Sandwich-like Catalyst–Carbon–Catalyst Trilayer Structure as a Compact 2D Host for Highly Stable Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Herein, we propose the construction of a sandwich-structured host filled with continuous 2D catalysis–conduction interfaces. This MoN-C-MoN trilayer architecture causes the strong conformal adsorption of S/Li₂S_x and its high-efficiency conversion on the two-sided nitride polar surfaces, which are supplied with high-flux electron transfer from the buried carbon interlayer. The 3D self-assembly of these 2D sandwich structures further reinforces the interconnection of conductive and catalytic networks. The maximized exposure of adsorptive/catalytic planes endows the MoN-C@S electrode with excellent cycling stability and high rate performance even under high S loading and low host surface area. The high conductivity of this trilayer texture does not compromise the capacity retention after the S content is increased. Such a job-synergistic mode between catalytic and conductive functions guarantees the homogeneous deposition of S/Li₂S_x, and avoids thick and devitalized accumulation (electrode passivation) even after high-rate and long-term cycling.     

UPLC–ESI–Q-TOF–MS/MS analysis of anticancer fractions from Ophiocordyceps xuefengensis and Ophiocordyceps sinensis

Ophiocordyceps xuefengensis (O. xuefengensis), a new species of caterpillar fungus, has been identified as the sister taxon of Ophiocordyceps sinensis (O. sinensis). The aims of the present study are to evaluate the anticancer activity and to qualitatively analyze the potential bioactive chemical constituents of O. xuefengensis and O. sinensis, comparatively. An MTT assay was used to evaluate the in vitro anticancer activities of different fractions from O. xuefengensis and O. sinensis. The results show that ethyl acetate fractions of O. xuefengensis and O. sinensis have significant in vitro anticancer activity. These two bioactive fractions were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization with quadrupole–time of flight tandem mass spectrometry technology. A total of 82 compounds and 101 compounds were identified or tentatively characterized in the bioactive fractions of O. xuefengensis and O. sinensis, respectively. Among these compounds, 68 existed in both O. xuefengensis and O. sinensis. A total of 67 compounds were reported in O. xuefengensis and 8 compounds were reported in caterpillar fungus for the first time. This is the first detailed comparative analysis of the in vitro anticancer activity and chemical ingredients between O. xuefengensis and O. sinensis. The application of this work will provide reliable fundamental pharmacological substances for the use of O. xuefengensis by Yao people.     

HFIP-Functionalized Co3O4 Micro-Nano-Octahedra/rGO as a Double-Layer Sensing Material for Chemical Warfare Agents

Semiconductor metal oxides (SMO)-based gas-sensing materials suffer from insufficient detection of a specific target gas. Reliable selectivity, high sensitivity, and rapid response–recovery times under various working conditions are the main requirements for optimal gas sensors. Chemical warfare agents (CWA) such as sarin are fatal inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase in the nerve system. So, sensing materials with high sensitivity and selectivity toward CWA are urgently needed. Herein, micro-nano octahedral Co₃O₄ functionalized with hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) were deposited on a layer of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as a double-layer sensing materials. The Co₃O₄ micro-nano octahedra were synthesized by direct growth from electrospun fiber templates calcined in ambient air. The double-layer rGO/Co₃O₄-HFIP sensing materials presented high selectivity toward DMMP (sarin agent simulant, dimethyl methyl phosphonate) versus rGO/Co₃O₄ and Co₃O₄ sensors after the exposure to various gases owing to hydrogen bonding between the DMMP molecules and Co₃O₄-HFIP. The rGO/Co₃O₄-HFIP sensors showed high stability with a response signal around 11.8 toward 0.5 ppm DMMP at 125 °C, and more than 75 % of the initial response was maintained under a saturated humid environment (85 % relative humidity). These results prove that these double-layer inorganic–organic composite sensing materials are excellent candidates to serve as optimal gas-sensing materials.     

棒状LiZnPO4的低温合成与表征

LiZnPO₄的性能与其形貌密切相关,其合成常用的固相法和水热法均无控制其微观形貌的优势。 本文采用改进的沉淀法成功合成了具有棒状结构的LiZnPO₄。 利用热重-差热分析仪(TG-DSC)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)、傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)以及场发射扫描电子显微镜(FE-SEM)等技术研究了LiZnPO₄形成过程、晶相组成、微观结构和形貌。 同时探究了合成方法、煅烧温度、煅烧时间、酸的种类对LiZnPO₄形貌的影响。 结果表明,相比较于固相法,以醋酸为原料的改进沉淀法不仅可以有效降低LiZnPO₄的合成温度至500 ℃,而且很容易控制棒状LiZnPO₄的形成。 在600 ℃下煅烧2 h后可以获得分散性良好、横截面为矩形、直径约为2 μm的规则棒状LiZnPO₄。 此外,对比颗粒状LiZnPO₄和棒状LiZnPO₄的光响应能力,发现棒状LiZnPO₄的光响应能力明显增强。     

三维位势问题的梯度边界积分方程的新解法

三维位势问题的边界元分析中,关于坐标变量的边界位势梯度的计算是一个困难的问题. 已有一些方法着手解决这个问题,然而,这些方法需要复杂的理论推导和大量的数值计算. 本文提出求解一般边界位势梯度边界积分方程的辅助边值问题法. 该方法构造了与原边界值问题具有相同解域的辅助边值问题,该辅助边值问题具有已知解,因此通过求解此辅助边值问题,可获得梯度边界积分方程对应的系统矩阵,然后将此系统矩阵应用于求解原边值问题,求解过程非常简单,只需求解一个线性系统即可获得原边值问题的解. 值得注意的是,在求解原边值问题时,不再需要重新计算系统矩阵,因此辅助边值问题法的效率并不很差. 辅助边值问题法避免了强奇异积分的计算,具有数学理论简单、程序设计容易、计算精度高等优点,为坐标变量梯度边界积分方程的求解提供了一个新的途径. 3个标准的数值算例验证了方法的有效性.      

Catalytic amplification based on hole-transporting materials as efficient metal-free electrocatalysts for non-enzymatic glucose sensing

Hole-transporting materials with tunable structures and properties are mainly applied in organic light-emitting diodes as transport layer. But their catalytic properties as signal amplifiers in biological assays are seldom reported. In this paper, a starburst molecule, 4,4,4″-tri(N-carbazolyl)-triphenylamine (TCT), containing a triphenylamine as the central core and three carbazoles as the peripheral functional groups was designed and synthesized. Subsequently, the hole-transporting material based on the TCT polymer, poly(TCT) (PTCT), was achieved via a low-cost electrochemical method and exploited as an efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for non-enzymatic glucose detection. Here, this hole-transporting material served three purposes: electrochemical recognition (owing to hydrogen bonding interaction and the biomimetic microenvironment created by the polymer), electrocatalysis (owing to the hole-transporting capability of triphenylamine and the catalytic property of carbazole), and signal amplification (owing to energy migration along the conductive polymer backbone). The electrocatalytic and sensing performances of the sensor based on PTCT were evaluated in detail. Results revealed that the PTCT film could efficiently catalyze the oxidation of glucose at a less-positive potential (+0.20 V) in the absence of any enzymes. The response to glucose was linear in the concentration range of 1.0–6000 μM, and the detection limit was 0.20 μM. With good stability and selectivity, the proposed sensor could be feasibly applied to detect glucose in practical samples. The encouraging sensing performances suggest that the hole-transporting material is one of the promising biomimetic catalysts for electrocatalysis and relevant fields.     

In Situ Anchoring of Pyrrhotite on Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanosheet for Efficient Immobilization of Uranium

Enrichment of U^VI is an urgent project for nuclear energy development. Herein, magnetic graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets were successfully prepared by in situ anchoring of pyrrhotite (Fe₇S₈) on the graphitic carbon nitride nanosheet (CNNS), which were used for capturing U^VI. The structural characterizations of Fe₇S₈/CNNS-1 indicated that the CNNS could prevent the aggregation of Fe₇S₈ and the saturation magnetization was 4.69 emu g⁻¹, which meant that it was easy to separate the adsorbent from the solution. Adsorption experiments were performed to investigate the sorption properties. The results disclosed that the sorption data conformed to the Langmuir isotherm model with the maximum adsorption capacity of 572.78 mg g⁻¹ at 298 K. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrated that the main adsorption mechanism are as follows: U^VI is adsorbed on the surface of Fe₇S₈/CNNS-1 through surface complexation initially, then it was reduced to insoluble U^IV. Thereby, this work provided an efficient and easy to handle sorbent material for extraction of U^VI.     

Preparation of hydrophilic poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane by in-situ grafting of N-vinyl pyrrolidone via a reactive vapor induced phase separation procedure

Increasing hydrophilicity of hydrophobic membrane is one of the strategies to improve its antifouling performance. Herein we report a procedure of reactive-vapor induced phase separation to prepare an N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) modified poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane to improve its hydrophilicity. PVDF solution containing NVP monomer was cast in ammonia water vapor atmosphere to prepare the modified membrane. During the process, PVDF was dehydrofluorinated by the reactive vapor of ammonia water to generate double bond of FC═CH, and then NVP was grafted. The degree of grafting modification and the microstructure evolution of the membrane were studied by adjusting the amount of NVP addition. A possible mechanism of membrane formation from crystallization gelling to non-crystallization gelling has been proposed to understand the morphology change from nodular sphere to bi-continuous microstructure with fibril matrix. It has been found that rising the degree of modification has changed the polymorph of PVDF from β to α crystalline phase, as well as turned the hydrophobic PVDF membrane into hydrophilic. Moreover, the modified membrane displayed obvious reduction in bovine serum albumin adsorption, suggesting improvement in anti-fouling performance. Therefore, our work provides an easy strategy to prepare hydrophilic PVDF membrane, which may have promising potential applications.     

Novel TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofiber/polyvinyl alcohol/polyethyleneimine nanoparticles for Cu2+ removal in water

Cellulose - In this study, environmentally friendly TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TO-CNF)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/polyethyleneimine (PEI) nanoparticles were obtained by assembling PEI into...