基于氮掺杂碳载铁复合物的锌空电池氧阴极催化剂

迫在眉睫的环境和能源问题推动人类探索可行、可靠和可再生的能源技术.锌-空气电池和氢氧燃料电池等器件显示出高能量转换效率,但是仍有许多难题有待克服,例如阴极侧上缓慢的氧还原反应(ORR),以及高昂的成本极大地限制了铂基催化剂在商业上的广泛应用.因此,开发高性能的廉价ORR催化剂具有重要意义.过渡金属碳氮化合物(M-N-C, M=Co, Fe等)成为最有希望替代铂基催化剂的一类材料, M-N-C催化剂可以通过直接热解含有过渡金属、氮和碳物种的前驱体合成.然而热解时金属原子易团聚,多孔结构不能被有效地控制,导致相对较差的催化活性.目前, MOF衍生的催化剂在能源转化和储存技术中得到了广泛的关注,其具有丰富的氮含量、高比表面积和可调的孔道结构等特点.本文报道了一种简便可靠可控的合成铁氮共掺杂碳十二面体纳米结构催化剂的方法,并作为阴极电催化剂用于锌空气电池中,测试结果证实,合成的铁氮共掺杂的纳米碳具有与铂基材料相当的活性和更加优异的稳定性.表面吸附了的邻菲罗啉铁的ZIF-8在碳化过程中,氮基团能够结合铁形成Fe Nx结构单元,因此可得到铁氮共掺杂的电催化剂.粉末X射线衍射,扫描电镜证实ZIF-8的成功合成.经过热解得到的催化剂中Fe Nx或Fe Cx衍射峰较弱,表明样品中铁含量较低,存在部分无定型铁.通过拉曼光谱分析发现,引入的邻菲罗啉在热解过程中诱导了缺陷的形成,所以Fe-NCDNA-0的ID/IG比值明显高于NC.同时ID/IG随着铁含量的增加而减少,这是因为铁可以诱导石墨化,诱导效应随着铁含量的增加而增加.分析氮气吸附-脱附等温线得出,引入邻菲罗啉之后,比表面积增加;而铁的引入因其占据了微孔结构,导致比表面积下降.同时电镜证实Fe-NCDNA-2具有较大的形貌扭曲,使得该材料具有较大的比表面积.系统的电化学研究表明,氮掺杂有利于增强ORR活性,在引入铁之后形成高效的活性中心会进一步提高催化性能.因此, Fe-NCDNA-2在碱性条件下表现出优异的ORR性能.线性扫描伏安法曲线表明,铁氮共掺杂的材料表现出与Pt/C相似的性能,其中Fe-NCDNA-2的半波电位(E1/2)为0.863 V,比商业Pt/C的电位更正(E1/2=0.841 V).同时, Fe-NCDNA-2具有更加优异的稳定性,测试30000 s后的电流保持率为80%(Pt/C:64%).在中性介质中,合成的材料也展示了较高的ORR活性.Fe-NCDNA-2的E1/2=0.715 V,催化30000 s后电流保持率77%,均优于商业Pt/C催化剂.组装的锌空气电池进一步验证其作为氧还原催化剂实际应用的可行性.相比于以Pt/C为催化剂做空气阴极的电池,以Fe-NCDNA-2组装的电池表现出更高的开路电压,更高的功率密度(184 m Wcm^-2),以及更加优异的充放电循环稳定性.该工作也有利于启发研究人员探索类似的氮掺杂过渡金属碳材料在各种催化上的应用.     

碳量子点在八面双锥和纳米片TiO2上的光催化

依次用溶剂热法和水热法制备得到暴露(101)晶面的八面双锥体二氧化钛OBP-TiO2和不同碳负载量的N-CDs/OBP-TiO2复合催化剂,以及暴露(001)晶面的纳米片二氧化钛TNS和不同碳负载量的N-CDs/TNS复合催化剂。利用TEM、XRD、XPS等表征手段对这2类复合催化剂的形貌结构、化学成分等作了鉴定。系统研究了碳量子点负载量对可见光降解RhB的光催化性能影响。实验发现,由于N-CDs的加入,均能较大提高2类复合催化剂的光催化性能。(101)高裸露晶面N-CDs/OBP-TiO2比(001)高裸露晶面N-CDs/TNS的光催化活性高。     

Dual Metal Active Sites in an Ir1/FeOx Single‐Atom Catalyst: A Redox Mechanism for the Water‐Gas Shift Reaction

Herein, we report a theoretical and experimental study of the water‐gas shift (WGS) reaction on Ir₁/FeO_x single‐atom catalysts. Water dissociates to OH* on the Ir₁ single atom and H* on the first‐neighbour O atom bonded with a Fe site. The adsorbed CO on Ir₁ reacts with another adjacent O atom to produce CO₂, yielding an oxygen vacancy (O_vac). Then, the formation of H₂ becomes feasible due to migration of H from adsorbed OH* toward Ir₁ and its subsequent reaction with another H*. The interaction of Ir₁ and the second‐neighbouring Fe species demonstrates a new WGS pathway featured by electron transfer at the active site from Fe³⁺?O???Ir²⁺?O_vac to Fe²⁺?O_vac???Ir³⁺?O with the involvement of O_vac. The redox mechanism for WGS reaction through a dual metal active site (DMAS) is different from the conventional associative mechanism with the formation of formate or carboxyl intermediates. The proposed new reaction mechanism is corroborated by the experimental results with Ir₁/FeO_x for sequential production of CO₂ and H₂.     

Identifying the Types and Characterization of the Active Sites on M−X−C Single-Atom Catalysts

Single atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted much attention in recent years. As an essential group in SACs, M−X−C (X=nonmetallic element) materials have been demonstrated to be efficient in many reactions. However, identifying the active sites on M−X−C, especially under working conditions, is still challenging, which is crucial for chemists to further understand the mechanism underlying the reaction and better design proper SACs for specific reactions. Herein, the types and characterization of M−X−C are comprehensively summarized and discussed in this review. In addition to the basic information above, the challenges and opportunities remaining in this field will be also proposed to present a perspective to the research on the next step.     

Plasma Treatment of Polymers

Abstract

Plasma treatment of polymers encompasses a variety of plasma technologies and polymeric materials for a wide range of applications and dates back to at least the 1960s. In this article we provide a brief review of the United States patent literature on plasma surface modification technologies and a brief review of the scientific literature on investigations of the effects of plasma treatment, the nature of the plasma environment, and the mechanisms that drive the plasma–surface interaction. We then discuss low‐radio‐frequency capacitively coupled nitrogen plasmas and their characteristics, suggesting that they provide significant plasma densities and populations of reactive species for effective plasma treatments on a variety of materials, particularly when placing the sample surface in the cathode sheath region. We further discuss surface chemical characterization of treated polymers, including some results on polyesters treated in capacitively coupled nitrogen plasmas driven at 40 kHz. Finally, we connect plasma characterization with surface chemical analysis by applying a surface sites model to nitrogen uptake of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN) treated in a 40 kHz nitrogen plasma. This example serves to suggest an interesting practical approach to comparisons of plasma treatments. In addition, it suggests an approach to defining the investigations required to conclusively identify the underlying treatment mechanisms.     

Design and synthesis of artificial ribonucleases based on 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane and imidazole

The review surveys the results of our studies devoted to the design of highly efficient catalysts of hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bonds in RNA. These catalysts contain the imidazole residue in the catalytic domain, one or several bis-quaternized rings of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane as a polycationic RNA-binding domain, and a lipophilic radical. A versatile approach to artificial ribonucleases of this type was proposed, which allows one to vary not only the number of positive charges in the RNA-binding domain, the structure of the catalytic site, and their mutual arrangement but also the domain structure of the molecule as a whole. Analysis of the catalytic properties of the synthesized constructs makes it possible to optimize the domain structure and the geometry of the molecule ensuring its maximum ribonuclease activity.     

Interaction of Cu(+) and Cu(2+) ions with alpha-alanine. A density functional study

The Cu(+) and Cu(2+) preferred binding sites on alpha-alanine and their affinity values for this amino acid were determined at the density functional level using three different hybrid exchange correlation potentials and the 6-311++G** basis set. The results demonstrated that the two ions both give stable complexes with alpha-alanine but the stability order of the metalated species and the coordination sites are different depending on the nature of the cation. In particular, the Cu(+)-alpha-alanine ground-state structure is characterized by an eta(2)-N,O coordination with the nitrogen and oxygen atoms belonging to the amino and carbonyl groups, respectively. In contrast, the most stable complex of the Cu(2+)-alpha-alanine system has an eta(2)-O,O coordination with the cation bonded to the -CO(2) (-) moiety of the zwitterionic form of the amino acid. Comparison with the Cu(+) and Cu(2+) affinity values for glycine, computed at the same levels of theory, demonstrated that the relative values do not change significantly as different hybrid functionals are used, although the absolute affinities are strongly influenced by the choice of the hybrid potential.     

Structural analysis of tris(tetra-n-butylammonium) hexakisisothiocyanatoyttrate(III)

The structural analysis of [(n-C₄H₉)₄N]₃[Y(NCS)₆] (I) using single-crystal diffraction data and full-matrix least squares refinement has been carried out. The hexaisothiocyanate complex crystallizes in the centrosymmetric triclinic space group P (No. 2) with unit cell constants of a = 12.431(1), b = 12.866(1), c = 22.750(2) Å, = 90.78(1), = 92.05(1), = 96.67(1)°, and Z = 2. The molecular unit consists of three separate cationic tetra-n-butylammonium groups and an independent hexakisisothiocyanatoyttrate anionic group in which the six thiocyanate ligands are octahedrally coordinated through the N atom to the Y central ion. Selected bond distances and angles are presented as well as the synthesis and peripheral studies of (I).