Porous Molybdenum Carbide Nanostructures Synthesized on Carbon Cloth by CVD for Efficient Hydrogen Production

Molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C) is a promising noble-metal-free electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), due to its structural and electronic merits, such as high conductivity, metallic band states and wide pH applicability. Here, a simple CVD process was developed for synthesis of a Mo₂C on carbon cloth (Mo₂C@CC) electrode with carbon cloth as carbon source and MoO₃ as the Mo precursor. XRD, Raman, XPS and SEM results of Mo₂C@CC with different amounts of MoO₃ and growth temperatures suggested a two-step synthetic mechanism, and porous Mo₂C nanostructures were obtained on carbon cloth with 50 mg MoO₃ at 850 °C (Mo₂C-850(50)). With the merits of unique porous nanostructures, a low overpotential of 72 mV at current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and a small Tafel slope of 52.8 mV dec⁻¹ was achieved for Mo₂C-850(50) in 1.0 m KOH. The dual role of carbon cloth as electrode and carbon source resulted into intimate adhesion of Mo₂C on carbon cloth, offering fast electron transfer at the interface. Cyclic voltammetry measurements for 5000 cycles revealed that Mo₂C@CC had excellent electrochemical stability. This work provides a novel strategy for synthesizing Mo₂C and other efficient carbide electrocatalysts for HER and other applications, such as supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries.     

单颗粒稀土纳米晶的三基色上转换发光

可调谐发光颜色的上转换荧光纳米粒子具有广阔的应用前景。本文设计并成功合成了结构紧凑的多层核-壳纳米颗粒。在不同波段激光的泵浦下,该颗粒中不同壳层分别产生红、绿、蓝3种颜色的上转换荧光。光谱测试结果表明,样品三基色发光的颜色纯度较好,并且可以实现全色域的颜色实时调节。此外,还测试了样品发光强度与泵浦功率之间的依赖关系,用于研究其中的上转换发光机理。这种在单颗粒水平上具有全色域可调发光的紧凑核-壳结构纳米晶体在多通道生物检测及成像、超高分辨率显示器件、高端防伪应用等领域显示出巨大的潜力。     

Conversion of Methanol to Aromatic-Rich Gasoline over High-Efficiency Bifunctional Catalysts: Green Synthesis of GaZSM-5 Zeolites via Dry-Gel Conversion Strategy

Russian Journal of Applied Chemistry - Nanoscale ZSM-5 (AlZ5-D) and Ga-substituted ZSM-5 zeolites ((Al,Ga)Z5-D and GaZ5-D) were synthesized by a green dry-gel conversion strategy. For comparison,...     

Dynamics of A Single Population Model with Memory Effect and Spatial Heterogeneity

In this paper, a single reaction-diffusion population model with memory effect and the heterogeneity of the environment, equipped with the Neumann boundary, is considered. The global existence of a spatial nonhomogeneous steady state is proved by the method of super and subsolutions, which is linearly stable for relatively small memory-induced diffusion. However, after the memory-induced diffusion rate exceeding a critical value, spatial inhomogeneous periodic solution can be generated through Hopf bifurcation, if the integral of intrinsic growth rate over the domain is negative. Such phenomenon will never happen, if only memory-induced diffusion or spatially heterogeneity is presented, and therefore must be induced by their joint effects. This indicates that the memory-induced diffusion will bring about spatial-temporal patterns in the overall hostile environment. When the integral of intrinsic growth rate over the domain is positive, it turns out that the steady state is still linearly stable. Finally, the possible dynamics of the model is also discussed, if the boundary condition is replaced by Dirichlet condition.

     

Theoretical study on the aggregation-induced emission mechanism of anthryl-tetraphenylethene

Since the concept of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) was proposed by Benzhong Tang's research group in 2001, the exploration of the mechanism of AIE and the development of new high-performance AIE materials have been the focus and goal of this field. On the basis of a large number of experiment results, AIE mechanism has been well explained by lots of works, such as restricted intramolecular motion (RIM), J-aggregate et al. As tetraphenylethlene (TPE) molecules are stacked, the rotation of the benzene ring rotor is blocked, and the energy attenuation is released in the form of radiation, showing the AIE effect. In order to further explore the AIE effect of TPE, we performed electronic structure, spectrum simulation, and AIE mechanism calculations of the anthryl-tetraphenylethene (TPE-an) monomer and dimer in the gas phase, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and aqueous solutions at the B3LYP/6-31G** level. The calculation results show that TPE-an molecule is in a propeller-like configuration, and its fluorescence intensity is weak; compared with the monomer, the fluorescence intensity of the dimer increases by 87% in aqueous solution; the fluorescence intensity in the gas phase, THF solution, and aqueous solution gradually enhances with the increase of the degree of aggregation, which are consistent with the experimental results. The enhancement of fluorescence intensity is caused by the change of molecular structure caused by aggregation. This detailed AIE luminescence mechanism will provide theoretical guidance for AIE material design.     

High ionic conductive protection layer on Zn metal anode for enhanced aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) has been regarded as a promising energy storage system for large-scale application due to the advantages of low cost and high safety. However, the growth of Zn dendrite, hydrogen evolution and passivation issues induce the poor electrochemical performance of ZIBs. Herein, a Na₃Zr₂Si₂PO₁₂ (NZSP) protection layer with high ionic conductivity of 2.94 mS/cm on Zn metal anode was fabricated by drop casting approach. The protection layer prevents Zn dendrites formation, hydrogen evolution as well as passivation, and facilitates a fast Zn²⁺ transport. As a result, the symmetric cells based on NZSP-coated Zn show a stable cycling over 1360 h at 0.5 mA/cm² with 0.5 mAh/cm² and 1000 h even at a high current density of 5 mA/cm² with 2 mAh/cm². Moreover, the full cells combined with V₂O₅-based cathode displays high capacities and high rate capability. This work offers a facile and effective approach to stabilizing Zn metal anode for enhanced ZIBs.     

Nano Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) with Anti-Hook Effect for Tumor Therapy

Proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) is an emerging pharmacological modality with innovated post-translational protein degradation capabilities. However, off-target induced unintended tissue effects and intrinsic “hook effect” hinder PROTAC biotechnology to be maturely developed. Herein, an intracellular fabricated nano proteolysis targeting chimeras (Nano-PROTACs) modality with a center-spoke degradation network for achieving efficient dose-dependent protein degradation in tumor is reported. The PROTAC precursors are triggered by higher GSH concentrations inside tumor cells, which subsequently in situ self-assemble into Nano-PROTACs through intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions. The fibrous Nano-PROTACs can form effective polynary complexes and E3 ligases degradation network with multi-binding sites, achieving dose-dependent protein degradation with “anti-hook effect”. The generality and efficacy of Nano-PROTACs are validated by degrading variable protein of interest (POI) such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and androgen receptor (AR) in a wide-range dose-dependent manner with a 95 % degradation rate and long-lasting potency up to 72 h in vitro. Significantly, Nano-PROTACs achieve in vivo dose-dependent protein degradation up to 79 % and tumor growth inhibition in A549 and LNCap xenograft mice models, respectively. Taking advantages of in situ self-assembly strategy, the Nano-PROTACs provide a generalizable platform to promote precise clinical translational application of PROTAC.     

Cs的覆盖度对Cs/石墨烯的结构稳定性和场发射性能影响

采用密度泛函理论方法,对Cs以不同覆盖度吸附在石墨烯表面时系统的结构稳定性和场发射性能进行了研究。计算结果表明单原子Cs吸附在石墨烯表面的碳六元环的中心位置时系统的能量最低。随着Cs的覆盖度增加,碱金属Cs与石墨烯之间的吸附作用逐渐增强,(4×4)R 0°和(2×2)R 0°结构是稳定的。由于碱金属Cs的修饰作用,Cs/石墨烯体系的功函明显下降,且随着碱金属Cs的覆盖度增大,系统的功函逐渐减小。态密度的计算结果表明功函的下降主要与Cs和石墨烯之间的电子转移有关。随着覆盖度的增大,石墨烯的电子态逐渐向低能方向移动,系统的费米能级升高并导致材料的功函下降。