Effect of Protective Measures on Eye Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation

In this study, ocular biologically effective exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVBE) is investigated with six kinds of sun protective measures (spectacle lenses, sunglasses, cap, bonnet, straw hat and under parasol). Ocular UV exposure measurements were performed on manikins during the summer period in Shenyang city (41.64° N, 123.50° E, 66 m a.s.l.), China. The measurements include the ocular UV exposure of an unprotected eye and the ambient UV as a control concurrently. Based on the relative spectral weighting factors of the International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), the ocular biologically effective UV is calculated and compared with the 8‐h exposure limits of ICNIRP (30 J m^?2). The UV index (UVI) of the measurement days is 0–8, and the 8‐h (8:00–16:00 China Standard Time, CST) cumulated UVBE of the unprotected eye is 452.0 J m^?2. The 8‐h cumulated UVBE of the eye with spectacle lenses, sunglasses, cap, bonnet, straw hat and under parasol are 364.2, 69.1, 51.4, 49.0, 56.8 and 110.2 J m^?2, respectively. Importantly, it should be noted that the eye could be exposed to risk despite protective measures. The 8‐h cumulated UVBE of the eye with protection is ca 1.6–15.1 times the exposure limit, respectively. As indicated in the present study, during summer months, high exposure to the sun for more than 30 min without eye protection and more than 1 h with eye protection is not advisable. The protection measures could effectively reduce the UVBE reaching the eye, yet there is still a high degree of risk when compared with the ICNIRP 8‐h exposure limits.     

贵金属基纳米酶的研究进展

贵金属纳米材料在纳米尺度具有独特的光学、 电学性质及优异的催化性能, 是一类重要的功能纳米材料. 基于贵金属材料的纳米酶研究是贵金属纳米材料在生物医学领域的一个前沿研究方向. 贵金属基纳米酶具有特殊的光学性质、 较好的化学稳定性、 可调控的类酶活性及良好的生物相容性, 是目前纳米生物医学领域的热点研究材料. 本文总结了贵金属基纳米酶的活性种类、 活性机理、 活性调控以及在生物医学等领域的潜在应用.     

碳辅助金属配合物热解法制备高含量Fe-N4单原子催化剂用于氧还原反应

单原子催化剂凭借其超高的原子利用率及在某些反应中表现出的出色催化效果,被认为是最有前途的电催化剂之一,引起了研究人员的极大热情和兴趣.制备高金属含量的单原子催化剂是基础研究和实际应用的前提和关键.然而,由于原子表面自由能随着尺寸的减小而急剧增加,在制备和催化过程中,单原子催化剂的金属原子很容易聚集成团簇甚至颗粒,因此如何制备高负载量的单原子催化剂仍然是一个不小的挑战.在众多单原子催化剂中,非贵金属中铁基单原子被认为是燃料电池中的Pt催化剂的有效替代品.在燃料电池的核心反应–电化学氧还原反应中,Fe-N_x被证明是铁单原子催化剂中的主要活性中心.因此,为了获得更好的氧还原性能,提高铁单原子催化剂中Fe-N_x的含量就显得非常关键.前期已报道了一些关于制备高Fe含量的铁单原子催化剂材料的策略,例如空间限域策略和配位合成策略.其中卟啉和葡萄糖作为配位剂,双氰胺和三聚氰胺可热解成氮掺杂碳材料以捕获金属原子,形成M-N_x.同时,具有高比表面积的富氧碳载体可以通过掺杂氮来作为固定金属原子的位点.我们开发了一种简单直接的方法,通过碳辅助金属配合物热解法制备高金属含量的Fe-N4单原子催化剂,即在最佳碳化温度800℃、三聚氰胺存在下对氮掺杂多孔碳辅助分散铁邻苯二胺配合物进行热解.在该方法中,氮掺杂多孔碳是一种具有丰富氮缺陷,高表面积(1267 m²?g^–1)和良好分散性的多孔生物质碳材料.邻苯二胺作为含两个氨基的二齿配体,可以很容易地与过渡金属配位,形成稳定的平面四配位络合物.此外,由于在高温条件下过渡金属的催化作用,邻苯二胺也被用作氮掺杂碳的前体.因此,氮掺杂多孔碳和邻苯二胺是合成高金属含量铁单原子催化剂的关键前驱体.通过X射线光电子能谱,大角度环形暗场扫描透射电子显微镜和X射线吸收精细结构光谱表征,发现所制备的铁单原子催化剂中铁原子以单个原子的形式锚固在碳载体上,并与碳基质的四个掺杂氮原子配位,得到Fe-N₄的构型.通过调节Fe前驱体量,铁单原子催化剂中Fe的最高负载量达到7.5 wt%,在目前已经报道的铁单原子催化剂中排第四.电化学氧还原测试表明,在0.10 M KOH溶液中,随着铁含量的增加,铁单原子催化剂的氧还原性能逐渐提高.其中250Fe-SA/NPC-800样品表现出最高起始电位0.97 V和最正的半波电位0.85 V,可与市售的40%Pt/C催化剂相媲美.和已报道的铁单原子催化剂相比,由于我们制得的催化剂的比表面积较低,只有247 m²?g^–1,所以制约了催化剂的性能.在混合动力学势域中,根据Koutecky-Levich方程计算得出的电子转移数约为3.6,表明250Fe-SA/NPC-800主要催化四电子转移过程,这可以归因于以Fe-N₄活性中心降低了四电子过程中关键中间体的形成能垒及过程的自由能变化.此外,250Fe-SA/NPC-800展现了较高的电化学稳定性.连续工作6 h后,250Fe-SA/NPC-800保留了超过87%的电流密度,而Pt/C表现出明显的衰减,仅保留了49%.     

The synergistic catalysis on Co nanoparticles and CoN_x sites of aniline-modified ZIF derived Co@NCs for oxidative esterification of HMF

An efficient sustainable and scalable strategy for the synthesis of porous cobalt/nitrogen co-doped carbons(Co@NCs) via pyrolysis of aniline-modified ZIFs,has been demonstrated.Aniline can coordinate and absorb on the surface of ZIF(ZIF-CoZn3-PhA),accelerate the precipitation of ZIFs,thus resulting in smaller ZIF particle size.Meanwhile,the aniline on the surface of ZIF-CoZn3-PhA promotes the formation of the protective carbon shell and smaller Co nanoparticles,and increases nitrogen content of the catalyst.Because of these prope rties of Co@NC-PhA-3,the oxidative esterification of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural can be carried out under ambient conditions.According to our experimental and computational results,a synergistic catalytic effect between CoN_x sites and Co nanoparticles has been established,in which both Co nanoparticles and CoN_x can activate O_2 while Co nanoparticles bind and oxidize HMF.Moreover,the formation and release of active oxygen species in CoN_x sites are reinfo rced by the electronic interaction between Co nanoparticles and CoN_x.     

Electrospun Nanofibrous Adsorption Membranes for Wastewater Treatment: Mechanical Strength Enhancement

Functional nanofibrous membranes fabricated by electrospinning technology have attracted much attention in the removal of heavy metal ions from contaminated wastewater. The high specific surface area, high porosity and ease of functionality create an enhanced throughput and high adsorption capacity of the nanofibrous membrane. However, the relatively poor mechanical properties of the membrane with a non-woven nanofibrous structure are one of the major concerns, which can limit the applications in wastewater treatment. Different strategies and methodologies were explored to address the problems and were reviewed in this work, highlighting the possibilities of overcoming the poor mechanical properties of the nanofibrous membrane and to ensure the recyclability and reusability of the membrane during the adsorption process.     

Nanocomposite Polymer Electrolytes of Sodium Alginate and Montmorillonite Clay

Nanocomposite polymer electrolytes (NPEs) were synthesized using sodium alginate (Alg) and either sodium (SCa-3-Na⁺)- or lithium (SCa-3-Li⁺)-modified montmorillonite clays. The samples were characterized by structural, optical, and electrical properties. SCa-3-Na⁺ and SCa-3-Li⁺ clays’ X-ray structural analyses revealed peaks at 2θ = 7.2° and 6.7° that corresponded to the interlamellar distances of 12.3 and 12.8 Å, respectively. Alg-based NPEs X-ray diffractograms showed exfoliated structures for samples with low clay percentages. The increase of clay content promoted the formation of intercalated structures. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy revealed that Alg-based NPEs with 5 wt% of SCa-3-Na⁺ clay presented the highest conductivity of 1.96 × 10⁻² S/cm², and Alg with 10 wt% of SCa-3-Li⁺ showed conductivity of 1.30 × 10⁻² S/cm², both measured at 70 °C. From UV-Vis spectroscopy, it was possible to infer that increasing concentration of clay promoted a decrease of the samples’ transmittance and, consequently, an increase of their reflectance.     

Implications of Nitrogen Doping on Geometrical and Electronic Structure of the Fullerene Dimers

Because of its unsaturated bonds, C₆₀ is susceptible to polymerize into dimers. The implications of nitrogen doping on the geometrical and electronic structure of C₆₀ dimers have been ambiguous for years. A quarter‐century after the discovery of azafullerene dimer (C₅₉N)₂, we reported its single crystallographic structure in 2019. Herein, the unambiguous crystal structure information of (C₅₉N)₂ is elucidated specifically, revealing that the inter‐cage C—C single bond length of (C₅₉N)₂ is comparable with that of an ordinary C(sp³)‐C(sp³) single bond, and that the most stable conformer of (C₅₉N)₂ is gauche‐conformer with a dihedral angle of 66°. To amend the structural deviations, geometrical structure of (C₅₉N)₂ is optimized by a B3LYP‐D3BJ function, which is proved to be more consistent with its single crystal structure than those by the commonly used B3LYP function. Moreover, the calculation method is also suitable for other representative fullerene dimers, such as (C₆₀)₂ and its divalent anion. Additionally, the dissociation of (C₅₉N)₂ at 473 K under mass spectrometric conditions suggests the inter‐cage C—C bond is relatively weaker than an ordinary C—C single bond, which can be explained by the interaction energies of inter‐cages.     

含三苯胺基团的菲咯啉铁(Ⅱ)配合物电致变色材料的合成及性质

以4-甲酰基三苯胺和1,10-菲咯啉-5,6-二酮为原料,经过缩合、甲基化等反应合成了配体N-甲基-2-(4-二苯胺基苯基)咪挫并[4,5-f][1,10]-菲咯啉(TPAPhen),再与Fe~(2+)配位得到配合物[Fe(TPAPhen)_3](BF_4)_2,最后经过电化学聚合在ITO玻璃表面制备了新型电致变色材料poly-Fe(TPAPhen)_3。在外加电压作用下,poly-Fe(TPAPhen)_3聚合物薄膜表现出多种颜色变化和良好的电致变色性能,尤其是在721 nm处的光学对比度高达86%,着色效率高达971 cm2·C~(-1),并且表现出较快的响应速度(着色时间:2.6 s,褪色时间:5.3 s)。     

Interaction of Hydrogen with Ceria: Hydroxylation,Reduction, and Hydride Formation on the Surface and in the Bulk

The study reports the first attempt to address the interplay between surface and bulk in hydride formation in ceria (CeO₂) by combining experiment, using surface sensitive and bulk sensitive spectroscopic techniques on the two sample systems, i.e., CeO₂(111) thin films and CeO₂ powders, and theoretical calculations of CeO₂(111) surfaces with oxygen vacancies (O_v) at the surface and in the bulk. We show that, on a stoichiometric CeO₂(111) surface, H₂ dissociates and forms surface hydroxyls (OH). On the pre-reduced CeO_2−x samples, both films and powders, hydroxyls and hydrides (Ce−H) are formed on the surface as well as in the bulk, accompanied by the Ce³⁺ ↔ Ce⁴⁺ redox reaction. As the O_v concentration increases, hydroxyl is destabilized and hydride becomes more stable. Surface hydroxyl is more stable than bulk hydroxyl, whereas bulk hydride is more stable than surface hydride. The surface hydride formation is the kinetically favorable process at relatively low temperatures, and the resulting surface hydride may diffuse into the bulk region and be stabilized therein. At higher temperatures, surface hydroxyls can react to produce water and create additional oxygen vacancies, increasing its concentration, which controls the H₂/CeO₂ interaction. The results demonstrate a large diversity of reaction pathways, which have to be taken into account for better understanding of reactivity of ceria-based catalysts in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.     

Synergic Enhancement of High-density Polyethylene through Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene and Multi-flow Vibration Injection Molding: A Facile Fabrication with Potential Industrial Prospects

General-purpose plastics with high strength and toughness have been in great demand for structural engineering applications. To achieve the reinforcement and broaden the application scope of high-density polyethylene(HDPE), multi-flow vibration injection molding(MFVIM) and ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE) are synergistically employed in this work. Herein, the MFVIM has better shear layer control ability and higher fabrication advantage for complex parts than other analogous novel injection molding technologies reported.The reinforcing effect of various filling times and UHMWPE contents as well as the corresponding microstructure evolution are investigated.When 5 wt% UHMWPE is added, MFVIM process with six flow times thickens the shear layer to the whole thickness. The tensile strength and modulus increase to 2.14 and 1.39 times, respectively, compared to neat HDPE on the premise of remaining 70% impact strength. Structural characterizations indicate that the enhancement is attributed to the improvement of shish-kebab content and lamellae compactness, as well as related to the corresponding size distributions of undissolved UHMWPE particles. This novel injection molding technology with great industrial prospects provides a facile and effective strategy to broaden the engineering applications of HDPE materials. Besides, excessive UHMWPE may impair the synergistic enhancement effect, which is also reasonably explained.