Polymeric Carbon Nitride-based Single Atom Photocatalysts for CO2 Reduction to C1 Products

Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to C₁ fuels is considered to be an important way for alleviating increasingly serious energy crisis and environmental pollution. Due to the environment-friendly, simple preparation, easy formation of highly-stable metal-nitrogen(M-N_x) coordination bonds, and suitable band structure, polymeric carbon nitride-based single-atom catalysts(C₃N₄-based SACs) are expected to become a potential for CO₂ reduction under visible-light irradiation. In this review, we summarize the recent advancement on C₃N₄-based SACs for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to C₁ products, including the reaction mechanism for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to C₁ products, the structure and synthesis methods of C₃N₄-based SACs and their applications toward photocatalytic CO₂ reduction reaction(CO₂RR) for C₁ production. The current challenges and future opportunities of C₃N₄-based SACs for photoreduction of CO₂ are also discussed.     

Diffusion Model of a Non-Integer Order PIγ Controller with TCP/UDP Streams

In this article, a way to employ the diffusion approximation to model interplay between TCP and UDP flows is presented. In order to control traffic congestion, an environment of IP routers applying AQM (Active Queue Management) algorithms has been introduced. Furthermore, the impact of the fractional controller PIγ and its parameters on the transport protocols is investigated. The controller has been elaborated in accordance with the control theory. The TCP and UDP flows are transmitted simultaneously and are mutually independent. Only the TCP is controlled by the AQM algorithm. Our diffusion model allows a single TCP or UDP flow to start or end at any time, which distinguishes it from those previously described in the literature.     

Negative thermal expansion in NbF_3 and NbOF_2:A comparative theoretical study

Thermal expansion control is always an obstructive factor and challenging in high precision engineering field. Here,the negative thermal expansion of Nb F_3 and Nb OF_2 was predicted by first-principles calculation with density functional theory and the quasi-harmonic approximation(QHA). We studied the total charge density, thermal vibration, and lattice dynamic to investigate the thermal expansion mechanism. We found that the presence of O induced the relatively strong covalent bond in Nb OF_2, thus weakening the transverse vibration of F and O in Nb OF_2, compared with the case of Nb F_3.In this study, we proposed a way to tailor negative thermal expansion of metal fluorides by introducing the oxygen atoms.The present work not only predicts two NTE compounds, but also provides an insight on thermal expansion control by designing chemical bond type.     

Ultrahigh Loading Copper Single Atom Catalyst for Palladium-free Wacker Oxidation

Wacker oxidation is an industry-adopted process to transform olefins into value-added epoxides and carbonyls. However, traditional Wacker oxidation involves the use of homogeneous palladium and copper catalysts for the olefin addition and reductive elimination. Here, we demonstrated an ultrahigh loading Cu single atom catalyst(14% Cu, mass fraction) for the palladium-free Wacker oxidation of 4-vinylanisole into the corresponding ketone with N-methylhydroxylamine hydrochloride as an additive under mild conditions. Mechanistic studies by ¹⁸O and deuterium isotope labelling revealed a hydrogen shift mechanism in this palladium-free process using N-methylhydroxylamine hydrochloride as the oxygen source. The reaction scope can be further extended to Kucherov oxidation. Our study paves the way to replace noble metal catalysts in the traditional homogeneous processes with single atom catalysts.     

直接碳燃料电池燃料的研究进展

直接碳燃料电池(DCFC)是一种清洁高效利用碳资源发电的装置。其因能量转换率高,对环境污染小,燃料选择范围广等优点获得了越来越多的关注。DCFC的性能与使用的燃料密切相关,为了探究燃料对DCFC的影响,本文分别阐述了石墨、炭黑、中密度纤维板、生物质、煤、活性炭的特性及改性方法,分析讨论了燃料表面含氧官能团以及燃料中的金属催化剂对阳极电化学反应的促进作用,发现燃料表面化学性质要比比表面积更加重要。同时,本文也提出了对生物质这一优良的可再生资源的期待,为未来DCFC燃料的发展提供参考。     

Recent advances in the boration and cyanation functionalization of alkenes and alkynes

Alkenyl boron-esters and acrylonitrile groups are key structural functional groups found in dyes, pesticides, fluorescent compounds, functional materials, and biologically active drugs. Considerable efforts have been devoted for the introduction of boron-esters and acrylonitrile groups by using alkenes and alkynes conversion routes for boronation, hydroboronation, dehydrogenative boronation, cyanation, hydrocyanation, alkylcyanation, cyanomethylation. These reported methodologies are very valuable for the industrial production of acrylonitriles and alkenyl boron esters.     

新型功能碳材料的高压截获

高性能功能材料在诸多领域具有广泛的应用前景,是人们一直关注的研究热点。高压可以有效地改变物质的原子间距和成键方式,是获得新型功能材料的重要途径。在碳材料的高压研究中,许多有趣的功能碳材料,如光学透明碳、高强度弹性碳和超硬非晶碳等,已经通过不同的碳前驱体合成。本文简要介绍了作者近年来在低维碳基纳米复合材料高压研究中取得的进展,基于设计的不同低维碳前驱体,高压下截获了具有超硬特性、新型压致共价聚合及发光增强的碳材料。     

石墨烯负载的氧配位钴单原子稳定金属锂负极

Lithium (Li)-based batteries are the dominant energy source for consumer electronics, grid storage, and electrified transportation. However, the development of batteries based on graphite anodes is hindered by their limited energy density. With its ultrahigh theoretical capacity (3860 mAh∙g⁻¹), low redox potential (−3.04 V), and satisfactorily low density (0.54 g∙cm⁻³), Li metal is the most promising anode for next-generation high-energy-density batteries. Unfortunately, the limited cycling life and safety issues raised by dendrite growth, unstable solid electrolyte interphase, and "dead Li" have inhibited their practical use. An effective strategy is to develop a suitable lithiophilic matrix for regulating initial Li nucleation behavior and controlling subsequent Li growth. Herein, single-atom cobalt coordinated to oxygen sites on graphene (Co-O-G SA) is demonstrated as a Li plating substrate to efficiently regulate Li metal nucleation and growth. Owing to its dense and more uniform lithiophilic sites than single-atom cobalt coordinated to nitrogen sites on graphene (Co-N-G SA), high electronic conductivity, and high specific surface area (519 m²∙g⁻¹), Co-O-G SA could significantly reduce the local current density and promote the reversibility of Li plating and stripping. As a result, the Co-O-G SA based Li anodes exhibited a high Coulombic efficiency of 99.9% at a current density of 1 mA∙cm⁻² with a capacity of 1 mAh∙cm⁻², and excellent rate capability (high current density of 8 mA∙cm⁻²). Even at a high plating capacity of 6 mAh∙cm⁻², the Co-O-G SA electrode could stably cycle for an ultralong lifespan of 1300 h. In the symmetric battery, the Co-O-G SA based Li anode (Co-O-G SA/Li) possessed a stable voltage profile of 18 mV for 780 h at 1 mA∙cm⁻², and even at a high current density of 3 mA∙cm⁻², its overpotential maintained a small hysteresis of approximately 24 mV for > 550 h. Density functional theory calculations showed that the surface of Co-O-G SA had a stronger interaction with Li atoms with a larger binding energy, −3.1 eV, than that of Co-N-G SA (−2.5 eV), leading to a uniform distribution of metallic Li on the Co-O-G SA surface. More importantly, when matched with a sulfur cathode, the resulting Co-O-G SA/lithium sulfur full batteries exhibited a high capacity of 1002 mAh∙g⁻¹, improved kinetics with a small polarization of 191 mV, and an ultralow capacity decay rate of 0.036% per cycle for 1000 cycles at 0.5C (1C = 1675 mA∙g⁻¹) with a steady Coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%. Therefore, this work provides novel insights into the coordination environment of single atoms for the chemistry of Li metal anodes for high-energy-density batteries.     

Stability of Multiplier Ideal Sheaves

Chinese Annals of Mathematics, Series B - In the present article, the authors find and establish stability of multiplier ideal sheaves, which is more general than strong openness.     

Development of a new catalytic and sustainable methodology for the synthesis of benzodiazepine triazole scaffold using magnetically separable CuFe2O4@MIL-101(Cr) nano-catalyst in aqueous medium

Magnetically retrieval CuFe₂O₄@MIL-101(Cr) metal–organic framework was successfully prepared from easily available starting materials and characterized using various spectroscopic and analytical techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, transmission electron microscopy, elemental mapping, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, vibrating sample magnetometer, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. The catalyst was then used in the synthesis of benzodiazepines containing a triazole moiety in water. The advantages of this protocol include high yields, reusability of the catalyst, and gram-scale synthesis.