Theoretical study on the mechanism for the excited-state double proton transfer process of an asymmetric Schiff base ligand

Excited-state double proton transfer (ESDPT) in the 1-[(2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzylidene)-hydrazonomethyl]-naphthalen-2-ol (HYDRAVH₂) ligand was studied by the density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory method. The analysis of frontier molecular orbitals, infrared spectra, and non-covalent interactions have cross-validated that the asymmetric structure has an influence on the proton transfer, which makes the proton transfer ability of the two hydrogen protons different. The potential energy surfaces in both S₀ and S₁ states were scanned with varying O-H bond lengths. The results of potential energy surface analysis adequately proved that the HYDRAVH₂ can undergo the ESDPT process in the S₁ state and the double proton transfer process is a stepwise proton transfer mechanism. Our work can pave the way towards the design and synthesis of new molecules.     

Effect of oxygen on regulation of properties of moderately boron-doped diamond films

Regulation of oxygen on properties of moderately boron-doped diamond films is fully investigated. Results show that, with adding a small amount of oxygen (oxygen-to-carbon ratio < 5.0%), the crystal quality of diamond is improved, and a suppression effect of residual nitrogen is observed. With increasing ratio of O/C from 2.5% to 20.0%, the hole concentration is firstly increased then reduced. This change of hole concentration is also explained. Moreover, the results of Hall effect measurement with temperatures from 300 K to 825 K show that, with adding a small amount of oxygen, boron and oxygen complex structures (especially B₃O and B₄O) are formed and exhibit as shallow donor in diamond, which results in increase of donor concentration. With further increase of ratio of O/C, the inhibitory behaviors of oxygen on boron leads to decrease of acceptor concentration (the optical emission spectroscopy has shown that it is decreased with ratio of O/C more than 10.0%). This work demonstrates that oxygen-doping induced increasement of the crystalline and surface quality could be restored by the co-doping with oxygen. The technique could achieve boron-doped diamond films with both high quality and acceptable hole concentration, which is applicable to electronic level of usage.     

Supramolecular Arrangement and DFT analysis of Zinc(II) Schiff Bases: An Insight towards the Influence of Compartmental Ligands on Binding Interaction with Protein

We report, for the first time, a detailed crystallographic study of the supramolecular arrangement for a set of zinc(II) Schiff base complexes containing the ligand 2,6-bis((E)-((2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)imino)methyl)-4-R-phenol], where R=methyl/tert-butyl/chloro. The supramolecular study acts as a pre-screening tool for selecting the compartmental ligand R of the Schiff base for effective binding with a targeted protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA). The most stable hexagonal arrangement of the complex [Zn − Me] (R=Me) stabilises the ligand with the highest FMO energy gap (ΔE=4.22 eV) and lowest number of conformations during binding with BSA. In contrast, formation of unstable 3D columnar vertebra for [Zn − Cl] (R=Cl) tend to activate the system with lowest FMO gap (3.75 eV) with highest spontaneity factor in molecular docking. Molecular docking analyses reported in terms of 2D LigPlot+ identified site A, a cleft of domains IB, IIIA and IIIB, as the most probable protein binding site of BSA. Arg144, Glu424, Ser428, Ile455 and Lys114 form the most probable interactions irrespective of the type of compartmental ligands R of the Schiff base whereas Arg185, Glu519, His145, Ile522 act as the differentiating residues with ΔG=−7.3 kcal mol⁻¹.     

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.     

基于TOPSIS模型的机场网络节点重要度评估

在机场网络中单个机场节点的失效往往会对其他的节点产生影响,特别是关键节点的失效会波及整个网络.准确客观的识别重要节点机场关乎整个机场网络的安全运营.本文分析了机场网络拓扑特性中的度、集聚系数和接近度指标,考虑了机场旅客吞吐量和所在城市人口等交通经济特性指标,使用熵权法确定权重的基础上,应用TOPSIS法构建综合评价体系模型,最后以华东地区机场网络为例进行节点重要度排序.结果表明与单一指标的评估结果相比,该方法更加全面客观的确定不同属性指标的权重,避免了不同指标取值的差异性,使评价更加全面,更符合机场网络实际运营情况.     

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.     

Cu/CuO-Graphene Foam with Laccase-like Activity for Identification of Phenolic Compounds and Detection of Epinephrine

Although great progress has been made in the advancement of nanozymes, most of the studies focus on mimicking peroxidase, oxidase, and catalase, while relatively few studies are used to mimic laccase. However, the use of nanomaterials to mimic laccase activity will have great potential in environmental and industrial catalysis. Herein, Cu/CuO-graphene foam with laccase-like activity was designed for the identification of phenolic compounds and the detection of epinephrine. In a typical experiment, the formation mechanism of Cu/CuO-graphene foam was investigated during the pyrolysis process by thermogravimetric-mass spectrometry. As a laccase mimic, Cu/CuO-graphene foam exhibited excellent catalytic activity with a Michaelis-Menten constant and a maximum initial velocity of 0.17 mmol/L and 0.012 mmol∙L^-1∙s^-1, respectively. Based on this principle, Cu/CuO-graphene foam nanozyme could differentially catalyze phenolic compounds and 4-aminoantipyrine for simultaneous identification of phenolic compounds. Furthermore, a colorimetric sensing platform was fabricated for the quantitative determination of epinephrine, showing linear responses to epinephrine in the range of 3 mg/mL to 20 mg/mL with the detection limit of 0.2 mg/mL. The proposed Cu/CuO-graphene foam nanozyme could be applied for the identification of phenolic compounds and the detection of epinephrine, showing great potential applications for environmental monitoring, biomedical sensing, and food detection fields.     

Mechanistic Investigation and Conductance Modulation of a Metal-Molecule-Metal Junction via Extra Acid Addition

One important prerequisite for the fabrication of molecular functional device strongly relies on the understanding the conducting behaviors of the metal-molecule-metal junction that can respond to an external stimulus. The model Lewis basic molecule 4,4′-(pyridine-3,5-diyl)dibenzonitrile (DBP), which can react with Lewis acid and protic acid, was synthesized. Then, the molecular conducting behavior of DBP, DBP-B(C₆F₅)₃, and DBP-TfOH (DBP-B(C₆F₅)₃, and DBP-TfOH were produced by Lewis acid and protonic acid treatment of DBP) was researched and compared. Given that their identical physical paths for DBP, DBP-B(C₆F₅)₃, and DBP-TfOH to sustain charge transport, our results indicate that modifying the molecular electronic structure, even not directly changing the conductive physical backbone, can tune the charge transporting ability by nearly one order of magnitude. Furthermore, the addition of another Lewis base triethylamine (of stronger alkaline than DBP), to Lewis acid-base pair reverts the electrical properties back to that of a single DBP junction, that is constructive to propose a useful but simple strategy for the design and construction of reversible and controllable molecular device based on pyridine derived molecule.     

基于抛光基材的热蒸镀铜箔生长高平整单层石墨烯薄膜

在石墨烯的化学气相沉积工艺中,铜箔是决定石墨烯薄膜质量的重要因素。传统铜箔由于制备工艺的限制,存在大量的缺陷,导致石墨烯薄膜的成核密度较高。本工作选用抛光铝板、抛光不锈钢板、微晶玻璃和SiO₂/Si作为基材,用热蒸镀法制备了不同粗糙度的铜箔,并详细讨论了以该系列铜箔生长高平整度石墨烯薄膜的条件及铜箔对石墨烯薄膜品质的影响。实验结果表明,铜箔以(111)取向为主,与基材分离后,表面具有纳米级平整度。在生长石墨烯后,从SiO₂/Si剥离的铜箔成核密度是4种基材中最小的。同时,从SiO₂/Si剥离的铜箔晶体结构变化最不明显,具有良好的结晶性,表面几乎不存在铜晶界缺陷。当压强为3 000 Pa,氢气和甲烷流速分别为300 mL/min和0.5 mL/min时,可以获得约1 mm横向尺寸的石墨烯单晶晶畴。