Visible-light-induced,autopromoted nickel-catalyzed three-component arylsulfonation of 1,3-enynes and mechanistic insights

Science China Chemistry - A light-induced, nickel-catalyzed three-component arylsulfonation of 1,3-enynes in the absence of photocatalyst is reported. This methodology exhibited mild conditions,...     

Semiconvergence analysis of the randomized row iterative method and its extended variants

The row iterative method is popular in solving the large‐scale ill‐posed problems due to its simplicity and efficiency. In this work we consider the randomized row iterative (RRI) method to tackle this issue. First, we present the semiconvergence analysis of RRI method for the overdetermined and inconsistent system, and derive upper bounds for the noise error propagation in the iteration vectors. To achieve a least squares solution, we then propose an extended version of the RRI (ERRI) method, which in fact can converge in expectation to the solution of the overdetermined or underdetermined, consistent or inconsistent systems. Finally, some numerical examples are given to demonstrate the convergence behaviors of the RRI and ERRI methods for these types of linear system.     

吸收波长和吸收效率可控的超材料吸收器

为了使超材料完美吸收器(metamaterial perfect absorber,MPA)能够同时实现吸收效率和吸收波长的控制,本文提出利用二氧化钒(VO2)和石墨烯作为MPA的材料,通过对MPA的结构设计,在红外波段实现了高吸收,吸收效率最高可达99%.研究发现通过改变VO2的温度和石墨烯的化学势,可同时实现MPA吸收效率和吸收波长的控制,吸收效率调制深度和吸收波长调谐范围分别可达97.08%和3.2μm.通过对MPA在吸收波长处的磁场分布分析可以得出,MPA能够产生高吸收是由于其形成了法布里-帕罗(Fabry-Pérot,FP)干涉腔共振,研究发现MPA的结构参数对FP腔的共振波长具有显著的影响.     

基于NiCo2O4纳米片电极的非对称混合电容器

The looming global energy crisis and ever-increasing energy demands have catalyzed the development of renewable energy storage systems. In this regard, supercapacitors (SCs) have attracted widespread attention because of their advantageous attributes such as high power density, excellent cycle stability, and environmental friendliness. However, SCs exhibit low energy density and it is important to optimize electrode materials to improve the overall performance of these devices. Among the various electrode materials available, spinel nickel cobaltate (NiCo₂O₄) is particularly interesting because of its excellent theoretical capacitance. Based on the understanding that the performances of the electrode materials strongly depend on their morphologies and structures, in this study, we successfully synthesized NiCo₂O₄ nanosheets on Ni foam via a simple hydrothermal route followed by calcination. The structures and morphologies of the as-synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, and the results showed that they were uniformly distributed on the Ni foam support. The surface chemical states of the elements in the samples were identified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The as-synthesized NiCo₂O₄ products were then tested as cathode materials for supercapacitors in a traditional three-electrode system. The electrochemical performances of the NiCo₂O₄ electrode materials were studied and the area capacitance was found to be 1.26 C·cm^-2 at a current density of 1 mA·cm^-2. Furthermore, outstanding cycling stability with 97.6% retention of the initial discharge capacitance after 10000 cycles and excellent rate performance (67.5% capacitance retention with the current density from 1 to 14 mA·cm^-2) were achieved. It was found that the Ni foam supporting the NiCo₂O₄ nanosheets increased the conductivity of the electrode materials. However, it is worth noting that the contribution of nickel foam to the areal capacitance of the electrode materials was almost zero during the charge and discharge processes. To further investigate the practical application of the as-synthesized NiCo₂O₄ nanosheets-based electrode, a device was assembled with the as-prepared samples as the positive electrode and active carbon (AC) as the negative electrode. The assembled supercapacitor showed energy densities of 0.14 and 0.09 Wh·cm^-3 at 1.56 and 4.5 W·cm^-3, respectively. Furthermore, it was able to maintain 95% of its initial specific capacitance after 10000 cycles. The excellent electrochemical performance of the NiCo₂O₄ nanosheets could be ascribed to their unique spatial structure composed of interconnected ultrathin nanosheets, which facilitated electron transportation and ion penetration, suggesting their potential applications as electrode materials for high performance supercapacitors. The present synthetic route can be extended to other ternary transition metal oxides/sulfides for future energy storage devices and systems.     

Crystal phase control in two-dimensional materials

It is the nature of crystals to exist in different polymorphs. The recent emergence of two-dimensional (2D) materials has evoked the discovery of a number of new crystal phases that are different from their bulk structures at ambient conditions, and revealed novel structure-dependent properties, which deserve in-depth understanding and further exploration. In this contribution, we review the recent development of crystal phase control in 2D materials, including group V and VI. transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), group IVA metal chalcogenides and noble metals. For each group of materials, we begin with introducing the various existing crystal phases and their structure-related properties, followed by a detailed discussion on factors that influence these crystal structures and thus the possible strategies for phase control. Finally, after summarizing the whole paper, we present the challenges and opportunities in this research direction.     

Piezoelectric Actuator Placement Optimization and Active Vibration Control of a Membrane Structure

The placement optimization of piezoelectric actuators and active vibration control of a membrane structure are studied in this paper. The classical linear quadratic regulator controllers are designed to suppress the unwanted vibration. Simulation results indicate that the optimal locations of piezoelectric actuators are affected deeply by the additional mass and stiffness of actuators, the computational efficiency of particle swarm optimizer is higher than that of genetic algorithm for this particular problem, and the control performance of optimally placed actuators is better than that of non-optimally placed actuators.     

Comparative pharmacokinetic study of four major bioactive components after oral administration of Zhi‐Zi‐Hou‐Po decoction in normal and corticosterone‐induced depressive rats

A highly selective and efficient LC–MS/MS method was developed to determine the plasma concentration of magnolol, hesperidin, neohesperidin and geniposide following oral administration of Zhi‐Zi‐Hou‐Po decoction in normal and depressed rats. Plasma samples were pretreated by protein precipitation with methanol. Chromatographic separation was performed on an XTerra^® MS C₁₈ column using a gradient elution with a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile–0.1% aqueous formic acid. The proposed method was validated to be specific, accurate and precise for the analytes determination in plasma samples. The calibration curves displayed good linearity over definite concentration ranges for the analytes. The intra‐ and inter‐day precision of the proposed method at three different levels were all within <11.13% and the relative errors ranged from ?8.46 to 8.93%. The recovery of the four compounds ranged from 82.72 to 89.08% and no apparent matrix effect was observed during sample analysis. After full validation, the established method was successfully applied for comparing the pharmacokinetics of four components between normal and depressed rats. The results showed that the AUC and C_max of four analytes in depressed rats were significantly different from those in normal rats and might provide helpful information to guide the clinical use of Zhi‐Zi‐Hou‐Po to treat depression.     

Elucidating Molecule–Plasmon Interactions in Nanocavities with 2 nm Spatial Resolution and at the Single‐Molecule Level

The fundamental understanding of the subtle interactions between molecules and plasmons is of great significance for the development of plasmon‐enhanced spectroscopy (PES) techniques with ultrahigh sensitivity. However, this information has been elusive due to the complex mechanisms and difficulty in reliably constructing and precisely controlling interactions in well‐defined plasmonic systems. Herein, the interactions in plasmonic nanocavities of film‐coupled metallic nanocubes (NCs) are investigated. Through engineering the spacer layer, molecule–plasmon interactions were precisely controlled and resolved within 2 nm. Efficient energy exchange interactions between the NCs and the surface within the 1–2 nm range are demonstrated. Additionally, optical dressed molecular excited states with a huge Lamb shift of ≈7 meV at the single‐molecule (SM) level were observed. This work provides a basis for understanding the underlying molecule–plasmon interaction, paving the way for fully manipulating light–matter interactions at the nanoscale.     

A conjugated alkyne functional bicyclic polybenzoxazine with superior heat resistance

A difunctional benzoxazine (coPh‐apa) with a conjugated alkyne group is synthesized by the oxidative coupling reaction from a monocycle‐benzoxazine (Ph‐apa) containing an alkyne group. A model compound, 1,4‐diphenylbutadiyne (coPa), is used to study the curing reaction process of coPh‐apa by DSC, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and ¹³C NMR, and the results suggest that the conjugated alkyne groups are involved in the crosslinking reaction via the trimerization reaction of the conjugated alkynyl groups and the Diels–Alder reaction. Furthermore, thermal properties of the polybenzoxazine are studied by dynamic thermomechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. A glass‐transition temperature (T_gs) of as high as 412 °C and a char yield of 75.6% at 800 °C under nitrogen are obtained with the aid of the conjugated alkyne groups. Its excellent heat resistance dominates most thermosetting resins and will serve for heat shields. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1587–1592