Visible light-driven acridone catalysis for atom transfer radical polymerization

Acridone as a new kind of visible light photocatalyst has been developed to catalyze metal free atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The photocatalyst possess low excited state potential as can undergo an oxidative quenching pathway to initiate ATRP of vinyl monomers. Kinetic study and light on/off reaction demonstrate the “living”/controlled nature of the polymerization by light. Block copolymers can be achieved by using PMMA as macroinitiator to reinitiate polymerization of other vinyl monomers, which shows highly preserved Br chain-end functionality in the synthesized polymers. Moreover, the polymerization can be conducted under air atmosphere as most photocatalysts need anaerobic condition, which may give inspiration of further application of this kind of photocatalyst.     

Bicomponent Cocatalyst Decoration on Flux-assisted CaTaO2N Single Crystals for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction under Visible Light

Cubic-like CaTaO₂N photocatalysts with high crystallinity and uniform particle size were successfully prepared by the flux-assisted nitridation method. The growth of CaTaO₂N single crystals under different synthesis conditions was systematically investigated to understand the effects of the crystallinity and optical property on photocatalytic performance of CO₂ reduction. Moreover, the modification of CaTaO₂N single crystals with core-shell Ni−Ag bicomponent cocatalyst by two-step decoration process gave a 2.4 times higher amount of CO evolution than the deposition of sole Ag cocatalyst, because of the synergistic effects of bicomponent cocatalyst on the interfacial electron transfer and surface catalytic process. This study provides a valuable way to construct high-crystalline photocatalysts with effective bicomponent cocatalyst for visible-light-driven CO₂ reduction with H₂O.     

Benchmarking of Density Functionals for the Description of Optical Properties of Newly Synthesized π-Conjugated TADF Blue Emitters

Computational modeling of the optical characteristics of organic molecules with potential for thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) may assist markedly the development of more efficient emitting materials for organic light-emitting diodes. Recent theoretical studies in this area employ mostly methods from density functional theory (DFT). In order to obtain accurate predictions within this approach, the choice of a proper functional is crucial. In the current study, we focus on testing the performance of a set of DFT functionals for estimation of the excitation and emission energy and the excited singlet-triplet energy gap of three newly synthesized compounds with capacity for TADF. The emitters are designed specifically to enable charge transfer by π-electron conjugation, at the same time possessing high-energy excited triplet states. The functionals chosen for testing are from various groups ranging from gradient-corrected through global hybrids to range-separated ones. The results show that the monitored optical properties are especially sensitive to how the long-range part of the exchange energy is treated within the functional. The accurate functional should also be able to provide well balanced distribution of the π-electrons among the molecular fragments. Global hybrids with moderate (less than 0.4) share of exact exchange (B3LYP, PBE0) and the meta-GGA HSE06 are outlined as the best performing methods for the systems under study. They can predict all important optical parameters correctly, both qualitatively and quantitatively.     

自掺杂SnO2微球的水热合成及其可见光催化性能

本研究采用水热法,以柠檬酸为螯合剂,通过控制n(Sn⁴⁺)/n(Sn²⁺)的数值,合成了由具有丰富氧空位的SnO₂纳米晶体组装成的微球。通过X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、傅里叶红外光谱(FT-IR)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)及UV-Vis漫反射光谱对SnO₂纳米微球进行表征分析,结果表明:在酸性水热条件和柠檬酸的螯合作用下,二氧化锡纳米晶体聚集形成微球;在Sn⁴⁺/Sn²⁺摩尔比例为3:7时,其微球尺寸最小,整体分散性较好;同时适量二价锡离子的掺杂使得该样品氧空位浓度达到最佳,氧空位的存在将使得样品光吸收范围拓展至可见光,因而该样品显示出较强的可见光催化效率,在8 min内完全降解甲基橙。     

Recent Advances in Spatial Self-Phase Modulation with 2D Materials and its Applications

In recent years, spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM) with two-dimensional (2D) materials has attracted the attention of many researchers as an emerging and ubiquitous nonlinear optical effect. In this review, the state of the art of 2D material-based SSPM is summarized. SSPM measures or tunes the nonlinearity of 2D materials, and it is also an effective approach to study the band structure of 2D materials. Several modified forms of SSPM, such as high-order, white-light-excited, vector field excited, and optically nonlinearly enhanced SSPM are also presented. Subsequently, the physical origin of the SSPM formation mechanism is compared and analyzed. Furthermore, the applications of SSPM with 2D materials, including passive photonic devices, generation of Bessel beams, and identifying the mode of the orbital angular momentum, are listed. Finally, several urgent problems of the SSPM with 2D materials, potential applications, and prospects for future development are presented.     

Swelling and Drying Mechanisms of Freeze-Thawed Polyvinyl Alcohol/Egg White/Montmorillonite Bionanocomposite Hydrogels

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol and egg white bionanocomposite hydrogels loaded with montmorillonite clay were fabricated by a freezing-thawing technique. The bionanocomposite hydrogels showed an exfoliated morphology and they had a more interconnected and dense network as compared with the clay-free sample. The montmorillonite layers acted as multifunctional crosslinkers and the bionanocomposite hydrogels had nanoscale, slit-shaped pores. The swelling ratios of the bionanocomposite hydrogels were increased either by decreasing the content of incorporated montmorillonite or by increasing the pH of the swelling medium. It was found that the bionanocomposite hydrogels having a higher content of montmorillonite exhibited a slightly slower drying process with a longer drying duration. Using the Ritger-Peppas model, it was shown that the swelling and drying mechanisms for all bionanocomposite hydrogels were non-Fickian diffusion. According to the Peppas-Sahlin model, it was found that the absorption of the swelling agent molecules during the swelling process and also the removal of water molecules during the drying process in the early stages of the processes occurred mostly due to their diffusion. At higher swelling or drying times, the contribution of the relaxation (for swelling) and shrinkage (for drying) of the polyvinyl alcohol polymeric chains and egg white protein chains was increased.     

Computational Study on the Charge Transport and Optical Spectra of Anthracene Derivatives in Aggregates

A recent experiment [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017 , 56, 722–727] found that a (1 : 9) blend film of two anthracene derivatives, 2-fluorenyl-2-anthracene ( FlAnt ) and 2-anthryl-2-anthracence ( 2 A ), exhibit both efficient white light emission and high hole mobility, thus promising for organic light-emitting transistors (OLETs). Employing quantum chemistry at the polarizable continuum model (PCM) and the quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) levels, we investigated the excited-state structures, optical spectra, band structure and the carrier mobility for FlAnt and 2 A from solution to aggregate phases. We suggest using the ratio of intermolecular excitonic coupling J and intramolecular excited state relaxation energy E to judge the bathochromic shift in optical emission in aggregates. For FlAnt , ρ=J/E is calculated to be less than 0.17, a critical value we identified earlier, and the spectra in solution and aggregate phases present quite similar features (blue emission). However, ρ is ∼0.5 for 2 A systems, and the calculated emission in the aggregate phase exhibits a remarkable bathochromic shift. In addition, the 0–0 emission is strongly suppressed in the herringbone stacking. These observations justify the experimental findings that (i) 2 A is blue emissive in solution but yellow-green in the aggregate phase, whereas FlAnt is always blue, and (ii) the blend of them show white emission. By using the “quantum nuclear tunneling” model we proposed earlier, we found the hole mobility for FlAnt and 2 A are 0.5 and 4.2 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively, indicating both are good hole transport materials.     

白色荧光粉CaF2∶Yb3+/Eu3+/La3+的制备及其上转换发光特性

采用改进的两步高温固相熔融法制备了Yb^3+、Eu^3+、La^3+共掺杂CaF 2的上转换荧光粉。基于荧光猝灭原理,通过改变La^3+掺杂浓度来调节CaF 2∶Yb^3+/Eu^3+材料的发光性能,并在980 nm近红外光激发下,获得了该材料的白色上转换发光(UCL)。在该发光体系中,Yb^3+不仅起到了敏化Eu^3+的作用,同时,Yb^3+二聚体(Yb^3+-dimer)自身合作发出波长范围480~540 nm的绿色荧光。而白光三基色中的绿光正是来自Yb^3+二聚体的合作发光。Eu^3+则作为激活剂,同时发出红色和蓝色荧光。荧光寿命测试结果表明Yb^3+-dimer与Eu^3+之间存在有效的能量传递。值得注意的是,在980 nm激光激发下,1%La^3+掺杂的样品表现出最佳的红、绿、蓝三基色光比列,实现了材料的上转换白光发射,其色度坐标为(0.311,0.340)。