Charge Density Overcomes Steric Hindrance of Ferrocene Surfactant in Switchable Oil-in-Dispersion Emulsions

A ferrocene surfactant can be switched between single and double head form (FcN⁺C₁₂/Fc⁺N⁺C₁₂) triggered by redox reaction. FcN⁺C₁₂ can neither stabilize an O/W emulsion alone nor an oil-in-dispersion emulsion in combination with alumina nanoparticles due to the steric hindrance of the ferrocene group. However, such steric hindrance can be overcome by increasing the charge density in Fc⁺N⁺C₁₂, so that oil-in-dispersion emulsions can be co-stabilized by Fc⁺N⁺C₁₂ and alumina nanoparticles at very low concentrations (1×10⁻⁷ M (≈50 ppb) and 0.001 wt %, respectively). Not only can reversible formation/destabilization of oil-in-dispersion emulsions be achieved by redox reaction, but also reversible transformation between oil-in-dispersion emulsions and Pickering emulsions can be obtained through reversing the charge of alumina particles by adjusting the pH. The results provide a new protocol for the design of surfactants for stabilization of smart oil-in-dispersion emulsions.     

Selective CO2-to-C2H4 Photoconversion Enabled by Oxygen-Mediated Triatomic Sites in Partially Oxidized Bimetallic Sulfide

Selective CO₂ photoreduction into C₂ fuels under mild conditions suffers from low product yield and poor selectivity owing to the kinetic challenge of C−C coupling. Here, triatomic sites are introduced into bimetallic sulfide to promote C−C coupling for selectively forming C₂ products. As an example, FeCoS₂ atomic layers with different oxidation degrees are first synthesized, demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy spectra. Both experiment and theoretical calculation verify more charges aggregate around the introduced oxygen atom, which enables the original Co−Fe dual sites to turn into Co−O−Fe triatomic sites, thus promoting C−C coupling of double *COOH intermediates. Accordingly, the mildly oxidized FeCoS₂ atomic layers exhibit C₂H₄ formation rate of 20.1 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, with the product selectivity and electron selectivity of 82.9 % and 96.7 %, outperforming most previously reported photocatalysts under similar conditions.     

Bio-Inspired Aerobic-Hydrophobic Janus Interface on Partially Carbonized Iron Heterostructure Promotes Bifunctional Nitrogen Fixation

Competition from hydrogen/oxygen evolution reactions and low solubility of N₂ in aqueous systems limited the selectivity and activity on nitrogen fixation reaction. Herein, we design an aerobic-hydrophobic Janus structure by introducing fluorinated modification on porous carbon nanofibers embedded with partially carbonized iron heterojunctions (Fe₃C/Fe@PCNF-F). The simulations prove that the Janus structure can keep the internal Fe₃C/Fe@PCNF-F away from water infiltration and endow a N₂ molecular-concentrating effect, suppressing the competing reactions and overcoming the mass-transfer limitations to build a robust “quasi-solid–gas” state micro-domain around the catalyst surface. In this proof-of-concept system, the Fe₃C/Fe@PCNF-F exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance for nitrogen fixation (NH₃ yield rate up to 29.2 μg h⁻¹ mg⁻¹_cat. and Faraday efficiency (FE) up to 27.8 % in nitrogen reduction reaction; NO₃⁻ yield rate up to 15.7 μg h⁻¹ mg⁻¹_cat. and FE up to 3.4 % in nitrogen oxidation reaction).     

Dual-Atom Catalysts Derived from a Preorganized Covalent Organic Framework for Enhanced Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction

Dual-atom catalysts (DAC) are deemed as promising electrocatalysts due to the abundant active sites and adjustable electronic structure, but the fabrication of well-defined DAC is still full of challenges. Herein, bonded Fe dual-atom catalysts (Fe₂DAC) with Fe₂N₆C₈O₂ configuration were developed through one-step carbonization of a preorganized covalent organic framework with bimetallic Fe chelation sites (Fe₂COF). The transition from Fe₂COF to Fe₂DAC involved the dissociation of the nanoparticles and the capture of atoms by carbon defects. Benefitting from the optimized d-band center and enhanced adsorption of OOH* intermediates, Fe₂DAC exhibited outstanding oxygen reduction activity with a half-wave potential of 0.898 V vs. RHE. This work will guide more fabrication of dual-atom and even cluster catalysts from preorganized COF in the future.     

Selective Synthesis of Cyclic Nitroene-Sulfonamides from Aliphatic Sulfamides and NOBF4

Described herein is the development of a desaturation and N-β-nitration reaction of cyclic amides, which is achieved by a selective hydrogen atom transfer (HAT)/oxidative desaturation/electrophilic nitration process. In this procedure, di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) acted both as the oxidant and HAT reagent, and electrophilic NOBF₄ as nitration source. Notably, the application of produced cyclic nitroene-sulfonamides was showcased by their efficient transformations into 3-piperidones and poly-substituted piperidine derivatives.     

Interpenetrating Network Hydrogels based on Nanostructured Conductive Polymers for Flexible Supercapacitor

Flexible conductive polymer hydrogels are unique material that synergize the features of conductive polymers and hydrogels. They are excellent candidates for the flexible supercapacitor electrodes. In this paper, flexible conductive polymer hydrogels were prepared with poly(vinyl alcohol) as soft skeleton through cyclic freezing-thawing method. Firstly, phytic acid-doped polyaniline with crosslinked network was prepared using phytic acid as the dopant and crosslinking agents. Hydrogels with interpenetrating binary network nanostructure were then formed by freezing-thawing method. The interpenetrating binary network structure endowed the hydrogel reliable mechanical properties with decent flexibility and compressive strength of 3.64 MPa. More importantly, this unique structure enable them to maintain highly specific capacitance (314 F/g at the current density of 0.5 A/g).     

Widely Adaptable Oil-in-Water Gel Emulsions Stabilized by an Amphiphilic Hydrogelator Derived from Dehydroabietic Acid

A surfactant, R-6-AO, derived from dehydroabietic acid has been synthesized. It behaves as a highly efficient low-molecular-weight hydrogelator with an extremely low critical gelation concentration (CGC) of 0.18 wt % (4 mm ). R-6-AO not only stabilizes oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions at concentrations above its critical micelle concentration (cmc) of 0.6 mm , but also forms gel emulsions at concentrations beyond the CGC with the oil volume fraction freely adjustable between 2 % and 95 %. Cryo-TEM images reveal that R-6-AO molecules self-assemble into left-handed helical fibers with cross-sectional diameters of about 10 nm in pure water, which can be turned to very stable hydrogels at concentrations above the CGC. The gel emulsions stabilized by R-6-AO can be prepared with different oils (n-dodecane, n-decane, n-octane, soybean oil, olive oil, tricaprylin) owing to the tricyclic diterpene hydrophobic structure in their molecules that enables them to adopt a unique arrangement in the fibers.     

菠萝蛋白酶催化合成寡聚L-酪氨酸

以菠萝蛋白酶为催化剂从L-酪氨酸甲酯聚合得到寡聚L-酪氨酸(O-L-Try)。 以0.8 U/mL蛋白酶在体积分数为7.5%的二甲亚砜(DMSO)缓冲液(pH=7.5,0.2 mol/L)中催化0.23 g/mL L-酪氨酸甲酯在50 ℃下聚合反应5 h后,O-L-Try产率达到65%。 通过基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间质谱(MALDI-TOF-MS)、氢核磁共振波谱仪(¹H NMR)、拉曼光谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱仪(FTIR)等技术手段表征了O-L-Try结构和性能特征。 结果表明,MALDI-TOF-MS测定的O-L-Try的聚合度主要为10。 ¹H NMR谱图分析得到的O-L-Try的平均聚合度为8。 拉曼光谱显示,O-L-Try的肽键特征峰位于1623 cm^-1(酰胺Ⅰ带)、1447 cm^-1(酰胺Ⅱ带)、1270 cm^-1(酰胺Ⅲ带)和648 cm^-1(酰胺Ⅳ带)。     

香菇生物质基氮掺杂微孔碳材料的制备及其在超级电容器中的应用

采用简易浸泡法和一步碳化/活化法制备香菇生物质基氮掺杂微孔碳材料(NMCs),利用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、透射电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)对材料的结构形貌进行表征,并研究了其超级电容特性。测试结果表明,NMCs的微孔比表面积高达1 594 m~2·g~(-1),且拥有更高数量的含氮官能团,其吡啶型含氮官能团比例也有所提高,展现出优异的超级电容特性。在0.5 A·g~(-1)的电流密度下,其比容量高达325 F·g~(-1),当电流密度上升到20 A·g~(-1)时,其比电容仍然高达180 F·g~(-1),表现出优异的倍率性能;同时,在5 A·g~(-1)的电流密度下,电极经历5 000次充放电循环后具有97.7%的比容量保持率,展现出优异的循环稳定性。这主要归因于NMCs超高的微孔比表面积和丰富的含氮官能团。     

A facile method to fabricate tough hydrogel with ultra-wide adjustable stiffness,stress, and fast recoverability

In this article, we report a synergistic strategy to develop dual physically cross-linked tough hydrogels via one-pot bulk copolymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, acrylic acid, and stearyl methylacrylate (SMA) without any adscititious surfactant. Due to synergic effects of hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic association, the resulted dual physically cross-linked hydrogels (DP Gel) with ultra-wide range adjustable Young's modulus (0.08–45.6 MPa), tensile stress (0.7–6.9 MPa), and toughness (3.3–23.1 MJ m⁻³). Stretching to 300%, DP Gel exhibited fast recoverability that remained ~95% of initial dissipated energy after resting in 60 °C for 3 min. Finally, scanning electron microscopy revealed that the microstructure of hydrogel changed from phase separation structure to micro phase separation as SMA added, which accounted for excellent performance of DP Gel. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 1469–1474