Analytical theory for ion transfer–electron transfer coupled reactions at redox layer–modified/thick film–modified electrodes

Electrodes modified by liquid films or plasticized polymeric membranes containing a redox species offer valuable alternatives for the study of ion transfers and bimolecular electron transfers at liquid–liquid interfaces with conventional electrode arrangements and stable interfaces. The ion-to-electron (or electron-to-electron) transducer affects the electrochemical signal, complicating the accurate analysis of experimental data. This can be reduced through the use of an electrode surface-attached redox species of well-defined electrochemical behaviour. As will be demonstrated, the voltammetry of these systems show significant deviations with respect to individual charge transfers, which must be considered for appropriate diagnosis and quantitative analysis. For this, a simple analytical theory is presented here, deducing mathematical expressions for the current–potential response, as well as for the potential difference at the two polarized interfaces, the surface excess of the redox species and the ion interfacial concentrations.     

Density Functional Studies of Coenzyme NADPH and Its Oxidized Form NADP+: Structures,UV–Vis Spectra,and the Oxidation Mechanism of NADPH

Density functional theory has been used to study the biologically important coenzyme NADPH and its oxidized form NADP⁺. It was found that free NADPH prefers a compact structure in gas phase and exists in more extended geometries in aqueous solution. Ultraviolet–visible absorption spectra in aqueous solution were calculated for NADPH with an explicit treatment of 100 surrounding water molecules in combination with the COSMO solvation model for bulk hydration effects. The obtained spectra using the B3LYP hybrid density functional agree quite well with experimental data. The changes of Gibbs free energies ΔG in reactions of NADPH with O₂ observed experimentally in cardiovascular and in chemical systems, that is, NADPH + 2 ³O₂ → NADP⁺ + 2 O₂⁻ + H⁺ and NADPH + ¹O₂ + H⁺ → NADP⁺ + H₂O₂, respectively, were calculated. The NADPH oxidation reaction in the cardiovascular system cannot proceed without activation since the obtained ΔG is positive. The reaction of NADPH in the chemical system with singlet oxygen was found to proceed in two ways, each consisting of two steps, that is, NADPH firstly reacts with ¹O₂ barrierlessly to form NADP⁺ and HO₂⁻, from which H₂O₂ is formed in a spontaneous reaction with H⁺, or ¹O₂ and H⁺ initially form ¹HO₂⁺, which further reacts with NADPH to yield NADP⁺ and H₂O₂. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Computational Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Performance of a parallel viscoelastic-viscoplastic model for a microcellular thermoplastic foam on wide temperature range

This paper is concerned with the experimental testing and the constitutive modelling of a thermoplastic microcellular polyethylene-terephthalate (MC-PET) foam on the temperature range of 21–210 °C in order to investigate the temperature-dependent performance of the applied parallel viscoelastic-viscoplastic material model. By means of carefully designed uniaxial mechanical tests in temperature chamber, the viscous, elastic and yielding behaviours of the investigated material are identified, which are then applied for selecting suitable viscoelastic-viscoplastic constitutive models. The material characterization process is conducted using finite-element-based fitting method, including also the analysis of the applied numerical optimization algorithm. The fitting results are used to analyse the parameter sensitivity and to propose closed-form analytical relations for the temperature dependency of the material parameters. Finally, the utilisation of the analytical temperature functions for speeding up the parameter-fitting process is also demonstrated.     

PyCDFT: A Python package for constrained density functional theory

We present PyCDFT, a Python package to compute diabatic states using constrained density functional theory (CDFT). PyCDFT provides an object-oriented, customizable implementation of CDFT, and allows for both single-point self-consistent-field calculations and geometry optimizations. PyCDFT is designed to interface with existing density functional theory (DFT) codes to perform CDFT calculations where constraint potentials are added to the Kohn–Sham Hamiltonian. Here, we demonstrate the use of PyCDFT by performing calculations with a massively parallel first-principles molecular dynamics code, Qbox, and we benchmark its accuracy by computing the electronic coupling between diabatic states for a set of organic molecules. We show that PyCDFT yields results in agreement with existing implementations and is a robust and flexible package for performing CDFT calculations. The program is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3821097 .     

过渡金属表面上水生成经典Horiuti-Polanyi机理与非Horiuti-Polanyi机理选择的总体趋势（英文）

在非均相催化加氢反应中,氢气(H2)一直被公认为是通过两步基元步骤参加还原反应的,包括第一步的分子解离和之后的反应物与原子氢键合,即所谓的Horiuti-Polanyi(HP)机理.直到我们研究组在Ag或Au催化丙烯醛加氢还原反应理论研究中发现非HP机理加氢路径存在时,新的机理才被提出,并引起广大研究者的浓厚兴趣.考虑到表面羟基(OH)和氧(O)在非均相催化体系中广泛存在,如常见的过渡金属催化的费托合成、甲烷重整、水汽转化及氨氧化等反应,基于第一性原理的密度泛函理论计算方法,我们对OH/O在一系列过渡金属催化作用下还原生成水的微观机理进行了系统全面的探究.研究发现,不同金属对应于不同的催化氢化反应活性,以及不同的催化反应机理.在某些金属上H2以分子形式进攻反应物种的非HP机理有利,而在其它金属上经典的H2解离后参与氢化还原反应的HP机理更容易发生.详细分析显示, H2的解离活性决定了反应机理的种类:在对H2解离具有催化活性的金属(如Pt、Ni)表面,不论是(211)台阶面还是(111)平面, H2解离几乎都是无能垒过程,且伴随氢原子的强吸附,反应放热明显,导致活泼金属上HP机理更容易发生;与之相反,在不活泼的催化剂表面, H2解离很难发生,原子吸附也相当微弱,相比于断键裂解, H2更倾向于发生分子氢化的非HP机理.另外,本文还定义了一个新的结构描述符(η)来帮助理解两种机理发生的结构因素差异.η是衡量分子氢化过渡态结构(TS)中H–H键解离程度的参数,根据其定义上下限数值分别设定为H2在各催化剂表面解离过渡态的键长(Ddis)和游离分子态的键长(DH2).结果显示,易发生非HP机理的催化剂表面的TS结构对应的η参数普遍低于0.4,即H–H原子对的确是以近分子形式参与氢化反应;相反发生经典HP机理的催化剂表面,η参数普遍在0.5–0.8,即H–H即使以分子形式参与反应也是处于近解离状态,这预示了以解离吸附氢参与反应的优选性.     

Landau theory for isotropic,nematic, smectic-A,and smectic-C phases

ABSTRACT

We use the Landau theory of phase transitions to describe the phase diagram of a liquid crystal displaying the isotropic (i), nematic (N), smectic-A and smectic-C phases. The order parameter of the smectic-C phase is defined as the projection of the director on the plane of the smectic layers, vanishing in the smectic-A phase. We present a detailed phase diagram that shows transition between any two of these phases, containing a triple point INA, a Lifshitz point NAC, a tricritical at the NA line, and a critical end point IAC. As one approaches the NC line from the smectic-C phase, the tilt angle approaches a nonzero value, but if the AC line is approached, the tilt angle vanishes according to the distance to the AC line to the power 1/2.     

固体异质结界面结构预测方法及AutoInterface程序实现

预测材料异质结的界面原子结构对于理解界面对性能的影响至关重要. 目前, 从理论上预测材料界面结构仍具有极大挑战, 主要是缺乏普适有效的理论计算方法. 本文介绍了本课题组在异质结界面结构预测方面取得的最新进展. 结合马氏体相变唯象理论、 图论和随机表面行走算法, 提出了界面结构的一种有效预测方法, 可以实现自动化的计算预测. 通过GaP/TiO₂半导体异质结等展示了该方法的有效性和在催化等领域的应用前景.     

快速扫描量热法研究聚对苯二甲酸-1,4-环己烷二甲醇酯的结晶和熔融行为

采用快速扫描量热法(FSC)结合传统的差示扫描量热仪(DSC)考察了聚对苯二甲酸-1,4-环己烷二甲醇酯(PCT)聚酯在接近玻璃化转变(T_g)和熔融温度(T_m)范围(100~270 ℃)的结晶和熔融行为。 较大过冷度时PCT聚酯结晶较快,FSC有效地抑制降温过程结晶的发生,而较低过冷度下传统DSC可以避免样品降解对实验结果的影响,二者的结合能很好地对PCT聚酯结晶动力学进行测量,实验结果表明在175 ℃时结晶速率最快。 并且利用Flash DSC对等温结晶温度下形成的片晶熔点进行加热速率的相关测量,在熔融动力学建模的基础上进行校准,以确定零加热速率下片晶的熔点。 Hoffman-Weeks方程中T_m与结晶温度(T_c)的线性关系与T_c=T_m的交点给出了PCT晶体的平衡熔融温度$T_m^o$为315 ℃。     

电动分离统一理论

在真空、气相和液相中实施线性电动分离,创造出了质谱、离子淌度谱、电泳和毛细管电泳等,但它们却未成体系,各自发展,各有理论,互不相关。该文从牛顿力学第二定律出发结合静电学理论,推导出了它们的统一运动方程,并由此推演出并简要讨论了上述各法自己的通用运动子方程和测量模式。这些方程不仅有利于系统化这些现存方法,也可用于推导和发现新型电动分离模式。     

金属串配合物[MoMoCo(npo)4(NCS)2]的配位结构及其与电场的关系

应用密度泛函理论B3LYP方法研究了具有分子导线潜在应用的金属串配合物[MoMoCo(npo)4(NCS)2](npo=1,8-萘基-2-酮)的配位结构及其受电场作用的影响。配位方式记为(n,m),其中n、m分别表示4个赤道配体npo^-的O与Co和Mo配位的个数:n=0,1,2,3,4;m=4,3,2,1,0。结果表明:(1)零电场下,基态能量高低为(0,4)>(4,0)>(3,1)≈(1,3)>(2,2),5种配位方式均可稳定存在且互为竞争态。Z方向偶极矩μ(Z)值大小为(0,4)(+)>(1,3)(+)>(2,2)(-)>(3,1)(-)>(4,0)(-)(+、-表示μ(Z)值的正负,与Z方向相同即为正,相反即为负),4个npo^-趋向越一致能量越高极性越大。(2)Mo-Mo具有四重键,键长随μ(Z)值减小而减小,而Mo-Co键长则相反。随μ(Z)值减小前线轨道中πNCS(1)轨道能降低,π'NCS(2)轨道能升高。(3)Z方向电场作用下,除(0,4)外所有配位方式的Mo1-N8键显著增长,结构不稳定。(4)电场作用下前线轨道能级交错,μ(Z)为正值的(0,4)、(1,3)的能隙E_LUMO-HOMO在-Z方向电场中降低更显著,μ(Z)为负值的(2,2)、(3,1)和(4,0)的能隙在Z方向电场中降低更显著。分子极性越大,随电场强度增强能隙降低越显著,分子导电性可能越好。(0,4)、(3,1)和(4,0)可能具有整流效应,但(3,1)和(4,0)的稳定性较低。