu₂(clhex)·2H₂O)]·H₂O ( BUC‐69 ) was successfully prepared under hydrothermal conditions with 1,2,3,4,5,6‐cyclohexanehexacarboxylic acid (H₆clhex) as organic linker. BUC‐69 displayed superior fluorescence capability to achieve selective and sensitive detection toward p‐ASA in water, which presented the first example of a MOF‐based sensor to detect p‐ASA. BUC‐69 showed excellent chemical stability in solutions under pH ranging from 4 to 12, which makes it be a potential sensor both in acidity and alkalinity condition. Significantly, BUC‐69 performed well in fluorescent sensing of p‐ASA at a low concentration (10^?6 M) in the simulated wastewater prepared with real lake water, and the results were comparable to the values detected by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP‐OES). The corresponding mechanism of fluorescent sensing toward p‐ASA with BUC‐69 was proposed and affirmed.     

Structure and Mechanical Stability of Epoxy Modified Polyurethane Foam Under Heat and Stress

A series of phenolic epoxy resin (PEP) modified polyurethane foams (PUF) were prepared via an in-situ polymerization, one step process. It was found that the epoxy modified PUF foam exhibited a perforated network structure with larger cell size, higher open cell porosity and enhanced ovality compared with pure PUF. With increasing content of PEP, the tensile strength, elongation at break and low temperature modulus of PUF decreased. A single T_g was observed for PEP modified PUF, indicating that the two component phases of the polyurethane-epoxy were miscible. With increasing PEP content, the T_g of PUF shifted slightly to higher temperature, tan δ_max dropped to lower values, and the retention value of the storage modulus at ?20 and ?10?°C increased. For pure PUF, the cell walls degraded and the structure became disordered after aging under heat and stress, while for PUF/20wt%PEP, the degradation degree was obviously reduced, and an orientation of the cells along the stress direction and a density increase was observed. During aging at 200?°C, the retention of the mechanical properties of PUF/20wt% PEP was much higher than that of pure PUF, and it showed superior stability under heat and stress, attributed to incorporation of the thermally resistant oxazolidone rings and benzene rings in the PU backbones, the highly cross-linked networks of the polyurethane-epoxy systems and the obvious orientation of the cells under stress.     

Size effect of lead-free halide double perovskite on luminescence property

Lead-free halide double perovskites have gathered wide scientific interest since they are environmentally friendly and stable.However,compared to the lead perovskites,their optoelectronic properties are compromised.Herein we report a series of bulk lead-free mixed Bi-In halide double perovskites:Cs_2AgBi_(1-x)In_xCl_6(0x1).The Cs_2AgBi_(0.125)In_(0.875)Cl_6breaks the parity-forbidden transition and retains direct band gap structure,having warm-white light emission,with photoluminescence quantum efficiency(PLQE)of 70.3%,much higher than the PLQE of reported lead perovskite materials.Its exciton self-trapping dynamics is investigated.Meanwhile,the Cs_2AgBi_(0.125)In_(0.875)Cl_6nanocrystals and Cs_2AgBi_(0.125)In_(0.875)Cl_6microcrystals can be synthesized by modified hot injection and rapid cooling crystallization,respectively.The size effect of Cs_2AgBi_(0.125)In_(0.875)Cl_6is studied on the photoluminescence(PL)property.Additionally,the bulk material exhibits excellent stability on exposure to light,humidity and air for more than 3 months.It is a promising candidate as highly efficient warm white-light emitting material for road lighting.     

Optical Radiation Associated with Photobiological Hazards for Argon GTAW Arcs

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), a widely used industrial process, is one of the most intense artificial sources of optical radiation. This paper presents a...     

Stable isotope dilution assay for the accurate determination of tricaine in fish samples by HPLC–MS–MS

Tricaine methanesulfonate is one of most commonly used anesthetics in fish during blood sampling, artificial propagation and long‐distance transportation. In this study, an accurate method for the quantitative determination of tricaine in fish samples by a stable isotope dilution assay coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography–triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was developed. Tricaine‐D₅ was synthesized and used as an isotopically labeled internal standard for the determination of tricaine. The analytical performance of the method was validated for tricaine determination in marine fish and freshwater fish. The determination of tricaine was linear in the range of 2.0–200.0 μg L^?1. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation for fish muscle tissues were 1.0 and 4.0 μg kg^?1, respectively. Good recoveries were obtained in the range of 92.08–97.50%. The inter‐ and intra‐assay relative standard deviations (RSD values) were investigated, and the values were 0.39–3.01 and 0.85–2.77%, respectively. The values of CCα and CCβ were 10.21–10.43 and 10.42–10.87 μg kg^?1, respectively. The clearance of MS‐222 from grass carp was further studied using our method. The results demonstrate that MS‐222 could be well absorbed and rapidly eliminated after bath administration.     

The Riemann–Hilbert analysis to the Pollaczek–Jacobi type orthogonal polynomials

In this paper, we study polynomials orthogonal with respect to a Pollaczek–Jacobi type weight The uniform asymptotic expansions for the monic orthogonal polynomials on the interval (0,1) and outside this interval are obtained. Moreover, near , the uniform asymptotic expansion involves Airy function as , and Bessel function of order α as in the neighborhood of , the uniform asymptotic expansion is associated with Bessel function of order β as . The recurrence coefficients and leading coefficient of the orthogonal polynomials are expressed in terms of a particular Painlevé III transcendent. We also obtain the limit of the kernel in the bulk of the spectrum. The double scaled logarithmic derivative of the Hankel determinant satisfies a σ‐form Painlevé III equation. The asymptotic analysis is based on the Deift and Zhou's steepest descent method.