First principles study on the structural,electronic and phonon properties of monolayer B2Si

Using first principles density functional theory, we predict a monolayer B₂Si structure with space group Pmm2 in the present work. This structure is confirmed to be dynamically stable. Based on the plane wave pseudopotential approach, the charge density, electron localization function, density of states, energy band, phonon property and thermal conductivity of Pmm2-B₂Si are systematically studied. It is interesting that the sp² hybridization and coordination bond of Si are found in Pmm2-B₂Si, which is the most important factor for its structural stability. The density of states and energy band analysis reveals that Pmm2-B₂Si is metallic because of the partial occupied Si 3pz and B 2pz states. Moreover, the acoustic-optical coupling is important for phonon transport in Pmm2-B₂Si, and the contribution of optical modes to the lattice thermal conductivity along the [100] and [010] directions is 13% and 12%, respectively. This study gives a fundamental understanding of the structural, electronic and phonon properties in Pmm2-B₂Si.     

Light Hydrocarbon Separations Using Porous Organic Framework Materials

Light hydrocarbons (C₁–C₃) are used as basic energy feedstocks and as commodity organic compounds for the production of many industrially necessary chemicals. Due to the nature of the raw materials and production processes, light hydrocarbons are generated as mixtures, but the high-purity single-component products are of vital importance to the petrochemical industry. Consequently, the separation of these C₁–C₃ products is a crucial industrial procedure that comprises a significant share of the total global energy consumption per year. As a complement to traditional separation methods (distillation, partial hydrogenation, etc.), adsorptive separations using porous solids have received widespread attention due to their lower energy costs and higher efficiency. Extensive research has been devoted to the use of porous materials such as zeolites and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as solid adsorbents for these key separations, owing to the high porosity, tunable pore structures, and unsaturated metal sites present in these materials. Recently, porous organic framework (POF) materials composed of organic building blocks linked by covalent bonds have also shown excellent properties in light hydrocarbon adsorption and separation, sparking interest in the use of these materials as adsorbents in separation processes. This Minireview summarizes the recent advances in the use of POFs for light hydrocarbon separations, including the separation of mixtures of methane/ethane, methane/propane, ethylene/ethane, acetylene/ethylene, and propylene/propane, while highlighting the relationships between the structural features of these materials and their separation performances. Finally, the difficulties, challenges, and opportunities associated with leveraging POFs for light hydrocarbon separations are discussed to conclude the review.     

Biohybrid Organic Heterostructure Based on Chlorophyll-Bacteriochlorophyll Aggregates for Ecofriendly Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen energy is an abundant, clean, sustainable and environmentally friendly renewable energy source. Therefore, the production of hydrogen by photocatalytically splitting water on semiconductors has been considered in recent years as a promising and sustainable strategy for converting solar energy into chemical energy to replace conventional energy sources and to solve the growing problem of environmental pollution and the global energy crisis. However, highly efficient solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production remains a huge challenge due to the poor visible light response of available photocatalytic materials and the low efficiency of separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. In the present work, organic heterojunction structures based on bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) and chlorophyll (Chl) molecules were introduced and used for solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production from water under visible light. Also, noble metal-free photocatalyst was successfully constructed on Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets by simple successive deposition of Chl and BChl, which was used for the photocatalytic splitting water to hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The results show that the optimal BChl@Chl@Ti₃C₂T_x composite has a high HER performance with 114 μmol/h/g_cat, which is much higher than the BChl@Ti₃C₂T_x and Chl@Ti₃C₂T_x composites.     

Dialkoxymethano[60]fullerenes as electron acceptors in thin-film organic solar cells

This study presents the synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical properties of four new dialkoxymethanofullerenes, as well as their performance in organic solar cells (OSCs) devices. Dialkoxymethanofullerenes were synthesized in 27%–32% yield by thermolysis of dialkoxyoxadiazolines and reaction with C₆₀ under reflux in toluene. The prepared compounds were then characterized and used for the first time as electron-acceptor materials in thin-film bulk heterojunction OSCs with PBTZT-stat-BDTT-8 as the electron donor material. The devices made with ethoxy-hexyloxymethanofullerene and methoxy-hexyloxymethanofullerene exhibited optimal power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 3.79% and 4.65%, with open-circuit voltage of 0.832 and 0.831 V, respectively. In contrast, the devices made with ethoxy-ethoxymethanofullerene and methoxy-ethoxymethanofullerene exhibited very low PCEs of <0.01% for both, indicating a large impact of the substituents on device performance.     

Fabrication of three-component hydrogen-bonded covalent-organic polymers for ciprofloxacin decontamination from water: adsorption mechanism and modeling

A three-component hydrogen-bonded covalent organic polymer, namely JLUE-H_COP-66, was fabricated via a facile multiple-linking-site solvothermal approach to overcome the weakness of poor function complexity and limited structure diversity of the pure covalent skeletons. The as-prepared JLUE-H_COP-66 polymers were employed to decontaminate ciprofloxacin (CIP), a popular F-quinolones (FQNs) antibiotic, from water and exhibited satisfactory adsorption performance. Specifically, JLUE-H_COP-66 polymers have high adsorption capacity with the maximum contribution of 111.1 mg/g according to the Langmuir model, good antiinterference to NaCl salts, and excellent regeneration property. The pH-dependent experiment results signified the probably dominated mechanism of electrostatic interaction. In addition, adsorption studies and structural characterization in combination illustrated that the pore-filling effect, hydrogen bonding formation might also govern the whole process, accompanied by electrostatic interaction, dipole-dipole complexation, π-π EDA interaction, and hydrophobic-hydrophobic interaction besides. Moreover, electrostatic potentials, as well as the frontier molecular orbital distributions (HOMO and LUMO) of CIP and JLUE-H_COP-66 fragment, were calculated using density functional theory to theoretically support the research. Furthermore, the response surface methodology (RSM) according to the CCD matrix was used to not only study the interactive and cooperative effects of initial CIP concentration, initial pH, ionic strength along with JLUE-H_COP-66 dosage on CIP removal using JLUE-H_COP-66 but also optimize the operation conditions. Given the peculiar structure and functional feature, this work could hopefully bring H_COPs into the practical applications of such challenging and persistent ciprofloxacin potent removal with further large-scale efficiency.     

Bioactive Chemical Constituents of Cercis chinensis

Chemistry of Natural Compounds -     

Synthesis and optical properties of poly(aryl ether ketone)s incorporating porphyrins in the backbones

A series of novel soluble poly(aryl ether ketone)s (PAEKs) based on 5,10‐bis(4‐hydroxyphenyl)?15,20‐diphenylporphyrin (cis‐DHTPP), 4,4′‐(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphenol (6FBPA) and 4,4′‐difluorobenzophenone (DFB) were synthesized and characterized by FT‐IR, ¹H‐NMR, UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopies. The intrinsic photophysical properties of porphyrins were preserved because of the absence of photoinduced electron transfer in the polymer chains. Investigation of the copolymers thermal properties indicated that these polymers had high glass transition temperatures and excellent thermal stabilities. The results of Z‐scan and optical limiting measurements manifested that incorporation of the porphyrin chromophore into the main chain engendered the novel PAEKs with superior nonlinear optical properties and optical limiting function, which could be effectively tuned by varying the molar ratio of porphyrin monomers. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1282–1290     

Cu3V2O8 Nanoparticles as Intercalation‐Type Anode Material for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Cu₃V₂O₈ nanoparticles with particle sizes of 40–50 nm have been prepared by the co‐precipitation method. The Cu₃V₂O₈ electrode delivers a discharge capacity of 462 mA h g^?1 for the first 10 cycles and then the specific capacity, surprisingly, increases to 773 mA h g^?1 after 50 cycles, possibly as a result of extra lithium interfacial storage through the reversible formation/decomposition of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film. In addition, the electrode shows good rate capability with discharge capacities of 218 mA h g^?1 under current densities of 1000 mA g^?1. Moreover, the lithium storage mechanism for Cu₃V₂O₈ nanoparticles is explained on the basis of ex situ X‐ray diffraction data and high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy analyses at different charge/discharge depths. It was evidenced that Cu₃V₂O₈ decomposes into copper metal and Li₃VO₄ on being initially discharged to 0.01 V, and the Li₃VO₄ is then likely to act as the host for lithium ions in subsequent cycles by means of the intercalation mechanism. Such an “in situ” compositing phenomenon during the electrochemical processes is novel and provides a very useful insight into the design of new anode materials for application in lithium‐ion batteries.     

Preparation and Electrochemical Properties of Tin–Iron–Carbon Nanocomposite as the Anode of Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Tin–iron–carbon nanocomposite is successfully prepared by a sol–gel method followed by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process with acetylene gas as the carbon source. The structural properties, morphology, and electrochemical performances of the nanocomposite are comprehensively studied in comparison with those properties of tin–carbon and iron–carbon nanocomposites. Sheet‐like carbon architecture and different carbon contents are induced thanks to the catalytic effect of iron during CVD. Among three nanocomposites, tin–iron–carbon demonstrates the highest reversible capacity of 800 mA h g^?1 with 96.9 % capacity retention after 50 cycles. It also exhibits the best rate capability with a discharge capacity of 420 mA h g^?1 at a current density of 1000 mA g^?1. This enhanced performance is strongly related to the carbon morphology and content, which can not only accommodate the large volume change, but also improve the electronic conductivity of the nanocomposite. Hence, the tin–iron–carbon nanocomposite is expected to be a promising anode for lithium‐ion batteries.     

Transition metal decorated bismuthene for ammonia synthesis: A density functional theory study

The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) for the ammonia production under ambient conditions is regarded as a sustainable alternative to the industrial Haber–Bosch process. However, the electrocatalytic systems that efficiently catalyze nitrogen reduction remain elusive. In the work, the nitrogen reduction activity of the transition metal decorated bismuthene TM@Bis is fully investigated by means of density functional theory calculations. Our results demonstrate that W@Bis delivers the best efficiency, wherein the potential-determining step is located at the last protonation step of *NH₂ + H⁺ + e^– → *NH₃ via the distal mechanism with the limiting potential U_L of 0.26 V. Furthermore, the dopants of Re and Os are also promising candidates for experimental synthesis due to its good selectivity, in despite of the slightly higher U_L of NRR with the value of 0.55 V. However, the candidates of Ti, V, Nb and Mo delivered the relative lower U_L of 0.35, 0.37, 0.41 and 0.43 V might be suffered from the side hydrogen evolution reaction. More interestingly, a volcano curve is established between U_L and valence electrons of metal elements wherein W with 4 electrons in d band located at the summit. Such phenomenon originates from the underlying acceptance-back donation mechanism. Therefore, our work provides a fundament understanding for the material design for nitrogen reduction electrocatalysis.